A/N: I took a little literary license with information regarding Grissom's mother. This is also the first of a few fluffy chapters, and I'm not so great at romance, so I hope you enjoy, and if you do…please let me know. ~maggienhawk
SIX MONTHS LATER
Sara turned her car onto the dirt road that led to a cliff overlooking Lake Mead. She had no idea why she was driving here, especially this late in the afternoon. She had to work in 5 hours.
So did Grissom, which made Sara wonder what he was up to when she woke up to an empty bed, and a note on the kitchen counter from him:
Sara,
Good afternoon, honey. Sorry I wasn't in bed when you woke up, but I needed to run a few errands. How about we meet at "our spot" around 5pm? We'll have a picnic and just relax for a bit before work tonight. I love you.
Griss
In the six months that they had been together, they had never gone up to Lake Mead on days that they had to work. Actually, they hadn't been up there since Sara moved in with him two months before. Their "spot" had been frequented in the first four months, being far enough from Vegas, that they could be alone outside of each other's houses, without their relationship being discovered.
The past two months had been hectic, both adapting to living with someone else they had such strong feelings for. They had their share of arguments over the little things, but otherwise, life had been good for Grissom and Sara. After they revealed their weaknesses to each other, they both were constantly supporting each other through rough cases, and comforting each other when the case got to be too much. And they were happy.
Sara couldn't remember a time where she was this happy with where her life was, and she thought this as she finally arrived at the cliff, and pulled right up next to Grissom's Tahoe. She smiled as she turned off the ignition, seeing the picnic Grissom had planned through her windshield.
Grissom had been sitting on the blanket for the past hour, reflecting on the past six months of his life, and how happy he truly was. And it was all because of Sara. When he heard the sound of wheels crunching over the dirt road he stood up and turned around. He smiled at her and walked up to her as she stepped out of her car. After a small kiss, he grabbed her hand and gently tugged her over to the blanket. They sat down, Sara leaning back against Grissom, in between his legs, both staring out over the cliff at the calm waters below.
After eating the picnic that Grissom had packed, they just sat for awhile. Grissom had his arms around Sara, and Sara had her arms wrapped around his arms, holding them to her. Minutes later, Grissom began to speak quietly. "You know, I've never in my life thought that anything could be perfect."
Sara interrupted quietly, "The problem being a scientist. We know nothing is perfect." She turned her head and smiled, and he leaned his head down to capture her lips in a small kiss.
When they separated, he continued. "However, I think that this moment may be the most perfect moment I have ever experienced. I'm watching one of the most beautiful sunsets with the woman I love, who hopefully loves me back?" He questioned with a sly smirk on his face.
All Sara could do was laugh. "Of course I love you. And yes this is the most perfect moment I've experienced. And the fact that it is with you, well that's just an added bonus."
After another brief kiss, Grissom stared into her beautiful brown eyes. "I have an idea."
She smiled back at him. "Yeah?"
"How about we try and make this moment a little more perfect?"
"And how would we do such a thing, Dr. Grissom?"
Grissom brought his arms around Sara, in what she thought was a hug. However, he clasped his hands together and his left hand pulled a ring off of his right pinky finger. When he heard her small gasp, he tried to lighten the situation, "First of all, I would just like to say your investigative skills are slipping. I don't know if I should let you work for the LVPD anymore." He looked at her and winked.
Sara, on the other hand, still could not believe that Gil Grissom had a ring in his hand, holding it out in front of her. She had not even noticed the ring on his finger, and she kicked herself for that right now. 'How dare he shock me like this?' He had told her once that he would never give a woman a ring unless it was an engagement ring. She stared, shocked, into his eyes, as he finished what he was saying.
"Second, I want to give you this," he said motioning to the ring. "It's a Celtic Claddagh ring. My mother was part Irish and always used to wear one. Once I asked her about the ring and she said that each part of the ring symbolizes something. The hands coming together represent friendship; the crown represents loyalty; the heart obviously stands for love. Sara, you are my best friend and I love you more than anything. And I promise to be loyal to you, if you promise to be my wife."
As Grissom spoke, tears welled up in Sara's eyes, and her smile grew, so that by the time he spoke his last word, she was giving him her "Sara Smile." She didn't trust her voice, so she just nodded as he slipped the ring on her ring finger. She raised her hand up to admire the ring. It was white gold, with a heart-cut diamond being held up by the two hands. Once she could speak, she turned in his arms and whispered "God, Gil. I love you so much," followed by a passionate kiss.
After parting only due to the necessity of oxygen, they stood up and began to pack up the picnic, knowing that they would have to work in about two hours. Just thinking about work brought a question to the front of Sara's mind. "Griss, should we tell the team about this?"
"I'm not sure. What do you think?"
"I think that I want to keep this to ourselves for just a little bit longer. I want to be the only one that knows that you're my fiancé. At least for a couple more days." She smiled over the hood of his Tahoe.
"Then that's how it's going to be." He returned her smile, and teased, "But, as long as their investigative skills are sharper than yours, they are going to notice the ring, especially the gossip queen we know as Catherine."
"I will never live down the fact that I sat with you for two hours and never noticed my engagement ring on your pinky finger, will I?" She asked as she climbed into the driver's seat of her car.
"Nope," he said as he leaned in to her window and gave her a small kiss. "I'll see you later at work."
"Yes, you will." She grinned as she began to back up, and drove away.