A/N: A new chapter! Thank you for reading! We appreciate hearing from you.
A Curious Combination
Chapter 3
In a high blue sky, a pink and pearly glow suffused upward from the east until the sun soundlessly brought a new day. In the far distance, a glimpse of the ocean, a greenish-hued aquamarine, was splotched with dark stains where kelp grew.
Somewhere out there, between the coastline and Catalina Island, Gil Grissom and Jim Brass, on board a small ship for a day outing, looked into translucent water to see vivid fish flashing by. They were sailing with a sea turtle monitoring group collecting data with a community of scientists and would return by sunset.
Sara settled into one of the chairs on the deck and nibbled at her breakfast toast. Cuddled against her was her first born, wrapped in a light-weight blanket, eyes closed; the early sunlight highlighted his long golden lashes.
A few minutes later, Catherine Willows arrived with baby William tucked like a football in her right arm and carrying a small tray with fruit jam and more toast. She said, "I put more butter on the toast, dear," as she placed the tray near Sara. Carefully, she put the baby in a cradle swing. Big blue eyes watched her with an intensity far exceeding the baby's age as she fiddled with buttons to set speed and music. Laughing, Catherine said, "You are too interested in what's going on, little buddy!"
"He is always awake first, stays awake longer," said Sara with a laugh. "He's trying to make up for being second-born."
Catherine leaned over to take the baby from Sara. She said, "You need to eat more, Girlfriend! These two are taking more out of you than you are putting in." After she placed Thomas in the second cradle swing, Catherine handed the jam jar to Sara, saying "Add more jam."
Taking the jam, Sara arched an eyebrow, watching Catherine as she sat in an empty chair near the babies and started checking her phone. Sara applied liberal amounts of strawberry jam to her toast, suddenly appreciative of her friend.
From the moment Catherine set eyes on the Grissom twins, she adored them. Nothing was too much trouble as she seemed to slip into the role of—Sara would never name Catherine as grandmother-like—favorite aunt, she and Grissom had decided.
After their birth, Sara recovered quickly; the babies gradually, staying in the hospital for three weeks. And during this time of long hospital visits, waiting, watching for milestones of preemies, Catherine was there. Not all the time—she would leave for a few days, return to the Grissom house and be useful. She stocked the refrigerator with food, managed laundry, found a housekeeping service to clean, and generally made herself useful.
As Sara watched her friend check phone messages and rapidly respond to several, she realized Catherine had been a friend longer than any woman in her life. And she could not remember when the friendship started. Theirs had been a friendship forged in work and, over the years, although they were very dissimilar in character, they instinctively tolerated their differences. Somehow, they had formed a friendship and since Catherine was much more talkative, Sara always got to hear more about her than the other way around. Yet, this friendship had come together and become stronger; Sara had received a tenderness and compassion from her long-time friend in recent weeks that would have been unimaginable to her ten years ago.
Pressing her phone to make a call, Catherine whispered, "This won't take long!"
Sara, like her babies, closed her eyes, letting Catherine's calm voice lull her into a quiet reminiscence.
…Six weeks earlier…
Everything had happened so quickly that it was several weeks before Sara put it together.
She'd known for months her pregnancy was a miracle; a double miracle with twins. Yet, she knew miracles occur daily.
The heart beats non-stop every day and most people never give it a second thought. The sun is just far enough away so life is not fried but near enough to warm the planet. The earth hurtles through space at 60,000 miles per hour yet gravity works to hold each human to its surface.
None of this was given a thought after Gil Grissom got a phone call.
Greg Sanders did think the swift, safe drive back to the hospital was a miracle. The hired driver made it in less than twelve minutes. Greg was almost certain she had blue lights flashing on the front grill of the Cadillac Escalade.
Jim Brass noticed traffic seemed to clear a pathway; even the traffic lights seemed to cooperate by switching to green by the time the black vehicle arrived at intersections.
Grissom stayed on the phone talking to Sara and Catherine as more people arrived in the room. He listened as Sara's calm voice told someone that she would not be moved until her husband arrived.
When Carla pulled the car to the curb, the three men were out before the tires stopped rolling.
The second miracle was the arrival of two healthy babies born almost four weeks early. Sara was awake during the process, over so quickly that it might hardly have happened except for the two babies cuddled against her chest. Even though she had seen scans and tests results, Sara closely examined and scrutinized each of her babies, smiling as each responded to her touch. And they were beautiful babies; long, slender, with hints of dark curls on perfect little skulls and vivid blue eyes that would give no hint of changing. They had their father's eyes and gold tipped lashes, hands and fingers, even their little feet were miniature replicas of their father's.
Sara's finger traced along each chin, recognizing their shape as the same as hers and the part of this miracle that came from her.
The third miracle happened as each baby was placed on her chest and her brain—or her heart—seemed to swell, expand into an area for which she had no previous conception. She became a mother with a newfound love and devotion for two wiggling humans. A year before, she would have never believed in this sudden overwhelming attachment.
A fourth miracle occurred as Sara watched as her husband held his sons, quickly realizing he was falling in love.
He could not tear his eyes from his son as he quietly whispered, "Hello, Thomas."
A few minutes later, he leaned his forehead to touch the second baby's damp head; gently, he kissed the miracle.
...When Grissom arrived in Sara's hospital room, she looked and sounded very calm and when their eyes met, the tension in his chest dissolved.
One of the physicians explained a change in pressure; Grissom barely heard his words in the constant and purposeful movement going on around him. It seemed to take an inordinate amount of time getting his wife, the mother of his sons, moved to the surgical unit where a nurse helped him into a disposable gown and directed him to a stool near Sara's head.
All going according to plan, he kept telling himself. Just a bit earlier than they thought it would happen. He was amazed at how smoothly the operation went under bright lights with soft voices keeping him—them—informed of what was happening.
Sara's eyes glowed brightly, never appearing to be nervous or in pain.
The first child—they had decided he'd be named Thomas—was beautiful, with perfect tiny ears and pale cheeks that grew pink when he gasped for air and let out a squeaky cry. The baby was placed on Sara's chest as both parents met the first of the babies who had been in their lives for months. Sara stroked tiny hands and feet that she'd felt against her abdomen; she flashed a smile as little lips pursed as if to speak.
Before either could form a coherent sentence, a second baby arrived—William—and Grissom was handed baby Thomas. In seconds, he knew these babies would be the anchor he had been seeking all of his life. He could not stop smiling.
The most astonishing miracle of the day and in the following weeks was noted by others—their three friends who spoke to each other in quiet voices—as they watched Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle become parents.
A/N: Thank you for reading...one more chapter for this story.