Sara lay on the bed with her head on Grissom's chest while he played with her hair with one hand and held the latest forensics journal in the other. Sara tried to relax; she was exhausted but sleep would not come. Years of living at night had taken that ability away. It had taken almost two hours to calm Kaia enough to get her to sleep, though that was sharing Sophie's bed, and not in her own. Kati, after a long lecture from Grissom, was banned from playing with all bugs for a week and was now in charge of a handful of extra chores for the time being. Sara shifted, trying to get comfortable. Her back ached ferociously.
"So how did you catch them?" she asked, wrapping an arm around his waist.
"Isis caught Fizz, which is why we had to lock the animals up."
"Is he still alive?"
"Yes. Isis bit me though; I swear that cat hates me. We found Fuzz in Hank's bowl. Both are now secure in the basement, with Buzz." They were quiet for a while; Sara thought he had gone back to reading and closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. She started slightly when he began to talk again.
"What are we going to do with Kati? She's more trouble than the other three were multiplied together."
Sara giggled into his shirt.
"She'll be bringing in dead animals to dissect next," she murmured, playing with a button.
"Well, it's very educational you know," said Grissom. "I learn a great deal from autopsies on," he didn't get to finish. Sara hauled herself upright and yanked the journal from his hands, tossing it to the bottom of the bed.
"I will not have dead animals in this house," she growled, meeting his eyes squarely. "I let you keep bugs and spiders and do weird experiments, but I am drawing the line at the dead animals. You can wait until she's older and then take her to the body farm." Grissom laughed and pulled her arms until she was straddling his lap. He ran his hands through her hair, on both sides of her face, running his thumbs over her eyebrows and then tracing her lips.
"I was joking," he whispered. "I like live animals better and I have no desire to experiment here when I have you and the girls. That's what work is for." He ran his index finger over the nose then slid his hand through her hair and around her neck, gently massaging her. When her eyes fluttered partially shut he leaned forward for a gentle, loving kiss. He felt her melt in his arms and gently laid her out on the bed, lying next to her and stroking her face and arms. Sara caught his hand in hers and laced her fingers through his, then pulled him closer, until he was leaning over her. She smiled angelically and then pulled him down for a long, slow, agonizingly romantic kiss. When he pulled away to breathe he took her with him, rolling onto his back and pulling her onto his chest. She groaned softly.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"My back," she moaned, biting her lip. Grissom ran a hand through her hair and gently helped her into a sitting position before pulling off her shirt and bra, then lying her back down on the bed. Slowly and gently at first, he began to massage the tension out of her muscles, murmuring quietly to her. He felt her relax and put more pressure in his movements, smiling when she sighed with pleasure.
---
Griss and Sara were sitting opposite each other on the bed playing cards when they heard Sydney's alarm go off. Sara picked up Grissom's discarded card and added it to hers, then put them down.
"I win," she grinned, leaning forward to kiss him before getting up. She pulled on a pair of socks and stretched as Grissom stood up and shoved his feet into a pair of slippers. They hadn't bothered to put on pj's because they hadn't slept; instead playing cards, doing crosswords and talking, simply spending time together.
"Breakfast or wake up calls?" asked Sara.
"Breakfast," grinned Grissom, heading for the door. "Good luck," he called over his shoulder as he disappeared. Sara rolled her eyes and plucked Ghost off the bed, cuddling her kitty as she walked into Sydney's room. Sara started when she saw Syd was already dressed and seated at the desk, reading a textbook. A sheaf of papers neatly stapled together was sitting next to the printer. Sara picked it up and looked at the date.
"Did you write this last night?" she asked, flipping through twenty-odd pages.
"Most of it," sighed Sydney, putting a marker in her page and closing the book. Sara frowned at the dark rings under Sydney's eyes.
"Did you sleep at all?"
"About two hours I think," yawned Syd. "I can't get used to this night sleeping thing. I thought it would be nice to have a break from work, but hey, what can you do?" she hauled herself to her feet and stuffed the book and the report into her backpack before grabbing her crutches. "See you downstairs," she sighed and walked out the room. Sara watched her go, frowning. In Sophie's room she found a lump of covers concealing girl and cat in the middle of the bed. When she peeled back the quilt Sophie didn't even stir. Duck raised her head and flicked her tail.
"Rise and shine," called Sara, grabbing the pillow. Sophie growled and yanked the covers back over her head. "Ok," agreed Sara, "sleeping does sound better than getting up right now, but you'll be missing BIOLOGY LAB and that PHYSICS LECTURE you've been going on about forever and a day now."
"Ok, I'm up," announced Sophie, throwing back her covers and bounding into the bathroom. Sara grinned and moved on down the hallway. It seemed Kaia had moved back to her own bed sometime during the night. When she walked in to Kaia's room Sara had to bite her lips to keep from laughing out loud. Kaia was lying flat on her stomach with her head under the pillow. Next to her, Fuzz the cat not Fuzz the roach, was imitating her. Sitting on the edge of the bed Sara ran her hand over Kaia's back.
"Wakey wakey rise and shine," she called quietly as Ghost leapt from her free arm and walked up Kaia's spine.
"No," came the usual grumble. Ghost stuck her head under the pillow and shoved her nose in Kaia's ear. The girl yelped and sat up.
"Good morning," smiled Sara. Kaia scowled and stomped off to the bathroom. Sara looked down at Ghost, whose paws were resting on Sara's stomach. "Thank you," she said and picked up the cat again, heading for the stairs, after checking Kati was still asleep. In the kitchen Sydney and Grissom were talking about some psychological theory over bowls of cereal. Sara helped herself to some rice crispies, listening quietly and joining in occasionally. She watched Sydney's face, seeing the lack of enthusiasm and exhaustion there. Something was wrong, and Sara had a feeling she knew what it was. Her concentration was shattered though when Sophie bounced downstairs and into the kitchen, a tangle of thoughts and ideas about her biology lab spilling out of her. Grissom listened patiently as Sydney fell silent and pulled out her psychology book again, an uncharacteristic frown settling in her brow. When Sophie went quiet long enough to eat a mouthful of cereal Grissom caught Sara's eye; he had seen it too. Finally Kaia crept in, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Kaia was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a morning person. She slumped into her chair and poured a glass of orange juice.
"Good morning Kaia," called Grissom, from across the table.
"What's good about it?" mumbled the girl around a bite of toast. She swallowed. "I have a vocabulary test in English, a dead frog lab in science and a speech in social studies."
"Well, survive that and you get to spend three hours in the gym," Sydney pointed out, getting to her feet. "Let's go, we'll be late."
---
Two hours later Grissom and Sara dropped Kati off at preschool then drove to the doctor's office. While they were waiting to be seen they talked about Sydney.
"She's miserable Griss," said Sara, leaning into him.
"I know. She thinks she has to do as well as Sophie and as well as we did in school," he sighed and laced his fingers with hers.
"I think she's struggling too," said Sara, slowly. "She was up all night working on a paper, and she failed a test last week, right before she fell down the stairs at work."
"How do we talk her into doing what she wants to do?" asked Grissom.
"I'm still working on that part," murmured Sara as the nurse called them.
After the nurse left them in the exam room Grissom sat on the table next to Sara, pulling her into his arms. She leaned backwards into him, closing her eyes.
"Have I mentioned today just how much I love you?" he whispered in her ear.
"No," came the sleepy reply, "I don't believe you have."
"Well I do, to the ends of the earth and back again." There was a tap at the door, and then Doctor Ari Glass walked in, a chart in her hands and a smile on her face.
"Hello Sara, Gil," she said. "I thought you'd be back sometime."
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" asked Sara. Ari laughed.
"Sometimes you just know."
"Really?" Sara was curious.
"Yep! So, any idea how far along you are?"
"Not a clue," said Grissom. "We sort of realized by accident."
"Hmm, is that a theme? I seem to remember you telling me that the first time I saw you. How is Kati anyway?" Grissom looked at Sara, she raised an eyebrow.
"That bad?" asked Ari, a twinkle in her eye.
"She has an obsession with bugs," began Sara
"Which she comes by honestly," Grissom jumped in.
"But she thinks everyone should like them too. And someone decided to buy her Madagascar Hissing Roaches without consulting her mother and then proceeded to leave the habitat where she could get into it by herself."
"Oh no," laughed the doctor.
"Oh yes," countered Sara.
"You're leaving out the best part," said Grissom. Ari stared at him. "When we finally rounded them up and put them in the basement she somehow managed to get Henri out without me knowing about it."
"Who's Henri?"
"The tarantula," said Sara. Ari shuddered. "My thoughts exactly," Sara agreed. "So anyway she took the spider upstairs and put it in Kaia's bed." Ari's eyes widened in horror.
"Kaia is the one that doesn't like bugs, right?" she asked. Sara nodded.
"If Kaia hadn't freaked out it would have been funny," said Grissom.
"Excuse me?" squeaked Sara. "If I ever find a spider or bug or creepy crawly anything in our bed you will be sleeping in the basement with all your experiments." Ari was laughing now.
"Your house must be quiet mad," she said, motioning for Grissom to get off the table.
"It is," they sighed together. Ari shook her head.
"I told you when Kati was born that she was going to be a handful," she said.
After the routine physical and questions, Ari asked Sara to lie flat on the table while she hooked up the ultra sound.
"So when did you realize you're pregnant again?" asked Ari as she manipulated the device with one hand and look intently at the screen.
"A few days ago," said Sara. "I was throwing up a lot and Griss found unopened tampons under the sink and then the math didn't add up."
"I'll say it didn't," said Ari, looking at them "You have no idea how far along you are?" They shook their heads. Ari pointed to the screen. "Sara, you're about sixteen weeks pregnant."
"Wow," said Sara, her voice soft. Grissom moved closer to her and squeezed her hand. Ari pointed out various parts on the screen; the head, arms and legs.
"When can we find out the sex?" asked Grissom.
"Who says we're going to?" demanded Sara, playfully.
"We always have before," said Grissom, his eyes pleading with hers.
"What are you going to do if it's another girl?" asked Sara, shifting uncomfortably on the table. Grissom smoothed her hair back and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"I'm fine either way," he murmured, "but don't tell me a boy wouldn't be nice!" He kissed her ear and teasingly dragged the tip of his tongue ever so gently across the lobe before pulling back. Sara's breath caught in her throat and she glared daggers at him while Ari's back was turned.
"Give it another month or so and we should be able to tell," said Ari, turning back around. "Ok, Sara, we just need some blood and that's it. As she put the tourniquet on Sara's arm the brunette paled considerably. Grissom pulled her into a sitting position and then held her so she couldn't see what the doctor was doing.
"You've never had problems with having blood drawn before," remarked Ari, trying to be as fast and painless as possible.
"I hadn't been pinned under a car before," Sara muttered into Grissom's chest.
"It's the same arm that was crushed by the car," said Grissom, when Ari looked confused. "The nurse tried to put in an IV before they realized it was broken."
"I'm sorry," said Ari, "next time I'll use the other arm."
"S' fine," Sara swallowed and closed her eyes. Grissom ran a hand down her back to her waist, tickling her lightly after Ari removed the needle. When the doctor left the room he kissed his wife's neck.
"What was that for?" hissed Sara, straightening.
"What?"
"Don't what me Gilbert! My ear! We're at the doctors for crying out loud," she whispered forcefully.
"I was just trying to help you relax," he said, holding up his hands in an innocent gesture. He stepped closer, sitting next to her and pulling her into his arms again. He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her tight and let the other roam slowly down one arm. "You look far too tense," he continued, kissing her again, this time behind her ear. Very slowly he dragged his tongue down the back of her neck, grinned internally as her body tensed in his arms. With his free hand he tickled her stomach where her untucked shirt left a sliver of skin free to his touch. The knock at the door again made him straighten, though he still kept her in his arms. Ari came in, gave them some papers and instructions and then left. The couple made a follow up appointment in the reception area and then left.
"I can't believe you," gasped Sara, slamming the car door behind her.
"What? I wasn't doing anything, not really anyway. Besides, I happen to think that my pregnant wife is very sexy," he smiled at her as he started the engine.
"Really?" she sighed, settling back in her seat. She clasped her hand with his as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"Really!" they pulled onto the highway and were less than a mile from their turnoff when traffic ground to a halt. Grissom tapped his fingers on the wheel, lost in thought. Sara grinned wickedly to herself and let go of his fingers. If he wanted to tease her, well, he could take what he gave out. She ran her hand over his jean clad leg, then back again just far enough back to make him jump. Her fingers skimmed over the denim and then up his torso to his shoulder, over his neck and to the side of his face when he turned to look at her.
"Chalk?" he asked thickly.
"Definitely," she agreed, stroking his arm and tangling her fingers with his once more. They leaned toward each other and kissed gently before the driver in the Honda next to them let off several long blasts of his horn followed by a string of curses. The girl with him turned on the radio, cranking it up to ear drum shattering. Grissom's eyes widened at the lyrics of the song that was just starting.
"What is this?" he muttered.
"Lady Gaga," replied Sara. "Love Game is the name of the song I think."
"Uh huh, right. Umm, if you say so," said Grissom, squirming uncomfortably in his seat. Sara laughed as the lyrics blasted through their vehicle as well as others by them. Risking a look through her window Sara quickly wished she hadn't and turned to stare straight ahead.
"What?" asked Grissom. Sara jerked a thumb in their neighbor's direction. Grissom glanced out of Sara's window then hurriedly stared straight ahead, willing the traffic to clear. He felt Sara's hand on his leg again and turned to glare at her.
"What?" she asked, innocently, "I was just trying to get your attention."
"What part of my attention would it be that you require?"
"When we get home, all of it," she promised. "But right now I was going to suggest we call Jim and report a noise disturbance," she joked.
"It doesn't seem to be disturbing them," said Grissom, waving at the couple in the car one over who were completely and utterly enamored with each other in the drivers' seat. "These lyrics… I take it 'disco stick' means what I think it does, right?"
"Yes," said Sara, stretching her arms over her head and arching her back so her shirt pulled free of her pants and exposed her stomach to Grissom. Grissom stared resolutely ahead, biting his lips as her milky skin called to him. He silently cursed the cause of the delay as his wife threw her head back and twisted first her neck and then her back to loosen her muscles. She grinned evilly from the corner of her eye as she saw his eyes follow her movements when he noticed the top button of her shirt was open.
"Hey, look" she said, leaning forward across the space between them. She twisted to look at him while reaching into the foot well by his right shoe. His eyes traveled down her face, her neck and upper torso then back up again as she sat back in her seat.
"Do you like this song?" she asked laughing when she noticed he was tapping the steering wheel in time with the beat of the music.
"It's… interesting," he replied, swallowing. "What did you find?" Sara opened her hand and sighed.
"One of Kati's bugs," she muttered.
"That's a mosquito," said Grissom, taking a closer look.
"Yuck," said Sara, tossing the bug into Kati's car seat behind her.
"I had forgotten Ari said Kati would be a challenge," mused Grissom.
"Me too," laughed Sara. "And she was right. How long do you think it will be before she gets into trouble for something bug related at preschool?"
"Well, she started in what? August?"
"Yep," nodded Sara.
"Well, I was sent home in disgrace at the end on my second week. I tried to get a girl to eat ants on her crackers." Sara laughed.
"Well, let's just hope she saves the creepy stuff for you," said Sara, unknowingly tapping the beat of the music on her thigh.
"You think I'm creepy?"
"No. But other people do. As far as I'm concerned you're my Bugman and I like you the way you are. Just as long as you keep the bugs in the basement." The both laughed and then sighed with relief at the music came to an end. Something occurred to Grissom then.
"You listen to that stuff?"
"No, but Greg does. He, oh no," said Sara, shaking her head.
"What?" asked Grissom, concerned.
"This isn't a radio station, it's a CD." They listened as Poker Face blared through the speakers and reverberated through the SUV. Grissom pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep himself together. Sara clamped her bottom lip between her teeth. Traffic started to crawl forward, but the pace was agonizingly slow, as if meant to tease. A quick glance to the right told Sara that the couple in the Honda were still busy, even though they were moving.
"Watch out for them," she told Grissom, pointing. "They seem a little, um, distracted."
"Right," stammered Grissom, "Of course." He gripped the steering wheel with both hands now. Beside him Sara clenched the sides of the seat, her knuckles white with the effort. When Poker Face ended and I Like It Rough started Sara closed her eyes and for the first time tried to think of being back under the car in the desert. Surely that was worse?
"How many songs on this CD?" asked Grissom tersely.
"I don't remember," groaned Sara, covering her eyes with her hands. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity at Lady Gaga's coarse lyrics hammered through the vehicle's frame. Finally Grissom muttered something and stepped on the gas. Sara's eyes flew open as Grissom took off after the car in front. When they finally reached their home Sara jumped out almost before Grissom parked and bolted for the front door before remembering she didn't have the keys. Grissom caught up to her and wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her back into him. Pulling her hair out of the way he attacked her neck with his lips. Sara struggled to get the keys out of his hand then fumbled trying to get the right one in the lock. Grissom took advantage and slid one hand under her shirt while the other tried to unbutton it at the top.
"Do you need a hand?" he whispered in her ear. She growled and turned the key, throwing the door open and yanking him inside.
---
A bit of amusement for you. And me. I hope you enjoyed it!