AN: Thanks for the reviews and the support on this one. Enjoy this next chapter

Chapter 2: Surprises

Grissom had to admit that he was not expecting that question, so he was a little shocked at first. "Wow, uh...Ok, let's go sit down for a second, shall we?"

Mackenzie nodded as they walked to the kitchen table and sat down, then he placed his hand on top of his daughter's as he asked after clearing his throat. "Is there a particular reason why?"

"Like I said, mom and Keith have been great, I like my school and the few friends that I've made, even spending a lot of time with grandma Betty has been wonderful, I just miss it here. I miss being with you guys, is that a good reason?"

Grissom smiled with a nod. "Yes, that is a very good reason." Then he cleared his throat before speaking from his head, because no matter how much his heart wanted his daughter back here, he needed to be rational about this. "There is nothing I want more than to have you come live here again, and I would accept your offer in a heartbeat, but there is someone we need to talk to in order for that to happen."

Mackenzie knew exactly who he meant. "Mommy."

"Yes. She loves you so much, and it might be a little hard for her to see you go, so I don't want you to get your hopes up, but we'll talk to her and see what she says."

"Ok. But you really would in a heartbeat?"

Grissom looked at her square in the eyes with one the biggest smiles she's ever seen as he replied. "Not even a hesitation." Mackenzie smiled back, seeing the truth in his eyes, then after slipping her hand out from under her father's, they share a hug before he kissed her temple.

He spoke again as they were pulling back a few seconds later. "Now, why don't you pack a bag for your stay with Aunt Catherine and Uncle Nick tonight."

At first, since Mackenzie's visit was unplanned, Grissom was torn on how they should spend their anniversary, but Mackenzie assured him that it was ok for them to have their alone time, so he thought if she was happy with it, then so was he.

Mackenzie smiled with a nod as she stepped back from him. "Is it still a little weird to think of them as a married couple now?"

Grissom chuckled with a nod. "Yeah, a little, but when it ends up feeling right, there is really no stopping it."

A couple of weeks after saying goodbye to Mackenzie, they had found out Nick and Catherine had been dating for months, which would have put the start of their relationship sometime after the closure of the miniature killer case. So even though Sara had called it, she never excepted them to start like that, but as long as they were happy, so was everybody else.

Now they've been married two years, and because of that Nick is the day shift supervisor since Catherine had taken over the night shift supervisor duties after Grissom left the lab when he found out Sara was pregnant with their second child, and decided, for now until the kids become a little older, that he'll be the stay at home parent while Sara could have her career.

Mackenzie smiled bigger as she asked again. "Like with you and Sara, and Mommy and Keith?"

"Yeah, just like us."

After one more nod, Mackenzie rushed out of the room, and as he watched her leave, he couldn't help but look very happy. He knows he told Mackenzie not to get her hopes up, but he couldn't help it, his was definitely up.

His thoughts get interrupted by Sara's voice when she stepped into the kitchen holding Julia in her arms. "Is it just me or is some one happier than he was earlier this morning?"

Just seeing Sara made him even happier, so his smile got a little wider as he replied. "Maybe."

She raised an eyebrow now. "Oh, is this a secret?"

Grissom stood up from his seat at the table and walked up to her before cupping her cheek. "I'll talk to you later about it, I promise."

Seeing her husband so happy, made her happy, so she smiled with a nod. "Ok, but I got to say it looks like a good one."

"It is." He ran his thumb up and down her cheek as he finished softly. "Outside of you telling me I was going to be a father three more times, it's the best."

After a soft kiss on the lips, he kissed the top of his third daughter's head before walking out of the room, leaving a very confused Sara standing there. She knew there wasn't much that could beat those other special moments in their lives, so that meant it had to be huge. She mentally shook her head with a small smile while walking back out of the kitchen, wondering what was going on.

When it was around 3 in the afternoon the Grissom family left the house and headed to Catherine's and Nick's place, and when they got there, they didn't see any extra vehicles in the driveway or on the side of the street in front of the house, so when they got to the front door and read a note that told them to go to the backyard, they weren't exactly expecting a surprise gathering that included not only the original team, but Logan and his family, Jade and her family, and Pat, who was Sara's ex-boss/Grissom's old College Classmate, and his family.

As the shock wore off, they laughed and smiled before Catherine spoke as she walked up to them. "We know you had plans later, but we thought it would be nice to see everybody here for a couple of hours."

Grissom nodded with a smile. "Of course, but uh, how did you pull it off?"

Catherine smiled again as she took the youngest Grissom from his arms. "Oh, just asked a few neighbors if we could use their driveways, and Nick picked up Greg and Warrick."

Sara spoke with a smile this time. "Thank you, Catherine."

"You're welcome, now go and catch up with everybody."

After Sara nodded, she pushed the stroller that had Abby in it and walked with Mackenzie so they could see the group that came from San Francisco first since they didn't get to see them much.

Grissom also smiled. "Honestly, thank you, for everything. You've been an amazing friend to me for a long time."

Catherine nodded with a smile before she smirked. "Well, somebody had to do it." They chuckled before Catherine got serious. "You're welcome. I'm glad I got to be there for you, and witness this amazing change in you. You became an excellent, loving and caring father, and from the happiness I see in Sara in day to day basis, you are an amazing husband. I'm happy to be apart your life."

Grissom cleared his throat to get the emotion out, before replying. "I am too, thank you again."

"Good, now why don't you go talk to Pat, I'm sure you guys have a lot to talk about."

Grissom nodded, and after kissing his youngest on the cheek, he walked toward Pat and his family, happy to see them.

As Catherine was watching the happy couple, her moment was interrupted when Nick walked up behind her, placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered. "You're amazing you know that?"

She smiled as she turned around, then handed him Julia before asking. "What did I do?"

He nodded his head toward the couple. "You set up this surprise party for them, making them extra happy today." Then he looked deep into her blue eyes as he whispered. "Not to mention how you've made me the last three years, I never thought I could be this happy."

Looking into each other's eyes their minds took them back how it all started with them.

Flashback

Three years ago

Once Catherine dropped Grissom home after witnessing the helicopter taking Annie to the nearest hospital, she pulled out of the driveway, and instead of going home, she headed to the nearest bar, needing a drink or two to unwind, knowing Lindsey was over a friends house all night.

After arriving at the familiar bar, she noticed she wasn't the only one who needed a drink, so she walked over to him and ordered a beer from the bartender as she sat down next to him.

Nick looked over at her when he heard her voice and said as he lifted the bottle up to his mouth so he could take a sip. "It seems I wasn't the only one who needed this."

She gave him a slight smile with a shake of her head. "I guess not."

When the beer was placed in front of her, she didn't take much time to start drinking it, and Nick spoke as he watched her. "I would ask how you were doing, but considering you are here in the middle of the afternoon, I don't think I need to."

Catherine sighed before taking another sip, then after swallowing, she shook her head. "I know we aren't as close to Annie as we've been before, but to see her like that, it still felt like it hit close to home for me, you know." Then she started to have tears as she finished. "And we don't even know if she's going to make it, there's a little girl out there who will be beyond devastated if something happens to...

She trailed off sniffling, so Nick, going on instinct, places his hand on her arm and said in a comforting tone. "Hey, there is no way Annie is leaving that beautiful girl behind without a fight, she's a strong woman, she's going to pull through this."

He really hoped he was right about that because Catherine was right too, there is a little girl who loves her very much and would be devastated, not to mention how Grissom would feel.

Before his thoughts continued, Catherine spoke as she nodded. "She is strong, and you're right, her mother instincts will kick in and she won't give up fighting for her little girl." Nick nodded with a smile before they continued their drinking.

After sometime later, and not sure how many drinks they've actually gone through, Catherine finished her latest bottle and shook her head. "I better go home and get some rest, Grissom will probably want the night off and I'll have to cover for him."

She grabbed her car keys from the bar counter and stood up, but dropped them a second later, so Nick swooped in and grabbed them from the floor before looking in her eyes. "I don't think you should drive."

Catherine sighed as she reached for her keys from his hands. "Nicky, I'm..."

But Nick shook his head and placed them in his pocket before cupping her cheek without even thinking about it, making both hearts race like they have never done before as he whispered. "We don't need another person we care about in the hospital fighting for their lives today."

Catherine couldn't look away as she slowly nodded, then whispered. "Ok, but I still need to get home, are you ok to drive?"

Even though he's felt more buzzed before than he was now, he didn't want to take any chances, especially with her in the vehicle, so he shook his head. "I'll call us a cab."

After Catherine nodded, she said she had to use the restroom, so Nick removed his hand and watched her walk toward it while trying to calm his heart rate, wondering why all of sudden he was feeling as if he was going through his first crush.

He mentally shook his head and smirked. 'It's the beers, that's all it is' But as he was calling for a cab, deep down he wasn't sure if that was it at all.

When the cab stopped in front of Catherine's house, Nick told him he'll be just a minute and walked Catherine to her front door, and after stopping in front of it, she placed her keys in the deadbolt and turned to him with a smile. "Thank you for being there today."

"I guess it was fate, we ended up at the same place at the same time." Catherine nodded before he continued after clearing his throat. "I should let you get some sleep."

"Ok, I'll see you later."

Nick had the strong urge to cup her cheek again, so he did just that before he leaned down and kissed her cheek softly as he whispered. "See you later, Catherine."

He pulled back slowly until their eyes met, then once again their hearts raced and all they had to do was lean forward and kiss and let their emotions carry them, but for once Catherine was going to be strong one when it came to men, especially because Nick's friendship was too important for her to risk losing, so she stepped back first, breaking the moment. "I should get inside."

Nick just nodded and watched her until she was safely inside, he then took a breath and shook his head as he headed back towards the cab, wondering what was going on.

Before Shift

When Catherine arrived at the lab her spirits were up a little, considering Grissom had called her to tell her the good news about Annie, so when she walked into the locker room, where only Nick was there sitting on the bench, she gave him a little smile. "Grissom called me earlier and told me Annie is going to be fine."

Nick did a sigh of relief before nodding with a small smile back. "That's great news."

Catherine nodded before she turned her attention to her locker, and as she was opening it, Nick had cleared his throat and was standing behind her, making those feelings from earlier come back full force as he whispered. "Catherine, I think we need to talk."

But still wanting to ignore her strong feelings, she shook her head and spoke with her back still toward him. "Don't worry about it Nick, whatever you felt earlier, forget about it, or just chalk it down to the amount of beers we had."

"Yeah, I thought about doing that. But the thing is I can't stop thinking about you, even now, completely sober. Something happened between us earlier, and I'm getting the feeling it has nothing to do with how much we had to drink."

Catherine closed her eyes as she whispered. "Nick it was nothi..."

He cuts her off as he whispered in her ear. "Was it?" He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around so they were facing one another, then after a long look in their eyes, she looked down as he continued. "Can you honestly tell me that all the years we've worked together you never once thought about there being a you and me?"

Honestly she had thought about it before tonight, but like she thought earlier, going down that road with him was just too risky, so she kind of lied. "If I have, it was never taken seriously."

Nick lifted her chin up and cupped her cheek as he whispered again. "You sure about that?"

With her heart racing again, she spoke softly. "Nicky, why do you want to go there? What we have is a beautiful friendship, one of the best of my life, and to me it's not worth risking for a couple of nights in bed."

"You think that's only what this is about?"

Finally showing her insecurities, she whispered with tears in her eyes. "Eventually you'll look elsewhere, and where will we be then?"

Getting why she was so hesitant, he looked at her with such honesty in his eyes it made some of her tears fall down her cheek. "I'm not like those other men, Catherine. It will be different with me, just give me a chance to prove that."

Not able to resist him much longer, she asked softly. "You sure I'm what you want?"

Nick smiled with his beautiful brown eyes sparkling as he wiped her tears away. "I've never been more sure about anything else in my life."

Catherine slowly moved her hand to cup his cheek. "Just promise me that if anything changes you'll..."

Nick cuts her off softly with a smirk as he leaned his head down. "Catherine, just shut up and kiss me already."

She started to smile as she leaned up to meet his lips so they could kiss, and it was everything they ever dreamed. It was soft, warm, yet very passionate.

But before they could totally forget where they were and let these new feelings take over, they heard Warrick and Greg talking and laughing down the hall, so they slowly pulled back, looked into each other's eyes and smiled with their eyes sparkling, feeling alive for the first time in a long time, then he stepped back as his hand slowly moved from her cheek.

They just got enough composure back by the time Greg and Warrick came in the room, and as the men walked to their locker's, Warrick asked. "Did Grissom call either of you about the condition of Annie?"

Catherine cleared her throat and looked at him. "Yeah, Annie is going to be just fine."

The guys sighed in relief before they mentioned how happy they were on the news, and while the guy's back was to them, Nick and Catherine shared one more smile before they turned to their lockers, both unsure on where this was going at the moment, but ready to explore these feelings that's been bubbling under the surface for years.

End of Flashback

Tears started to come into Catherine's eyes, but she shook them off, not wanting to make a scene as she replied with a smile. "I love you."

"I love you too."

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they turned their attention to the little girl that was in his arms. Then after a few seconds, Catherine asked softly. "Hey Nick, have you ever thought of being a dad?"

Nick's heart started to race as he whispered. "I thought I was kind of already to Lindsey?"

Lindsey had welcomed Nick almost immediately after finding out, mostly because she could see how happy her mother was and thought Nick was a great guy.

"Yeah, I know, but don't you wish to have one of your own?"

"Why, are you trying to tell me something?"

Catherine looked up at her husband and shook her head with a smile. "No, but if you do, we can look into it."

Nick's eyes started sparkling as he asked. "Really?"

Nick absolutely loved being a stepfather to Lindsey, but he had to admit, now that he found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, having a baby of his own with her sounded pretty amazing to him. He just wasn't sure how to bring the subject up, so he was thankful to her for bringing it up first, and if she was onboard, then so was he, 100%

Catherine reached up and cupped his cheek with a nod and smile. "Really."

Nick nodded with a smile. "Alright, let's do it."

She then smirked in a low whisper. "We could right now, but I think they'll notice if we leave the party."

Nick chuckled as he brought his wife back towards his body again and kissed the top of her head. "I didn't mean right this second."

"I know, but I just love hearing you laugh."

"And I love seeing you smile."

They sighed in content, happy and excited about their future plans, and neither one could wait until they see a little one that had a mixture of the both of them.

After finally leaving Catherine's and Nick's a few hours later, Grissom and Sara headed back home to change into something a little more fancy, then Grissom drove them to her favorite restaurant, where they were seated in their usual, semi private, area.

Once their food was ordered and the drinks were in front of them, Sara spoke softly. "Alright, I've waited this long on not asking any more questions, so can you please tell me why you looked so happy this morning?"

Grissom smiled as he took her hand in his, then nodded his head. "Ok. The reason I looked so happy was because I found out something." When he stopped and Sara raised her eyebrow with an impatient look on her face, he chuckled a little before finally telling her. "Mackenzie asked if she could come back and live with us."

Sara gasped with a smile, then asked. "What!? Really?" After Grissom nodded, she continued, this time softly. "Is there a particular reason why?"

"Nope, just that she misses us."

"Aww, that is sweet."

"I know." Then he cleared his throat before asking. "So, if we can get Annie onboard, you're really ok with this?"

Sara looked at him a little shocked he would ask her that. "Of course, why wouldn't I be? You know how crazy I am about her."

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to make sure."

Sara nodded with a smile. "I understand, but you have to know I still feel the same way as I've always felt about her. In my eyes and heart, Mackenzie is my daughter too. And there is nothing I want more than to have all of my girls under the same roof."

Feeling relieved that they were on the same page, Grissom smiled with his eyes sparkling. "I agree with that 100%"

"I'm glad."

They continued to smile until their food came, and like Grissom, Sara knew not to get her hopes up either, but she just couldn't help it, because having Mackenzie back, with their newest on the way, their home would feel more complete than ever, and nothing would make her happier to feel that and to see it on her husband's face everyday.

AN: Hope you liked it. GSR continues their celebration at home next chapter. Please Review.