A/N: Sorry about the double post, guys. ff.net went bonkers on me and apparently ate the NEW chapter I posted and replaced it with an old one…bad fan fiction archive site! Bad! **whacks it on the nose with a roll of newspaper**
Later A/N: This is now the third damn time that I've uploaded this chapter. If it doesn't work this time I am going to track down the servers that hold ff.net and rip out their guts! Well, that or I'll bitch and moan a lot and try e-mail the chapter to people.
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Mentally smacking himself, Grissom walked around the corner and presented himself to Sara. Or rather, he presented the dog in his arms to Sara. The puppy was obviously excited and, now that it no longer had to pee, was nearly bouncing out of his arms.
Sara stared.
Nick high-fived Warrick.
Catherine shook her head and said, "Nice one, Gil."
Grissom frowned at her, then turned back to Sara, a sheepish look on his face. "Uh . . . this was supposed to be a better-organized surprise." He shoved the puppy at her and said, "I hope you like her. She's a little more excitable than we had discussed, but she just seemed perfect for us. Uh, for you."
Sara accepted the gift, still staring at Grissom. "You got me a dog?"
"I, uh, yeah. Is she what you wanted?"
Sara dropped to the floor, still holding the puppy, and started laughing. "You got me a puppy. You had Nick and Warrick tie me up, stuff me into Nick's car, and hold me captive for two hours so you could get me a puppy." She flopped onto her back, holding the dog above her, and began a joking examination. "She's black! Four paws . . . good. Two ears . . . good. One tail . . ." She stopped counting, looking at the dog's neck. "Uh, Gris? What's this?"
Grissom cleared his throat. "It's her collar."
Sara sat up, cradling the dog in her arms. "This is not a collar, Grissom. It looks like it came from Tiffany's or something!" She fixed him with a steady gaze. "Explain. Now."
"Um. I, uh . . ."
Catherine jumped in, cutting off Grissom's mumbles. "Take a closer look at it before you bite his head off, Sara."
Grissom looked at her, then looked at Sara and nodded. "Yeah. What she said."
"Why Gil Grissom," Sara laughed, "you're tongue-tied! Ok, I'll bite. Let's see here." She ran a hand under the rose-colored metal that seemed four times too big for the puppy's small neck, bringing it closer to her face. She had been right; it resembled the famous Tiffany's chain-link bracelet. Hanging off the collar was not a heart, like on the bracelet, but a heart-shaped dog tag that had something inscribed on it.
She squinted, trying to read the small print. "My name is Newton," she read slowly. "I belong to Sara Sidle, 1523 Oak Rd."
She looked up. "Newton, Grissom? Have you been reading my old physics textbooks?"
He grinned. "Do you like it? I mean, do you like them – the dog and the collar?"
"Of course I like it, Gil! But this collar looks really expensive. Tell me these aren't real rubies on the tag!"
Grissom ran a finger under his collar. "Um . . . they are. It's rose gold and they are rubies."
"Oh my god. How much did you spend on this, Gil?"
Grissom approached her, smiling softly. "If you really need to know, we'll talk about that later. But I still want to know if you're happy about the dog."
Sara grinned widely. "Oh course I'm happy with her, Grissom! I can't believe you went to all this trouble." She looked around the room, surveying the training crate, food and water dishes, and dog toys that were arranged on the floor. "Did you spend all day shopping? My god, Gris, you bought everything!"
"Okay," Catherine sang out. "I think that's our cue to leave, boys." She grabbed Nick's arm in one hand and Warrick's in the other and led them out the door.
When the door closed behind them, Sara shifted the puppy to her left arm and flung her right around Grissom's neck. "I can't believe you did this. Thank you so much."
Grissom laughed and hugged her back. "Do you want me to take her? She's pretty heavy for you to be holding."
"No, no, no! I want to hold her, I'm still in shock that you did this for me!" The puppy apparently had other ideas, though, because she yipped and started chewing on Sara's hand. "Ouch," Sara giggled. "I think she's either hungry or pissed at us for fussing over her." She set the dog down gently, watching to see what Newton did.
When the puppy just circled around and flopped onto the ground, laying her head on her oversized paws, Sara smiled. "Now tell me all about this. I still can't believe you got this all done in one day!"
"Well, I had some help. Catherine and I split up and, between the two of us, managed to get everything. I figured out the basics while you were at work, and did some research," he explained, "and then I called Catherine out to help me.
"I went to the breeder's first. He walked me through what getting a Great Dane would entail, and what we could expect, and then took me out to see the puppies he had." He smiled. "He was very protective of his dogs. Wouldn't let me touch one until he'd spoken to two character references for me, so I had him call Catherine and Brass.
"When I finally got a look at them, he explained the difference between the investment-quality puppies and the pet-quality puppies to me and I looked around." Shaking his head, he laughed. "I'll admit, I was enchanted. I know how you feel now. So I played with a few of them and found some favorites, then the breeder and I discussed whether I wanted show- or pet-quality, and I picked Newton, here."
Sara raised an eyebrow. "Is she show-quality, then, or pet?"
"I told the breeder that she was going to be ours, not on display, so we decided on just a pet. I was in love with Newton by that point anyway."
Sara grinned at him. "Good choice, I approve. But how did you get this collar? Why did you get this collar?"
"I sent Catherine to a jewelry store with a note and a sketch and they made it for me."
"Made it for you? This was custom made?" She may not have been the most fashion-conscious female on earth, but Sara knew how much custom-made jewelry could cost. She looked Grissom square in the eye. "What store, Grissom?"
"Uh, some place in one of the hotels," he hedged.
Sara continued staring at him. "What store, Grissom?"
"Ca' d'Oro."
Sara let out a squeak. "WHAT?" She shook her head as though she were trying to clear out a fanciful thought and said, "Come again? I thought you said Ca' d'Oro."
"I did."
"Oh. My. God. Do you know how expensive that place . . . well, I guess you do. How much, Grissom? You don't have enough money to get me custom-made jewelry from the most exclusive jeweler in Las Vegas!"
He took her hand and told her the same thing he'd told Catherine earlier. "I have savings, Sara. A lot of savings; it's not like I spent a lot of money on my social life before you. Besides, spending it on making you happy is what I want to do with it, and it's my money."
"How much." It wasn't a question anymore; Sara was demanding an answer.
"Um." He considered lying, but decided that at this point, Sara could read his mind and that it would go worse for him if he lied than if he told the truth. "It wasn't a lot, Sara, honestly."
"Grissom."
"About four thousand."
Sara let out a huge breath and said again, "Oh my god." Tugging her hand out of his grip, she sank down onto the floor, blank-faced. Newton, interested in this violation of her floor, meandered over and began licking Sara's hand. Sara looked down at the puppy in surprise, having nearly forgotten that she was there. "Hi, sweetie," she said, picking up the dog and hugging her.
Grissom was concerned now. "Sara? Are you ok?" He put a hand on her shoulder and shook it gently. "Sara?"
Still holding Newton, Sara stood up and faced him. "You can't spend that much money on me. You shouldn't be spending any money on me, Grissom! This is way too much." She struggled to unclip the dog's collar. "Take this back. Maybe you can sell it to another jeweler." Nearly in tears and unable to get the collar open with one hand, she buried her face in the dog's fur and took a deep breath.
"I'm not taking it back," Grissom told her firmly. "The dog is yours, and the collar is hers. I want you to have both, and I'm not taking either of them back."
"Grissom . . ."
He wrapped his arms around her and held on when she tried to escape. "No, Sara. Accept it, please."
Sara sighed and lifted her head. "Okay, Gil. But never again. This is enough for a lifetime."
"Nothing could ever be enough for spending a lifetime with you."
