AN: Thanks for the continued support, here is the next chapter.

Chapter 8: Taking a turn

January 8, 2009

After the Grissom family, including his mother, arrived at the airport in Hawaii, Sara let their daughter know that they made it, before going to the hotel and checking into their rooms, then they headed for the beach, and while they stood there looking out in the ocean, Grissom wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulder and whispered. "Well?"

She smiled as she replied, looking at him. "No doubt it's beautiful, this whole place is, but it isn't home, you know?"

There will always be a special place in their hearts at the beach back home with all the special moments they had there.

While Grissom nodded with a smile, they heard a 'hey' behind them, so after Grissom got his mother's attention, they turned around and saw five people coming their way, and even though there was only two people they recognized out of that group, there was no doubt who the other three were.

Roby and Arthur smiled then shouted as they ran to their sister. "Melissa! Deion!"

Grissom slipped his hand into his wife's and whispered. "You ok?"

She nodded as she took a breath. "Yeah, it just feels a little weird. For the longest time we've only knew them on paper, and that was limited in itself, by choice."

Grissom squeezed her hand. "Least we know now that our decision to give her to these two people paid off. They took very good care of her, gave her a safe, loving, home, raised her right."

She nodded again with tears in her eyes. "Yeah, they did."

He wiped her tears away before they took a few steps closer to the people who were almost near them.

When they stopped and looked at one another, the two sets of parents had tears in their eyes, especially the mothers, who were fifteen years apart, along with Melissa, who had cleared her throat. "Sara, Grissom, and Grandma Betty, I would like you to meet my parents, Tracy & David, and younger brother, Luke."

Tracy was slim and slightly shorter than Sara with the same color of hair, but with Hazel eyes.

David had an above average build, a little taller than Grissom with blond hair and blue eyes.

Luke had a slim build with blond hair and blue eyes, like his father.

Tracy and Sara looked at one another with emotion while they both said at the same time. "Thank you."

They chuckled while shaking their heads before Tracy spoke. "Can I go first?" After Sara nodded, the other woman continued. "I know despite your young age at the time, I can only imagine how hard it was to make the decision that you did, so I hope you believe me when I say thank you from the bottom of my heart that you choose us to take care of this precious girl, it has been a privilege, amazing really, to watch her grow into the woman she's becoming."

Sara nodded with sniffling. "Thank you for taking care of this precious girl, for giving her a safe, loving home, that's what we wanted most for her."

Tracy nodded, while wiping tears away. "It was our pleasure."

"Now, I want to thank you for allowing her to be a part of our lives."

Tracy waved it off. "It was her decision to do that."

"I know, but you could have been less supportive, and if that had been the case, I don't think we would have been here like this today."

"I guess you do have a point there."

"And lastly, now that this does feel like a new chapter in our lives, I want to make something very clear, while we are starting a relationship with her, nothing has changed, you are still her parents and we are not here to take anything away from that, we respect what you have done for her. We are just happy with the time we get to spend with her."

Tracy nodded with a smile. "Thank you for saying that, I hope this is a start of a new friendship ourselves."

Sara nodded with a smile of her own as she held out her hand. "Me too."

After they released hands, Sara formally introduced Grissom, her boys and mother-in law to them, and throughout the interaction, Melissa was smiling, happy that both of her families were getting along.

As time passed them by other family members showed up, most notable Sara's sisters and Dennis, but without Leon, and Deion's parents with their 3 other adult children (2 girls & 1 boys), along with Sara and Grissom's friends, Tyler, Emily, Nicole, and Nicole brought Mike, who all also came without the kids.

It was evening time, and while Melissa and Deion were getting ready for their dinner party, Deion's phone rang, so he picked it up. "Hello?" A few seconds later, he gets the shock of a life. "Wow, thank you sir, that is a huge honor, yes I'll talk to her first, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can...Thanks, bye, sir."

Melissa looked over at her fiancé, who was lowering his phone from his ear, and asked. "What is it?"

Deion smiled as he looked at her. "You are not going to be believe this, but I was just officially offered the UCLA coaching position."

When he went to the interview the football season was still technically going so they couldn't officially offer him the position, but with the last game of the season ending not too long ago, other schools were free to offer coaching positions to their schools.

Not that Melissa was surprised that he had been on somebody's radar for a head coaching position, he was good at what he did, his team had been winners since he joined them as a coach. But now that the offer was official, she was a little shocked that it happened this fast and that it was going to be across the country, so now she knew she had a major decision to make.

As the reality came into focus on what his taking the job would mean for her, she sat down on the bed while Deion, who was still hyped about the offer, continued. "You know what this means?"

Melissa nodded while clearing her throat. "Yeah, like you said a few months ago, a life changer."

Hearing the uncertainty in her tone, he walked to her and sat down next to her before asking in concern. "You are happy for this, right?"

Melissa looked at her fiancé immediately and spoke while cupping his cheek. "Of course, this is a great opportunity for you."

He cuts her off. "You mean for us, this is happening to us, baby, and I won't do this unless you're 100% behind me."

She tried to be reassuring about this. "I just need a little time to wrap my head around this."

He nodded in understanding. "Ok, but they would like to hear from me sooner rather than later. And I don't mean to put pressure on you, but..."

She cuts him off with a smile. "I get it, at the end of the day this is a business deal, and it could still fall through."

"Yeah, I'm..."

She nodded again. "It's ok."

He took a breath before they kissed softly, then he stood up. "We should head out."

She nodded as she stood up too, then after making sure she had her purse and the door key, they walked out of the room and headed for the restaurant, where they had about the half of the building reserved for the wedding guests who were already here celebrating with them.

When dinner had ended, most of the guests headed for the beach, and while there, Melissa was sitting by herself when her adoptive mother sat down next to her. "What's going on sweetie?"

Melissa shook her head and replied. "Nothing, I'm fine."

But Tracy, knowing her daughter for 20 years, knew that her use of the word 'fine' wasn't really fine, so she smiled and shook her head as she placed her hand on top of hers. "Sweetie, I know you well enough to know that when you use the word 'fine', it's not fine, so please talk to me." When she didn't say anything, Tracy asked. "Are you having seconds thoughts about marrying him? Did he do something?"

Melissa started to shake her head with tears in her eyes. "No, he didn't do anything, he's the best man I ever met, I know in my heart he would never hurt me."

Feeling concerned, she squeezed her hand. "So, what's wrong?"

Knowing this could be a huge move in her life in a lot of ways, she needed to talk to someone, so she cleared her throat and replied softly. "Deion was offered the head coaching job at UCLA."

Tracy let what her daughter said sink in before she cleared her throat and commented. "That's one of the reasons why you went to California at Thanksgiving." She knew her daughter wanted to spend time with her biological family, she just didn't know that trip had a little more meaning to it.

Melissa nodded. "He had an interview for the position, then earlier this evening he was officially offered it, all that is left is signing the papers."

"I see." Tracy took a moment before she asked. "Do you love him, and I mean truly, deeply love him, can't imagine loving anybody else?"

She looked at her mother with a look that said 'duh' while replying. "Of course."

"And you want to marry him, build a life with him, a family with him?"

"That would also be of course."

"Then you know what you have to do."

She sniffled with another nod. "I know that mom, and it isn't really about him taking the job per se, it's about me leaving Boston, leaving you guys." As tears came down her cheeks, she finished with. "I know this is a great opportunity to get to know my biological family more, it's something I've dreamed about doing since I knew about them, but what about..."

Tracy cuts her off with a smile, knowing what the true issue was. "We'll be fine, sweetheart, just because you're leaving doesn't mean it cancels our relationship out, you're still my daughter." She smirked. "You guys will just have to make sure you get a place with a guest room."

Melissa chuckled with a nod before she asked. "Are you really ok about this?"

Tracy sighed. "Will I miss you like crazy? You should definitely know the answer to that." Then she gave her daughter another smile. "However, I know this is about you, your life, which sometimes in life there are sacrifices you have to make, and if you feel you love him enough to make the sacrifice on moving across the country, then I say go for it, don't let anything stop you from following your heart/dreams. I never want to be the one to hold you back, I love you too much for that, and whether you are across town, across the country, or even across the ocean, nothing is going to change that, we'll just have to get more created on keeping in touch/visiting one another."

Melissa smiled. "And we will, I promise. I love you, mom."

Tracy sniffled as she brings her in her arms. "And I love you more than anything, never forget that." After they pulled back, the younger woman smiled with a nod, then Tracy said with a smile. "Now go, tell him to take it."

Melissa squeezed her mother's hand and stood up before rushing towards where most of the guests were, and while she watched her daughter hug the man she loved as she stood up, her husband spoke behind her. "What's that all about?"

Tracy sighed as David wrapped his arms around his wife while she replied. "Our little girl is moving away, she's starting her new chapter somewhere else."

He then smirked. "And we can't even blame the Grissoms for this one, can we?"

Tracy chuckled while shaking her had. "Nope, she's just following her heart."

He sighed. "Just like we did all those years ago. I'm really going to miss her."

"Me too, she came into ours lives when things looked pretty dark, and lit our world up like we never thought possible."

They then turned their attention to their son, who was with the Grissom boys, and David smiled. "And our son brightened it even more."

She smiled in return before she dose another little sigh. "Who will be leaving too for college next year."

"True." Then he turned her around and cupped her cheek as he finished with love in his eyes, the same look she's been seeing in them for over thirty years now. "But you know there is a positive in all this."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He nodded with a smile. "We can finally go on that trip we've always talked about."

She smirked. "So, you still want me to be your trip buddy after so many years together."

With love, he whispered. "There is no other 'buddy' I want by my side, no matter where we are going, or even just staying home."

With tears in her eyes, she whispered. "I love you, you know that, right?"

"I love you too, and it's been one heck of life with you."

She brings him closer to her as she whispered. "And we aren't done yet."

They kissed softly before he whispered. "Not by a long shot." They started walking when he finished with a smirk. "We still have to be grandparents together."

She chuckled while laying her head on his shoulder while they brought their arms around one another.

Another part of the beach, Nicole and Mike had just shared a moment before he went to get drinks while she goes and sits down next to Sara, who was giving her a smirk. "So, you and Mike are getting pretty serious then?"

Nicole shyly smiled. "This is kind of like a test for us."

Sara nodded in understanding. "And so far?"

She sighed in content. "So far so good." She then chuckled while shaking her head. "I can't believe it though, here is this man I couldn't stand in Middle School, even more in High School, but now I can't seem to get him out of my head whenever we are apart."

Sara chuckled with a nod. "Yep, you are a goner."

Nicole nodded with a chuckle of her own. "Pretty much." She then sighed again, this one not so much in comfort, before finishing. "But, I am still kind of afraid, I never felt this way about any man before, not even with..."

She trailed off, not wanting to say her ex-boyfriend's name, who not only is the father of Lexie but had cheated on her when she was pregnant with her.

Sara nodded in understanding before placing her hand on her friend's hand. "Yes this is huge, especially knowing his past with women. But, I fully believe he's different now, and if you feel that this is worth trying, don't give up because of fear. You know I'm saying this out of love, and I just want you and your daughter to be happy."

Nicole nodded with a smile while she squeezed her friend's hand. "Thank you, and I know he has changed, I wouldn't even have tried with him if I didn't fully believe that or trust him. I have a child and I need as much stability for her as I can get."

As Sara nodded, Mike, who had came back, spoke with a smile. "Hey, what's going on?"

Sara stood up from her spot and looked at Mike before pointing a finger to his chest with a smirk, but her eyes were dead serious. "You hurt her, I'll kill you."

Mike smirked, but he really believed her. "I have no doubt about it." Then he got more serious. "I'll never hurt her, I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

After Mike nodded, Sara told them she'll talk to them later before walking closer to her husband, who was in a circle with her sister, Kim and Dennis, and when she got closer to them, she asked with a smile. "Where is Hailey?"

Kim nodded towards up the beach. "It looks like she's found someone to flirt with."

Sara followed her sister's line of sight, and sees her talking to a man, Sara nodded in approval, but looked at Kim. "Good for her, but keep an eye on her."

Kim nodded with a smile. "Of course, she won't leave my line of sight."

After Sara nodded, she looked at her husband, and he nodded with a smile, so after they said they'll talk to them later, Grissom took her hand and they started walking along the beach, then while they were more alone than next to people, they looked at one another with smiles on their faces before he spoke with love in his eyes. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Be beautiful, no matter where we go, or what we are doing." She shyly smiled as she looked down, then he lifted her chin up and cupped her cheek while he whispered. "It's true."

She smirked. "How much have you had to drink tonight, Dr. Grissom?"

He smirked in return, knowing it was cheesy, but said it anyways. "Nothing, but I am drunk on your love."

Sara chuckled as she pushed at shoulder. "That was so cheesy."

With his blue eyes bright with a bright smile, he shook his head. "I can't help it, I'm just so happy right now."

"I'm right there with you."

They leaned toward one another and kissed, not caring who else was near or watching.

After a few moments they started to pull back, but they didn't very far when there was sharp pain hit Sara, causing her knees to buckle, Grissom gasped as he held her best he could. "Sara? Are you ok?"

Sara shook her head with tears in her eyes. "I don't think so, something..."

Another sharp pain hit her, and Grissom shouted towards the other guests. "Somebody help me, something is wrong!"

The other guests gasped while Melissa looked at Deion and whispered. "Call 911, she's pregnant."

Deion looked at her wide-eyed as he pulled out his phone before Melissa rushed passed everybody so she could go to her mother as quickly as possible, hoping not only her mother was ok but her little brother or sister.

AN: Thanks for reading, and please review. Find out what happens next.