Two weeks passed and Sara and Grissom started to get back into the swing of things. Though Sara had to work that evening, Grissom had the day off, and he decided to go Christmas shopping. Shopping, definitely not one of his favorite things to do, seemed necessary in order to get Sara the perfect gift. Grissom's first stop was at a small boutique within the mall. "Can I help you?" the clerk asked.

"No, I'm just browsing," Grissom stated, hoping to get the woman off his back so he would be free to roam the store.

The woman turned away, and Grissom glanced around the store. Mannequins were placed about the store displaying the newest creations of lingerie. He knew what Sara usually wore, but he wanted to get her something special, for the two of them. Grissom continued through the aisles of lingerie and sighed. Why do there have to be so many different types? Men would never go through all of this crap.

Near the back of the store, Grissom finally found something he thought Sara would like. Grissom inspected the burgundy negligee, decided it was acceptable, and brought it to the cashier. After checking out, he continued through the mall to his next destination. One down, one to go.

Grissom entered a jewelry shop and reminisced picking out Sara's engagement ring. He walked up to the clerk and spoke with him. "I'm looking for a white gold bracelet for my fiancee," he stated.

"Ah Mr. Grissom, you're back. I take it she liked the engagement ring?"

"Yes she did," Grissom smiled.

Well, it was a beauty," the man gestured toward another display case, "come this way."

Grissom followed the man to a display case in the middle of the shop. "You'll find all of our selection in white gold bracelets right here. If you see something you like, call me back over."

Grissom nodded and the man went back to the front of the store. Grissom peered down into the display case and looked at the many choices in bracelets. Some were too gaudy, and some were just not Sara. Grissom came upon a bracelet with rubies and amethyst imbedded in it and knelt down to take a closer look. The gems were arranged in a pattern of flowers, and the bracelet was quite beautiful. Grissom envisioned the bracelet around Sara's wrist and smiled. He went back to the front of the store and asked to see the bracelet up close. The clerk opened the case and brought the bracelet up on top of the counter so Grissom could see it better. After a few minutes of close inspection, Grissom had made his decision. "I would like to take this bracelet," he announced.

"That is quite a nice choice," the clerk stated, "the way the stones are set in is quite nice. I think your fiancee will be happy."

Grissom smiled as he pulled out his credit card. "I sure hope so. However, the bracelet is beautiful enough yet simple enough for her to like. It's perfect."

After paying for the bracelet, Grissom took his packages and headed back out to his car. Well, at least that's done. I hope she'll like the gifts.

When Grissom got home, he hid his purchases in the bottom drawer of his dresser. He rarely used the drawer anyway, and Sara would have no reason to go into it. After putting everything away, Grissom walked into the kitchen to prepare himself a snack.

When his grilled-cheese sandwich was done cooking, Grissom sat down in the living room to watch television. Although there wasn't a lot on, Grissom settled on a penguin documentary. I can't see how Nick can watch this stuff. After finishing his sandwich and watching television for a little while, Grissom dozed off on the couch.

Grissom was startled awake when he heard the phone start ringing. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and made his way over to the phone. Who is calling the house phone at this hour? Normal people are asleep, and Sara always calls my cell phone. "Grissom," he stated sleepily into the phone.

"Is this Dr. Gil Grissom?" the voice asked.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"My name is Dr. Anderson and I am with the medical center in Marina Del Ray."

Many thoughts crossed Grissom's mind, and he dropped into a nearby chair. "Mr. Grissom, I'm afraid I have some bad news," he continued.

Grissom's heart sank, all of the joy of the day long forgotten. Grissom kept silent, trying to control his emotions. "Dr. Grissom, I'm sorry to inform you that your mother has passed away."

Tears formed at his eyes and he struggled to form words. "How?" he croaked.

"She had a heart attack," the doctor stated, "she was at home and called the paramedics, but by the time they got there it was too late. They tried resuscitation and brought her to the hospital, but they failed. Dr. Grissom, I'm sorry to ask this, but will you be coming out here?"

Grissom drew in a shuddered breath. "I'll be there tomorrow afternoon. Please release her body to the funeral home as she wished."

"Okay Dr. Grissom. Once again, I'm very sorry."

Grissom, not able to reply, pressed the off button on the phone and sat motionless in the chair. Tears streamed down his face, and he tried to catch his breath. He hit the speed dial for Sara's cell phone and waited for her to pick up. "Sidle," she answered.

"I need you to come home," he stated.

Sara thought he was joking. "Griss, shift is only half over and you miss me already? Be a man, wait it out," she joked back.

Grissom struggled to maintain is composure. "Sara, you need to come home, now," he demanded, his voice breaking.

Sara was taken aback by the emotion in his voice and cursed herself for joking around. "Gil, what is it?"

"Sara, please, just come home," he pleaded.

"Gil, stay where you are, I'll be right there."

Sara was extremely worried about what could cause Grissom to act that way. She packed away her things and found Catherine. "Cath, I've got an emergency at home, I have to leave," she stated, already heading toward the exit doors.

"Sara, wait," Catherine said, catching up to her, "what is it?"

Sara looked exasperated. "I don't know. Gil just called sounding really upset asking me to come home. I've got to go Cath," she said, moving to leave again.

"Go careful," Catherine said, allowing Sara to leave.

Sara ran out to her car and raced home.

When Sara arrived home, she ran up the stairs, unlocked the door, and called out for Grissom. "Gil, where are you?" she yelled.

Not hearing any reply, she started to search the rooms of the house. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Grissom's shaking form curled into the armchair. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him while he cried. "Gil, what is it?" she asked, scared of the answer she might receive.

"Mom," he barely managed to get out between sobs.

Sara stiffened and felt tears start to form in her own eyes. "Gil," she started, but went silent when Grissom started to speak again.

"Doctor called...said she had a heart attack...that they didn't get there in time to help her," Grissom panted, succumbing to his tears once again.

Although it was tight, Sara slid in next to him in the chair and pulled Grissom closer to her. He had her pulled into a bear hug, and he showed no signs of letting go. Sara stroked his back and tried to comfort him as he cried, but by this time, she was openly sobbing also. They clung to each other as they poured out their pain and sorrow.

When Grissom's chest stopped heaving, Sara looked up at his face. All of his tears had dried, but his features were pulled into a perpetual frown. Their eyes locked and Grissom moved to speak. "I need to fly out today," he stated, emotionless.

"I'm coming with you," she assured.

Grissom still held a death grip around Sara. "I can't believe this."

"Gil, I'm sorry," Sara comforted, "I can't imagine how you feel right now."

Grissom appeared to ignore the statement. "We were just there," he said airily.

"It's good that we were."

Grissom hesitated and kissed the top of her head. "Sara, we should go get ready to talk to the sheriff so we can get out of here quickly."

Sara nodded and waited for him to release her. Grissom pulled her in close one more time and whispered in her ear, "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she said into his chest.

Grissom let go of Sara and allowed her to retreat to the bedroom. After taking a few more minutes to think, Grissom followed her.

When Sara finished dressing, she returned to the living room to wait for Grissom. Although Grissom had opted to take a shower, Sara had decided that she would wait until they got to Marina Del Ray. She had put on some black dress pants and a lavender button down shirt. A few minutes later, Grissom emerged from the bedroom wearing a blue collared shirt with suit pants, and he was carrying a suit jacket. If I'm going to be asking for favors I might as well look the part. The frown was still plastered to Grissom's face, but he looked slightly more refreshed from the shower. "Are you ready to go?" Grissom asked Sara, breaking her from her reverie.

"Oh, yeah," she said, getting up from the couch.

Wordlessly, Grissom pulled Sara into another bear hug and held her for a minute. When he let go, the two of them made their way out to the car and started toward the lab.

Grissom took a deep breath to mentally prepare himself before entering the sheriff's office. The sheriff had started to alternate his time on the clock so that he would be able to supervise what both day shift and night shift were doing. Not bothering to knock, Grissom opened the door and let himself in. Sara trailed in behind him and the sheriff looked up. "You look like hell Gil," the sheriff noticed.

Grissom took in a sharp breath and tried to bite his tongue. I'm asking for the favor here. Thankfully, Sara stepped in for him. "Sheriff, if you could please spare the sarcasm," she stated, but he cut in before she could finish.

"Oh, I wasn't being sarcastic," the sheriff clarified.

Sara could notice that Grissom was becoming tense, and she wanted to evade any confrontation. The sheriff, however, seemed to get the conversation back on course. "Gil, Ms. Sidle, please have a seat," he gestured to the chairs in front of his desk, "now, what can I do for you?"

"Sara and I need to take an emergency leave of absence for a few days," Grissom cut to the chase.

"And why is that?"

"My mother passed away, and we need to fly out to make the funeral arrangements," Grissom said emotionless.

The sheriff appeared to digest all of the information and then started to reply. "Gil, you can go," he stated.

"What do you mean I can go?" Grissom asked, immediately suspicious.

"Ms. Sidle, you were on medical leave for quite a long time, and you just took Thanksgiving off."

Sara was instantly on the defensive. "Let me remind you that I was on medical leave because of someone else in this department, and the schedule was arranged so that I would have those days off. I still did my quota for the week," Sara huffed.

"I don't need to tell you that the holidays are a busy time of the year for the department," the sheriff stated, "I can only let one of you go. Gil, since you have seniority and it's your mother, you can go. Ms. Sidle, I can let you have off the day of the funeral."

Sara was extremely angry. "I could have managed that by myself," she barked, "this lab could survive a few days without us, this is just a bunch of political crap!"

Sara got up from her chair and turned to leave the room, but the sheriff had to get his last two cents in. "Ms. Sidle, if you don't show up for work tomorrow I will be forced to fire you."

Sara didn't want to leave Grissom alone in the room, but she felt that she might do more harm than good if she opened her mouth again. She stormed out of the room, slamming the door on the way. "Gil, you need to learn how to control your people, or should I say your fiancee?" the sheriff needled him.

"You know sheriff," Grissom said, standing up, "I think you've shown enough disrespect in this situation, don't make it worse. The department does have a policy toward family emergencies."

"Yes, but she's not exactly family yet, is she? We need the extra assistance at this time of the year."

"Believe me, the union will be hearing about this. I don't know why you are doing this, but you're an insensitive SOB," Grissom lost his cool.

Before the sheriff could reply, Grissom left the room, slamming the door behind him.

After Sara had left the sheriff's office fuming, she went out to the parking lot. She started to take her anger out on the car tires, and she kept kicking them repeatedly. When tears started to pour down her face, she sat on the ground and leaned against the wheel.

When Grissom exited the building, he found Sara still sitting on the ground. He pulled her up off of the ground and wrapped his arms around her. "Shh," he whispered into her ear, trying to control his own emotions.

"He's such an ass," Sara snipped.

Grissom buried his head in her hair and took a few deep breaths so he would be able to speak. "Let's go home," he practically whispered.

Grissom loosened his hold on Sara and helped her into the passenger's seat. After he got into the car, Grissom clutched Sara's hand. "We'll talk about this when we get home," he said, starting the car.

Sara leaned against the window and stroked the back of Grissom's hand. We were so happy, why did you have to take her away? How is he going to go out there alone?