A/N: Thank you to everyone who has followed this story! Enjoy!
A Return to Vegas
Chapter 18
The aroma of baked apples met Sara's nose when she woke up. There was also a warm bundle of little human snuggled next to her and before she opened her eyes, she knew there was a second little body next to his sister. She had slept so soundly she'd not known when her children crawled in bed.
Lifting her head, she peered over the two children and found the space beyond Anthony was vacant. The smell of apples told her where her husband was and what he was doing.
Grissom's 'go-to' breakfast was a fluffy apple pancake baked in a skillet; she listened and heard no sounds coming from the kitchen. Yet the baked apple aroma saturated the air—he had definitely been cooking.
Carefully getting out of bed, she headed to the bathroom for a quick wake-up routine before going into the kitchen where she found white and yellow plates already on the table. Bottles of milk and juice had been placed in the center of the table. Looking around, Sara was puzzled by the absence of Grissom. Yet this normal scene was a fresh breeze of reality, clearing away any lingering mists after the previous chaotic day.
Sara checked the oven, finding the apple pancake which appeared to need another fifteen to twenty minutes of cooking. Her puzzlement increased as it was unlike her husband to leave the kitchen while he was cooking so she checked the second bedroom. Empty.
As she turned toward the living area, the door eased open and Grissom appeared.
"Good morning!" He said walking toward her.
She noticed the two empty cups in his hand. "Good morning," Sara said, meeting him half way and kissing him on the mouth. "Mmm…I need coffee."
Grissom wrapped his arm around her as they went back to the kitchen. "Catherine's on the porch—we've been talking and didn't want to wake anyone."
As they prepared fresh coffee, he told her about Lindsey's shoulder injury, a broken clavicle and a fracture in the lower arm. "She'll recover—she feels responsible."
"I'm going to ask Catherine to come in—the kids should wake up and we don't want your apple pancake to overcook," said Sara as she placed her cup on the table and headed to the porch.
It was a beautiful morning, the grass glittering in the sun; a bird was singing somewhere nearby. Sara took a deep breath of air that seemed to smell different. Catherine was sitting in a rocking chair, her hair a contrast to the vine that covered one end of the porch.
"Sara!" Catherine rose from her chair to greet her friend. She said, "What an experience—Gil said the kids slept and Libby is sure she saw a unicorn."
"They did sleep—came into the bed at some point and I didn't even wake up—still asleep. And Lindsey—how is she?"
Catherine's eyes filled with tears which she rapidly blinked away. "She's going to be fine—broken bones heal—she's tough. The plan is she'll get home later today."
The two women talked for a while, both relieved beyond words.
When they returned to the kitchen, Anthony was awake, sitting in his dad's lap at the table eating chunks of cheese. And by the time the cheese disappeared, his sister was awake and snuggling in her mother's lap.
A few minutes later, the apple pancake was placed on the table, steaming from the oven, while two small children giggled as Grissom sprinkled powdered sugar over the top. He cut wedges for Anthony and Libby, sprinkled more powdered sugar over their slices, and cautioned them about the hot apples.
The simple breakfast became a happy place as the women complimented Grissom on his baking skills and the kids managed to spread white sugar from one end of the table to the other.
A portion of the pancake remained in the pan when a tap sounded on the door and Jim Brass stuck his head in. The kids were chasing each other, white powder on their faces, when Jim entered.
"Sounds like a circus in here!" He said with a laugh, holding a box of donuts out for the children to see. "How about a donut—sprinkles, pink and chocolate icing—I think there might be a blueberry one in here!"
The kids ran back to the table where Grissom poured a cup of coffee for Jim. "Thanks," he said. "They need more sugar."
Brass chuckled, saying "Sugar makes us happy—scientific fact—we feel pleasure when we eat it."
Anthony reached for a chocolate covered one while Grissom handed a pink, sprinkled donut to Libby.
A couple of hours later, the kids were playing outside, the adults were talking and drinking coffee on the porch; a sunny tranquility had settled around the pasture where horses grazed and flocks of birds followed the horses.
They had heard from the sheriff, Maxine Roby, and several detectives who had related similar stories of the interviews with Alan Caldwell. He admitted to everything without giving a clear reason for why he'd decided to hack into the lab other than the ballistic files were 'easy'. He had explained in terms only IT had understood how he had found a 'back door' to files—as easy as cracking an egg, he'd said.
When asked why he'd killed four people, he had shrugged, saying, "They were old –who is going to miss them?"
Everyone decided Alan Caldwell would give criminal psychologists a subject for years to come.
When a truck pulling a trailer arrived at the barn, Catherine said, "I think Bob's friend has something for Libby."
Sara laughed, saying, "Is this something cheesy from a Strip vender?"
Catherine laughed. "No! He is a true showman! These unicorns look real—I mean—it's fake but looks great. The guy got the horses from a circus and treats them like—like royal unicorns."
The kids were chasing a ball around near the porch and didn't notice the trailer in the distance. Sara watched in amazement as two white horses were led out of the trailer; even more amazed at their size and the long white spiraled horn set on each forehead.
"Oh my God!" Sara looked at Catherine, went back to the horses, and then to Libby. "She's going to be so excited." Sara laughed, saying, "I'm excited and I know it is two horses! Look at their size!"
A few minutes later, Bob and his friend headed in the direction of the porch leading the two horse-unicorns. Both were giants of horses, snowy white, one with a silver-colored saddle, one with a rainbow colored blanket over the saddle.
Instead of calling her children, Sara walked out and took each one's hand so she could turn both in the direction of the horses. For a few seconds, they were quiet. Anthony's hand tightened in hers. But not Libby.
The little girl slipped her mother's hand; her feet ran in place as her hands covered her face—once, twice—then she squealed, "Unicorns!" Her feet were pounding the grass but going nowhere as she shouted again, "Unicorns! Mommy, two unicorns!"
Grissom came over and picked up his daughter, saying, "Let's take a closer look."
Anthony, standing so close his body was molded against his mother, whispered, "They are real."
Sara knelt to his level, asking, "You want to check them out?"
He nodded, his eyes staying on the large animals coming toward him.
Bob introduced his friend Ezra who introduced Libby and Anthony to the unicorns, Bubbles and Sparkles, and handed each child a lump of sugar. Shyness was forgotten in seconds.
Turning to Catherine, Sara pulled a face and mouthed, "Bubbles? Sparkles? Really?"
The horses were docile pets, gently taking sugar cubes from outstretched palms. After a few minutes of stroking Sparkles, Grissom lifted Libby onto the rainbow colored blanket. For a second, she looked at her dad with wide eyes; then she smiled.
Anthony was a bit more reserved as he held his mother's hand, tentatively reaching out to pet the horse-unicorn. Quietly, he said, "I think these unicorns may be horses."
Sara was kneeling next to him and when he looked at her, she smiled, thinking how much he looked liked his dad. She said, "I think you are right—but Libby thinks they are unicorns."
With a smile that lifted one edge of his mouth, the little boy said, "That's okay, isn't it? It's better than a sheep being a unicorn."
Hugging her son, Sara knew without a doubt her children were okay—better than okay—she knew they were all right, curious and bright. When she asked Anthony if he wanted to ride Bubbles, he nodded. A grinned formed across his face as Bob lifted the little boy onto the saddle.
Catherine and Jim were busy taking photos or videos of the occasion. Sara was certain she heard Greg's laugh.
Grissom rocked on his heels, laughing. Suddenly, Sara's eyes misted over; dust blowing in her eyes, she thought, as her children were led away, riding unicorns, one holding on with both hands; the other, fearless and daring, turned to wave at her parents.
Sara felt her husband's nearness before he hugged her and said, "Is riding a unicorn back to normal?"
Her hand touched his face as she smiled. She said, "It's a good normal."
A/N: As real life continues, we decided to make this chapter the last one in this story. It seems a good place to leave our couple with friends a few days before the reboot of CSI: Vegas!
Long live GSR! We are so excited GSR is back and married and appear to be happy with life!
Thank you for reading! A special thank you to those who send comments!