A/N: Thank you to everyone who stayed with us to the end of this story!

One More Grissom

Chapter 12

Gil Grissom stood on the deck of the research ship, holding his son's hand, as they watched the breaching of humpback whales in the cold, clear water of the Gulf of Alaska. Both were dressed for the weather—in insulated coats and pants, a warm cap pulled down over their ears, and gloves—summer in the north Atlantic.

It was a beautiful prolonged evening when it never really gets dark and the fine weather had brought people out onto the ship's deck; a group of young researchers were using golf clubs and hockey sticks to hit chunks of ice into the ocean. A young couple lay on a blanket stretched out looking at the sky. It would soon be eight o'clock and the sunlight was soft, the temperature dropping as the wind picked up.

"How many do you see?" Grissom asked.

"Seven," replied the little boy. "Oh! There is a baby—so eight!"

The blue water was clear to at least fifty feet and the ship, nearly three hundred feet long and sixty feet wide, traveled slowly—only ten to twelve miles per hour. The slow movement gave the thirty-odd researchers time to observe, collect data, and occasionally gather specimens. It also meant time passed slowly and there was plenty of free time for whale counting and dolphin watching, gazing at the amazing sky and looking for other marine life.

They were forty days out of Seattle, Washington, headed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, after entering the narrow Bering Sea from the Arctic Ocean. This was a trip of a life-time, Sara and Grissom acknowledged when he had been asked to join the researchers.

Quickly, Grissom had asked if his family could accompany him on the two month voyage—he could not imagine leaving them for the summer and missing their growth and changes—and learned there would be two other families on board.

That's when he and Sara learned that Gil Grissom was something of a star among ocean researchers. For thirty years, he'd had papers published in a variety of professional journals and trade periodicals about insects and crime investigation—occasionally surprised when his writing was mentioned. Yet it was the published research on migrating whales that had made him known in new circles and when he and Sara began to study the gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, they became two of a very few scientists who were investigating jelly fish. And jelly fish were being studied in the Arctic Ocean.

They spent a few weeks in San Diego, coming to a decision about their termite damaged boat. They had time to adjust to a new baby and pack for eight weeks in the Arctic summer. Sara and Grissom knew Will would remember very little of this experience but while it was happening, he would have fun.

There were five kids under ten on the ship; Jemma was the only infant. The children found entertainment with passing pods of dolphins and Orca whales, breaching humpback whales, swirling bait balls of small fish and shining halibut flashing in the cold clear water.

Will had learned about blowholes and breaching and lob tailing, about tankers and cargo ships and fishing boats as the researchers, the parents and the crew included the children in activities around the ship from baking cookies to learning about mirage mountains. Everyone had brought books and movies—no streaming service this far north and satellite service was limited to official work.

As one parent has said, "The best summer camp in the world!"

As father and son continued to watch the whales, Sara was not far away. She had spent a couple of hours running lab analysis while her husband watched Jemma and Will. They had worked out a schedule so that one parent was with Jemma and available for Will even when he played with the other children.

Sara dressed for the chilly air and wrapped Jemma in warm leggings and a fleece hoodie, tied the baby to her chest with a long scarf, and carried the giggly infant onto the deck. They were fortunate—Jemma was a good baby, easy to laugh, seldom cried, slept well, and seemed to have as purpose to entertain her parents and her brother. Her delicate pale curls and blue eyes had changed to dark ringlets and her eyes were a soft brown by the time she was five months old.

Easily finding Will and Grissom, Sara joined them, listening to their lively and energetic discussion of whales.

"Sara!"

"Mommy!"

"Are there more whales?" asked Sara as Grissom slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"Eight—and we saw a baby whale!" Will said, jumping with excitement before his father picked him up. The child's hand went to his mother's face.

Sara laughed, grabbing Will's hand in hers. "You are freezing! Where are your gloves?" She laughed again as he pulled his hand inside his coat sleeve and produced a glove. She said, "It's keeping your elbow warm up there."

Later, after preparing for bed in the suite of rooms serving as their home on the ship, Will rolled on the floor with a stuffed polar bear, looked at his parents and said, "I wish Jane could see all the whales," and turned back to his play.

Grissom, holding a sleepy Jemma, said, "Catherine sent us a message today—she's going back to work at the lab—I'm sure there is a long story to her return. She asked when we would get back to Vegas."

Wrapped in her robe, Sara had stretched out on the short sofa; her sock-covered feet crossed. Her hand rested on Grissom's knee and with his question, she gently massaged his thigh. "We'll get back—not to work—maybe for Christmas holidays." She paused a moment before she continued, "I think we've entered a new life." Her fingers continued to caress her husband's leg as she said, "By the time we left—even before the trial was over—I knew we were finished with solving crimes." Moving closer, Sara said, "Others have the passion and zeal we had at one time—and that's good."

Grissom shifted the sleeping baby so he could pull Sara into a one-arm embrace. With a sigh, he said, "You are right—we'll go back to visit. Mel would enjoy seeing his great-granddaughter. Jim's transplant will done. Will remembers Jane and the two boys. And—you are right. We've moved on—even with the Taj Mahal lab, I was ready to leave. Now, I enjoy being around our kids—loving my wife—doing the kind of research we're doing that's a different kind of excitement. And maybe I'll try a hobby—something like golf." He chuckled, adding, "Ice ball golf."

For a few minutes, the only sounds were those made by a small boy playing on the floor. Grissom pulled Sara closer and kissed her. When Will noticed his parents, he immediately crawled into Sara's lap and kissed her.

Giving her son a kiss on his forehead, she said, "I think it's time for bed."

No one made a move as she cuddled her son, inhaling the sweet scent of his hair. Her husband held Jemma to his chest and tightened his hug on his wife. Sara knew the direction of her life had taken unexpected shifts for decades. And at this point in her life she was changed forever and for the better.

Quietly, she said, "I love you—I love my life." Serenely, she sighed, adding, "Love is the answer."

Grissom shook his head, saying, "It's more complex than that. Love is an easy answer—love is part of the answer. Hope is another part, and courage and charity and laughter. I can't imagine putting what we have into one word."

Sara placed her head on his shoulder. "You make it complicated."

As the soft sounds of sleep came from their children, Grissom touched his nose to Sara's soft hair and, not for the first time, noticed the likeness between her hair and the two smaller heads. Sara responded to his touch by tucking her head against his neck and chin.

He knew he had caused much loneliness and despair in Sara's life while she had responded with love and hope, generosity and goodness.

Kissing the top of her head, he said, "You have given purpose to my life, Sara—a love I never imagined. I cannot imagine a finer home or more beautiful life, a better partner and parent. I hope the finale scene of my existence will be of you and Will and Jemma." When he paused to kiss his wife a second time, he smiled as the wisp of restful breathing came from a sleeping Sara.

The End

A/N: First-thank you for being GSR fans. Second-thank you for supporting our writing by reading fanfiction! And third-you know we love GSR as much as you do! Keep writing GSR. Keep reading GSR!

Fourth! Have a wonderful holiday season! We are already thinking about another story-probably after the upcoming holidays.

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