A/N: I am finally back with a new chapter. It seems for the first time in many many years RL is taking the front seat for me so writing has been more challenging than it ever has been. But, I will always get back to it at some point. I do thank everyone for your patience but remember I won't ever drop out of a story and a new chapter will come. It may just take a little time now.

I have decided that for now I'm going to concentrate on just 1 story as my writing time is limited. So if you are reading Eclipse, I'm going to just put that one to the side for a while, maybe until I get this finished or until I get more time to write. I do have some holiday time in a few weeks so maybe I will be able to get some good writing done then.

SO, for now, let's get back and see how our lovely couple is doing. How is Grissom really going to cope with news of the baby? Guess we will see. As always, thank you to calim for the beta and help! Mwah!

***This chapter is a high T maybe boarding M for sexual references so please read responsibly. A little smut ahoy…

On we go….

Chapter 25

4 weeks, 6 days, 1 hour earlier

He was pale, but Sara wasn't surprised. His blood pressure was sky high again to add to everything else.

Another bad nightmare had caused an equally bad seizure causing the doctors to cast his hands as the best way to stop him from smashing them into an unfixable state. Grissom hadn't been given a choice and Sara hated that she couldn't discuss it with him right now. But they were lucky if he could string two words together. In the long run, she really had to think what was best for him because he was unable to do so for himself.

Now she was just waiting for him to wake up and had no idea how he was going to react once he did. Actually, she didn't know anything anymore.

She was tired, but sleep was not coming easily.

Suddenly, his eyelids fluttered and Sara swallowed, her eyes flicking to the doorway to assess how quickly help may arrive should it be needed. She gave the hospital staff credit though as they were pretty damn fast. Still, she felt nervous about his reactions and what he could still do to himself.

Slowly, his eyes opened and blinked before they found her.

"Hi," she whispered, slowly lifting a hand to his hair and doing her best to offer a supporting smile.

After he'd blinked again, a little harder this time, his gaze moved towards his left hand and then the right, spotting the casts. Without warning, he sharply raised his right arm. Although the action startled Sara, she acted quickly, grabbing his arm before he had chance to smash it down because it looked like that's exactly what he wanted to do.

"No, Gil!" she half cried, half shouted.

"Don't care!" he screamed. "Just cut them off!"

"Jesus," she growled as he struggled against her, thanking anyone who would listen when Mary came running in with a male colleague.

"Try and keep him still," Mary said to the man as she hurried to grab a sedative.

"Please stop, Gil," Sara begged, trying to keep a grip on his cast.

The man grabbed Grissom's legs just as he cried out again and jerked his arm. Sara lost her grip and stumbled backwards.

Back at the bedside, Mary injected the sedative into Grissom's left arm and then took hold of it just in case he decided to start flinging that one around.

"Calm down, Gil," she ordered. "You need to calm down."

A high-pitched scream from him hit the room, one so gut wrenching, Sara felt her stomach turn.

Present

Sara's eyes shot open and she swallowed hard on a dry throat. Her attention immediately tipped in Grissom's direction only to find the space beside her empty. Shooting upright as panic hit, she scanned the room, catching a glimpse of moonlight peaking through the slightly open drapes. And there he was, sitting there and looking out.

Blowing out a breath, her heart calmed a little and she pushed back the covers. Silently groaning at an ache in her back as she stood, she headed towards him. When his head shifted, she knew he'd heard her so she stroked Buddy then leaned down, dropping her head on Grissom's shoulder.

"Hey," she whispered, brushing a hand down his chest.

"Hey," he said back.

"What are you doing up?"

"Bad dream," he admitted.

Softly sighing and deciding to keep her own dream to herself, Sara straightened up and placed her hands onto his shoulders before starting a gentle massage. A short groan came but it didn't deter her from continuing.

"You're so tense again," she told him.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"And why didn't you tell me?" she asked, squeezing and pushing just a little bit harder.

Lifting his head, Grissom looked over his shoulder. "We've been a little busy with other things, honey."

Her eyes narrowed but lips pursed at his lighthearted answer. "You need to tell me if you need attention. You promised you would."

"Yes, dear," he said, looking back through the window. "Ooooh," he groaned then as Sara found a knot.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"It's fine," he breathed. "Nice actually."

She smiled. "Good. Hopefully, it will loosen you up a little bit. How about a nice bath in the morning before we go to the hospital?"

"Maybe."

Her eye twitched, his tone giving out signals he had a lot of thoughts going on. "Do you…want to tell me about your dream? It's been a little while since you've had a bad one. Surprised you didn't wake me."

As his shoulder's rose, the deep breath he sucked in very evident, Sara patiently waited to see if he would open up.

"Just him," he muttered.

"Hurting you?" she dared ask.

There was a slight pause before Grissom answered. "No. He was hurting you."

Sara's eyebrows lifted. She hadn't expected that and she paused with her movements. "Oh," she said quietly.

"And why are you awake?" he asked.

Knowing he was purposely changing the subject, Sara didn't push. They could add it to the list for when he was ready to talk about it or she could bring it back up at a more appropriate hour.

"I had a bad dream, too," she admitted, moving her hands again.

Grissom looked at her again. "Him?"

Her head shook. "You." Frowning, he looked back to the window. "When you were in the hospital," she continued to save him worrying it was anything he'd done wrong. "It comes sometimes. Not a very nice time for us."

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Don't be silly." She squeezed a little harder again, feeling another knot. "What's happened has happened. We can't change it and we just get through it."

"I guess you remember more of it than I do," he replied.

"I'm not that sorry about that," she countered.

Softly sighing, Grissom lifted his right arm, resting his hand upon Sara's and she paused again. That simple gesture sent a jolt through her and even though he could do nothing but rest his hand on hers, it sent an immense need through her body to be close to him. Closer than close.

She really needed him.

Kissing his cheek, she deeply breathed in. She loved that smell. His smell. There was nothing else in the world like it.

"Come to bed," she whispered alluringly and smiled as he looked at her. She could see his eyes flickering at her suggestion and brushed her lips over his. "I need you," she admitted. "Do you need me?" she breathed against him.

The smallest grunt came as he cleared his throat. "Yes," he sighed quietly.

Lips pursing, she straightened out, walked around him and held out of her hand. Grissom pushed himself up and she took his arm, leading him to the bed and stopping by it. Raising her hands, Sara cupped his cheeks, her eyes deeply exploring his seeing he had as much need as she did. She dropped her lips to his and the kiss that followed was even more desperate than she was expecting and the fiercest Grissom had been since they'd returned home. It was so powerful, so deep, so needy it made Sara weep.

Finally pulling away, she took a breath and smiled, eyelids fluttering at her husband who offered his own smile. And for once it was a confident smile. Running her hands across and down his shoulders, she went for the buttons on his PJ jacket, making quick work of them and pushing the garment off. As her fingernails lightly brushed across his chest, over his scars and down towards his stomach, the groan that spilled from his lips made Sara tingle. Looking back into his eyes, she lifted a finger to his lips and softly brushed from left to right.

"Do you want control?" she asked lovingly knowing that currently they only really had two ways they could make love. Either she had control and was on top or she was on her side with Grissom behind her giving him more option to take charge. As long as he was inside her, she really couldn't care less which way it went down.

He smiled again. "Sure," he whispered, dipping his head to kiss her again, his tongue seeking out hers and her eyebrows lifted as he pushed against her. Oh, yes, he was certainly confident and, as her legs clipped the bed, their lips separated, and she fell back to sit on the bed.

Giggling, Sara spotted the bulge in his bottoms and then smirked. "You are excited, aren't you?" she teased, running a hand over the bulge. "I like it when you're excited."

"And you're still a tease," he accused.

Sara laughed, gripping onto the waistband. "And I'm glad some things never change."

CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI

The feeling of his breath in her ear was blissful; the roughness of his hand resting across her belly a delightful comfort; the warmth his skin radiated to hers a feeling she never wanted to go away. If only she could bottle it and take it everywhere she went, she'd truly be a happy woman forever.

Sighing happily, Sara's eyes flicked to the clock. Almost 7:30am. She should really think about getting them up but she was so damn comfy. Smiling at the memory of the last few hours she softly ran her fingertips across his hand before resting hers over it. Just below their hands a baby was growing, their baby, and it was still a pretty surreal feeling. They still hadn't talked about it properly, but she hoped it would be soon. She didn't want to pressure Grissom into it, but they had to talk about it. They had to plan.

Feeling his foot move and then his lips upon the back of her neck, Sara smiled.

"Good morning," she greeted, stroking his hand.

"Morning," he growled as he stretched out his legs and snuggled closer.

Before their greeting could continue, Buddy appeared and gave them both a whine.

"Ah," Sara said. "I know what you want." Buddy barked and she gave him a pat. "Sorry, boy," she apologized. "I know I've usually let you out before now."

With his tail wagging, Buddy sat down and waited.

Looking over her shoulder, Sara dropped a kiss to Grissom's lips. "As much as I hate to move right now, sadly, I don't think I have much choice. Plus, we should really get up if you want to be ready to leave for the hospital in time."

"I guess," he sighed.

"Still feel like a bath?"

His lips puckered as he thought. "Join me?"

Taking his arm, Sara carefully turned over to face him and smiled. "Lovely thought but sadly with your chair, two of us can't fit in the bath."

"Shower? That's big enough."

Laughing at his determination, she kissed him again. It was so nice for their closeness to be growing stronger and stronger. It certainly beat how distant he was a few weeks prior.

"I'll let Buddy out and then we'll see where we go, okay?" He nodded and she gave him one more kiss. "Be right back."

CSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSI

Putting down Buddy's food bowl, Sara let out a happy sigh as she straightened out and watched Grissom from across the kitchen. The determination on his face as he scooped up the cereal made her feel proud at how far he'd come. Soon, he'd be able to hold the spoon. She knew he would.

She felt good and the current air around them felt good. Grissom had convinced her to shower with him which in itself was another huge step for him. Yes, they'd had sex but Sara had come to learn that all steps of intimacy for him now were different and each had to be overcome. It was a different kind of closeness but, it was so very nice. And, even though Grissom couldn't do a great deal but be pampered, being skin on skin was just heaven for Sara and she would take any offer for that when it was given.

While the mood was good, maybe now would be a good time to talk. She expected Donald would bring the baby up at the hospital, so she needed to know more form her husband and exactly how he was feeling about it now.

Washing her hands and grabbing a cloth she headed towards him seeing that his bowl was now empty.

"Hungry this morning I see," she said, happy he seemed to have an appetite for a change.

"Hmmm," he agreed, looking at her. "Some nightly activity we were involved in seems to have…erm…made me a little peckish."

Laughing, Sara picked up the bowl. "Was it a fun activity?" she teased.

"Better than a ball game," he hit back.

Mockingly, Sara held a hand to her heart. "I am so honored," she joked.

He gave her a bright smile and Sara sent one right back.

"Do you want some more?" she asked, holding up the bowl.

"No, I'm good thanks."

"Sure?" As Grissom nodded she smiled again, put the bowl by the sink and sat next to him. "We've still got about half an hour before our ride arrives," she said. "So, do you feel like having a little talk? You know…about the baby. Might be a good idea before we get to the hospital."

His jaw worked a little before he nodded and Sara gave a silent sigh of relief.

"Can you tell me how you're feeling about it now?" Her heart began beating faster as her eyes searched his.

"Scared," he admitted.

"Tell me why?" she asked softly.

He swallowed before his shoulders rose in an unsure shrug. "I…we…have never…you know…I never saw myself being a dad."

Taking his hand, Sara held it softly in her lap and was about to say something but to her surprise he continued before she had the chance.

"It was always just work and then…it was us."

"And work," Sara teased.

Smiling, he gave a nod. "Yeah," he breathed. "One way or another that always seemed to get in the way."

She leaned closer and returned his smile. "Until now. And people do change. Plus, you are really good with children. Do you even know how good you are?"

"Am I?"

"Yes," Sara confirmed decisively.

"I always struggled a bit especially as a kid," he admitted. "With my father dying when I was so young, I never really had that figure in my life or that influence."

Sara softly squeezed his hand. "That doesn't mean you won't be a good father," she argued. "Even without that influence, look at how successful you are. And you are good with people whether you want to believe it or not."

"As long as I'm not talking about myself," he snickered.

Sara laughed. "Pretty much. It's natural to be scared, Gil. I'm terrified."

His eyebrow lofted. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"But you don't act it."

"Just because I'm not shouting about it doesn't mean I haven't got rolling butterflies in my stomach most of the time at the moment," Sara replied. "Or my heart pounds every time I think there's a human being growing inside me."

"You have a lot to deal with," he sighed. "And I'm sorry I haven't been much help."

Leaning closer, Sara gently kissed his lips. "Right now, it's about how we move forward not where we've been. Yes, I'm going to need support, too, and yes, a lot of that could be from you, but most importantly, I need to know that you are on board with this baby. This has to be a two-way street and you will be a great father, Gil. I know you will, you need to believe that, too."

After a few moments, Grissom nodded. "Okay," he said quietly.

"Okay?" Sara questioned. "So, we're…good? Happy?"

He smiled and then nodded again. "Happy."

Now Sara smiled, bright and true, because he sounded so sincere and his eyes never lied. Raising her arms, she dropped them over his shoulders and sighed happily as they embraced. The road had just gotten a little bit longer but, at least, they were both driving on the same side.

A/N: Awwwww :)