"This is a nice house," Sara spoke as they pulled into the driveway.

"Yeah, it is. It's small, but it's perfect for mom."

Grissom grabbed their bags out of the back of the car and led Sara up the stairs. Grissom pressed the doorbell and waited for his mother to emerge. She opened the door and smiled. "Gil, it's so nice to see you," she said, giving him a hug.

Mrs. Grissom stood about five foot seven inches tall, and she had her silvery hair pulled back into a bun. Her tiny waist had an apron wrapped around it, evidence that she had been working in the kitchen. Mrs. Grissom held Sara at arm's length. "You must be Sara," she spoke, "it's so nice to finally meet you."

Mrs. Grissom pulled Sara into her arms. "It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Grissom," Sara said, backing away so that the woman could read her lips.

"Dear, you call me Melanie, you hear?"

"Okay Melanie."

Mrs. Grissom smiled and ushered them inside. "Now, the two of you must be very tired coming right here from work. Go on upstairs, get settled, and take a nap. I'll keep working on some food for us and we can talk after you're rested."

"Thanks mom," Grissom said, giving her another hug before leading Sara upstairs.

"Your mom seems very nice," Sara stated, putting her clothes into the drawers.

"She is," Grissom said, while changing to get into bed.

Sara closed the drawer and got undressed. She slid into Grissom's warmth and snuggled into his embrace. "What was she cooking?" Sara yawned.

"She's getting things ready for tomorrow. Pumpkin pie, some of the side dishes."

"You did tell her we don't need a lot of food, right?"

"Yes honey. However, it's not too often that my mother has company for Thanksgiving, so she is splurging a little."

Sara smiled. "I hope she doesn't go to too much trouble."

"I'll help her out tomorrow. For right now though, let's get a little rest so we can visit in a little while."

After a few minutes Sara had fallen asleep, and Grissom drifted off to sleep after her.

Sara woke up when she felt Grissom move on his side of the bed. Grissom, realizing his mistake, immediately began to apologize. "Sorry honey, I didn't mean to wake you. I was going to let you sleep a little bit longer."

"What time is it?" she yawned.

"Four."

"Ahh, you let me sleep to long."

"Nah, you could use it. I just got up anyway. If you want to take a shower, you can go ahead, and I'll go talk to mom."

"I would like to hop in the shower quick. I'll be down soon, okay?"

"Sure," he said, kissing her.

Sara entered the bathroom, and Grissom pulled some clothes on before going down to talk with his mother.

When Sara walked down the stairs and into the living room, Grissom was sitting on the couch and signing to his mother who was sitting in the recliner. He looked up when Sara entered the living room. "We were just talking about plans for tomorrow," he stated, allowing Sara to sit next to him on the couch, "mom wants to take you out."

"On Thanksgiving?" she said, flabbergasted.

Mrs. Grissom smiled. "Dear, I want to take you out to look for a wedding dress," she spoke and signed, "all of the shops are open tomorrow, and most people will be home preparing for dinner. It will be a lot less crowded."

"What is Gil going to do?" Sara questioned.

"He already volunteered to stay here and start cooking the turkey and all of the side dishes."

Grissom smiled when Sara shot him a death glare. Sara turned back to Mrs. Grissom and smiled. "I'd love to go," Sara answered, "hopefully you'll be a good influence on me and help me try and find something."

"I know some places with some beautiful wedding things. We can start out early tomorrow morning and go to a lot of the places."

"That sounds nice."

"Mom, I was hoping to take Sara over to the gallery tonight. Would you like to come along and give her your guided tour?" Grissom asked.

"I'd be glad to," Mrs. Grissom smiled.

Although Mrs. Grissom had given up working at the gallery about five years previous, she still liked to visit it frequently and was a consultant on some of the pieces when she was needed. "If you're not doing anything mom, maybe we can go there now before we have dinner. It'll probably be nice and quiet."

"Oh, I have no problem with noise," Mrs. Grissom smiled.

Sara giggled. "Mom, you know what I meant," Grissom groaned.

"Yes, I do," Mrs. Grissom smiled, "give me a few minutes to clean up, and I'll be ready to go."

Mrs. Grissom left the room and Grissom pulled Sara to him. "Hmm, you smell nice," he sniffed her hair.

"Thanks. So, you volunteered to stay home and cook?" Sara poked him in the side, "Did you suggest the idea in the first place?"

"No," Grissom stared at her innocently, "when mom heard that you hadn't picked out a dress yet, she said that she wanted to take you out shopping. She was worried about getting back here in time to start cooking, so I told her that I could take care of the cooking. That's better for you anyway."

Sara considered what he said. "Yeah, I guess that is better. That way you can cook the turkey while we're gone, and I won't have to smell it cooking."

Grissom pinched her nose and smiled. "You'll have a good time with mom."

"Yeah, I guess I will," she smiled, "she'll probably get me to stop stalling a little bit."

Grissom smiled and gave her a quick kiss before Mrs. Grissom returned to the living room. "Okay, all set," Mrs. Grissom stated.

They left the house and headed for the gallery.

After they returned home, Grissom and Sara said goodnight to Mrs. Grissom and headed for bed. Grissom was already in bed when Sara slid in in front of him. "The gallery was very nice," Sara spoke, snuggling into his chest.

"Yeah, my mom started it. She worked there for so long until she retired a few years ago," Grissom stroked the top of her head, "what time do you need to be up tomorrow?"

"Well, your mom wants to get going around eight, so I'd say about six thirty. She seems pretty excited to go."

"She never had a daughter to go through all of this with, so I think she's taken a liking to you. Don't worry, she doesn't bite," Grissom joked.

"It just makes me feel special."

"Well, you are special," Grissom kissed her neck.

"You know what I mean," Sara poked him.

"Yes, I do. Stop overanalyzing things, you'll have a good time," he stated.

"I'm sure I will."

Their conversation eventually drifted off as sleep consumed them both.

Sara shook Grissom after she had fully dressed. He opened his eyes and looked at her in confusion. "What?" he grumbled.

Sara smiled and ruffled his hair. "Your mom and I are leaving to go shopping. She wanted me to remind you to cook the Thanksgiving dinner."

"Like I would forget," Grissom groaned, "have a good time honey."

Grissom pulled her down for a quick kiss. "Thanks Griss, I'll see you later."

Grissom watched as Sara practically skipped out of the door.

"I am a strong believer in the fact that you can't find what you like or don't like unless you start trying some things on," Mrs. Grissom stated once they entered a bridal gown shop, "so, let's go find the right size for you, and you can start trying some things on."

Sara smiled and nodded. They walked back to where the dresses were and Sara started looking through a few things. Mrs. Grissom immediately found a strapless dress that was quite fancy and held it up. "That definitely is not the dress for me," Sara stated.

Mrs. Grissom continued to hold the dress, and she pointed toward the dressing room. "Go try it on and see how it fits. That way we'll know what kind of shape you need."

Sara reluctantly took the dress and went to try it on. When Sara took longer than fifteen minutes, Mrs. Grissom was beginning to wonder what was taking so long. "Sara, if you can't zip the dress, just let me in and I'll help you."

Sara struggled to keep the sides of the dress up and moved to open the door. She turned around and allowed Mrs. Grissom to zip the back of the dress the rest of the way up. Sara continued to hold the top of the dress up. "Well, we know the shape isn't quite right," Mrs. Grissom remarked.

"I don't have the goods to wear a dress like this," Sara scoffed, still holding the top of the dress up.

"Dear, quit worrying about that, you could wear a strapless dress just fine, but we have to get it in the right size. You're a toothpick Sara, you need a dress at least two sizes smaller than this one. You change out of this one and I'll find one a little smaller to start as a reference point."

Mrs. Grissom left and retrieved a slightly smaller dress from the rack. The dress had spaghetti straps that created a decorative pattern across the back, and it was a simple a-line cut. She fed the dress through the curtain and handed it to Sara. "Try this one on," she instructed.

Sara handed the other dress back and put on the new one. She opened the door again and allowed Mrs. Grissom to enter. "At least this one fits better," Sara stated.

"What do you think of this one?" Mrs. Grissom asked.

"I don't like all of the straps that are across the back, they make the dress seem more like a party dress than a wedding dress. However, the dress is closer to my size."

"Yes, it is," Mrs. Grissom remarked, "let's use this one as a reference and see if we can find something you like."

Sara nodded and allowed Mrs. Grissom to exit the dressing room. Sara changed back into her clothes and met Mrs. Grissom at the rack. "Sara, you know what you like, why don't you go through and see if you can find something. Then I can help you to decide."

Sara started to look through the dresses, and Mrs. Grissom went to another rack to look for anything that might catch her eye. After about half an hour, Sara hadn't found anything that she liked. She walked over to where Mrs. Grissom was standing and touched her shoulder. "Do you think we could try another store?" Sara asked, feeling discouraged that she hadn't found anything that she liked.

Mrs. Grissom turned further around, and Sara noticed that she was holding a dress in her hands. It was a strapless a-line gown with a single line of dainty blue beads carefully placed across the uppermost part of the dress. Sara almost gasped when she saw how nice the dress was. Mrs. Grissom smiled at her reaction. "It's a nice dress, isn't it?"

"That's beautiful," Sara found her voice.

Mrs. Grissom held it out to her. "What are you waiting for, go try it on."

"This is too beautiful."

"Don't be silly," Mrs. Grissom pushed her, "go put it on."

Sara disappeared within the dressing room and took her time putting the dress on. When she looked in the mirror she gasped. I look so beautiful. This is the dress, this has to be the one. Sara opened the door and allowed Mrs. Grissom to zip up the back of the dress for her. Mrs. Grissom stood still in the doorway when she saw the dress on Sara. "Please tell me you like this dress," she stated, "because I think this is the one."

Sara smiled and turned back around after Mrs. Grissom had zippered the dress. "This dress is perfect," Sara gloated.

"Yes it is dear, you look wonderful in it. Is the top tight enough?"

Sara nodded and smiled when Mrs. Grissom instructed her to twirl. "I think we're done here," Mrs. Grissom announced, "if you get changed back into your regular clothes, we can bring the dress up front and get everything taken care of."

After Mrs. Grissom left the room, Sara took another long glance in the mirror before starting to take the dress off. She was elated that she was able to find something so beautiful that she looked good in. She was also happy that she was able to use the time to bond with Grissom's mother.

The woman behind the cash register was quite pleasant, and everything was taken care of quite quickly. "How will you be paying for this today?" the woman asked.

"Credit card," Mrs. Grissom stated, moving to pull out her wallet.

Sara put her hand on Mrs. Grissom's arm and looked her in the eye. "Mrs. Grissom, you're not paying for this," she stated.

Mrs. Grissom turned back to the cashier. "Would you excuse us for a minute dear?" Mrs. Grissom stated, pulling Sara away from the counter.

"I've never seen my son as happy as he is with you," Mrs. Grissom started, "You're such a nice girl, and I want to be able to give you something for the wedding."

"This is too much," Sara reasoned, "you barely know me..."

Mrs. Grissom cut her off. "Sara, Gil has been talking about you for years. I feel like I know you so well through him. He finally came to his senses and followed his feelings, and now the two of you are engaged. You're going to be the daughter I never had, and I want to give you something special."

Sara was nearly brought to tears by the woman's words. Mrs. Grissom pulled her in for a hug. When Sara pulled away, she smiled at Mrs. Grissom. "Thanks mom."

Mrs. Grissom smiled in return. "C'mon, let's get this paid for and give them the shipping information so we can enjoy some more girl time before we go back home."

After getting all of the information correct so the dress would be shipped to Las Vegas, Sara and Mrs. Grissom went to a small cafe to get some lunch. "Mrs. Grissom, you really didn't have to get the dress," Sara pointed out once again.

"I know, I wanted to," Mrs. Grissom stated, "I thought I told you to call me Melanie."

"Yes, Melanie," Sara stated, thinking it felt odd to call a woman twice her age by her first name.

"I have never seen a dress quite like that. That blue beading was very unique, but quite simple at the same time."

"I would have never guessed that there would be blue beading on a wedding dress, but the dress was so beautiful," Sara reminisced.

"And you too will be beautiful when you walk down that aisle. You know, it's not as far away as you think it is."

Sara smiled. "Gil was telling me the same thing. He is worried that I'll wait to long and end up too stressed out over things."

Mrs. Grissom smiled at her knowledge of Grissom's habits. "He loves you very much dear, and he cares about your well being."

"I know," Sara sighed, "but sometimes I think he worries more about me than I worry about me."

"Sometimes we all need a little bit of that," Mrs. Grissom reasoned, "if you get too caught up in work, you have him to turn to and vice versa."

Sara smiled at the depth of conversation that she was sharing with Grissom's mother. I really do like this woman.

Sara and Mrs. Grissom finished their lunch and headed home.