A/N - Well, this is it, guys. Thank you for being so patient, and I will get to all your comments and feedback soon. For the record, this ending is not exactly what I had in mind, but I ultimately decided that I didn't want Heather to be a villain. I know that will be disappointing to some of you, but I think ultimately Heather is a good person and would not want to cause damage to Grissom and Sara's relationship. Anyway, thank you so much for reading and staying with me through this 2-year journey. It was fun to get out of my comfort zone and write about Heather, it was definitely a rewarding challenge.

Thanks again! And rock on.

ONE YEAR LATER

Sara and Gil waited on Heather's doorstep. Heather was taking longer than usual to answer the door, and with a newborn baby always attached to her somewhere, that was saying a lot.

Grissom peered at Sara's homemade mashed potatoes and vegetarian ravioli. "We might have to eat those right here if she doesn't answer the door soon."

Finally, Heather opened the door with Ava, her daughter, in her arms. Heather looked healthy and happy, which Sara was glad to see. Heather was having a rough go of it for a while there and even checked herself into the hospital a few weeks before she had Ava to get herself together.

"Good to see you two again, please come in. Sorry for the delay, I was making my beef tenderloin and I didn't even hear the doorbell ring."

They came into her house and sniffed longingly at the aroma of the food Heather was making. "It smells incredible, Heather," Sara said. "Even the meat, and you know how I feel about that."

Sara and Gil said hello to Ava and cooed and giggled and made appropriate baby conversation. Gil was amazing with the baby, which surprised Sara at first. The way he held her and had a way about him that made Ava stop crying, well, that did a lot for Sara in more ways than she could imagine. But that topic would have to come up later, as for now, they were just handling one thing at a time.

While they were chatting and eating cheese and crackers for an hors d'oeuvre, Heather suddenly grabbed Sara's hand and whistled loudly, something uncharacteristic for a woman who was usually so eloquent with her movements and words.

"Damn, Sara. That is one hell of a ring. When did this happen?!"

"Last week," Sara said, grinning. "We were working with a decomp and the smell was disgusting, but he just pinched his nostrils and asked me anyway. It was so lovely I had no choice but to say yes."

"She just looked so at home in the middle of this decomp," Grissom said. "I couldn't help it. I love a woman who takes a decomp in stride."

Heather laughed. "Oh, I envy you two. It takes a lot to make something like that work. John and I had to work every single day at our relationship."

"Believe me, I have to work with this guy. Right now I'm trying to get him to put the seat back down when he's done, but you know how that is."

Grissom watched as Sara and Heather bantered back and forth. It was truly fascinating to watch these beautiful, intelligent women share a conversation. After a year of working on things with Sara, working to get her trust, showing her that he was ready to devote everything he was about to make it work with her...it was still a little rocky, but they were ready for the next step. They were ready to spend the rest of their lives together now, and Heather was instrumental in making that happen, in many ways, good and bad.

It had been Sara's idea to visit Heather from time to time to check on her. She wasn't exactly down with Grissom visiting her on his own, even if it was just to give her a shoulder to cry on. But Sara was perfectly fine with visiting her together, bringing her food to make sure she ate, and listening patiently while she outpoured her grief. Sometimes they'd even baby-sit for Ava, which was always a fascinating intellectual experience. But Sara felt like they all got something out of this arrangement; it was definitely beneficial for everyone. And she knew Grissom was grateful that she could be so understanding after all he put her through.

"I paid a visit to Isabella in prison," Heather told them after she'd had a few glasses of wine. "I had a few things to say to her. She didn't really appreciate them, you know."

Sara chuckled and said, "No, I guess she probably wouldn't."

"I wanted to really talk to her. I wanted to know why she hated John so much. I know his fetishes were hard on her. I know it couldn't have been easy to love a man like that. But I'm fascinated by her reasoning for killing him."

"Heather, we can't always understand anyone's reasons for doing anything," Grissom said. "I've been trying for 20 years to do it and I can't. There are some mysteries that weren't meant to be solved."

Heather nodded sadly, and Sara again felt empathy for this mysterious woman before her. She watched as Grissom talked to her about motives and DNA and the fabric of every person's being. She thought about how much she loved this man in front of her. Sure, he loved bugs a little too much and, sure, he did have crushes on dominatrixes from time to time. But he was caring and kind and empathetic and his eyes were the deepest blue she'd ever known, and this was all she wanted for the rest of her life.

It didn't have to be easy, it just had to be like this.