Title: Ripples in the Water

Author: Evidence

Chapter: 4

Rating: PG-13

Author's Notes:  Grissom is dealing with some personal demons that he would rather not share with his wife.  Thanks again for the reviews, you guys rock!

A knock on his door sent his head up from the crime scene photos he was looking at. 

"Hey," Sara said coming into his office.

She was smiling the same smile she had given Colin Matthews a few hours before.  Grissom had dried his tears and proceeded to jump back into work; there were people out there that needed him.

When he didn't answer she came close and raised her eyebrows.  "What's the matter?"  Worry then consumed her.  "Oh, God, did something happen to Dylan?"

"No, Dylan's fine."  His voice was taunt.

"Then why…"

"I'm not having a good day that's all."  He glared at the photos so that he wouldn't have to look at her.

"Grissom, are you not feeling well…again?"

Yeah, Sara I fell like getting out of here and driving to a bar and getting drunk, he thought.  I feel the need to do that because you are cheating on me with some young SOB, he wanted to scream.  He kept his thoughts inside.  "I'm fine…it's a tough case."

"Need any help?"  She moved behind him and leaned over to see the photos.  Her hair brushed his face.  Her arm was rubbing against his.  He felt the need to be close to her.  Then a fragrance filled his nostrils.  Cologne, male cologne.  His cologne.  Colin Matthews.  The man she's screwing behind his back.

Grissom pushed his chair back nearly knocking Sara over. 

"Gee, Griss, watch it."

"Get the hell out of my office!"  He stood now his chest moving up and down in anger.

Confusion was written on her face.  "What…I don't…Grissom?"

"Get out Sara, I can't look at you right now."

Her lips quivered but bending her head down she left the office.

Grissom paced outside the Crime Lab Headquarters.  He knew he had been disconnected to Sara lately.  They hadn't been intimate in a long time.  He had been the one to leave and head for a bar.  Grissom believed he was responsible for Sara straying.  He had pushed her away into another man's arms.  He felt guilty for his part in it.  He was hurt that she had been with someone else when she promised to be faithful to him.  Then again he reasoned he had broken his vows by separating himself from his son and wife.  They would get past this somehow.

He paced some more and then knew what he needed to do: forgive Sara.  He would never tell her he discovered the affair.  They would go on with their lives.

Grissom quickly walked back into the building and began scanning for his wife.  He finally found her in the locker room…with Colin.  It made Grissom pause for a second but with determination he ignored the younger man.

Colin had his arm around a crying Sara's shoulders.  "Um, hi," He said to Grissom.

Sara looked up at him.

"Can we talk privately?" Grissom asked.

"I'll be in the DNA lab if you need me," Colin said squeezing her shoulder before leaving.

Grissom sat down next to Sara.  "I'm sorry."

"Is that all you can say!  What was that all about?"  With a wet hand she pushed the hair from her eyes.

"I was angry at…someone.  I took that anger out on you." 

"What is happening to us, Griss?  We are never together anymore, you act so strange some times, I… how did we come to this?"

"I don't know but I want to find a way back together."  He put his hand on top of hers.

"That's what I want, too."

"Happy Birthday to you!"  A chorus of applause thundered in the small house.  Grissom kissed the cheek of his son who had just turned one year old. 

"Doc if you won't mind cutting the cake…" Sara started.

"It would be my pleasure."  Doc Robbins followed Sara into the kitchen to do the procedure.

"So Dylan, do you feel older, bud?"  Nick asked with a smile.

Sara came out with pieces of cake for everyone, Dylan getting his first.

Lindsay Willows, Catherine's daughter, eagerly ravaged into her piece and pulled back with a strange look on her face. 

"What's the matter, honey?"  Catherine asked.

"The cake," Lindsay began in a whisper, "it's…horrible."

"Oh, that's because of Dylan's milk allergy.  Sara had to be careful of what she put in the cake."

"What did she put in?" Lindsay said stressing the did.

Catherine chuckled.  "I know that various oils contain milk products and of course there is no butter.  Sometimes cakes are made with dry milk."

"I don't think I can eat it."

"Don't worry about it," Sara said behind them.  She was smiling as they turned.  "Grissom told me the cake was delicious but I can tell that it's really bad."

"That's Grissom for you- rather tell you what you want to hear than hurting you."  Catherine said it with a laugh but it hit Sara hard.  Sara's trust in Grissom and their marriage had wavered several times since Dylan's birth.  It had been a hard year.  Now though Dylan was beginning to talk and Grissom had become truly devoted to the child.

As Sara moved on passing out the cake she looked over at her son and husband.  Grissom was feeding Dylan his cake; Dylan was unable to hold a fork yet.  Grissom's face was bright with joy and Dylan was mirroring his dad. 

Grissom looked up and saw Sara watching him.  He smiled at her.  He knew that Sara still worked with Colin but no rumors had hit his ears.  She must have stopped the relationship.  The affair was in the past and he was ready to move on.  He was ready to truly give his heart to Sara again.  A shadow crossed over his view of Sara.  He nearly dropped Dylan's fork as he saw who embodied the shadow: Colin Matthews.  He was dressed in a tight black t-shirt to show off his muscles and faded jeans.  Colin began talking to Sara and Sara turned away from Grissom.  Grissom studied their interaction.  Colin was smiling, confident, using his eyes to express himself.  Sara's face was red-tinged and she seemed almost shy.  She smiled back at him.  Was it over?  Did she invite him to their son's party?

"Nick?"  He could barely get the name out.

Nick got up from his seat next to Dylan.  "Yeah…"

"Would you finish finding Dylan…I need to get some air."

"Sure," Nick said looking at him questionably.

Grissom quickly walked to the front door and began power walking down the street.  His heart felt constricted and his head was beginning a pounding dance.  Why was this happening?  Why now when he was finally ready to accept Dylan?

"Grissom!"  Sara's voice was calling out to him.

He kept walking.

He heard her running footsteps fast approaching.

He wanted to yell, to reveal what he knew but he couldn't, he couldn't do it.

Her hand grabbed his arm.  "Where are you going?"

"I'm…I'm getting a migraine, I thought I would take a walk."

She shook her head and gave him one of her 'you are weird' glances.  "Well, let me walk with you."  She wrapped her arm in his and smiled.  The same way she had for Colin Matthews.

Grissom's mind was churning with thoughts.  Does Colin think he's better than me?  A better lover?  Is that why Sara's still with him?  He had the urge to kiss her.  Not because he was full of love for her but because he wanted to prove something.  Prove that he was the one to set her body afire.  Just because Matthews was younger didn't matter.  Grissom knew what Sara wanted and how to give it to her.  She had just forgotten that because their sex life had become some barren desert.  He had to show her that he could still turn her on.  Maybe, maybe she would dump Matthews once and for all; he couldn't give her what she really wanted.

Grissom wasn't thinking too clearly.  His hurt was clouding his usually reliable judgment.

His lips reached hers and he kissed her hard, running his right hand through her hair.  He pushed his body against hers and put his left hand on the small of her back.  She was trying to speak but he wouldn't let her, he had to show her what he could do for her.  He put his hand underneath the back of her shirt and began a journey upward.

She pulled away from his grasp.  "Grissom," she started trying to catch her breath, "we are standing in front of our neighbor's house!  What are you thinking?"

"I want you."

"Now?  It's our son's birthday."  Sara looked at the peculiar expression on his face.  "Can't we continue this tonight when there are not twenty people in out house."  She tried to smile but his eyes looked odd to her and somewhere the smile got lost.

She doesn't want me, she only wants him.  Grissom closed his eyes and reopened them.  "Dylan will be wondering where we are."  He started off with a confused Sara behind him.

The next day Grissom had off and Sara had to report to work.  Grissom was trying to teach Dylan how to stand, a difficult procedure for the lad whose muscles were not providing much help.  Dylan was repeating "Da" over and over again in some way to please his father.  A knock on the door interrupted their together time. 

Putting Dylan back in his high chair, Grissom promised him he would get rid of whoever it was.  Jim Brass was standing on the doorstep.

"Jim, are you here to visit or is this work related?"

"Personal actually, may I come in?"

Grissom moved away from the door so he could enter. 

"Hey, Dylan how are you doing?"  Brass asked the tyke.  Dylan smiled.  "He's got Sara's smile, huh?"

"Yeah, it could lighten up a whole room.  So what's up?"  Grissom took a seat in his favorite chair.

Brass placed himself on the couch.  "Have you heard anything about Colin Matthews?"

Grissom swallowed and felt his heart beating quickly.  "Why?"

"Well, some news got to me today and I thought you deserved to know."

"Go ahead."

"Well, Matthews made a pass at Sara this morning and she…decked him.  Broke a front tooth."  Brass let a grin slip.  "That's some wife you have."

Confusion nagged at Grissom's mind.  Sara was or is having an affair with this guy, why would she hit him?

"You don't have one comment to make?"  Brass eyed Grissom.

"No."

"Okay, well I'll make one- they didn't sleep together."

Griss's head shot up. 

Brass nodded.  "Sara was right, she thought those ideas were churning through your head."

"I saw them together.  She was flirting and fixing his collar."  Anger was ebbing in Grissom's voice.

"I can see how that would upset you.  Sara did something wrong she acted like a single girl chatting with a cute guy.  She never was with him, though.  When he…um, asked, in not a nice way, she told him her answer with a fist.  She's a good person, Gil."

"How do you know this?"  Grissom was up from his seat and pacing.

"She told me."

Grissom looked at Brass; did they need a third party in their marriage now?

"Sara's outside Gil," Brass pointed to the door.  "You two need to talk, I'll watch Dylan."

Grissom in a dreamlike state found Sara crying in Brass's car.

She quickly got out of it.  "I'm so sorry."

"Sara…"

"I never thought…he was paying attention to me you weren't.  I thought it was harmless."

"Nothing is ever harmless it seems."

She rubbed at her eyes.  "I never had sex with him nor kissed him or anything like that.  I just flirted.  He made me feel special for a while.  God, what did I do!"

"Why did you hit him today?"  Grissom felt the need to give her a hug.

"He did something…let's just say he deserved it.  But I'm glad he did because it was like having a great awakening.  I realized what I was doing and put a stop to it."  Her body was racked with sobs.

He loved her.  It was pure and simple.  He wasn't mad anymore.  She hadn't done what he thought she had.  Wrapping his arms around her he whispered into her ear.  "There is no need to forgive you Sara.  Just next time you decide to flirt with a CSI, make sure it's me."

A laugh escaped from her mouth.

He pulled back.  "Let me see your hand."  He ran his fingers over it.  "You need some ice."

"I'm sorry Grissom…"

"Don't say that just…tell me you love me."

"I love you and only you." 

"I love you, too."  He kissed her lips gently.  "Now tell me what Colin did to you so I can go fire his ass and hire Greg and David to break the windows of his car."

Sara laughed.  "You're not his supervisor.  Greg and David wouldn't do that."

"Yes, they would, they both have had crushes on you."

"Break windows?  They didn't like me that much."

"True, I guess I'm the only one who would go to extremes for you."

"Yeah," she smiled brightly.

He kissed her and put his arms back around her.

Life was good for a while…

To be continued…(See I told you it's still romantic, next chapter starts nice and ends…you'll see)