A/N: Hi, hi and welcome to another chapter :) I keep saying it's about finished and then chapters are a bit longer than I expect them to be. I seem to have the desire to write back, so writing is flowing much easier. I guess that's a good thing. Don't quote me on this but I would think 2 more chapters after this one and the story will be complete. So says me who has been wrong with my predictions for the last few chapter, lol. So, who knows? That's the aim anyway.

Baby is almost here. Are you excited? Will it all run smoothly?

If you are on my Facebook page, sidle77, I am giving you, the reader the chance to name the baby. I have never done anything like that before but as a thank you for all the support, I thought it might be a nice idea. Come on over if you would to drop a name suggestion and you might end up naming baby Grissom. I will be asking for names when I post the link to this chapter so look out for the post and take part.

As always, a big thank you for the reviews and to everyone who continues to read. I always say it's you, the reader that makes an author write, otherwise what is the point? And I feel blessed that after what I think is now 14 years, I am still writing. With the help of people like my wonderful beta calim, I have grown as an author and I thrive to improve more with each chapter that I write. I will never be perfect, not by any means but I'm happy with my progression and I love to write, especially GSR. My fingers are currently crossed that we will get to see GSR on screen again but like you, I will have to wait and see for that one.

So, after the longest authors note ever, haha, let's roll…

On we go….

Chapter 59

Grissom watched as the nurses helped Sara into the tub after her insistence she didn't need to use the lift and could manage the couple of steps. He wanted to help but they said they had to be cautious just in case Sara should slip. His hands, the way they were, could prevent him from gripping her hard enough should she lose her footing. Although confident he could keep a hold of his wife, he didn't see the point in arguing.

Now as she safely made it into the water and her body relaxed, he smiled at the blissful look on her face, her head tipped back, eyes closed.

"Call if you need us, okay?" Mia said to him as they left.

After nodding, he sat on a stool and watched her.

His shoulders rose and he sighed.

God, he could just look at her forever.

Slowly, her eyes opened, and she looked right into him, her eyes melting into his.

"Hi," she whispered.

His smile grew. "Hi," he whispered back. "Feel a little better now?"

"Hmmmm. The water is very warm and lovely." She tipped her head from side to side. "This bath is huge though. I could probably go for a swim."

"Likely they use it for water births, so I guess they need it to be pretty big."

Sara's nose twitched. "You know I thought about a water birth but after reading up on it, no thanks."

"Why?" he asked curiously. "I mean, I know we discussed options, but we didn't really talk about much more than a natural, regular birth."

Head tilting back in his direction, she lifted a hand and he reached to take it. "Think how much… you know… is going to come out of me. Not to mention the possibility of um… being unable to stop myself going to the toilet." Yes, that was about the least gross way she could say shitting herself. "I just don't fancy sitting in that and having it all floating around me, you know?"

He gave her hand a light squeeze. "Enough of that at work, huh?"

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Very funny. I can't recall the last time I purposely sat in a pile of waste, thank you very much."

As he smiled, Sara's hold tightened on his and she groaned, eyes closing again, cheeks puffing out.

"Nice deep breaths, honey."

Sara nodded, squeezing his hand a little tighter but all too aware she was doing so. "Don't… let me hurt you, Gil."

"I won't," he said softly.

"Hmmm," Sara mumbled, riding out the last of the contraction before relaxing.

"How did that feel?" he asked.

"I think the water helps but each one that comes is getting stronger and stronger so I don't think the soothing feeling will last that long."

Sensing Grissom's fingers pass along her throat, her eyes opened, and she felt as his fingertips softly whisked back and forth.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered.

With a lump making its way to her throat at the adoring look on his face, she pulled his hand to her lips, kissing his fingers, one by one.

"Be careful you don't bite down if a contraction comes, won't you?" Grissom teased.

Chuckling, she held his hand against her cheek. "Ah, I can see the headline now. Crazed, pregnant woman, bites off husband's finger in fit of rage during labor."

Grissom laughed but as he heard a soft knock at the door, turned to see Catherine poke her head in. "Sorry to bother you."

Sara shook her head. "No bother. We are both decent. Gil, especially."

Grissom gave her a playful glare and Catherine snorted. "Well, that's a relief," she kidded.

"What's up?" Grissom asked and as he did, Buddy's head appeared between Catherine's legs.

Looking down, she nodded at the dog. "This one is not happy sitting at the other side of the door. I keep having to pull him away from scratching at it. He's going to end up with a telling off from Janet if he doesn't behave."

"It's okay," Sara said. "Come on in. We weren't sure how he'd react being out there and us in here anyway, so at least now, we know."

Entering the bathroom, Catherine watched as a very excited Buddy furiously wagged his tail as he rubbed up against Grissom before deciding to plonk two paws up onto the tub.

"Hey, no," Grissom commanded. "Down!" Whining, Buddy sat.

Sara laughed. "And this is probably why the nurses thought it best to leave him at the door. Wet dog can be quite smelly and messy."

"Well, we are not going to have a wet dog, are we, Buddy?" Grissom asked his friend. "Because you are going to sit there and behave yourself."

"He just wants to have a swim," Catherine teased. Grissom threw her narrowed eyes and she smirked. "Honestly, I don't think he wants to be far away from Sara. As I am sure you have noticed through recent months, he has been a lot more protective over both of you. He knows there is a new addition to the family on the way that he has to protect."

Doing her best to reach over the tub, Sara rubbed a hand along Buddy's ears. "Yeah, I did read dogs can be super defensive over owner's babies. Let's just hope he doesn't get too defensive, or it could be a problem."

Grissom frowned, glancing at Buddy. He hadn't really thought about it and it wasn't really a thought he wanted to have either. Especially at that particular moment. Yes, a protective dog was good, but they didn't need a guard dog. What if…

Before Grissom had chance to finish that thought, he felt Sara's hand on his knee, and he looked at her.

"Gil," she warned, knowing exactly where his thoughts were going. One little comment and his brain was in overdrive in seconds. "Stop worrying." His jaw worked a little. "I'm sure he will be fine. He has been trained and conditioned to look after us and that's all he's doing right now. I'm sure he isn't going to turn in Cujo."

"I hope not," Grissom huffed, patting his dog on the back.

Smiling at him, Sara held out a washcloth. "Come on, scrub my back and then I better get out before I want to just move in here."

CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI

All dried and in a clean gown, Sara, holding onto Grissom's arm, decided to take a little walk about the room while she still felt a bit comfortable. The bath had given her a soothing feeling which she knew wouldn't last long, so making the most of a good thing seemed like the best plan at the moment.

The two nurses kept a close eye on them. Every now and then one of them would pop out of the room but there always seem to be at least one of them watching. Sara took that as a good thing.

"What time is it?" she asked, taking what seemed to be a 10th lap of the room.

Grissom looked at his watch. "Just gone 9pm," he replied.

Snickering, she turned to face him. "We should have guessed she'd be a night baby. I think she knows."

Grissom smiled getting his wife's meaning. Yes, given their line of work over the years, they lived by night most of the time. Until recent months, of course.

"Let's hope she doesn't have fangs and craves blood," he teased.

Eyes narrowing, she lovingly smiled back at him. "Speaking of craving, I'm hungry."

His hand dropped to her tummy and he lightly rubbed. "Think you can keep food down?"

She nodded. "I think so. I guess we'll have to see."

Taking her hand, he moved with her to Catherine who was sitting on one of the sofas with Buddy lying by her feet. Putting the magazine down she was reading, she looked up.

"Okay?" she asked.

Sara sat next to her friend and nodded. "Yeah," she answered. "Enough walking though and I need food."

"Steak and eggs?" Catherine teased.

Snorting, Sara rubbed the back of her neck which had now started to hurt little. "I think I'll pass on the cow and chicken for now." Buddy whined and Sara snickered at him. "I bet you'd like a nice steak, wouldn't you?" she asked, giving him a healthy stroke. "Yes, you would."

"We never did find out what food was on offer," Grissom said, pouring water into a glass and handing it to Sara. He needed to make sure she drank and so far, she hadn't been drinking a lot.

"Thanks," Sara said with a smile, taking a sip from the glass. "And no, you're right, we didn't. Probably because we kept getting distracted by a million other things."

With a slight frown, Grissom turned away and rubbed his chin, eyes widening a little remembering they hadn't discussed the emergencies Janet had mentioned earlier. Deciding not to bother Sara with it as she seemed relaxed, he pointed over his shoulder while she was distracted stroking Buddy. "I'll go ask, okay?"

"Okay," Sara agreed, laughing as Buddy tried to lick at her belly. "You can't kiss her yet, Mister."

With a laugh of her own as Grissom walked away, Catherine got up and reached for the bag beside her. "I think he's getting hungry so I may as well sort him out if everyone else is going to fill their bellies."

In a flash, Buddy joined Catherine at the sound of his biscuits being poured into his bowl and he quickly sat, tail going crazy.

"I see some things never change," Sara snickered, her eyes flicking to Grissom who now seemed to be in an in-depth conversation with Janet.

"Are you sure this isn't a conversation I should be having with Sara as well?" Janet asked, handing Grissom the refreshments list.

Working his tongue into his cheek, Grissom dared a quick look at Sara, swiftly looking away when he saw her looking at him.

"As I doubt there is going to be much more time left to relax, I'd rather she made the most of what she has and right now, she is relaxed so…"

Janet folded her arms across her chest. "And you don't want to wait so I can go through it with both of you?"

"Humor me? Please?" he asked quietly in a bit of a whiny voice. "Now that I'm thinking about it again it's just going to stay on my mind and make me worry more. I can tell Sara."

"Fine," Janet sighed. "So, I'm sure your doctor has been though the possibility of complications?"

Swallowing, Grissom nodded. "Briefly. She told us not to worry about something that may not happen."

"Good philosophy," Janet agreed. "But as you are so insistent, I will go through the possibilities with you…"

Sara's eyes narrowed. "What is he doing?" she complained. "I asked him to find out what I could eat not memorize every ingredient."

Smirking and patting Buddy as he happily chowed down his dinner, Catherine sat next to her friend. "Who knows?" she answered. "For all we know he's talking about baseball."

"I doubt that," Sara said suspiciously. "He has that look and he's avoiding looking at me. He's up to something." It dawned upon her then and she sighed.

"What?" Catherine questioned sensing Sara's annoyance.

"I knew he couldn't let it go." Her head tipped Catherine's way. "He's asking about the IV."

"Ah," Catherine mumbled knowingly. "Don't be too hard on him. He's just worried about you and he doesn't want any surprises."

"I guess," Sara agreed. "Owww owwww owwwww," she growled, reaching for Catherine's hand, a contraction hitting.

"That's it, honey," Catherine encouraged. "Kick that contraction's ass."

Blowing out a laugh at the surprising comment, Sara tightly clenched her eyes closed attempting to do just that.

"Do you… know what… I'm really… looking forward to…?" she panted.

"What?"

"A huge… glass of… wine."

Laughing, Catherine rubbed Sara's back as the pain subsided and she relaxed back against the sofa. "I'll be sure to have a few bottles chilled in the fridge for when you get home."

Wiping the back of her hand over her sweaty forehead, Sara smiled. "Thanks," she breathed. "Very much appreciated."

Hearing footsteps, her eyes opened to see Grissom approaching and he held out a piece of paper.

"Your food awaits, Madame," he said formally.

Her eyes narrowed but lips pursed in amusement at his tone, and she took the paper.

"So what have you been up to?" she asked casually, glancing over the list.

Catherine got up. "Just going to use the ladies room. Be right back."

Nodding, Grissom sat next to his wife. "What do you mean?" he questioned.

Looking at him, her eyes narrowed again. "You know what I mean."

A little sigh seeped through his lips. "I just needed to know."

Their eyes locked and silence enveloped them for a moment until Sara cleared her throat and glanced back down at the list.

"And do you feel better now that you've probed?"

Unseen to his wife, Grissom worked his jaw. The most poignant issues Janet had spoken of stuck in his mind and wouldn't let go – excessive bleeding, possible heart attack, the baby getting stuck, abnormal heart rates and, the most common, the umbilical cord getting wrapped around the baby's throat. That last one would result in an emergency C-section.

After all was said and done, he really wished he hadn't asked at all.

"Yeah," he breathed, really not wanting Sara to worry.

"Liar."

He frowned as she looked back at him.

"Do you want to tell me?" she challenged.

Now he swallowed. "Why worry unless you have to," he said softly.

Sara's right eyebrow inclined at that comment. "Wise words."

Managing a smile, he took her free hand. "That's what Janet said."

"But you still pushed for answers."

"Sometimes I'm too inquisitive for my own good," he admitted.

"Only sometimes?" she teased.

Now they smiled at each other and Grissom squeezed her hand. "Everything will be fine," he encouraged. "That's all we need to think about."

"Yeah," she let out on a long breath. "So, what do we have?" she glanced back at the food list. "Ooooh… A lot more than I expected."

"I was quite surprised, too," he agreed.

Sara's lips pursed as her eyes scanned over the page. "I feel like pasta but nothing creamy. Tomato maybe. Pasta salad would be good."

Grissom nodded. "Sounds good. I'll see if Catherine wants anything and then we can order, okay?"

"Hmmm," she agreed, handing him back the menu and tipping her head back against the cushions. "I feel tired already."

He squeezed her hand again. "Hopefully, it won't be too much longer."

"Hopefully…."

CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI

The food was good, and everyone ate their fill. Even Sara finished everything in-between contractions. Her energy was already sapped so the fuel was very much needed and, thankfully, didn't sit like lead in her tummy.

Now, as Grissom used the bathroom, Sara held onto Catherine's arm as she walked a little more around the room. It was encouraged while she was still able to help the baby along. Buddy, who sat outside the bathroom door, kept a very close eye on her which Sara thought was cute. He'd always been so close to Grissom it was odd having him give her the same level of observation.

Stopping, Sara stretched backwards, holding a hand to her hip. "I think I need to sit down."

"Hurting?" Catherine asked.

Sara nodded. "Back's killing me."

"Okay," Catherine agreed, sliding an arm around her and just as she did, Janet approached. "Heart rate check again," she said, then frowned. "Are you okay?"

Laughing, Sara swiped her arm across her forehead feeling the sweat forming there. "In what context?"

"Her backs hurting a lot," Catherine informed the nurse.

Knowingly, Janet took the other side of her patient. "Come on, let's lie you down and I think it might be worth taking a look to see how far we're along while we do baby's heartrate, okay?"

Nodding, Sara grimaced as that all too familiar feeling of a contractions came and for the first time, she really cried out, doing her best to keep walking as lying down held so much appeal at that point in time.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Grissom heard her, his eyes slightly widening as he rushed to the bed, Buddy swiftly following.

"That's it, Sara," Janet encouraged, helping her onto the bed and aiding her to sit back, feeling the grip of her hand tight around her own.

Catherine grabbed a tissue, delicately dabbing Sara's cheeks as her breathing came hot and heavy. And then Grissom was there, looking worried. Sara's eyes found him and releasing her grip on Janet, took his hand.

"Stop looking so worried," she panted. "I think things are just kicking up another notch."

His eyes flicked to the nurse as she started hooking Sara up to the fetal monitor. "Yeah?"

Janet threw him a smile. "That's what we're going to find out."

As Janet began to record readings, Sara tugged on Grissom's hand. "You need to take your medication," she told him.

Eyebrows lifting, he watched as Catherine smirked. "How can you even think about me right now?"

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, Mister," she teased playfully.

He let out a soft laugh, tucking hair behind her ear. "So very true," he agreed.

"Is your medication in the bag?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah," Grissom replied.

She nodded. "I'll get it for you."

"Can you bring the auto injector as well?" Sara added. Grissom frowned at her and she smiled. "Just in case. I want to be as ready as we can be and don't want to be scrambling when my legs are stuck high in the air and I'm popping a lung with screaming. Sadly then, I don't think I'll be thinking much about you so if it should happen, you're prepared for it."

Letting out a gentle sigh, he leaned forwards and kissed her forehead. "Okay." Looking at Janet, his eyes flicked to the monitor. "So, how's she looking?"

"A little friskier than she was before," Janet answered with a smirk.

"Sara or the baby?" he asked innocently.

Catherine laughed, handing Grissom his pills and some water, placing the injector on the cabinet by the bed but making sure Sara saw it. Sara just gaped at her husband as he swallowed the pills down.

"Watch it," she warned. "Or I'll be getting more than frisky."

Giving her an opened mouthed smile, he wriggled his eyebrows. "I dare you."

Janet chuckled, looking over her shoulder as Mia came in, taking over and checking the data on the monitor.

"Let's check your dilation, shall we?" she said. "See if we are as active down there as I suspect we might be."

"Yes," Sara said eagerly. "Active is good. Gil, help me, please." She flapped her hand in the air.

Sensing his wife's keenness, Grissom took one hand with a grin, and Catherine the other, helping her slide down a little.

Popping on gloves, Janet got into position and did her checks just like before, spending a little bit longer with her examination.

With her eyes closed, Sara tried to concentrate on the feeling of her husband's thumb whisking over her hand. It was better than what was going on down below although she knew it probably wouldn't be too much longer before that was the main focus of everyone's attention.

"Any major discomfort?" Janet asked, her fingers moving, examination continuing.

Sara's eyebrows pinched in thought. What do you classify as major discomfort? Apart from the feeling of a football wanting to come out of my vagina. Is that what she means?

Fighting the temptation to say what she was thinking, she cleared her throat. "A little more than before."

Stepping back, Janet placed a hand just below Sara's belly and pressed lightly.

"Oooohhhh," Sara mumbled.

"Tell me what you're feeling," Janet requested.

"Like I need to pee really, really badly when you do that."

Nodding, Janet pulled off her gloves and tossed them into the disposable bin. Walking toward Mia, she quietly said something. They all watched as the nurse left the room.

Brow scrunching, Grissom's eyes worked in a circle. "What's happening?" he asked concerned.

"Relax. Mia has just gone to call for Chloe. The lady I mentioned before who will help us with delivery."

He swallowed, looking at Sara as she looked back at him. "It's time?" he asked, eyes returning to Janet.

"Not quite," she answered. "But, Sara, you are over 8cm's dilated now so, I don't think it will be too much longer. So, we are letting her know we're getting close. It's likely she will join us now."

"Oh, thank God," Sara breathed. "Can I get up?"

"Sure." Janet drew close to help her sit up. "And I think it's time we go through final steps, don't you think?"

Sara blew out her cheeks as a huge burst of nerves hit her, heart pounding as she felt a contraction building.

"Let's… do that."

A/N: Ooooohhhh, so close. Any complications on the horizon? :P