AN: Thanks for the support, here is the next chapter. Warning: Mention of minor character death and a questionable word.
Chapter 50: Life Changing phone call
4 years later
June, 2018
Chicago
As Billy Arthur Grissom, now 26 years old, was laying on his side in bed, he couldn't stop smiling as he watched the woman he loves, sleeping.
After a few moments, he smiled a little wider as he saw her eyes flutter open, and he whispered. "Good morning."
She reached her hand over to his clean-shaven cheek. "Good morning indeed, babe." Then she smiled wider. "Or should I say Fiancé."
Their eyes remained connected as their thoughts took them back to last week.
Flashback
Last week
For Juliet's 23rd birthday, which happened to be on his 26th birthday, Billy wanted to take Juliet on a trip, but it wasn't just to anywhere, it was to Paris France, so asking his Uncle Tyreek if he could borrow his private plane, Billy surprised her with the trip, where he showed her some of the best places, including the restaurant he spent most of his time in when he was here. Then the night before they were to leave, Billy had one more surprise up his sleeve.
Using a friend's apartment for the night, Billy was cooking a romantic dinner while Juliet was out shopping for a few gifts for the family, and by the time she returned, she gasped when she saw the candlelight on the table with his made from scratch spaghetti, probably one of her favorite meals that he cooks for her.
She sets the gifts and purse on the coffee table and her jacket on the couch before walking up to him with a smile and love in her eyes. "Awe babe, you didn't have to do this, we could have gone out our last night here."
He places his hand on hers with love in his eyes. "I know, but I wanted to. Here, I'll help you to your seat."
She nodded, and after helping her sit down, he kisses her cheek before walking to his side of the table and sitting down, then they clinked glasses before they started eating.
About halfway through the meal, the air between them shifted, and she felt a nervousness from him she wasn't use to, so she asked. "Are you ok?"
He cleared his throat and nodded. "Uh, yeah, why?"
She smirked. "Well, for one, what you just did. What is it?" When he didn't speak for several seconds, she started to get worried. "Billy, you didn't ask me on this trip to break up with me, did you? Because I..."
Immediately he cuts her off, but louder than he intended. "No! Of course not."
She felt a little relief, but she did feel something was going on. "Then what is it, why are you all of sudden nervous?"
He took a breath before he started to speak. "I was trying to get the nerve to ask you to marry me." She gasped and looked at him wide-eyed as he continued. "I mean I know you told me you wanted to wait until you were a little more deeper into your career as a CSI, so I don't mind waiting." (She says 'yes' but he continued on rambling) "And you don't even have to start planning yet." (She does continue softly. "Billy, yes," But once again, he wasn't stopping). "But I want you to know what I want in my future, what I see in the future, whom I see it..."
This times she spoke a little louder. "Billy I said yes."
He finally stopped and looked at her with wide-eyes. "Yes?"
She started to nod with a smile, tears in her eyes. "Yes, I'll marry you."
He gets that 'Grissom' smile on his face and stands up before walking up to her with a purpose, but before he kisses her, he stops himself and shakes his head. "Wait, hold on, let me do this right." He places his hand in his pocket, pulls out the box and kneels down on one knee as he opens it. "Will you Juliet Snider, marry me?"
She nodded again with tears in her eyes as she cupped his cheek. "Yes, I will."
He once again gets that 'Grissom' smile on his face as he pulls the ring, which was the same ring that his father proposed to his mother with, out of the box and slid it down her finger before they shared a tender kiss, and after they pulled back and had placed their foreheads together, he takes a breath and whispered. "And when you retail the story, please don't tell them I screwed up the proposal."
She chuckled, and while he was walking back to the table, she replied with love in her eyes. "I said yes, so you must have done something right."
He smirked as he sat down in his chair before shaking his head. "You probably did it out of pity."
She chuckled again and shook her head before finishing softly. "No, it's because I love you, and whether it was perfect or not is irrelevant, the words and the action behind them is what matters the most to me."
He took her hand and leaned forward to kiss it before speaking with love in his eyes. "And I meant every one, I want a future with you, no matter what life throws at us."
She nodded with a smile and tears in her eyes. "I want that too."
End of Flashback
He then chuckled as he placed his hand on top of hers. "That works to, so I do want to ask you, will you be Juliet Snider-Grissom? Or..."
She cuts him off. "I just want my future husband's name."
They both felt a pleasant shiver down their spines as he whispered with passion. "Say that again."
They move closer to one another as she replied softly but with passion. "My future husband."
When their lips touched a second later, they let all their feelings for one another pour through.
Eventually they slowed down, and after he pulled back and kissed her forehead, he sighed against her skin before speaking again. "We do need to talk about something."
She nodded. "When are we going to tell your parents?"
"Yeah."
"I was thinking after their Anniversary party, I don't want to steal their thunder."
Sara and Grissom's upcoming Anniversary, which will be on Saturday (5 days away), will be their 25th.
"I understand, so in the meantime." He sat up and turned his body around so he could open the top drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a gold chain before turning back towards Juliet, took her left hand and slid the ring off her finger, both feeling a little sad but knew it was only temporary, then he slid the chain through the ring and placed the chain around her neck, clipping it in place. "There, you can keep it safe next to your heart."
She moved up so she could kiss him softly on the lips and nodded, then after laying in his arms, he spoke again. "I hope you do like the ring."
"I love it, babe. I like the tradition that it was passed down the generations." She then bit her lip. "I just hope I don't let you and your family down."
He shook his head with a smile before kissing the top of her head. "Never going to happen."
She snuggled into his embrace with a bright smile, both enjoying each others company, unaware of the turn of events that will soon change their lives forever.
Los Angeles
Jacob, now aged 72, more gray hair than dark now, walked to one of his walls in his office and smiled as he started taking the multiple picture frames (mostly of family, but some of the kids him and his wife helped out) that was hanging there off the walls because after more than 30 years in this office (40 all together in the profession), he was officially calling it a career.
It was a little sad to say goodbye to what he loved doing more than anything, outside of spending time with his own family, but now that all the kids were officially out of the house, him and Maria had talked about doing a little bit more traveling, even spending a little time in Chicago a lot longer than they've had through the years so they could get to know those grandchildren more.
Once he got done with one of the walls, he walked to his desk, picked up his coffee mug and grimaced at the cold taste, so he headed for the door to walk down the hall. But before he could reach the break room, he passed the waiting area to see a familiar face in a familiar scene, a CSI with a little kid, who Jacob would guess was no older than 6 just from his size.
"Frank, how are you young man?"
Frank Miller, 35, had an athletic build, an average height with short brown hair and brown eyes. He has also been a CSI in the LA area for about ten years now, and was the one who mostly brought the kids here that the CSIs found at crimes scenes who didn't get picked up by another relative as quickly, so seeing Jacob was a familiar sight to him as well.
He gave the older man a small smile as he shook his hand. "Fine, Mr. Evens, and how are you, the family?"
He mentioned they were fine, also telling him that his second oldest daughter (Sara), will be celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary with her husband this upcoming weekend.
After the pleasantries were done, Jacob finally asked. "Where did you find that little guy?"
He nodded his head towards the little boy, who was still sitting a few feet away on the chairs with his head down wearing a jacket and an LA Dodgers hat.
Frank sighed. "Hiding under his bed as his mother and uncle was getting killed. We don't know much yet but we believe it was a home robbery."
Jacob sighed. "Damn." Before asking. "Have you talked to anybody here yet?"
"Nope, we just pretty much walked in."
"I'm on the case now, you can talk to me."
Before he gave him the file on what they did know about the young boy, Frank smirked a little. "Aren't you retiring?"
In his best no-nonsense tone, Jacob replied. "My last day is at the end of the week, so until then, I'm still on the clock."
Frank nodded in understanding as he handed him the file, but instead of opening it right away, Jacob walked up to the little boy, which Frank did mention he hadn't said a word all morning.
When the older man reached the boy, he kneeled down, his bones popping as he went, but didn't think too much about that, then he smiled as he spoke softly. "Hello, I'm Jacob Evens, can you tell me what your name is?"
When it seemed like the boy wasn't going to respond at all, he placed his hand gently on his arm, causing the boy to look up in shock, who seemed to be zoned out, so now Jacob could see the boy had blue eyes, which there was something about them that made him pause for a second, before he mentally shook his head and signed. 'Are you deaf?'
There was a slight pause from the little boy, and at first he didn't want to acknowledge him, but he found the older man comforting, so he shook his head 'no', which caused Jacob to smile a little as he asked. "But you understand what I signed?"
After a nod in acceptance, Jacob nodded in return, feeling a little progress has been made, and wanting to know a little more about his case, he opened the file, but it was barely a second before he received his first shock of the morning, seeing who his mother was, which caused him to look at the boy again, and this time he really saw it, why his eyes looked so familiar.
Not wanting to scare the boy any more than he already was, Jacob calmly stood up and walked up to Frank before asking. "Mr. Miller, can you stay with the boy a little bit longer?"
"Sure."
"Thank you." He then turned around and headed back to his office, forgetting his coffee in the process.
Maria, now also aged 72, was at home while her third daughter, 45 year old Michelle, her two kids (a 15 year old son & a 10 year old daughter), along with her fifth daughter, 30 year old Hope and her 3 year old son, was visiting, when her phone rang.
She smiled politely before answering the phone after seeing who was calling her. "Hi babe...Yeah I can come down there, but why...Ok, I'll see you soon, yes love you too, bye."
After she hung up, Hope was the first one to ask. "What's wrong mom?"
Since she didn't know, Maria stood up while shaking her head. "I don't know sweetie, your dad wants me to come to the office." When they looked worried, she tried to reassure them and told them she'll call when she finds out, so after getting her vehicle keys and purse, she walked out the door so she could see what was going on.
By the time Maria showed up, the little boy and Frank were in the break room, and she was directed to her husband's office, which she knocked when she got there.
A second later the door opened and Jacob moved to the side to let her in, and after shutting the door, she asked in concern. "What's wrong, honey?"
He cleared his throat before speaking. "A new case was brought in."
"Ok, that's nothing new, so why did you need me to come..." She stopped for a second before she shook her head with a sigh as she took his hand. "Honey, we both agreed we've done our fair share of taking kids in, more than, even. Can I remind you that we wanted to travel more, stay in Chicago for more than a few days. I know how you feel when a child needs our help, I feel it too, but there has to come a time when..."
He cuts her off. "It's not like that, this case is very different."
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"You'll know when you see who the mother was."
Still looking confused, Jacob took the top sheet of paper from the file, the information section, and handed it to her, then she gasped before looking at her husband with wide-eyes. "I want to see the child."
Jacob nodded before they headed out into the hall and she followed him to the break room, but before stepping in the room, she looked through the glass windows, and when his eyes met hers, she had the same feeling Jacob did, then she shook her head as she looked at Jacob while the little boy went back to his coloring.
"He's what, five? six?"
"Six."
"Then that can't be possible."
Jacob sighed. "But we both know it could be, we both see it. He has his eyes, there is no denying it."
This time she sighed. "I know, but we have to be 100% sure, so I'm going to call Becky to see if she could come down here. I trust no one else to do the test."
After Becky, who is now 37, married and a mother of two (7 year old daughter & a 5 year old son), went through medical school, she got to continue what she loved doing close to home, which made her happy to be back in LA after spending all that time away.
Jacob agreed, but before she moved to make the phone call and he went inside the break room, Maria had tears in her eyes. "Jacob."
And he nodded with tears in his eyes too as he cupped her cheek. "I know, honey."
Later that evening
Chicago
Billy and Juliet were over at his parents house, which the Stokes family, who now lived next door, was there as well, and while 17 year old Faith was out with friends and the other kids/teenagers were in Even's room, the grown-ups were talking and laughing, enjoying one another's company when Billy's phone started to ring.
He gave them a shy look for interrupting the mood before looking at who was calling, then answered with a smile. "Hi Grandma Maria."
Both Sara and Stephanie looked at Billy as they tried to make out the one sided conversation, that partially drained Billy's face each second he was on the phone, which the longer he was on it, made him look even more shocked, so when the phone call ended, everybody looked worried while Sara asked. "Baby, what's wrong?"
Still in shock on what was just revealed to him, he cleared his throat and shook his head. "I uh...I..." He took a breath and stood up. "Excuse me." Then he rushed towards the back door like he was going to be sick, and Juliet not wasting any time on following him, but she did stop in the kitchen to get a water.
After a short pause, Stephanie shook her head as she grabbed her phone. "I have to know if everything is ok."
Sara was in complete agreement and asked if she would put it on speaker, which Stephanie didn't even hesitate.
Once Billy was done being sick in the backyard, he turned around and looked at his fiancée with an embarrassed look. "I'm sorry." She just shook her head as she handed him the water bottle.
He thanked her before rinsing out of his mouth, then after taking a seat on the top step of the back deck, she sits down next to him, asking in a worried tone. "What's wrong? Is it your family? Are they ok?"
He took a breath and nodded. "Yeah, it's not that, they are fine."
"Then what is it, something made you react the way that you did."
He took another breath with a second nod. "Yeah, I guess Vanessa and her brother died this morning."
Juliet gasped in surprise as she took his hand. "I'm sorry babe, I know how much you loved her."
After a pause, he whispered. "There is more." Before she could ask, he told her another shocker. "She had a six year old son, my six year old son."
Juliet gasped again. "Oh my god." Then she shook her head and said. "Wait a minute, you said six? But I thought you told me you two broke up after your high school graduation, that's more than..."
He cuts her off, still speaking softly. "When I came back to the states after my time in Paris, my flight was rerouted to New York because of a brutal storm, it turned out she was in the same airport."
Juliet seemed to understand now. "A chance meeting with your first love and the feelings were still present, it sounds like a perfect storm in more than one way."
Billy tired to speak. "Juliet, I'm..."
But she cuts him off with a small smile. "You got nothing to apologize for, this happened way before us, you did nothing wrong. I'm not too naïve to think that moments like that don't happen."
"I know, but my actions resulted in a very real consequence that changes everything."
"What do you mean?"
"I have to be a father to him, I'm the only parent he has left."
"I know that, but..."
He cuts her off again as he removed his hand from hers. "I'm giving you an out in our relationship."
Juliet started to have tears in her eyes. "What? You can't be serious!"
With tears threatening to come through, he cupped her cheek and spoke with emotion. "You told me that you wanted to wait before we even planned for kids, and I respect that, so I don't want to 'keep' you in this relationship because now..."
She cuts him off with emotion. "What about the promise you made to me about no matter what life throws at us? Did this new development in your life suddenly make you stop loving me?"
No hesitation and still with emotion, even a few tears went down his cheek. "No, not for a second, you're my heart Juliet, and has been since we met."
"Then nothing has changed for me." He was about to speak, but she continued while cupping his cheek and running her thumb up and down his cheek. "I love you Billy, and while our lives will be different then what I had envisioned it being, I'm not backing out. I still want to be with you, if you still want to be with me."
He sniffled as he whispered. "More than anything."
"Then I'm not going anywhere."
Relief flooded through his body as they wrapped their arms around one another tightly, whispering their love for one another a second later.
Their moment was interrupted when his cell phone buzzed, indicating he had a text message, so they pulled back and he took his phone out of his pocket before reading the first text from his grandma Maria. 'I thought you might like to see your son.'
Billy's heart raced as he read the word 'son' a few more times. "I can't believe it, I'm a father."
With a smile on her face, she whispered. "And you'll be an amazing one."
He took a breath before he replied. "I hope so, I also hope he doesn't hate me too much."
"You didn't know."
"I know, and if I had." With emotion again, he finished. "I would have found a way to have been there for him."
She kissed his temple while running her hand up and down his back. "I know that, babe."
After another pause, he finally opened the other text that had the pictures, and the minute he saw those beautiful blue eyes he knew he was staring into his own eyes, his father's eyes, his brother's eyes. The color of his skin was a little darker than himself, along with his hair, but other than that, there was no denying he was half a 'Grissom', causing Juliet to whisper, almost breathlessly. "He's beautiful."
He nodded with tears in his eyes again "Yes he is." He smiled a little, still couldn't believe what he was looking at. "Wow, I have a son."
They took a moment to admire the beautiful little boy before he took a breath and started to ramble off everything he needed to do, almost making his head spin more than it already had been the last 10 minutes. "I have to tell my parents, I need to go to LA, I need to..."
She cuts him off as she ran her hand up and down his back again. "Ok, take it easy before you have a panic attack. Let's take this one step at a time." He nodded as he was trying to calm down, then once he was, she continued "And if you'll let me, I want to be there for you, for all of it."
"I need you there with me."
Her eyes sparkling. "Then I will be."
"I love you, so much."
"And I love you."
He took one more deep breath before they stood up from the step and headed inside the house so he could share the unexpected news to his parents.
AN: Thanks for reading, please review. Stay safe!