The Neighborhood

The mid-afternoon sun brightened Sara's hair, but paled in comparison to her huge smile as she rubbed at a spot just below the kitten's chin and elicited an even louder purr. "Isn't he cute?" she asked, half-turning so Warrick could see the tiny black ball of fluff in her hands. The kitten stretched up on his front claws to rub his head under her chin, and the laughter that bubbled from Sara's throat was freer and happier than he had ever heard from her before. They had been walking around his neighborhood's annual block party and yard sale for half an hour before she had spotted the kittens rolling and playing in the grass, completely surrounded by half of the neighborhood kids as they were passed from hand to hand. One was finally deposited in Sara's hands as she stood there, as enthralled as any of the kids.

Warrick gestured at the sign: "Free to a good home" and then at the kitten in her hands. "Why don't you take him?"

She was tempted, he could tell, as she scratched between the kitten's ears, the low rumbling purr almost too loud for such a small body. Smiling sadly, she gave the kitten a last pet before giving him to a young girl who had been staring at the kitten in Sara's hands wistfully. "I can't. No animals are allowed in my apartment complex and with my schedule, I wouldn't take very good care of him."

"I'm sure you're under-estimating your abilities as a caretaker," Warrick suggested, seeing the way she twisted slightly to keep sight of the kittens as they walked away.

"Warrick, I can't even keep a plant alive."

"Plants are different from kittens."

"Yes, yes, they are. How very observant of you," she teased, finally turning back from the kittens to catch sight of a lemonade stand a couple of houses down. "Are you thirsty?"

Warrick watched as she joined the line around the stand, where two pre-teens were making a killing, helped by the hot Nevada sun. Another kid came running out of the house behind the stand, carrying a huge pitcher of lemonade in his small hands. Warrick had wandered over to a stack of records, looking through absently while his mind recalled the broad smile on Sara's face as she had handled the kitten and he made his decision. Making sure she was still in line for lemonade, he slipped over to the owners of the kittens and pointed out the one Sara had been holding.

They spent another hour hitting all of the sales, finding an even more inventive group of kids on the next block, selling popsicles, and Warrick loved the surprised laugh she gave when he correctly guessed her favorite flavor, lime. They were making their way through one of the busier sales as he teased her.

"Lime? Nobody likes lime. You always have to be just a little odd, don't you, Sidle?" he said, leaning over her back as he tried to lick her popsicle. When he laughed openly at the horrified look she had shot him, Sara had joined in, knowing her issues with germs and saliva were almost legendary around the lab by now.

Shoving him away from her food, Sara turned around to face him, indicating his treat with a gesture. "Keep to your own sicle," she mock-warned, her eyes dancing above her widening smile.

"Or what?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye. "What are you going to do, Sidle?" Warrick's posture and knowing smirk conveyed his challenge clearly; he enjoyed baiting the slim woman in front of him, and he was finding that she was in match in the teasing department when she was in a good mood. Which she was in, much more often than before.

With a smirk of her own, Sara stood on her tiptoes and leaned over so that her face was only an inch away from Warrick's, her smirk widening as Warrick's breath caught in his throat. He stood frozen as her tongue slipped between her lips to moisten them, and then she made her move, twisting her head to the side to snag a bite out of his popsicle. Her triumphant smile at his shocked expression brought an amused chuckle from him, and he was glad for his dark skin to hide his embarrassment.

"I like cherry popsicles too," she laughed. "So you better eat yours before I do."

"You do know my saliva was all over that popsicle, don't you?"

"I'm ok with your saliva," she replied, stepping around a particularly ugly lawn ornament someone was trying to get rid of. "Who would buy that?" she asked rhetorically, shaking her head.

He caught up with her, leaning over her back again so his mouth was right beside her ear. "So are you saying it's ok if we swap spit?" Sara's head snapped to him and her mouth opened, but nothing came out. He grinned as he stepped around her, glad that her skin didn't hide the blush that heated her face. She swatted his arm and glared, but he didn't seem to notice as he contentedly licked his popsicle.

xxx

Sara sighed as the sun started to lower and people started to put away their wares. She had had a fun time with Warrick just wandering around and looking at junk, and if some of the stares from the predominately black members of the neighborhood hadn't been particularly friendly, they hadn't been particularly hostile either.

She knew Warrick was known as being one of the success stories in his neighborhood, and some of the older women hadn't been shy in trying to hook him up with their daughters or granddaughters, all the while shooting Sara 'back off' looks. His embarrassed expression as he had handed back photos and turned down the offers had been amusing. And his reaction earlier, when she had faked him out with the popsicle, had been a boost for her ego, as his sea-green eyes had been inviting her to kiss him. As tempted as she had been, she wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of kissing her co-worker so soon after resolving her feelings for Grissom, so she had taken the action least likely to cause workplace repercussions. However, his warm breath in her ear when he had teased her about swapping spit aroused a sense of disappointment that she hadn't taken the opportunity when she might have.

Warrick caught her arm and pulled her toward the last house on the row, where the crowd of children had decreased considerably from earlier. "Just one more stop," he said as he led her over.

"Warrick," Sara warned as she lagged behind, afraid he was going to try to convince her to take a kitten home. At his approach, the elderly woman picked up one of the kittens and deposited it into his arms, smiling up at him as they exchanged a few words. When he turned and started back to Sara, she shook her head and took a step back. "No, oh, no, no, no. I told you, I can't have pets in my building," she said firmly as he kept coming toward her with the kitten.

"He's not going to your place. He's going to mine."

Her expression was disbelieving. "You're getting a kitten."

"No, well, kinda. He," Warrick said, indicating the kitten sleeping in the crook of his arm, "needs a home. You like him. And I can have pets."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that he'll be a joint-custody kitten. He'll stay at my place, but we'll both take care of him."

"We will." Her tone warned that he was getting too close to making decisions for her, something he knew she hated. Girl is just too independent sometimes, he thought.

"Yes, we will." Warrick gently shifted the kitten to her arms, scratching the dark furry head as he nuzzled into the warmth of Sara's body and got comfortable by stretching both his front paws out, looking completely adorable. "Unless you really don't want him," Warrick continued, giving her an out that he knew she didn't want to take.

Sara glared and him, and then looked down at the purring bundle in her arms with a soft smile. "Of course I want him," she pouted, "but that's not the point." Hearing her acceptance in her voice, if not her words, Warrick smiled at how cute her independent streak could be.

"That's exactly the point." When Sara didn't look up to meet his eyes, just kept playing with the kitten and walking to his house, Warrick knew he had won. "So, what do you want to name him?"

"Well, with all this purring, it seems like he's a music maker like you, so why not," she paused for a moment, thinking, before suggesting, "Coltrane?" Glancing up to see if he liked her suggestion, the warmth and approval in his eyes caused a slight fluttering feeling in her stomach, and she wondered suddenly if it was a good idea to spend so much time with this man as their joint-custody arrangement would require.

But his next words sealed the deal, and she had no more chances to back out. "Coltrane it is, then."