A Few Days in Paris Chapter 4
Sara woke with the sensation of something scratchy with a lovely aroma near her face. She opened her eyes to see her husband's face hovering over her. He smiled, blue eyes sparkling, and disheveled hair giving him the look of his young son. It took a moment to realize he held a cup of hot coffee and he had kissed her cheek.
"Everyone's asleep—I figured out the coffee maker," he said placing the cup on a shelf beside the bed. He cupped her face in his hands, caressing soft thumbs over her cheeks. "I love you, Sara. It's something I should say more often." He kissed her again, a slow, tender kiss, embracing her securely in his arms as he managed to slide into bed.
Sara was the one who noticed the slow movement of the bedroom door. She mumbled "Company" in Grissom's ear. He didn't remove his arms, or his lips from her neck, but a sigh escaped against her skin. Sara motioned for whoever was behind the door to enter—knowing it was usually at least two children.
Bizzy's dark hair and blue eyes appeared. "Can I come in?"
Hearing her voice, Grissom pulled one arm away from his wife and motioned for his daughter to join them in bed. In three strides, she was beside them, smiling as they made room for her between them.
"I'm the only one awake—other than you," She snuggled underneath covers with a smile that reflected her mother's. "Today's the Louvre—I'm so excited! It took forever for me to sleep and Eli and Will were snoring in thirty seconds! How can they sleep when we are in Paris?"
Her parents knew their daughter had prepared for this trip by reading a dozen books about Paris—novels, history, and travel books. She had found movies for everyone to watch; even Will had watched an old spy movie and part of a romantic comedy. She had practiced certain words and sentences in French with the precision of a translator and worked with everyone on polite phrases and basic requests.
Grissom chuckled, stumbling before he got out the correct question in French, "Votre chamber ne vous convient pas, Madame?" (Your room does not suit you, Madam?)
Bizzy immediately said, "Oui! C'est un appartement charmant! La chambre," she started giggling, "Elle est tres jolie. Le frères—le probleme!" (Yes! It is a charming apartment! The bedroom, it is very pretty. The brothers—the problem!)
By the time she finished, her mother and father were laughing. Grissom hugged her. "I'll sleep on the bottom bunk and you can sleep with your mom—will that be better?"
Bizzy shook her head. "I'm fine, Daddy. Really—the bed is fine. You and Mom deserve a room all to yourselves." She burrowed her head against his shoulder. "Except for early mornings."
Grissom shook the covers. "You two have had enough beauty sleep—it's time to get up, make enough noise to wake the others." His fingers tickled his daughter's ribs causing her to double up with laughter. She was young enough to enjoy this play, and with ease he circled her waist and lifted her from the bed. "Come along with me—we'll open shades, rattle around in the kitchen, and wake everyone up." He winked at Sara as he carried the child out the door; Bizzy's giggles fading as he closed the bedroom door.
In another bedroom, life continued to amaze Catherine—especially the life she observed with Gil Grissom's children on this first day in Paris. She lazily woke in a room with two sleeping children, smiling to no one as she looked at their rumbled beds and pillows covered with curly hair. She remembered Lindsay being the same age; she had not spent enough time enjoying her daughter's childhood, she thought. Hearing no other sounds but their breathing, she showered and dressed, found her guidebook and propped up in bed to read about famous landmarks and neighborhoods and department stores of Paris. Gradually, she thought she smelled coffee, but decided it must be coming from outside the open window. Only when she heard giggles did she decide to leave the bedroom.
Will and Bizzy were placing bowls and tumblers on the table. Eli was pouring cereal into each bowl; Gil and Sara were in the kitchen standing close together. As they turned to look at her—she knew—some mysterious signal between the two, a hand or simple movement that told nothing—she recognized the look of recent sex and an easy, sly grin crossed her face.
Pointedly, she looked at Sara. "Good morning, everyone! This place is very quiet—I heard nothing all night!" She stressed the last three words. "Looks like everyone slept well last night—my roommates are still sleeping." Her eyes went to Grissom and he grinned.
"Great, Catherine—just great." Sara smiled and dropped her head.
By the time cereal was in eight bowls—Eli had raised the cereal box and she nodded—Catherine had a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter to watch. Sara disappeared to wake the twins, Bizzy placed a banana beside every bowl, Will brought yogurt from the refrigerator, and Grissom sliced cheese and bread. Eli poured two kinds of juice into glasses—all accomplished with the ease of something done every day and by the time Ava and Annie arrived, still in their nightgowns, the others were sliding into chairs. Catherine was to see this repeated every morning with little change—different fruits, new cheeses and breads—but the children ate without complaints, cleaned their places by placing bowls and glasses in the kitchen, and left the table to dress for the day.
It was an incredible feat in Catherine's mind when she remembered the tangled conflicts with her own daughter—disagreements over what to wear, what to eat, so many things that did not matter in the long run. She decided it was the difference in having one child and having five.
~~For three days, along with other tourists, three adults and five children consumed Paris. Each morning they left the apartment with guidebooks and a planned agenda—or at least a destination of sights to see. Sara and Catherine had planned and reserved several activities, tours designed for children, long walks that included play time in Paris parks, and 'must see' places, monuments, several churches, even a cemetery. As much as possible, they walked in early mornings, rode the Metro later, ate delicious foods from small cafés and snacks from street venders. By the end of the day, their last stop was a neighborhood grocery for breakfast foods and a boulangerie for breads, pastries, and small jars of honey, jams, figs, and strawberries.
The first day, they had reserved a treasure hunt in the Louvre with an English speaking guide taking them through the history of masterpieces with a guidebook of clues specifically designed for children. The hunt for lions and eagles, full moons and setting suns, breads and bunches of grapes consumed everyone's attention as they walked through halls of ancient paintings, statues, engravings, and carved stones.
The Louvre's Egyptian collection of kings and queens, cats and baboons, captured their attention as the tour guide explained a culture of thousands of years. Renaissance sculptures of knights and their wives, the meaning of the lions and the dogs, fascinated everyone as they marveled at the realistic details of the carvings. The guide smiled and looked away as a small finger lightly touched the delicate tongue of a stone carved dog. She had to giggle with the others when the father placed his hand on the boy's shoulder causing the child to jump in guilt before laughing at being caught touching something just above a little white sign reminding visitors not to touch the objects.
A/N: Thanks for reading--leave a review, a comment, let us know you are reading. A little unplanned adventure coming up which includes Catherine.