Hello friends, I hope you have been enjoying my little story. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. We are now onto the wedding chapter, and I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Please review, I love hearing from you.

Chapter 11

The next day found Sara standing in the spare room, staring at herself in the mirror. She pulled, self-consciously, at the hem of her sleeves. Betty had wanted to style her hair up in a small, knotted bun, with flowers woven through braids, but Sara had talked her out of it. She knew Grissom preferred her hair loose. And the dress was fancy enough, she didn't want more.

Her hair had grown out a lot since Grissom had arrived in Costa Rica, so Sara had curled it in large ringlets and allowed it to fall over her shoulders. For make-up, Sara had always gone for the bare minimum, just a lick of eyeshadow and mascara, every now and then she'd paint her lips. Mainly with neutral colours, occasionally splashing out on a muted red.

Surprisingly, Betty had agreed with her on the make-up front. Sara's face was already beautifully tanned, thanks to the weeks she'd spent in the sun, and Betty didn't want to cover up "those adorable freckles," as she called them. Sara had flushed at the complement and Betty patted her cheek affectionately.

Once she had helped Sara with the dress, Betty had hurried out to check on Grissom. He had brought a suit with him, one of the ones he usually saved for court, but Betty had told him, on no uncertain terms, it would not do. Even if the wedding was only at the courthouse. She had dug out Grissom's father's suit from his own wedding. When Betty had held it out for his inspection, Grissom could only stare.

"I can't wear this, mom," he had signed.

"Why not?" Betty asked.

"Because," Grissom began, looking to Sara for support. "It's dad's suit, and I..."

"Your father would be pleased and proud to see you wear this, especially on your own wedding day." Betty's eyes were lined with tears as she looked, lovingly, at the suit. Sara could picture the scene: a young Betty Grissom in a wedding dress, standing next to a tall, handsome man Sara had only seen in photograph. Grissom looked a great deal like his father and Sara guessed, if the older man had lived to see his son grow, they would be around the same height.

"Please, Gil," Betty signed. "Wear it. Your father would have wanted you too, and it's a like a piece of him will be with us."

Grissom picked up the suit and Sara could see the emotions playing over his face. The love for a father he had lost too young, how much he missed him, and how much he wished Jason Grissom could be with them today.

"It may not fit," he signed, a little awkwardly with the suit in his hand.

"It may need a slight adjustment," Betty replied. "But luckily I've got all night to do it."

Grissom tried the suit on and it only needed a few adjustments, Jason had been a little taller than his son. But otherwise, it had been a perfect fit. It was a simple, three-piece, navy suit and Betty had unearthed as matching tie to go with it. Sara was not at all embarrassed to say the Grissom cut a very dashing figure. She had even whistled when he tried it on, earning a blush from Grissom and a laugh from Betty, once she realised what Sara had done.

A knock sounded on the door, breaking Sara from her thoughts, and Betty popped her head around. Seeing Sara standing before the mirror, she walked in.

"All set?" She asked. Sara could only nod. A lump had formed in her throat and her hands had started to get a little clammy. She clasped them together, so she wouldn't be tempted to wipe them on her dress. Betty gave her a sympathetic smile, recognising the signs. Nerves had started to build once the dress had been put on, and nothing Sara had tried so far had calmed them.

She realised, not for the first time, just how little she knew of marriage, family. What was a wife even supposed to do? Her own mother had not been the best example. She had been erratic at best during Sara's childhood. Obsessively clean one moment and completely disorganised the next. Her father had expected her to do everything for him, but even when Laura had done everything exactly as he asked, it still wasn't enough.

Eventually, Sara had taken on the role of housekeeper, her mother unable, or unwilling to do it. Sara cooked, she cleaned, she made her father's lunch, brought their alcohol and cigarettes. She played nursemaid when her father would hit her mother and played taxi – despite her young age and sheer inappropriateness of her driving a vehicle – when he got carried away, resulting in the many trips to the emergency room. She would hold her mother's hand as Laura lied about the injuries. Sara would be the one to calm her after one of her many 'episodes'.

Then, when 'it' happened, she was taken away. Shipped from house to house, never staying in one place long enough to see how a family should really be. Some of the people she stayed with were wonderful, kind, patient, but not willing to take her on long time. Others were… best forgotten.

Before Grissom, before Vegas, Sara didn't know what it was like to be part of a family. Now she was about to be a wife.

In her head, Sara knew there wouldn't be much difference from being Grissom's partner and Grissom's wife. Nothing would really change between them, except their titles, but it was still a huge step and Sara was terrified. And confused that she was terrified. She loved Grissom, she wanted to marry him. Wanted to be with him so much she had turned her life around, not once, but twice, just so she could be with him.

Sara looked over at Betty, the older woman was watching her with a look, as if she was considering her next words very carefully.

"Did Gil ever tell you about my parents?" Betty asked.

"He mentioned that they died when you were young," Sara replied.

"I was eleven." Only a year younger than Sara was when she had lost hers. "My childhood was not what one would call normal. Something, I believe, we have in common?" Betty looked up at her and Sara nodded. Betty didn't know the whole of Sara's story, but she was aware the younger woman spent a great deal of her childhood in foster care. "I was deaf, so it was harder for them to find a place for me, very few people can sign, and it was even less back then."

Sara was watching Betty, concentrating on every sign the woman used so as to not misinterpret what she was saying.

"When Jason asked me to marry him, I was so happy. So madly in love with him and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. But I was also terrified. I didn't know how to be a wife. How to run a home or raise children. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, afraid that I would be deficient in some way. Because of my hearing, but also my upbringing."

Sara's heart broke a little, the idea of Betty Grissom being deficient in any way was ridiculous. The woman was stronger and wiser than anyone Sara knew, and the idea than someone, anyone, made her feel that way was repugnant.

"Then a friend of mine told me something," Betty continued. "Something I carried with me throughout my marriage: No one knows what they're doing when they get married. There is no 'how to' guide. It's a journey you take, as a partnership. The two of you will work it out, together. No marriage is the same, just as no couple is the same. Trust in yourself, Sara, and trust in Gil. You have already been through more than what most couples go through in a lifetime. You'll work it out, together."

Sara had to blink back the tears that threatened her. She had trusted Gil Grissom this far; she can trust him with the next.

"Thank you," Sara signed, and Betty smiled at her.

"I'm so glad Gil met you, Sara Sidle. I never had a daughter of my own, and I'm glad that I now have you."

Sara hugged the older woman, not feeling like a grown woman of 37, but a young girl being held by her mother. When they broke apart, Betty signed, "I expect you to be calling me 'mom' after this."

"I'd like that," Sara replied. Betty patted her cheek just as Grissom knocked on the door. Sara looked to the door, indicating to Betty that Grissom was there. Betty took a step back and allowed Sara room to open the door.

As she did, her breath caught. Grissom stood before looking more handsome than she had ever seen him. His hair and beard trimmed neatly, and his clean, crisp white shirt stood out brilliantly against his tanned skin. The navy suit hugged his figure in all the right places. Sara could only stare.

Grissom was doing some staring of his own. Sara watched as his eyes travelled over her body, taking in every detail, before they met hers, she sighed at the love and longing she read there and his face softened into a beautiful smile before widening, showing off his brilliant white teeth.

"You look…" he began before clearing his throat. "Breath-taking. Beautiful. Stunning."

"Is that all," Sara replied with a cheeky smile and Grissom chuckled.

"I have no words." He brought a hand up to brush a strand of hair across her cheek and tucked it behind her ear, before cupping her face.

"That's a first," she replied and brought her own hands up to straighten his tie. "You don't look too bad yourself." Grissom laughed. He was just bending to kiss her when Betty coughed behind them. The couple turned and she tapped her watch, it was time to leave.

What happened next went so fast Sara wasn't sure she could tell anyone, even if her life depended on it. One moment they were walking to the car, then they were at the courthouse, then Grissom was slipping a simple, gold, wedding band on her finger.

All that ran through Sara's mind was what had happened to get them to this final place. From that first stolen kiss in San Francisco, to the move to Las Vegas. Grissom comforting her as she told him about her parents. Holding her as she cried after they found Nick. That Sunday morning when he finally came to her. Those stolen moments in the lab, the secret love they shared at home. Being found in the desert, the kiss goodbye, the reunion in his office. Seeing him standing in her clearing. Kissing under the hot, Costa Rican sun. Making love in their tent, working together, laughing together.

All the hurt and pain and joy and love coursed through her at once, and through it all was Grissom. He was her heart, her soul. Her teacher and her mentor. Her partner and her equal. He was hers, and she was his.

And now, he was standing before her. Promising forever.

They were pronounced husband and wife and Grissom lifted her face to meet his. Kissing her gently on the lips. Betty had taken a photo, crying as she did. As they left the courthouse, Betty wanted a few more photos, then the three of them went to have a modest wedding breakfast at Betty's favourite restaurant.

By the time they had finished, it was early evening and Betty handed Grissom a key to one of the finest hotels in the area.

"You don't want to spend your wedding night at your mother's house," she told them, and Sara blushed furiously. Betty only chuckled at them. She left them, with a kiss on the cheek and a signed "I love you" to both.

The couple sat for a while longer before Grissom held out his hand. "Shall we, my dear?" Sara smiled shyly and took his hand. Grissom pulled her out of the chair then looked down, his thumb brushed over the new ring adorning her finger, then he brought it up to his mouth and kissed it.

They walked out, arm in arm, as the cool night air swept over their skin. Sara hadn't brought a jacket, so Grissom handed her his, and pulled an arm around her waist. They walked down the street, the hotel three buildings down from the restaurant.

As they approached, Grissom put a hand to the small of Sara's back and opened the door for her. She smiled up at him through her lashes, he kissed her temple and Sara preceded him through to the lobby.

"Dr Grissom," a man called from behind the reception desk. Grissom walked right up to him and held out his hand.

"Hi Jimmy," Grissom said.

"And this must be Mrs Grissom," Jimmy said, turning to Sara with a smile. "Your mother told me the good news when she booked the room. Congratulations."

"Sara, this is Jimmy Jones, one of my mother's former students. Jimmy, this is my wife, Sara Sidle." Grissom was practically busting with pride as he spoke, and something within Sara started to sing as he said the word. Wife.

"Everything is ready for you. I'll show you to your room." Sara and Grissom followed Jimmy through the lobby and into the elevator. He took them to the twelfth floor and lead them down the hall and opened the door to a large suite. "Unfortunately, the honeymoon suit isn't available," Jimmy said, apologetically. "But I hope this will be just a good?"

It was beautiful. The top half of the walls were white, then, below a dark oak skirting board, deep red wallpaper coated the rest. The bed frame was made from the same oak that lined the walls and a matching chest of draws sat along the outside wall. A vanity with a large mirror opposite. Jimmy showed them to a very generous ensuite complete with free standing bathtub and waterfall shower.

"It's wonderful," Sara said with a smile. Jimmy blushed a little and Grissom gave her an amused look, raising an eyebrow causing Sara to purse her lips to keep from laughing.

"Thank you, Jimmy," Grissom said, Sara could hear the amusement in his voice. He gave Jimmy a tip and walked him out. As he shut the door and turned to her, Sara couldn't hold it in. A giggle burst out and she held a hand to her mouth. "We've only been married for a few hours, and I've already got competition?"

He crossed the room to her, but she backed away, still giggling. Grissom's brows rose further at the challenge and heat flushed through Sara, she sidestepped to the other edge of the bed. Grissom stalked towards her and she skuttled to the side, attempting to get round him, but he caught the sleeve of the jacket and she fell back against his chest.

A laughed escaped her as Grissom pulled her close, one hand spreading across her stomach while the other pushed her hair from her neck. She could feel his breath against her skin and her heart drummed faster within her chest. Grissom pressed his lips against the sensitive skin of her neck, inhaling deeply.

"If you want to challenge me, my dear, you might want to try something you have a chance of winning." His voice was deep, reverberating across her skin and Sara shivered with excitement.

"Who said I didn't win?" She replied, a little breathless. Grissom chuckled against her and pressed his body harder behind her. She could feel every inch of him, and her hand snaked around her body, gripping the fabric of his shirt as his hand travelled down her neck. His fingers brushed against her collar bone, pushing the fabric of her dress as he guided them to the buttons at the nape of her neck.

Sara lifted her head to give him access and he slowly popped each button, one handed. Pressing a kiss to each piece of exposed skin as he went. Eventually, he was kneeling behind her, kissing the small of her back as the last button was released.

Gripping her hips, Grissom turned her as he stood, capturing her mouth in a soft kiss. Sara went to work on his shirt, making quick progress and pushing it off his shoulders within seconds. As if fell to the floor, Grissom pulled back a little, looking deep into her eyes while he eased the dress off. As it pooled on the floor, Sara started on his belt and the hook and zip of his trousers.

Once free of their clothing, standing only in their underwear, Grissom encircled her with his arms and guided her to the bed. Their movements were unhurried as they touched, teased, and kissed one another.

Finally free of their last remnants of clothing, Sara lay naked with her husband hovering above her. She brought a hand to trace the line of his lips and he kissed her fingertips with heart-breaking sincerity. Tears started to gather, and Grissom lent down to kiss one as it escaped.

"I love you, Sara Sidle," he said, softly against her cheek.

"I love you, Gil Grissom."

He kissed her once more, and as one they joined together. Sara's heart burst with pride, and joy, and love as her husband moved within her and she held onto him with all she had, thanking the God she wasn't sure she believed.

It had taken over thirty years, but, wrapped in her husband's embrace, Sara Sidle finally felt that she was home.