AWKWARD

CHAPTER NINE

"Have you had breakfast?" Grissom sounded happy.

"No…" She had eaten but knew better than to say so.

"Good. I'm at the bakery, I'll get those muffins you like."

"That would be great. See you soon." Sara was smiling as she hung up. She changed out of her pajamas to a casual outfit, started a pot of decaf, and picked up the place a little. When there was a knock on the door she opened it with a big smile.

"Hey!"

"Hey, Sara." Grissom put the white bag on the kitchen counter and got two mugs from the cupboard. Sara got two plates and napkins and set out the muffins, apple with brown sugar for her and cranberry nut for him. Grissom added milk to his and sugar to her coffee and they sat at the kitchen counter and ate the muffins while they were still warm.

He brushed off the last crumbs and sat back a little.

"We got the guy."

"You did?"

"Yeah, and you were a big help."

"I was? I didn't have anything to do with that case…oh, you mean the fingerprint on the bedspread?" Grissom nodded. "Ecklie paged you and you paged me," she grinned, "and he was pissed." They chuckled. "But really, all I did was take the evidence to Neil. He did the background subtraction application."

"And I will tell him that he did a good job. But he's not here, and I'd like to thank you."

"Oh," she said, touched. "Well, you're welcome. And you did a brilliant job too."

They smiled at each other.

"I'm glad…the case is over. And the monster is behind bars."

"Me too."

"Does this mean…um…we can work together again?"

Grissom looked surprised. "Uh…"

"I mean, I feel like I've barely seen you or talked to you since I went back to work."

"You're right, sorry. I hope I didn't make you feel…excluded?" She shrugged and tried to hide a pained expression. Grissom continued: "I really wanted to thank you for taking up the slack by working the little cases that get shoved aside when it is a big all-hands-on-deck case. I was confident that you could handle those without me having to break away and talk you through them. And you did." He looked at her proudly.

Sara looked pleased. "Thanks."

Sara strode into the lab the next shift in a great mood. She detoured into the break room for a cup of coffee and her mood dimmed when she saw Catherine and Sophia in residence, leafing through magazines and making desultory conversation. Somehow those two brought out the worst in each other. One on one, she could deal with, but together they seemed to revert to the snarky blondes she remembered from high school, the ones who were popular mostly because they were feared. They kept a clique going that most girls wanted to get into so they wouldn't get picked on, and they talked trash about everyone, including each other.

They both looked up when she came in. "Sara!" Catherine said with false brightness. "I feel like we haven't had a chance to catch up! How was your time off?"

"It wasn't a vacation, Cath, I had surgery."

"Oh? What kind?" Sophia asked.

Sara leaned against the counter and took a sip. "I had a hysterectomy."

"Ohhh," they chorused.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Catherine added.

"Why?"

"You'll never be a mother, now."

"Obviously. So?"

"Doesn't every woman want to have a baby someday?" Catherine continued.

"Not this woman."

She began waxing poetically about the joys of motherhood and Sara tuned her out until Sophia started.

"That might turn off some men," Sophia said, looking at Catherine. "You know, the kind that wants to settle down. The old-fashioned kind." Catherine nodded at her. Feeling bolder with the support, Sophia added, "I read somewhere about a debate about the definition of a woman. Without a uterus or ovaries, is she still technically a woman? I mean if a trannie had his genitals removed, he would consider himself a she, right?"

Sara's hackles went up but she kept her voice low and even. "I'm not a transsexual, Sophia, I had a medical condition that required surgery. And I don't consider myself any less of a woman because of it."

Grissom breezed in and Sara breathed a sigh of relief. "Nor do I," he said smoothly. "Besides, you haven't considered a major advantage."

Both blondes looked at him, puzzled.

"No birth control required." He winked at Sara and breezed out again. Sara followed him, grinning.

A/N: Wow, thanks for the review! As in, one review. A very nice one, but still. Part of me wants to say Why bother? And abandon this story again. Part of me wants to say, I write for the pleasure of it and reviews are just a bonus. Part of me wants to turn this into the kind of story that gets a million reviews, something along the lines of: Sara gets kidnapped and sold into sex slavery and tortured until she discovers she is pregnant and escapes and incurs all kinds of horrible injuries before being rescued. Grissom is rushing to be at her side when he is blindsided by a drunk driver and ends up in a coma with a couple of pages of how badly injured he is. Sara is taken to the same hospital and is within seconds of getting an abortion before Catherine convinces her to get an amnio and we discover the baby is actually Grissom's. So, she is wheeled to his side to break the news and he conveniently wakes up in time to hear her voice and…dududuh he has amnesia. Sara keels over in shock and hits her head and when she comes to she has amnesia too. Then there are 30 or 40 chapters of physical therapy in excruciating detail. They are finally released to go home and as soon as they walk through the door they look at each other and cry out: "Sara!" "Grissom!" "I know you!" "I know, I'm having your baby!" And it's twins and there are lots of cute chapters about the labor and birth and their adorable babies. But then I thought, well, in my story, Sara's just had a hysterectomy so that would be kind of…not believable. So, I'm just going to proceed with my little fluffy Awkward. I hate being nagged at by writers begging for reviews so I'll just say I hope you are enjoying the story, I know it was written a long time ago and abandoned (sorry) but I hope you will pick it up again. And tell me that you are reading it. Otherwise I am just talking to myself. Cheerio!