AN: Warning: A questionable word. Thanks for the reviews, here is the next chapter.
Chapter 9: 5 months later
It had been five months since Sara and Grissom had renewed their vows, and they've enjoyed every second. The only thing they were sad about was not having a little one to share their love with yet, but neither one has given up that someday they'll be somebody's parents.
Now they were enjoying a wonderful dinner when Grissom's phone starts ringing from the kitchen counter, so he smiled at his wife and got up from his chair before walking over to it and picking it up before answering it, and while he was talking to the person on the other line, Sara's attention was split between finishing her meal and what her husband was saying.
By the time he had finished the conversation her full attention went back to her meal, knowing that phone call hadn't been what she thought, or more liked hoped it was. She mentally shook it off as she asked. "What was that about?"
He replied to her after he had sat back down at the table. "That was the Dean, he wanted me to fill in for another teacher next week."
Even though he was still teaching part-time he was enjoying it very much, and despite how long it has been since he taught in a classroom, or more like felt, he didn't miss a step.
He watched her nod her head as she did a little sigh, then he reaches for her hand and places his hand on top of hers. "I know who you wished it was, and I promise you that call will come."
She shook her head as she looked at him. "Griss I..."
Grissom cuts her off as he squeezed her hand. "I know it's hurting to wait, believe me I do. But I have the highest hopes that it will happen for us, we will become parents."
Sara started to sniffle, not able to keep her emotions inside, before asking. "How can you be this sure?"
Grissom gets up from his seat, still holding on to her hand, and kneeled down, cringing as his bones popped, which Sara gave him a concerned look, but he waved it off before speaking again. "Because if I gave up any hope of any kind a long time ago, I wouldn't be where I am right now."
She sniffled again, but smirked. "Which is where?"
He gave her a little smile as he brought her hand to his mouth, and gave it a kiss before answering. "Married to the most beautiful, amazing, loving woman on the planet." As she shyly looked at their hands, he continued. "Don't give up hope now."
She cleared her throat as she cupped his cheek before asking with determination in her eyes. "Have you ever known me to give up on anything?"
He chuckled as he stood up, cringing in the process again while her hand slipped from his cheek, before he cupped her cheek. "You? Never, and I got to tell you I'm forever thankful for that."
She chuckled in return, knowing he was saying that because she never gave up on him, and she never would have because he was the love of her life.
Her thoughts get interrupted when his lips touched hers, but before anything more could come out of it, her phone rings, interrupting their moment.
They pull back a few seconds later, then she said excuse me before getting up and walking to the kitchen counter so she could answer her phone as Grissom sat back down in his spot at the table.
"Hi Catherine...Ok." Sara then chuckled before asking. "Need to be out of the lab, huh? Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes...Bye."
After she hung up she placed her phone in her pocket before looking at Grissom, who had his eyebrow raised, wondering what was going on, so she smiled a little before speaking. "Catherine wants to tag along on a case for old times sake, which I can't blame her on that."
Being the director of the lab left her pretty busy, so very rarely did she actually get to work a case outside of the lab, so if there was a small chance to work one, she wanted to take it.
Grissom chuckled with a nod, understanding exactly how she felt, as Sara walked up to him to cup his cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Ok, be safe."
"Always."
She leaned down and kissed him softly before pulling back. "Love you."
"Love you too."
She removed her hand and was going to her side of table to take care of her empty plate, but Grissom spoke. "I'll take care of that, it's ok."
She gave him an appreciated smile before walking to the living room so she could grab her shoulder bag and keys before walking out of the house and shutting the door behind her.
Once Sara had picked up Catherine and changed to the work vehicle, the women were headed for the scene, and as Sara was driving, Catherine's phone vibrated, indicating that she had gotten a text message, so she pulled her phone out of her pocket and smiled at the words on the screen.
'Thinking about you beautiful, be safe at work tonight and talk to you in the morning, goodnight.'
After she replied to the text, she placed her phone back into her pocket, and when she looked up with her eyes still beaming, Sara spoke as she stopped the vehicle at a stop light. "Ok, who is he?"
She quickly looks at the younger woman and replied. "What, I don't..."
Sara cuts her off with a smile as she started driving again. "Come on Catherine, you only get that look when you are getting a text/call from a man, and come to think about it, it's been happening for months now, so who is he?"
Catherine cleared her throat before replying. "It's somebody I really care about."
Sara shook her head with a smile as she asked. "And that's all I'm getting, aren't I?"
"For now."
Sara does a good natured sigh as she nodded in understanding. "Alright I'll let it go, but I do want to say that I hope who ever is making you smile like that works out for you, you deserve all the happiness in the world."
As much as Sara would have loved to see Nick and Catherine finally get their shot, she just wanted to see her friend happy, and if she was with this mysterious person then she'll be happy for her.
Catherine smiled with a nod. "Thank you, Sara."
Sara smiled in return, then as she turned on the radio, Catherine looked out her window and thoughts of the night that changed her life came to her, it felt like it just happened yesterday.
Flashback
5 months earlier
(Hours after Sara and Grissom's ceremony ended)
Once Catherine made it home with the girls, they changed out of their formal ware and put on a movie in Catherine's room so they could all snuggle together, but they didn't get to finish because they had fallen asleep.
Catherine was woken up shortly after when there was a knock on the door. She looked over at her clock and noticed she still could have slept another 2 hours before she had to get up and get ready for work, so she hoped that whoever was waking her up was worth it.
After another knock took her out of her thoughts, she sighed before carefully getting out of the bed so she wouldn't wake the sleeping girls, then she grabbed her robe and put it over her sleeping clothes, which was a tank top and shorts, and tied it as she was walking out of the room and into the living room.
When she made it to the front door, she softly asked. "Who is it?"
"Cath, it's me."
Shocked at the sound of the voice that also made her heart speed up, she opened the door and said. "Nick, what are..."
He cuts her off quickly. "It should have been with you."
She looked at him with confusion. "What?"
He shook his head with a smile. "Hold on, can I come in first?"
She smiled in return as she turned to her side to let him, then once he stepped in the house, she shut the door and turned around as he turned toward her so they were now face to face with little space between them that was making both their hearts speed up. He then spoke softly while looking into her blue eyes. "A few weeks ago I was on a date with this amazing, beautiful woman..."
Catherine cuts him off as she looked down. "Nick I..."
He then cuts her off as he cupped her cheek this time. "And we were watching this beautiful sunset on Grissom's boat, but deep down I felt something was missing, like I shouldn't have been spending this magical moment with her, and today I remembered why I felt that way, why I've always felt that something was missing when I was on dates with other women." He used his other hand to move her chin up so she was looking at him again as he finished. "It was because I'm suppose to be sharing that moment with you. Every romantic moment I shared with someone else, should have been with you."
Catherine started to have tears in her eyes. "Nick do..."
He cuts her off again. "Don't what? Finally say something that needs to be said, that should have been said years ago. I don't want to do our dance any more, I'm tired of hiding how I feel."
She removed his hands from her face, then spoke as she walked toward her mantle that had pictures on it. "Things have changed through the years."
Walked up behind her as he whispered. "Yeah they have, you're right about that, but I don't by that your feelings have."
He had a strong feeling she felt the same way he had.
She closed her eyes with her back still toward him. "Of course not, but I'm..."
He cuts her off again as he placed his hands on her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Still the most gorgeous thing to walk in a room, even in this moment."
She half chuckled and sobbed as she shook her head. "I don't even have make-up on."
He turned her around so he could look into her eyes, making her heart speed up again as he was looking at her with the softest look she has ever seen from any man, then he cupped her cheek again. "I can still look at you for days like this."
She shook her head with a chuckle and a few sniffles. "You're crazy."
He smiled back. "Maybe, but I am crazy about you, I have been for years."
While looking into his eyes, she finally admitted what she's been holding back for years. "Me too, Nicky, for a very long time, longer than I care to admit."
As they were showing each other with their eyes the true depth of their feelings, they breathed a sigh of relief that it was finally out there.
After a few seconds though, she cleared her throat and spoke softly. "But how will we make this work, our lives are in different places now."
Not ready to give up on them now that they were going in the direction he wanted, he replied. "We'll figure it out, because I'm not giving up on this now, not when we've come this close."
She nodded with another smile. "Me neither."
He gave her another smile before leaning his forehead toward hers before they closed their eyes, enjoying the closeness.
A few more seconds went by in silence before she heard him whisper. "Damn."
"What?"
He pulls back just a little so he could look into her eyes as he replied with a glint in his eyes. "You don't know how much I want to kiss you right now."
She bet she could guess because she was feeling the same, but they both knew that once they got started it would be hard to stop, and despite how they felt about Ally, they couldn't do that to her.
She cupped his cheek this time as she replied with a smile on her face. "I know, but we can't. I don't want to start us while you are with someone else."
He nodded in understanding, then leaned toward her forehead and kissed it softly before pulling back, and after a few more seconds of looking at each other, he sighed but didn't have to say anything because Catherine nodded back before walking him to the front door, knowing it was time for him to leave.
After the door was opened, he stepped out, then he turned around to look at her again. "I didn't sleep with her, I couldn't. Not after my heart was near the one it belonged to." Catherine just smiled at his words, which he smiled back before taking her hand and kissing the top of before speaking again. "Be safe at work tonight, and I'll call you sometime tomorrow."
"Ok, have a safe flight."
"I'll make sure if it, nothing is stopping us now."
They smiled at one another one more time before he released her hand and turned around so he could walk to his vehicle, feeling the distance between them grow.
Once he was out of sight, she shuts the door and turns her back so it could touch it, then she sighed softly. She couldn't believe that after all these years, she'll finally be with the man that's held her heart for so long.
Her feelings for other men in the past, including Warrick and Vartann, were true and real at the time, but with Nick it felt a little different. Their feelings toward one another slowly built through the years until she finally realized that she was in love with him, and she thought she had missed the chance of being with him. Now it looked like things were finally going in the right direction;
It also looked like Sara and Grissom weren't the only ones who were starting a new beginning.
After one more sigh, Catherine moved from the door to head toward the kitchen for some coffee, knowing there was no way she was going to sleep now, so she might as well start her caffeine fix a little earlier tonight.
End of Flashback
Now after five months of secretly being with Nick, despite them living in different states, things have been better than Catherine could have imagined because while he was a good friend, he was even a better boyfriend, and it was more fun being around him now, especially now that they could kiss each other.
Before her thoughts could take her toward their first kiss, it gets interrupted when Sara's voice was heard. "We are here."
Catherine losses her smile from thinking about her time with Nick as she looked at their crime scene from her window, then cleared her throat as she looked at Sara. "Right." But they weren't moving because Sara was looking at her with a smile, making Catherine ask. "What?"
"Thinking about your man just now?"
Catherine smiled as she unbuckled her seat belt. "Maybe, but now it's time to change our focus."
Sara nodded in understanding as she unbuckled her seat belt. "I hear you, let's get started."
After they got out of the vehicle, they grabbed their kits before walking toward the apartment building, meeting the lead detective while they walked in the apartment building.
They had barley made it into the living room of the apartment when they heard a noise in one of the rooms. The women looked at one another before dropping their kits and pulling out their guns, then they carefully walked through the room, making sure they didn't ruin the crime scene, before walking down the short hall to the bedroom door that was closed.
They stopped to the side and looked at each other, silently communicating, before Catherine opened the door and Sara walked in the room, which looked like it belonged to a little girl.
The walls were pink with posters of her favorite Disney princess, the room also had a tea set in the corner, a child's size bed with Disney princess blankets, a toy box, and a medium sized bookshelf filled with books.
When Sara and Catherine saw the closed closet, which was where they thought the sound came from, Sara took the lead while Catherine stayed back.
They stopped after a few steps, then while Sara was to the side a little so Catherine could have a clear shot if she needed it, she took the handle and opened quickly before both of them said freeze. but they immediately moved their guns down when they noticed it was a scared little girl huddled in the corner while holding her stuffed puppy to her princess pajama covered chest.
Sara immediately took action as Catherine walked out of the room with her phone calling for an ambulance just in case she needed to be checked out.
Sara bent down as she put her gun back at her hip. "It's ok honey, we work with the police, we are the good guys."
The little girl, who couldn't have been much older than six, started to whimper. "I'm scared, I want my mommy."
Figuring the dead woman that was in the living room was her mom, she couldn't lie and tell her that she'll take her to her, so she tried to be as reassuring as possible.
"I know your scared, but I won't let anything happen to you, I'll keep you safe."
The little girl sniffled while asking. "You promise?"
Sara gave her a little smile and nodded. "I promise."
Satisfied with that answer and feeling like she could trust Sara, the little girl with short brown hair and brown eyes quickly moved forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Sara, like she was her only lifeline, while still holding on to her stuffed puppy.
Sara was a little startled at first, but relaxed a few seconds later so she wouldn't frighten her, then wrapped her arms around her while silently promising this precious little thing that she won't rest until she figured out why her mother was killed that resulted in a life altering direction for this little girl.
AN: Find out what happens next. Please review.
