Grissom woke up the next morning to the sounds of Sara showering in the bathroom. He looked at his watch and realized that he had an hour to get ready. Grissom heard the water turn off as he started to open the door to the bathroom. "Hey honey, I was just going to join you," Grissom spoke.

"Oh," Sara said, peeking her head out from behind the shower curtain, "I didn't know you were up. Can you hand me a towel?"

Grissom complied and made sure she got out of the tub safely. "It's all yours," Sara smiled.

Grissom gave her a quick kiss and let her leave the bathroom so he could shower.

Sara carefully blow-dried her hair and pulled it back from her face. She fastened Mrs. Grissom's necklace around her neck and looked in the mirror to see if anything was out of place in her outfit. Satisfied that she looked acceptable to attend the funeral, Sara sat in a chair and waited for Grissom to emerge from the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Grissom came out of the bathroom fully dressed with a tie in his hand. "Sara, can you please tie this damn thing?" he said, frustrated.

Sara walked over to him and took the tie from his grasp. She deftly tied the tie and stood back to admire her work. "There," she spoke, "much better."

Grissom nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed to put his shoes on. "Thanks Sara, I usually don't have trouble with those things."

Sara smirked and picked his jacket up off of the chair. "Do you have everything ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me finish tying my shoes, and we can leave," Grissom glanced down at his shoes but looked back up, "You're wearing mom's necklace," he noticed.

"Yes, I wanted to," Sara spoke.

Grissom nodded, understanding that she somehow wanted to feel closer to her. Grissom finished tying his shoes, took his jacket from Sara, and escorted her out the door.

Grissom and Sara sat in the front pew of the church and listened as the minister spoke. When it came time for Grissom to eulogize his mother, Sara gave his hand a tight squeeze before he rose to speak. "To all of you who knew my mother, she was a wonderful person. She spent many hours at the gallery and loved to help anyone out with any projects that they needed done. She was a kind soul, and even though she could not hear, she knew how much she was loved. My mother is at peace now, but the lessons she taught so many of us will be carried on through our lives. She may be gone, but she sure will not be forgotten."

Grissom returned to his seat and accepted Sara's hand as comfort. Her other hand held a tissue to her eye, desperately trying to contain her tears. Grissom squeezed her hand, and they somehow made it through the rest of the funeral.

After everyone had said their final goodbyes and left the gravesite, Grissom and Sara were left alone, holding one another. The cemetery workers had already lowered the coffin and filled in the grave, and Sara kept glancing toward the newly laid sod. Grissom reached up and cupped Sara's cheek. "Do you want to say something?" he asked.

"She's gone, what would it help?" she sniffled through tears.

"It could give you closure," Grissom spoke, "I know it will help me."

Sara pulled away from Grissom and picked up the few carnations that she brought with her. She sat down on the ground and faced toward the grave. "I know I only knew you a short time," Sara's voice shuddered, "but you truly impacted my life. You took the time and helped me sort some things out."

Sara stopped and took a breath before she continued. "I brought some flowers because you would have liked them, I'm sorry it couldn't have been a plant."

Sara set the flowers down in front of the headstone and ran her fingers across the cool engraving. She then sat there, staring off into space. When Grissom rested his hands on her shoulders she jumped. "Aren't you going to say something?" Sara asked.

"I already did," he stated, "she knows I loved her, and that's all that matters."

Grissom set a single white rose in front of her headstone and pulled Sara up from the ground. "Let's go home," Grissom spoke.

Sara wrapped his arms around him, and they led each other to the car.

After packing their bags at the hotel and changing into more comfortable clothes, Grissom and Sara went to the airport and finally boarded their plane. They were extremely exhausted, so they both took naps on their flight home. When they arrived back in Las Vegas at six o'clock in the evening, Grissom immediately drove them home. After they both got undressed, they decided to cuddle together and go to bed.
Halfway through the night, Grissom woke with a start. Sweat which was already pouring down his face was soon joined by tears of sorrow. He tried to regain control of himself and halt their falling, but his body was emotionally exhausted and finally giving in to its feelings. It didn't take long for Sara to awaken, find him sobbing, and pull him into her arms. "Gil, don't fight it," she soothed, rubbing small circles into his back, "you've got to let it out or it will eat you alive."

Sara continued to hold him while his body shook with sobs. When his tears finally started to subside, Sara tried to loosen her hold on him, but Grissom had her in a death grip. "Gil, I'm not going anywhere."

"I know," Grissom nodded, his voice hoarse, but he still didn't ease up on his grasp.

"Gil, you said it yourself. Your mother knew that she was loved, and you'll always carry her with you," Sara said, placing her hand on his chest, over his heart.

"It's just going to take some time for that to settle in. She's not going to be right there to call on anymore."

"But I am here for you, and I can help you through this."

"I know, and that's why I've been able to keep it together for so long."

They stayed in each other's arms for a little while longer before Grissom spoke again. "Are you going to be ready to go back to work next shift?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah, I think so, but if you're not ready you can take another day."

"No, I was planning on going back next shift too. We've got some things to work out with the sheriff."

Sara groaned. "I'm sure he'll have plenty to say about the media fiasco. I'm not really looking forward to that."

"We'll get it all figured out," Grissom looked at his watch, "it's about mid-shift now, I'm going to call Catherine and tell her that we'll be coming in next shift."

Sara nodded and allowed him to reach onto the side table to get his cell phone. "Willows," she picked up.

"Hey Cath, it's Gil, how is it going at the lab?" he asked.

"Just wonderful," Catherine groaned, "the sheriff wants to see the two of you as soon as you get back."

"About?"

"Sara, the media."

"Oh, yeah, she told me about that."

"Gil, she was a mess."

"I know, I met her at the airport," Grissom paused, "listen Cath, I'm calling to tell you that Sara and I will be in next shift."

"So soon?"

"Yeah, we got back tonight, we left right after the funeral."

"Gil, if you need anything, just ask, I know this is a tough time for you right now."

"You've already helped enough Cath. I'll see you next shift."

"Okay Gil, take care and tell Sara I said hi."

Grissom closed the cell phone and pulled Sara back into his arms. "Cath says hi," he spoke, kissing her behind the ear.

"I heard," Sara replied, giving him a kiss on the lips.

"Let's catch up on some more sleep so we're actually able to function," Grissom spoke.

"That sounds good to me."

Sara allowed Grissom to spoon behind her and wrap his arms around her midsection. He placed another kiss in her hair and they both slowly fell asleep.