Chapter 14

The next few days flew by. Grissom found that he enjoyed taking care of Sara, while she took care of James. A week in to his stay he could not put off talking to Sara about his departure.

"Sara I need to sort out my flights back." Sara's face dropped at the mention of him leaving. "And I need to talk to your boss, see if he will give me a job." He added trying to take that look off her face.

"You don't have too, I mean if you don't want to." There were tears in Sara's eyes as she spoke.

"I want to; I want to be here with you. I would not have come if I didn't want to be with you. I know I left it too long. But if you will have me, I am serious about coming to live here with you. I will go back and hand my notice in to Ecklie at his meeting next week, work my notice if he wants me too and then I will be back. For Good." He smiled at her trying to gage her reaction.

"When you said that before I thought it was because I was upset and you wanted to calm me down. You really mean it you" Sara paused to take a breath "You really want me, us. Even though it means leaving the lab? I though you were just enjoying the time we had like I suggested."

"I want you, I want James, I want us, together like it should always have been. I'm sorry, I know I promised that I had stopped hurting you when we got together, but I really will not hurt you again you and me and James together forever, well except the next few weeks. But I promise I will be back as soon as I can be. We are not going to split up again, even by accident." Grissom gently kissed her on the lips "And as I recall you started crying after I told you that I wanted to be with you." She smiled and kissed him back pulling him in close and enjoying the closeness of his body, knowing that they were back on track.

Sara suddenly broke the contact and whirled around and walked quickly into the kitchen calling back to him "If you are serious about this we should give Steve a call now, before you change your mind." He worried for a second that she still did not trust that he was serious, then she turned and he saw the laughter on her face.

"Give me the number" he instructed as he picked up Sara's house phone. He called Sara's boss and he agree to come to the house to talk to them see what options that he could offer Grissom. Grissom hung up the phone.

"He is going to come over for dinner, talk out some options. He wants to meet James." Sara grinned.

"He does not he has the hots for Ellie and the feeling mutual they just will not make a move, sound familiar." She walked up to him and stroked the side of his face. "You ok with James for a little while? I think I better go and warn Ellie that Steve is coming over, she would freak if she comes home and found him in the kitchen." He lent in and kissed her as she pulled the door open.

"We will be fine for a couple of hours just remember there are something's that I can't do for him." She lent over and kissed him again before she set off out of the house.

Grissom sighed as he sat down at the kitchen table with pen and paper, a little nervous at actually writing his resignation letter even though it was exactly what he wanted to do. He settled on simple and too the point.

Director Ecklie

I would like to tender my resignation, due to personal reasons. My family is no longer in Las Vegas and I will be leaving the city as soon as I have worked my notice.

Dr Gilbert Grissom.

He knew he should have more in it specified how long he would work put down his holiday pay he was owed, but he just wanted Ecklie to let him go as quickly and easily as possible, let Ecklie set the terms and he might let Grissom slip away quietly and quickly.

When Sara returned she was bubbly and excited.

"Oh you should have seen her face she didn't know whether to be excited or nervous and then she tried to hid that she felt either from me." Sara burst into fits of giggles.

"Calm down you have turned into a giggly school girl. I know Ellie said laughing is good for you but I don't think she meant at her expense." She looked up at him worried that he was really a cross as his word sounded. He was grinning back at her and at the look on her face he bust out laughing as well, pulling her in to his arms and kissing her on her forehead. "I will go shopping now and get something to cook for dinner. James will need you shortly, I will not be long. Do you mind what we have; he called as he picked his wallet up from the hall table."

"No what ever you want to cook, Steve is not fussy he lives alone and can not cook. He only eats what they serve up in the canteen and no disrespect to Ellie and the canteen staff but it is not that good." She smiled poking her head around the door frame from the sitting room "See you soon." She blew him a kiss which he pretended to catch as he left the house.

Grissom decided to cook vegetable and pork Stroganoffs with rice, he brought a bottle of wine that would go with the food and returned to the house, to find Sara frantically cleaning and tidying.

"Sara should you be dashing about like that I would have done it?" He asked as she dashed across the hall twice while he was taking his shoes off.

"I'm fine, I'm looking forward to tonight, it's going to be good taking about work and I have always wondered what it would be like to have dinner with you and Steve very stimulation conversation he is a passionate about his work as you are, I think you will find him good company." He dashed into the living room again with the vacuum cleaner. Grissom turned the other way into the kitchen resigned to the fact that he was not going to be able to stop her so he might as well get on with the cooking.

Steve was not what Grissom had expected when he arrived. He had expected Sara's boss to be older and more weather beaten. He was however, maybe approaching forty athletic looking with blond hair which would probably be light brown if he did not spend all his time out side in the sunshine most of the year.

"Well the famous Dr Grissom, it's nice to finally meet you, Sara has told us a lot about you over the last few months. I hope you can live up to your billing." Steve smiled greeting Grissom as he entered the kitchen, directed by Sara.

"I hope I will not disappoint." Grissom answered looking rather worriedly at Sara. "What has she been telling you?"

"Oh lot's" Steve teased picking up on the nervousness in the older man. He chuckled as Sara hit him lightly on the arm. "Only joking but she has taught us a lot, and when ever she is asked they all come from you." Steve smiled at them both. "Any way on a more formal footing I am Steve Ball and I am responsible for all the scientists on the base, and I have a few jobs that I can create that you might be interested in."

"Take a seat Steve; can I get you a drink?" Sara interjected.

"Yes a glass of wine would be good, please." He replied as he pulled out a chair from the rather formally laid kitchen table. He had eaten with Sara and Ellie in the past only a few times but never at the table usually on there laps on the porch.

Ellie was upstairs getting ready for dinner when Steve arrived and wondered into the kitchen trying to act casual while Steve and Grissom were discussing job options, she mouthed to Sara, who was stood watching the dinner, over there heads "Is it going well?" Sara just nodded and held glass of wine out to Ellie meaning that she had to enter the Kitchen properly rather than hid in the door way.

"Hi, Ellie." Steve noticed her as soon as she walked across the room, watching her move behind Grissom to join Sara. He studied her as she gently took the offered glass from Sara's hand and put it to her lips.

"You look very nice Ellie." Grissom added hoping to get Steve to focus back on the conversation rather than Ellie. It had the desired effect he turned back to the bits of paper that he had on the table infront of him.

"Thank you." Ellie replied giving Sara a quizzical look.