"Second Chances – Part 14"

August 11, 2005 (Day 111)
Crime Lab
6:46 a.m.

Without an invitation, Warrick and Greg filed into Nick's office and occupied his guest chairs.

"This better be good news," Nick grumped without taking his eyes off the paperwork he was completing. "'Cause I'm having a shitty morning."

"Your morning just started," Greg cheerily reminded him. "And why do you have your cap on inside the lab?"

Warrick whispered to his buddy, "Receding hairline…don't go there, Greggo."

"Uh, no…" Nick threw down his pen. "In response to you, Greg…my morning started when I rolled off the couch at two o'clock in the morning and slammed my head on the freakin' coffee table." Ripping off his baseball cap he revealed the large bruise on his forehead. "This is why I'm wearing the cap. Satisfied?"

"Hold up." Warrick leaned forward in his chair. "Why were you sleeping on the couch?"

Rolling his eyes he replied, "Because I didn't care enough about table linens."

"Huh?" Warrick and Greg chimed.

Rubbing the black and blue lump on his forehead, Nick sighed, "Last night my fiancée wanted to discuss all this trivial wedding stuff and I wasn't in the mood. I wasn't in the mood because I spent the greater part of my day in a hotel room with a disemboweled prostitute." Sighing, he dropped back in his chair. "It was obvious that it meant a lot to Carrie so rather than telling her I wasn't up for it, I decided to BS my way through it to appease her. I thought I was doing a good job but then, all of a sudden, she blasted me for not caring about one of the most important days of our life. I was tired and frustrated…let's just say it really went downhill when I barked, 'oh hell, I don't care if the guests eat off paper plates on tables covered in cheap red and white plastic picnic cloths'."

"Damn." Warrick cringed at his pal's faux pas. "Are you sure you fell off the couch and got that bruise? Or did she hurl a Bridal magazine at your head?"

"I've seen those magazines in the check-out line at the grocery store," Greg confirmed, "they're huge. Could easily have done the damage. Maybe we're looking at a case of battered-fiancé syndrome…BFS."

"You're laughing but we actually had a case like that once." Warrick nodded at Nick. "You worked it with me, remember? The bride-to-be accidentally killed her potential groom when she launched a paperweight and caught him in the temple."

"The paperweight was one of the choices for groomsmen gifts." Looking to his friends for empathy, he moaned, "How am I ever going to survive six months of this torture? All I want to do is get married. I don't want to devote six months of my life to talking about linens and flowers. I'm really starting to envy Gris and Sara's trip to the Little Chapel of the Flowers."

Greg offered the first words to pop in his head. "Maybe she's so ticked at you that she'll call off the wedding and you won't have to worry about it anymore."

"Thanks…that makes me feel a hell of a lot better," Nick snapped. "But enough about me, why don't we talk about what you're planning on doing about your situation, Mr. Optimism? You plan on making an honest woman out of Tawny?"

"Uh…" Swallowing hard, he tried to think of a good answer.

"What's that Sanders?" Nick huffed. "Hey, you pried into my life so turnabout is fair play. Tell me your plan, Man. Will you be debating between lilac and crimson napkins too, or are you going to have Elvis officiate at the drive-thru one afternoon and call it a day?"

After glancing at his watch, Warrick announced as he stood, "Shift's over and your personal lives are way too complicated for my taste. I'll see you around…that is, if your women don't kill you first." Chuckling, he strolled out of the room.

Slouching in his chair, Greg finally answered Nick's question. "I um…haven't figured everything out yet but I've come a long way. It was a hell of a shock…"

"How did you let this happen in the first place, Greg?"

"You looking for a Biology lesson or do you just want to hear me admit my irresponsibility so you can rub it in that I screwed up?" Straightening up in his chair, Greg continued, "Just because you and Carrie are the poster-children for traditional relationships doesn't mean…"

"Sorry." Scratching his head, Nick lightened up. "Sorry, I'm just feeling a lot of pressure from every direction. Sara being gone isn't helping. She's my right hand. Her and Gris better be working out their differences and getting their asses back here pronto. Because if they…"

"Whoa…I had no idea." Greg's voice filled with concern. "I thought Sara was at a forensics conference and Grissom took some vacation time to surprise her? Are they…how bad is it?"

"Oh shit." Nick groaned. "Before I answer, I need to take a second and add that blurt to the list of things I blew so far today."

"I really hope Grissom and Sara are doing okay."

Shoreline Cabins
9:14 a.m.

Grissom, wearing his favorite blue pajama bottoms and a grey t-shirt, was conserving his energy by lounging in the cabin's cushy bed working a crossword puzzle. The suspense wouldn't last much longer, any minute now Sara would emerge from the bathroom and he would find out whether or not he had the day off.

Last night, after a relaxing meal at Damon's Grill and a quick trip to the supermarket, they returned to the cabin rejuvenated and ready for some heart to heart conversation.

To set an intimate mood, Grissom built a toasty fire while Sara made a cozy nest in front of it out of bed pillows and the three fresh blankets she purchased during their trip to the store. There, in the warmth of the flames and the comfort of the DNA-free linens they freely shared everything they'd learned over the past four days.

To assure her husband that he did indeed fulfill her wishes and earn forgiveness, Sara presented Gil her journal of notes to him, including the letter asking that he take action and work on himself to be the man she needed. While he read the journal, she nestled against his chest and watched the flames whimsically dance in the fireplace. And when he was done reading, she slipped her arm around his waist and savored the companionship while they compared her letter's requests to his letters' promises. In the end they agreed it was a perfect match. They were still a perfect match.

Just after one a.m. they shut down the fireplace and hand in hand strolled to the bedroom to slide between the soft sheets of the lodge pole bed. Thrilled to have someone's arms to fall asleep in again, they met in the middle and Grissom wasted no time pressing his body to Sara's until they were perfectly spooned.

"Okay, General Grissom…" Sara called from the doorway of the bathroom at 9:21 a.m. "…are you ready for the morning report?"

Taking off his glasses, he glanced up and saw her wearing her fluffy pink robe and a smile. "Yes…"

Crossing the room, she announced, "You can tell the troops to stand down because the handy-dandy ovulation predictor indicates I'm still in the low-fertility zone." Slipping into bed, she warned, "The boys have the day off today, but they are expected to report for active duty tomorrow."

"I'll make sure they use the time wisely." Stuffing his pen inside the crossword book he tossed it aside.

"Speaking of time…" She craned her neck to see the digital clock on the nightstand. "We have about two hours before we have to be at the realtor's office."

Grinning, he replied, "We know what we can't do in those two hours, so what would you like to do?"

"I'd like to take you on a little hike in the woods."

Laughing he said, "If you had said that four days ago I would have thought I wasn't coming back."

"Yeah…but now I just want to show you some really cool bugs."

After rolling out of bed he hurried for his suitcase. "Come on…what are you waiting for?" Appealing to her needs, he added, "How about I tell you about my first ant farm while we're hiking? It was one of the stories my father told me when I had lunch with him the other day. Unless of course you have a different story you'd like to hear?" He rummaged through his luggage looking for a fresh pair of socks and his boots.

Having heard the story from Ron, Sara was anxious to hear her husband tell it. "No, that's just the story I want to hear."

Greg's Apartment
9:20 a.m.

"Sweetie, I'm home!" Greg announced as he walked through the front door with his kit in one hand and an envelope in the other. "I've got your DNA results." Anxious for a warm greeting, he placed his kit on the floor, shut the door and headed for the bedroom.

Skipping out of the bedroom dressed in a pair of white shorts and a bright yellow tank, Tawny hurried to greet her man. "How was work?" She asked while throwing her arms around Greg's neck. "Scale of 1 to 10."

"Six," He replied when he was through bestowing a hello kiss.

After a lonely night of Algebra homework and reading, she was ready for some companionship. "How does it feel to be home with me?" She bubbled with enthusiasm.

"A solid ten." Taking her hand, he darted for the couch. "Snuggle time." Although the night's caseload wasn't disturbing or grueling, he still craved decompressing with her. Or, he wondered, do I just crave her? "As promised, here's your DNA report," He announced while pulling her close. "You have some spectacular DNA. My child is really lucking out having you as a mom."

"Really?" Opening the envelope she looked at the cryptic report. "Uh…I think I'm just going to have to trust you."

Chuckling, he told her, "Don't feel bad. No one is supposed to know how to read these without the education and experience."

Wrinkling her nose she stared at the information. "How exactly does all this DNA stuff work anyway?"

Leaning forward, he grabbed her Algebra notebook and a pencil off the coffee table. "You stop me if I geek-out so much you're on the verge of not finding me attractive or if you don't get something, okay?"

"Don't go too easy on me," She warned. "I don't want DNA for dummies. And I seriously doubt I could ever find you unattractive."

Pumped by her affirmation, he forged ahead. "Okay…Human DNA, which stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine…also known as A, G, C and T. These bases pair up…always A with T and G with C, then attach to a sugar and a phosphate, to form a nucleotide. The nucleotides are arranged in two strands and together they form the double helix." He drew it out for her to follow. "See…the paired bases are the rungs and the sugar and phosphate make up the sides." Smiling at her, he asked, "Tracking me so far?"

"Yes, Mr. Wizard." She beamed. "Keep going."

"Hmm…Mr. Wizard, I'm liking the way that sounds coming from you. As a matter of fact…I'm dreaming of a little role play." Every day he loved coming home to her more and for a moment he was consumed by her smile.

Elbowing him in the ribs, Tawny jeered, "Focus!"

"Uh…okay but promise me we'll come back to the Mr. Wizard thing another time." Jotting letters on the ladder rungs, he smirked, "Okay, the order of the base pairs is what determines the code: A-T, C-G, T-A, etc… There are about 3 billion pairs and 99 percent of the code is the same for every human. Only 1 percent makes us unique."

"So that's the part you test?"

"Exactly! When we test, we use something called STR, Short Tandem Repeat Analysis to study 13 specific regions…loci…within nuclear DNA. Then we can compare any two DNA reports to determine if there's a match. The odds of two individuals having the same 13-loci DNA profile is one in a billion, therefore, if we have two DNA samples that do match, we can be confident that they are from the same person."

"So…if you find DNA on a victim that matches to a DNA swab from a suspect you can prove the suspect had contact with the victim?"

"Right!" He rewarded her deduction with an energetic kiss. "I think you have a brain for science as well as math. Must be a result of your spectacular DNA."

"How does your DNA compare to mine?" Tussling his wild hair, she asked, "Will our child be doubly blessed?"

"It's not as good as yours, but it's not too shabby." Getting up, he crossed the room and when he arrived at his desk, he opened the bottom drawer and plucked out a file. "By the way, I have a copy of mine at work too. I already compared our reports and determined we're not related."

"That's a good thing." She giggled, "Not that I was worried."

"Hey, you never really know what your parents did before they got married…or even after marrying. Anyone could have a secret half-brother or sister somewhere out there." Giving a practical example, he stated, "Like if you hadn't told me about our baby and then I had a kid with someone else one day…then my two kids hook up…voila…incest."

"Your mind scares me sometimes."

"You're not the first person to say that," He chuckled. Returning to his place next to her on the couch, he held up the two reports and absently announced, "Here's what's cool…now that we have my DNA report and yours, all that's missing is the baby's. Once we can get the baby's DNA, we'll compare his or her profile to yours to match up genetic characteristics and eliminate them. Then the child's remaining genetic characteristics are compared to my profile to determine if there are enough matches to deem that I am the child's father."

"What?" In shock, Tawny slid to the end of the couch.

As soon as he saw her face he knew his casual mention of the subject stunned her and he quickly tried to repair the damage. "Sorry I didn't mean to upset you. We discussed this before and…"

One hand pressed to her stomach and the other covering her mouth, she shakily asked, "Is this why you wanted my DNA…oh my god. You said you believed me." The strength of her voice grew. "I thought you trusted me!"

"Wait a minute…I never said I didn't believe you!" Blindsided by her strong reaction he stammered, "This…why are you? This is nothing new. We always agreed that we'd have a paternity test."

"When you barely knew me yes, but now?" Jumping off the couch she heatedly exclaimed, "We're in a relationship now. My god! I bared my soul to you and trusted you with my most personal secrets that I never shared with anyone ever! How can you think I'm a liar!" Flashing to hysteria, she screamed, "I've never lied to you, Greg. Never! How could you…"

"Just…calm down." Standing, he tried to take her his arms. "Please…"

"No!" She backed away. "I can't believe you tricked me!"

"I didn't trick you!" Dashing his fingers through his hair in frustration, he shouted back, "This was always the plan. You agreed! You even said you wanted to have it done pre-natal and I said no, that we should wait for safety reasons. Look at you! You look terrified. Seeing you get so hysterical about the testing is making me paranoid." Alarm bells sounded in his head and he relentlessly pursued his point. "Now I'm starting to think I have something to worry about when I really didn't think I did! Do I have something to worry about? Is there something you haven't told me? Because I'm…I really wanted…" Scared that he was losing everything he thought he had, Greg yelled, "Would you answer me!"

Tears pouring down her cheeks, Tawny squeaked, "You're the father."

"Then why are you so upset at the prospect of a paternity test?" Pacing the room he tried to make sense of the situation. "If you're so confident then why the drama? You're freaking me out. I'm sorry, I just don't get it."

"Because…" Trying to catch her breath, she said, "…I'm upset because…for once…I was happy that someone trusted me and now I realize you don't. You're just like my mother when I told her what that pig boyfriend did to me!" The painful memory flooded her and in a flash, anger flowed through her. "You don't believe me! You're just like her! You think I'm nothing but a lying whore! I wasn't lying then and I'm not lying now!"

Finally comprehending the real reason for her behavior, he relaxed. "I do believe…"

"Shut up!" She yelled before gasping for air. "I really thought you were different, but you're not. The girls were right. All of this…you being nice to me…you're just hedging your bets so you don't look like a deadbeat in nine months!"

Seeing her so hurt was ripping him apart. "Please would you let me…"

"No!" Wiping her tears with the back of her hand, she sobbed, "I'm not letting you do another thing for me or the baby. I'm leaving. I'm getting my old job back and I'm gonna dance my ass off so I have enough money in four weeks to have a CVS test done and get a damn DNA sample! Then I'm going to send you the results in a 'Congratulations You're the Daddy' card with a note that says don't ever come near me or the baby again!"

"Stop!" He rushed after her as she grabbed her purse from the kitchen counter and bolted for the door. "Please stop!"

"Get your hands off me!" She yelled as she shoved him away then yanked open the front door. "I'll come back for my things when you're at work tonight."

Unsure of how to make things right, Greg remained frozen in the doorway. Two days ago he was telling Grissom how he was looking forward to the first argument with Tawny, but now he feared their first argument might be their only argument because she never wanted to see him again. Suddenly he understood why Grissom looked at him as if he were insane and his mentor's words echoed in his head… Don't you think you're setting yourself up for a fall? Aren't you worried that one day you and Tawny will disagree or she'll do something to make you come crashing down and the rush will be gone as fast as it came? "He left out one scenario…me doing something to make it come crashing down."

Retreating into the apartment, Greg numbly walked into the living room and dropped on the couch. "Grissom was right."

"What am I complaining about, Tawny has been a victim a couple of times…the incident with her mom's boyfriend was bad enough but she was date raped a few years back…talk about guys who deserve grievous bodily harm. But you see, even with all that, Tawny doesn't seem to have a PTSD problem."

"You haven't known her that long, Greg. Symptoms can come and go."

Sitting on the couch staring at the DNA reports, he continued his descent from heaven to hell. Why didn't I stop and think about her history and filter her reaction? If I had just stopped before jumping to conclusions… "Damn it."

Lake Tahoe
9:40 a.m.

Holding hands as they navigated through the trees toward the lake, Grissom told his story. "My dad told me my favorite activity in the backyard or anywhere outdoors was overturning rocks and watching the bugs scurry away. Apparently I'd shriek like a lunatic and jump up and down."

"Explains your enthusiasm for cockroach racing..." Sara gave his hand a squeeze. "…and you still shriek, Honey. Remember when you found lost Racer Number Six scampering across the living room after he was done violating me? The noise you made…definitely the gleeful shriek of a bug-obsessed little boy!"

Halting the stroll, he informed his smirking wife, "Well, the noise you made when Number Six was crawling up your leg was definitely the terrified scream of a bug-fearing prissy girl!"

"Insect Freak!" She teased.

"Wuss!"

In between laughs she declared, "I love the bug geek in you."

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her close. "And I love watching you squirm like a worm when you get freaked out by bugs."

"Don't you mean a Lumbricus Terrestris?" She replied, once again showing off her knowledge.

Feigning irritation, he snipped, "You know we can't get randy, so why are you talking dirty?"

Breathing heavy, she expounded in a sexy rasp, "Lumbricus Terrestris…dirty little earthworms covered in decayed organic matter and naturally occurring bacteria and fungi, spend all night working hard, burrowing in and out of the warm, moist soil until they collapse panting from exhaustion."

"You blew it with the 'panting from exhaustion' part," He informed her through a playful grin. "Earthworms absorb oxygen directly through their skin. Specifically, it's dissolved into the mucous coating their skin, then it passes through the skin, and the walls of capillaries lacing the skin, where it is picked up by hemoglobin in the worm's blood and carried throughout the body."

"Yeah, but that doesn't sound as sexy as panting."

"It does if the guy gets turned on by scientific accuracy."

"Geek!"

"Tease!" He proclaimed before stealing a deliriously lengthy kiss.

"Ahhh…now this feels like our long overdue honeymoon," Sara stated as she swooned from the kiss. "Passion…silly banter…can't keep our hands or our lips off each other…" She started giggling, "…crossword puzzles...ovulation prediction…bugs…science talk. All we need to do is work in a game of Scrabble later to live up to our nerdy reputation."

"You forgot to mention the germ-free blankets. "Taking her by the hand he continued down the trail. "It's a geek honeymoon, I think it suits us both very well and I'm loving every minute of it."

"Yeah." She prodded him with a smile. "Now, finish your story."

Happy that she was still interested, he continued, "My father told you how I broke my ankle when I was almost three, right?" When she acknowledged his question with a nod, he said, "After that, he felt bad because I couldn't run around outside lifting rocks and watching bugs. One day, before he was about to leave on a business trip, he bought me an ant farm so I could watch bugs even though I was stuck inside."

"Very thoughtful." Having arrived at the beach she backed up against his chest so they could watch the water in each other's arms.

Slipping his arms around her, he rested his chin on her shoulder. "Yeah…it wasn't easy to hear him tell it. There was so much that was hard to hear." Sighing, he persisted, "Anyway, against my mother's wishes, my dad let me keep the farm in my bedroom. Since I had climbed out of my crib and hurt myself, my parents decided to put my mattress on the floor. That first night with the farm, apparently I wanted to sleep with my new pets, so when I was alone, I put the farm in bed with me. By morning…ants everywhere. My dad said when my mom entered the room I was sound asleep with ants on the bed and directly on me. But when she woke me, I wasn't bothered at all."

"Now there's an early indicator of success as an Entomologist!"

"Absolutely." He chuckled lightly as he watched the water gently lapping.

"Your dad showed me a picture of the ant farm." Her voice overflowed with warmth. "It was adorable…you sitting on his lap, both of you smiling. Your smile hasn't changed one bit. You do realize you have your father's smile, right?"

After a laborious sigh, he admitted, "I was shocked to see how much I look like my father. For obvious reasons my mom didn't keep any pictures of him around and as a nine year old I didn't think I looked anything like him. You know those pictures you saw with him in his twenties? I looked just like that when I was that age. So now I guess you know what I'll look like in my seventies."

"Yeah…I think your dad is damn fine looking for seventy-two."

"In that case I'll say something I've never said before…I hope I grow up just like him."

After sharing a laugh, she asked, "You've seen the photo I have of me with my parents. Who do you think I look like?"

Tightening his grip around her, he spoke softly. "You have your mother's smile and your dad's eyes."

"That's what I thought too." Breathing deep, she forced a sunny tone. "Okay…I think we definitely veered off course from honeymoon talk."

Sensing she wanted an out, he declared, "Then by all means, let's talk bugs." Heading for the water's edge, he enthusiastically pointed. "This lake…it's like one big vat of insect soup!"

Grinning, she joined him. "You just killed any chance of getting me to go skinny dipping with you."

"The thought never crossed my mind…" His face lit up like a neon sign. "…until now."

"Have you ever…with someone?" She curiously inquired, testing to see if he'd withhold the answer or live up to his promise to share more about himself.

"Nope," He answered without hesitation. "I had the inclination but never an opportunity. You?"

"Opposite problem. I had the opportunity in college, but wasn't drunk enough to get over my inhibition to have the inclination." Shaking her head at the memory, she said, "Kip Stevenson cited it as his reason for breaking things off with me the next day. Called me a prude."

"Nah, I can vouch for that. You were just waiting for the right time…and the right guy." Bending down, he splashed a wave of water at his unsuspecting wife.

"Hey!" Peeling her soaked white t-shirt from her skin, she shot him a look. "If you think…it's broad daylight!"

"Isn't that the best time to overcome an inhibition? Anyone can overcome an inhibition in the cover of darkness!" Upon yanking off his grey t-shirt he dangled it front of her, grinning. "You know, your shirt will dry if you lay it on the rocks while you take a swim. Would you put mine with yours?"

"Optimist!" She huffed as she snatched his shirt.

"I'm just fulfilling my promise to give you 100 percent of Gil Grissom. The question is…can you handle the new emotionally unburdened me?" Kicking off his boots and nudging her with his eyes, he said, "Water temp is 70 degrees, the beach is private and extremely secluded…it's our honeymoon…don't propagate the erroneous geek stereotype by chickening out."

After a thorough visual inspection of the surrounding area, Sara walked over to the rocks, dropped her husband's shirt and removed hers. "Catherine will never believe I did this," She remarked while losing the rest of her clothes. The sound of a splash caused her to whip around. "Hey! Aren't you supposed to wait for me?"

From the water he answered, "No, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be in the water watching you come to me. At least that's how it's written in several novels I've read."

Hurrying to the water laughing, she yelled, "In B movies the couples always hold hands and run into the water together!"

"Oh please…everyone knows books are always better than the movies!" Opening his arms, he taunted her like she had taunted him when she wanted him to take a bubble bath. "Like our song says, Sara…heaven and earth know the moment's right…why don't you, come be with me?"

The cool water sent a shiver through her flushed body which sent her rushing into her husband's arms. Once again she scanned the area but was relieved to see only birds and squirrels for an audience. "Happy?"

"Extremely," He murmured while dropping kisses over her slick skin. "Now I can move another fantasy to the fulfilled column."

"Exactly how many are in the unfulfilled column?" She pried in a seductive tone. "As your wife and exclusive filler of said fantasies I think it's my business to know."

"Rounding up?" He chuckled heartily. "Fifty."

"Fifty!" Stunned, she pulled away.

"Don't worry, not all of them are things you can fulfill."

Eyeing him suspiciously, she snipped, "Clarification please."

"Relax." He took her hand. "I meant like winning the Nobel Prize. And of course I have bug fantasies."

"Excuse me?" She raised a brow. "There's a fetish we haven't run into yet on the job."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Honey. I meant like finding an undiscovered insect."

"I knew that." Shivering, she returned to his arms and jumping up, wrapped her legs around his waist. "I don't like my feet touching the squishy lake bottom…all that algae…blech." Playfully she nibbled on his ear lobe and sprinkled kisses down his neck. "Baby, are there trout in this lake or are you just happy to see me?"

Thrilled she selected trout and not minnow for her joke, he chuckled, "Uh...yeah…Honey…you're coming dangerously close to helping me move another fantasy to the fulfilled column and since you insisted that today be a day of rest I'm going to have to call you a..."

"How close?" She teased while repositioning and escalating her taunt. "How close am I to fulfilling another one of your fantasies?"

"Rounding up? One inch."

Purring in his ear, she asked, "Aren't you going to ask me how many unfulfilled fantasies I have?"

"If one of them is torturing me, you've fulfilled it." Overwhelmed by her excruciating proximity, he gulped, "Uh…okay, how many unfilled fantasies do you have?"

While claiming his lips with a heated kiss, she shocked the hell out of him with a stealthy move. Thirty seconds later when she broke the kiss, she answered, "How many? Same as you…one less than thirty seconds ago." The pleasure in his eyes escalated her satisfaction. "I know I said today was a rest day but…Happy Honeymoon."

Locking her body in place with his arms, he gratefully retorted, "It certainly is."

Catherine's House
10:45 a.m.

Entering the house from the garage, Catherine tossed her keys on the kitchen counter and made a beeline for the living room. "How's the game?"

Hitting the 'pause' button on the digital recorder, Warrick glanced up from his position splayed on the couch. "It's tight." He could tell by the expression on her face he wouldn't be hitting the 'play' button any time soon. "What's up?"

Miffed, she answered in a curt tone. "You didn't finish processing the car."

Yep…she was in boss mode and bringing work home. Two things he hated. "I pulled twelve and I was spent. Plus, I'm pulling a double tonight because I'm covering Days for Sara." Sitting up, he polished off his beer. "What's the big deal? Carlos said he'd finish."

"Oh he did, did he?" Stuffing her hands on her hips, Catherine griped, "Twenty minutes after you left, his wife called and he scampered home with his tail between his legs."

"Oh." He set his empty bottle on the table. "I didn't know that part."

"I tried to page you!"

Standing up, he explained, "I turned it off when I got home. I wanted a few hours to…"

"I tried to call you!" Her irritation grew.

"Sorry, I left my cell in the car."

"And the house phone?"

"Ringer must still be off from when we didn't want to be disturbed yesterday." Throwing his arms in the air he casually said, "Chaos theory."

"Uh…no!" She pointed at the coffee table. "Evidence…remote control and two empty beer bottles. You didn't want to be found!"

"Okay…I'm done," He informed her while heading for the door. "Boss lady, when you're ready to leave work at the office, I'll come home. This time I promise to have my cell with me."

"What's that supposed to mean!" She asked as he walked out the door. "Hey!"

Shoreline Cabins
10:49 a.m.

After enjoying their invigorating dip, Grissom and Sara returned from the lake to get ready for their realtor appointment.

Freshly showered with their bodies swathed in fluffy hunter green towels, Grissom and Sara stood at the bathroom sink. "Let me see that hand of yours," Sara insisted. "You probably shouldn't have soaked your stitches in the lake."

"Whatever consequence there is…" He flashed a naughty boy smile. "…it was worth it. Did I thank you for…"

"Ten times already." Opening her first aid kit, Sara's thoughts echoed her husband's blissful ones. "Good thing this kit was in my suitcase," She remarked while squeezing antibiotic ointment over the wound. "You do realize you're going to have a scar?"

"Good." He watched her tend to him with concern in her eyes. "I'll have a visual reminder of my stupidity. It will keep me in line."

"It's also good symmetry," Displaying her left palm, she sighed, "It matches mine from the lab explosion."

"Thanks for the positive spin." While she bandaged the cut, he asked, "So, Mrs. Grissom, are you absolutely sure you want to ante up $642,000 of our money for this place?"

"After our romp on the private beach…" Smoothing the bandage over his palm, she giggled, "…I'm positive. Besides, it will hardly make a dent in our account, right, Sugar Daddy?"

"We won't be eating Ramen noodles any time soon because of it." After inspecting her handiwork, he leaned in for a kiss. "My father is dying to see my portfolio…our portfolio."

"He wants to be sure he has more than you?" Grinning, she corrected herself. "…more than us?"

"No…he has plenty more and he knows it." Stepping out of the bathroom, he headed for his suitcase. "Investing and developing are his forte. It's too late for him to teach me how to shoot hoops and he's desperate to play some fatherly role. I think he sees financial advising as a way to sate the urge."

"How do you feel about that?" She asked while grabbing some underwear from her suitcase. "About him playing a fatherly role?"

"Conflicted," He answered before pulling a navy blue polo shirt over his head.

"What's causing the confliction?"

"You sound like Dr. Myers," He remarked while zipping his jeans. "This is good practice."

Tugging on a fitted teal v-neck shirt, she sweetly said, "Any time."

"I'm still very hurt by his choices, but I understand his motivation and I can't deny he sacrificed a lot to bring me into this world…and that he loved my mother and me deeply at one time." Leaning against the wall, he spoke while Sara finished getting ready. "My father made some very bad decisions…but so did I earlier this week. I could have permanently messed things up for us so it's hard not to give someone another chance when I just got one. Last week I was talking with Greg and I brought up an Emerson quote…self-sacrifice is the real miracle out of which all the reported miracles grow."

"Good quote."

"Yeah…so we discussed it a little and he asked me to elaborate." Running his hand over his beard, he said, "I talked about the cyclical nature of sacrifice…giving something up, then reaping the rewards of your generosity and then giving something back. Turns out he actually listened to me. We were at a crime scene the night I found out you left…nasty double homicide with an evisceration. My head was working on me…physically and psychologically. You know Greg is still getting his sea legs and I should have been supportive but instead, I humiliated him in front of Sofia, pointed out his inadequacies and he ended up rushing outside to get sick. I even barked at him about that…it was all bad. "

Fully dressed, Sara sat on the edge of the bed to listen.

"A little while later, I'm outside getting sick as a dog on my hands and knees…a total wreck." His voice grew deeper. "Greg comes out and instead of rubbing the hypocrisy in my face, he lends a hand and cites the Emerson quote and discussion we had. I ask him why he didn't march out and call me a hypocrite. He tells me, up until the week before, he was a hypocrite so if he called me a hypocrite he would be one again and he didn't want to be that kind of guy anymore. I guess that's how I feel about my father. I need to give him the same opportunity you gave me or I'll be a hypocrite."

Standing up, she tenderly said, "Doesn't sound like you're conflicted anymore."

"No…I guess I'm not."

"See how easy this stuff is once you get going?" She covered the ten feet between them and took his hand. "Nice work."

"Thank you." Bringing her hand to his lips he brushed a kiss over it. "Ready to make our first major purchase as husband and wife?"

"Our third first today and it's only eleven a.m." Clutching his hand she headed for the door.

"I wonder what the tally will be by midnight?"

"Rounding up?" She teased. "Ten."