Here is the next chapter;0) Thanks to Wander52 for such a great job as my Beat. Thanks for all the reviews.

As always I own nothing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Sara smiled, as she lay out the final plate of food, knowing that Charlotte's birthday had been the first time in a long time she would see all of her friends in the same place.

Choosing the Saturday after her birthday, Charlotte was fully recovered from the chicken pox and Sara was convinced she would say her first word any day.

Sara opened the door after hearing the doorbell ring, to see Grissom standing there. After seeing Greg and Catherine walk in after him, she was glad she had not pinned him to the wall and French kissed him.

Half an hour later the party was in full swing with Angie and Mike from next door, some other mothers she had met in the neighbourhood, along with people from the lab.

As Sara paraded Charlotte around the party, everyone stopped to admire the 12-month old, who was happy to see all of the new faces.

---------------------

Clearing up the mess, Sara smiled when Charlotte, on shaky legs, toddled up to Grissom and started babbling.

She quickly ran over to grab her camcorder, turned it on and was shocked when her daughter looked up at Grissom and proudly said, "Dada."

Pointing to Grissom, Charlotte seemed happy with her new skill and said again, "Dada."

Sara was terrified that Grissom would get freaked out and run away. He looked as if he was about to cry, as he nodded his head to Sara.

Smiling back, Sara didn't know what to say, as Charlotte picked up a book and took it to Grissom.

Sara continued cleaning, as the two began reading the book.

An hour later Grissom said goodbye and told Sara he would come over the following afternoon.

Sara kissed Grissom goodbye, relieved that Charlotte's new word had not freaked him out.

Watching as he walked away, Charlotte started crying, "Dada, Dada," as he walked to his car.

Closing the door, Sara tried to comfort her realizing she was becoming attached to Grissom.

----------------------

A week later Sara and Grissom were now trying to spend as much time together as possible.

Watching as Charlotte repeated the same word over and over, Sara felt some jealousy.

She was Charlotte's mother and yet even though Sara said "Mama," whenever she talked to her daughter, Charlotte continued just to say "Dada."

"Come here sweetheart, Mama is going to make you some lunch." Sara said, before picking up her daughter.

Watching Sara from the lounge, Grissom continued to listen "Then Mama is going to read you a story and then Mama is going to put you down for a nap," over emphasising the name each time.

More than touched that Charlotte saw him as her father, Grissom did not want Sara to feel left out and decided to play along.

"And when you wake up, Mama is going play with you and your new blocks and then your Mama is going to make you some dinner." Grissom said to Sara, who was smiling.

--

The following evening on the nightly walk, Sara continued with her attempts.

"Look baby, a cat," she said, pointing out one of her neighbour's feline pets, "Mama had a cat when she was little; my Mama let me feed her every night."

-------------------------------

A few days later, Sara and Grissom were still trying to coax Charlotte to say the magic word. Instead she said "bug", which earned a huge smile from Grissom, but made Sara run from the room.

Walking after her Grissom found Sara in the kitchen hunched over, sniffing and wiping her eyes.

Grissom grabbed her into a hug, rocking her gently, "Kids say things at different times, and by her not saying your name does not mean she doesn't love you."

Hugging back, Sara knew she was being irrational and couldn't help but smile when Charlotte walked up and repeated her new word, "bug".

----------------------

Waking up the following weekend, Sara felt a sharp pain in her right side and although it was uncomfortable to put her robe on, she wanted to see what her favourite people were up to.

Sara smiled when she walked into the kitchen seeing Grissom busy making breakfast while Charlotte feed herself some cereal.

"Dada, Bug." Charlotte exclaimed when Sara walked over and kissed her daughter before accepting a kiss from Grissom.

"You should have stayed in bed honey. We were going to bring you breakfast in bed." he said, smiling, before reaching for some plates.

Trying to ignore the sharp pain in her side, Sara sat down, but instead of breathing in the wonderful smell, rushed to the downstairs bathroom and threw up.

Grissom followed Sara into the bathroom, catching Sara's hair and holding it back while she threw up what little she had eaten the previous night.

"Oh, God, I feel awful." Sara said, closing her eyes.

Feeling the nausea come over her again, Sara threw up again, bringing up the remainders of the liquid in her stomach, before leaning back into Grissom.

Concentrating on breathing, Sara did not initially notice Grissom picking her up and walking her upstairs back to bed.

Shaking uncontrollably, Sara clung to Grissom as he placed her into bed and pulled the covers back over.

Cuddling her side, Sara concentrated on her breathing and felt herself going back to sleep.

Terrified to see Sara in so much pain, Grissom tucked Sara in and felt her forehead.

Seeing it was warm, Grissom decided to give her some pain killers when she woke up.

---

"Gil!" Waking up a few hours later, Sara screamed out for Grissom, as the pain over took her lower half again.

"I'm here sweetheart. What's wrong?" Grissom asked knowing he had never seen her in so much pain.

"It hurts so much, I'm finding it hard to breath." she said, as Grissom stroked her forehead.

"Charlotte is napping, so I'll get her up and then I'm taking you to the ER," he said before rushing to the next room.

She was glad someone was taking over. Sara tried to get up, but had to stop after the pain ripped through her side.

Having woken up Charlotte, Grissom placed her in the travel cot before rushing back to Sara.

Seeing Sara try to put on some clothes, Grissom walked over and held her arm:

"Honey, don't move. You look fine in your sweats." he said picking her up with a blanket and taking her downstairs.

Placing her in the passenger seat and delicately buckling the seat belt, Grissom went back in for Charlotte and her baby bag.

"You're going to okay," Grissom repeated over to Sara and himself hoping he was telling the truth.

He could not believe the one person he loved most in the world was in so much pain and he could do nothing about it.

Arriving at the hospital, Grissom eased Sara out and unbuckled Charlotte before they walked slowly to the main entrance.

After checking her in, Grissom could do nothing but stand aside as Sara put prodded and poked by a series of doctors.

Grissom was pushed out of the room and it was a half an hour later before her doctor walked out.

"Mr Sidle, your wife is suffering from appendicitis and we are going to perform surgery to remove the appendix." nodding his head, Grissom did not correct the man, wishing now that he was her husband.

"Can I see her?" he managed, holding Charlotte who was becoming upset in a new environment away from Sara.

Nodding his head, the doctor told Grissom to be quick as they needed to prep Sara for surgery.

Walking in, Charlotte instantly reached her hands out for Sara and started to cry when Sara started crying.

"Baby, mummy is going to be okay," kissing her cheeks when Grissom lowered her down.

"Thank you so much for everything," Sara said, seeing the distress in Grissom's eyes.

"It's nothing, you're both my family now, I was so worried," he said before kissing her again.

Saying their good byes, Grissom watched as Sara was wheeled away and hugged Charlotte.

---------

Coming through her surgery without a hitch, Grissom and Charlotte were allowed to visit Sara again a few hours later.

"Are you sure you are okay with looking after her? I could call Catherine." Sara said through her painkillers.

Shaking his head, Grissom kissed Sara again, "Not on your life, I'm her Dada, remember?" he said, trying to imitate her voice quietly not trying to wake up the person in question.

Smiling down at Grissom and Charlotte, Sara couldn't help but smile, knowing Grissom could be anything but.