Chapter Nine

Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown and Catherine Willows exchanged glances as they watched Grissom and Sara walk into the break room, hands pulling apart abruptly when they noticed the others in the room. They passed quick, silent thoughts to one another and Sara moved to take a seat at the table beside Nick.

"You all right, kid?" Nick whispered as she sat down.

"Yeah," Sara said, nodding her head absently, "I'm fine."

"You just look a little pale, that's all."

Sara shrugged and focused on Grissom as he began to speak to all of them.

"All right, give me an update on your cases."

Warrick and Nick looked at each other and Nick spoke first, "Turns out the B and E we were investigating was actually a homicide. Erin James went home because ser mother called and told her there was some sort of family emergency. When she got here, she found out that her older brother David was high and wanted money from her. Turns out there was no emergency, David the scumbag just wanted to bum cash off her and when she refused, they had an argument and he ends up throwing her out a window. She broke her neck and mother and son put her body in a trashcan and took her out to David's property in the desert and buried her body. David ended up killing himself, overdose."

"So what did we get?" Grissom asked, somewhat confused.

"We arrested the mother as an accessory to the murder," Warrick told him, "The full report's waiting on your desk."

"Good job," Grissom said, "Is anyone up for breakfast?"

At this they all looked around with questioning glances. It took a moment for all the eyes in the room to fall on Sara and she shrugged, "Hey, don't look at me, I wasn't prepared for that either."

"Its breakfast, children, we did this a couple of mornings ago, can we act like civilized human beings and have breakfast?"

His team looked at Grissom and he simply shook his head, "It's on me."

At that they all rose and followed him out the door and to the parking lot.

Breakfast went over well, all of them laughing and talking, even drawing Grissom into their conversations every now and then. He and Sara sat on opposite sides of the table, she with Catherine and he with Warrick. Nick and Greg sat at the end of the table, fighting for elbow room on the table. It seemed so easy. The group of them, sitting together, happy. It wasn't as unrealistic as Gil had once thought it would be. No one was uncomfortable. They weren't leaving him out. Sara was smiling. It was going to be a good day.

"Orders are up, guys," Sophia called from behind the counter. Catherine and Warrick got up to retrieve their orders and Grissom leaned across the table a little, getting Sara's attention.

She leaned over and smiled, "You have a look."

He shrugged, "I wanted to tell you how happy I am."

Sara smiled at him and whispered, "I'm happy too, Gil."

They sat there like that for a few minutes, their faces only a couple of inches apart, both of them grinning unabashedly. Sara wanted desperately to kiss him, but she knew better. They were being intimate, to some degree, in public and that would have to be enough. Pushing him would drop them down the ladder a few rungs and she didn't want to risk that.

Sara leaned back the minute she sensed Catherine and Warrick return to the table. Catherine placed Sara's plate on the table first, then her own plate down in her place. Handing Greg his food, she sat back down next to Sara.

"So, Sara, someone said you got sick outside of the interrogation room today," Catherine said, elbowing her in the ribs.

Sara's face went pink immediately and she shrugged, focusing on her food, "It must have been something I ate."

Catherine looked up to note Grissom's reaction. He seemed calm and unaffected by her admission so Catherine took it at face value, not prodding the younger female CSI anymore.

They continued talking with ease and after an hour of nothing more than idle chatter, their little party broke up. Nick and Warrick both announced that they were exhausted and felt that they needed to head home. Catherine agreed, claiming that she hadn't seen Lindsey in what felt like days. So, standing outside the diner, she bid them goodnight (good-day, actually) and climbed into her truck, leaving Sara, Gil and Greg outside of the diner.

"Hey, Sara, you wanna come hang out and watch some movies with me?" Greg asked, "I have tons of energy."

Sara glanced at Grissom out of the corner of her eye and turned back to Greg.

"Sorry, Greggo, but I think I'm gonna go home and try to get some sleep," Sara said, patting him on the shoulder, "Night, gentleman."

With that, Sara got in her car and drove off, leaving Grissom and Greg both to stare after her. Greg turned to his supervisor, opened his mouth to voice a thought, then closed it again quickly, thinking it would be best to just stay quiet. Grissom turned to head to his truck, only turning back to Greg to say, "See you at the lab tonight, Greg."

Greg turned back to him, smiling and waving a little as he climbed behind the wheel of his Jetta.

Grissom pulled up in front of his townhouse fifteen minutes after leaving the diner to find Sara's truck parked across the street. He smiled to himself. As he climbed out of his car, he noticed Sara sitting on his steps waiting patiently. She glanced up at him, a mischievous grin forming as he stepped closer to her.

"Care to tell me what you're doing here, Miss Sidle?"

Sara laughed lightly as Grissom moved around her to unlock the front door, "Well, see, I could've sworn my boy-"

They glanced at each other with raised eyebrows.

"I don't know what to call you," Sara said quietly, lowering her eyes as she felt herself blush, "I mean, boyfriend sounds really childish and lover sounds -"

He leaned in and kissed her quickly, pushing her inside without breaking away from her. The door closed behind them as Sara came up for air and moved to the couch. Gil moved into the kitchen, only returning when he was carrying two wine glasses. Handing one to Sara, he sat down on the couch beside her, smiling happily when she leaned into his shoulder.

"For now, honey, lover will have to do," he told her, sipping his wine, "Maybe later it will be fiancé and after that husband... but for now lover is appropriate."

Sara didn't speak. She sat silently at his side, taking in the intensity of his statement. Lover, fiancé, husband. Three words that, only a few years ago, she never would've used to describe her relationship with Gil Grissom were now the words that he was using to describe himself. She took a deep breath, turning slightly to face him, and decided to speak.

"Honestly, Gil, I don't think I'm comfortable with 'lovers' being the title of our relationship," she told him, continuing on before he could interrupt, "I mean, I'm not complaining about the sex, Griss, because it's wonderful and I love you, so much, but I think it would be a little disconcerting if we announced that we're 'lovers' to our friends. Not that I have any plans on making that announcement anytime soon, or at least not without your approval, but still. And I'm sorry, but I've waited long enough, and I'm happy with you and with this, but I can't help wanting more. I'm not getting any younger, Gil, and neither are you."

Now it was Grissom's turn to sit silently and take in all that Sara was saying. She wanted to be more than loves. They had just made it to that stage in their relationship and she wanted more... he wasn't completely sure if he was ready for more. Then again, he had fantasized about marrying Sara for years, practically since the first time they'd met. But now she was here, she was real, sitting beside him in his home, her entire body pressed into him, and they were talking about marriage. He and Sara were discussing marriage, they're marriage.

"Sara, I never thought I would get the chance to do this," he told her, standing up and pulling her along with him. He didn't say anything more as they walked into his bedroom.

Closing the door behind them, he sat Sara down at the foot of his bed and moved to his dresser. When he turned back around to her, he moved to kneel in front of her, seeing the tears well up in her eyes.

"I love you, Sara. I love you more than I can express in my own words but the closest I can come is this, 'I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way that this; Where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.' Sara, honey, will you marry me?"

He held the ring box in his right hand, his left one on Sara's knee balancing him. She stared down at the antique diamond and ruby ring in the velvet box. She forced herself to look up at him, tears cascading down her face now.

"You know that you didn't have to do this," she said, he voice barely above a whisper.

Gil stood and moved to sit beside her, drawing her into his arms. Leaning into her ear, he whispered, "I know, Sara. I love you. Honey, will you marry me?"

Unable to say the single word, Sara nodded against his shoulder and pulled back a little as he slipped the ring on her finger.

"Gil, make love to me..."

A/N: Ok, the quote Grissom uses here is Pablo Neruda, and yes, I've used the same one a dozen other times. Sorry, it's my favorite. Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed and those of you who didn't want Sara to be preggers, congrats, she wasn't. (sorry to anyone her wanted her to be)