Deciding that he should probably wake Sara up to get ready for work, Grissom walked into the bedroom. As he approached the bed, he noticed that Sara had set the binder on the side table. She must have been reading, I wonder how far she got. Although he hated to have to wake her up, Grissom brought a hand to Sara's cheek and lightly caressed it. "Sara honey, time to wake up," Grissom spoke.
"Can I say five more minutes?" Sara grumbled, not making any attempt to move.
"It's already late, you're going to want to get up," Grissom stated, sliding his hand up to run his fingers through her hair.
"Can you make a sandwich that I can take into work?" Sara asked, opening her eyes.
"Sure."
"I'm going to go shower, I'll be out in a little while," Sara informed him, closing her eyes once again.
When Sara still didn't move, Grissom ruffled her hair. "Do you want help getting up? If I just leave you, you're going to fall asleep again."
Sara scowled and pulled the covers back. "I'm going, I'll be out soon," Sara stated, trying to get Grissom to leave her alone.
Grissom nodded slightly and walked out of the room. Sara rubbed a hand across her face to try and wake herself up. She slid close to the edge of the bed and pushed herself upright with her hands. Sara then slowly got up from the bed and headed toward the bathroom. I can't believe I'm still tired. I better perk up before I get to work, I need to be alert when Catherine decides to ambush me.
"Sara, where were you yesterday?" Nick asked, walking into the locker room right after Sara entered.
Sara turned around and gave Nick a forced smile. "I needed a day off," Sara replied.
"Griss too?"
"Yes, him too."
"You see, I would believe you, but you don't play hooky, and that smile doesn't quite reach your eyes. Is everything okay?" Nick asked with brotherly concern.
"Yeah," Sara spoke, turning back toward her locker.
"Sara, how long have we known each other?" Nick asked, not moving any closer toward her.
"A while. What's your point Nick?" Sara asked, taking her coat off to put it in her locker.
"Your façade might work on someone else, but it's not working on me," Nick informed her.
Sara put her coat in her locker, closed the door, and turned around. "Nick, you can't help with this," Sara spoke, starting to walk toward the door.
No one can. Before Sara could get to the door, Nick grabbed her hand. "If you need to talk, I'm open twenty-four seven," Nick assured, squeezing her hand.
Sara turned and managed to give Nick a small smile. "I'll let you know," Sara stated, pulling her hand from his.
Nick watched Sara exit the room and walk down the hallway toward the break room. What is going on with her? She seems so sad, I hope everything is going okay with the baby.
Grissom was sitting in his office when Catherine walked in the door. She shut the door behind her and sat across from his desk. "How is she?" Catherine prompted.
Grissom took off his glasses and set them down on his desk. "Sara's alright Cath, why wouldn't she be?" Grissom replied.
Catherine stared at Grissom and shook her head. "Where would you like me to start the list?"
"Catherine, this doesn't concern you. Please, don't meddle, let Sara and I figure this out on our own," Grissom spoke, ineffectively blowing her off.
"Grissom, before she left my house, she was adamant about coming into work last night. I got into work last night, and neither one of you were here. I called your cell phones and your home phone a couple of times before Sara finally picked up. She said the two of you couldn't come into work. What went on to cause such a change?"
Well, I was drunk, but I'm sure as hell not going to tell you that. You'd have a field day. "Catherine, thank you for covering for us last night. We had a lot to discuss, and we didn't think coming into work would be a good idea. Frankly, the rest is personal, and I'm not telling you any more."
"You didn't even know that Sara had told me that you weren't coming in. You thought that she had gone into work. Tell me, was there something wrong with your phone that morning? I called your home phone and cell phone countless times to see what was going on with you, but you know what? No one picked up."
"I never heard the phone ring," Grissom lied, instantly regretting his choice of words.
Catherine's anger lessened when she realized how she could get through to him. He even opened the door. "What are you doing about that anyway?" Catherine asked, a sly look adorning her face.
"I'm going to the doctor tomorrow afternoon."
"I know that, Sara called the appointment in from my house. You must have some idea of the treatment options, you always research everything and know the facts."
"That's true, I know a lot about my condition, but I'm not going to do a self-diagnosis."
"Did you tell Sara about said knowledge?"
"Cath, I'm not incompetent. She asked a lot of questions, so I gave her a binder that I had compiled the last time."
"You're going to let her find out everything on her own," Catherine stated plainly.
"I've told her a lot," Grissom spoke, "I gave her the binder so she would have a chance to look at all of the medical terminology and specific details."
Catherine rested her chin on her hands and made eye contact with Grissom. "Gil, I'm not quite sure you understand how much this is affecting Sara. She is carrying your child, and I can tell you first hand that being pregnant and having a whole lot of stress do not mix. She nearly dropped she was so worked up about…"
Grissom cut Catherine off when he caught what she said. "She what?" Grissom asked, quite shocked.
"She didn't tell you about that either? Doesn't surprise me. The two of you have some major communication issues," Catherine stressed, "I know your first reaction is to go badger her about not telling you, but keep in mind that you too held some things back. She needs support right now, and this whole thing with you is bothering her more than she is letting on."
Grissom let the air within his lungs slowly escape through his mouth. There is so much going on right now, I'm not sure I can process all of this, and as usual, I think I might be missing something. Emotional expert, I am not, but I am not as naïve as she is insinuating. "Dr. Willows, what do you suggest?" Grissom asked, all signs of teasing absent from his voice.
Catherine smiled and shook her head. At least he's not really angry, I thought I was going to be dealing with a lot of resistance. "Take her out on Saturday, do something special together. Give her some distraction. Reality won't disappear, but some relaxation will help make everything seem a little bit more manageable."
Grissom picked up the assignment slips off of his desk and then looked back toward Catherine. "Cath, I," Grissom started, but his voice drifted off while he tried to form the desired sentence.
"Hey, no thanks or apology necessary. You've always been thickheaded and people challenged, and you always will be. I'm just here to wake you up once in a while, and I do stress once in a while. If this becomes a regular issue, I'm going to kick your ass myself."
"Let's get to the break room," Grissom stated, standing up and effectively ending their conversation.
Catherine walked out the door ahead of Grissom, and Grissom pulled the door closed behind him. The two friends were once again on the same page.
"Catherine, you and Warrick have a 419," Grissom spoke, handing out assignments, "Sara, take Greg with you, you have a B&E. Nick, you're going to a suspicious circs, give me a call if it turns out to be something. For now, I'm going to start working on paperwork because it's getting close to the end of the month, and it needs to be done. However, if something gets called in, or if any of you need anything, I'm out of here."
"Don't sound so eager," Catherine droned.
Grissom ignored her statement and continued. "That's all, you can go to your scenes," Grissom stated.
Everyone got up and started to drift out of the room. Sara would have been last to leave the room, but Grissom stopped her. "Let's talk for a minute Sara," Grissom spoke.
Sara turned to Greg who had just walked out the door. "Greg, go ahead, I'll meet you outside," Sara directed.
Sara turned back to Grissom and gave him a soft smile. "What's going on?" Sara asked.
"I put a few sandwiches in the break room refrigerator for you," Grissom stated, not referring to what was really on his mind.
"Is that code for I'm worried about you?" Sara questioned.
The corner of Grissom's mouth twitched, and his gaze drifted away from her face. "I know this can't be easy for you," Grissom lowered his voice, his hand hovering above her stomach and dropping, "if you need anything…"
Grissom's voice trailed off, not really knowing what to say to her. Sara looked at Grissom just as his eyes returned to her. "Griss, I'm fine," Sara smiled, trying to reassure him, "if you have something on your mind, we can talk later. You have paperwork to do."
Grissom returned her smile and realized that she was right, on two counts. "Alright, I'll see you later."
Sara took a few steps out the door and turned around when a thought ran through her mind. "Oh, Griss," Sara called.
"What?"
"Politely thank Catherine for her two cents," Sara stated, walking down the hallway away from the break room.
Grissom shook his head and headed to his office. She looks tired, but I'll keep my mouth shut. She can't be feeling too poorly if she's teasing me, she can rest later when we get home.
"Did you get a good look at Sara?" Warrick asked Catherine on their way to the scene, "She looks exhausted to say the least."
"She's pregnant," Catherine explained, "you lose a little sleep, and it catches up with you really quickly."
"Do you think that's all? I find it slightly suspicious that the two people who only miss work when they absolutely have to didn't show up on the same day."
"Warrick, if you have a question, take it up with her. As far as I know, she's fine."
Deciding that Catherine knew more than she was letting on, but knowing that she wasn't going to tell him, Warrick turned his attention back to the atmosphere outside of his window.
"How was your night of hooky?" Greg asked jokingly while Sara drove them toward their scene.
Oh how I wish I was playing hooky. "Just fine Greg, it's amusing to break the rules once in a while," Sara played along.
Greg took the hint and changed the subject. "How's the little one doing?" Greg questioned.
Sara instinctively brought her hand down to her stomach and rested it there. "Just fine. It's getting bigger all of the time."
"Sara, I don't know what you're thinking, but you are in no way big. That stomach of yours is on the small side for how many weeks pregnant you are."
"Thanks Greg, have you been checking me out?" Sara teased.
"No, I'm just checking up on how you're doing."
"Oh, you want to be another keeper?" Sara raised her eyebrow, "Well, if you'd like to know, my doctor says everything is progressing just fine. I have another appointment in four weeks."
"Did you start thinking of names yet?"
"No Greg, we have plenty of time to think about that yet. And no, the baby will not be named after you, so don't even start."
"Shucks," Greg uttered, grinning.
Sara pulled up to the scene and parked the car. "We've got a scene to process, let's talk to the homeowners before we go inside."
Greg nodded in affirmation and the two exited the vehicle.
Brass met Sara and Greg at the crime scene tape before they could duck under. "Mr. and Mrs. Bennington are claiming that someone broke into their dog house and stole their two prize poodles. I'll let you talk to them to get the rest of the story," Brass stated.
"Brass, why are you at a dognapping?" Sara asked, a slight smile on her face.
"It was originally called in as a kidnapping. After I called into the station, they changed it to a B&E," Brass informed.
Sara nodded. "You're going to want to get out of here as soon as possible and find something more exciting."
"Treat all crimes equally," Brass parroted his training.
"Right," Sara drew out, "you weren't the first here, were you?"
"No. The first officer that responded is over there," Brass pointed toward the house, "he's waiting for the two of you to start processing."
"Well, you can join us for our quick chat with the Benningtons."
Brass gave a slight nod of his head and lifted the crime scene tape up for Sara and Greg to duck under.
"Mr. and Mrs. Bennington, meet Sara Sidle and Greg Sanders, Las Vegas Crime Lab," Brass gestured to the two of them at his left, "they'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Oh dear, how far along are you?" Mrs. Bennington spoke in an overly kind, caring voice while reaching out to touch Sara's stomach.
When Mrs. Bennington's hand connected with Sara's stomach, Sara took a giant step back. "Dear, being pregnant is nothing to be ashamed of, it's a beautiful thing for a woman," Mrs. Bennington continued.
Brass knew he had to enter into the conversation before Sara ran in the opposite direction. "Mr. and Mrs. Bennington, we were called here about your dogs," Brass redirected the conversation, "could you tell us when you last saw them?"
"I checked on Claire and Harvey in their house last night before I went to bed. Everything seemed fine then. I went to visit them this morning, and they were gone. Someone kidnapped my children!"
That explains the call. "Were the dogs chained or tied to the doghouse? Could they have gotten loose from their collars?" Sara asked, resuming her position next to Brass.
"Ms. Sidle, I don't think you understand," Mr. Bennington stated, a superior air about him, "Claire and Harvey live in a house. We wouldn't think of doing anything demeaning such as tying them up. Someone would have had to break into the house and seize them from within."
Great, we're dealing with people who have too much money and don't know what to do with it. "Was there anything missing from the house?" Sara questioned.
"Ms. Sidle, you're not too quick, are you?" Mr. Bennington snubbed, "Claire and Harvey are both missing. Instead of wasting our time and diminishing the chance of finding them, why don't you and your cohort go start processing the scene?"
Before Sara could respond, Brass stepped in. "Mr. Bennington, a few questions needed to be asked in order to be acquainted with your complaint," Brass spoke and turned to Sara, "the house is around back, just follow the path."
Sara nodded and motioned for Greg to follow her. When they were out of earshot, Greg spoke. "How are you dear?" Greg joked.
"Do you want to die?" Sara warned.
Greg chuckled and kept walking. "Could you have stepped any further back?"
"Some women might like people's hands all over them, however, I am not one of them. Give me my personal space."
Greg took a step away from Sara, causing her to shake her head. "There's only one way in, so we need to process the entranceway first," Sara stated.
"Yeah, then we'll do the house," Greg peered through the small window in the door.
"I'll take the door," Sara explained, "you take the perimeter."
Greg nodded and went off to his task.