********A/N: Xant and I would like to extend out thanks to everyone who has been supportive of our little fiction adventure.there is more to come. Also this story was a response to a challenge and in the story the line "great minds think alike" was supposed to be used. We however changed it to "geeky minds think a like". So as always PLEASE REVIEW!! They make us happy, and spread the Christmas cheer! Thanks!**************** ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 4: Christmas Eve, hating the Whos

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Catherine was adding the finishing touches to her house. Twinkling lights were strung everywhere and a large tree stood close to the entrance. It had been strategically placed so that the secret Santa gifts could be placed underneath it as people arrived.

The opening strains of "Deck the halls with bells of Holly" suddenly rang out. 'Ahhh,' thought Catherine, walking towards the door. 'That must be Warrick'. He had offered to come over early to help her get everything ready.

She opened the door and gestured him inside, unable to speak for fear that laughter would overtake her. He stood in front of her in a brown furry suit with black shoes on his feet, black mittens on his hands and a pair of antlers decorating his head. The thing that Catherine found the most comical however, was the red glowing nose that dominated his face.

"Let me guess. Rudolf the red nose reindeer?" Catherine questioned, fighting to keep her laughter in check.

"Had a very shiny nose, " finished Warrick, with a chuckle. "Damn Catherine," he said appraisingly as he looked her costume over. She was wearing a tight fitting white dress and had smeared glitter over every speck of bare skin. Her hair was up, with a halo pinned in it and a beautiful pair of silver wings was attached to her back. He stood motionless for a moment as if waiting for the harp music to begin and for her to start glowing.

"I didn't know that angels were so sexy," Warrick said in a low voice, taking a step closer, but a little squeal caught them off guard.

Lindsey came bouncing into the room. "Warrick! I love your costume but I was hoping that I would get to dress you up!" she said as Warrick scooped her up into a big bear hug.

"Sorry Linds, maybe someone else will forget their costume!" he said as she squeezed his glowing nose. The festive doorbell rang again and Warrick placed Lindsey back on the floor so she could answer the door. "Remember to get them to place their gifts under the tree hon," he reminded her.

"Got it," she said with an exaggerated wink and ran off to answer the door.

Shortly after they heard a giggle coming from the doorway and Greg's voice floated in, "What are you laughing at Linds?" Catherine and Warrick exchanged an amused glance as Lindsey came back in to the room with Greg in tow.

He was wearing your typical elf outfit. Green pointy hat, shoes which curled at the front with a bell on the end, green tights and a red body suit. He also sported a pair of pointed ears that would make Spock envious.

"Ok.. I'm here, so this party can now officially start!" Greg said excitedly.

"Man, only you would show up to a party wearing tights!" Warrick stated as he took a seat on the couch.

"I have to admit Greg, you have very nice legs for a man!" Catherine teased as she sat down next to Warrick.

"I'll take that as a compliment thank you Catherine," he smiled at her. "And Warrick," he addressed the other man. "You're just jealous. If I were you, I wouldn't go dissin anyone else's costume, have you taken a look at your own?" he smirked, taking a seat across from them. The doorbell sang out once more and Lindsey took off down the hall.

"You can put the gift under the tree Sara," the others heard Lindsey say, before guiding the new arrival into the living room.

Sara entered the room, a fake smile plastered on her face. She was dressed in a Santa outfit, but instead of pants, she was wearing a skirt that came down to the middle of her thigh. Green fuzzy stockings covered the rest of her legs and green high heels only added to her height and accentuated her legs. The top slung down, exposing most of her collarbone on which she had smeared a tiny bit of green glitter. The sleeves were long, covering her arms, and green furry gloves poked out of the end. She sat down on the loveseat.

"Let me guess," said Warrick. "Mrs. Grinch?"

Sara gave him a small smile and nodded.

"You look great Sara. I'm impressed that you even dressed up!" Catherine exclaimed.

The smile that had been directed at Warrick quickly disappeared as Sara's gaze shifted to Catherine. If looks could kill, then Catherine was indeed, dead and buried.

"Yeah," piped up Greg, trying to lighten the mood. "I sure hope your secret Santa got you a shaver though.. I mean dang, look at all that fur! Although some men find that kind of thing." Greg's sentence was cut short as Sara socked him in the arm.

The doorbell rang and Lindsey was off like a flash. No sooner had she left the room than she came running back in, an excited look on her face. "Mommy, Nick forgot his costume! Does that mean I get to dress him?"

Nick walked into the room a few minutes later. "Aww, c'mon Catherine, I thought you were just kidding about the no costume thing."

"You should know by now Nick, that I never joke when it comes to my daughter." She replied, trying to keep the humor from her voice. "Now be a good boy and follow Lindsey down to her room so that she can dress you properly."

Nick scanned the faces of his colleagues, silently pleading for someone to help him.

Lindsey reached out and grabbed his arm. "C'mon Nicky, I've got a great idea for you," she said enthusiastically.

Defeated, Nick turned and followed the little girl down to her room, leaving the others to fall about the room with laughter.

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Sometime later Lindsey reentered the room.

"Um.. could someone please come and help me?" she asked with a grin on her face.

"Yeah I will," said Sara, relishing the chance to dress up Nick.

Lindsey grabbed her hand and led her down the hall to where she was keeping Nick hostage.

Sara giggled as she entered Lindsey's room. Nick was standing in the middle of the room looking slightly concerned for his safety. He was wearing a large tapered green dress that came down to just below his knees. His feet and legs were covered with brown stockings and spread out on the bed was several strands of battery-powered lights, ornaments and tinsel.

"Don't say a word Sidle," growled Nick playfully.

Sara just smirked at him as she pretended to zip her lips and throw away the key.

"He's too tall for me to reach, so you're going to have to help me Sara," said Lindsey, explaining her slight problem.

"Okay no problem, what would you like me to do?" Sara asked.

"I'll pass you stuff and tell you where to put it!" Lindsey said as she started to hand things to Sara.

"You ready Nick?" Sara asked, grinning broadly and holding a strand of lights.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" grumbled Nick.

Despite Nick's objections, Sara could tell by the twinkling of his eyes that he was having just as much fun as Lindsey. In fact, she wouldn't have been at all surprised if he had forgotten his costume on purpose, just so the little girl would have someone to dress up.

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Back in the living room, Catherine checked her watch once more, wondering where her last guest was. As if reading her mind, the doorbell rang out. When it was obvious that Lindsey was far too engrossed with her current project, Catherine got up to answer the door.

A snort of laughter was heard as Catherine greeted her final guest. "Thanks a lot Catherine," came Grissom's voice.

"No.it's just.well.you'll see," she said, trying to regain control of herself. She re-entered the living room and sat back down on the couch next to Warrick.

Not too far behind her was Grissom. He was dressed in a Santa outfit but there wasn't a white, fluffy beard in sight. Instead, his hands were covered with green, furry gloves and on his feet; he wore a pair of green, hairy slippers.

Greg and Warrick both tried hard to stifle their laughter but with little success.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Grissom mumbled as he sat down on the loveseat.

"I kinda like it.Grinchy Grissom!" Greg squeaked out between fits of laughter.

Warrick turned to Catherine and whispered in her ear, "Did you plan the whole costume matching thing?"

"No," she whispered back. "I didn't!"

"Just goes to prove, geeky minds think alike!" Warrick whispered, trying not to laugh aloud.

Grissom sat on the loveseat, a dark frown on his face. He knew that he looked ridiculous in the costume and he assumed that the laughter was proof of this. He had no idea that he and Sara had essentially picked the same costume and that his friends found this funny beyond belief.

A small sound interrupted the commotion in the room. They all turned and saw Lindsey standing in the doorway, holding the hand of a giant tree, a tree that greatly resembled Nick. He was covered from head to toe in strands of lights, which were madly flashing a multitude of colours. Brightly decorated ornaments of every imaginable design dangled from his arms, legs and torso, kept on by badge hooks that Catherine had borrowed from the lab. His ears were adorned with a pair of clip on light bulbs and his head was completely covered by a very plump Christmas fairy.

Laughter erupted around the room once again, Grissom joining in this time, glad that the focus had shifted to someone else.

Greg was the first one to catch his breath. "Why Nicky, you look so.festive!" he said, breaking off into another fit of laughter.

"Hey, glad I could entertain y'all," he said, waddling across the room and carefully taking a seat.

"Oooo, careful with those lights," winced Catherine. "You don't want to get one of those in the wrong place," she quipped, setting everyone off again.

"Thanks for your concern Catherine," Nick replied, giving her a withering look.

Lindsey ran over and plopped herself into Warrick's lap. "Hey, what did you guys do with Sar?" he asked, tickling Lindsey in the ribs.

"Oh she's being a Good Samaritan and cleaning up the mess in Lindsey's room," replied Nick, still trying to get comfortable.

A loud horn honked outside. "That must be Lindsey's ride," stated Catherine. "She's going to a Christmas Eve sleepover," she explained. "C'mon Linds, say goodnight to everyone, while I go get your things."

The little girl gave Warrick a kiss on the cheek. "See ya War," she said before running over to Nick and throwing her arms around his neck. "Thanks for letting me dress ya up Nick" she said sweetly.

Nick looked down at her, his heart melting when he saw the big smile on her face. "You're welcome Linds, I had fun too," he replied, giving her a big squeeze.

"Okay hon," interrupted Catherine, coming back into the room. "Say goodbye to Grissom and Greg or you're gonna be late."

"Bye," said Lindsey, waving at the other two men. "Can I say goodbye to Sara too?" she asked looking up at her mom.

"All right, but make it quick," Catherine sighed.

A few moments later Lindsey reappeared. "Okay mom, I'm ready," she said excitedly.

"Thank goodness for that," Catherine said dramatically, taking her daughters hand and escorting her out to the waiting car. The others fell into light conversation once again.

"Okay everyone, who wants eggnog?" Catherine queried as she walked back into the living room. A chorus of 'me' and 'yes please', echoed around the room.

Catherine walked to the kitchen and re-emerged after a few minutes, her arms laden with several glasses and a jug of eggnog. "Hey where's Sara," she asked.

"I'm here," came a voice from the doorway.

Everyone watched as Sara and Grissom's eyes made contact. They slowly looked each other over, neither quite believing what they saw.

'This has to be some kind of setup,' thought Sara. 'Why else would he be wearing the same costume as me? He does look kinda cute though,' she smiled to herself, walking over to the only spare seat in the room.

Grissom's eyes followed her, admiring the way the costume accentuated her figure. His eyes travelled the length of her legs and eventually came to rest on her exposed collarbone, as she sat down beside him. 'Even covered in green fur, she looks incredible,' he thought.

Their silent observations of each other were interrupted as Catherine spoke. "Well, now that everyone is here, it's time to give out the secret Santa gifts."

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