Chapter 23

Grissom opened his wallet and peered at the worn snapshot. The back
read Marilyn, Robert and Gil. The picture was taken the Easter
Sunday before his father left for good. In truth the elder Grissom
had never really been with his family in body or spirit. Robert
Grissom was a distant man under the best of circumstances. Gil had
missed him but understood that life was better without him than if he
had stayed.

It came as no great surprise to Gil when had morphed into a more
responsible version of his father. People were products of nature
and nurture and while his mother's gentle spirit had tempered much of
Robert Grissom's genes it had not been able to remove all of it.
Every year found Gil Grissom more aloof and slightly more difficult.

He had made the decision long ago that no child should be subjected
to his brilliant but extremely flawed genes. It was too late for
that but it was not too late for Grissom to push Julian out of harm's
way. Sara might have been able to contend with his imperfections but
no child should have to.

The computer made a noise as an email from Special Agent Irvin hit
his secure inbox.

Sara returned from an evening at Chris and Ross', her arms laden with
presents. Chris had walked her to the door and then walked her as
far as the entryway. As he gave her a quick peck on check Sara
thanked him again for all that he had done. When she'd walked into
the cool beach house Ross and Chris shared the jubilant pair had
jumped from behind the couch yelling "Surprise". The room was
decorated with blue balloons and all manner of flowers had been dyed
blue. On the kitchen table was a mound of presents for Sara's
baby "shower"

As Chris had commanded her to sit he had explained. "If we aren't
good for some cute presents, what good are gay friends?"

The glare of Grissom's cigarette was a like a siren call through the
clear glass of the sliding glass window. She put down the presents
and tapped on the closed door. Grissom stubbed the cigarette out on
the railing and beckoned her into the night air. An empty bottle of
tequila was near his bare feet. She wondered if he had consumed the
entire bottle in one sitting.

He looked back at the presents that Sara had set on the living room
couch. "Chris and Ross?"

"Of course."

"That's nice."

For a time they listened to the sound of the waves and both imagined
that everything was the way it used to be. Grissom broke through
their thoughts. "I got an email from Agent Irvin."

"When are you leaving?" The prospect terrified Sara but she had to
believe it was best. Having Grissom in the house when she brought a
new baby home was bordering on ridiculous.

"Not anytime soon. She doesn't want me to leave until you have the
baby, says it would look strange for a man to leave his pregnant
wife."

Sara response came out in short burst. Her CSI logic refuted the
claim. "That's ridiculous, pregnancy causes stress on couples all the
time." The irony of the sentence seeped in just as she closed her
mouth.

Grissom gave a tight smile as he reached for the empty bottle not
realizing that the last of the clear liquor was gone. "My thoughts
exactly but what do I know?"

Heavily he stood and moved into the half lit living room. "Night
Sara, don't stay up too late. It's not good for you or Julian."