Disclaimer: If I owned C.S.I., Grissom and Sara would already be sleeping together, Catherine and Warrick would at least be flirting, and Julie would really be a character. Though I don't know what good she would do, because Nick would be dead. Since that isn't the world we tune into on Thursdays, I obviously don't own any of it.

There's a note following this epilogue. Please don't comment on it, but don't skip it either. Thank you. It's been a blast, and I love you guys.

~*~*~*~*~

Grissom glanced to the passenger seat. Sara was looking out the window at the newly-risen sun, counting the seconds in her mind until she would be home again. She twisted her wedding band, a variation on a security blanket, and he knew that is was not him she was thinking about. She was thinking about their son.

It was her first night back to work since little Dylan Grissom had been born. The first night she could not just walk quietly to his bassinet any time she wanted to.

It made him think about his own first night back, the night they had said "I love you." The night she agreed to be his wife. The night he had started to wonder if he was going to be able to return to his work. And he had been able to, though some nights were harder than others.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently, fingertips resting lightly on her arm.

"Yeah." She smiled at him and pretended her eyes were dry. "I just didn't realize it was going to be this hard."

He nodded, sliding his fingers down to squeeze her hand. "I remember going back about a week after he was born."

"Eight days," she interrupted, remembering clearly.

He nodded. "I knew that you'd be fine but I still didn't want to leave. I wanted to be right there with both of you."

She smiled at him again. "Well, you're stuck with us now."

"Good."

She waited until he pulled the car into the driveway then turned to him, quickly pulling him into her arms. "I love you so much, Gil."

She rarely used his first name, and it was always something special when she did. "I love you, too, Sara," he said, hugging her tightly.

"I can't help but wonder what my life would be like without you. If you hadn't been able to hold on for us." It was something they had never really taken the time to discuss. There had been his recovery, their careers, the wedding, and finally the baby. "I don't even want to think about it."


"Then don't," he said, offering advice that he knew he could never follow himself.

"It's not that easy. I watch you with our son...It's not just him. Even if I had never been pregnant. God, Gris, I need you, just for myself. I never want to go back to that. To life before."

"You're never going to," he assured her. "You're stuck with me, too."

"I could never do this on my own. If for no other reason than not wanting to have Nick baby-sit more than absolutely necessary," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

He looked toward the house, seeming to only then remember who was inside. "I don't see any evidence of fire or anything."

"Yet," she joked, freeing herself from his arms and climbing out of the car. He watched with loving amusement as she forced herself to walk calmly to the door rather than run.

"Hey, Mom," Nick said, opening the door for her.

"Don't call me that. Where's Dylan?"


"Right here." Julie appeared behind him and carefully transferred the baby to Sara's arms. "I hope it's okay that I called Jules to come help me out."

"That's fine, Nick," Sara said, only half-hearing him. "Thank you, Julie."

"Oh, you're welcome. Dylan here really is beautiful," she said, zipping her jacket over her light blouse.

"Thank you," Grissom said before lightly stroking his son's head. "You don't have to leave," he told her, looking up. "We'd like it if you stayed for breakfast."

Julie looked almost embarrassed. "Thank you, but I really should get going."

"You can stay, hun." Nick's hand rested on her arm. She shook her head, so he grabbed his own jacket. "I'll see you later."

"You're not staying?" Grissom asked.

"No, I'm going to buy breakfast for the most beautiful woman I know."

"No thanks, I already have plans," Sara said, a grin spreading across her face. The banter coming more or less automatically. Her attention was focused on her child and on Grissom's hand, which had surprised her by resting on her waist.

Nick laughed and put his arm around Julie, leading her outside. Grissom watched them for a moment, then closed the door. "Okay," he said after a few moments, "when did that happen?"

"A couple weeks ago. And from what I could pick up from talking to Nick the other night, it's been about three years coming."


"I'm glad Nick found her."

Sara nodded. "Nice when people find each other, huh?"

"And nice when people only wait three years," he added, surprising both of them.

"Some things are worth the wait," she said simply, disappearing back the hall to put the baby in his crib. She returned a few minutes later. "Cute," she commented, tossing him the baseball pillow she had just found.

"It's more for your benefit than his," Grissom admitted.

"No, he likes it. It's soft." She paused. "You know what stuck in my mind? Nick said that Julie told him once, a long time ago, that she always felt better about herself when she was around him."

"I think it's like that when you love someone," he said. "Not that I have any idea what I'm talking about," he added a few moments later.

"God, I wish I had that on tape. Gil Grissom: 'I have no idea what I'm talking about.'" She smiled, and he realized the truth in his statement.

It really was like that when you loved someone.