"Sure, but remember, we do have work to do," Grissom replied.
"Well, I know you and Sara aren't having a rehearsal dinner because you aren't having a rehearsal because you aren't having a wedding party," Nick said all in one breath.
"What's your point Nick?"
"Would you guys mind joining us for dinner tomorrow night before we have to go in for shift? We'd like to do something special."
Grissom looked over to Sara, and Sara nodded her head. "I guess that would be okay," Grissom answered, "it's not going to be anything fancy, right?"
"No. Formal, but not fancy."
"Did you invite Brass and Al?" Grissom asked, directing his attention toward Catherine, Warrick, and Greg.
"Yeah," Catherine spoke, "Nick talked to them. This whole thing was his idea."
"We'd be glad to come," Sara answered for the two of them.
Once Grissom was sure that discussion was over, he handed out assignments to the team.
At the end of shift, Catherine caught Sara in the break room before she could go home. "Sara, remember, you're going to my house after dinner later, we can't have you jinxing the wedding," Catherine stated.
"Right Cath, because I've never slept with my future husband before," Sara snipped, "some of these wedding things are so bizarre. I'm not going to be able to get any sleep."
Catherine smiled and shook her head. "There are movies and plenty of other stuff at the house to keep you occupied. Try not to keep Lindsey up too late."
"I think we'll manage."
"Alright, see you later at dinner."
Sara nodded and watched as Catherine left.
A few minutes later, Grissom ducked his head into the break room. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"Yeah, you?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Sara followed Grissom out to the car, and they headed home.
When they walked into the house, Grissom kissed the top of Sara's head. "Go sit down in the living room and take your shoes off," Grissom instructed, "I'll be with you in a minute."
Sara nodded and went to sit down in the living room. Grissom headed to the bathroom and turned on the water in the tub for a bath. Walking into the bedroom, he stripped off his work clothes and changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants. Once the tub finished filling, Grissom turned off the water and returned to the living room. Sara patted the couch next to her. "Sit," she stated.
Grissom shook his head. "No, I ran a bath for you. You are going to go sit and relax for a while."
That sounds like a good idea to me. Sara held her hand up, and Grissom helped her to her feet. He kissed her forehead and ran his hands down her sides. "Call me if you need anything," Grissom instructed.
"Thanks," Sara stated, kissing his lips before heading to the bathroom.
Grissom picked one of his journals up off of the living room table and laid down on the couch. He began reading while waiting for Sara to emerge from her bath.
When Sara started turning into a prune, she got out of the bathtub and drained the tub. She pulled on her pajamas and put her hair into a loose braid. After cleaning everything up in the bathroom, she returned to the living room. As Sara got closer to the couch, she realized Grissom had dozed off to sleep. The journal that he was once reading was now laying across his chest, and his head was leaning on a pillow against the back of the couch. Sara took the journal from his hands, set it on the table, and ran her fingers through his hair. Grissom opened his eyes and brought his hand up to his mouth as he yawned. "How was your bath?" he asked.
"Very comfortable and soothing, thank you," Sara spoke, moving her hand to cup his cheek, "are you going to come to bed, or are you going to lay here all night?"
Grissom smiled and moved her hand so he could kiss the back of it. "I'm coming," Grissom spoke, moving to a sitting position and pulling himself up off of the couch.
The two headed to bed and tried to get some sleep.
While Grissom was dressed and ready to leave for dinner, Sara was still in the bathroom trying to fix her hair. When she finally emerged, she smiled when she caught a glimpse of Grissom's attire. "You're wearing the shirt I got you for Christmas," Sara spoke, admiring the way it complemented his eyes.
Sara walked over to him and brushed her fingers across the smooth blue fabric. "You look nice," Sara stated.
"So do you," Grissom laid a hand on her shoulder, "we should probably get going, do you have your things ready for Cath's?"
"Yeah," Sara groaned, "let me go get the bag."
"You stay," Grissom said, kissing her forehead, "where is it?"
"Just inside the bedroom door."
Sara watched as Grissom ventured to their bedroom to retrieve the bag. Bag in hand, the two of them walked out to the car and headed to the restaurant.
Within the large Italian restaurant, Nick, Warrick, Greg, Catherine, Brass, and Dr. Robbins were sitting around a large round table. When Grissom and Sara arrived, a waiter led them back to the table, and they sat down with their friends. "The guests of honor are here," Nick spoke, smiling.
"Honor," Sara replied, raising her eyebrows, "who spiked your drink?"
Chuckles were heard around the table and everyone smiled. "Al, I thought your wife would come?" Grissom spoke, noticing her absence.
"She had a prior commitment," Dr. Robbins explained, "she'll see you tomorrow though."
Grissom nodded in understanding. The waiter passed menus around the table and left them to peruse their choices. "So this is your last night as a bachelor," Brass stated, "how does it feel?"
"Good," Grissom replied, "it's sure been long enough."
Grissom's statement brought smiles around the table. "Griss, we could have thrown you a bachelor party," Greg said.
Had Sara been drinking, she would have spurted her beverage all over the place. Grissom gave Greg a cold stare. "This dinner is just fine," Grissom replied.
"Could you picture it?" Greg continued, "Griss with..."
Catherine cut Greg off before he could finish. "I think that's enough Greg," Catherine said, smiling, "it took long enough for them to get together, you don't want to scare them apart."
Everyone laughed again, and Sara squeezed Grissom's hand under the table. He seemed to relax some, and he looked at the menu in front of him. After choosing what he wanted, he closed his menu. One by one, everyone seemed to choose what they were going to have for dinner. "Is everyone ready to order?" Grissom asked, looking around the table.
Grissom received several nods, so he called the waiter back to the table. Grissom gestured to Nick to start the orders. "I'd like the baked chicken parmesan," Nick stated.
They continued around the table in order. "I'll have the roasted garlic alfredo," Warrick spoke.
"I'll find some mints for you," Greg joked, reaching in his pockets.
"What will you have sir?" the waiter looked at Greg, for he was next around the table.
"I'll have a garlic grilled chicken panini," Greg stated.
Warrick shot him a look. "I came prepared," Greg grinned, holding up the mints he found in his pocket.
Warrick shook his head. "I'll have the fettuccine alfredo," Brass stated.
"I would like the baked ziti with meat sauce," Dr. Robbins spoke.
"I'll have the garden style chicken penne," Catherine said.
"I'd like the ravioli marinara," Grissom stated.
"I would like an Italian market salad," Sara spoke, "please make sure that there isn't any meat in it."
"Can I get you anything to drink?"
Grissom glanced around the table, realizing that minus he and Sara, everyone had to go into work that night. "We'll just stick with water," Grissom stated.
The waiter nodded and left the table. "Just a salad Sar? Are you watching your figure?" Nick joked, nudging her under the table, "I've got to tell you girl, you can't lose much more off of that frame."
"For your information Nick, the salad comes with plenty of vegetables and pasta. It'll be plenty for me to eat. You don't need to be watching my figure," Sara stated, nudging him back.
The group continued to talk through dinner and dessert. When the waiter came back to the table to ask if they needed anything, Grissom asked for the check. He came back a few minutes later and handed it to Grissom. "Griss, we took you guys out to dinner, you can't pay for this," Nick stated, trying to reach for the check.
"Nick, the groom's family usually pays for the rehearsal dinner," Grissom started, but Nick interrupted him.
"This isn't a rehearsal dinner."
"I know that Nick, but I would like to pay for it. It's nice that we all sat down and had a chance to talk outside of work. However, I think all of you need to get going now."
Nick didn't protest further, and allowed Grissom to pay for their meals. Everyone stood up from the table to leave. "Sara, have Griss take you over to my house, Lindsey is waiting for you. I'll be by after work to pick you up and bring you over to the hotel," Catherine stated.
"Okay Cath, I'll see you later," Sara spoke, watching everyone leave.
After everyone said their goodbyes and left, Grissom led Sara out to the car and started their drive to Catherine's house.
When Grissom pulled into Catherine's driveway, he turned off the car and unbuckled his seat belt. The two got out of the car, and Grissom pulled Sara into his arms. "You should be coming home with me right now," Grissom spoke, kissing the top of her head.
"I know," Sara replied, "but after tomorrow, we'll have the next four days to ourselves."
"With no interruptions," Grissom whispered, leaning down to kiss her on the lips, "call me if you need anything."
Sara nodded and returned a brief kiss. "I'm sure we'll be fine. Just make sure you get to the hotel on time tomorrow."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"I love you," Sara spoke, kissing him one more time.
"I love you too."
Grissom let Sara go and watched as she walked to the door. After Sara knocked, Lindsey came to the door, and Grissom waited until Sara entered the house before he got back into the car.
When Sara entered the house, Lindsey led her to the living room. "I'm watching a movie, you should sit down and watch too," Lindsey spoke.
"Let me go get changed first," Sara spoke, "then I'll join you."
Lindsey sat down on the floor and leaned against the couch, and Sara took her bag to the bathroom. Emerging from the bathroom in sweatpants and a t-shirt, Sara sat on the couch behind Lindsey. "Are you comfortable there on the floor?" Sara asked.
"Yeah, I usually sit on the floor to watch tv. It's more comfortable that way," Lindsey replied.
"Okay, as long as you're happy."
"I didn't say I was happy, I said I was comfortable," Lindsey corrected.
"Is something bothering you?" Sara asked.
"No, but I don't have to be happy all of the time."
Sara sighed. I'm never going to understand teenagers. Well, she's not a teenager, but close enough. Teenagers are not within my area of expertise. Sara got comfortable on the couch and continued to watch the movie.
After the movie had finished, it was about ten thirty. "Lindsey, your mom didn't want you to stay up too late, you should probably head to bed," Sara stated, grabbing the remote to turn off the television.
"I've stayed up later than this before," Lindsey replied, trying to gain herself some more time.
"Well, it's going to be a busy day tomorrow, and your mom wanted you to get some extra sleep. I'm going to head off to bed, you might want to do the same."
Sara got up off of the couch and walked down the hall to the guest bedroom. She snuggled under the covers and tried to get comfortable. A few minutes later she heard Lindsey walk down the hallway and close her bedroom door.
Two hours later, Sara still hadn't fallen asleep. She was about to give up and get out of bed when her cell phone vibrated on the side table. She picked it up and answered it. "Sidle," Sara spoke.
"Not for long," Grissom replied.
Sara smiled. "What are you doing up this late?"
"I could ask you the same."
"I can't sleep."
"Neither can I. I figured I'd give you a call and see if you were still awake."
"Well, I am."
"How's it going?"
"The twelve year old with the attitude is in bed," Sara spoke.
"Ah, you had some fun."
"Not really. We just watched a movie."
"That's not what I was referring too."
"I know. What have you been doing?"
"I spent some time with the bugs, and I was reading a journal."
"Uh huh."
"Don't sound so enthused."
Sara smiled. "I am so tempted to drive home and spend the night with you."
"Sara, you don't have a car."
"Well, you could come here."
"We can't jinx the wedding," Grissom teased.
Sara groaned. "I am going to sleepwalk down the aisle if this keeps up."
"Just pretend I'm laying next to you. Think about our big day tomorrow, and maybe you'll drift off to sleep."
"Easy for you to say."
"Honey, I should let you go so you can get your beauty sleep."
"What, I'm not pretty enough for you?" Sara feigned hurt.
"You're beautiful. However, you might turn in to a zombie as you suggested if you don't get some sleep."
Sara chuckled. "Okay Griss, I'll see you later."
"Sweet dreams, I love you."
"I love you too, goodnight."
Sara closed her cell phone and set it on the side table. She wrapped her arms around a pillow and once again tried to fall asleep.