Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah. We all know that I do not own CSI or anything else for that matter. The show and all its characters belong to CBS and its affiliates. Peace.
Rating: PG, probably for some language
Spoilers: None really.
Summary: Future-fic. Griss and Sara share a special moment with friends.
A/N: This fic was written as a response to Princess Grits' challenge, issued at Yahoo!-Groups: Grissom and Sara. She threatened me so I sort of HAD to do as directed. Enjoy it anyway… and don't worry, no GSR shippers were injured during the production of this fic.
P.S.: Sorry, went over the word limit. Surprise, surprise.
Once Upon A Time: CSI Style
June 2016
Grissom Household
"You started it!" Hannah yelled, squirming ruthlessly in her 'uncle's' arms in an attempt to make a break for it.
"Did not!" Hope screamed, squirming with the same amount of force as her sister.
"Did too!"
"If you two don't knock it off, I'll make sure your mom has you doing chores until you're thirty," Warrick Brown told them.
He tightened his grip around the waste of each of the twins as he hauled them through the sliding doors and into the backyard of their very large, very new home.
"What were they doing now?"
Sara Sidle approached her friend as he carried her children toward her. A gust of wind tugged at the white linen encasing her legs and she frowned as she took in the appearance of both of her children.
"You two are a mess!" Sara snapped, one hand resting on her stomach as the other ran through her hair, "What were you doing?"
Warrick put the girls on their feet, turning and letting them face their mother's wrath alone.
The young brunettes, the mirror images of their mother, stood staring down at their dirty clothes and feet.
"I asked you a question," Sara said firmly.
The two girls looked at each other.
Hannah shrugged, then turned her attention from her sister to her mother.
"We were helping Daddy," she explained.
Sara's frown deepened, "Helping him do what?"
Hannah looked at her sister again.
"Feed the animals," Hope said.
Sara sighed loudly and shooed her children away, calling after them as they ran back toward the house, "Change your outfits and I want to see both of you in the living room in fifteen minutes!"
"You know, if you are anything like those two," Sara said softly, her hand moving slowly over the bump her stomach had grown into, "I don't know what I'll do with myself."
She walked across her backyard, cutting around the side of the house and entering the garage through the side door.
"Gilbert Grissom, what the hell are you doing out here?"
Sara watched her husband jump in fright, dropping a jar onto the floor while scattering a few others across the table. He cleaned them up hurriedly, trying to prevent any more of a mess, before turning to his wife.
She was frowning. That's never a good sign, Gil thought. He wiped his dirty palms on the front of his apron and took a step toward him, his intention being to kiss the frown from her beautiful lips.
Sara took a step back and he stopped.
"No way, mister. Do not even think about coming near me with that stuff all over you," she warned, "White outfit here. I have no plans on getting dirty. And you, you shouldn't be getting dirty either! Gil, everyone's going to be here soon. Catherine and Warrick are already here with the kids. I'm sure Jim and the guys are on the way, and you're a mess! Not to mention the fact that I just had to send our daughters back to their rooms to change out of the brand new outfits that were bought specifically for today because someone told them that it was okay to help Daddy feed the animals!"
"Sara, honey, are you sure this whole thing is okay?" Gil asked, watching his wife, six months into pregnancy with their third child, take a deep breath and shake away some of her anxiety, "I know that I'm the one who came up with the idea, but we hadn't know that you were pregnant again at that point and I –"
"Gil, its fine. It would have been better if you hadn't let the girls get so dirty is all, and now I have to go deal with them and make sure that all of the food is taken care of and play hostess to something near forty people. All I really want to do right now is cry."
And she nearly did as Gil pulled her into his arms.
"I'll take care of all of that, sweetheart," he said softly, "Go on upstairs and lay down for a while. Let me take care of the girls and the guests and the food. I'll do all of it, Sara."
Sara's only response was a brief nod against his shoulder and he kissed her temple gently. Together, they moved through the garage and into the house. Gil watched his wife mount the stairs and move slowly up to the second floor of their home. Once she was around the corner and out of sight, he turned in search of the guests who had arrived early.
"Everything okay?" Catherine asked from her position on his couch, adjusting the sleeping child in her arms.
Grissom smiled a little, "Everything's fine. Sara just needs to rest for a while. You know how she is about asking for help, she was doing way too much for one person, especially someone who's caring around an extra twenty pounds of pregnancy weight."
Catherine nodded, "If you want, I can go put this one down in the guest room and I'll give you a hand?"
"Take you time, I need to go check on the girls anyway."
"No need," Catherine said, standing and adjusting her two year old son in her arms again, "I sent Lindsay up there to help them out. I figured Sara could use the extra pair of hands."
Grissom shook his head and laughed a little, "Always thinking of others, Catherine."
It was Catherine's turn to laugh then.
"Yeah, right. And you've known me how long?"
"Where is everyone?"
Sara's voice startled Gil once again and he nearly dropped the wine glasses he was caring. He glanced up at his wife, smiling at her groggy appearance.
"The girls are dressed and in the backyard with Lindsay, greeting the guests who are now arriving straight through the gate entrance. Catherine was putting the last of the food on the tables set up in the living and dining rooms. Warrick is up stairs changing Emery and putting his appearance back in order. Greg and Nick are talking with the minister out front, working out some of the last details of the ceremony. That just leaves- well- you. And you, my dear, are going to drink this glass of juice-" he handed the glass of apple juice to his wife, "-go back upstairs, brush your teeth, fix your hair, and come back down looking as stunning as ever in no less than twenty minutes."
Sara frowned, "You did all that?"
Grissom nodded, reaching out to brush an errant strand of hair from Sara's eyes, "I did. But I was happy to do it. You and our children are the most important things in the world, honey, and I will do whatever it takes to make you happy."
Noticing the tears in her eyes, Gil gave his wife a quick kiss and sent her back on her way upstairs.
"Sweetheart?" Gil called up the stairs, "It's time."
Sara appeared at the top of the stairs, her hair falling in curls around her face, her make-up refreshed. She is so beautiful, Gil thought. She moved carefully toward him, one hand on the railing, the other resting protectively on her pregnant stomach. They exchanged small smiles as she reached him and he took her hand, walking with her toward the backyard where their guests had gathered.
White wooden chairs had been set-up in the backyard, five rows of four chairs on either side of a white carpet that had been laid down to create an aisle for the couple to walk down. The minister, Reverend McCaffrey, waited for them near the back of the yard; between the two large cherry trees, under the tree house Gil had built for Hope and Hannah.
Gil glanced at the woman at his side one last time, before they began walking down the aisle. He felt a small sense of déjà vu as they moved through the crowd of their friends. Their first wedding, exactly ten years earlier, had been a small gathering of friends and family, much like this one, in Catherine's backyard. Reverend McCaffrey had married them then and when Gil had asked him to be present as they renewed their vows, he had been happy to oblige. They style of the wedding had been slightly untraditional, as neither he nor Sara had ever been traditional people, in that he had walked his bride down the aisle himself. Much like he was doing now.
As she let herself be led down the aisle, Sara couldn't help but sneak a glance at her husband out of the corner of her eye. He was obviously lost in thought, looking straight ahead, and she had the urge to stop him and make him explain what he was so focused on. But she didn't. She simply let him lead her toward Reverend McCaffrey as he had done ten years earlier. The similarities between that day and now were purposeful. Gil had wanted everything about this ceremony to be as close to the original as possible. But Sara noticed the differences and relished in them.
When they'd been married ten years ago, she had worn a slim, A-line, white satin gown that Catherine had helped her pick out. She had explained to Sara, as they were searching through racks and racks of dresses, that a huge ball gown would be so out of character for her. Besides, the off-the-shoulder style of the dress highlighted Sara's long slender neck. One of your best features, Catherine had said.
Today, Sara wore a white linen dress. It was light and sleeveless, perfect for the hot summer day. She had bought the dress even before she knew of Gil's plans for their anniversary, thinking that it had been fate when he had explained the details of renewing their wedding vows.
Sara was pulled from her wandering thoughts when Reverend McCaffrey spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today in support of Gil and Sara's decision to renew their wedding vows. I am happy to say that, ten years ago today, I stood here and blessed these two wonderful people in Holy matrimony. Now, I am proud to stand here with them as they strengthen the bound that they share," the reverend told the guests, "Gil, Sara, who would like to start?"
Sara looked up at Gil, smiling as he said, "I will."
The two of them shifted slightly so that they were facing each other instead of Reverend McCaffrey and Gil took both of Sara's hands in his own.
"If someone had told me fifteen years ago that you and I would be married with two wonderful children and a third one on the way, I would have had them committed- "that comment earned him a slight chuckle from their guests and Sara simply rolled her eyes, grinning the ear to ear grin that he loved "-I never would have let myself believe that someone so wonderful, so beautiful, could possibly love me. But here we are, standing in front of our closest friends and family, our two wonderful children, and every dream I have ever had has come true. From the moment I met you, I knew that I would never be able to love anyone but you, and I am so sorry that it took me more than fifteen years to figure that out."
"But never mind that. Buddha once said that 'The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate trouble but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.' So that's what I'm going to do. I will spend the rest of my life living for you, Sara, for you and our children. Because I love you, and that will never change."
Sara's heart was beating loudly in her chest and she had to pull one of her hands free from Gil's to wipe at the tears in her eyes. She smiled through them, making him understand that she was crying simply because she was so damn happy.
Sara took a deep breath and began to speak.
"Ten years ago this was only a dream. This life with you, our children, our friends, it was all a dream, a fantasy really, and now it's come true. I'm standing here with you, the man I love, the same man who stole my heart the first minute our eyes met all those years ago at Harvard. What's funny is that no one here knows our story, no one knows about the moment that I knew that you were the man I was going to marry, no matter how long and how hard the journey was going to be. And you're right, the difficulties we faced have no bearing now, they don't matter, because we've shared enough wonderful moments to void out all of the bad ones."
"I was twenty one years old, finishing my senior year at Harvard, living day to day for school, my classes, my grades. Until I met you. I was sitting on a bench in the middle of Harvard square, a Theoretical Physics book open in my lap, on an extremely warm day in March, when I looked up and saw the most amazing blue eyes I had ever seen. You couldn't have been standing more than twenty feet from me, speaking with a group of students about linear regression, if I remember correctly-" again their guests chuckled and Sara smiled as Gil blushed slightly "-and I was enthralled by the sound of your voice, the way you gestured so enthusiastically as you spoke. I knew how much you loved your work simply from the way you spoke. And that love you had for your work, mirrored the immediate sense of love that I felt for you. I had never met anyone so beautiful and happy. Someone who lived for their career, who was so devoted to their life's work. And I knew that I wanted you to love me the way you loved your career."
"If someone had told me fifteen years ago that you and I would be married with two wonderful children and a third one on the way, I would have had them committed. But here we are. Happy. Healthy. In love. This, our life, is so much more than I ever imagined it would be. I love you, so much Gil Grissom. And I always will."
As the end of the night drew closer, Sara sat on the living room couch, Hope's head in her lap, a paper plate propped up on her stomach. Gil was talking to Reverend McCaffrey, Hannah sound asleep in his arms.
It had been a long, wonderful day. Both of their children had behaved, not easy for five year old twins, and were now wiped out as the last of the forty odd guests filtered out.
"Want me to take that little one to bed for you?"
Sara looked up as Jim Brass moved to sit down beside her. She smiled and shook her head.
"No, that's all right," she told him, "I have no desire to move so there really isn't a reason to move her, poor thing is probably exhausted."
Jim laughed a little and rested his head on Sara's stomach, "And how's this little one?"
"Wonderfully peaceful for once," Sara said, "Usually kicking and throwing a fit right about now. She's probably napping to, it's been a long day. Is that Teri Miller?"
Sara sudden question caused Jim to look up. The anthropologist stood talking to Gil, reaching a hand out to rest it on Hannah's back. They were talking softly and Sara frowned.
"Yeah," Jim said, "It is."
"I wonder what she's doing here. I didn't even know she was in town."
"Uh, yeah. She's actually here with me," Jim said, dropping his head slightly when Sara turned to him, mouth open.
"Really? Jim, that's wonderful."
"What's wonderful?" Gil asked.
He and Terri now stood in front of Jim and Sara where they sat on the couch and Sara smiled, gesturing to Jim.
"Brass just told me that he and Teri came together today."
Jim's face flushed and Gil laughed.
"She's good at that, isn't she?"
"Watch it, buddy," Sara said, smiling, "If I could get up right now, you'd be in big trouble."
Teri, Jim and Gil laughed.
"Well, it's good to see you again, Sara," Teri said, "It's been a long time."
Sara nodded, "Yes it has."
She and Teri exchanged grins and Gil looked back and forth between the women, wondering if he had missed something.
"I hate to break up the party," Jim said, "But we should be going. Teri has a plane to catch."
After a short round of good-byes with Jim and Teri, the rest of the guests seemed to take that as their cue and soon, the Grissom household was empty, save for its usual residents.
"So," Sara said softly, snuggling closer into her husband's side, "How do you feel?"
"About what?"
"Everything. Anything. Today."
"It went well," Gil said, shrugging slightly, "I'm surprised that it went over so well, nothing is ever that easy for us."
Sara laughed lightly, nodding against his chest, "I know what you mean."
"How do you feel?"
Sara smiled, pressing a gentle kiss to his warm skin, "Wonderful. Ecstatic. I don't know how else to explain it."
"Good."
For a moment they were silent and Sara felt her eyelids beginning to droop.
"Love you," she murmured.
"Love you, too, honey. Always."