Disclaimer: Again, I am but a poor college student who owns nothing more than what fits in my dorm. CBS and affiliates, please don't sue me.

Pairings: G/S, what else is there?

Rating: PG- 13, possibly R

Summary: This is my take on the way some of our favorite GSR moments should have gone, starting from the beginning.

Chapter Five- Butterflied

January 2004

Las Vegas, Neveda

When the door to Debbie Marlin's house opened and Grissom stepped out, his eyes locked with Sara's. They didn't break contact for a long silent moment and when they did, it was because Sara forced her self to look away.

"I don't want anyone in that house but CSI," Grissom ordered, "Warrick, you got the car."

"Which one?" Warrick asked, turning to the two cars in the parking lot.

"Both of them," Grissom replied.

Brass shook his head, tossing a glance over his shoulder, "Take the Honda, the VW belongs to the vic's friend. She called it in."

"Too bad," Warrick muttered, picking up his kit, "This is a day she'll never forget."

And with that, he stalked off toward his car.

Grissom turned toward his wife, not able to make himself look her in the eye, "Sara, you take the perimeter."

"What?" she snapped, "You just did a one hour walk through, the perimeter cannot be that high of a priority, Griss."

The look on Sara's face sent a flush across Grissom's skin and Catherine shook her head, "Well, I'm going to take that as my cue to leave. Jim, care to join me on my walk to the front door?"

"Certainly."

The detective and the blond CSI turned and moved toward Debbie Marlin's front door, leaving Grissom to stand silently in front of his wife. Sara reached out and took his trembling hand, causing him to look up at her.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked gently, running her thumb along the top of his hand.

Grissom shrugged, "I don't want you in that house Sara."

"Why? Tell me what's wrong."

"Honey, please, promise me you won't go into that house... please."

The fear in his eyes sent a chill through Sara. She squeezed his hand gently, hoping to provide some sort of comfort. He smiled at her briefly, leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to her temple.

"You know I love you, right?"

Grissom nodded, "I love you, too, sweetheart-" He laid his hand gently on Sara's now eight month pregnant stomach "- Both of you."

Sara smiled, laying her hand over his. They stood silently like that for what seemed like forever, both reveling in the feel of their child growing in her womb. It wasn't until Catherine reappeared that they remembered where they were. Grissom withdrew himself from his wife and turned to his collegue.

"Come on, dad," Catherine said with a grin, "We've got a scene to process."

Grissom and Sara smiled at her as she moved toward the house. He glanced back at Sara for a moment, hesititating slightly.

"Go, Gil, Cath's right, we have work to do," Sara said lightly, "I'll be fine. And I promise, I'll stay out of the house, nothing but perimeter in Nevada's winter weather for pregnant little ol' me."

Grissom smirked at her playful expression.

"I could just have Jim run you back to lab..."

Sara shoved him a little and he smiled at her. They spent another moment staring at each other and Sara could sense Grissom's seriousness. She gave him another gentle push and pointed in the direction that Catherine had gone. He gave her a final worried look and went after Catherine.

Sara stood alone for a moment before Brass moved to her side. The two of them watched the door to Debbie Marlin's house close before Sara turned to Brass.

"What's in that house, Jim?" Sara asked quietly.

"I don't think that Gil wants you to know that, Sara," Jim told her, "And I've seen what's so scary behind those doors and I'm gonna have to agree with your husband on this one, kid, you shouldn't know what's in there."

With a quick pat on her back, Brass was gone, leaving Sara to worry about her husband.

Two hours after arriving at the scene, Sara leaned in over the backseat of Debbie Marlin's car, watching Warrick as he took photos.

"I have absolutely nothing," she huffed, "How 'bout you?"

Warrick pointed at the groceries in the backseat, "I got a lot. Check this out."

"Bananas, stuffed mushrooms."

Warrick nodded, "Chocolate syrup, six pack of soda, box of condoms."

"No surprises there," Sara smirked at him.

Warrick laughed a little, "Fresh bag of groceries in an unlocked car?"

"Maybe she was interrupted."

Grissom stared at the blue butterfly in his hands. It was beautiful, gorgeous even. It reminded him of Sara. He put the butterfly back on the dresser and picked up a photo there. It was a picture of Debbie, smiling brightly with her arms stretched out over her head. He stared at it, unable to get her image out of his mind. He sighed, shaking his head, and put the picture back down in it's place.

He glanced in the mirror above the dresser and imagined Debbie sitting on the bed behind him. As she turned around to look in her mirror, his image of her morphed into that of his wife and he couldn't help the shudder that passed through him.

He rubbed a hand over his eyes, feeling fatigued after only a couple of hours of work. This was the second day in a row he'd been in this house, only this time he was going on little or no sleep. Something was wrong, this case was gonna get to him and he wasn't prepared for the emotional trauma he would be forced to face.

The sound of his cell phone brought him back to reality and he reached for it.

"Grissom."

"Hey, it's me." Sara.

"Sara, honey, I'm in bad area, I'm gonna have to call you back."

"Oh, I just wanted to let you know that I got a skin tag off the bathrub pipe drain," she told him quickly, probably trying to avoid being cut off.

"Skin tag? Uh, good, give it to Greg," he told her, not sure how much longer he could hold his emotions in check with her.

Sara hesitated and he could tell that she'd stopped walking, "Yeah, I did. Hey, do you want me to come over there and give you a hand?"

"No," he said immediately regretting how harsh the word sounded, "I-I'm fine. I'll-I'll, um, I'll talk to you at home, Sara."

With that, he hung up. He knew that Sara would, in some way, understand his hesitation, but he also knew that she wouldn't like it. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment and the tears in his eyes finally started to fall.

Sara took a seat across from Catherine and Warrick, not sure that she wanted to be a part of a group conversation with her husband over the phone. The intercom sat on the table between them as Catherine began.

"We know that, two days ago, Debbie Marlin is off work and at some time that morning, she buys groceries."

"At Pendale's," Warrick continued, "the closest store in West Charleston."

"Brass talked to one of the cashiers," Sara said, "He remembers seeing her just before his break at quarter after eleven."

"The store's about twenty minutes from her house," Catherine said, looking around the table, "Where's Nick?"

"American Academy of Forensics Science Convention," Sara told her, shrugging.

Grissom huffed and Sara heard him shift, "Guys, can we continue please?"

"She comes home from the store. She parks in the driveway . Begins to unload."

Warrick continues, "Takes out the perishibles first. Has to go back out and probably leaves the front door open."

"Explains why there were no signs of forced entry," Sara said with a small shrug.

Grissom was quiet for a minute but they could here him moving through the scene. A door opened and he walked more.

"Getting ready for her date?" Catherine asked.

More silence on the other end of the phone and Sara knew that Gil was getting caught up in the images in his head.

"Lighting candles. Mutli-tasking."

Warrick muttered, "She opens a bottle of wine. Two glasses."

Catherine shrugged, "Her girlfriend said she was locking down for an afternoon with Michael Clark."

"Nosy neighbor puts Clark's Mercedes in the driveway around noon," Sara said.

At that moment in the conversation, Greg entered the room with a printout in hand.

"Thought you guys should know," Greg panted, a little out of his breath from his jog to the break room, "The hair Sara got from the drain is a match to the bags of human remains found in the alley. Jacqui confirmed the prints, it's Michael Clark."

"Okay, most of our effort has been put into finding another victim?" Catherine thought outloud.

"Michael Clark," Grissom said, startling all of them, "But can we place him dead at the house?"

No one answered.

"Greg, what else can you tell us about the hair?" he asked.

"You mean hairs?" Greg replied, "There were two. The first was what was used to identify the vic. The second was ancillary. Arm or leg hair, maybe."

"Found it in the tub drain," Sara clarified.

A moment later, Grissom said, "The avatar of choice... for dismemberment."

Greg spoke up again, "Well Jacqui didn't find any prints on the blade or handle of the scaple you guys found at the scene. But the blood belongs to both victims."

"So, Michael Clark was dead in the tub," Catherine concluded, "We just don't know how he got there."

Grissom was kneeling on the floor in the hallway, testing the carpet for GSR, when Catherine entered the house. She stood silently watching him for a moment before she spoke.

"Gil, don't tell me you never went home."

He didn't look up at her as he continued to test the carpet.

"All right," he said, that being as much of an answer as he wanted to give, "I just started in here. Haven't been in any of the other rooms yet."

Catherine shook her head behind him, "Your wife is gonna start worrying about you. Come on, get up, you're into your thrid shift already, Gil. I mean, I'm all for the overtime, but this is getting out of hand. You have a pregnant wife at home, you can't do this to her, or to yourself."

Grissom thought about that for a moment before announcing, "My knees can't take this anymore."

Catherine smiled grimly, "Have you eaten anything?"

"What'd you bring?" Grissom asked, his stomach growling at the prospect of food.

Catherine shrugged, "I'll check the fridge."

As she moved into the kitchen, she heard Grissom call after her, "We have to replace that!"

Catherine eventually got him to move outside onto the patio, giving him a cup of yogurt and some peanut butter. She sat down across from him.

"Feel better?" she asked with a smirk.

He glanced at her over the tops of his glasses.

Catherine laughed at him a little, "Well, now that we've fed you, we should probably talk about a shower."

The idea of taking a shower at the scene threw him slightly off balance and his eyes widen with confusion.

"I meant at your place," Catherine told him, shaking her head, "You need to go home, Gil."

"As soon as we find some evidence," he told her, "I promise."

Catherine shook her head, "With fresh eyes you won't miss it. Besides, when was the last time you kissed Sar, Gil? When was the last time you told her you love her, huh? You can't start pulling away from her now, she's pregnant and hormonal and right now is the time she needs you the most."

Grissom placed the yogurt container on the table in front of his and removed his glasses. Catherine was right, he was exhausted and he missed Sara. But not as much as he would miss her if something like this ever happened to her. He need to find out what happened to Debbie Marlin. He needed the closure for himself.

"Just walk me through it will you?"

Catherine sighed, "All right. The bathroom is where things got started -- candles, oils, steam shower, cleaned up, oiled up, sexed up."

Grissom opened the jar of peanut butter, sticking his finger into it. He stuck the finger in his mouth and thought for a moment.

"Let's go back to the bedroom."

The entire team, minus Nick, worked Debbie Marlin's case. Warrick spent the majority of his time in the lab processing the evidence Gil and Catherine collected from the scene. Sara had been, in a way, kept off of the case. She'd been asked to do small, mudane things that any lab tech could easily do. Grissom's subtle way of keeping her back.

What had bothered Sara the most about their current case was her husband's interest in it. He had become emotionally involved and Sara could only remember one other case that had occupied him in that way. That case had involved an innocent baby who's 3 year old little brother had accidentally smothered him with an over mitt. Sara shuddered, remembering the way Gil had let out his frustrations with her the morning they'd solved the case... she had craddled him in her arms. But the case they were working was different, it involved a thirty-something year old woman, not a child. Gil didn't generally become emotionally involved in cases that didn't involve children.

When he asked Sara to take Debbie Marlin's toe prints, she knew that she had to find a reason for his emotional withdrawl from her. Three days, he had spent three continuous days at the Marlin house. He called her to tell her to rest, to make sure she was taking care of herself and the baby, but he hadn't been home in seventy two hours and counting.

Sara stood in the doorway of the locker room, watching Catherine as she changed her boots and pulled on her jacket.

"Hey, Cath, have you seen Grissom?" Sara asked softly.

Catherine looked up at her, smiling grimly, "He's still at the scene."

"Oh," Sara dropped her eyes to the file in her hands, "I eliminated both victims from the print you pulled off the bed."

"Well, we know that she was sleeping with more than one of her collegues," Catherine replied.

Sara nodded but didn't say more.

Catherine watched her for a reaction as she asked, "Have you seen Debbie?"

"Yeah," Sara said, shrugging. Catherine noted the distance in her voice.

"And?"

"Yeah, I compared her toe prints," Sara muttered.

"If I didn't know any better," Catherine said, dropping her voice to just above a whisper, "I'd think that was you lying in there on that table."

"I didn't really look at her face," Sara forced out, swallowing the lump in her throat. She didn't want to talk about this here, she didn't want to talk about it with Catherine. She just wanted to see her husband, to lie in his arms and reassure him that she was alive, that she wasn't Debbie Marlin, she was still here for him.

Catherine knew damn well that Sara was lying, she could tell by the look in her eyes. But she wouldn't push her, Gil would talk to her about it. She glanced at the younger woman, watching the shift in her posture, "Oh."

"Catherine, can you just let Grissom know I was looking for him?"

"Yeah."

Sara turned and left Catherine in the locker room to stare after her.

Sara sat quietly in the silence of her husband's office. She rested her hands on her stomach, feeling their unborn child kicking her softly. She smiled to herself.

The first trimester of her pregnancy had gone by quickly, which pleased Sara because her morning sickness was almost unbearable. By the end of her second trimester, they knew that their child was perfectly normal, as they had both expected, with ten fingers and ten toes. They hadn't been told the sex of the child because they had agreed that they wanted to be surprised. They had pictures of all of Sara's sonograms in a folder at home but Gil had locked them in the safe the moment they received them. Sara had, at one point, wished that she knew the baby's gender so that she could pick a name, but she had changed her mind for Gil. He was adament about not knowing the gender before the birth and Sara would've felt guilty if she knew and he didn't.

The last two months of her pregnancy had proven to be the most interesting. In her last week of her fifth month, Sara had flown to California alone. Gil had insisted that she go see her parents so that they could share in the joys of pregnancy with her before she was restricted from flying. He didn't go with her, which Sara had initially found unnerving, but once she reached her parents' Bed and Breakfast, her uneasy vanished and she was able to relax.

Little did she know that in the two weeks she was on vacation, Gil had gone out to Hendersen, bought them a four bedroom, two bathroom ranch home with a huge back yard. Nick and Warrick had been in on the whole thing, offering to paint the bedroom across the hall from the master bedroom, making a nursery for their baby. They had choosen to use neutral colors, yellow and green, and Warrick even painted a mural of the forest on one wall. The entire house was furnished in just two weeks and Catherine had taken the liberty of framing Sara's sonograms and some other photos that had been taken of her during the pregnancy.

"Samantha."

They had been on the way to a scene, Warrick, Grissom and Sara. It had really come out of nowhere, they weren't even talking about the baby.

"Excuse me?" Sara said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I think that, if the baby is a girl, we should name her Samantha," he explained, smiling at her bemused expression, "Samantha Grace Sidle-Grissom."

Sara nodded, smiling, "Why Samantha?"

"You don't get it?" Gil asked.

Sara shook her head, frowning momentarily.

"I get it," Warrick spoke up, "A mix of your initials. S-G-S-G. Cute, Griss."

Grissom smiled, turning his attention to his wife again.

"I like it," Sara said, "But, no hyphen. Just Samantha Grace Grissom. My initials aren't S-S anymore, honey, they're S-G. I don't need to be Sara Sidle anywhere but at work."

Grissom was quiet for a moment before nodding, "All right."

Sara silently prayed that the child growing in her was a girl. She knew that her husband wanted a daughter more than anything and she wanted more than anything to make him happy.

When the phone on Gil's desk rang, Sara's thoughts were interrupted and she stood to answer it.

"Las Vegas Crime Lab, Sara Sidle speaking."

"Sara? Honey, didn't I call my office number?"

It was Gil. Sara smiled.

"You did, but I was resting on your sofa. I needed to feel something that was close to you, something you touched," Sara said softly. When he didn't reply, she continued on, "Are you still at the scene?"

"No, I'm in the car," he said, making Sara smile in relief, "I'll be there soon."

"That's good," Sara yawned.

"Sara, honey, are you all right?" he asked gently.

Sara nodded to herself, saying to him, "I'm fine, just a little tired. I needed to put my feet up for a while, that's all."

"Why don't you go home, sweetheart?"

"Not until-" she paused for another yawn "-You get here. I don't want to go home to an empty bed again, Gil. I need you."

He noticed the slight hitch in her breath when she said the last three words. Something was wrong. He knew he'd distanced himself lately but he couldn't help it. He needed to be strong for Sara. She was eight months pregnant and seeing the body of a woman who could've been her twin posed in such a horrible scene. Sara became emotionally attatched so easily, if the victim resembled her... he didn't want to think about what that would do to her.

"I'll be there soon, Sara, and we'll go home, I promise."

Sara smiled and yawned again, "Hurry, Gil, I'm exhausted."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you, too, baby."

When they arrived at home, Gil could barely keep his eyes open long enough to carry himself into the bedroom. Sara followed him in, closing the door behind them and watching as he undressed himself and crawled under the covers. He watched her for a second, wondering if she planned on joining him.

"Sara?"

She smiled at him, "Sorry, I was just watching. I missed you, you know."

Sara started toward the bed, removing clothes as she went until she was lying down beside him under the covers. The darkness of their room was peaceful and Sara felt like she would fall asleep in seconds. But she didn't want to sleep. It had taken Gil three days to just come home and be with her, she needed him to talk to her now too.

"Grissom, tell me about Debbie Marlin," Sara whispered into the darkness of their bedroom, "Tell me about this case."

"Sara..."

"Please, Gil," she whispered again, "I need to know why you've been so... distant lately. We need to talk about this."

Gil shifted behind her and Sara panicked, thinking that she'd made him angry. She turned enough to watch him prop himself up against the headboard. Then he reached for her, pulling her onto his lap, locking his arms around her.

"Sara, Debbie Marlin's case... I mean, she reminded me-" he paused, unable to tell her what he was thinking.

"She had my face," Sara said, so quietly that Gil barely heard her. He shuddered at the image of Debbie Marlin's body as it came immediately to his mind.

"Yes she did," Gil pressed a gentle kiss into her hair. He felt close to tears. "Sara, I was terrified when I saw her lying there, blood pooled around her. I froze, I've never felt so out of place, honey. All I could think about was getting out of that house to find you waiting outside for me."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that alone."

"Sara, I chose to go through it alone, of my own accord," he told her, "Because I needed to go through it alone. I needed to prove to myself that I could be strong for you, for us."

Sara rested her back against his chest, laying her head on his shoulder. She nodded at his confession, urging him to go on.

"You looked at her, honey, saw her face... I-I thought she was you," he muttered, his voice cracking a little, "I knew that, when I closed my eyes, I would see you lying there, hear your screams. God, honey, I was terrified."

Sara felt his tears hit her bare skin and she turned into him as much as she could, pressing gentle kisses along his jawline. He didn't kiss her back but he enveloped her in his arms. Sara was quiet and patient, letting him cry over the idea of losing her, she'd cried hundreds of times over him.

Finally, his sobs became silent and Sara tilted her head up to him.

"I'm here," she whispered, "Right here, Gil, and I'm not Debbie Marlin, I love you and I would never, ever hurt you."

"Maybe not intentionally but-"

"No, no buts, Gil," Sara said, "I won't ever leave you, Gil Grissom. Not unless you start hitting me, honey, which I know you never will."

"I couldn't," he breathed, "I could never hurt you, Sara."

Neither of them spoke for a minuted. Sara suddenly jumped a little and giggled.

"What's wrong?" Gil asked, concern flushing his face.

Sara didn't say anything but as she shifted his arms from behind her back, he knew what she was laughing about. She placed his hand on her lower stomach and he felt what she was feeling. The look on his face was one of pure love and Sara knew that he enjoyed the sensation of their child in her womb as much as she did.

"You know," Sara began, "I don't think my life could get any better than it is right now, Gil."

He nodded and Sara felt the scratch of his beard against her temple.

"I love you, Sara."

"I love you, too, Gil."

Dr. Vincent Lurie sat in the interrogation room across from her husband and Sara stood in the observation room, watching their exchange. She could see the anger on her husband's face, his urge to scream at the man in front of him. But he remained calm as he spoke.

"It's sad, isn't it Doc?" Grissom said coolly, "Guys like us? Couple of middle aged men who've allowed there work to consume their lives?"

Dr. Lurie turned around now to face Gil as he spoke.

"The only time we touch people is when we're wearing out latex gloves. We wake up one day and realize that for fifty years we haven't really lived at all. But then all of a sudden, we get a second chance," his gaze suddenly shifted from Lurie to the two-way mirror that he knew Sara was standing behind, "Someone young and beautiful comes along. Somebody... we could care about. She offers us a new life with her. But we have a big decision to make, right? Because we have to risk everything we've worked for in order to have her."

He paused for a moment and Sara felt tears burning in her eyes.

He continued, "I couldn't do it. But you did, you risked it all and she showed you a wonderful life, didn't she? But then she took it away... and gave it to someone else. And you were lost. So you took her life."

Gil stopped talking and Sara watched the look that Lurie gave him. The other man simply shook his head and left Gil alone in the interrogation room. Sara watched his eyes as they dropped to the floor and she knocked on the window, getting his attention. He smiled at her as he got up to leave the room, coming into the observation room to be with her.

"You lied in there," Sara whispered as he gathered her in his arms.

"Did I?" he asked softly.

Sara nodded against his shoulder, "You told him you didn't take the risk, that you couldn't... but you did. And now I'm standing here, wearing your ring and eight months pregnant with your child... Tell me something, Gil, was I worth it? Was I worth the risk?"

He pulled back enough to take in the sight of her, beautiful and humble and sweet. He smiled, pulling her back against him and pressing a gentle kiss into her temple, "Every bit of it, honey. You are my whole life, Sara, and I don't know what I would do without you."

One month later.

February 2004

Sara reached for the last file on her husband's desk before turning out the lights and closing the door.

Gil's first night off in months turned into one of the busiest nights the lab had had all year. Nick worked a trick-roll downtown, Catherine had a 419 in some rural unheard of town on the outskirts of Clark County and Warrick's B and E turned into a case of extortion. Which is exactly why Sara had been called in to begin with. Warrick wasn't a very computer savvy person and Sara was the resident tech expert when Archie wasn't available, which he wasn't due to a family emergency out of state.

Little did Warrick know that when he called Sara at home, she had been in the middle of a much needed bath. He had paid dearly for that.

"Warrick, God damn it, if you're gonna call me in in the middle of the night to work your case, at least have everything ready for me when I get here!" she had barked upon entering the A/V lab

He had to cover his laugh with a cough, muttering, "It's nice to see you, too, Sara."

At that, he earned a glare and a bruising punch in the arm, "Get the hell out of my way."

After a quick explanation of what exactly he was looking for, Warrick left Sara alone to do her work, something she preferred.

It had taken her only a few hours to find the files Warrick needed to break his case. She printed everything out for him, dropped it off at the front desk for it to be passed along, and made a B-line for Gil's office.

Sitting at his desk, Sara dialed their home phone number and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" his voice was gruff with sleep.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry, were you sleeping?"

She heard him stiffle a yawn and she smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I fell asleep watching t/v, waiting for you to come home," he explained, "What time is it?"

"Almost seven," Sara said, relaxing in his chair, "Do you want me to stop by the diner and pick up something for breakfast?"

"No, just, come straight home, I'll make breakfast and I want to see you, come home."

Sara smiled, "I'm leaving right now."

"Oh, Sara?"

"Yeah?"

"I left a casefile on my desk and I want to take a look at it, can you bring it home for me?" he asked.

Sara shook her head. It seemed that, lately, he'd been battling his forgetfulness. She laughed a little, "I'll get it. Be home soon."

"All right, I love you, Sara," Gil told her, stiffling another yawn.

Sara did laugh at him then, "I love you, too. Go back to bed you, big baby. I'll see you soon."

Walking across the parking garage to her car now, Sara stopped dead, feeling a violent contraction coming on. She dropped the files she was carrying and clutched her stomach. She wanted to scream, it hurt so much. She waited it out, her teeth grinding together and her knees locked to keep her from collapsing in pain.

When her contraction stopped, she bent and retrieved the dropped file and got into her car. Sara remained in the parking garage for a few more minutes, not sure that she was okay to drive just yet. Her purse and Gil's file sat on the passenger seat and she leaned over the console to retrieve her cell phone. Another contraction hit her, this one worse than the first and she did scream. The pain subsided slowly but not before Sara noticed the wetness of her jeans and seat.

"Oh God," she muttered, tears coming to her eyes. She dialed Gil's number first and he picked up on the second ring.

"If you tell me that Warrick is keeping you at the lab any longer, I'm going to-"

"Gil," Sara breathed through the beginning of another contraction, "Gil, the baby... the baby's coming, honey."

"Sara? Where are you?" he asked, suddenly panick stricken, "Did your water break? How far apart are the contractions?"

He heard her muffled scream and he knew that she was having another one. He glanced down at his watch and took time. The contraction lasted for a minute and forty three seconds.

"Sara, honey, I need you to tell me where you are," he urged quietly, already grabbing his shoes and car keys.

"The lab, I'm still in the parking garage," she told him breathlessly.

"Sara, was Warrick still in the lab when you left?"

"Yes," she barked, another contraction.

"Breath, sweetheart, you need to breath."

As he spoke to her gently he reached for his cellphone, dialing Warrick's number.

"Brown."

"Warrick, are you still at the lab?"

"Yeah, Griss, what's up?" he asked.

"I need you to drive Sara to the hospital, she's in labor, Warrick," Grissom informed him quickly, "She's sitting in her truck in the parking garage. She doesn't have much time."

"I'm on it, Griss."

And he was. He was halfway down the hall before he disconnected the call.

"Sara, baby, are you okay?"

Grissom switched phones and went back to his wife.

She growled a little into the phone, "I'm gonna kill you for doing this to me. Griss-"

She got quite for a minute and he knew she was biting back a cry of pain. He heard the car door open and Warrick's soothing voice and he knew that everything was going to be fine.

"Sar, honey, let me talk to Gris for a sec ok?"

Then he was on the phone with Warrick and getting in his car at the same time.

"I'll meet you at the hospital," Grissom said quickly, "Don't let her wait for me, Warrick. I'll meet her in the delievery room, I want you to get her there as quick as you can."

"You got it, Boss. Desert Palms is only five minutes away, we'll be there in no time," Warrick assured him.

"Warrick?"

"Yeah."

"Be careful," Grissom ordered.

Fifteen minutes later, Grissom ran through the emergency room doors at Desert Palms. He reached the front desk a little out of breath.

"My wife," he said, inhaling sharply, "She was brought in a few minutes ago in labor."

"Maternity ward is on the fourth floor," the receptionist told him, "Elevators are over there."

She pointed somewhere to her left and Grissom nodded his thanks, moving in that direction.

When he reached the floor, he was met by a disheveled Warrick.

"Where is she?" he asked, still a little breathless.

Warrick smiled and clapped him on the back, "Delivery room, man, but she's only been in there for three minutes. Damn, that woman's got a set of lungs on her."

Grissom nodded, muttering, "You have no idea."

"Mr. Grissom?"

Both men turned as a nurse approached them, "If you'd like to come with me, Sara's almost ready to start pushing."

"All right," Grissom said, starting after the nurse, "Oh, Warrick?"

"Yeah?"

Grissom tossed him his car keys, "I parked in a firelane. Can you move the truck and bring in Sara's overnight bag, it's in the backseat."

Warrick nodded, "No problem. And I'll put in a call to the others."

"Thanks, Warrick, for everything."

Catherine, Nick, Greg and Brass met Warrick in the Maternity ward waiting room less than twenty minutes after he called them.

"Where is she?"

"Has she had the baby yet?"

"Boy or girl?"

The questions came all at once and Warrick shook his head, chuckling lightly.

"Guys, hold off," he told them, "Sara hasn't had the baby yet, as far as I know anyway cause I haven't seen Griss since he went into the delivery room with her, which was before I called any of you."

They all breathed a collective sigh of relief and Catherine took a seat next to Warrick.

"How long has she been in labor?" she asked.

Warrick shrugged, "Don't know for sure. I got her here about half an hour ago and she's been in the delivery room ever since. Griss showed up less than ten minutes after we did. That man is under some serious stress, I don't think I've ever seen him so disconsorted."

Catherine laughed along with Brass, who said, "Just wait til your first born, 'Rick, it's a crazy, wonderful experience."

They fell silent for a minute, none of them too sure what to say, all of them thinking about the miracle happening in the other room.

"What do you think they'll name her?"

"Samantha," Warrick told them without thinking, "If it's a girl, Samantha Grace."

They other occupants of the waiting room turned to him, "They were discussing it in the car on the way to a scene, combination of their first initials."

Greg sighed happily, "Man, they are gonna make great parents... Sara and Grissom havin' a baby, who'd of thought?"

"I'll take that as a compliment, Greg."

The five of them turned at the sound of Grissom's voice behind them. He was standing in the doorway grinning uncontrollably and Warrick raised his eyebrows in a silent question.

"It's a girl, and she's absolutely beautiful. Six pounds ten ounces. A little over fifteen inches."

"Damn, girl's gonna have her mom's height."

There were rounds of hugs and congratulations and Grissom took a seat beside Catherine, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"How's Sara?" Catherine asked.

Grissom smiled, obviusly proud of his wife in that moment for bringing their child into the world, "Perfect. Eladed. Exhausted. She's sound asleep."

"Did she take the epidural?" Nick asked.

Grissom laughed, "It's Sara, what'd you think?"

"Well, you never know, the girl's always been pretty stubborn."

They all laughed at that and Brass patted Gil on the back, "Well come on Dad, take us to the baby, we want to see her."

When they reached the nursery, Gil went into the room and picked up his daughter who was only minutes old. She already had almost a full head of brown hair, just like her mother, and her gorgeous blue eyes were wide open, staring up happily at her daddy. The smile on Gil's face radiated and the entire nightshift team smiled as well.

"She's beautiful," Catherine mouthed to him. He smiled more.

Grissom put the baby back into her cradle and moved to join his team in the hallway.

"Samantha?" Warrick asked, noticing the S. Grissom on the baby's crib.

Grissom nodded, "Yeah, Sara wouldn't let me use anything else. Even though I know she's gonna take her time getting used to the name."

"It's a beautiful name, Gil," Catherine told him.

"Thanks Catherine."

They all stood silently for a moment, watching as Samantha Grace Grissom bunched her tiny hands into fists then opened them again, seemingly amazed by this simple act. When Catherine noticed the tears welling in Grissom's eyes, she nudged him, smiling when he looked over at her.

"Why don't you go back and see your, wife, Gil," she told him, "We'll come back tomorrow to see everyone. I'm sure that the two of you are gonna want to spend some time alone with your little girl."

Grissom nodded, not really trusting his voice at the moment. Catherine turned, ushering the other two CSIs and their lab tech down the hall away from their boss. Only Brass stayed behind with his friend.

"She really is perfect, isn't she, Gil?"

Again he only nodded, staring intently at his little girl lying in her crib on the other side of the glass. He laid his palm flat against it, wanting to hold her in his arms again.

Brass patted him on the back again and turned to move down the hall.

Gil entered Sara's room silently, watching her chest rise and fall as she slept. He moved a chair beside her bed and sat down, feeling suddenly exhausted himself. He picked Sara's left hand up off of the bed and laced their fingers together, keeping his eyes on her wedding band as it rested against his own.

"I love you, honey," he whispered softly, lifting her fingers to his lips, "I'm so proud of you... and I can't wait for you to see our baby, she's so beautiful, Sara. She looks just like her mom."

He kissed her knuckles before resting their joined hands on the bed beside her. Gil tried to stiffle a yawn but failed miserably. There was no mistaking, he needed to sleep. He scooted his chair closer to her bed, not wanting to break the contact of their hands, and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

"Gil. Gil?"

Sara's voice was tired and weak and her husband stirred slightly in his sleep. She rolled her eyes and pulled her fingers from his, sitting up a little, holding her arms out to the nurse craddling her daughter.

"Do you want me to wake him?" the nurse asked, placing Samantha in Sara's arms.

"No," Sara said, with a shake of her head, "No, let him sleep. We had a busy night."

At the nurses curious look, she added, "We work the nightshift at the Las Vegas crime lab."

The nurse nodded, "I know what that's like. My first year of internship, I worked the graveyard at County General, in Chicago."

"Yeah, I've pulled nightshift for the last four and a half years," Sara said, smiling down at her daughter, "Staying up with her all day is going to be a chore."

"Well, for now, she'll sleep almost all day every day," the nurse told her, laughing slightly, "And after that, she'll pretty much conform to your sleep schedule. I mean, it's really going to be a few months before she'll even sleep through the night, it could take up to a year."

Sara glanced up and groaned a little, still smiling. The nurse laughed and Sara's gaze focused back to the child in her arms. The nurse, noticing Sara's need to bond with her child, excused herself and slipped from the room. Sara didn't even notice her go.

"Hi, sweetheart," Sara whispered, "Hi."

The little girl in her arms, looked up at her, bright blue eyes squinting, trying to focus on her mother's face. Sara could only stare at her in wonder. This child, the beautiful little girl lying in her arms, was hers, the product of the love that she and her husband shared. They had made something special together and now Sara had the child she'd always dreamed of. She glanced over at her husband, still sleeping peacefully in his chair beside her.

"I love you," she said to him. She shifted on the bed so that Samantha's face could be easily seen by her father when he woke. She pointed at him and whispered to the baby, "That's your daddy, honey. And he wanted you so much."

Sara glanced down at her daughter and smiled. She couldn't help it. They had a child and nothing would ever be the same... it would only get better. She lifted her hand to Samantha's face and ran the tip of her finger down the child's nose, making her tiny blue eyes grow wide. Sara laughed a little and shifted the baby in her arms, bringing her against her chest. She watched her daughter yawn and her eyes close a little and Sara couldn't stifle her own yawn. She was still exhausted but she knew that, after seeing her daughter's face, she wouldn't be able to sleep with the child in her arms.

"Sara?" Gil's voice startled her and she whipped her head around to look at him, smiling brightly.

"Hi there," she said, her voice cracking a little, "Sleep well?"

They were both silent for a moment, staring contently at one another, not wanting to break the intimacy of their connection. It wasn't until Samantha yawned again and wiggled in her mother's arms that they both shifted their gaze to her.

"She's beautiful," Gil said, dropping his voice to a whisper. He moved from his chair to sit on the edge of Sara's bed. He reached out, running a hand over his daughter's head.

"She is," Sara agreed.

Again they were both silent and Sara reached out to take her husband's hand.

"I love you, Gil Grissom," she whispered, suddenly feeling tears in her eyes.

He smiled and wiped at her cheeks, "I love you, too, sweetheart."

Disclaimer: Again, I am but a poor college student who owns nothing more than what fits in my dorm. CBS and affiliates, please don't sue me.

Pairings: G/S, what else is there?

Rating: PG- 13, possibly R

Summary: This is my take on the way some of our favorite GSR moments should have gone, starting from the beginning.

Chapter Five- Butterflied

January 2004

Las Vegas, Neveda

When the door to Debbie Marlin's house opened and Grissom stepped out, his eyes locked with Sara's. They didn't break contact for a long silent moment and when they did, it was because Sara forced her self to look away.

"I don't want anyone in that house but CSI," Grissom ordered, "Warrick, you got the car."

"Which one?" Warrick asked, turning to the two cars in the parking lot.

"Both of them," Grissom replied.

Brass shook his head, tossing a glance over his shoulder, "Take the Honda, the VW belongs to the vic's friend. She called it in."

"Too bad," Warrick muttered, picking up his kit, "This is a day she'll never forget."

And with that, he stalked off toward his car.

Grissom turned toward his wife, not able to make himself look her in the eye, "Sara, you take the perimeter."

"What?" she snapped, "You just did a one hour walk through, the perimeter cannot be that high of a priority, Griss."

The look on Sara's face sent a flush across Grissom's skin and Catherine shook her head, "Well, I'm going to take that as my cue to leave. Jim, care to join me on my walk to the front door?"

"Certainly."

The detective and the blond CSI turned and moved toward Debbie Marlin's front door, leaving Grissom to stand silently in front of his wife. Sara reached out and took his trembling hand, causing him to look up at her.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked gently, running her thumb along the top of his hand.

Grissom shrugged, "I don't want you in that house Sara."

"Why? Tell me what's wrong."

"Honey, please, promise me you won't go into that house... please."

The fear in his eyes sent a chill through Sara. She squeezed his hand gently, hoping to provide some sort of comfort. He smiled at her briefly, leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to her temple.

"You know I love you, right?"

Grissom nodded, "I love you, too, sweetheart-" He laid his hand gently on Sara's now eight month pregnant stomach "- Both of you."

Sara smiled, laying her hand over his. They stood silently like that for what seemed like forever, both reveling in the feel of their child growing in her womb. It wasn't until Catherine reappeared that they remembered where they were. Grissom withdrew himself from his wife and turned to his collegue.

"Come on, dad," Catherine said with a grin, "We've got a scene to process."

Grissom and Sara smiled at her as she moved toward the house. He glanced back at Sara for a moment, hesititating slightly.

"Go, Gil, Cath's right, we have work to do," Sara said lightly, "I'll be fine. And I promise, I'll stay out of the house, nothing but perimeter in Nevada's winter weather for pregnant little ol' me."

Grissom smirked at her playful expression.

"I could just have Jim run you back to lab..."

Sara shoved him a little and he smiled at her. They spent another moment staring at each other and Sara could sense Grissom's seriousness. She gave him another gentle push and pointed in the direction that Catherine had gone. He gave her a final worried look and went after Catherine.

Sara stood alone for a moment before Brass moved to her side. The two of them watched the door to Debbie Marlin's house close before Sara turned to Brass.

"What's in that house, Jim?" Sara asked quietly.

"I don't think that Gil wants you to know that, Sara," Jim told her, "And I've seen what's so scary behind those doors and I'm gonna have to agree with your husband on this one, kid, you shouldn't know what's in there."

With a quick pat on her back, Brass was gone, leaving Sara to worry about her husband.

Two hours after arriving at the scene, Sara leaned in over the backseat of Debbie Marlin's car, watching Warrick as he took photos.

"I have absolutely nothing," she huffed, "How 'bout you?"

Warrick pointed at the groceries in the backseat, "I got a lot. Check this out."

"Bananas, stuffed mushrooms."

Warrick nodded, "Chocolate syrup, six pack of soda, box of condoms."

"No surprises there," Sara smirked at him.

Warrick laughed a little, "Fresh bag of groceries in an unlocked car?"

"Maybe she was interrupted."

Grissom stared at the blue butterfly in his hands. It was beautiful, gorgeous even. It reminded him of Sara. He put the butterfly back on the dresser and picked up a photo there. It was a picture of Debbie, smiling brightly with her arms stretched out over her head. He stared at it, unable to get her image out of his mind. He sighed, shaking his head, and put the picture back down in it's place.

He glanced in the mirror above the dresser and imagined Debbie sitting on the bed behind him. As she turned around to look in her mirror, his image of her morphed into that of his wife and he couldn't help the shudder that passed through him.

He rubbed a hand over his eyes, feeling fatigued after only a couple of hours of work. This was the second day in a row he'd been in this house, only this time he was going on little or no sleep. Something was wrong, this case was gonna get to him and he wasn't prepared for the emotional trauma he would be forced to face.

The sound of his cell phone brought him back to reality and he reached for it.

"Grissom."

"Hey, it's me." Sara.

"Sara, honey, I'm in bad area, I'm gonna have to call you back."

"Oh, I just wanted to let you know that I got a skin tag off the bathrub pipe drain," she told him quickly, probably trying to avoid being cut off.

"Skin tag? Uh, good, give it to Greg," he told her, not sure how much longer he could hold his emotions in check with her.

Sara hesitated and he could tell that she'd stopped walking, "Yeah, I did. Hey, do you want me to come over there and give you a hand?"

"No," he said immediately regretting how harsh the word sounded, "I-I'm fine. I'll-I'll, um, I'll talk to you at home, Sara."

With that, he hung up. He knew that Sara would, in some way, understand his hesitation, but he also knew that she wouldn't like it. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment and the tears in his eyes finally started to fall.

Sara took a seat across from Catherine and Warrick, not sure that she wanted to be a part of a group conversation with her husband over the phone. The intercom sat on the table between them as Catherine began.

"We know that, two days ago, Debbie Marlin is off work and at some time that morning, she buys groceries."

"At Pendale's," Warrick continued, "the closest store in West Charleston."

"Brass talked to one of the cashiers," Sara said, "He remembers seeing her just before his break at quarter after eleven."

"The store's about twenty minutes from her house," Catherine said, looking around the table, "Where's Nick?"

"American Academy of Forensics Science Convention," Sara told her, shrugging.

Grissom huffed and Sara heard him shift, "Guys, can we continue please?"

"She comes home from the store. She parks in the driveway . Begins to unload."

Warrick continues, "Takes out the perishibles first. Has to go back out and probably leaves the front door open."

"Explains why there were no signs of forced entry," Sara said with a small shrug.

Grissom was quiet for a minute but they could here him moving through the scene. A door opened and he walked more.

"Getting ready for her date?" Catherine asked.

More silence on the other end of the phone and Sara knew that Gil was getting caught up in the images in his head.

"Lighting candles. Mutli-tasking."

Warrick muttered, "She opens a bottle of wine. Two glasses."

Catherine shrugged, "Her girlfriend said she was locking down for an afternoon with Michael Clark."

"Nosy neighbor puts Clark's Mercedes in the driveway around noon," Sara said.

At that moment in the conversation, Greg entered the room with a printout in hand.

"Thought you guys should know," Greg panted, a little out of his breath from his jog to the break room, "The hair Sara got from the drain is a match to the bags of human remains found in the alley. Jacqui confirmed the prints, it's Michael Clark."

"Okay, most of our effort has been put into finding another victim?" Catherine thought outloud.

"Michael Clark," Grissom said, startling all of them, "But can we place him dead at the house?"

No one answered.

"Greg, what else can you tell us about the hair?" he asked.

"You mean hairs?" Greg replied, "There were two. The first was what was used to identify the vic. The second was ancillary. Arm or leg hair, maybe."

"Found it in the tub drain," Sara clarified.

A moment later, Grissom said, "The avatar of choice... for dismemberment."

Greg spoke up again, "Well Jacqui didn't find any prints on the blade or handle of the scaple you guys found at the scene. But the blood belongs to both victims."

"So, Michael Clark was dead in the tub," Catherine concluded, "We just don't know how he got there."

Grissom was kneeling on the floor in the hallway, testing the carpet for GSR, when Catherine entered the house. She stood silently watching him for a moment before she spoke.

"Gil, don't tell me you never went home."

He didn't look up at her as he continued to test the carpet.

"All right," he said, that being as much of an answer as he wanted to give, "I just started in here. Haven't been in any of the other rooms yet."

Catherine shook her head behind him, "Your wife is gonna start worrying about you. Come on, get up, you're into your thrid shift already, Gil. I mean, I'm all for the overtime, but this is getting out of hand. You have a pregnant wife at home, you can't do this to her, or to yourself."

Grissom thought about that for a moment before announcing, "My knees can't take this anymore."

Catherine smiled grimly, "Have you eaten anything?"

"What'd you bring?" Grissom asked, his stomach growling at the prospect of food.

Catherine shrugged, "I'll check the fridge."

As she moved into the kitchen, she heard Grissom call after her, "We have to replace that!"

Catherine eventually got him to move outside onto the patio, giving him a cup of yogurt and some peanut butter. She sat down across from him.

"Feel better?" she asked with a smirk.

He glanced at her over the tops of his glasses.

Catherine laughed at him a little, "Well, now that we've fed you, we should probably talk about a shower."

The idea of taking a shower at the scene threw him slightly off balance and his eyes widen with confusion.

"I meant at your place," Catherine told him, shaking her head, "You need to go home, Gil."

"As soon as we find some evidence," he told her, "I promise."

Catherine shook her head, "With fresh eyes you won't miss it. Besides, when was the last time you kissed Sar, Gil? When was the last time you told her you love her, huh? You can't start pulling away from her now, she's pregnant and hormonal and right now is the time she needs you the most."

Grissom placed the yogurt container on the table in front of his and removed his glasses. Catherine was right, he was exhausted and he missed Sara. But not as much as he would miss her if something like this ever happened to her. He need to find out what happened to Debbie Marlin. He needed the closure for himself.

"Just walk me through it will you?"

Catherine sighed, "All right. The bathroom is where things got started -- candles, oils, steam shower, cleaned up, oiled up, sexed up."

Grissom opened the jar of peanut butter, sticking his finger into it. He stuck the finger in his mouth and thought for a moment.

"Let's go back to the bedroom."

The entire team, minus Nick, worked Debbie Marlin's case. Warrick spent the majority of his time in the lab processing the evidence Gil and Catherine collected from the scene. Sara had been, in a way, kept off of the case. She'd been asked to do small, mudane things that any lab tech could easily do. Grissom's subtle way of keeping her back.

What had bothered Sara the most about their current case was her husband's interest in it. He had become emotionally involved and Sara could only remember one other case that had occupied him in that way. That case had involved an innocent baby who's 3 year old little brother had accidentally smothered him with an over mitt. Sara shuddered, remembering the way Gil had let out his frustrations with her the morning they'd solved the case... she had craddled him in her arms. But the case they were working was different, it involved a thirty-something year old woman, not a child. Gil didn't generally become emotionally involved in cases that didn't involve children.

When he asked Sara to take Debbie Marlin's toe prints, she knew that she had to find a reason for his emotional withdrawl from her. Three days, he had spent three continuous days at the Marlin house. He called her to tell her to rest, to make sure she was taking care of herself and the baby, but he hadn't been home in seventy two hours and counting.

Sara stood in the doorway of the locker room, watching Catherine as she changed her boots and pulled on her jacket.

"Hey, Cath, have you seen Grissom?" Sara asked softly.

Catherine looked up at her, smiling grimly, "He's still at the scene."

"Oh," Sara dropped her eyes to the file in her hands, "I eliminated both victims from the print you pulled off the bed."

"Well, we know that she was sleeping with more than one of her collegues," Catherine replied.

Sara nodded but didn't say more.

Catherine watched her for a reaction as she asked, "Have you seen Debbie?"

"Yeah," Sara said, shrugging. Catherine noted the distance in her voice.

"And?"

"Yeah, I compared her toe prints," Sara muttered.

"If I didn't know any better," Catherine said, dropping her voice to just above a whisper, "I'd think that was you lying in there on that table."

"I didn't really look at her face," Sara forced out, swallowing the lump in her throat. She didn't want to talk about this here, she didn't want to talk about it with Catherine. She just wanted to see her husband, to lie in his arms and reassure him that she was alive, that she wasn't Debbie Marlin, she was still here for him.

Catherine knew damn well that Sara was lying, she could tell by the look in her eyes. But she wouldn't push her, Gil would talk to her about it. She glanced at the younger woman, watching the shift in her posture, "Oh."

"Catherine, can you just let Grissom know I was looking for him?"

"Yeah."

Sara turned and left Catherine in the locker room to stare after her.

Sara sat quietly in the silence of her husband's office. She rested her hands on her stomach, feeling their unborn child kicking her softly. She smiled to herself.

The first trimester of her pregnancy had gone by quickly, which pleased Sara because her morning sickness was almost unbearable. By the end of her second trimester, they knew that their child was perfectly normal, as they had both expected, with ten fingers and ten toes. They hadn't been told the sex of the child because they had agreed that they wanted to be surprised. They had pictures of all of Sara's sonograms in a folder at home but Gil had locked them in the safe the moment they received them. Sara had, at one point, wished that she knew the baby's gender so that she could pick a name, but she had changed her mind for Gil. He was adament about not knowing the gender before the birth and Sara would've felt guilty if she knew and he didn't.

The last two months of her pregnancy had proven to be the most interesting. In her last week of her fifth month, Sara had flown to California alone. Gil had insisted that she go see her parents so that they could share in the joys of pregnancy with her before she was restricted from flying. He didn't go with her, which Sara had initially found unnerving, but once she reached her parents' Bed and Breakfast, her uneasy vanished and she was able to relax.

Little did she know that in the two weeks she was on vacation, Gil had gone out to Hendersen, bought them a four bedroom, two bathroom ranch home with a huge back yard. Nick and Warrick had been in on the whole thing, offering to paint the bedroom across the hall from the master bedroom, making a nursery for their baby. They had choosen to use neutral colors, yellow and green, and Warrick even painted a mural of the forest on one wall. The entire house was furnished in just two weeks and Catherine had taken the liberty of framing Sara's sonograms and some other photos that had been taken of her during the pregnancy.

"Samantha."

They had been on the way to a scene, Warrick, Grissom and Sara. It had really come out of nowhere, they weren't even talking about the baby.

"Excuse me?" Sara said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I think that, if the baby is a girl, we should name her Samantha," he explained, smiling at her bemused expression, "Samantha Grace Sidle-Grissom."

Sara nodded, smiling, "Why Samantha?"

"You don't get it?" Gil asked.

Sara shook her head, frowning momentarily.

"I get it," Warrick spoke up, "A mix of your initials. S-G-S-G. Cute, Griss."

Grissom smiled, turning his attention to his wife again.

"I like it," Sara said, "But, no hyphen. Just Samantha Grace Grissom. My initials aren't S-S anymore, honey, they're S-G. I don't need to be Sara Sidle anywhere but at work."

Grissom was quiet for a moment before nodding, "All right."

Sara silently prayed that the child growing in her was a girl. She knew that her husband wanted a daughter more than anything and she wanted more than anything to make him happy.

When the phone on Gil's desk rang, Sara's thoughts were interrupted and she stood to answer it.

"Las Vegas Crime Lab, Sara Sidle speaking."

"Sara? Honey, didn't I call my office number?"

It was Gil. Sara smiled.

"You did, but I was resting on your sofa. I needed to feel something that was close to you, something you touched," Sara said softly. When he didn't reply, she continued on, "Are you still at the scene?"

"No, I'm in the car," he said, making Sara smile in relief, "I'll be there soon."

"That's good," Sara yawned.

"Sara, honey, are you all right?" he asked gently.

Sara nodded to herself, saying to him, "I'm fine, just a little tired. I needed to put my feet up for a while, that's all."

"Why don't you go home, sweetheart?"

"Not until-" she paused for another yawn "-You get here. I don't want to go home to an empty bed again, Gil. I need you."

He noticed the slight hitch in her breath when she said the last three words. Something was wrong. He knew he'd distanced himself lately but he couldn't help it. He needed to be strong for Sara. She was eight months pregnant and seeing the body of a woman who could've been her twin posed in such a horrible scene. Sara became emotionally attatched so easily, if the victim resembled her... he didn't want to think about what that would do to her.

"I'll be there soon, Sara, and we'll go home, I promise."

Sara smiled and yawned again, "Hurry, Gil, I'm exhausted."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you, too, baby."

When they arrived at home, Gil could barely keep his eyes open long enough to carry himself into the bedroom. Sara followed him in, closing the door behind them and watching as he undressed himself and crawled under the covers. He watched her for a second, wondering if she planned on joining him.

"Sara?"

She smiled at him, "Sorry, I was just watching. I missed you, you know."

Sara started toward the bed, removing clothes as she went until she was lying down beside him under the covers. The darkness of their room was peaceful and Sara felt like she would fall asleep in seconds. But she didn't want to sleep. It had taken Gil three days to just come home and be with her, she needed him to talk to her now too.

"Grissom, tell me about Debbie Marlin," Sara whispered into the darkness of their bedroom, "Tell me about this case."

"Sara..."

"Please, Gil," she whispered again, "I need to know why you've been so... distant lately. We need to talk about this."

Gil shifted behind her and Sara panicked, thinking that she'd made him angry. She turned enough to watch him prop himself up against the headboard. Then he reached for her, pulling her onto his lap, locking his arms around her.

"Sara, Debbie Marlin's case... I mean, she reminded me-" he paused, unable to tell her what he was thinking.

"She had my face," Sara said, so quietly that Gil barely heard her. He shuddered at the image of Debbie Marlin's body as it came immediately to his mind.

"Yes she did," Gil pressed a gentle kiss into her hair. He felt close to tears. "Sara, I was terrified when I saw her lying there, blood pooled around her. I froze, I've never felt so out of place, honey. All I could think about was getting out of that house to find you waiting outside for me."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that alone."

"Sara, I chose to go through it alone, of my own accord," he told her, "Because I needed to go through it alone. I needed to prove to myself that I could be strong for you, for us."

Sara rested her back against his chest, laying her head on his shoulder. She nodded at his confession, urging him to go on.

"You looked at her, honey, saw her face... I-I thought she was you," he muttered, his voice cracking a little, "I knew that, when I closed my eyes, I would see you lying there, hear your screams. God, honey, I was terrified."

Sara felt his tears hit her bare skin and she turned into him as much as she could, pressing gentle kisses along his jawline. He didn't kiss her back but he enveloped her in his arms. Sara was quiet and patient, letting him cry over the idea of losing her, she'd cried hundreds of times over him.

Finally, his sobs became silent and Sara tilted her head up to him.

"I'm here," she whispered, "Right here, Gil, and I'm not Debbie Marlin, I love you and I would never, ever hurt you."

"Maybe not intentionally but-"

"No, no buts, Gil," Sara said, "I won't ever leave you, Gil Grissom. Not unless you start hitting me, honey, which I know you never will."

"I couldn't," he breathed, "I could never hurt you, Sara."

Neither of them spoke for a minuted. Sara suddenly jumped a little and giggled.

"What's wrong?" Gil asked, concern flushing his face.

Sara didn't say anything but as she shifted his arms from behind her back, he knew what she was laughing about. She placed his hand on her lower stomach and he felt what she was feeling. The look on his face was one of pure love and Sara knew that he enjoyed the sensation of their child in her womb as much as she did.

"You know," Sara began, "I don't think my life could get any better than it is right now, Gil."

He nodded and Sara felt the scratch of his beard against her temple.

"I love you, Sara."

"I love you, too, Gil."

Dr. Vincent Lurie sat in the interrogation room across from her husband and Sara stood in the observation room, watching their exchange. She could see the anger on her husband's face, his urge to scream at the man in front of him. But he remained calm as he spoke.

"It's sad, isn't it Doc?" Grissom said coolly, "Guys like us? Couple of middle aged men who've allowed there work to consume their lives?"

Dr. Lurie turned around now to face Gil as he spoke.

"The only time we touch people is when we're wearing out latex gloves. We wake up one day and realize that for fifty years we haven't really lived at all. But then all of a sudden, we get a second chance," his gaze suddenly shifted from Lurie to the two-way mirror that he knew Sara was standing behind, "Someone young and beautiful comes along. Somebody... we could care about. She offers us a new life with her. But we have a big decision to make, right? Because we have to risk everything we've worked for in order to have her."

He paused for a moment and Sara felt tears burning in her eyes.

He continued, "I couldn't do it. But you did, you risked it all and she showed you a wonderful life, didn't she? But then she took it away... and gave it to someone else. And you were lost. So you took her life."

Gil stopped talking and Sara watched the look that Lurie gave him. The other man simply shook his head and left Gil alone in the interrogation room. Sara watched his eyes as they dropped to the floor and she knocked on the window, getting his attention. He smiled at her as he got up to leave the room, coming into the observation room to be with her.

"You lied in there," Sara whispered as he gathered her in his arms.

"Did I?" he asked softly.

Sara nodded against his shoulder, "You told him you didn't take the risk, that you couldn't... but you did. And now I'm standing here, wearing your ring and eight months pregnant with your child... Tell me something, Gil, was I worth it? Was I worth the risk?"

He pulled back enough to take in the sight of her, beautiful and humble and sweet. He smiled, pulling her back against him and pressing a gentle kiss into her temple, "Every bit of it, honey. You are my whole life, Sara, and I don't know what I would do without you."

One month later.

February 2004

Sara reached for the last file on her husband's desk before turning out the lights and closing the door.

Gil's first night off in months turned into one of the busiest nights the lab had had all year. Nick worked a trick-roll downtown, Catherine had a 419 in some rural unheard of town on the outskirts of Clark County and Warrick's B and E turned into a case of extortion. Which is exactly why Sara had been called in to begin with. Warrick wasn't a very computer savvy person and Sara was the resident tech expert when Archie wasn't available, which he wasn't due to a family emergency out of state.

Little did Warrick know that when he called Sara at home, she had been in the middle of a much needed bath. He had paid dearly for that.

"Warrick, God damn it, if you're gonna call me in in the middle of the night to work your case, at least have everything ready for me when I get here!" she had barked upon entering the A/V lab

He had to cover his laugh with a cough, muttering, "It's nice to see you, too, Sara."

At that, he earned a glare and a bruising punch in the arm, "Get the hell out of my way."

After a quick explanation of what exactly he was looking for, Warrick left Sara alone to do her work, something she preferred.

It had taken her only a few hours to find the files Warrick needed to break his case. She printed everything out for him, dropped it off at the front desk for it to be passed along, and made a B-line for Gil's office.

Sitting at his desk, Sara dialed their home phone number and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" his voice was gruff with sleep.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry, were you sleeping?"

She heard him stiffle a yawn and she smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I fell asleep watching t/v, waiting for you to come home," he explained, "What time is it?"

"Almost seven," Sara said, relaxing in his chair, "Do you want me to stop by the diner and pick up something for breakfast?"

"No, just, come straight home, I'll make breakfast and I want to see you, come home."

Sara smiled, "I'm leaving right now."

"Oh, Sara?"

"Yeah?"

"I left a casefile on my desk and I want to take a look at it, can you bring it home for me?" he asked.

Sara shook her head. It seemed that, lately, he'd been battling his forgetfulness. She laughed a little, "I'll get it. Be home soon."

"All right, I love you, Sara," Gil told her, stiffling another yawn.

Sara did laugh at him then, "I love you, too. Go back to bed you, big baby. I'll see you soon."

Walking across the parking garage to her car now, Sara stopped dead, feeling a violent contraction coming on. She dropped the files she was carrying and clutched her stomach. She wanted to scream, it hurt so much. She waited it out, her teeth grinding together and her knees locked to keep her from collapsing in pain.

When her contraction stopped, she bent and retrieved the dropped file and got into her car. Sara remained in the parking garage for a few more minutes, not sure that she was okay to drive just yet. Her purse and Gil's file sat on the passenger seat and she leaned over the console to retrieve her cell phone. Another contraction hit her, this one worse than the first and she did scream. The pain subsided slowly but not before Sara noticed the wetness of her jeans and seat.

"Oh God," she muttered, tears coming to her eyes. She dialed Gil's number first and he picked up on the second ring.

"If you tell me that Warrick is keeping you at the lab any longer, I'm going to-"

"Gil," Sara breathed through the beginning of another contraction, "Gil, the baby... the baby's coming, honey."

"Sara? Where are you?" he asked, suddenly panick stricken, "Did your water break? How far apart are the contractions?"

He heard her muffled scream and he knew that she was having another one. He glanced down at his watch and took time. The contraction lasted for a minute and forty three seconds.

"Sara, honey, I need you to tell me where you are," he urged quietly, already grabbing his shoes and car keys.

"The lab, I'm still in the parking garage," she told him breathlessly.

"Sara, was Warrick still in the lab when you left?"

"Yes," she barked, another contraction.

"Breath, sweetheart, you need to breath."

As he spoke to her gently he reached for his cellphone, dialing Warrick's number.

"Brown."

"Warrick, are you still at the lab?"

"Yeah, Griss, what's up?" he asked.

"I need you to drive Sara to the hospital, she's in labor, Warrick," Grissom informed him quickly, "She's sitting in her truck in the parking garage. She doesn't have much time."

"I'm on it, Griss."

And he was. He was halfway down the hall before he disconnected the call.

"Sara, baby, are you okay?"

Grissom switched phones and went back to his wife.

She growled a little into the phone, "I'm gonna kill you for doing this to me. Griss-"

She got quite for a minute and he knew she was biting back a cry of pain. He heard the car door open and Warrick's soothing voice and he knew that everything was going to be fine.

"Sar, honey, let me talk to Gris for a sec ok?"

Then he was on the phone with Warrick and getting in his car at the same time.

"I'll meet you at the hospital," Grissom said quickly, "Don't let her wait for me, Warrick. I'll meet her in the delievery room, I want you to get her there as quick as you can."

"You got it, Boss. Desert Palms is only five minutes away, we'll be there in no time," Warrick assured him.

"Warrick?"

"Yeah."

"Be careful," Grissom ordered.

Fifteen minutes later, Grissom ran through the emergency room doors at Desert Palms. He reached the front desk a little out of breath.

"My wife," he said, inhaling sharply, "She was brought in a few minutes ago in labor."

"Maternity ward is on the fourth floor," the receptionist told him, "Elevators are over there."

She pointed somewhere to her left and Grissom nodded his thanks, moving in that direction.

When he reached the floor, he was met by a disheveled Warrick.

"Where is she?" he asked, still a little breathless.

Warrick smiled and clapped him on the back, "Delivery room, man, but she's only been in there for three minutes. Damn, that woman's got a set of lungs on her."

Grissom nodded, muttering, "You have no idea."

"Mr. Grissom?"

Both men turned as a nurse approached them, "If you'd like to come with me, Sara's almost ready to start pushing."

"All right," Grissom said, starting after the nurse, "Oh, Warrick?"

"Yeah?"

Grissom tossed him his car keys, "I parked in a firelane. Can you move the truck and bring in Sara's overnight bag, it's in the backseat."

Warrick nodded, "No problem. And I'll put in a call to the others."

"Thanks, Warrick, for everything."

Catherine, Nick, Greg and Brass met Warrick in the Maternity ward waiting room less than twenty minutes after he called them.

"Where is she?"

"Has she had the baby yet?"

"Boy or girl?"

The questions came all at once and Warrick shook his head, chuckling lightly.

"Guys, hold off," he told them, "Sara hasn't had the baby yet, as far as I know anyway cause I haven't seen Griss since he went into the delivery room with her, which was before I called any of you."

They all breathed a collective sigh of relief and Catherine took a seat next to Warrick.

"How long has she been in labor?" she asked.

Warrick shrugged, "Don't know for sure. I got her here about half an hour ago and she's been in the delivery room ever since. Griss showed up less than ten minutes after we did. That man is under some serious stress, I don't think I've ever seen him so disconsorted."

Catherine laughed along with Brass, who said, "Just wait til your first born, 'Rick, it's a crazy, wonderful experience."

They fell silent for a minute, none of them too sure what to say, all of them thinking about the miracle happening in the other room.

"What do you think they'll name her?"

"Samantha," Warrick told them without thinking, "If it's a girl, Samantha Grace."

They other occupants of the waiting room turned to him, "They were discussing it in the car on the way to a scene, combination of their first initials."

Greg sighed happily, "Man, they are gonna make great parents... Sara and Grissom havin' a baby, who'd of thought?"

"I'll take that as a compliment, Greg."

The five of them turned at the sound of Grissom's voice behind them. He was standing in the doorway grinning uncontrollably and Warrick raised his eyebrows in a silent question.

"It's a girl, and she's absolutely beautiful. Six pounds ten ounces. A little over fifteen inches."

"Damn, girl's gonna have her mom's height."

There were rounds of hugs and congratulations and Grissom took a seat beside Catherine, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"How's Sara?" Catherine asked.

Grissom smiled, obviusly proud of his wife in that moment for bringing their child into the world, "Perfect. Eladed. Exhausted. She's sound asleep."

"Did she take the epidural?" Nick asked.

Grissom laughed, "It's Sara, what'd you think?"

"Well, you never know, the girl's always been pretty stubborn."

They all laughed at that and Brass patted Gil on the back, "Well come on Dad, take us to the baby, we want to see her."

When they reached the nursery, Gil went into the room and picked up his daughter who was only minutes old. She already had almost a full head of brown hair, just like her mother, and her gorgeous blue eyes were wide open, staring up happily at her daddy. The smile on Gil's face radiated and the entire nightshift team smiled as well.

"She's beautiful," Catherine mouthed to him. He smiled more.

Grissom put the baby back into her cradle and moved to join his team in the hallway.

"Samantha?" Warrick asked, noticing the S. Grissom on the baby's crib.

Grissom nodded, "Yeah, Sara wouldn't let me use anything else. Even though I know she's gonna take her time getting used to the name."

"It's a beautiful name, Gil," Catherine told him.

"Thanks Catherine."

They all stood silently for a moment, watching as Samantha Grace Grissom bunched her tiny hands into fists then opened them again, seemingly amazed by this simple act. When Catherine noticed the tears welling in Grissom's eyes, she nudged him, smiling when he looked over at her.

"Why don't you go back and see your, wife, Gil," she told him, "We'll come back tomorrow to see everyone. I'm sure that the two of you are gonna want to spend some time alone with your little girl."

Grissom nodded, not really trusting his voice at the moment. Catherine turned, ushering the other two CSIs and their lab tech down the hall away from their boss. Only Brass stayed behind with his friend.

"She really is perfect, isn't she, Gil?"

Again he only nodded, staring intently at his little girl lying in her crib on the other side of the glass. He laid his palm flat against it, wanting to hold her in his arms again.

Brass patted him on the back again and turned to move down the hall.

Gil entered Sara's room silently, watching her chest rise and fall as she slept. He moved a chair beside her bed and sat down, feeling suddenly exhausted himself. He picked Sara's left hand up off of the bed and laced their fingers together, keeping his eyes on her wedding band as it rested against his own.

"I love you, honey," he whispered softly, lifting her fingers to his lips, "I'm so proud of you... and I can't wait for you to see our baby, she's so beautiful, Sara. She looks just like her mom."

He kissed her knuckles before resting their joined hands on the bed beside her. Gil tried to stiffle a yawn but failed miserably. There was no mistaking, he needed to sleep. He scooted his chair closer to her bed, not wanting to break the contact of their hands, and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

"Gil. Gil?"

Sara's voice was tired and weak and her husband stirred slightly in his sleep. She rolled her eyes and pulled her fingers from his, sitting up a little, holding her arms out to the nurse craddling her daughter.

"Do you want me to wake him?" the nurse asked, placing Samantha in Sara's arms.

"No," Sara said, with a shake of her head, "No, let him sleep. We had a busy night."

At the nurses curious look, she added, "We work the nightshift at the Las Vegas crime lab."

The nurse nodded, "I know what that's like. My first year of internship, I worked the graveyard at County General, in Chicago."

"Yeah, I've pulled nightshift for the last four and a half years," Sara said, smiling down at her daughter, "Staying up with her all day is going to be a chore."

"Well, for now, she'll sleep almost all day every day," the nurse told her, laughing slightly, "And after that, she'll pretty much conform to your sleep schedule. I mean, it's really going to be a few months before she'll even sleep through the night, it could take up to a year."

Sara glanced up and groaned a little, still smiling. The nurse laughed and Sara's gaze focused back to the child in her arms. The nurse, noticing Sara's need to bond with her child, excused herself and slipped from the room. Sara didn't even notice her go.

"Hi, sweetheart," Sara whispered, "Hi."

The little girl in her arms, looked up at her, bright blue eyes squinting, trying to focus on her mother's face. Sara could only stare at her in wonder. This child, the beautiful little girl lying in her arms, was hers, the product of the love that she and her husband shared. They had made something special together and now Sara had the child she'd always dreamed of. She glanced over at her husband, still sleeping peacefully in his chair beside her.

"I love you," she said to him. She shifted on the bed so that Samantha's face could be easily seen by her father when he woke. She pointed at him and whispered to the baby, "That's your daddy, honey. And he wanted you so much."

Sara glanced down at her daughter and smiled. She couldn't help it. They had a child and nothing would ever be the same... it would only get better. She lifted her hand to Samantha's face and ran the tip of her finger down the child's nose, making her tiny blue eyes grow wide. Sara laughed a little and shifted the baby in her arms, bringing her against her chest. She watched her daughter yawn and her eyes close a little and Sara couldn't stifle her own yawn. She was still exhausted but she knew that, after seeing her daughter's face, she wouldn't be able to sleep with the child in her arms.

"Sara?" Gil's voice startled her and she whipped her head around to look at him, smiling brightly.

"Hi there," she said, her voice cracking a little, "Sleep well?"

They were both silent for a moment, staring contently at one another, not wanting to break the intimacy of their connection. It wasn't until Samantha yawned again and wiggled in her mother's arms that they both shifted their gaze to her.

"She's beautiful," Gil said, dropping his voice to a whisper. He moved from his chair to sit on the edge of Sara's bed. He reached out, running a hand over his daughter's head.

"She is," Sara agreed.

Again they were both silent and Sara reached out to take her husband's hand.

"I love you, Gil Grissom," she whispered, suddenly feeling tears in her eyes.

He smiled and wiped at her cheeks, "I love you, too, sweetheart."