"You went to Sara's hotel room and put a tarantula in it."
Max looked up at his parents. "Yes."
Gil sighed. "What have I always told you?"
"Treat spiders like you want to be treated," Max mumbled.
"And do you really think that you should have put that spider there?"
Max sighed. "He probably didn't like it."
"Exactly."
Catherine blinked. "Gil, this is all fascinating, but did you forget that Max went over to Sara's hotel, by himself!?"
Gil nodded. He turned back to Max. "Don't ever go to Sara's motel room and leave a tarantula there. Understood?"
"Okay." Max stood up.
"Sit," Catherine growled.
Max slipped down onto the chair.
Catherine sat down next to him. "You know how important to me and your dad you are, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then imagine how scary it was for me to go wake you up and then find that you weren't there."
"I scared you."Catherine nodded. "Very much."
Max hugged her. "Sorry, mom."
"Just don't do it again," Catherine said, hugging him tight. She pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Go on, schooltime."
Max got up and headed out the room.
"Oh, and Max?"
The little boy turned around.
"No T.V for a week."
"But…."
"Wanna make it two?" Gil suggested.
"No," Max grumbled, heading out the door.
Gil turned around and looked at Catherine, who was still pale. He remembered the look of terror on her face when she'd returned to their bedroom to say that Max was missing. The total fear he'd felt. "Cath."
She held up a hand, ignoring the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. "I'm fine. Just need a minute."
Gil ignored her and sat down, tugging her into his arms. "The kids are at school. Let it out, Cath."
"I won't let her make me cry," Catherine growled.
"That's not why you're upset," he murmured, tipping her chin so she looked up at him. "You're upset because we've never had one of our children go missing before."
At those few words, Catherine burst into tears.
Gil held her tight, rocking her against him. "It's okay, baby. He's okay. I've got you."
She sniffled, snuggling close to him. "I'm okay. Just…relieved. And mad. And happy."
"And schizophrenic," Gil joked.
She punched him in the arm. "You were being really sweet. Don't ruin it."
Gil smiled and tightened his grip, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm sorry." He kissed her again. "I love you, Cath."
"I love you too," she murmured. "Hey Gil?"
"Mhm?"
"Wouldn't you have loved to see the look on Sara's face when she saw the tarantula?" Catherine began to giggle.
Gil chuckled. "That would have been interesting." He kissed her lips. "You're a bad girl, Catherine Grissom."
Catherine looked up at him, a sly smile on her face. "Wanna see how bad I can get?"
"Show me what you've got."
Matt walked out of the school, talking and joking with some friends. He frowned when he looked over to see a woman beckoning him.
"Ah, I'll catch up with you guys tomorrow."
He bid his friends goodbye and made his way over to the woman. "What are you doing here?"
Sara Sidle smiled and handed over an envelope.
"What's this?" Matt asked, opening the envelope.
"Open it and see," Sara smiled.
Matt's eyes widened. "Metallica concert tickets?"
Sara nodded. "Yeah. I thought we could go together."
"To Metallica? You and me?"
"You think I'd let you go alone to see Metallica?"
Matt's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You like Metallica?"
"Hell yeah. They're my favourite band."
"Cool! I always have to turn it down at home. Mom doesn't like them."
"Well, I love them," Sara said firmly. Score one for her. But she was going to have to buy some heavy-duty earplugs.
"Uh, I really appreciate it but…"
"Don't decide yet," Sara said, putting up a hand. "Just think about it."
From across the road, Max Grissom frowned. This meant war.
Catherine looked up from where she was reading, and smiled as Matt came through the door. "Hey. How was school?"
Matt shrugged. "Fine."
"Did anything interesting happen today?"
"Nope." Matt paused and came into the den, sitting on a chair opposite his mother. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
Catherine put down her book. "Sure you can. What's up?"
Matt handed over the envelope that Sara had given him. Catherine looked at her son for a moment before opening it.
"Metallica concert tickets."
Matt nodded.
"I didn't know you'd been saving up."
"Sara gave them to me."
Catherine's eyes widened. "She what?"
"She was waiting for me when I came out of school and she said she'd go with me." Matt sighed. "Problem is, I wanted to say yes."
Catherine put the envelope down. "I'd have been worried if you hadn't wanted to say yes."
Matt's eyes widened. "Huh?"
"Matt, you're fifteen years old! If someone had given me tickets to see the Bangles when I was fifteen, I wouldn't have cared if that person were the Devil."
"The Bangles?"
Catherine arched an eyebrow. "Never mind." She handed the envelope back to Matt. "The point is, the decision is yours."
Matt's eyes widened. "You'd let me go? With her?"
Catherine said nothing.
"I want to go." Matt looked at the tickets. "I don't think we better make Dad's hearing problem any worse…but will you go with me?"
Catherine's eyes widened. "Me?"
"I don't want to go with her. But I do want to go. And I want you to go with me. I know you don't like Metallica, but…"
Catherine put a hand up. "I'd love to go with you." She looked at the envelope. "But how about we buy our own tickets, okay?"
Matt handed over the envelope and nodded. "I think that's a good idea."
"You want me to do what!?"
Max grinned cheekily at his older brother. "You heard me."
Jamie looked at him, stunned. "I am not making a bomb."
"It doesn't have to be a big one," Max assured him. "Just one that would give her a fright. And maybe blow up something small."
"When you say her…are you talking about Sara Sidle?"
"Well, duh."
"You can't blow her up!"
"I don't want to blow her up!" Max replied. "Geez, I'm not totally stupid. I don't wanna go to jail."
"Max, even blowing small stuff up is illegal."
Max blinked. "Then how come builders blow stuff up?"
Jamie frowned. "That's different."
Max fluttered his eyelashes. "Just a little eensy weensy one?"
Jamie paused. "A tiny bomb."
"Very tiny." Max put his two fingers together. "Mini bomb."
Jamie thought for a moment. "Let's discuss this a little more."