Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I loved them all, and they always make me smile. I am trying to update and publish as fast as I can, but this is exam week. I passed my art test (only one in my class to get a 100!) It wasn't an exam, but it counts for 25% of my final grade, so it was pretty sweet! I have a big English exam on Tuesday, so wish me luck!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and all mistakes are mine. "ASL for Babies," is just a random book name I came up with, so if there is one with that title out there I take no credit for it.

Chapter 11:

The world around them seemed to go silent. All she could see was his eyes-the eyes she'd hoped she wouldn't see again. She wanted to leave. She wanted to run out to her car, and leave, but his strong hands on her wrists prevented it, no matter how hard she pulled. At this time of night, there were very few people in the store, so no one was around to help her; other than the cashiers, but they were on the other side of the store.

"What do you want?" She finally asked.

"What do I want? I want to know why you didn't tell me you were pregnant when-" He paused, shook his head, and let go of her wrists. "How could you keep something like this from me?"

"How could you not tell me that you were seeing someone else when I asked you out?" Sara retorted.

"That's a little different, Sara." He growled, "this is a baby! How could you leave me when-"

"They're not yours!" She yelled, putting her hands up to keep him from getting to close.

"How could it not be? Wait, wait…they? Twins! My God-"

Sara was fuming. "Hank, I met someone else went I left you, and these are his children, not yours. I've moved on, Hank, you should too. You're not in my life anymore, and I don't want to be in yours." She grabbed her cart and started to walk away, but Hank's hand on her arm stopped her.

"How can you be so sure?" He shot back, taking a step closer, "that they're not mine? What, did you let him in your bed the day you met him? That's the only way they couldn't be mine! You didn't sleep with me until we'd been together for six months, yet you screw around with this guy after the first date?"

With that she slapped him. She hadn't meant to, but she was just so angry! The impact of the slap stung his face, and sent his anger through the roof. He grabbed both of her wrists and slammed her into the nearby wall.

"I want a DNA test." He fumed, "the minute those babies are born. And if they're mine, I'll take you to court, and see it that I get full custody of them."

With that said, he let go of her wrists and left walked back to the front of the store, leaving a terrified Sara behind.

XX

"It's been less than twenty-four-hours, Sara" laughed Nick, "and you're already back here?"

Sara jumped at the sound of her name. Once she realized it was Nick, she relaxed, and played it off. "Yeah," she laughed nervously, "have you, uh…seen Grissom anywhere? I need to see him right quick."

"Yeah, he's-" He paused, noticing the dark bruising on her wrists. When she'd left only hours ago, those bruises weren't there. Sara looked down to see what he was staring at, and was surprised herself to find the bruising.

"Hank," she whispered, pulling her wrists up and turning them to get better look.

"What happened to you, Sara?" Nick asked, gently holding her arms to examine them.

"Nothing," she insisted, pulling her arms away. She tried to walk away, but Nick-gently-grabbed her arm. "Ouch! Nick, let go of me."

"Sara, I barely touched you," Nick informed her. He lifted up her sleeve and found yet another bruise, with four large dots on one side, and one even large on the other side, like she'd been grabbed by someone.

"Who did this to you, Sara?" Nick asked, his voice low and full of concern. She stayed quiet and starred at the floor. Nick was like her older brother, but she wasn't sure if she should tell him. This would definitely send him over the edge.

"Sara, you have to tell me who did this," he whispered, pulling her against him.

"Hank." She mumbled as a tear made it's way down her cheek.

She wasn't looking at him, but she could by the way his body tensed that he was furious. A long time past before he spoke again, and when he did, it was in a voice that she hadn't heard him use before-or at least in a long time.

"That bastard…" he growled, his nostrils flaring.

"Nick," she begged, "please, calm down."

He took a few deep breaths before he responded, "tell me what happened."

They stepped into the break room and sat on the couch. "I was at a grocery store," she began, "and he saw me and I tried to walk away, but he grabbed onto…my wrists," she looked down at her bruised arms. She told him how he insulted her, how she slapped him, how he grabbed her and slammed her into the wall, and how he wanted the twins to have a DNA test.

"What are you going to do?" Nick asked.

"I don't know," Sara shook her head, "I haven't even told Grissom yet."

"Why would you have to tell Grissom?"

Shit! "Uh-"

"Tell me what?" Asked Grissom, who was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, noth-"

"Griss!" Sara stood and all but ran over to him. "Can I talk to you…in your office?"

"Uh-sure.." Grissom said, unsure. What is Sara doing here? He wondered.

Once they were in the quiet, dark room that was his office, she burst into tears. He rushed to her side, holding her in his arms as she told him what happened. When she was finished, he wiped her face, and sat her down in the chair in front of desk, and he sat in the neighboring one.

"It's alright, Sara," he assured her, "we can get a restraining order against him, or-"

"Gil, that's not going to help." She said, "he thinks I'm having his children. I mean, the only way I think I can permanently get him off my back is to have a DNA test done on the twins."

"So, are you telling me you're going to?" Grissom asked, "I'm fine with it if you are. I don't see the harm in it."

"I know." Sara ran a hand over her face, then propped her head up on her hand. "It's just…the look in his eyes…I…he was never like that when we were together.."

"I'm so sorry, honey." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "it'll be alright."

XX

One Week Later

One week after Sara's incident with hank, Grissom had taken a week and a half off from work in order to go get his mother, and spend as much time as possible with her and Sara. He'd left right after shift so he could get a quick start on the long drive to his mother's home.

Sara's heart pounded in her chest. She stood alone in the middle of the luggage claim at the airport, waiting for Grissom to return with his mother. She hadn't seen him since he'd left four days ago.

She felt a sudden tap on her shoulder, and turned to stare into familiar blue eyes. She smiled widely, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You don't know how much I've missed you." She whispered in his ear. When she backed away, she noticed how flushed his face was, then she saw his mother only a few feet behind him.

"Oh," she blushed, "/nice to meet you, Mrs. Grissom/," she said and signed, very slowly. Grissom had taught her a few basic things to sign, and this was one of the few she was somewhat good at.

Betty Grissom seemed to be surprised at Sara's signing, even though Grissom had told her he'd been teaching her. /She's better than you led me to believe, Gilbert./ She signed, /a little slow, but good./

"What's she saying?" Sara asked.

"/She said that you're signing is better than I led her to believe,/" Grissom said and signed, giving his mother a small smirk.

Sara smiled nervously, "/thank you, Mrs. Griss-/"

Betty put her hand up. /Please, Sara,/ she signed slowly, /call me Betty./

XX

Grissom had taken a week and a half off from work in order to spend time with his mother, as well as Sara. He'd left right after shift so he could get a quick start on the long drive to his mother's home.

Two days into her stay, she'd seen all the pictures of the twins (which Sara had put inside the scrapbook Catherine got her). Betty had also brought a present, one even Grissom know about. It was a book, titled ASL for Babies.

"Wow," Sara said, "/thank you, Betty./"

Grissom smiled and thanked his mother. Sara left an two hours later and returned to her apartment. However, she only gave him a small kiss on the cheek, her own way of teasing him about what had happened at the airport two days earlier.

/She's a sweet girl,/ Betty signed as Sara's car pulled out of the driveway. /Very sweet. Have you two thought of names?/

/We've given it some thought,/ Grissom signed back, /but she is only twenty-four weeks, we still have around fifteen weeks, and-/

/Let me stop you there,/ Betty interrupted, /the average length of a normal pregnancy is forty weeks, and it is very rare for twin pregnancies to make it that far. A twin pregnancy is considered full term at thirty-six weeks, so I'd say that you two would be lucky if Sara was still pregnant in fifteen weeks./

Grissom just sat there. His mother was right, and if things were to go as she had just described, he could be holding his children three months.

/Well, then,/ he signed with a wide grin on his face, /I guess she and I should really start thinking about names./

/Well then, I will also tell you this,/ Betty smiled, /If you have girls, do not name one after me. I want my granddaughter to have her own name, not mine./

XX

The rest of Betty's visit went by fast, but Grissom and Sara had enjoyed…most of it. Sara was a little unsure of how to feel towards Betty, mainly because Betty was unafraid to show how she felt about Sara's relationship with her son. She said she was happy for them, but that she wished that they had, perhaps, gone differently about how they had started their relationship.

Grissom had returned to work the day after he had taken his mother home, and Sara had immediately started cleaning up her apartment for her mother's arrival. In one day, she had gone out and bought several much-needed groceries, cleaned up the guest bedroom, and tidied up the rest of the house.

It was nearly midnight by the time she had finished. She collapsed in pure exhaustion on the nearby couch, and was in a deep sleep only a few minutes later. She only stirred when Grissom came in at eleven o'clock the next morning. He smiled when he saw her sleeping form on the couch, and covered her with a blanket.

She didn't open her eyes until an hour had passed. She didn't know Grissom was there, but wasn't surprised to see him when se walked into the kitchen.

"What time did you fall asleep?" He asked as he sipped on some of Sara's caffeine free coffee.

"I'm not sure," Sara yawned, "sometime around midnight."

"Well, you did a great job," he smiled, handing her a mug, "the place looks amazing."

"Thanks," Sara said as she sipped her coffee.

"When are we picking your mother up?"

"In three days, that's when she's flying out here."

He was smiling, but when he looked at her, he realized that she wasn't. "Sara, is something wrong?" He asked as he walked over to her.

"No," she said, "I just haven't seen my mom in…over a year. I mean, I've talked to her on the phone, but that's it."

"I'm sure it'll be alright."

"You've been saying that a lot lately." Sara said, only half teasing.

"And I've been right every single time, haven't I?" He quipped.

She was silent, and struggled no to smile. "Shut up." She mumbled. This brought a quiet, chuckle-like laugh from Grissom.

Ok, maybe he's right, she thought, maybe everything will be alright.

XX

"I'm so, so nervous Gil." Sara all but cried as they stood in the middle of the airport. She hadn't seen her mother in over a year, but she remembered her face like she'd seen her yesterday.

"Why?" Grissom asked, draping an arm over her shoulders. "Didn't she say that she was excited for us? I don't believe that she'll be mad at you."

"I know," Sara laughed nervously, "it's just…last time I saw her, I was…you know, skinny, and now my stomach is bigger than a basketball!"

"…And? Sara, I don't think your mom-"

"Look, Gil!" Sara gasped, "there she is!"

Grissom looked to where Sara was pointing, and noticed a tall brunette picking up her luggage. That had to be Laura Sidle. She looked almost exactly like Sara, but she looked much older, and her hair looked slightly faded.

As he and Sara approached, Laura caught sight of them. She only took her eyes off them to apologize to the people she was bumping into as she made her way to Sara and Grissom.

"Sara!"

"Mom!"

Both had tears in their eyes as they embraced each other. Laura wrapped her arms around her daughter as tight as she could, and Sara did the same to her. "I've missed you so much, honey…"

"I've missed you too, Mom." Sara laughed through the tears. Grissom couldn't help but smile as the two talked and hugged, then talked and hugged some more. "Mom," Sara began, "I want you to meet my boyfriend." She took her mother's hand and pulled her over to Grissom, who had started blushing as the approached.

"Gil," Sara smiled, "meet my mom. Mom, meet Gil."

Laura smiled a smile that resembled Sara's, only hers didn't have a gap between her two front teeth. "Gil Grissom," he introduced himself and extended his hand. "Laura Sidle," Laura shook his hand.

Grissom could already tell he was going to like this woman.

XX

That night, after Laura had seen all the ultrasound pictures, given Sara and Grissom a gift (a set of yellow booties that she had knitted herself) and well after Grissom had left to get a few hours of sleep before the next shift, Sara and Laura sat on the couch in Sara's living room.

"I'm so proud of you, Sara." Laura smiled, running a few fingers over her daughters hand.

"How could you be proud of….all this.." Sara chuckled and rolled her eyes, only half joking.

"Honey," Laura began, "I would rather you be unmarried, pregnant, and in a relationship with a man who loves you, than be married to a man like…" She trailed off, and her smile faded.

"To a man like Dad?" Sara asked quietly.

"Yeah." Laura sighed. "I know he loved me, and I thought I loved him. But, Sara, I can see that you and Gil love each other more than your father could have ever loved me. I had such big dreams for you and your brother, and you couldn't have turned out any better."

"When was the last time you talked to Aaron?" Sara asked.

"I saw him a few months ago…I'm proud of him too. You should see him now, Sara. He's clean off drugs and doesn't even drink anymore. I hope you don't mind, but, I told him about you."

"I don't," Sara shook her head. "Wh…what did he say?"

Laura let out a small laugh, "he said that if you have boys that he wants one to be named after him."

"Actually," Sara said, "Griss and I were talking about doing something like that. We have a couple of names picked out for boys.."

"Oh!" Laura exclaimed, "tell me!"

Sara giggled at her mothers excitement. "He told me that if he ever had a son, he'd want to name it after his father, Arthur, and I wanted to name on after Aaron. So, we came up with Arthur Grayson, and Aaron Gilbert."

"Aw, those are beautiful names, Sara." Laura beamed.

"Grissom wasn't to keen on naming one after him." Sara laughed, "he tried to say that if we had girls, one would have to be named after me. But after what felt like hours, I finally persuaded him not to."

Laura laughed. "What about girl names?"

"Neither of us could come up with anything we liked." Sara admitted.

"Your dad and I went through the same thing when I was pregnant with you." Laura informed her, "we had a boy name, but all we had for a girl was the middle name 'Mae', after your dad's mother. When you were born, and we found out you were a girl, we were stumped at first. But after they cleaned you up and put you in my arms for the first time, the name 'Sara' popped into my head, and you became Sara Mae Sidle."

"I thought about using Granny Mae's name as a middle name, just because it sounds so pretty, but I couldn't really think of anything to go with it."

"Well, I'm not going to help you with that." Laura put her hands up. "Coming up with names for your children is a fin thing for parents to do, so I'll let you and Gil do that." She winked.

They stayed up for a few more hours talking, and before long it was eleven o'clock at night. They said their 'I love you's', and went to bed. Sara heard her phone buzzing on her nightstand, she picked it up and saw that Grissom had sent her a text. She couldn't help but smile when she read it.

I was just thinking, I love your middle name. If we have girls, I one to be named Amie Mae, after both of our grandmothers. I don't want it to be 'Amy' with a 'Y', I want it to be unique, like your name. Sara without the 'H'. Do you like it?

Miss you,

Gil.

Sara stared at the message for a minute, and then it hit her. She responded as fast as she could.

I love it. Amie Mae and…Emilie Grace.

XX

I worked hard to get this up before I went back to school, so please review!