Dedication: To Hazelmom, who is absolutely killing me with her story, Ghosts. Go read it now!
The next morning, after shift was over and she and Grissom had eaten a delicious pancake breakfast, Sara sat down in the living room with a phone and an address book. Grissom was sitting on the couch, ostensibly reading the newspaper, but in actual fact gazing in adoration at the sprawled out woman across from him. Sara was sitting sideways in his leather armchair, her back against the armrest and her legs flung over the other armrest. She was chewing thoughtfully on the antenna of Grissom's cordless phone as she flipped through her address book. When she found the number she was looking forward, she dialed it eagerly and waited for someone to pick up.
"Ash? Hey! It's Sara," she said happily. "I know, I know, it's been probably six months since we talked. I'm so sorry…I've missed talking to you, too..." She listened to Ashley speak for a moment before plunging right in. "Well, I've got some big news. I'm getting married!"
Grissom raised his eyebrows in amusement as he heard the squeal emanating from the phone.
Sara was laughing happily with her friend, who had finally gotten around to asking who she was marrying. "Are you ready for this?" Sara asked with a grin. "Gil Grissom." She waited for her words to take effect. "Yes, THE Gil Grissom," she giggled…and then squealed right along with her friend.
Grissom watched the entire thing with a mixture of awe, amusement, and surprise that Ashley obviously knew who he was. He was a bit taken aback by Sara's high-schoolish squealing, but he thought it was adorable. He didn't know whether to roll his eyes, laugh with her, or just chuck it all and join in the squealing like some 15 year-old girl.
Sara recovered from her squeal-fest to answer another question of Ashley's. "Oh, God, Ash, it was incredible." She proceeded to tell Ashley the entire story, from the calligraphy notes to the night at the Venetian to the week in Florida to their firing and re-hiring. Then she got to the proposal. "It was the most romantic thing I've ever heard of, Babe," she said enthusiastically. "He blindfolded me, drove me to this huge empty house and led me into the great room before he let me remove the blindfold. When I took it off, I was standing in front of this amazing fireplace, and on the mantle was this framed note. It said, "spend your life with me?" and when I turned around, he was on his knee behind me with the biggest damn diamond ring you've ever seen in your life. So of course I said yes, and then I looked around and wondered where the hell we were. So when I asked him, he said "our new home." He bought me a fucking house, Ash! He's unbelievable." Sara was grinning widely and sighed in contentment when she finished her story.
Grissom was now grinning along with her. It was interesting, hearing her talk about him in this way. He liked it.
"March 12th," Sara was saying. "Anyway, the entire reason I called is because I would love it if you would agree to be a bridesmaid. We'll pay for everything—your flight out here and the dress and your hotel, of course." She looked over at Grissom and raised her eyebrows, silently asking if that was okay. They hadn't discussed this.
He rolled his eyes in mock consternation. Like he could really say no now. Not that he wanted to. He was more than happy to pay Ashley's way.
"Catherine Willows," Sara was saying. "Yeah, we work together, and she and Gil have been close friends for years, so it only seemed right to ask her to be the maid of honor…yeah, that's right…she's the one that I didn't get along with very well when I first moved out here…things are a lot better now…she's a really good friend, not to mention the only other chick on my team! Then her daughter Lindsey's going to be a junior bridesmaid, and do you remember Elizabeth? Yeah, she's going to be my other bridesmaid…" Sara listened intently as Ashley asked her another question. "Well, Dr. and Mrs. Durham are going to sit on my side in the parents' row, since I don't want it to be glaringly obvious that I essentially have no family anymore, and one of my co-workers is going to walk me down the aisle. His name is Jim Brass, and he's really been kind of a surrogate father to me." She laughed. "Jim's going to be the busiest guy at the wedding! He's Gil's best friend, so he's going to walk me down the aisle, give me away, then step up beside Gil and be his best man!" Sara and Ashley laughed together for a few more minutes before Sara told Ashley that she would let her know what to do about her bridesmaid dress as soon as she picked it out, and that she had to make some more calls.
When she hung up, she smiled and sighed contentedly for a minute before dialing another number, this time from memory. "Elizabeth!" she cried happily into the phone before ducking her head sheepishly at a lecture she was receiving. "I know, I know, I'm sorry…I've missed our monthly calls, too. It's been what, three months now?" she said, wincing. "Well, I have a really good reason, I promise. Are you ready for this? I'm getting married!" Sara started squealing again, much to Grissom's amusement. "Are you sitting down?" she continued. "It's him," she said meaningfully. Grissom's eyes widened as he heard a loud and unmistakable "Shut up!" coming through the phone. Sara pulled the phone away from her ear as Elizabeth screamed bloody freaking murder at the news. Sara went through her entire spiel again, starting with the mystery notes and ending with the proposal in the "huge fucking house" once again. Then she asked Elizabeth to be a bridesmaid, but this time without the offer of paying for everything.
When Sara and Elizabeth finally hung up, Grissom looked at her over the top of his glasses. "Why didn't you offer to pay her way, too?"
Sara snorted. "Are you kidding me? She's a freakin' corporate litigator. She should be paying our way," she laughed. Grissom wondered about her choice of words. Apparently f-bombs only applied to large stone houses with a pool in the backyard. Sara continued. "I offered to pay Ashley's way because she's a teacher. Who goes to Harvard for four years to become I teacher, I don't know, but anyway, I knew she wouldn't be able to afford to come out here, so that's why I offered."
He nodded, touched by her thoughtfulness. Then he tilted his head to the side. "How did they know who I was?"
Sara snorted again. "I had to talk my frustrations out to someone," she said. "They've been my sounding board for years. Let me tell you," she laughed, "on the day of the lab explosion, after you blew off my dinner invitation, I had a couple of very pissed-off girls on my hands. If they'd been here in Vegas, I'm pretty sure the nightshift would have found your body out in the desert somewhere."
Grissom chuckled and shook his head. "Well, thank goodness for Jim bringing me to my senses." He stood up and reached for her hand. "Come on. It's time for bed and I want to take you to our bedroom and do naughty things to you."