AN: Thanks for the support, here is the next chapter. Things are about to take a turn.
Chapter 7: A long time coming
Two months later
September, 2013
As Grissom walked with a spring in his step into the UCLA building, his mind takes him back to earlier that morning.
Flashback
As Grissom was waking up, he felt his wife kissing his cheek, so he opened her eyes slowly and smiled at her. "Good morning, honey."
She cupped his bearded cheek with a smile. "Yes it is, babe."
He raised an eyebrow as he asked. "And is there a reason it's such a good morning to you?"
Her eyes started to sparkle as she asked. "Besides the fact that I get to wake up to you every morning?"
His heart bursts with pride/love at her words before replying with a chuckle. "Yeah."
She moved so she could set up in bed and her back was against the backboard before she looked down at her hands. "I think it is, but I wanted to wait until you got up to find out for sure."
Now looking at her with curiosity, he sat up in bed next her and asked. "What is it?"
She moved again, this time so she could open her nightstand and pull out a box before turning to him so he could see it, and when he realized it was a pregnancy test, he asked with wide-eyes as his heart started to race in a good way. "Honey? Is it really possible now?"
She nodded with a smile slowly growing. "Yes, I really think so, so..."
He cuts her off with his eyes sparkling. "What are you waiting for? I don't think I could wait all day, if that's what you're thinking."
She chuckled as she got out of bed. "Neither could I, I just wanted to make sure you're ready, I wanted to do this with you this time."
"Well, I'm more than ready."
When she returned to the bedroom a few moments later, he was standing up in the middle of the room, so she walked to him before they wrapped their arms around one another and waited, then once it as time to check, she took his hand in hers before they walked back to the bathroom together and headed for the counter.
Once they got there, she turned her body so she was facing him and she shook her head, whispering. "I can't look."
He chuckled softly before he wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in return. "It's ok, I'll do it honey."
"Thank you."
He kissed her forehead before taking a breath, then he looked down at the test, his smile getting a little wider each second he was looking at it. "Well dear, I think you'll like the result."
She gasped before she turned around and looked down at it, seeing the positive sign before they looked at one another with tears in their eyes as she cupped his cheek. "Another little one, babe."
He nodded while filling up with emotion. "I know, another little one, I'm so happy right now. I love you so much."
"I love you too."
They kissed tenderly a few times before they hugged, releasing their emotions.
When they pulled back, he took her hand and walked them back into the bedroom, and after he stopped them in the middle of the room, he slowly lifted his hand to cup her cheek, his eyes showing passion each second, making her shiver in a good way, but before they could get anywhere, their son knocked the door. "Mommy, daddy, hungy, pease."
They chuckled as they placed their foreheads together, then she whispered as she ran her hand up and down his back. "Let's celebrate tonight."
"You got it."
He pulled back, and after kissing softly on the lips, Sara headed towards the door to the bedroom while Grissom headed for the dresser so he could get ready of the day, which he'll be in a better mood than he thought possible.
End of Flashback
As he got closer to his classroom, he stopped walking and the smile disappeared from his face and shock was replaced when he saw an 18 year old girl with a familiar face, walking in his direction. In fact her face looked so familiar that if the other face that looked like her were the same age they could have passed as twins, outside of the color of their eyes, so he cleared his throat and started to walk up to her. "Excuse me, Ms., but do you know a woman by the name of Carly Hughes?"
The 18 year old looked at him with curiosity as she asked. "Why?"
He gave her a slight smile as he replied. "Because you look very similar to her."
Still with curiosity, she continued to ask the questions. "And how do you know this?"
Understanding where she was coming from, he smiled as he answered her next question. "I'm Gilbert Grissom, I use to be..."
She cuts him off with a surprised look. "To be her boss in Vegas, the bugman. Well, to be more accurate, the entomologist."
Proving that she at least knew Carly, he nodded with a chuckle. "Yes, so she's talked about me with you?"
The young woman nodded with a smile. "She has, she told me you were one of her favorite bosses, and the more she told me about how much she enjoyed your teaching, only made me wish I had a teacher like you."
She smirked that last part, he chuckled again before asking. "Well, are you interested in biology and/or entomology?"
She nodded with a smile before she sighed. "But, by the time I registered for my classes the most popular ones were taken." Then she smiled again. "But now that I know it is the 'Dr. Grissom,' I could see why."
Feeling a little shy being praised like that, he did smile shyly then he cleared his throat before continuing. "I'll tell you what, if you're that interested, I'll make sure to save you a spot for next semester."
She then looked shocked. "You can do that?"
"Well, technically no, but I can always make an exception for an eager student who is really interested in the subject, we could always use more of those."
There was a pause before she continued, very appreciative of what he was willing to do. "Wow, uh, Thank you Dr. Grissom."
"You're welcome, Ms..."
He trailed off, and getting the hint, she filled in the blank for him. "Courtney Hughes-Jennings. And to answer your first question, I'm uh, I'm her niece." After another nod in understanding Courtney continued as she pulled a picture out of her purse and handed it to him. "Which she isn't the only one I look like."
Grissom took the picture from her and looked at the three women in it, Carly, Courtney, and who he assumed was Carly's sister/Courtney's mom, and in that moment he could say forget twins, they could have passed as triplets.
"Wow, that's amazing."
Courtney nodded as she moved a piece of her hair behind her ear as she spoke. "Yeah, our family say we look a lot like my Great-Grandma." As he handed the picture back to her, she spoke. "Well, I better go, but it was nice meeting you."
"You too."
After one more nod, Courtney started walking away, and after a moments pause, Grissom started walking in his direction, still a little shocked on what he had discovered.
End of Day Shift
As Sara was taking her messenger bag out of her locker, Carly walked into the room. They smiled at one another before Carly spoke. "Hey Sara, I'm glad I caught you before you left. I was wondering if we can reschedule our dinner from Saturday to Sunday."
"Sure, that won't be a problem."
Carly nodded with a smile. "Alright, thanks."
After Sara gave her one more nod, she continued. "I'll see tomorrow."
"Yeah, have a good evening/night."
"You too, and be safe."
With one more shared smile between them, Sara walked out of the room, and right before Carly had opened her locker, her phone vibrates in her pocket, so she takes it out and checks the message.
'If you're in the building, please come to my office. Brett'
Even though she was purposely avoiding him for months now, she couldn't help but listen to the text, so she slips her phone back in her pocket before she walked out of the room and headed towards Brett's office, which was on the second floor.
When she made it there, the door was opened and she stopped in the doorway, seeing Brett sitting in his office chair turning his wedding ring around his finger, making her heart pang like never before, but before she got lost in her emotions, she cleared her throat and said. "How can I help you?"
He looked up from his ring, and as he stood up, he asked softly. "Can you come in please, and shut the door?"
She did what he had asked, after she had closed the door, she turned to him, which he was now standing in front of his desk holding out a yellow manila envelope, so with curiosity she walked towards him before taking the envelope from him and started to take the document out, but she didn't need to pull it out too far to see what it was, and she gasped with tears in her eyes as she looked at him. "You're officially divorced?"
He nodded before they both looked down at his wedding ring and he slipped it off his finger before placing it on his desk, and not even a second later, she dropped the papers and took the steps needed towards him and they held on to one another like they were each other's only lifeline as she sobbed while he ran his hand up and down her back with tears in his eyes, finally feeling free, and alive again after so long.
When she finally calmed down, but had not pulled back from his arms yet, she whispered. "I thought when the boys turned 18 seven months ago, you changed your..."
He cuts her off and held her tighter. "No! I just couldn't ask you to wait, it needed it to be completely final."
She sniffled before smirking a little. "What do you think I've been doing for the last 18 years?"
He closed his eyes and shook his head, feeling her pain. "I didn't ask you to do that. Why would you do that Carly, you could of been married, had a fam..."
She cuts him off as she pulled back a little so she could cup his cheek with tears in her eyes. "You know why."
He closed his eyes again, this time at the feel of her touch, and after taking a breath, he opened his eyes as he spoke. "I've been sleeping in the guest bedroom for years, we hadn't..."
Carly cuts him off while shaking her head. "I don't need to know..."
He cuts her off. "Please, let me finish." She nodded as he continued. "We hadn't...in god only knows how long. It became more of a game for her, she wanted to see if I would slip up, to see if I would..."
He trialed off and she asked. "Which you didn't?"
He shook his head and cupped her cheek this time. "And you know why I wouldn't, couldn't."
She nodded before she got back into his arms as he held her again.
After a moment or two, he cleared his throat before speaking again. "Before things go any further. I have to ask, do you or did you ever resent my boys for the way things were?"
She pulled back immediately, and shook her instantly before looking at him with tears in her eyes again. "How could I do that? They were innocent in all of this, she was going to keep them away from you, you were trying to be a good father, you were trying to protect them."
He cupped her cheek again, making her close her eyes at the sensation as he replied softly. "And don't forget I was protecting you too. She could have destroyed your career, and I was not going to let that happen, you had so much promise, which you proved me right."
She smiled shyly before whispering. "That's because I had a good teacher/mentor/boss."
He smiled with his blue eyes sparkling, but he smirked. "I can't take all the credit on this one, from what I hear you had some pretty good bosses in Vegas, which included the one and only, Dr. Gilbert Grissom."
"Yeah, I did, and he was amazing, Nick too, I can't deny any of that, but you are the one that got me interested in the beginning." He sighed as he brought her close so their foreheads are touching, and she whispered with a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry. If I wouldn't have moved here in the first place, or even met you, you wouldn't have been going..."
He cuts her off again as they pulled back. "Hey, you're the reason I got through the years, and I would never take back the day I met you."
She smiled a little as she shook her head. "Me neither, you changed my life."
As they were looking deep in each other's eyes, they started to lean forward, but before they could kiss, he pulled back and whispered. "Not here."
She nodded in agreement before speaking. "Ok, then let's go to my place."
"What, now? About your shift?"
"I'll say that I'm not feeling well." Before he spoke, she continued. "I'll make my shift up on days." She took a breath before she finished as she cupped his cheek. "I waited for this moment for 18 years, I don't think I can wait any longer."
He took a breath and whispered sincerely. "Are you sure now is the right time?"
There was no hesitation. "Absolutely."
"Ok, I'll meet you there."
She nodded, and after a long pause, she turned around to walk towards the door, but stopped about halfway before looking back at him and said. "Since we are being honest here, there is something you should know. While I was never nowhere near the alter, there were a few relation..."
He cuts her off with a smile as he walked up to her. "Carly, I never expected you to stay single all this time.
It's ok, and frankly I'm glad you didn't miss out on that part of life." He cupped her cheek again as he whispered with emotion. "I'm glad you found a little happiness, that's all I wanted for you, still want for you, so if you still think I'm the right man..."
Before he could continue, she cuts him off one more time. "You are. The only thing those guys didn't take, or couldn't take, was my heart. It was already taken a long time ago."
Seeing the truth and honesty in her eyes, made his heart burst even more than it already was, and from that moment on he vowed to do everything in his power to make her happy. He had a lot of years to make up for, and he was intending to do just that.
Passion started to come into their eyes, and they knew they had to leave now or things could get out of control in a hurry, so she stepped back and whispered. "I'll see you at my place."
He nodded with a smile before she turned and walked out of the room, both ready for their time to happen, their time that had been denied for so long.
Later that evening
After the Grissom family had their dinner, and while Sara was doing the dishes, Grissom was holding his son at the table while the younger one was putting a puzzle together. There was a few moments of silence between the grown-ups before Sara spoke. "Oh before I forget, Carly asked if we could change our dinner to Sunday instead of the Saturday that we agreed upon last week."
Grissom nodded, replying that was fine, then with Carly being mentioned it reminded him of earlier, so he asked as he looked at his wife. "And speaking of Carly, did you know she had another niece?"
Sara looked over at her husband again. "How do you know that?"
"I met her today at the college, and I got to tell you, outside of her eyes, she looks almost identical to her, along with Carly's older sister."
Sara paused for a second, reeling over the fact that Carly had an 18 year old niece, before she shook her head and replied. "I can't say that I remember her ever mentioning another niece, but she has been known to keep her family pretty tight lipped, which to be fair, it isn't like she knows everything about our families."
Grissom did admit she did have a point, so he nodded. "True, it just shocked me is all."
Sara nodded in understanding, and as she walked towards the table so she could sit down across from her boys, she continued. "I'm sure now that she's here we would formally meet soon."
"Yeah, I'm sure of that too. It's one thing to 'hide' a family member when they aren't around, but it's another to do that when they are in the same city where we are bound to run into her at anytime."
After one more nod and a short pause, Sara commented. "You remember there was always at least one day she requested off, no matter what, and she goes up to Seattle Washington, which she did every time she had other days off too, even continuing to do it the last three years now, so..."
Sara trailed and Grissom continued. "I can see where you're going, and maybe you're right." He then sighed as he looked down at his son, who was almost done putting the puzzle together. "But I guess until you ask questions..."
She cuts him off with a chuckle. "Excuse me, 'me' ask questions? You are the one that brought this whole conversation up, so I know you're curious too."
He smirked. "Yeah, but you're better at asking those personal questions, and I know it's an itch you want scratching now."
She pursed her lips before giving him a short nod, indicating he was one, right, and two, once again proved how much he knew her, then she cleared her throat, and spoke softly, changing the subject. "And speaking of scratching an itch, I believe there is a certain celebration you promised me?"
Their eyes started to fill up with passion, making him clear his throat before speaking with a smile. "Alright little man, bath then bed time for you."
As William placed the last puzzle piece in, he turned his head to look up at his father with bright blue eyes. "And story time?"
Grissom looked at his son with the same bright blue eyes with a smile. "Sure, there will always be time for a story."
After Grissom stood up with his son in his arms, William kissed his mother before Grissom started walking them out of the room before heading upstairs while Sara picked up the puzzle and other toys around the living room and put them up before making sure the doors and windows were locked and headed upstairs herself, getting ready for the evening with her husband, one she was very much looking forward to and had been waiting all day for.
AN: Hope it was ok. Find out what gets revealed next. Thanks for reading and please review.
