AN: Warning: Questionable word. Thanks for the support, here is the next chapter.


Chapter 3: The Beginning Part 3

Looking down at the document, thoughts were racing around in his head, and he knew there were plenty of good reasons why he shouldn't sign those papers, especially knowing how much his life was going to change. But then again, the way he saw it, his life had already changed the day met her, the only difference on not signing is she had the potential of walking out of his life forever.

Yeah, he could ask to see her from time to time, but it could be months and/or years
in-between each time, especially if she did go to Boston, and that's all providing she would even still want him to visit her as she got older, which the thought of never seeing her again...

He closed his eyes at that painful thought, then he shook his head a moment later, he didn't want to live with the 'what if's', so overriding his head and going with his heart on this one, he picked up the pen. But before he actually signed, and while it was above the dotted line, he looked over at Mr. Newman and asked softly, almost as if he was unsure. "The minute I sign, this is binding, right? No one can take her away?"

Understanding where Dr. Grissom was coming from, Mr. Newman gave the younger man a smile and nod. "Unless Social Services sees you as an unfit guardian and tries to challenge it in court, then yes, she'll be all yours."

Grissom nodded slightly as he turned his attention back to the document and signed on every line he had to, then once both documents were signed, one for him and the other for the lawyer, Mr. Newman held out his hand with a smile. "Welcome to parenthood, where your child will drive you crazy at times, but in time you'll think back on it and love every of minute of it."

Grissom chuckled with a nod as he shook the older man's hand. "Thank you, and not just for what you said."

Mr. Newman nodded as he removed his hand, then while placing his documents back inside his briefcase, he spoke again. "She has faith in you for caring for the most precious thing she had in her life, I hope she wasn't wrong in trusting you."

"I'll certainly try my best to make her proud."

"I'm sure you will." With the now closed briefcase in his hand, he finished. "If you have any other questions or need help with anything else, let me know."

"I will."

"Alright, I wish you good luck, Dr. Grissom."

Grissom gave Mr. Newman one more nod before the older man left the room. He took a couple of more seconds to himself before grabbing the legal document and making sure he had the letter, then walked out of the room and headed towards the break room again.

The minute he walked into the room, he cleared his throat and spoke. "You can ask me that last question again, Mrs. Martin."

Mrs. Martian turned in her seat and looked at Grissom before speaking. "What is your connection to Ms. Swanson?"

Grissom smiled proudly as he handed over the document to her. "Legal guardian."

Mrs. Martin took the document from him and looked it over a couple of times before handing it back to him and standing up with her purse in her hand. "You realize just because you have a legal document stating you're her guardian doesn't automatically make you a good one. There will have to be changes in your life, sacrifices will have to be made."

"And I'll do it, anything for her."

"I sure hope so, Dr. Grissom. I'll keep in touch."

Then without another word, Mrs. Martin walked out of the room, and once she was gone, Sheila spoke with a chuckle. "Dang, she is one tough cookie. She'll definitely be keeping a hawk-eye on you for at least the next few months."

Grissom looked over at his co-worker with a smile. "She's just doing her job, it's understandable."

After a nod, she paused before saying. "So, I guess congratulations are in order."

"Thank you." Then he sighed before continuing. "I just wish it didn't happen like this, she should have her mother here."

"I know, no child, especially one Ashley's age, should have to grow up without his or her mother, or father for that matter, but unfortunately we can't change that for her. The only thing you can do is make the best of what you got and go from there." She paused for a second before smiling again. "And, if you ever need someone to watch her, all you have to do is ask."

"I uh, I can't ask you to do that."

"Hey, if it's my babysitting skills your questioning, I'll have you know I'm the oldest to six siblings. In fact, my youngest brother and sister, who are twins, are Ashley's age, and I'm watching them all the time." When Grissom looked a little shocked that she would have quite a big age gap with her youngest siblings, she smirked/smiled as she finished. "I guess that just proves my parents still really love one another."

With the stress of the night's case and the big decision he just made in his life, laughing felt pretty good after that comment.

When they calmed down, Grissom nodded with a smile. "Ok, I'll put you on top of my sitter list."

As Sheila started to smile a little wider, movement in the doorway caught her eye, so she turned her head and showed that smile to the little girl that was now standing there with her stuffed puppy in her arms. "Hi Ashley."

The minute Grissom head her say that, he turned his head towards the door with a smile on his face before she spoke in a sleepy tone. "You weren't in your office."

Grissom walked up to her and picked her up, replying softly. "Sorry, sweetie. I had some things I needed to do, and I didn't want to disturb you. Did you sleep ok?"

"I guess." Grissom nodded in understanding as she continued. "I'm getting hungry."

"Ok, we'll fix that very soon."

She nodded before whispering something in his ear, so he pulled back with another smile. "Do you want me to go with you, or maybe Sheila can if you would like her to."

Ashley moved her body closer to Sheila. "Sheila, please."

Sheila walked up to the little girl and picked her up with a smile before asking. "So, what am I helping you with?"

The little girl shyly said she needed to use the restroom, so Sheila pulled back with a small chuckle, making the girl smile, before she finished. "Oh, well no problems there, let's go."

As she walked them to the doorway, Grissom spoke. "I'll meet you back here in a few minutes."

The girls nodded before walking out of the break room, then he walked out a few seconds later so he could go to his office.

When he got to his desk, he closed the few files that was open and stacked them neatly to the side before coming across the letter he received from the Las Vegas lab, something he hadn't thought of since the beginning of shift. He started to pick it up when his office phone rang, so his attention turned to that.

"Grissom." After listening to the other person talking, which was the ME, Grissom answered back. "Alright, I'll be right down, thanks for letting me know."

"You got it."

Once he hung up, he grabbed the Vegas latter, and with the other important papers he had in his hand, he placed them all in his briefcase, zipped it up, turned the lamp off, walked towards the couch and grabbed Ashley's bag before walking out of his office, shutting the door behind him.


He had just made it to the doorway of the morgue when he heard the end of Will's speech "...I'm so sorry I let you and your daughter down."

Grissom stepped into the room a second later when he heard him sniffle. "You didn't Will."

Will was startled when he heard the other man's voice, so he tired to wipe his tears off his cheeks before turning around to look at him. "But I did, and worst of all I let you down." He shook his head and looked down as he finished. "I couldn't..."

Grissom cuts him off as he placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Not all cases are solved right away."

Of course there was some that will more than likely never be solved, but Grissom didn't want to bring that one up.

He nodded as he looked at Grissom in the eyes with a strong tone. "I know that, but this one was suppose to be different. How come you and Ashley didn't get closure?" Then he turned around and looked at Rachel's body on the autopsy table with the sheet up to her neck. "Or Ms. Swanson having justice for what happened to her. The bastard who did this should be rotting in jail for taking her away from her daughter."

"I agree." Then with confidence he continued. "And eventually you'll get him there."

Will turned back around to face the to other man with an unsure look. "You really think so?"

Grissom gave him a smile with a nod. "Yes." He moves his hand to the younger man's cheek and cupped it before finishing. "You're a great CSI, Will. Don't let this case make you second guess yourself too much. Unfortunately, this won't be the only time a case ends up going like this. The only thing you can do is try your best, and you did that. I'm so proud of you, and anybody who saw you, would be too."

Every time he saw Will, he had his head buried in the case, he even believes the other man had skipped his break time to make sure he didn't miss anything.

Will couldn't help but smile at little at his praise. "Thank you, sir...I mean Grissom."

Grissom removed his hand from the younger man's cheek with a smile. "I'll let it go this time."

Will nodded, then cleared his throat as he held the case file more strongly in his hands. "And I'll do everything I can to make sure this one gets solved."

"I know that, but promise me something."

"What?"

"That you don't let it consume you. You should get a distraction or two, or this job will eventually eat at you."

Will nodded in understanding. "I promise."

"Ok." Then Grissom smiled again as he finished. "Now, why don't you update the boss, then get ready to leave and come have breakfast with me and Ashley."

"Oh, well, thanks for the offer, but I don't want to take over your time with her."

"That won't be a problem, we'll have plenty of time together."

Will didn't know exactly what that meant, but Grissom looked pretty happy about it, so he asked with a smile. "Really?"

"Really."

He smiled a little bigger with a nod. "Ok, you got it. I'll meet you in the break room." After Grissom nodded, Will turned back around to look at Rachel one more time. "Some day Ms. Swanson, I give you my word." Then he turned and walked out of the morgue, leaving Grissom alone with her.

Grissom looked at the dead woman with the sheet up to her neck for a few seconds in silence before he sighed and started speaking. "You did nothing wrong Rach, you just wanted to enjoy a night out, and I know you, you two must of had a spark that couldn't be denied, or else you wouldn't have brought him into your home, especially someone you just met, I honestly get it and I'm not going to judge you one bit for it. I'm just sorry it turned out to be someone like that, you didn't deserve this. Your daughter doesn't deserve to grow up without her mother." He ran his hand down his face before continuing after clearing his throat. "But I promise she's going to grow up knowing how much you love her, I'll make sure of that. I also promise I'll take care of her, just like you wanted, I won't let you down." He took one more pause before he finished. "And Will is right, someday you'll get your justice." He looked at her a few seconds more before turning and walking out of the morgue silently.


After walking out of the morgue, he went back up to the lab and headed towards the break room, and when he got there, not only did he see Ashley, Sheila and Will in there, but his boss and two other team members were there too, so he smiled and asked. "What's going on?"

Will smiled as he answered. "Well, Ashley asked Sheila if she wanted to join us for breakfast."

Sheila then continued with a smile while she still held Ashley in her arms. "And I asked everybody else. If that's ok with you?"

Before he could reply, Ashley asked. "Please, Mr. Grissom?"

Everybody chuckled while Grissom nodded with a bigger smile. "Sure, why not. Let's all go."

They all nodded with smiles before the group left the break room, and after the lower ranked team members were done in the locker room, they headed towards their favorite diner, where they were greeted very nicely and Ashley even got a kids menu with a few crayons to do some puzzles and a small picture to color, which she had fun doing both.


Once breakfast was done, which Grissom couldn't help but notice that the team took to Ashley really well, particularly, Sheila and Will, and visa versa, Grissom took her to the store so she could get some new clothes and a few books/toys/puzzles to keep her busy for a few days.

At the apartment complex where Ashley lived with her mom, the manger was nice enough to give them a week and a half before everything had to be cleaned out, and Grissom wanted to give her a little time before taking her back there.

Then when it was later that night, and as Grissom was tucking her in his bed, he asked. "So, did you have a good day?"

Ashley slowly nodded while shrugging her shoulders. "Thank you for the stuff."

Grissom smiled as he sat down on the side of the bed. "You're welcome, sweetheart."

There was a short pause before she looked down at her stuffed puppy. "I miss mommy."

Grissom placed his hand on her arm with a sigh and nod. "I know you do, and if I could bring her back to you I would. But remember, you are never without her, she'll always be right here (He moved his hand to her head), and right here (Then he moved his hand to her heart), and you know she'll always look after you from heaven."

Ashley nodded with a smile, then she asked as she lost the smile. "What's going to happen to me now?"

Grissom cleared his throat before asking. "Well, I was kind of hoping you could stay with me, and I'll look after you, keep you safe."

Her eyes got wide as she asked with a little excitement, the most she's had since finding out about her mom. "Really?"

Grissom chucked with a nod. "Really." After a pause, he asked. "So, do you approve?"

Even though technically him taking care of her was official, he at least wanted her to think she had some say in it.

She still looked excited for a few more seconds, then she looked down at her stuffed puppy again, remembering something. "Mommy said you were too busy to see us before."

Knowing why Rachel would tell her daughter that, Grissom nodded before lifting the little girl's chin up so her eyes could look in to his, then he spoke with a seriousness she had not heard from him before. "Not anymore, sweetie. I'm here for you, always. From this moment on it's me and you, so what do you say?"

There was another pause, like she was thinking about it, then she slowly nodded with a smile. "Ok."

Grissom chuckled as he leaned down and kissed her head before pulling back and looking into her brown eyes again. "I'm glad. Do you want me to read to you?"

She was about to reply, but she started to yawn, then once it was done, she shook her head and whispered. "Tired."

"OK, I'll be out in the living room, if you need me."

She nodded as she started to close her eyes, then while he stood up, he whispered. "Goodnight, Ashley."

"Goodnight, Dr. Grissom."

He watched her for a few minutes before turning and walking to the door to his room, then after shutting the light out he walked out, shutting the door until there was a crack so light from the hall could come through just in case she needed it.

When he walked back into the main area, he headed towards the kitchen and got himself a bottle of water before walking towards the desk he had in the spacious living room and opened his briefcase so he could grab the documents and file them in a safe place in the bottom drawer, then after he was done with that, the Vegas letter caught his attention, so he picked it up before sitting down in his office chair and looked over it again.

The pro and con list was still there, but there was something that trumped either list, and that was Ashley, and what would be best for her.

Even though she was young and didn't attend school yet, getting her use to a new place after just losing her mother didn't make him feel right. Plus, if she wanted to 'see' and 'talk' to her, it wasn't like they could fly or drive here every time. And one more plus on her side is his team members, particularly Sheila and Will, he enjoyed watching them interact today and it seemed like she really trusted them already, so he couldn't bear the thought of taking her away from that, not knowing how it would be in Vegas.

So with those thoughts in mind, he made his decision, and after looking at the contact information on the left corner of the letter, he dialed the director's number and waited until he got the answering machine, then he cleared his throat before speaking. "This is Dr. Gilbert Grissom, and I really appreciate your offer of me coming to Las Vegas to work in your lab. However, I'm sorry to inform you that I respectfully decline, this just isn't the right time for me to leave here. I wish you luck going forward, have a good day, bye."

He hung up a second later, and while maybe there will be times when he'll think of the 'what if's', in his heart he knew he was doing the right thing.

After he took a couple more of sips from his water, he called his mom, the most important person in his life so he could tell her that his life was going to change.


AN: Next chapter will have at significant time jump, and now that his life has been altered, will he still meet his true love? And will the case ever get solved? I guess you'll have to continue to read to find that out, all in due time. Please Review.