To everyone who has reviewed, YOU GUYS ROCK MY WORLD! Thank you so much for all your kind words and encouragement. I truly appreciate it! However, on a sadder note, I may not be able to update for a few days. I have plenty of ideas, however I have a very large research paper due Wed. and it is the last paper I'll ever have to write in my college career so it's got to be a good one. But I'll be back soon enough, I promise! Thanks so much again!

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"To care for anyone else enough to make their problems one's own, is ever the beginning of one's real ethical development."

Felix Adler

About half way to the diner, Sara's phone began to ring.

"Sidle"

"Hey Sara, it's Greg. Is the kid still alive?" Greg asked jokingly, however, he was curious to see if the two has survived the night.

"Yeah, piece of cake. No problems." Sara quickly replied. Greg could hear somebody obviously clear his or her throat in the background. "Ok, so maybe there were a few problems. But I called Catherine and she's helping me out."

"Seriously? You called Catherine? She must have been pissed when you woke her up! Among other things, she's helping you? Are you with her now or something?" Greg was shocked to hear Sara had sought help for anything, and on top of that Catherine. Sara's blow up was no secret among the lab.

"Yeah, we're in the car on the way to the diner. We're going to stop and get breakfast and then go shopping."

"Come on, Sara, that's too much, I don't believe you." Greg was shocked enough by Sara calling Catherine, but to voluntarily got to breakfast AND shopping with Catherine it was just too much. Sara could hear the confusion in Greg's voice and just decided to hand the phone over to Catherine.

"Hey Greggo! Long time no see!" Catherine spoke into the phone. "So you don't believe that I am a compassionate enough person to help Sara out when she in over her head?" Catherine asked.

"No, no, it's just… you… Sara… don't.." Greg was stunned to hear Catherine's voice, much less that she was helping Sara without being held against her will.

"Hey, why don't you join us for breakfast? You must be almost done with your shift by now? We've got Lindsey and Sadie in tow with us." Catherine quickly interrupted. She didn't want to get into why the sudden change of heart, but also knew that Greg would never turn down an invitation to join Sara.

"Yeah, that sounds good, but I'm gonna skip out on shopping. I tired and I don't think I could manage shopping with four women." Greg was tired, but rebuffed to turn down anything that would mean spending some time with Sara. True, he had had a crush on her since the day he met her, but now the crush had turned more into admiration and a good friendship. He loved how her mind worked and that he could get away with ripping on her and she that would give it right back.

"We'll see you in a little bit. Bye Greggo!" With that, Catherine hung up the phone and handed it back to Sara.

Arriving at the diner the same time as Greg, the women climbed out of the Denali. Catherine waited to see if Sara could figure out how to get Sadie out of the booster seat, with out trying to laugh too much. Greg came around the door to see what Catherine was laughing at and was meet by Sara finally succeeding to free Sadie from the booster seat.

"Hey Sadie, remember me? My name's Greg, I met you last night. Wow, Sara, I'm impress you thought to get a booster seat. I would have guessed you didn't even know what one was." Greg stated nodding his head. This was too much for Catherine and she couldn't hold back her laughter. As embarrassed as she was that even Greg knew what a booster seat was, she had to laugh too.

"Um, no, this is all Catherine. It was Lindsey's old seat and she brought it over for me this morning." Sara mumbled as Catherine struggled to gain her composure.

Sadie attached herself to Sara's hand as Sara placed her on the ground. She looked around and reached out for Lindsey's hand. Lindsey smiled at her and took her hand. Catherine was shocked, but pleased with her daughter's kindness.

The diner was a common place for the CSI to go after a shift. Catherine, Greg, and Sara didn't even have to look at a menu to know what they wanted. Sadie who was sandwiched between Sara and Lindsey was given a children's menu and some crayons to color with. Lindsey carefully looked over the menu, happy she had not been handed a kids menu.

"So Sadie, what do you like?" Lindsey chirped. Sadie just shrugged. "Do you like pancakes?" The little girl nodded. "Do you like waffles?" The little girl nodded again. "Ok, how about you get pancakes and I'll get waffles and we can share? Is that ok, Sara?" Lindsey asked carefully.

"Sure, that's fine." Sara blurted out. How was it that everyone knew how to talk to a child except for her? Catherine sat awestruck at her daughter's own maturity. What this really her daughter? Not that Catherine was upset in anyway, just completely and utterly shocked. But after the proceedings of the last 8 hours, Catherine figured anything was possible.

The waitress delivered their meals and the group began to eat. Sara noticed that Sadie was tentative to begin eating, but after seeing everyone else thoroughly enjoying his or her food, she began to eat as well. Sadie ate all of her pancakes, most of Lindsey's waffles, and whatever scraps the rest had left on their plates. The adults could see how small the young girl was and was pleased to see her eating with vigor. As the group began to finish off their meals, Greg stood up, and said that he was leaving to get some sleep. He asked Sara if it was ok to stop by before work later and she readily agreed. Greg walked over to the cash register and paid for his meal and the others as he left. Sara and Catherine discussed what their plans were for shopping as they finished off their coffee. First the crew would attack WalMart, getting some clothes and basics to last Sadie the weekend, then they would go to the grocery store so that Sara and Sadie wouldn't be eating take out for every meal. As this was settled the crew made their way to the register the waitress said to both Catherine and Sara that they should bring their daughters by more often. Catherine smiled as Sara stood there with shock etched across her face. The women were also pleasantly surprised to be informed that Greg had already paid for all of their meals.

Sara placed Sadie in her booster seat, and with minimal struggle was able to get her buckled. Catherine still laughed. Seeing Sara with a child was just such an unusual site. On the way to WalMart, Catherine and Sara talked about what to get. Sara turned to Catherine with a worried look on her face and asked.

"How do I know what size clothes to get her?" Catherine just laughed and said.

"That's what they have dressing rooms for." Sara, feeling the stupor decided before she made more of a fool of herself, to just flat out ask what else Sadie would need. Catherine thought for a moment, and replied.

"Well how about, a toothbrush, hair brush, hair ties, shampoo and conditioner, some clothes, some pj's, coloring book and crayons, a stuffed animal, maybe a bathing suit, and a bag to put her stuff in." Sara was shocked; she hadn't even thought about half of that stuff. She had defiantly turned to the right person.

As the crew made their way through WalMart, they picked up all the things that Catherine had mentioned and quite a few more. Lindsey had convinced them to get some bubble bath an a few other items. She seemed to be enjoying herself and Catherine was thankful for the peace that had suddenly come over Lindsey.

After paying for the items and loading them into the car, Sara again buckled Sadie into the booster seat with much less struggle. They drove off to the grocery store to pick up some basics. Getting a variety of items, Sara was sure this would be the most food she's had in her apartment since she got to Vegas. And this was only for a weekend? She couldn't image how often or when Catherine must have the time to shop for herself and Lindsey.

As they made their way back to Sara's apartment, she realized that the morning had been quite fun. Catherine was explaining a lot of stuff to her, but did it respectfully. Sara was so thankful for all of Catherine's help. Everyone grabbed the bags as they headed up to Sara's apartment. Sadie proudly carried her new backpack, even thought it didn't have anything in it yet. Sara was happy Sadie hadn't wanted one of the backpacks with cartoon characters on it, but had just opted for a basic blue one.

As Catherine helped Sara put away her mountain of purchases, Lindsey happily played with Sadie in the living room. Sadie hadn't said anything through out the morning, but was smiling and loving the attention that Lindsey was giving her. As Sara was unpacking she came across the bubble bath that Lindsey had convinced her to get. She looked at it and looked at Catherine.

"Are you trying to tell me you don't know how to give her a bath?" Catherine read Sara. Sara just nodded and the two laughed. Why would Sara know how to bathe a child? Compared to some of her questions earlier, it hadn't really come as a surprise to Catherine. Sara announced that she was going to give Sadie a bath, and Catherine proceeded to show Sara how to measure the temperature of the water and how to add the bubble bath to get the most bubbles. Lindsey volunteered to give Sadie a bath and help her change into some new clothes. Catherine and Sara quickly agreed seeing that this could be an opportune time to talk with out the interruptions of a 5 or 13 year-old.

Sara grabbed two sodas out of the frig and handed one to Catherine as they sat down. They began to talk about the case, and Sara filled Catherine in with the details of what had happened the night before.

"So has she spoken at all yet? It's obvious that she understands when we're talking to her, but I haven't heard her speak yet." Catherine observantly noted.

"Other than saying 'stay' when we were in the hospital when I wanted to go outside and make a phone call, and this morning when she asked 'bathroom?' that's all she's said." Sara commented. Catherine just nodded.

"So how exactly did Greg convince you to take her for the weekend?" Catherine was amazed with Sara taking the child home, but was beginning to see a deeper connection between the two.

"It wasn't really he convinced me, but volunteered me. The DCFS worker was so excited; I really didn't have a choice. Plus going to an emergency family, and then to a group home is traumatic and awful." Sara's own memories flashed before her eyes. Catherine noticed the change in Sara's expressions, and became intrigued.

"How do you know?" Catherine asked cautiously. Sara was a privet person, but it was obvious to anyone that had worked with her how involved she became with cased of abuse.

"I.. I.. just do.." Sara said wishing that Catherine wasn't so observant. Damn her for being such a good CSI. Luckily the conversation was broken up by laughter coming from the bathroom. Sara and Catherine carefully walked towards the bathroom to discover that Lindsey was almost as wet sitting outside the tub as Sadie was sitting inside the tub. Both girls were laughing like crazy. Sadie stood up as Sara wrapped a towel around her and handed one to Lindsey. Sara dressed the little girl and brushed out her hair as Lindsey was toweling off. Both Sara and Catherine were astonished to see the joy on both of the girl's faces. Sara noticed Sadie's eyes getting heavy and asked the girl if she was getting tired. Sadie nodded, so Sara picked her up, and brought her into Sara's bedroom before tucking her into Sara's bed. Sadie smiled and closed her eye. Sara sat on the bed watching her for a moment before joining Catherine and Lindsey in the kitchen.

Catherine picked up on some of the awkwardness that Sara was giving off and announced that it was probably time to go so that she could change and get Lindsey to her sister's before she left for work. Sara just smiled and thanked Catherine for the hundredth time that day. Catherine told her that there was no need, and to call her if she had any other questions.

After Catherine left, Sara checked on Sadie who was now sound asleep and went back out to living room fully intent on reading her new Journal of Forensic Science. Less than an article into the journal, Sara was sound asleep herself.

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