AN: Thank you for the continued support, here is the next chapter.
Chapter 39: Going to Vegas
Two Years later
Mid June, 2003
Sara, along with her husband, their son Billy, who is now 11, and their daughter Faith, is now 2, was in the hospital room visiting Stephanie and Nick, who just became parents to twins, a son named Samuel Jacob, after Stephanie's father and stepfather, while their daughter was named Sarah Maria, after Sara and their mother.
Sara had just transferred her namesake into Grissom's arms when her phone started to vibrate, so she smiled at the family, excused herself before walking out of the room to take the call.
When she walked back into the room a few minutes later, Grissom was now holding Samuel while Billy was holding Sarah Maria, as Nick was now holding Faith.
Grissom turned to look at his wife and asked. "Everything ok?"
"That was Nate."
Before she could continue, Nick smirked. "Didn't you call him this morning to tell him you're going to be late?"
"It wasn't about that." She then looked at Grissom. "Your presence was asked for in Las Vegas. I guess there is something there that needs your expertise."
With the kids there, she didn't want to say 'dead body with bugs', and Grissom understood that, but shook his head. "Sara, I..."
But she cuts him off with a smile. "I told him you'll do it after he said I can go with you."
Grissom seemed to perk up after that. "Really?"
"Yes, he said with our anniversary tomorrow we could use the free time, after the case is done, of course."
He was almost on board, but there was still one thing holding him back. "What about the kids?"
Before Sara could speak, Stephanie cleared her throat before speaking. "Uh hello? We are right here, you know, all you have to do is ask."
Both Sara and Grissom look at her before Grissom asked. "Steph, are you sure?"
"You don't think we can handle two more kids? Besides, Billy could help out, right Billy?"
Billy looked up from his fourth cousin with a nod and smile, not feeling any jealously he honestly thought he would, only love. "Sure, I got this dad, do what you have to do."
Sara and Grissom then looked at Nick, and he nodded with a smile. "We're good. Tell the team I said hi."
The couple looked at one another again, and while they'll miss their children, the prospect of actually having time to themselves was admittedly very appealing, especially with their 10th wedding anniversary tomorrow, only making it more special, which once again, as much as they loved celebrating with the people they love, they could always celebrate with them another day.
With that in mind, they both nodded with acceptance in each other's eyes before Sara spoke. "We have two hours to get ready."
After Grissom nodded one more time, Sara walked up to Nick to take Faith so Grissom could give Nick his son before walking over to Billy to get Sarah Maria, then after giving her to Stephanie, they said see you later before the family walked out of the room so they could head home and pack.
Hours later
Las Vegas, Nevada
After arriving at the airport, they rented a vehicle before navigating their way to the crime lab from the directions they actually got from Nick, then after arriving there, Grissom parked the vehicle before they got out and headed for the entrance hand in hand, smiling at the receptionist named, Judy, before he spoke. "Good afternoon, I'm Dr. Grissom and I..."
Judy cuts him off as she placed a finger up. "Hold on Dr. Grissom." She then picks up the phone, presses a button and after a short conversation, she hung up the phone before smiling while handing them both visitor passes. "Mrs. Brown will see you in her office."
Once she gave them directions, both Sara and Grissom thanked her before they started walking, following the directions they were given before stopping at the closed, glassed door, where the blinds were closed too, seeing the name Supervisor: Catherine Brown printed on the door.
They looked at one another and Grissom asked. "Did Nick say she was promoted?"
Sara shook her head. "Not that I remember, maybe he doesn't even know yet."
Grissom nodded before lifting his hand up and knocked, which a second later, they heard her voice. "Come in."
Grissom opened the door, and Catherine who was just finishing up on the phone, stood up with a smile before she walked around the other side of her desk, then after going through the pleasantries, Catherine spoke towards Grissom. "Thank you for coming, we really could use your help."
Grissom waved it off. "I'm happy to help, if I can."
Sara chimed in. "And I'm only here as an observer."
Catherine then said. "Actually, if you don't mind, we could use a fresh pair of eyes."
Sara looked at Grissom, and he nodded with a smile. "If you want to, just be safe."
Catherine spoke with a reassuring smile before Sara could speak. "She'll be in good hands, Dr. Grissom, I assure you."
Before anything else was said, Warrick's voice was heard in the doorway. "Hi everybody."
After they greeted Warrick, Sara left the office with him while Catherine escorted Grissom to where he'll be working from before she left him to do his job, and what a job it was.
Minutes turned to hours as he worked on the timeline, then another body with bugs popped up, so there was some more collecting and another timeline established, only stopping for breaks to go to the bathroom or a quick bite to eat, then finally a few hours into the nightshift, he narrowed a timeline down and location, giving them the break they needed, so Warrick, Catherine and another member of the team, left the lab to get their suspect.
As Grissom was writing his part of the report, he hears Sara's voice as she walked into the room. "This lab is amazing, and the night shift team is unbelievable, I can see why Nick spoke so highly of them, and it was more than just a friend's perspective."
Grissom stopped writing and lifted his head up with a raised eyebrow. "Are you looking to relocate?"
Sara chuckled while shaking her head. "No, Chicago is our home, and as great as this team is here, I sill think ours is unbeatable." Grissom nodded with a smile while she continued with a sigh as she looked around. "It just makes me wonder I guess."
"About?"
After a pause, Sara continued. "I don't know, do you think if things would have gone differently, like if you had gone to college in Chicago two years earlier than you did, that you, or even we, could have ended up here somehow?"
He sets his pen down and walks up to his wife. "I don't know, honey. It kind of feels like a stretch, but I guess anything is possible, so I won't rule it out completely. There are so many 'roads' out there that could have been taken, even 'what if's', that could have changed our futures in someway or another."
She nodded as she looked down. "Yeah, I guess."
He then smiled as he lifted her chin up, then cupped her cheek before replying. "But, if there is anything that I strongly believe in, it is that no matter what road I had went down, or what alternate reality I was in, the one constant would be you, all roads would have lead me to you."
She smiled with tears in her eyes. "You really believe that?"
"Yep, and no one is going to tell me otherwise, no matter what." He then sighed as he finished while running his thumb up and down her cheek. "I mean how can it not? The way I feel for you, the love that we share, just feels too..."
Sara cuts him off as she placed her hand on top of his. "Destined to be only in one reality."
He nodded with a smile, happy she feels the same, although there was really no doubt about it. "Exactly, and I wouldn't have it any other way, because having you in any lifetime will always be the best thing that ever happens to me."
Her smile gets wider as they move towards one another. "Me too."
But before they could kiss, Grissom's phone starts to ring in his pocket, causing them to chuckle before Grissom smirked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I guess that served us right on almost kissing in the lab, even if it's not in our lab."
She smirked in response. "I won't tell if you won't."
He just chuckled before he answers his phone "Grissom."
After a back and forth call, he hangs up, looking a little shocked, so Sara asked in concern. "Griss, what's wrong?"
He cleared his throat before replying. "They saved a third victim."
Sara started to smile as she cupped his cheek. "You helped, babe, you helped save someone's life."
Grissom took a breath with a nod, still in shock, since that doesn't happen very often in their line of work.
"Yeah, I guess I did."
They get into each other's arms for a hug, happy that the case ended up on a best case scenario, considering the circumstances.
Hours later
After finishing up his report, and cleaning up his work area, he left the room to search for his wife, who had left the room earlier to let him get his tasks finished, then when he walked into the break room, he smiled softly while seeing her asleep on the couch, so he moved closer to her, kneeled down, places the file on the floor before taking off his jacket and covering her up. He then moved his hand and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and whispered how much he loved her, which that moment was interrupted when he heard clearing of the throat from the doorway, so he turned around to see Catherine standing there with a smile/smirk, he smiled shyly as she moved her head to the side, indicating she wanted him to follow her.
He nodded, turned his attention to his wife for one more moment before grabbing the file and standing back up, then turned and followed Catherine to her office, and after walking in and to her desk, he handed her his report, which she took from him before he sits down in the chair in front of her desk.
She looked over his report, closes the file and nodded with a smile. "I want to thank you again for your help."
"It's no problem, I'm glad I could, and happy on how the case ended."
Catherine nodded in agreement. "Yes, unfortunately we don't get too many of those in our line of work."
"No we don't."
After a moment of silence they changed subjects and started talking about their families, which included the Brown's 8 month old son, Rick Jr., then when Catherine could see how tired Grissom looked, she asked. "I should let you get out of here so you two can get some sleep, but before I do let you go, do you mind if I ask how long you two are staying?"
He shook his head like it was no big deal, then replied. "Until tomorrow morning, we figured we would spend our anniversary here."
Catherine smiled. "Congratulations, how long is that again?"
"10 years."
"And Nick told us you two were together in High School?"
"Yep, I was 16 and she was 15."
"Wow that's amazing, I guess when it's true love it, it's true love."
"Absolutely, and what about you and Warrick? Meeting one another and falling in love in college, that's nothing to sneeze about."
Catherine smiled brightly as she nodded, thinking that first day at UNLV and falling for that beautiful green eyed man with a smile that made her weak in the knees. It did however, take them about six months after their first meeting since they were dating other people, but when they got together, damn the heat between them was undeniable.
Just thinking about that almost made Catherine blush, and she didn't do that very often, so she cleared her throat wrote something down on a piece of paper before speaking again. "If you two aren't too busy later tonight I would like to take you guys out to dinner."
Grissom shook his head. "You don't have to do that."
Catherine smiled. "Yeah, but I want to, it's the least I could do for dragging you here. Besides, it would be nice to get to know one another better, I mean we do share a mutual friend now."
"Well, when you put it like that."
Catherine chuckled while handing him the piece of paper she had written on. "Here is a recommendation of a casino/hotel if you don't already have a place to stay."
Grissom took it as he stood up with a smile. "Thanks Catherine, I guess we'll talk later."
After Catherine nodded, Grissom left the office and headed for the break room to see Sara now awake talking to a young man with spikey hair, which he raised an eyebrow at the look while Sara, who was now beaming at seeing her husband, spoke. "Hey Griss, this is Greg Sanders, the DNA specialist here."
When Greg shyly smiled at the compliment, Grissom raised his eyebrow again while the young man spoke. "It's really nice to meet you."
Before anything else was said, Greg got a page so they all said goodbye before he left while Grissom held out his hand with love in his eyes. "You ready to get out of here and get some real shuteye."
Sara nodded as she stood up with Grissom's help before handing him his jacket with appreciation/love in her eyes. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
He released her hand reluctantly before the two of them headed for the exit of the building before walking towards the vehicle.
After leaving the lab, Grissom drove them to the casino/hotel Catherine had suggested from the piece of paper, and once they parked, they got out, grabbed their bags before heading for the entrance.
They made it to the front desk and asked if they could get a room before mentioning the name the bill will be under, in which the woman over the counter smiled a second later. "Right, it says you have a reservation for the honeymoon suite."
Grissom looked surprised. "But I didn't make a reservation."
"Everything is taken care of Dr. Grissom, courtesy of Mrs. Brown."
Now remembering Catherine had mentioned that she had connections in the casino/hotel business through her father, who owned many of them, Grissom nodded in understanding, but even then he felt a little wrong accepting this top of the line room for free, so he was about to speak, when Sara, who knew what the man she loved very well was about to do, took his hand and spoke to him. "Please Griss, just accept this gift."
Seeing the love and pleading in her eyes, he nodded with a smile, and after the woman behind the desk handed him the keycard to the suite and told them where it was, they both thanked her before heading to the elevator.
Once they made it into the room, impressed by the size of it, they wasted little time getting ready for bed before falling asleep the minute their heads hit the pillows, completely exhausted in every way, but well worth it, considering how the case ended.
AN: Thanks for reading, and please review. Stay safe!