Disclaimer, header etc. in part 1.
~~*~~
With Dreams Untold (4/7)
by Eve (little_grey_woman42@yahoo.de)
~~*~~
Too surprised and shocked to process what he was seeing, he found himself completely speechless and continued to watch the scene that took place right before his eyes.
Catherine picked up the small child and hugged him close to her while Warrick walked up to them. When he reached them he ruffled the boy's hair and bend slightly down to kiss Catherine on her temple. She caressed his cheek with her free hand and for a moment they seemed to be lost in each other's gaze.
'They look so happy,' was the first thing that came to Grissom's mind after he had somehow managed to sort through his still jumbled thoughts. When he found his voice again, he said "Catherine, what -" before he faltered, again at a loss for words. But it had been already enough to make the couple in front of him aware of their surroundings. They turned around and started to walk towards him.
"I know that we're too late, Gil and I'm sorry. Although we were scheduled for one of your famous tours around your little lab of horrors, little Billy here," she looked at the boy on her arm who presently buried his face into her shoulder, "decided to conduct one of his famous experiments."
"William Gilbert Brown, what did you do this time?" Warrick asked the boy sternly.
Catherine sighed.
"Well, *somebody*," she began and looked pointedly at Warrick, "forgot to screw the tube of toothpaste shut and left it on the rim of the sink - *again*."
Warrick winced visibly and suddenly father and son wore sheepish expressions Grissom found to be strikingly similar.
"The bathroom floor again?"
"The bathroom floor, the bathroom walls, the outside of the bathtub, you name it. You know, it's really amazing how much of the inside of a bathroom a small kid can cover in such a short period of time with the content of a single tube of toothpaste."
Warrick reached out for his son and took him from Catherine, looked him in the eyes and said: "Well, I guess we've got lots of cleaning up to do when I get home, little fella."
"You bet you do," Catherine said. That made clear she turned around and faced Grissom: "So, Gil, I guess Billy has to wait another week until he can get the grand tour, won't he?"
"But Mommy, I wanna see the bugs now," Billy wined.
"No, Billy, we already talked about that in the car, didn't we?"
The boy looked down and pouted.
"We're too late for you to see the bugs now and we're also almost too late for kindergarten. So, if your Uncle Gil has time you can see them next week. *But* if you like to," she said teasingly and waited until she caught her son's gaze again, "you can give him your present now."
The boy's face lit up and he struggled out of his father's arms who put him quickly down. Catherine handed him something out of her small backpack and when Billy turned around, Grissom could see that he was holding something between the palms of his small hands. Billy tugged awkwardly with his hands still closed over the mysterious object at Grissom's trousers who took that as his cue to squat down in front of him. Billy smiled openly at him and said: "This is for you." He opened his palms and held out a lumpy, red unidentifiable thing.
Grissom took it and was surprised at its weight.
It was a stone.
A stone that someone had painted red and covered with black dots. The dots were irregular in size and colour and obviously painted by an inexperienced hand. Grissom assumed that the boy had drawn them and turned the stone around. He did a double take when he discovered a grinning smiley-face on one of the sides.
"I made it. Lidsy helped me with the face and the red but I did *all* the dots."
Grissom looked at the hopeful-looking face and said the only thing he could think of:
"Thank you very much."
He was rewarded with another bright smile and Catherine ruffled her son's curly hair affectionately. "See honey, I told you he would like it." Her son looked up at her and then turned his attention towards Grissom once again.
"Will you put it in one of your boxes on the walls?"
'Boxes? Why would I want to put a red stone ...'
Grissom took again a look at the item in his hand and felt the proverbial light bulb turn itself on. He looked over the rim of his glasses and said seriously: "Well, I think this truly magnificent specimen of a ladybug deserves a box completely for itself."
Again he had obviously somehow managed to say exactly the right thing because Billy was beaming at him. Grissom looked up at Catherine and saw her mouth a silent "Thank you" followed by a smile.
~~*~~
~~*~~
With Dreams Untold (4/7)
by Eve (little_grey_woman42@yahoo.de)
~~*~~
Too surprised and shocked to process what he was seeing, he found himself completely speechless and continued to watch the scene that took place right before his eyes.
Catherine picked up the small child and hugged him close to her while Warrick walked up to them. When he reached them he ruffled the boy's hair and bend slightly down to kiss Catherine on her temple. She caressed his cheek with her free hand and for a moment they seemed to be lost in each other's gaze.
'They look so happy,' was the first thing that came to Grissom's mind after he had somehow managed to sort through his still jumbled thoughts. When he found his voice again, he said "Catherine, what -" before he faltered, again at a loss for words. But it had been already enough to make the couple in front of him aware of their surroundings. They turned around and started to walk towards him.
"I know that we're too late, Gil and I'm sorry. Although we were scheduled for one of your famous tours around your little lab of horrors, little Billy here," she looked at the boy on her arm who presently buried his face into her shoulder, "decided to conduct one of his famous experiments."
"William Gilbert Brown, what did you do this time?" Warrick asked the boy sternly.
Catherine sighed.
"Well, *somebody*," she began and looked pointedly at Warrick, "forgot to screw the tube of toothpaste shut and left it on the rim of the sink - *again*."
Warrick winced visibly and suddenly father and son wore sheepish expressions Grissom found to be strikingly similar.
"The bathroom floor again?"
"The bathroom floor, the bathroom walls, the outside of the bathtub, you name it. You know, it's really amazing how much of the inside of a bathroom a small kid can cover in such a short period of time with the content of a single tube of toothpaste."
Warrick reached out for his son and took him from Catherine, looked him in the eyes and said: "Well, I guess we've got lots of cleaning up to do when I get home, little fella."
"You bet you do," Catherine said. That made clear she turned around and faced Grissom: "So, Gil, I guess Billy has to wait another week until he can get the grand tour, won't he?"
"But Mommy, I wanna see the bugs now," Billy wined.
"No, Billy, we already talked about that in the car, didn't we?"
The boy looked down and pouted.
"We're too late for you to see the bugs now and we're also almost too late for kindergarten. So, if your Uncle Gil has time you can see them next week. *But* if you like to," she said teasingly and waited until she caught her son's gaze again, "you can give him your present now."
The boy's face lit up and he struggled out of his father's arms who put him quickly down. Catherine handed him something out of her small backpack and when Billy turned around, Grissom could see that he was holding something between the palms of his small hands. Billy tugged awkwardly with his hands still closed over the mysterious object at Grissom's trousers who took that as his cue to squat down in front of him. Billy smiled openly at him and said: "This is for you." He opened his palms and held out a lumpy, red unidentifiable thing.
Grissom took it and was surprised at its weight.
It was a stone.
A stone that someone had painted red and covered with black dots. The dots were irregular in size and colour and obviously painted by an inexperienced hand. Grissom assumed that the boy had drawn them and turned the stone around. He did a double take when he discovered a grinning smiley-face on one of the sides.
"I made it. Lidsy helped me with the face and the red but I did *all* the dots."
Grissom looked at the hopeful-looking face and said the only thing he could think of:
"Thank you very much."
He was rewarded with another bright smile and Catherine ruffled her son's curly hair affectionately. "See honey, I told you he would like it." Her son looked up at her and then turned his attention towards Grissom once again.
"Will you put it in one of your boxes on the walls?"
'Boxes? Why would I want to put a red stone ...'
Grissom took again a look at the item in his hand and felt the proverbial light bulb turn itself on. He looked over the rim of his glasses and said seriously: "Well, I think this truly magnificent specimen of a ladybug deserves a box completely for itself."
Again he had obviously somehow managed to say exactly the right thing because Billy was beaming at him. Grissom looked up at Catherine and saw her mouth a silent "Thank you" followed by a smile.
~~*~~
