"Guess who," Warrick whispered as he placed his hands over Maddie's eyes.
He was extremely thankful once again that Sara had given him a key to her
place, so that Maddie didn't have to answer the door.
"Daddy Warrick!" she squealed. He felt his lips curve up into a smile. They had finally found a compromise with Maddie to stop calling him by a title that he was not. Yet. But if his plan worked out perfectly, any and all precedents were going to be out the window.
"Warrick!" Sara stated in mild surprise as she came down the stairs. "What are you doing here?" She held Maddie's sweater in one hand and a hairbrush in the other, and she looked decidedly out of place in the front foyer.
"Well," he started, "Since Grissom made us work overtime on our day off, he said we could take today off instead. He even promised to watch Maddie for us."
"Why would he watch Maddie for us?" Sara repeated in confusion.
"Don't tell me you've already forgotten!" Warrick exclaimed in mock horror, as he wrapped his arms around Sara's shoulders and rested his chin on the top of her head, "Yesterday, when Grissom called us in, was our one-year anniversary. Remember?"
"Oh!" she blurted out as she suddenly remembered. "Really?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Warrick stated simply, feeling a smirk beginning to form. "And I thought you had a great memory, being able to recite stats for retrievable DNA to us?"
"I only remember the important things," Sara said by way of defense. "Dates aren't what I consider important. Take our first kiss. Now that was important. I know what's important, believe me."
"You do, do you?" Warrick challenged as he bent his head down to get a better angle with her lips. Sara gave a soft moan at the contact.
"Ew! Gross!" Maddie cried as she screwed up her face. That certainly brought them back to reality.
"Okay, kiddo," Warrick said, as he rubbed his hands together, "Why don't you get ready so that you can go to Uncle Grissom's for a while?"
" 'Kay!" Maddie agreed, "You think he'll let me see his bugs and butterflies?"
"I'm sure he will," Sara promised. They laughed slightly as they watched the eager little girl run up the stairs as fast as her small legs could go.
"She's precocious, you know that, right?" Warrick asked, still looking at the stairs in fond amusement.
"No kidding," Sara replied, "The first six years of a child's life are the most crucial to development. I mean, this is the time when their personalities are being formed. And considering she hangs out with you, me and the rest of the crime lab most of the time, I'm not surprised."
"See, this is what I mean about you repeating things word for word, but you can't remember our anniversary date. I'm hurt." Warrick teased as he lay a hand over his heart.
"I'm just not good with dates," Sara said, "but I am good with a few other things." She lay her hand over his.
"Mommy!" Maddie protested from the top of the stairs. "What're you doing?"
"She's starting to sound like a teenager already," Sara muttered under her breath to Warrick. "I'd hate to see what she's actually like when she's sixteen." Warrick nodded sympathetically in agreement, before helping Maddie tie her shoelaces.
************************************************
"How come I never knew this park was so beautiful?" Sara asked rhetorically.
"Uh, probably because you never see it during the day, since you're sleeping, and people seem to be getting killed here at night?" Warrick suggested. He easily moved out of the way of her hand as she tried to swat him. "What am I now?" he asked, "A fly?" Sara just laughed at him. He loved the sound of her laugh, among many other things.
"So why did we come here?" Sara asked as she slipped her arm around his waist. He placed his arm across her shoulders as well.
"Well, I was thinking along the lines of having a picnic," Warrick replied. Noticing Sara's questioning look, he continued, "Yeah, I know, no picnic basket. I got Cath to set it up for us over there," he pointed across the field where trees shaded a fairly large area. "She should be waiting."
"So how much did it take to get her in on your little plan?" Sara asked in amusement, knowing that it was very difficult to persuade Catherine into doing anything.
"Not much, actually," Warrick said mysteriously, "I just promised to do something later."
"With her?" Sara demanded, suddenly feeling terrified and jealous at the same time.
"No, no, no," Warrick replied quickly, trying to alleviate her fears. He knew that it made Sara feel justifiably threatened when the lab rumor that he and Catherine were an item on the side was brought up. "I promised her that I'd do something, but not with her. I prefer you more than anything else in the world, thank you very much."
Sara blushed. "You're such a sweet-talker," she commented.
"Yeah, been taking some lessons from Stokes," Warrick joked. "Wanted to impress you and all." This time he didn't try to avoid her swat.
True to his word, there was a glorious-looking picnic waiting for them under the shade of a large oak, with Catherine guarding it like a formidable dragon.
"Hey Cath," Sara said by way of greeting. "This looks great, thanks so much!"
"Hey Sara," she responded. "Guess I'm not needed here anymore, huh?"
"Thanks again, Cath," Warrick also said.
As they were waving goodbye to each other, Catherine seemed to remember something else. "Hey Warrick!" she called. When she had his attention, she continued, "You better go through with it today, or else you're doing my paperwork for the next week!"
"Gotcha," Warrick called back simply. By this time, Sara was getting extremely curious, and slightly irked.
"What am I missing?" she asked somewhat irritably.
"Nothing," Warrick told her. She opened her mouth to argue or tell him off, or both. He held up his hand to prevent her from starting. "But I promise you that you'll find out later, okay?" Sara decided to just give up and be patient.
Despite her annoyance, Sara actually found herself enjoying their little picnic, despite the fact that they accidentally spilled the pop, and had to move to a less ideal location in order to keep the ants away, and despite the birds that at one point tormented them as they made dives for the bread. When Warrick brought out the champagne and strawberries, she nearly laughed hysterically.
"I don't see what's so funny," he commented, "I mean, it's just champagne . . . I mean, white wine champagne. That's the politically correct term, isn't it?" She just kept on laughing.
"Some squirrels are probably going to steal the strawberries or knock over the bottle," Sara gasped between fits of leftover giggles.
"Don't think so," Warrick dead panned, " I made a deal with them to leave us alone." Sara's laughter was infectious and he ended up laughing with her for about five minutes before they could calm down enough to enjoy the delicacies.
*************************************************
They had been ambling through the park for a couple hours, when Warrick saw the designated bench, and saw that it was time to make his move. The sun was just beginning to set.
"Hey, Sar," he said as casually as he could, though he was pretty certain that she could probably feel his heart beating faster, since she was flush with his side. "You want to sit down over there?" He pointed to the bench.
"Sure," she answered without making a big deal out of it. She sat down, but Warrick remained standing, and she was wondering why. "You're not going to sit down?" she asked him curiously. She was certain that he was blushing, and he just generally looked like he wanted to run away, but something was compelling him to stay rooted to the spot.
"Yeah, in a minute," he replied distractedly. "Hey, Sara, can I ask you something?"
"Shoot," she said, feeling that this was when she would finally find out his secret.
It took her a minute to register that he had gotten down on one knee. Time seemed to slow as she put her hand to her mouth in shock. "Sara," Warrick said clearly, though quite softly, "will you marry me?" A few flashs went off to the side, but they both ignored it.
"Yes," Sara said without hesitation, or even thought. When she told Warrick earlier that day that she only remembered important events, she was sure this was one of them, since her mind memorized every detail as he slipped the simple, yet elegant engagement ring shakily onto her finger, and then enveloped her in a tight hug.
"Thank god," Warrick whispered into her hair, "I don't think I could see life without you and Maddie in it."
********************************************************
"Hey guys!" Archie called out from the AV lab, "Can you come check this out?" Sara walked over intrigued, while Warrick tagged behind, already knowing what Archie was going to show.
"Oh my god!" Sara gasped as she picked up the photo he handed to her. On it was the immortalization of Warrick's marriage proposal to her the day before at the park bench against the backdrop of the setting sun's fiery golds and pinks.
****************************************************
I suppose I'm going to have to stop there. I'm guessing that you could make the rest up yourselves, if you wanted to. I hope you enjoyed the story, and my muse was driving, I was only along for the ride!
Thanks again (SO MUCH) to MissyJane (who always reviews!), Nepeace, J9 (thanks for looking over my essay too!), cRaZyPiXiE, CSI_Sammie, elle9, Emmy, csifan, Catherine Willows-Grissom, MHP, and aglea, and anyone else who may review right after I post this, for reviewing. It meant a lot to me!
And now, I must make my exit yet again from the fanfic world, and go back to the evil world of school until the Christmas break. See ya all then!
"Daddy Warrick!" she squealed. He felt his lips curve up into a smile. They had finally found a compromise with Maddie to stop calling him by a title that he was not. Yet. But if his plan worked out perfectly, any and all precedents were going to be out the window.
"Warrick!" Sara stated in mild surprise as she came down the stairs. "What are you doing here?" She held Maddie's sweater in one hand and a hairbrush in the other, and she looked decidedly out of place in the front foyer.
"Well," he started, "Since Grissom made us work overtime on our day off, he said we could take today off instead. He even promised to watch Maddie for us."
"Why would he watch Maddie for us?" Sara repeated in confusion.
"Don't tell me you've already forgotten!" Warrick exclaimed in mock horror, as he wrapped his arms around Sara's shoulders and rested his chin on the top of her head, "Yesterday, when Grissom called us in, was our one-year anniversary. Remember?"
"Oh!" she blurted out as she suddenly remembered. "Really?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Warrick stated simply, feeling a smirk beginning to form. "And I thought you had a great memory, being able to recite stats for retrievable DNA to us?"
"I only remember the important things," Sara said by way of defense. "Dates aren't what I consider important. Take our first kiss. Now that was important. I know what's important, believe me."
"You do, do you?" Warrick challenged as he bent his head down to get a better angle with her lips. Sara gave a soft moan at the contact.
"Ew! Gross!" Maddie cried as she screwed up her face. That certainly brought them back to reality.
"Okay, kiddo," Warrick said, as he rubbed his hands together, "Why don't you get ready so that you can go to Uncle Grissom's for a while?"
" 'Kay!" Maddie agreed, "You think he'll let me see his bugs and butterflies?"
"I'm sure he will," Sara promised. They laughed slightly as they watched the eager little girl run up the stairs as fast as her small legs could go.
"She's precocious, you know that, right?" Warrick asked, still looking at the stairs in fond amusement.
"No kidding," Sara replied, "The first six years of a child's life are the most crucial to development. I mean, this is the time when their personalities are being formed. And considering she hangs out with you, me and the rest of the crime lab most of the time, I'm not surprised."
"See, this is what I mean about you repeating things word for word, but you can't remember our anniversary date. I'm hurt." Warrick teased as he lay a hand over his heart.
"I'm just not good with dates," Sara said, "but I am good with a few other things." She lay her hand over his.
"Mommy!" Maddie protested from the top of the stairs. "What're you doing?"
"She's starting to sound like a teenager already," Sara muttered under her breath to Warrick. "I'd hate to see what she's actually like when she's sixteen." Warrick nodded sympathetically in agreement, before helping Maddie tie her shoelaces.
************************************************
"How come I never knew this park was so beautiful?" Sara asked rhetorically.
"Uh, probably because you never see it during the day, since you're sleeping, and people seem to be getting killed here at night?" Warrick suggested. He easily moved out of the way of her hand as she tried to swat him. "What am I now?" he asked, "A fly?" Sara just laughed at him. He loved the sound of her laugh, among many other things.
"So why did we come here?" Sara asked as she slipped her arm around his waist. He placed his arm across her shoulders as well.
"Well, I was thinking along the lines of having a picnic," Warrick replied. Noticing Sara's questioning look, he continued, "Yeah, I know, no picnic basket. I got Cath to set it up for us over there," he pointed across the field where trees shaded a fairly large area. "She should be waiting."
"So how much did it take to get her in on your little plan?" Sara asked in amusement, knowing that it was very difficult to persuade Catherine into doing anything.
"Not much, actually," Warrick said mysteriously, "I just promised to do something later."
"With her?" Sara demanded, suddenly feeling terrified and jealous at the same time.
"No, no, no," Warrick replied quickly, trying to alleviate her fears. He knew that it made Sara feel justifiably threatened when the lab rumor that he and Catherine were an item on the side was brought up. "I promised her that I'd do something, but not with her. I prefer you more than anything else in the world, thank you very much."
Sara blushed. "You're such a sweet-talker," she commented.
"Yeah, been taking some lessons from Stokes," Warrick joked. "Wanted to impress you and all." This time he didn't try to avoid her swat.
True to his word, there was a glorious-looking picnic waiting for them under the shade of a large oak, with Catherine guarding it like a formidable dragon.
"Hey Cath," Sara said by way of greeting. "This looks great, thanks so much!"
"Hey Sara," she responded. "Guess I'm not needed here anymore, huh?"
"Thanks again, Cath," Warrick also said.
As they were waving goodbye to each other, Catherine seemed to remember something else. "Hey Warrick!" she called. When she had his attention, she continued, "You better go through with it today, or else you're doing my paperwork for the next week!"
"Gotcha," Warrick called back simply. By this time, Sara was getting extremely curious, and slightly irked.
"What am I missing?" she asked somewhat irritably.
"Nothing," Warrick told her. She opened her mouth to argue or tell him off, or both. He held up his hand to prevent her from starting. "But I promise you that you'll find out later, okay?" Sara decided to just give up and be patient.
Despite her annoyance, Sara actually found herself enjoying their little picnic, despite the fact that they accidentally spilled the pop, and had to move to a less ideal location in order to keep the ants away, and despite the birds that at one point tormented them as they made dives for the bread. When Warrick brought out the champagne and strawberries, she nearly laughed hysterically.
"I don't see what's so funny," he commented, "I mean, it's just champagne . . . I mean, white wine champagne. That's the politically correct term, isn't it?" She just kept on laughing.
"Some squirrels are probably going to steal the strawberries or knock over the bottle," Sara gasped between fits of leftover giggles.
"Don't think so," Warrick dead panned, " I made a deal with them to leave us alone." Sara's laughter was infectious and he ended up laughing with her for about five minutes before they could calm down enough to enjoy the delicacies.
*************************************************
They had been ambling through the park for a couple hours, when Warrick saw the designated bench, and saw that it was time to make his move. The sun was just beginning to set.
"Hey, Sar," he said as casually as he could, though he was pretty certain that she could probably feel his heart beating faster, since she was flush with his side. "You want to sit down over there?" He pointed to the bench.
"Sure," she answered without making a big deal out of it. She sat down, but Warrick remained standing, and she was wondering why. "You're not going to sit down?" she asked him curiously. She was certain that he was blushing, and he just generally looked like he wanted to run away, but something was compelling him to stay rooted to the spot.
"Yeah, in a minute," he replied distractedly. "Hey, Sara, can I ask you something?"
"Shoot," she said, feeling that this was when she would finally find out his secret.
It took her a minute to register that he had gotten down on one knee. Time seemed to slow as she put her hand to her mouth in shock. "Sara," Warrick said clearly, though quite softly, "will you marry me?" A few flashs went off to the side, but they both ignored it.
"Yes," Sara said without hesitation, or even thought. When she told Warrick earlier that day that she only remembered important events, she was sure this was one of them, since her mind memorized every detail as he slipped the simple, yet elegant engagement ring shakily onto her finger, and then enveloped her in a tight hug.
"Thank god," Warrick whispered into her hair, "I don't think I could see life without you and Maddie in it."
********************************************************
"Hey guys!" Archie called out from the AV lab, "Can you come check this out?" Sara walked over intrigued, while Warrick tagged behind, already knowing what Archie was going to show.
"Oh my god!" Sara gasped as she picked up the photo he handed to her. On it was the immortalization of Warrick's marriage proposal to her the day before at the park bench against the backdrop of the setting sun's fiery golds and pinks.
****************************************************
I suppose I'm going to have to stop there. I'm guessing that you could make the rest up yourselves, if you wanted to. I hope you enjoyed the story, and my muse was driving, I was only along for the ride!
Thanks again (SO MUCH) to MissyJane (who always reviews!), Nepeace, J9 (thanks for looking over my essay too!), cRaZyPiXiE, CSI_Sammie, elle9, Emmy, csifan, Catherine Willows-Grissom, MHP, and aglea, and anyone else who may review right after I post this, for reviewing. It meant a lot to me!
And now, I must make my exit yet again from the fanfic world, and go back to the evil world of school until the Christmas break. See ya all then!