AN: Thanks for the reviews. Here is the next chapter, if you're still interested.

Chapter 13: Daddy?

Sara stood there in shock for a few seconds before she cleared her throat and spoke again. "What did you just say?"

"I believe you have my daughter."

Before she could speak again, Grissom had walked into the room and saw the young man at the door with a shocked Sara looking at him, so he walked up to them and spoke as he placed his hand on the small of her back. "What's going on, can I help you?"

"Yes sir, I believe you have my daughter and I would like to see her."

Now it was Grissom's turn to stand there in shock for a few seconds before he cleared his throat and said. "Ok, well why don't you come in and we can talk."

He nodded as Grissom helped Sara move away from the door, then as he closed the door, Sara spoke again, which clearly by her tone, the shock was gone and wanting answers was were on her mind now.

"Why did you abandon them?"

The door clicked shut as Grissom spoke towards her. "Sara..."

But Bryant cuts him off. "It's ok."

Grissom nodded, then once Bryant was seated on the love seat while Sara and Grissom were on the couch, the young man cleared his throat before replying. "I believe you've heard this story before, we were young, just getting ready to take the next step in our academic lives, and she tells me we are having a baby, so instead of manning up like I should have done, I took the easy way out and left. It was clearly not my finest moment."

Clearly peeved at that, Sara spoke under her breath. "You could say that again."

Grissom places his hand over hers to calm her down as Bryant cleared his throat and spoke again. "I know I'm six years too late, I understand that. But she lost her mother, she needs a parent and I'm ready and able to be that now."

Sara spoke again, still upset. "She doesn't even know you."

"I know, but I want to change that."

Before Sara could speak again, Grissom did after clearing his throat. "How do we even know your her father? There was no father's name on the birth certificate."

He nodded in understanding before replying. "You can do a DNA test, I'll do anything to prove that I am her father."

As Grissom nodded, Sara asked with a tone that said she was a little calm, but was still upset about his presence. "Why now?"

Bryant cleared his throat and looked down at his hands before using a tone that sounded like he was really hurt. "You may not believe me, which I wouldn't blame either of you if you didn't, but I made the biggest mistake on leaving them, I know that now." He looked up at Sara and Grissom as he finished. "And while I don't have a chance with Katie anymore, I don't want to lose the chance of getting to know my daughter. Is she here?"

Sara cleared her throat before responding. "She's over at a friend's place."

Bryant nodded in understanding with a small smile before standing up from the love seat. "Tomorrow, then?"

Grissom stood up from the couch while Sara stayed seated, then as him and Bryant walked to the door, he had asked if he knew where the Las Vegas Crime lab was before giving him directions when Bryant said he didn't.

When they stopped at the door, Grissom opened it as they went through their polite goodbyes before Bryant walked out of the house.

After he had closed the front door, he kept his hand on the doorknob and closed his eyes with a sigh before turning around and walking back toward his wife, but before he could sit down next to her, she had stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck while he had wrapped his arms around waist before they held each other as their hearts were breaking because they both knew that no matter what or how many tests they ran they felt Bryant was telling them the truth, and they may have just lost her.

The next morning

When it became morning, which neither of them didn't sleep very well, they left the house and headed for the lab, and once they got there Sara had asked Greg to stay in the break room before her and Grissom went to Catherine's office to talk to her about what was going on.

Once she got over the shock she gave them permission to do the test, and they were very thankful for, then they left her office and headed back to the break room where Greg was waiting while wondering what was going on, which she told him after clearing her throat.

"I know that it's been years since you've been a lab rat, but I would really appreciate it if you can run a test for me."

There were a few people in her life she trusted and Greg was one of them. She knew that if she told him she wanted something kept private he would honor that, and that's why she chose him to run the test.

Greg smiled with a nod, honored she chose him. "Of course, what test am I running?"

Sara and Grissom looked at one another, then he placed his hand on the small of her back as she replied. "A DNA test between Sage and her potential father."

Greg looked at her with surprise, but before he could speak the receptionist had announced over the intercom that there was visitor for Sara and Grissom, so she smiled at Greg before speaking again. "We'll meet you in the DNA lab."

Greg cleared his throat with a nod. "Ok."

After Sara and Grissom nodded they left the room, leaving Greg alone before he also left the room so he could set up the test.

Once the samples were taken and Greg informed them that it will take a few hours, Sara, Grissom and Bryant left the lab, and while Bryant was eating at the diner, Sara and Grissom went to Catherine's and picked up their daughter before taking her to the park.

When Grissom stopped the vehicle in the parking lot they see Bryant's rental vehicle a few spots down, then after he turns the vehicle off, they get out while Sara and Grissom saw Bryant walking their way.

As Bryant saw the little girl in between Sara and Grissom while they stood in front of their vehicle, his heart skipped a beat because he could see so much of Katie in her.

He cleared his throat before he walked a few steps closer, then he kneeled down in front of her and said with a smile. "Hi Sage, I've heard so much about you."

While they were running the tests Bryant had asked a few things about her, and he was happy to hear all the wonderful things about her, proud even.

Sage gave him a little smile before asking. "Yeah? Who are you?"

She's never seen this man before so it was making her curious on who he was, and a small part of her was wondering how she could feel so safe looking at this stranger, there was just something about his eyes she couldn't explain.

"I'm Bryant Maxwell, and I'm...Uh, well..."

Grissom cuts him off as he placed his hand on Sage's shoulder. "He's a friend of ours."

It may have not been the whole truth, but it was the easiest explanation on why he was here until they had official proof on his connection with her.

Sage nodded as Bryant continued. "I was hoping I could hang out here with you guys for bit, if that's ok with you."

Sage shrugged her shoulders, not seeing it as a big deal, as she replied. "Sure. I really like to swing."

Bryant smiled and whispered. "Not a lot of people know this, but I like to swing too."

Sage chuckled before asking. "Want to come swing with me?"

"I would love too."

She smiled before she started to run toward the swing set with Bryant following behind her after he had stood up.

While they were swinging, Sara and Grissom sat on the bench and watched them, they couldn't keep their eyes off of her, and really they didn't want to, they wanted to capture every second.

A few hours later

The moment they've been waiting for had finally arrived when Sara's phone started to ring. They looked at each other before Sara answered her phone. "Yeah Greg, just tell me...Ok...thanks, bye."

After she hung up the phone she looked at Grissom, and he didn't even have to ask because the answer was in in her eyes. He looked at her sadly before placing his hand on top of hers and leaning toward her so their foreheads could touch while they closed their eyes and sighed softly.

A few minutes later, she clears her throat before speaking. "I'll text Bryant to let him know the test results are in."

He nodded as he pulled back from her forehead, then after one more look at one another, she started a text message to Bryant, then once he got it, he looked toward them before excusing himself to Sage and walked toward them.

When he was standing in front of them, which they had stood up right as he stopped, Sara cleared her throat before speaking. "I'm sure this doesn't come as a surprise to you, but it's official, you are her father."

He was beaming inside, yeah he knew it in his bones that that little girl was his, but to hear it in a official way, it excited him, and he would have smiled and shook hands with anybody that was walking by, but he didn't want to be insensitive since he realized that it was more than likely hurting them, so he just shook his head and cleared his throat before speaking. "And I'm sure you guys know what comes next."

They nodded before Grissom spoke this time. "We very much understand, but we were hoping we could have one more night with her, to let her know what's going on."

Bryant nodded with a smile. "Yeah, that can be arranged."

They gave him a small smile back before Grissom spoke again. "Thank you, Bryant."

He nodded, then he turned back around to say goodbye to Sage before heading to his vehicle so the family could have whatever time they had left together.

Later that night

For the rest of the day it was just the three of them, then just before bedtime and after Sage was tucked in, Sara and Grissom told her that they needed to talk, which by the sound of their voices Sage realized right away that this was serious so she kept quiet while they talked, then once they were done she looked at them with shock as she asked. "He's my daddy?"

Since for as long as she could remember it was just her Mother and Grandmother in her everyday life, so she honestly never thought she had a daddy, even when her friends said that she had to have one somewhere. She hated to admit out-loud that she had felt something missing in the last few years, and even though living with Sara and Grissom the last few months felt right to her and she was starting to love them, meeting him, especially now knowing he was her father, something felt right with him too.

After Sara and Grissom nodded after her question, she asked again. "And he wants me to live with him?" Of course those exact words weren't said, but it was implied, so they just nodded before she asked one more thing, this time looking straight at Grissom. "You promised you would make sure I'll be in the best place, is being with him the best place?"

A part of him wanted to tell her that the best place for her was to be with them, but deep in his heart he couldn't keep a daughter away from his father, if the father wants his daughter back, and after they dug around Bryant's background they didn't see any red flags, so outside of wanting to keep her in their lives, he didn't have a good excuse to convince her that the best place was with them.

So, with that in mind, Grissom cleared his throat to try to keep the emotion in before he answered the little girl's question. "I believe you could be really happy with him."

She trusted their opinion more than anybody and when she looked at Sara, who had nodded with a small smile, Sage nodded back, but then she gets a little sad as she asked them one more thing. "What about you guys? Will I still get to see you and talk to you."

This time Sara cleared her throat and placed her hand over the little girl's hand and replied with the truth. "We'll talk to you as much as you want, seeing you might be a little harder, but we'll try to work something out with that. Just know that we love you very much, and this is about you and what would make you happy, ok?" As Sage nodded she also yawned, so Sara continued. "Why don't you get some rest."

After Sage nodded again, they tucked her, then after saying their goodnights, Sara and Grissom left the room before heading toward the living room, then when they were close to the couch, she asked. "You want a drink?"

"Yeah."

They had eye contact for a few seconds before Sara went to the kitchen to get the drinks while Grissom sat down on the couch.

When she got back to the couch she saw him holding a photo of the two of them with Sage that was just taken a few week ago, then she got his attention when she said here.

He grabbed the glass from her hand, then raised an eyebrow while she sat down when he noticed she had chosen the same drink as him, which was something a lot stronger than wine or beer. He didn't drink hard liquor all the time. In fact, he would only have a glass on really hard days, which they didn't come as much since he stopped being a CSI, but tonight seemed like one of those nights, and she understood him enough to know that's what he wanted tonight.

Noticing the surprised look on his face, she smiled as she raised her glass toward him. "I think of all the nights to drink something a little stronger, this one would be it."

With an exception of a few rough times in her life, she wouldn't have anything stronger than wine or beer, but as she was pouring Grissom's glass, she felt like she needed one too.

There was no argument from Grissom, he just clinked his glass with hers before they both took a sip, then his attention went back to the picture he still had in his other hand. Sara scooted closer to her husband and laid her head on his shoulder before her attention went to the picture.

After a few minutes he cleared his throat to get the emotions out, even though it was still detected. "We are doing the right thing, right?"

Sara moved the glass to her other hand and placed the now empty one on her husband's arm as she nodded with tears in her eyes. "As much as this kills me, I would have to say yes."

They both knew they could ask Bryant if they could keep in contact with her, which they hope he would say yes, especially after telling Sage that they would, because knowing how well she was doing was better than not knowing anything at all.

Grissom nodded, then replied softly after he turned his head and kissed her head. "I'm going to miss her."

Sara took a breath before she replied. "Me too, Griss. Me too."

As they went back to looking at the photo, they thought of her and the wonderful times they had together. Sage may have not been in their lives for very long, but it was enough time to change their lives forever.

AN: I hope you're still with me. Three more chapters to go. Please review.