Chapter 10

Having sat silently throughout dinner watching Sara and Ellie chat, comfortably, he finally spoke. "Is there a clothes shop near here?" They both looked at him it was a very strange question injected into there conversation about the local gossip.

"Yes, on the base and there is one in the local town about twenty miles away, why?" Ellie answered.

"I don't have any clothes with me and I have been in these for far longer than I should have been. I smell." He looked rather embarrassed and glanced down at his crumpled clothes.

"You have nothing with you at all not even some underpants?" Sara was astonished and broke into fits of giggles.

"Its not that funny, and you really will not think it's funny when I start to smell worse."

"The shop on the base should still be open if we hurry what size are you I'll ring them and get some put aside and pick them up before they close?" Grissom gave Ellie his size and she rang to order some clothes catching them just before they shut and she hoped into her car and went to collect what they had.

"I took your robe." Sara almost whispered as Ellie pulled out of the drive.

"I guessed, could I take a shower and borrow it back please, now I have realised how long it is since I showered I can really smell myself." Grissom looked very embarrassed.

"Gil, why did you come down here without any luggage, without anything?" Sara looked on the verge of another fit of giggles.

"I told you the dream, I thought something had happened to you and I had to see that you were alright I got on the first plane I could I didn't give it any thought at all, totally mad and you should probably have me locked up, but I was worried about you I just had to get here." Grissom was stood in the kitchen door way ready to head to the bathroom, Sara rose from the table and walked towards him looking into his eyes to see that he was telling the truth, she reached up and brushed her hand down the side of his face.

"I promise I will not lock you up." Then she pulled a face "But your right you really do smell. You know were the bathroom is your robe is on the back of the door I used it when mine got too small." Grissom was about to touch Sara when she with drew her hand and turned to clear the dishes.

"I'll go and get cleaned up then." He turned and retreated up the stairs into the bathroom.

Ellie arrived back with the clothes just as he got out of the shower, he wrapped himself in his robe and went into Sara's room where Ellie had her purchases laid out on the bed.

"I'm not sure if they are your style but that was all they had in stock in your size." Ellie indicated the bed where she had laid out a pair of jeans, black jogging bottoms, a four pack of dark coloured t-shirts, a four pack of similarly coloured underpants and a pack of socks again in matching colours.

"Well at least I will match." He grinned looking at the matching underpants, socks and t-shirts. "Sara always tells me that I don't have any style." He chuckled almost to himself rather than Ellie, she had left the room and Grissom pulled the door shut as he got dressed.

Once he was clean and dressed Grissom suddenly felt the exhaustion takes over him. He slowly walked down the stairs to find Ellie and Sara in the sitting room reading.

"Do you feel better" Sara asked sniffing as he walked into the room "you smell better" She giggled.

"I do feel better and smell better. But the trip is catching up with me I feel rather tiered now." As if to illustrate the point he covered his mouth to yawn. He wondered over to the book shelf in the corner of the room "May I borrow a book?" he quietly asked.

"Of course help yourself I'm not sure much of what you will enjoy no Shakespeare or poetry I'm afraid, unless you count the lullaby book that James was given." Grissom smiled as he looked at the shelves, it was defiantly Sara's selection a strange mix if very in depth scientific text books although he noted they were not about crime and physics, but ocean sciences, and the smattering of romance novels that she would not usually let anyone know that she loved to read. He was surprised to see that there was a selection of modern classics texts that most people had read in high school and college. Ellie noticed what he was looking at.

"There mine Sara says I have missed out on a lot of reading, while I was off the rails, I'm reading them for fun but I am going to get some qualifications." Ellie looked embarrassed and nervous.

"Is it ok if I have a look at some, it's the sort of thing I need tonight revisiting old friends?" Grissom yawned again.

"No problems help yourself." Grissom selected a few of Ellie's books and sat down on the settee next to Sara. No one said a word but it was a comfortable silence as they all sat reading the only noise coming from Grissom's occasional yawns and James disturbing in his sleep.

The silence was broken by James waking to be fed. Sara gently lifted him out and unwrapped him from his blankets. "The nurse said to try and keep him awake for a bit now and get him into a bedtime routine so he knows the difference between night and day." She explained. Grissom was amazed looking at James fingers and toes now exposed for inspection.

"Everything on him is so tiny, you don't realise until you really look at him, and I have never really looked at a new born baby." Not one that's living he thought to himself.

After feeding James, Sara disappeared upstairs with him and he could hear her running water into the sink to bath him. He wanted to go up and watch but she had not invited him so he stayed sat in the settee with Ellie's books.

It surprised Grissom how long it seemed to take to bath and dress James for bed; it was an hour and a half later when they came back down the stairs. James was in an all in one outfit wriggling in Sara's arms still awake and free of his blankets. "Will you hold him for a few minutes while I get ready for bed?" Sara asked holding him out to Grissom. He nodded and took James from her, laying him across his lap, James' eyes were wide open and watching the movements around him his eyes slowly focused on Grissom's face blinking up at him. Sara returned up stairs.

"Hello, James your wide awake again, I was beginning to think this morning was going to be the only time I saw you awake." He smiled down at his son now still in his lap, except for his blinking eye lids. Before long Grissom found himself blinking back at James.

Sara came back ten minutes later in her pyjamas; James was getting sleepy and starting to fuss in his fathers arms.

"Well James you look ready for bed, supper and then sleep for you little man." She reached her arms out and Grissom past him to her "Say good night to Daddy" she said to James holding him towards Grissoms face so he could kiss him, which he did gently on the cheek.

"Good night James, sleep well."

"Say goodnight to auntie Ellie" Sara said turning so that Ellie could kiss James' cheek.

"You need to eat a lot now young man so you don't have to wake Mommy up too many times in the night" Ellie said looking into James' face.

"Give him chance Ellie" Sara laughed "He has only been home one night; he will get the hang of it but not yet." Sara returned upstairs and Grissom could hear her talking to James as she sat in the chair in her room to feed him.

Ellie rose from the chair and went upstairs too with out a word, Grissom sat as still as a statue not knowing what to do, until Ellie returned a few minutes later with sheets, blankets and pillows to make a bed for him on the settee.

"See you tomorrow." She said as she put everything down in the chair.

"Yes, thank you" He indicated the bedding "Goodnight." He was not sure what he had expected, he was not even sure if he had hoped that Sara would let him sleep with her and James but he suddenly felt very lonely down stairs listening to them above his head.