AN Ok this is a little angsty and a little bit romantic too. I will continue to play with the characters as I see fit. I was disappointed not to find either Eric or George under my tree gift wrapped. But, there's always next year!!

One Month Later

"Gil baby? Can you get the door?" Sara yelled from the master bedroom. "I'm trying to finish getting dressed in here so we can go!"

"Sure! I'm going!" Grissom yelled back at her. He walked into the kitchen tying his tie as he went. "Alright, alright." He spoke to the incessant knocking on their front door. "Ouch, shit!" He groaned as he stepped on one of Josie's stray Lego's. He reached the door and yanked it open with his free hand.

"Finally. Geeze. You ask us to come over and then you ignore us while we stand outside and freeze our asses off. Some friend you are." Jim Brass pushed past Grissom into the kitchen with Nick at his heels.

"Jim. It's 80 degrees outside. You're not going to catch frostbite." Grissom sighed. "We'll be out of here in a few minutes. Sara's in the bedroom doing her hair, or something like that. Josie's in the living room and Evangeline's sleeping in her room. There's a pan of lasagna in the oven, just turn it to 375 for 45 minutes and you can make a salad. There's stuff in the fridge. Jim, I put Bud Light in the fridge for you. Nick, you're babysitting, so you get iced tea." He headed off toward the bedroom leaving the two men in the kitchen.

Nick walked into the living room and stomped on the floor to get Josie's attention. She looked up from her Lego's and smiled at him. He knelt down next to her and spoke, "Hey Josie girl! Whatcha doing?"

"Blocks! Unka Nik. Wanna play?" Josie held up a large red building block and Nick took it from her chubby hand. He sat on the floor next to her and they began to build a tower on the coffee table. Jim took a beer from the refrigerator and snickered.

"Nicky my boy. Looks like you finally have a career to fall back on if you leave CSI. Supreme Lego Architect. You can design high rises for leprechauns." He slumped down in the sofa and missed Nick's death stare when he closed his eyes and leaned back.

"Don't get too comfortable. You have work to do you know." Sara emerged from the bedroom in a knee length blue dress and matching heels.

"Whooo….holy shit Sara. You look, um…..well…..wow!" Nick stammered.

"Looking good Cookie. You can clean up nice when you want to." Jim raised his beer to her and she smiled.

"Thanks guys. We really appreciate this. Gris and I need a night out in the worst way. This is the first night we have had together since, well, since Jason. I just want to enjoy a quiet dinner with the man I love. He will be leaving his cell phone here, just so you know. I will have mine in case of an emergency. OK?" Sara patted the side of her handbag and readjusted her earring.

"Sara, when's Ava coming back?" Nick looked up from the floor.

"She'll be back next week. She wanted to personally oversee the sale of her gallery. It's a big step for her, but she wouldn't let us help her. When it's settled, she's hiring a company to pack up the house and move everything back here to Vegas. She bought a condo about two blocks over."

"What about Evangeline?" Brass asked.

"Well," Sara began. "She's staying here indefinitely. She can use her index finger and thumb on her right hand and no fingers on her left. I have to help her get dressed. She can't even hold a fork or her toothbrush. Physical therapy is agonizing for her. In fact, she has a session this morning and it wiped her out. She took a pain pill and went to bed about three hours ago. The doctors are hopeful, but, she may never work again. Don't tell Gil, but the doctor put her on antidepressants last week. She just sits around and watches TV or stares at Josie. I catch her crying a lot. She was upset that we called you guys to come over. She can't take care of her own child anymore without help. The worst part is, she can't sign to Ava or Josie so communication goes much slower now. She gets so frustrated that she'll stomp off to her room and just lay there. I don't know what else to do guys. She's lost a lot of weight because she refuses to use the utensils the doctor gave us. They fasten to her braces. She tries to hold everything with one finger and a thumb. I will warn you that she will either put on a brave face, or ignore you completely. Please don't take offense." Sara sat down on the sofa next to Jim and he took her hand.

"It's ok Sar. We'll do our best to take care of both these girls. I'll get her to eat. What time should I wake her up?" Nick asked.

"About an hour or so. You may have to shake her because those pills really knock her out."

"One minute Sara and we can go!" Grissom called from the hallway. The three CSI's watched him gingerly open a door in the hallway and step inside.

"He's got to give her a goodbye kiss." Sara whispered.

A minute later Grissom returned to the darkened doorway and continued into the living room. He was dressed in a charcoal grey suit with a blue dress shirt and coordinating tie.

"Ok dear. We can go now. We'll be back around midnight and don't forget that Josie's bedtime is 8:30 after her bath." And with that, he swept Sara out the front door and closed it with a click.

"Well Nicky. I'll put dinner in the oven if you'll take the dog for a walk." Brass got off the sofa and Nick whistled for Hank who came bounding in from the den dribbling drool as he went. He hooked Hank to his leash and they headed out for a quick jaunt around the block.

Josie followed Jim into the kitchen and watched him for a minute. She walked over to him and tugged on his pants leg. Brass looked down at her and smiled. "What do you need punkin?"

"Momma don't feel good." She said, frowning.

"I know. We're going to help her feel better. Do you want to help too?"

She nodded her head. "How?"

"Well, we need to get her up so she can eat dinner."

"Ok." She reached up at Jim and her took her tiny hand in his. Together they walked down the hallway and softly pushed open the door to Evangeline's room. Brass could see her sleeping soundly in the dim light. Evangeline was wrapped up in a comforter. One arm hung over the edge of the bed and Bras could see her metal and leather brace shimmering in the light. She was snoring softly and he was hesitant to wake her until Josie slipped from his grasp and tapped her mother's cheek. Evangeline opened her eyes and smiled. She stretched her arm to Josie and used the palm of her hand to stroke the child's hair.

"Hey baby. Is it time to get up?" She croaked. Seeing Jim in the doorway, she started to wriggle out of the covers. She grasped the comforter with her two working fingers and pulled it back so she could get out of the bed. Jim snickered silently at her Snoopy pajamas and then helped her the rest of the way up. She followed him and Josie into the kitchen and sat down on a barstool.

"Coffee?" Jim asked and she nodded. He started to pour a cup and she stopped him.

"I can't hold a full cup, I have to drink it in little increments Jim. A little less than a third of a cup will be fine. One scoop of sugar." She yawned. He placed the cup on the island in front of her and he watched as she used her left hand to guide the cup into her right's grip. She used the two working fingers to grip the handle of the cup and raised it a little off the counter. She then slid her left hand under the cup palm side up and brought the cup up to her lips and took a long sip.

"It's a little unorthodox I know, but it works. Now, if I could just hook my bra by myself I'd be set." She laughed softly and Jim smiled.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Not really, but I suppose Sara told you to make me eat something didn't she?"

"Yep."

"Fine."

"I won't force feed you if that's what you're worried about."

" I know you won't"

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"No, I'm not Jim. My life is over."

"No it's not. You have options."

"Sure. Whatever."

Neither one of them noticed that Nick had returned from walking Hank and was standing in the entryway.

"Evangeline, you can still have a good life."

"Sure. Who would want me now? I can't even brush my own teeth Jim. I'm so damaged."

"You'll find someway to move on. You're a Grissom and they're pretty damn tough you know."

"Humph. I just want to be useful again. I can't even take care of my own child anymore. I can't talk to my mother. I can't work and the medical bills are piling up. I'm intruding on Gil and Sara. It's not worth it anymore."

"You wouldn't do anything drastic would you?"

"How? I could maybe stick my head in the oven, but knowing Gil, he's got some kind of monitor around here and the fire department would rescue me. I guess I could jump off of an overpass, but that would be messy for you guys to clean up. I could do it during the day…."

"Stop that! Fucking stop that!" Brass grabbed her upper arms and pulled her off of the barstool.

"You stop that shit right now! I won't let you make Josie an orphan. Did you think of her at all?"

"Yes dammit! I did. I already have plans. She's to go to Gil for him to raise her. He'll be a good dad and he won't have to worry about me. No one will……" her voice fell to a whisper and her eyes filled with tears. " I am so worthless now. So damaged…"

"No you're not!" Nick charged into the room and turned her around to face him.

"You're not damaged. You're brilliant, caring, and, and…..beautiful. I won't let you talk like that again. Understand me?" Nick spoke and Evangeline nodded.

"You are beautiful and I would take you. Scars and all. I would take you. From the moment that you came to Vegas and I looked in your eyes and knew that I was in love with you Evangeline. I'll help you get through this, I promise. Just, don't do anything drastic OK?" A tear coursed its way down his cheek. "Promise me that you'll try?" She nodded again and cried some more.

"We need to talk." She whispered.

Nick placed a hand on her arm and led her onto the back patio and closed the sliding doors behind them.

"Well Punkin, looks like it's just us for dinner." Jim tickled Josie and she giggled.