"Do you trust me?" asked Sara, grinning fondly and holding up the razor. Grissom laughed at her and replied,

"Intimately," reaching out and running his hand down the length of her arm.

"Hold still then," she warned before she began the painstaking task of removing the beard he insisted on growing every time he was away from her. "Why do you do this again?" she asked as she finished working on one side of his face and moved to the other.

"Because," he replied, his eyes closed with pleasure as her hand cradled the now smooth side of his face, "I love it when you do this." Sara laughed as she finished her task, and stood back so he could wash off the rest of the shaving cream.

"Is it time to go yet?" she asked, sitting on the floor in the doorway of the closet as she pulled on her socks.

"No, another fifteen minutes or so," he replied, drying his hands and face. "Why?"

"I'm starving," she grumbled, searching for her tennis shoes. He came into the closet; she tickled his bare foot as he stepped around her, he grabbed the nearest t-shirt and tossed it at her, then ducked behind the door before she could get him back.

"Gil, look," she said suddenly.

"Not falling for that one dear," he replied, buttoning his shirt.

"No, seriously! It's Juliet, and Hank." Grissom stuck his head cautiously around the door; Sara gave him a smile of truce, and held out her hand. He took it and slipped around the door to look in the direction she was staring. Hank was walking in circles in the bedroom, trying to look at the kitten perched on his back over his shoulder blades. Juliet rode there like a queen, staring back at the dog she clearly thought she owned. With a sigh Hank leapt onto the bed and curled up, Juliet lay across his paws and settled for a nap.

"Ok then," remarked Grissom, shocked. Sara shook her head and donned her jacket.

"Let's go, we'll be late," she urged.

...

Catherine had made sure her team all left at eight o'clock on the dot; they all bolted home for showers and clean clothes before congregating once more at their supervisor's house. When Gil and Sara pulled up on Catherine's street they saw that they were the last to arrive. Sara parked behind Nick's car and turned off the engine.

"Before we go in there, I should warn you about something," she said, suddenly thinking back.

"What?"

"Remember what I told you about Hodges mouth running away from him? About you and Julia and Heather?"

"Yes," he said, bemused.

"Well, when he left I accidentally told Catherine that you and I have great sex," she mumbled, embarrassed at the memory.

"You did what?" he stared at her, shocked.

"It was an accident," she groaned. "I was so horrified and Catherine's face was absolutely thunderstruck and when he left I just looked at her and spoke without thinking. It was awful," she admitted. Grissom began to laugh, reaching over and running his fingers through her hair. "So," concluded Sara, "just beware she might start on the subject."

"My god, isn't there anyone here who doesn't think we have a healthy relationship?" Sara giggled.

"Almost makes me want to tell them," she replied, resting her hand over her belly. He raised an eyebrow. "Almost," she said, "but just to alleviate the rumours. I don't really want to tell anyone. I'd love to see the look on their faces though."

"Yeah, me too," he laughed. He leaned over to kiss her gently, caressing the side of her face.

"Are you ready for this?" she teased as they got out of the car. Sara checked her sweater was covering her torso properly, feeling slightly paranoid and knowing she had no reason to feel that way; she was hardly showing, a loose shirt would be enough. Shaking her head she linked her fingers with Grissom's and they walked up to the front door. Waiting for Catherine to answer, he leaned closer and whispered in her ear,

"Do you think she's going to interrogate me? Her last email made it clear she's still pissed we got married without telling her." Sara turned to look at him, grinning.

"Oh yeah," she nodded, "she hasn't changed a bit." Grissom was just going to kiss her again when the door swung open, revealing a cheerful Nick.

"Grissom, welcome back man," he said, waving them inside.

"Gil," said an excited voice, a second before a mass of strawberry blonde hair flew into his face and Catherine seized him in a hug. She pulled back, only to hug him again. "How could you run off and get married and not tell us after all these years? We have to find out from the pair of you months after the fact, and all we get is an email full of rainforest bug photos, with one at the end of it where you two are standing on a cliff, looking over the ocean as the sun sets, you're putting a ring on Sara's finger, and the caption underneath just says 'our wedding.'" She paused for breath.

"Hello Catherine," he said. Everyone burst out laughing.

"No details, no telling us what you were doing, no news, no nothing," she exploded, trying to hide her smile.

"We were getting married," he said, "it seemed pretty obvious to me." Nick laughed and shook his head.

"Let's eat," said Brass, "I'm starved." He reached for Grissom's hand and shook it, as did Doc. They all converged in the kitchen, crowding around the table which was crammed with food, paper plates and drink. Sara poured herself some orange juice and filled a plate with fruit and a bagel then claimed a spot on the couch next to Greg, elbowing him until he moved over and created space for her. He flicked a blueberry at her; she snagged it out of the air and ate it with a laugh.

"Now do you believe I'm married?" she asked him.

"Never doubted you; just had to tease a little," he returned, his mouth full of watermelon. Sara looked over at her other half; he was seated with Ray, Doc, Brass and Catherine, who was still grinning. He glanced over at Sara; she winked, and signed,

'I told you she hasn't changed.' He gave her a look of agreement.

"Hey make some space you two," said Nick, walking over with a plate piled high and a small paper gift bag. He settled on Sara's other side and handed her the bag.

"What's this?" she asked, pulling out a book wrapped in tissue paper. "A visitor's guide to New England."

"I figured you would need something to do while Grissom's teaching."

"Thanks," she smiled at him

"So Grissom," said Greg, swallowing a mouthful of strawberry, "I have to tell you that it's mean to let us have Sara back and then suddenly spirit her away again to the other side of the country." Grissom laughed as Sara elbowed her best friend.

"Excuse me, nobody tells me where I can I can't go," she informed him.

"Too right," Grissom murmured under his breath; only Brass and Doc heard him, though Sara read it in his eyes and raised her eyebrow almost imperceptibly in reply as Brass and Doc covered smiles.

"Give us some details Gil," said Catherine, "I'd like to know where the two of you are vanishing off to." Sara gave him a knowing look as he launched into an explanation of what they were doing until the end of the year, leaving out a few details of course.

"What are you doing with Hank?" asked Greg.

"Hank?" choked Nick, thinking of the paramedic.

"He's coming with us," said Sara, trying not to laugh at the expression on her friend's face.

"Hank is a dog Nick," said Greg, amused.

"I have a question," said Doc, looking at Grissom and then Sara. "What happened to your hands and arms?" Sara glanced at the light bandaging they were both still wearing on their hands and lower arms, and laughed at the memory.

"That was Juliet," she answered, reaching for her glass of orange juice.

"Sara found two abandoned kittens while I was in Peru," said Grissom. "And Juliet and Hank wind each other up."

"Yesterday they knocked over a glass bottle of lemonade and we ended up having to bath Juliet," continued Sara.
"Which she didn't really like," concluded Grissom. The room filled with the sound of rich laughter.

"What's the other kitten called?" asked Ray.

"Romeo," said Sara.

"That figures," grinned Catherine, looking pointedly at Grissom. "They're going with you too?"

"Definitely," assured Sara. Nick and Greg vanished back into the kitchen for more food; Sara watched Grissom talk with Catherine and Ray about the lab, noting the ease with which he conversed; he had changed greatly since leaving the lab and since their marriage. He was still her mysterious, encyclopaedic Bugman, but his communication skills, and admittedly hers too, had improved dramatically. She smiled to herself as she thought about how far they had both come since they had made their final commitment. In Greg's absence, Sara shifted into the corner of the couch, putting her back into corner made by the back and the arm and crossing her legs in front of her. She sighed with relief as the ache in her neck and shoulders eased. Greg dropped down next to her with another plateful of food; he handed her a refilled glass of orange juice and a chocolate covered strawberry.

"A parting gift, my dear lady," he said, mock solemnly. Sara laughed and thanked him.

"Sara, I have a question," said Catherine, when a lull in conversation stuck a while later. Sara looked at her, questioning. "Were you ever planning on telling us about tonight?"

"What about tonight?" she asked, her eyes flying to her husband's. His eyes were as confused as hers.

"You're new title?" Sara looked at Greg, who shook his head, and whispered,

"I didn't tell her," for Sara's ears only.

"How did you find out?" asked Sara, resigned.

"I'm friends with your program advisor; she connected the dots that you and I work together a few weeks ago."

"Oh."

"I know you passed, but I don't know what you were studying." Sara tucked her hair behind her ear with an internal sigh. They were all staring at her, expectant.

"Forensic Psychology." Nick laughed; Brass covered a smile by taking a sip of beer. Sara glared at them.

"And why aren't we invited to the ceremony?" demanded Catherine lightly, a mischievous grin on her face.

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it," muttered Sara, thinking she could have saved her troubles.

"What award are you receiving?" asked Ray, curious. Sara closed her eyes in frustration, wishing she could just rewind the conversation a few minutes and distract Catherine with something else.

"She's getting a PhD in Forensic Psychology from UNLV," supplied Greg.

"Wow, that's crazy," said Nick, "how'd you manage that?"

"I studied, a lot," said Sara flatly, staring at her glass.

"I didn't mean it like that," backtracked Nick, "I mean, how did you get from a Masters in Theoretical Physics to Forensic Psychology? And when did you find the time?" With a sigh, Sara launched into her story.

"When I moved here I became obsessed with the job, after a year or so I realized I needed a diversion, so I signed up for a few classes at UNLV, which inadvertently morphed into a Masters in Psychology. I don't sleep, so I had plenty of time to study and go to class. When I finished I kept reading and studying, but without a goal, something to focus on, the job began to get to me again. As much as I love being a CSI, every one of us here knows that without a distraction we burn out. The summer at the end of my forth year I realized I needed that focus again, and I was offered a chance of a fully funded PhD. It hasn't been full time, but I've been working on it since then. I kept it up when I left the lab, I did some research in Europe, and I studied in my down time when I was in Costa Rica and then I started writing my dissertation in Paris, and I finished it a few months ago. Are you happy now?" she asked Catherine, raising an eyebrow.

"Very," grinned the blonde, "and congratulations, Doctor Sidle." Sara looked at her glass again, embarrassed.

"That explains why you didn't take Griss' name," said Nick, laughing. "Two Doctor Grissom's would be a bit weird." Sara looked at her husband, a small smile on her lips as he winked at her. Greg noted the exchange, but kept it to himself as Brass and Doc started asking Sara about her studies, and Ray struck up conversation again with Grissom.

A while later Catherine found Sara in the kitchen, helping herself to a few more strawberries.

"I'm sorry I put you on the spot like that," apologised Cath, "I didn't think you would be upset about it."

"I'm not; I just didn't want anything to be different. I just want to be one of the team, and so many people that I've met on campus or in the academic world look at you differently when they know you're a doctoral candidate. I didn't set out to get a doctorate, I was just studying and the professors liked what I was doing; I submitted a paper for a journal in response to something I had read, and UNLV offered me the PhD."

"I'm impressed," said Catherine, grinning, "but I have to ask, can I read your thesis?" Sara laughed and nodded.

"Grissom looks good," noted the blonde, "more relaxed, calm, happy. And it looks to me like that's your fault." The look she gave Sara left little to the imagination. Sara raised an eyebrow, flashing back to their conversation mid Gilbert Foundation investigation. Catherine giggled and set about making tea. "Are you happy Sara?" she asked, seriously.

"Very," sighed Sara, leaning back against the counter and munching on a grape. "You?"

"Oh yeah," sighed Cath, thinking about Lou. Seeing the expression on her former boss' face, Sara knew exactly where her thoughts had gone. When Catherine showed no signs of immediately snapping out of her daydream Sara shook her head and made the tea herself. Catherine came out of her reverie and, blushing slightly, fetched a couple of mugs from the cabinet. "Sara, can I ask you something?" she asked, sincerely curious.

"Yes, but I might not answer it," was the cautioned response.

"Is Grissom romantic?"

Confused, Sara stared at her. "Why do you ask that?"

"He's a scientist, so clinically detached and observing when it comes to people. I've known him forever, but I hardly know him at all. He's so enigmatic and distant; it's hard to know what's behind the science and the brains."

Sara considered her, thoughtfully.

"Is this between you and me?" she asked quietly. Catherine nodded and Sara smiled. "Yeah, he is, but not the way you would be. Neither of us really fit in with the norm, but we fit together in our own way."

"I still have a hard time imagining Grissom as anything other than a scientist, as anything more emotional." Sara laughed and shook her head as Cath handed her a mug of tea. They returned to the family room and settled down for more talk. When Sara and Gil left an hour and a half later Sara curled up in the passenger seat and closed her eyes with a yawn.

"So, did Catherine say anything to you?"

"She tried, but I stopped her with tales from the Sorbonne," replied Grissom, resting his hand on her knee as he stopped at a traffic light. They laughed about the team's antics and the morning until they arrived home. Grissom pulled into the garage situated under their living room; they rarely used it unless they wanted space to experiment or store things. Sara folded the back seats flat and then, starting with Hanks' carrier, they began the process of loading everything up into the car, ready to leave early in the morning. Two hours later they sprawled on the couch, worn out.

"Did we get everything perishable?" mused Sara.

"Everything to go in the cooler is on the top self of the refrigerator, everything else is in the box to give to my mother," asserted Grissom, weaving his fingers with hers and pulling her gently across his chest.

"Dog food? Meow Mix? Water bowls?"

"In the car," Grissom ran the fingers of his free hand through her hair.

"Music?"

"You're iPod is charged, and I checked the cable is in the glove box."

"The overnight bag for when we stop?"

"In the car."

"Tranquilizers?"

"With the cat food." They had taken the precaution of getting mild sedatives for the animals in case they didn't travel well or got distressed.

"Paper work?"

"In the box of books and odds and ends."

"Phone chargers?"

"Same box." Grissom traced her spine until his fingers came to rest at her waist. He slipped them under the fabric of her t-shirt and stroked the soft skin of her stomach.

"Camera?"

"Same box," he repeated, placing gentle kisses behind her ear.

"Mmm... Laptops," she mumbled, distracted.

"Packed! Sara," he growled, frustrated, "we have everything, honestly!" She turned in his arms and gazed down into his eyes, raising an eyebrow. He stared back at her, and raised his own. Sara began to giggle, and he promptly flipped them over so he was lying on top, and kissed her. She let out a soft moan of pleasure, and circled her arms around him, flicking her tongue out to meet his. Grissom kissed her thoroughly, grinning to himself when he stopped to breathe and she seemed incapable of coherent speech at his question of,

"So, what is it you think we've forgotten dear?" Sara's response was to pull him back down to her lips.

...

Sara waited nervously for her name to be called. A handful of other graduates were seated with her near the podium, all dressed in the customary academic regalia. When Sara accepted her certificate and then turned to the audience to step off the stage she heard a loud whistle and a chorus of cheers; she looked to the right and saw Gil, Betty, Greg, Nick, Brass, Doc, Catherine, Ray, Mandy, Bobby, Henry, Hodges, Archie and David on their feet applauding her. Sara blushed and grinned happily, ignoring dignity and waving to them.

...

Later, after the requisite photos Sara found her husband, he was openly grinning at her, and swept her into his arms for a hug; Sara pulled back enough to press her lips to his. Twenty feet away Catherine paused in the act of making her way over to the couple when she saw Grissom whisper something into Sara's ear which made her smile in a way that lit up her entire face, and then lean in to kiss him again, her arms going around his waist, while his cradled her shoulders, holding her to him. Catherine grinned internally at the quiet intimacy of these two, the puzzle of which she had been trying to figure out for the last few years. Seeing them like that fit all the pieces together and warmed her heart. Reaching them she tapped her old boss on the shoulder.

"Can you share long enough for me to congratulate her?" she demanded mischievously when he pulled away from his wife. Sara giggled, and accepted the hug from her former boss. "Come on," urged Catherine, "everyone's here, and there's just time for breakfast at Frank's before shift starts."

Grissom groaned.

"Catherine, we're day walkers now, we eat breakfast in the morning, not the evening," he informed her, as he dug out his car keys. Catherine put her hands on her hips and scowled, opening her mouth to argue. "I'm joking," Gil informed her, waving his keys for effect, "lead on, O Queen of CSI's."

..

In the passenger seat of Grissom's car Sara carefully folded her robe and put in on the back seat, smoothing the dark green dress she was wearing underneath. Then she leaned over to Grissom and brushed a hand over his cheek.

"Where were we before Cath interrupted?" she asked, leaning in to press her lips to his.

Grissom chuckled when they parted; he took her hand in his and ran his thumb over the knuckles and fingers.

"Congratulations," he murmured.

"Thanks," she smiled back.

"I love you Sara," he said, his eyes staring into hers.

"I love you too, always," she replied, holding his gaze. She kissed him again, passionately, emotionally and promissory, before pulling back. "Now get moving, I'm starved." Grissom roared with laughter, and started the car.

...

...

Hey- sorry for the delay; blame my professors and their ugly law essays. on the bright side, easter break is coming up- hopfully that means lots of free time to write:) please R & R; i need the inspiration