Disclaimer: The perfect Christmas gift for me would be to own CSI, but as that will never happen, I would settle for the seasons of CSI on DVD.
Summary: A nice, short Christmas story for you. Sara has bought Grissom the 'perfect Christmas gift' and won't tell anyone what it is.
The Perfect Christmas Gift
Chapter Two: The Gift
Sara had managed to help Nick get his shopping done in only a few hours. He said he owed her big time because without a woman's help he would have been there for days. The party was set for December 23rd and everyone planned to show up, even Grissom, who was not big on going to parties. Nick only tried one more time to get out of Sara what she had gotten for Grissom, but quickly left her alone when she threatened him.
"Sara, could you come in my office please?" Grissom asked as the CSIs were heading out for their separate destinations the evening before the party.
"Sure," she smiled and followed him to the office.
"I thought I'd give you your gift now, instead of in front of everyone else. I don't know about you, but I hate an audience when I open my presents," Grissom handed her a small box.
"Thanks, I happen to have yours out in my car if you'll let me go grab it," Sara set her gift down on his desk. A funny thought struck her as she re-entered Grissom's office and she started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Grissom asked, confused.
"This will kill Nicky. I told him I had a really good present for you and he has been trying to trick it out of me. I told him to wait until the party and now he doesn't get to see you open your present," Sara explained with a smile.
"I'd hate to disappoint Nicky, maybe we should wait and do the exchange at the party like everyone else," Grissom suggested.
"It's up to you, I can wait or I could go for a little torture," Sara said.
"Let's just wait, let the suspense build up a little," Grissom smiled at her, "let's go put these under the CSI Christmas tree."
"Aha!" Nick exclaimed as Sara and Grissom came out of his office, presents in hand, "you were trying to be sneaky about your gift."
"Give it up, Stokes," Sara shook her head, "we were doing no such thing."
"Everyone is exchanging their gifts at the party tomorrow, Nick, you know that," Grissom winked conspiratorially at Sara.
"Fine," Nick shrugged his shoulders, "I just thought it would be interesting to know what the 'perfect gift' for you is."
Sara turned and shot him a glare.
"I'm sure I will like whatever Sara got for me," Grissom assured Nick.
----------------------------------------------
"Okay everyone, it is time to exchange your presents," a voice announced over the crowd of CSIs milling around the room.
Sara grabbed her presents from under the tree and proceeded to hand them out. She saved Grissom's for last because it was special. She wanted to be sure that she was there when he opened it. He might need a little bit of explanation.
"Sara," Grissom called her name.
"Hey Gris," Sara smiled, spotting just the person she was looking for.
"Ready for your present?" Grissom asked.
"Ready if you are," Sara handed him his gift and accepted her own.
"Hey guys," Catherine spotted her colleagues, "here are your gifts."
"Thanks," Sara and Grissom said simultaneously.
Nick, Warrick and Greg also made their way across the room to where their friends stood, about to open presents. They each took turns opening their gifts, everyone saying their thank-yous for their gifts. Sara opened her present from Grissom, a beautiful silver necklace with an amethyst butterfly pendant. Everyone had to see the necklace and commented on how pretty it was. Grissom sort of stood back and smiled, glad that his present had gone over so well.
"Well, that must leave your present from Sara," Greg nodded to Grissom.
"Yes, the so-called perfect gift," Nick added.
Grissom carefully tore the paper away to reveal a plain brown box.
"Be careful with it," Sara added as he opened the box.
Everyone stood in anticipation as Grissom pulled two small white objects out of the box. Whatever the gift was, it must have been fragile for the objects were wrapped carefully in white tissue paper. Grissom sat one of the objects down and gently unwrapped the other to reveal a small ceramic grasshopper. He looked up at Sara and she nodded for him to look it over.
"You painted this yourself?" Grissom asked in surprise when he spotted the initials S.S. on the bottom of the small figure.
"Yeah," Sara said with a small smile.
"I didn't know you painted, Sara," Catherine noted.
"There's a lot of things you guys don't know about me," Sara said.
"It's beautiful Sara, so detailed," Grissom held the grasshopper tenderly in his hand.
"Thank you," she blushed, "don't forget there's another one."
"Right," Grissom picked up the other figure, passing the first around for the others to admire. He unfolded the paper to reveal a lady bug. He looked at Sara with a smile.
"I figured, you like bugs," Sara started to explain.
"You don't have to explain, it's perfect, I love it," Grissom moved to hug Sara. Just when he thought he had her figured out, she went and gave him a very personal gift in front of so many people. He admired the small figures, each only a few inches tall, but something he would proudly display in his office.
"So when did you pick up painting, Sara?" Warrick asked.
"A while ago. Someone told me I should pick up a hobby. I used to paint a little bit. That was a long time ago. I figured it was time to try my hand at it again," Sara explained.
Grissom gave her a knowing smile. She had taken his advice after all. Sara just smiled right back and it was a true smile, her eyes were sparkling with happiness once again.
"These are really beautiful Sara, you have some talent," Greg complimented.
"Thanks," she blushed, "it's no big deal really."
"It is a big deal, you clearly put some time into these," Catherine said.
Sara smiled. She was not used to getting this kind of attention. It felt good, but she wasn't really sure how to accept the compliments. She could feel Grissom still staring at her with that funny look on his face.
The party was winding down a couple hours later. Grissom found Sara, sporting her new necklace and pulled her aside.
"Come with me," he grabbed her arm and lead her back to his office.
"What?" she asked once they were inside with the door shut safely behind them.
"I want you to help me find a place to put these," Grissom held her present in his hand.
"Why not on that little shelf above your desk?" Sara suggested.
"No, not good enough. I want to be able to admire them all the time," Grissom shook his head.
"Then why not on the edge of your desk," Sara said.
"I'm afraid they'd get knocked off, I'd hate for someone to come along and break one of them," Grissom sat them down for a moment and took Sara's hands in his own, "I really like them Sara. I can't believe how much effort you must have put into those. I never knew you were a painter."
"I never told anyone. I quit a long time ago, but when you said to get a hobby, that was when I pulled out my old paint. Most of it was dried up so I bought some acrylic paint at a craft store. Then I saw those little bugs and I thought of you," she trailed off.
"Thank you," Grissom kissed her gently.
Sara leaned into the kiss momentarily then pulled away, "It was nothing. I should get home and get some sleep before the next shift starts. Thanks for the beautiful necklace."
"I thought you'd like it," Grissom said softly.
"I love it," Sara smiled, "Merry Christmas Grissom."
"Merry Christmas Sara."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this quick little Christmas story. I've never written a Christmas story before. Happy Holidays to you all. :D