When Grissom and Sara finished eating dinner, Sara sat at the table while Grissom washed the dishes. "I can help with that you know," she reminded him.

Grissom looked over his shoulder and saw Sara fidgeting with her hands. "Just sit, I think I've got everything under control," Grissom stated.

Sara met his eyes and smiled. "I'm going to go sit on the couch, it'll be more comfortable."

"Fine, I'll be in in a few minutes."

Grissom turned back to the dishes, and Sara got up from the table to walk into the living room.

After completing his chore, Grissom walked into the living room and lifted Sara's feet up so he could sit on the end of the couch. He brought her feet into his lap and started massaging them. Sara sighed in contentment and relaxed with his touches. "Can we start converting the guest room?" Sara asked.

"Right now?" Grissom questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"No, soon. The baby's going to be here before we know it, and the room isn't going to transform itself."

"What do you want to do in there?"

"Paint the walls, move your bugs, switch out some of the furniture," Sara suggested.

"Where are they going to go?"

Sara knew that Grissom could only be talking about one thing. "I don't know Gil, but they're not staying in the baby's room," Sara said and immediately thought of something to add, "and don't you dare bring them into our bedroom either."

Grissom smiled and turned Sara so he would be able to massage her back. "Is the living room okay?" Grissom asked.

"I guess…I don't know Griss, I don't want to have to see them all of the time."

"I'll think of something, don't worry about that," Grissom reassured, continuing his massage, "what color do you want to paint the room?"

"Blue," Sara replied without hesitation.

"Why, are you positive it's a boy?" Grissom joked.

"No, I don't care about all of those color coordinated stereotypes. I happen to think that blue is a nice color for the room."

Grissom smiled at her matter-of-factness. "Do you want to go to the store tomorrow and start picking some things out? That way when I have free time, I can start painting the room."

"You're going to paint it?" Sara said in disbelief.

"Well, you're sure not painting it. I have painted before you know."

Sara smiled and reached behind her to pinch Grissom's thigh. "I'll ask Nick to come over one day with his truck so we can bring everything that is in that room over to storage. Warrick and Greg can also come to help move the furniture."

"Sara, I think Nick and I could handle it."

"Gil, you are not lifting anything heavy. We have a baby coming, I'm not going to have you laid up. Plus, the guys will want to help."

Grissom decided to drop the subject and get back to the discussion of the actual design of the room. "So, do you want to go out tomorrow?"

"Sure. I have a pretty good idea as to what color I want, but we could take our time to look at furniture and other things."

"Okay," Grissom spoke, pulling her to his chest and kissing her neck.

Sara twisted in his lap so she could kiss his lips and wrap her arms around him. When Grissom started toying with her t-shirt, Sara ran her hand down his chest. "Now isn't a good time, is it?" Grissom surmised.

"Not really," Sara said, slightly unhappy that she couldn't fulfill his present desire.

Grissom settled for wrapping his arms around her and resting his head against hers. "Are you still tired?" Grissom questioned.

"Surprisingly, yes," Sara admitted.

"You've got to get more sleep during the day. You push yourself so hard at work, and then you don't get enough sleep when you're home."

"Spare me the lecture," Sara groaned.

"I just want to make sure you're okay. Maybe you should cut back on your hours a little bit."

Sara pulled away and looked him straight in the eye. "No," she said sternly.

"Well, as your boss, I'm going to say no more overtime."

"Gil, sometimes the cases require…"

Grissom rested a hand on her arm. "No. Under no circumstances are you to stay at the lab longer than normal hours. Though you may not realize it, you need your rest."

"Come lay down with me," Sara instructed, sliding off of his lap and taking his hand.

The two walked out of the living room and ventured into the bedroom.

The next morning, Grissom and Sara ate breakfast and left to go shopping. Grissom was driving, and Sara held his right hand from the passenger's side. "Where are we going first?" Sara asked.

"The hardware store. I thought we could pick out the paint first and then go look at anything else you want."

"Furniture."

"Yeah, we can go look at that."

The two continued the rest of the way in a comfortable silence.

Picking out a paint color in the hardware store went fairly quickly because Sara had an idea as to what she was looking for. They then went to a furniture store to start perusing their crib and table choices. Grissom kept an arm around Sara while they looked over the various display models. "Do you see anything that you like?" Grissom asked.

"I was thinking about a dark stained crib," Sara detailed.

"Why don't we go back further then," Grissom stated, "everything up here is painted."

They moved further down the row of displays and ventured further back in the store, finally coming upon some stained cribs. They looked over several displays before coming upon an elegant cherry crib with ornate trim. Although it had intricate details, the crib was perfectly designed to accommodate a baby, and could eventually turn into a child's bed. Sara ran her hand over the shiny finish, taking in the crib's spectacular design. "It's nice, isn't it?" Grissom spoke, standing by while Sara investigated the construction of the crib.

"It's sturdy," Sara pointed out, examining all of the joints.

Completing a thorough inspection, Sara turned to Grissom. "This is the one," Sara stated, happy that she had found something that she liked.

"Do you want the changing table to match it?" Grissom questioned.

"Yes, that would be nice," Sara replied.

Grissom reached for an item ticket and took Sara's hand in his. "Are we finished then?"

"Yes."

"Let's go order these and get out of here."

Sara nodded, and they walked back to the front of the store.

"Do you want to go anywhere else?" Grissom asked once they had exited the store.

"Not today, I've had enough," Sara complained.

"Can I take you for lunch?"

"Can't we just go home and have lunch?"

"If we stop at the store first. We're running out of just about everything."

"Okay, eating out it is."

Grissom smiled and led Sara to the car.

During their drive to a vegetarian restaurant, Grissom's beeper and cell phone sang out simultaneously. Grissom pulled his cell phone off of his belt and answered it. "Grissom," he spoke.

"I've got a db with plenty of bugs for you," Brass stated.

Grissom listened as Brass spoke and took down the location of the scene. "Did you just page me?"

"No, that was probably dayshift."

"Why are you there?"

"Things are really busy, I got called back in for the weekend."

"Alright, I'm on my way."

Grissom closed his cell phone and reattached it to his belt. "That was Brass, I'm needed at a scene," Grissom explained to Sara.

"Can you take me home first?" Sara asked.

"Of course. Do you want to stop somewhere quick and get something to eat?"

"No, I'll scrounge up something at home."

Grissom continued driving toward their house, disappointed that he couldn't spend some time with his wife, but intrigued by the prospect of insects.

After Grissom dropped Sara off and was sure she made it into the house safely, Sara took a container of yogurt out of the refrigerator and grabbed a granola bar out of the cupboard before heading to sit on the couch in the living room. She lounged for a while, eating her meager lunch and watching an unseen repeat of a forensic program. Although she didn't intend to, Sara drifted off to sleep.
When Grissom finally returned home from the scene, it was ten o'clock at night. Utterly exhausted, Grissom dropped his jacket on an armchair and forced himself to walk into the bedroom. He reached out for Sara as soon as he hit the bed, but he was met by a cold sheet. All of the lights were off and everything was silent. Where is she? Grissom walked out of the bedroom in search of his wife.

Entering the living room, Grissom realized that the television was on, and redirecting his gaze, Grissom found Sara curled up on the couch. I can't believe I didn't notice that. I'm tired, but that is unbelievable. Grissom walked closer to the couch, hoping to coax Sara to join him in bed. What is so special about this damn couch anyway? Turning off the forgotten television in favor of the table lamp, Grissom leaned down to kiss Sara's forehead. "Honey, you should come to bed," Grissom stated, trying to rouse her.

Sara opened her eyes and tried to adjust to the offending light. "You're home," Sara realized, slightly disoriented from sleep.

"Yes, come to bed," Grissom repeated.

"I'm not tired."

"Then humor me and come lay down with me for a little while."

Sara sat up on the couch, and Grissom helped her to her feet. She looked at her watch and realized how long Grissom had been gone. "You must be ready to drop," Sara inferred.

"Yeah, come on, my pregnant wife should not be sleeping on that couch."

Sara nudged his side, and the two of them headed for the bedroom.

After Grissom had fallen asleep, Sara smoothly disentangled herself from his arms and walked out to the kitchen. Upon looking in the refrigerator and trying to determine what to have to eat, Sara remembered that she had eaten the last yogurt earlier, and the refrigerator did not contain anything else palatable. The cupboard also yielded nothing, and Sara started to contemplate her options. Grissom will be asleep for a while, and the shopping needs to be done anyway. Deciding that she could do enough shopping so they could at least have some food in the house, Sara walked back into the bedroom to grab some clothes to change into. When she was dressed and ready to leave, Sara wrote a note to tell Grissom where she was and left it on the kitchen counter. She retrieved her keys from the counter and left the house, locking the door behind her.
Although he was still quite tired, Grissom woke up after two hours of sleep. He ventured out into the living room to try and locate Sara. Not finding her, he continued to the kitchen and discovered her note on the counter.

Was hungry, but the cupboards were bare. I decided to go over to the store and pick up some things. I'll be back soon, get some more sleep. –Sara

Grissom looked at his watch and shook his head. What was she thinking? It's midnight, and she's out shopping. Grissom picked up the phone from the cradle and speed dialed Sara's cell phone. "Sidle," Sara answered.

"Where are you?" Grissom questioned, concerned about her safety.

"The store, didn't you see my note?"

"Are you where we always go?"

"Yes," Sara drawled.

"I'll be there in a few minutes, stay put."

"Griss, I'm almost finished, you don't need to come all the way out here," Sara reasoned.

"It's midnight, you shouldn't have even been out there in the first place. Don't leave the store."

"Gil, you're being unreasonable. I can take care of myself."

"Stay put," Grissom commanded, returning the phone to its cradle.

After dressing quickly, Grissom left to go to the supermarket.

Pulling into the parking lot, Grissom found Sara's car very quickly. She had parked under a street light close to the building. Grissom parked beside her and exited the vehicle to walk into the store. Intent on finding Sara and making sure she was safe, Grissom didn't notice the concrete barrier at his feet until he had tripped over it and fallen to the pavement. Letting a slight expletive slip from his lips, Grissom picked himself up and examined his freshly scraped and bleeding hand. Torn between locating Sara and attending to his injury, Grissom headed back to his car to quickly clean up his hand before going into the store.

Using the contents of the first aid kit in his car, Grissom was able to clean his wound and cover it with a gauze pad. He then walked into the store and glanced around, trying to locate Sara. He found her sitting on a bench near the exit with a cart full of already purchased groceries. She had a cup of yogurt in hand that she was staring intently at while she spooned its contents into her mouth. "Does it taste good?" Grissom asked, standing in front of her.

"It sure took you long enough to get here," Sara complained, looking up from her snack, "see, I'm fine, I told you I was."

"Sara, I was just concerned, you know what can happen to a woman out at this hour."

Sara frowned at his statement. "Let's go home."

Grissom pushed the cart out of the store while Sara followed close beside him, still eating her yogurt. "How did you plan on getting all of these groceries home anyway?" Grissom asked, noticing how many items were inside of some of the bags.

"Hmm…my car," Sara stated, not understanding what he was getting at.

Grissom gestured to the bags and stopped by the back of his car. "Some of these are too heavy for you to be lifting."

"I would have managed," Sara defended herself.

Grissom started putting the bags into the back of his car, and Sara caught a glimpse of his bandaged hand. Before he could pick anything else up, Sara grabbed his wrist. "What is that?" Sara exclaimed, knowing that the bandage had not been there earlier.

"Oh, it's nothing," Grissom tried to brush if off, not wanting to get into how his injury had occurred.

"Yeah right," Sara rebutted, "I left you at home in one piece, and now you have this. That gauze is soaked with blood. What happened?"

Grissom pulled away and finished putting the groceries into the car. He closed the door and turned back to Sara. "I'll take care of it when we get home, okay? I'm glad that you're safe, and I'd like to go back home to get some more sleep," Grissom explained.

"This conversation isn't finished," Sara clarified.

Grissom gave a slight nod and walked the few steps with her to her car. She got behind the wheel and kept the door open. "You pull out first, I'll follow you home," Grissom spoke.

"I'll race you," Sara joked.

Grissom frowned and shook his head. "No. Let's both make it home in one piece."

"See you there," Sara spoke, pulling her door closed.

Grissom got into his car and followed close behind her.

When they got home, Grissom brought the groceries into the house and moved to start putting them away. "Gil, come sit," Sara spoke, taking his uninjured hand.

Grissom relented and allowed Sara to lead him to the couch. She had already retrieved the first aid kit, and she was prepared to examine and redress his wound. When Grissom saw the kit sitting on the side table, he realized Sara's intentions. "I should go wash it out first," Grissom stated, lifting up his hand, "this was just a temporary solution."

"Okay," Sara replied, watching him retreat to the bathroom.

Sara rested her head against the back of the couch and waited patiently for Grissom to return. I probably shouldn't have been out this late, but we're out at this hour all of the time with work. Why did he wake up so soon anyway? His extreme overprotectiveness is a little bit overwhelming. If he only realized how much I worry about him sometimes. Sara turned her head back toward Grissom when she heard him reenter the living room. She fished the triple antibiotic ointment out of the first aid kit and picked up a fresh gauze pad. "Let's see the damage," Sara spoke, pointing to the spot next to her on the couch where Grissom had been sitting.

After Grissom sat down, Sara reached for his injured hand and set it in her lap while she applied some of the ointment to the gauze pad. "Griss, this looks like you…fell," Sara realized.

No sense in denying it. "Yeah, I did," Grissom admitted.

"Where?"

"The parking lot."

"How?"

"I tripped over one of those concrete barriers."

"You thought I was in danger, and you got yourself hurt," Sara stated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Grissom spoke, his voice trailing off.

"Something could have just as easily happened to you if you had gone out alone this late, and in fact, you technically did go out alone, and you're the one who came home with the injury. How about we make a deal," Sara reasoned, "I won't make any more runs for midnight snacks, but you need to stop acting like I'm breakable. I'm pregnant, I'm not an invalid."

"I realize that, but I would feel the same exact way if you weren't pregnant. Since that day, Sara…"

"You don't need to bring that up Griss. Just try not to impinge on my freedom; I need some space sometimes."

Sara finished wrapping the bandage over the gauze on his hand and let it fall back into her lap. He rested his hand on her knee and slid over next to her. "How about I make sure that the grocery supply in the house is substantial so midnight runs are not necessary?" Grissom said as a means of apology.

Sara smiled and lightly rested her hand on top of his. "That would be nice," Sara accepted, "now, how about you get to bed?"

"I'll wait until you're finished eating," Grissom stated.

"Grissom, you're the one who is exhausted," Sara replied, "I'm just going to make a sandwich and eat it, it shouldn't take me very long. Go lay down, I'll be in soon."

Grissom, realizing that he was practically dead on his feet, kissed Sara's cheek and pulled himself up off of the couch to go into the bedroom. After putting everything back into the first aid kit and closing it up, Sara headed out to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich. When she was finished eating and went to go join Grissom, she realized that he had already fallen asleep. That's good, he's totally exhausted. He never did tell me about his case, I hope everything went alright. Sara walked back out into the living room and sat with her laptop at the desk. She defined a few search terms and was quickly met with a plethora of information. She sat back and perused the information while several thoughts circled through her head. He's suppressing his own problems and going overboard on me. When will he realize that some of his actions could have dire consequences also?