The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't matters not a lot. The possibility is always there.
Monica Baldwin
Sara slowly awoke. She realized she wasn't in her bed and she wasn't alone. She thought back to the night before, and realized that 'The Lion King' was now one of her favorite movies. She slowly opened her eyes to be greeted by Greg's gentle stare.
"Good morning, beautiful," Greg said, hoping that Sara wasn't regretting the new change in their friendship.
"You were watching me sleep," Sara commented, but with a graceful smile.
"Yeah, I was." Greg admitted, "You looked so peaceful." Greg brushed a lock of hair from Sara's face.
"I like… this." Sara said.
"Me too," Greg responded.
"I'm not good with things like this, but I'd like to see where it goes. I don't regret anything, I'm just not sure what you want." Sara rambled. Greg answered her with a deep kiss. Pulling back and resting his forehead on Sara's Greg looked in her eyes and said.
"We'll take it slow, and we'll keep it quiet. I'll let you set the pace." Sara smiled and they kissed again. They broke apart when they hear the pitter patter of Sadie's footsteps on the wood floor.
"Did you come over for breakfast again, Greggy-pooh?" Sadie asked. Sara couldn't hold back her laughter as Greg glared at her.
"Umm, yes I did, what do you want for breakfast then?" Greg asked.
"PANCAKES!" Sadie yelled excitedly.
"Ok, well how about you help Greg make breakfast, and I'll take a shower." Sara said as she stood up and stretched. Sara made her way to the shower and before she stepped into the bathroom she looked back to see Sadie propped up on a chair so she could reach the counter helping Greg make pancakes. Sara thought that this would be a sight she could easily get use to. Stepping into the bathroom and starting up the shower, Sara didn't hear the phone ring. Greg looked at the caller ID before he picked up.
"Good morning and thank you for calling Coffee Addicts Anonymous, would you like to try our new flavor? Viagra-Coffee, it gets you up and keeps you up!"
"Ok, Greg, does Sara ever pick up the phone?" Catherine stated. She heard a noise in the background and her a young voice say.
"Greggy-pooh, what's viagra?" Catherine couldn't contain her laughter.
"Good morning to you too, Catherine." Greg stated flatly. Catherine heard Sadie whine for attention in the background.
"You do know Sara's gonna kill you." Catherine replied still laughing.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Greg tried to respond.
"Oh, she'll find out. Don't worry." Catherine teased. "So is Sara around? I know she's pissed at me, but I wanted to talk to her. Maybe you guys could come with Lindsey and me to see the parade." Catherine asked.
"Sara's in the shower right now. I'll have her call you when she gets out."
"And you're not in there with her?" Catherine teased. This was the third morning that Catherine had called and Greg had answered. She had covered for Greg last night when he and Sara went to visit his sister, and Catherine deducted that he must not have left for the night. That got her curious.
"No, we are just friends." Greg stated. Honestly, he didn't know what they were, but he wasn't going to give into Catherine's passion for gossip.
"Friends with benefits?" Catherine countered.
"Even if something was going on, I wouldn't tell you. Sara's a privet person and doesn't like to have people snooping around in her personal business." Greg replied. He knew he had trapped Catherine.
"Your right. I'm sorry." Catherine said slowly. She couldn't argue with his reasoning, she had already gotten herself in enough trouble with Sara and didn't want to make it any worse. Catherine heard an angry scream in the background.
"Greg! What did you say to Sadie?" It was Sara's scream that she heard. Sadie must not have like Greg's avoidance of her question enough to go ask Sara. Catherine couldn't help but laugh.
"Umm… I'll tell you later, here, Catherine's on the phone." Greg stuttered as he shoved the phone at Sara. Sara could hear Catherine laughing over the phone.
"Hey," Sara quickly said.
"Hey, yourself. I told Greg you were going to kill him." Catherine tried to ease into the conversation.
"What did he say?" Sara was more interested in finding out exactly just what Greg had said instead of starting another fight with Catherine.
"Something about Viagra-Coffee, it gets you up. It was just Greg being Greg." Catherine replied.
"Thanks, I guess I didn't need to know. So what's up Catherine?" Sara asked, she was still a bit pissed from yesterday.
"I just wanted to apologize again, Sara, I'm sorry. If you're not too pissed with me, I was wondering if you guys wanted to join Lindsey and me to watch the parade?" Catherine responded carefully.
"There's a parade today? Hmm, never knew that. Yeah, I am still pissed, but I'm a lot calmer now. Maybe it would be good to go to the parade. We could talk." Sara replied. She was usually one to hold a grudge, but she also realized how much Catherine had helped her the first night and day with Sadie. And she also knew that if she were going to keep Sadie, Catherine's help would be greatly needed.
"Thanks Sara, I'll come by and pick you guys up around one, the parade doesn't start till two, but we'll get better spots to see the parade if we're there early."
"Sounds good to me." Sara said good-bye and hung up. By the time she was off the phone, Sadie and Greg had finished making the pancakes and they all began to dig in. When Sadie finished she ran into the living room and began to color. Greg and Sara sat at the table finishing their normal coffee.
"So I was thinking…" Sara began.
"Oh, no! Anything but that!" Greg teased, Sara rolled her eyes.
"Anyways, I was thinking that I should probably call DCFS and leave them a message saying I would like Sadie to continue to stay with me. At least so they have a heads up before we bring her in…tomorrow." Sara replied.
"I think that would be a good idea. You'll get custody of her, Sara, don't worry." Greg replied, he left to join Sadie in the living room sensing that Sara needed some privacy.
Sara pulled out the card that Rene had given her. She dialed the number and wasn't surprised when the voice mail picked up. Sara took a deep breath before leaving a message.
"Hi, Rene, this is Sara Sidle, I have Sadie Motts for the weekend and I am suppose to bring her by tomorrow, but I was wondering what the chances were that I could foster her. She's doing really well, and I've, well become quiet attached to her. Hopefully things will work out well. Thank you and I look forward to speaking with you tomorrow." Sara hung up the phone and joined Greg and Sadie in the living room.
A few hours later Catherine and Lindsey arrived. Sadie made sure to show Catherine and Lindsey the pictures on the refrigerator. Catherine laughed when she saw Greg's racing cockroaches. She'd figured she'd have to get Sara to some how sneak that into the lab one night. Piling into Sara's Denali, after Sara refused to fight with the booster seat, the group was off to the parade. Greg took off playing with the kids, as Catherine and Sara held their places to view the parade. Sara could tell Catherine was trying to say something, but couldn't seem to come up with the right words.
"Cath, please don't apologize again. I think part of it's my fault."
"No, Sara, I should have respected your privacy. I'm…" Catherine was cut off.
"I said don't say your sorry. I should have figured that I couldn't call you up in the wee hours of the morning without expecting a few questions. And I should know by now you always want to know everything." Sara said with a smirk, she had woken Catherine from a dead sleep. "I just don't discuss this freely, because, well, there was never any reason, but now… I guess since Sadie's been with me, I see there's more to life than what has happened in the past." Sara said sincerely.
"So you're saying, you just discovered you're not the center of the universe?" Catherine teased.
"Stuff it Cath." Sara retorted laughing. She like being able to talk to Catherine she had respect for the woman, despite their often differing opinions. "So did you know Greg wanted to be a ballerina for Halloween when he was little?" Sara laughed.
"No way, are you serious? Did you get that from his sister? How did the visit go?" Catherine felt relieved Sara was accepting her apology, they could both be stubborn but they also shared a respect for each other for being a part of the 'boys club'.
"It went well. I left a message with DCFS this morning giving them a heads up. Greg's sister was really supportive and she thinks I have a good chance of gaining custody of Sadie. She was the spitting image of Greg, but funnier. She teased Greg the whole time we were there. I never knew Greg could turn so red!" Sara said with a laugh. She never knew what a good kisser Greg was either till last night, but that detail she was defiantly going to leave out of the conversation.
"Hence the ballerina?" Catherine asked with a smirk.
"Oh yeah, next time we meet she's going to give me the picture! And she calls him Greggy-pooh! So Sadie asked if she could start calling him that. It was hysterical!" Sara continued to laugh.
"That's hysterical. So you guys must have gotten back pretty late?" Catherine asked, she wanted to know if she right about Greg staying over.
"Yeah, Sadie fell asleep in the car and was out for the night." Sara could tell what Catherine was getting at, but Sara and Greg barely knew what was going on, no matter to bring other people into it.
"And what about you and Greg, you guys must have been tired?" Catherine knew she was leading Sara, but she figured it was worth asking even if Sara didn't confirm anything.
"Naw, we watched a few movies. Greg fell asleep on the couch." Sara left out the fact that she fell asleep in his arms.
"Hmm, what movies did you guys 'watch'? Do you even remember?" Catherine knew she wouldn't get an answer, but she was going to press her luck.
"Catherine we're not 16 year olds making out on the couch hoping that mom and dad don't catch us." Sara said as she rolled her eyes, no in fact they were in their 30's falling for each other with a child in the other room.
"Who's making out on the couch? Eww Mom, I don't want to hear about you and Warrick." Lindsey's voice piped up behind the women. Catherine turned instantly red. Greg and Sadie joined them, and Greg and Sara laughed at Catherine's embarrassment. The subject was dropped instantly, but Greg gave a knowing glance to Sara. She shook her head reassuring him that she hadn't told Catherine anything.
The group watched the parade. Lindsey, Sadie, and Greg went running after the candy that some of the floats threw to the crowd. It was a fun time. Catherine watched Sara and Greg closely. She could tell something had changed and noticed the gentle touches and constant physical contact that seemed second nature to them. She thought Greg would be good for Sara, someone that could get her to open up and relax, and Greg was great with Sadie. Sara would need the help if she were able to get custody of Sadie.
After the parade ended, they headed back to Sara's apartment. Sara invited them to join her and Sadie for dinner, but Catherine had to get to work. Greg accepted the offer and both him and Sara avoided the look that Catherine made towards them. Catherine dropped of Lindsey on her way to work. So far Lindsey had done well staying at home, but having to get up and got to school in the morning would be a new challenge. Catherine had been impressed with Lindsey's recent change in attitude, and if this would continue to encourage it, she'd stay with it. Sara, on the other hand, was leaving Sadie for the first time so that she could go to work. She knew that Sadie would be ok with Greg, but she wasn't sure how well Sadie was going to handle it. She hoped everything would go well.
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