I tried researching adoption procedures and stuff like that, and I talked to my mom about adoption, foster care etc. I found that the procedure is very long and very hard, and you should just assume it all happened behind closed doors.

Chapter Ten

The next time Sara was in Grissom's car heading to the hospital, she wasn't crying, she was happy. She had been smiling since this morning, when she signed the adoption papers. Sara figured that sorting out that she was Dani's half sister would take longer than adoption, plus they both would have to explain why they didn't know each other, and why Sara hadn't been contacted before Dani had been put up for adoption.

Of course, that reason only Sara knew. Dani would probably ask at some point in time, and Sara would tell her. Only her. Well, maybe Grissom too, but she didn't want it out publicly. Sara had been contacted by the prison her mother was in many times, her mother had requested that she visit, but Sara didn't want to see her mother, so she changed her address but didn't change it on record. So, when they tried to contact her to see if she would take care of Dani, they contacted some senior family instead.

Then when Sara moved to Vegas, she changed her record, indicating that she moved, but this was 5 years later, and by that time, they had given up on trying to reach Sara.

Grissom had stopped the car and was looking at Sara, his eyes were somewhat saddened, but a slight bit of excitement was visible in them. This confused Sara.

"What is it?" She finally asked him. His eyes sighed, but his expression didn't change. Sara tilted her head a little, eyes demanding answers.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Grissom asked.

"Of course," Sara said. He hadn't disagreed with her at all when she brought it up. Even when they talked about it, he had told her over and over again that it was a great idea.

"No regrets?" Grissom asked.

"What do you mean?" Sara paused. "What are you really getting at?" She knew that Grissom always asked a question that would be answered inside of another question if he didn't want anyone to know the real question.

"This is a big decision, and you came on to it rather quickly, I know you've thought of it a lot, but have you thought it over completely?" Gil asked.

Sara sighed and smiled, "Yes, why are you asking me this now, we already got a bigger apartment."

"We needed a bigger apartment anyway, the point is, are you ready to take care of someone else?" Grissom asked. The climax of the conversation.

"I won't know until I try it," Sara said and ended the conversation by getting out of the car. Grissom followed, he didn't want to anger her but he had to make sure that Sara was ready for this, or at least somewhat ready. When Sara was younger, she didn't have a younger sibling to take care of, but Dani was 12, and would know how to do most things herself.

Sara walked into the hospital, told the front desk who she was there to see, and walked with Grissom to Dani's room. Sara stepped in first, to see Dani sitting on the hospital bed, with actual clothes on and not the hospital nightgown. Adam was sitting next to her; they were talking but then were interrupted as Sara came into the room.

Dani smiled, "Hi Sara," she said happily. Her mood had lightened ever since she learned that Sara was going to adopt her. If everything ran smoothly, that is.

"Hey," Sara said, who also had a smile on her face. Grissom walked in too, still standing behind Sara.

"Hi Gilbert," Dani said and laughed a little. She had been teasing him about it ever since she learned his first name.

"Hello Dani," Grissom greeted with a little smile. He looked over at Sara, telling her with his eyes to tell her the good news.

"They accepted me to be your guardian, I can adopt you," Sara said. Dani was suddenly over taken by excitement. Adam turned to her, also

smiling and she hugged him. "The doctors told me they were going to release you today, if I was approved," Sara said.

Dani nodded, she knew that she was being released today. Adam's smile faded and he looked at Dani. "Are you still going to the same school?" He asked.

Dani looked up at Sara, that was something she didn't know. Sara looked at her.

"One of my co-workers has a daughter that goes to Butterfield Academy, she tells me it's a good school, so I signed you up to go there in September," Sara said with saddened eyes. Adam's expression fell to disappointment.

Dani was looking on the better side of things, "Adam, we'll still hang out, we'll still live close to each other."

Adam looked at her, "I should go, call me when you're settled." He clearly was no longer excited.

"I'm worried about him," Dani admitted.

"How long have you two been friends?" Sara asked.

Dani shrugged, and thought about it for a moment, "Since grade five, so four years."

"Inseparable friends?" Sara asked.

"Yeah," Dani said with a light smile, "How'd you know?"

"I can tell," Sara said. "Ready to go?"

With that, Dani hopped down from the bed and followed her new family out of the hospital.