AN: Thanks for the continuing support. Here is your next chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it, it's all GSR!
Chapter 29: A day to remember
1 month later
Now with the case closed the month couldn't have moved fast enough for the both of them. A few times they almost thought about just doing it sooner and having just a few witnesses but they both agreed this time would be different than the first, they wanted everybody they cared about to be there to witness the best day of their lives so they waited, with little patience.
When the day was finally here and while Sara was in the master bedroom with Isabella, Catherine, Amanda and Aubrey helping her get ready, Grissom was using their daughter's room to get ready.
As Sara looks in the mirror when she was putting on make-up, Grissom was buttoning his last button on his tux shirt while looking in the mirror that was in the room he was in, they both thought back to when they first met.
Flashback
18 years ago
26-year-old, Sara Sidle walked into the room were the seminar was being held in then looked at her watch and saw that she made it on time. She had been running a little late today so she was worried that she wouldn't be on time but very happy she was.
As she was looking around for a place to sit her eyes saw the teacher for the first time and the wind just got knocked out of her and she also felt like her heart was beating for the first time. He was a little older than she would have expected for her to feel this strongly for somebody for the first time but in her eyes he was very attractive and she wouldn't mind staring at him all day, unfortunately at this moment that's what she started to do. Forgetting that she was standing in the middle of the aisle in a packed classroom.
A few moments before Sara walked into the door the teacher, 41-year-old, Gilbert Grissom was standing at the podium looking over his notes while students were coming in for the seminar. It felt nice to get out of Vegas for three days. Even though he really loved his job being a CSI that wasn't all he was, he was also a teacher and if he helped just one student find his or her calling in life then he would consider this trip a success.
He looked at his watch and saw that it was time to start so he stacks the papers back in order, fixed his glasses, cleared his throat but when he looked up and saw a woman just standing there his words just left him. She wasn't wearing or doing anything that stood out and said 'look at me', like most of the girls here today. She was wearing a simple long sleeve, dark blue, button down shirt, jeans, tennis shoes and her hair was in a pony tail but in his mind she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, he never believed in love at first sight before this moment.
He heard one of the students cough and another shift in their seat and it brought him back to earth fast, he remembered where he was and how old this woman could be. He mentally shook his head, looked down then looked back up, cleared his throat for the second time in a span of minutes and aid. "Miss, if you could take your seat please I can start."
Sara finally gets out of her daze, mentally shook her head and found a seat in the front row, feeling extremely embarrassed but she wasn't the only one, Grissom felt his own embarrassment.
Once Sara sat down and was ready, Grissom took a few minutes to collect himself, cleared his throat for the third time then started class, pretending that he wasn't affected by the brown haird woman sitting in the first row listening to everything he said.
By the end of the seminar, two hours later, he was really impressed with the brown-haired woman. Not only was she beautiful but she had this thirst for knowledge that could rival his own. It was like 95% of the questions came from her but he loved it. Even if he felt he was only teaching her, he knew he found the student that would use the knowledge he was teaching rather than waste it.
When he finally dismissed the class, he turned and walked to the desk to get his briefcase so he could pack up and leave.
As he was gathering up his stuff he heard her voice behind him. "Dr. Grissom?"
He took a moment to calm his heart, turned around to face the woman and this time they were close enough to look into each other's eyes and they could tell you they weren't disappointed. It only made them more attracted to one another.
Grissom talks, clearing them both from their thoughts. "Yes Ms..."
He trails off not knowing her name and she smiles, which he could list something else that he liked about her, then she speaks. "Sidle, Sara Sidle."
Grissom nodded with a smile of his own and asked. "What can I do for you, Ms. Sara Sidle?"
She stopped her self from blushing at his politeness then speaks again. "I was wondering if I can ask you more questions?"
He raised and eyebrow and replied. "More questions? Didn't you question yourself out?"
Sara gave him a little laugh, which the sound went right to his heart, and she responded. "You don't know who you are talking to. I don't think I can ever run out of questions."
Grissom smiled again, nodded and saw some students walking into the room for another seminar that was being presented in here. He looks back at Sara with his head and his heart telling him two different things but if he was really honest with himself he wasn't ready to let her go yet so he said. "Ok. Do you know the closest café?"
Sara nodded and secretly smiled, she really did have more questions but it was also a small selfish reason to not let him go just yet.
He made sure he had everything, looked back at her and said. "Shall we?" He holds out his hand indicating after you. She turns her back to him and started walking with a bigger smile on her face. This man was everything she was looking for in someone, a passion for what he loves doing, brains that could rival her own, good looks and he seemed to be very polite. She just hopes she doesn't do anything stupid to make him think she is too young for him.
When Sara had turned and started walking, Grissom stared walking behind her with a smile on his face. This woman had everything he would look for in a woman. He kind of stopped looking years ago when he knew no woman could compete with the love of his job and when they all got fed up on him leaving dates or always having to cancel. But now...He shook those thoughts away before getting in dangerous territory.
Once they got to the café, after he had followed her in his car, they walked in and grabbed two waters and salads, which he paid for. Even though she did offer he said it was his treat and she smiled then said she will make it up to him. He just does a short nod but didn't even want to think that far ahead and get his hopes up just in case it didn't happen.
They walked to the tables outside then sat down and started talking in between bites. They didn't know how long they sat there talking because everything flowed with ease and they didn't let their physical attraction get in the way of their intellect discussion or when they switched their talk to other topics, like some of their work stories and school experiences.
When the latest conversation was winding down she looked at her watch and said. "Wow, we talked for four hours."
He looked at her surprised then looked at his own watch and noticed the same thing, he looks back at her and said. "I'm sorry if I kept you from your other priorities."
Sara shook her head and replied. "Don't worry you didn't but I do have to go, I am on shift tonight." She worked as a CSI level 2 at the San Francisco crime lab and she had went to the seminar to sharpen her skills a little. He nodded and they both stood up from their seats and after she pushed her chair in she looks at him and said. "And even if you had kept me from other priorities it was worth it." Grissom get's an involuntary smile on his face then looked down, clearly embarrassed on the comment and Sara mentally smiled and thought that was a cute reaction. She shook her head, mentally sighed and said. "Thank you Dr. Grissom for the talk."
Grissom lefts his head back up to look into her beautiful brown eyes and replied. "Please call me Griss, Grissom, Gil or Gilbert, none of that Dr. Stuff and it was my pleasure." He smiled again and this time she looked down embarrassed and he thought that was cute.
When she looked back up she asked, getting a little bold then usual. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow and maybe we can do this again after your seminar?"
Grissom was going to open his mouth to decline but for some reason he stopped himself and replied. "Ok that sounds great, I'll see you tomorrow then." Sara gets a huge smile on her face showing her gap between the teeth and Grissom thinks 'If I can make her smile like that again, it's going to be a great day.'
She nodded, turned and walked away while Grissom watched her and a part of his heart was hoping she would turn to look back at him because that would mean she could be interested in him and as soon as he thought that she looked back at him, gives him a small smile then turns back to look where she was going.
He smiled again after he saw her turn her head away, he knew he couldn't let more than friendship happen between them but he didn't want to leave San Francisco without knowing as much as he could about the only woman who has ever captured his heart at first glance.
End of Flashback
Grissom's thoughts came back to the present when there was a knock on the door, he looks back at the door and said. "Come in."
The door opened and revealed Thomas in his tux, he smiles at Grissom and said. "I believe the bride is ready."
Grissom nodded with a bigger smile and said. "Well let's not make her wait any longer." Thomas nodded with another smile, stepped away from the doorway and headed back to the master bedroom.
When it was just Grissom again, he took a calming breath and walked out of the room.
Even though this wasn't the first time marrying the woman he loved he was just as nervous and excited and couldn't wait to pledge his life to her again.
Thomas gets to the bedroom door, knocks and Sara tells him to come in. He opens the door and said. "The groom is now waiting on the beautiful bride." She was in a beautiful, thin strapped, white wedding dress that went down to her knees, her hair was up nicely and she was wearing a silver butterfly necklace that Grissom had bought her the first year they were officially a couple.
They smile at each other and Sara said. "Well let's not make him wait any longer." He smirks and she asked with a raised eyebrow. "What?"
He holds out his arm and as she was putting her arm through his he replied. "That's the same thing he said. You two are really one of a kind." She smiles and Thomas saw the sparkle in her eyes but he wanted to ask anyways. "You happy Sara?"
She looks at him and replied. "More than I thought I could ever be again." He nods and she continued looking into his eyes. "You'll always be important to me."
He puts his hand on her cheek to wipe a stray tear away and said. "I know. Just as you are to me, nothing can change that. We weren't each other's soul mates, I get it but I will still settle for best friend." Sara nodded with another smile and after Thomas squeezed her hand and asked. "So you ready to have everything you ever wanted?"
"More than ready." He smiled and as they started walking out of the room she speaks again. "Thank you for giving me away."
He looks at her and replied. "No problem. Thank you for asking." She thought it was fitting that Thomas was the one to give her away and when she asked him he wasted no time accepting.
She smiled and replied. "You're welcome."
They get to the back door and stop for a few seconds.
Even though this was the second time marrying the man she loved she was just as nervous and excited as she was the first time. She couldn't wait to pledge her life to him again and she couldn't help but wonder if he was feeling the same way.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt Thomas squeeze her hand as if asking if she was ready. She takes another breath and nods then the moment she stepped on the back deck everybody stood up and the orchestra started playing the wedding march.
The moment Grissom heard the wedding march he looked up and saw Sara sanding on the deck and he lost his breath for a second, she looked beautiful, even more so then the first time they did this.
When Sara saw Grissom look at her, she just about lost her breath too, he looked just as good as he did the frist time they did this, maybe even more.
They shared a small smile at each other and as she started walking toward him with eye contact the whole time and feeling it like was just them both of their minds had little flashbacks of a few moments of their relationship and it felt like it all happened yesterday:
Flashbacks:
She stands behind him for a minute as he was taking pictures of the dummies, figuring out a case and she could still look at him for hours but knew she had to get started on investigating one of his team members so after he stopped talking about Norman and his various falls, she drops her bag while asking. "Wouldn't you if you were Mr. Roper?"
He has a smile on his face when he heard that voice and said. "I don't even have to turn around, Sara Sidle."
He turns to look at her still with the smile on his face while she takes off her sun glasses then she looks at him in the eyes with an equally big smile and replied. "It's me."
They were sitting in the stands at an ice rink talking about the case then she goes on to mention he didn't like sports and he contradicts her and said that baseball was a beautiful game to him.
She was looking straight ahead when she asked. "Since when are you interested in beauty?"
He didn't even hesitate when he replied. "Since I met you." She looks over at him right after he said that, speechless. She didn't know what made her more speechless, that he called her beautiful or he actually said something that showed a little of how he felt.
He started talking again about how they were going to process the scene but she was barely listening, still dazed on what he said. Finally she nodded and said sure when he stopped talking then he stood up and left her alone with her thoughts.
She was standing in the doorway of his office and they were talking about earlier events and about how lucky she was. As he walked closer to the door, she didn't even think about her request. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"
He stopped in front of her and his heart and head was fighting two different wars and considering he had this ear condition and other things he was worried about, he couldn't do it because he knew it would end up being more than dinner so he said. "No."
Her heart sunk but she asked. "Why not? Let's have dinner...Let's see what happens."
He was still fighting his internal battle but he couldn't go down this road with her so he said. "Sara." Then he sighed, moved his hand back and forth between them and continued. "I don't know what to do about this?"
She replied. "I do ." He continues to look into her eyes and she continued. "You know by the time you figure it out it really could be too late." With one more sad look she turned and walked away. He walks to the doorway, watches her leave then he sighed and shuts out the office light wondering if he really did let his only chance slip away.
He walks into PD and saw her sitting down in one of the chairs and he felt he could finally breathe again. When he got the call from the police officer his heart started to speed up thinking something horrible happened. She got lucky that the DUI charges were being dropped.
He walks over to the chairs, sits down next to her, looks at how scared she was. I
She just sits there then looks down feeling all kinds of emotions in her and mostly relieved that nothing serious had happened to her and hoping this was a turning point for them.
Adam Trent is holding her hostage wanting to cut her throat right then and there, her eyes finally connect with Grissom's through the glass window of the locked nurses station at the mental hospital and each other could see the fear in them and they didn't want it to end like this without telling one another how they feel. So they silently made a pact to say it when she got out of this alive.
After the scare with Brass earlier that night they were finally back home and after a few hours of relaxing they decided to call it a night so while he was lying on the bed, his arm propped up to support his weight he was talking loud enough for her to hear him from the bathroom. "I don't know... Most people want to die in their sleep I suppose, never know that it's happening. Like a crime scene, 'surprise you're dead'. I'd prefer to know it advance that I was going to die. I'd like to be diagnosed with cancer actually, have some time to prepare." He lets out a deep sigh then continued. "Go back to the rainforest one more time, re-read Moby Dick, possibly enter an international chess tournament at least have enough time to say goodbye to the people I love. "
He watched her walk up to the bed, dressed in her robe then she bends down so her knees touch the floor, interlocked her hands and puts them on the bed then she pursed her lips, does a small shake of her head and replied. "I'm not ready to say goodbye."
They smile and looked deep into one another's eyes, hoping they didn't have to say goodbye for a very long time.
She picks up the razor and looks at him through the mirror and asked. "Do you trust me?" Then turns and walks up to him.
He was standing there with shaving cream on his new beard that he grew while he was on his sabbatical and he was looking into her eyes as she moved closer to him and said with emotion. "Intimately." Which he really did with everything in him it was just still hard to be open to her.
She could see the truth in his eyes, along with so much other emotions. She knew it was still hard for him to open up to her but she will be patient, because she believes what they have is worth it.
They were standing in their bee protective suits and he was going on about a lecture on bees then when he stopped talking about them he looks at her and said. "You know maybe we should get married?" She had a bee on the palm of her hand and she freaked after he said that and it scared the bee so she got stung.
While he was checking out her hand all she could do was stare at him speechless. Marriage had never came up in their relationship before so this was certainty a left field question. She had very mixed feelings on marriage. The negative part about it stemmed from all the abuse cases she worked and what her parents went through but the positive part of it was knowing that this man that was taking care of her hand with so much tenderness would be hers forever, which that's something she had always wanted and now the whole world would know it too.
After a few minutes when the question was still in the air he tentatively asked. "So uhh...what do you think...You know about..."
She cuts him off already knowing the answer to that question and the only answer that would be acceptable. "Yes." He looks back into her eyes and she smiles bigger with a short nod and continued. "Let's do it."
Still looking at each other, He has a look told her everything and asked. "Yeah?"
She chuckles and they just stood there still looking into each other's eyes and knew this was what they had been waiting for, spending the rest of their lives together, as one.
She was standing in the jungle in Costa Rica taking pictures of a monkey that had caught her attention when all of a sudden she felt a presence she was not expecting out here, not only because of the video she had sent months ago but also she wasn't expecting him to leave Vegas and his job.
But before she got ahead of herself for a moment she had to make sure he was really there and not something that she wished so much that it was in her imagination so she turned around and there he was standing and she still couldn't believe that he left his job for her and wanted to start a new life together.
She tried keeping her emotions in-tact but it was really difficult and he must of realized that because he dropped his backpack, walked right up to her, brings her in his arms and kissed her. It was one of the most romantic kiss that have ever shared, it was filled with so much love and passion just like how they felt inside for one another.
When they finally pulled back for air he brings her in his arms and just holds her while they both let their tears fall, knowing nothing was stopping them now from having the life they had always wanted with each other.
End of flashback
They came back to the present when she was standing in front of him looking into his eyes both showing each other how they still felt for each other.
Every moment they had shared and everything they had been though out the course of their relationship whether was it good or bad has brought them to this special moment, a moment they will never take for granted again. Their first attempt at being married may have went badly towards the end but this time nothing was standing in their way.
So in front of all their friends/family and daughter they pledged their lives together and making promises they where going to keep this time, when they slipped those rings on their fingers they felt whole again like a piece of themselves was back were it should be and never should have left in the first place.
He puts his hand on her cheek waiting for the preacher's next words and when those special words were said, Grissom steps closer to her and mouthed. 'I love you.'
He wipes her tears away and Sara whispered. "I love you too." He leans toward her and she meets him in the middle and they kiss, with everybody cheering. They were all happy they got a second chance with each other, something a lot of people don't get to do.
They finally pulled back when they needed air then turned to their family and friends and they were smiling and did an extra round of cheers. Sara and Grissom look at their daughter, who was standing next to Sara and she was beaming. Grissom holds out his hands, she nods and walks over to him then he picks her up and kisses her on the cheek and with on arm he holds her, while she puts her arms around his neck and with his free hand he takes Sara's hand and they walked up the aisle as a family then to the other part of the yard for the reception party. They had tables, chairs and a small dance floor set up.
After Grissom sets Isabella down he tells her to go to her uncle Thomas and after taking her mother's bouquet and a promise from her dad that they will get to dance later she left them alone. The Orchestra started playing music and they smiled at each other then he puts his arms around her waist while she puts her arms around his neck and they started to sway to the music.
After a few moments of them just staring at each other, amazed that this even happened for them again he speaks. "You happy Mrs. Grissom?"
She closes her eyes at those words. At work she may have always been Ms. Sidle and didn't get to hear Mrs. Grissom a lot the first time they were married but now that she was officially a Mrs. Grissom again those words were music to her ears. She opens her eyes and said with emotion in her voice. "I am very happy Mr. Grissom and not knocking our first marriage because we did have some great times but I feel this one is better because we know what to do and not to do and I think each moment will be sweeter than the last."
He nods with a small smile and she gets closer to him and they dance even closer to one another, it was more like they were hugging and moving their feet but they didn't care.
He runs his hand up and down her back and asked. "You think we can make it work this time?"
She pulls her head back so she could look at him with a raised an eyebrow then asked. "Your not getting negative on me, are you?"
He shook his head no and said. "Not by any means. I just don't want to make the same mistakes twice, I can't lose you again. I barely survived it the first time." He sighed and looked down with a few tears in his eyes.
She brings his face back up so he was looking at her, she puts her hand on her cheek to wipe his tear away and said. "You are not going to lose me again.
Us ending the first time wasn't because we stopped loving each other. We let life and the distance between us get in the way but not this time, everything is different." She wipes another tear off his cheek and continued. "Now I'm not saying it will be all flowers and rainbows with us because let's face it, it's us, we know how stubborn we can get." She smirked when she saw him smile at that then she speaks again. "But at the end of the day when we really need each other for what ever reason I know you'll be there, just as I will be there for you. This is our second chance and there is no way I am letting you go so this time you are stuck with me."
He sees the truth in her eyes and puts his hand on her cheek, used his thumb to wipe a few tears away and said. "There is no other person I would rather be stuck with." She beams at him and he smiles back then said. "So it's us forever this time?"
She takes his hand off her cheek, kissed it, looked into his sparking blue eyes and responded. "Forever and Beyond, babe." He gets that grin that she loves then they move their heads closer to one another and just before their lips touched they stopped for a second prolonging the moment then finally their lips touched, knowing that no matter what they face it will be together and there is no one else they would rather be with.
AN: I hope you enjoyed the flashbacks and a part of their wedding. Next Chapter: a little interaction with some of the group at the wedding and somebody is getting a surprise. Who is it? What is the surprise? Find out soon. Please review.
**I also want to credit the scenes from 'Cool change, Primum non nocere, Play with fire , Bloodlines, Committed, Way to go, Fallen Idols, The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp and One to go' for this chapter.**
