"Brass," Nick broke the silence in the car as they drove back toward Vegas, "Did you know Grissom has a kid?"
The Capitan's answer was clear in his silence.
"What's her name?" Nick asked. It almost seemed like Brass wouldn't answer.
"How did you find that out?" he asked after a moment.
Nick let out a frustrated sigh.
"She sleepwalked into our crime scene. I accidently woke her up and just about scared the life out of her. You didn't answer my question," he added.
"Sydle Rose," Jim said, giving Nick the information he wanted. "She's four years old and beautiful. She is such a happy kid, a real sweetheart." Nick thought back to how she'd looked, fevered and sweaty and scared, and admitted that she was a remarkably beautiful child. Then Jim's words sank in and Nick turned to face him.
"Sydle as in Sara Sidle?" he asked.
"Spelled with a 'y', but I think that's the idea, yeah," Jim said back with a rough chuckle. Nick turned his attention back to the road with one final question.
"So, then, how long have those two been an item?"
--
The young girl lying on the morgue table was identified through her fingerprints as Kara Dillanger, age 13. Grissom and Catherine sat with her crying parents as they took in the news.
"Mr. Dillanger," Grissom said, "Why didn't you report Kara missing?"
"We didn't know she was. Kara was staying with my sister for a month. Where was she found?"
"Her body was found in Lake Mead, in the Harper's Grove area. Do you know anyone in that area at all?" Grissom asked. The couple shook their heads, but then Mrs. Dillanger paused.
"They were going water skiing. Kara couldn't wait. She was so excited," the woman broke down against her husband.
"We're going to need to contact your sister," Catherine said. Both the Dillangers nodded.
--
Catherine and Grissom strode up to the porch of a slightly run down house only three doors down from the Grissoms' house. Mattie and Sydle were out underneath the willow tree with Hank and Grissom turned, trying not to be noticed, but it was too late. Mattie came running and threw himself at Grissom's legs. Sydle was not far behind. Grissom smiled down at his son, running a hand over the boy's dark curls. Mattie raised his arms up, pleaded to be held by the father he hadn't seen for days. Grissom could not resist the urge to hug his son, so he lifted Mattie into his arms with a smile. Immediately, Mattie's hand found his father's heartbeat and his head hit Grissom's shoulder. The front door of their house flew open and Sara rushed out. Seeing the kids with Grissom, she became visibly less tense. Then she noticed Catherine and the uniforms that were with him and shook her head.
"Sydle Rose, get back over here!" she called, "and bring your brother too!" Sydle tugged on Mattie's foot to get his attention, but he merely lifted it from her grasp, wrapping it tighter to Grissom's side. A small thumb found its way to Mattie's mouth, but Grissom tapped him on the shoulder and turned his attention to Sara. The boy's mother signed something that made Mattie shake his head.
"Matthias," Grissom rumbled in a low voice, startling the boy, who turned his face upward.
"Listen to your mother," he said, the stern look on his face saying more to the toddler than his words. Little Mattie's bottom lip crept out from under his top lip and tears sparkled in his bright blue eyes, breaking Grissom's heart a bit. He gently set his son on the ground and crouched in front of him, looking him in the eye.
I'll see you later, Dragonfly he signed, nudging the boy back. But Mattie stubbornly refused to let go. Sara strode over and lifted Matthias into her arms, carrying him back toward the house kicking and grunting.
"Well," Catherine said, "I don't think anyone's home." Grissom escaped from his stupor.
"I think you're right," he said, "but let's check around back, just in case. It's hard to hear the door bell from the dock."
"Personal experience?" Catherine asked, one eyebrow raised.
"If you must know, yes" Grissom admitted with a smirk. Catherine shook her head. They walked around to the back of the house and found the back door smashed in. Catherine cringed at the sound of glass crunching underneath her shoes as she stepped over the threshold.
"Las Vegas P.D." she called out hand on her holstered weapon. Grissom followed close behind. They stopped at the couch, where a body lay decomposing. The smell was almost overwhelming.
"She's likely been dead as long as Kara," Catherine said, "Begs the question, how did the neighbors not notice?" Grissom couldn't quite tell, but he was pretty sure the word 'neighbors' was said with a hint of malice and, he thought, a bit of hurt.
"Well, between earning her PI's license and taking care of three kids and a husband who has had more than his fair share of the bugs that get passed around the office, Sara hasn't really had time to get to know all the neighbors. Besides, this crime probably happened during a time when there wasn't anyone around," Grissom jumped to his wife's defense. Catherine just stared at him.
"Three kids, Gil?" she asked, "Why have I only met two of them?"
"Our youngest is probably napping right about now," he said, "and she was definitely sleeping when Sy wandered into our crime scene."
"She's not sleeping right now," Sara said from the doorway. She held the six month old infant in her arms. "Caitlyn, Catherine. Catherine, Caitlyn."
"Sara, what are you doing here?" Both criminalists asked.
"I came to borrow Gil," she said, "Just for a few minutes to see if you can get Mattie to calm down. He's going absolutely berserk . He won't calm down, he's running around the house like a madman, screaming and grunting and trying to get outside again. I'm just afraid he's going to hurt himself." The fear in Sara's voice was evident, as was exhaustion. Grissom crossed the room and pulled off his gloves before hugging Sara, surprising himself as much as her.
"Cath, I'll be right back," Grissom said, taking off for his own home, Sara following close behind. As soon as Grissom walked in the door, Mattie flew at him, fingernails digging into Grissom's flesh, drawing blood. Grissom winced as Mattie slapped him over and over. Sara had put the baby in her playpen and came back to help restrain Mattie. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders , holding the toddler to her chest, pinning him. Grissom held his head steady, forcing eye contact until he stopped struggling.
What's wrong, Dragonfly? Grissom signed, as Sara ran a gentle hand through the boy's dark curls.
Come home, Daddy the boy signed, I'm scared. Mattie surged forward and clung to his father.
"Shhh," Grissom soothed, rubbing Mattie's back. He felt tears soak through his shirt and looked up at Sara.
"Has he had trouble with nightmares?" he asked. Sara shook her head but then stopped.
"He's been wanting to sleep in our bed for almost a week. I've been letting him," she said.
"I'm going to call in and get Nick to cover for me," Grissom said, genuinely frightened. Mattie slowly stopped crying and his grip slackened as he fell into an exhausted slumber. Grissom slowly walked him up to his room and laid him in bed, tucking the covers tightly around his son. Then he sat next to Mattie and brushed a hand across his forehead.
"Do you think his had anything to do with the girl we found yesterday?" Sara asked from the doorway. Grissom was about to answer when he saw Sydle peeking around her mother's legs. He used his eyes to point her out. Sara looked down and jumped, surprised to see her daughter.
"Butterfly, baby," Sara said sweetly, "Your Daddy and I need to have a grown up talk. Can you go watch your sister for a little while?" The dark haired girl nodded and turned then took off skipping toward the living room, pigtails flying. Sara watched her, then turned back to Grissom. She looked so tired, and scared and fragile that it sent a shiver down Grissom's spine. He stood and pulled her to him, holding her as she shook.
"We've spent their whole lives protecting them, trying to keep them away from work, we've never brought a case file home and the kids don't even know that we carry guns," she said, in the low bitter tone that told him she was going to lose it.
"Sara," Grissom said, pulling back and forcing her to meet his eye, "There is nothing we could have done differently. We don't even know that this is related to that case. He probably just watched a scary movie or something. It's not your fault."
Sara tried to calm herself down. She breathed deeply and leaned in to her husband's embrace. As strong as she was, when something threatened or hurt her children, it hit Sara hard. Her children were her life, especially now that she'd left CSI.
"We can't do much while he's asleep," Grissom said, "Let's go talk to Sydle and see if she knows anything." Sara straightened up and wiped her tears.
"Let's go," she said, but Grissom shook his head.
"I haven't had a lot of time alone with Sydle since you guys came up here. You stay here with the younger ones, I'll take our little Butterfly out for ice cream." Sara nodded, knowing that Sydle, being the empathetic soul she was, would sense her mother's tension. Mattie became restless in his sleep. Sara crossed over and lay down next to him, smoothing hair out of his face. Grissom turned and headed to the living room, where he found Sydle playing with her little sister through the mesh sides of the playpen. Caitlyn giggled at the silly faces Sydle made.
"Hey, Ladybug," Grissom said, leaning over to kiss the infant's head. Then he turned to Sydle.
"Butterfly, do you want to go for ice cream?" he asked. Sydle tilted her head and looked up at him with a quirked eyebrow, a look which reminded him that while Sydle wasn't their daughter biologically, she was still a relative of Sara's.
"Why?" she asked.
"Just a little Daddy-Butterfly date," he said, "like we used to do before we moved." Sydle nodded, excited. She ran to get her shoes but then stopped.
"What about the baby?" she asked, "Can she come too?" Grissom shrugged.
"If you want her to come, she can come," he said, surprised.
"I do," Sydle said, flashing a smile before she went to get her shoes. Grissom smiled at her before he lifted Caitlyn from the playpen. She giggled at the contact, bringing a smile to his face. Sydle returned, breathless and blushing with her pink sandals on the wrong feet.
"Let's go, Daddy!" she said insistently, tugging on his arm. Grissom called up to Sara that he had both girls before Sydle pulled him from the house. He got the girls buckled into their car seas and put the keys in the ignition. Then he remembered that in all of the hustle, he'd forgotten to call Nick to come in to help Catherine. He quickly did so, then drove to the family's favorite ice cream shop. Sydle ordered a cotton candy flavored cone and Grissom stuck to pure vanilla. They settled on eating at the outside patio and Sydle's face was soon smeared with pink melted ice cream. Grissom smiled and wiped some of it off.
"Is Mattie going to be okay?" Sydle asked, suddenly.
"I think so," Grissom answered, "Why do you ask?"
"He's been having nightmares since Kara was here," Sydle observed matter-of-factly.
"Who's Kara?" Grissom asked, trying to keep his voice light as his heart sank.
"She's Mattie's girlfriend."