Of Decades and Train Whistles
A/N: It does snow in Seattle, but not as much as I'd insinuated in the last chapter. Thank you for pointing that out, I need to research better. ;-)
Grissom met up with Alex and Rose in the morning at the park, arriving early and thus was sitting on an available bench and starting to read the next chapter of a book on autism he'd found in a bookstore near his new home. Alexander's class was on a field trip to a local swimming pool, but as he got ear infections very easily Rose had taken him out of school for the morning and told Grissom that today would be a good day to meet up. The book he'd found was actually for parents raising autistic children, but it was the best he could find at that store. Besides, it also gave him an insight into what Sara was facing as a parent, rather than a book solely on the traits of autism.
Glancing up over the edge of the pages, Grissom saw them approaching. Alex walked carefully, each step taken almost with trepidation, and partially up on his tiptoes. He was dressed in jeans, brown hiking books, a blue knit sweater and an unbuttoned tan corduroy jacket. He looked rugged, dressed for the outdoors. However, his clothes still appeared almost brand new because Alex didn't play rough with other boys his age. He didn't play with them at all.
Rose walked slowly beside Alex, partially watching him, partially looking for Grissom. When she spotted him Alex was lead in his direction, though there wasn't any rush. He put the book away and smiled at them, feeling a little nervous and hating himself for it. He also felt a little guilty for not telling Sara what he was doing.
"Hi…" Grissom spoke softly, rising to greet Rose. She flashed a smile back at him, and nodded that he could keep his seat. She sat beside him on the bench with a sigh and another smile.
"Hello. What would you like Alex to know you as?" Rose plunked Alex's backpack on the ground next to the bench, guiding him with a soft touch on his wrist to face them.
Grissom's lips puckered in the slightest grin as he recalled that of all the days they'd worked together, Sara had never called him by his first name. Why break the pattern now?
"My last name is fine," he replied, with a grin and a small turn of his head.
"Sure. Alex, this is Grissom. Look at him, please." Grissom sat still with a little bit of fear, wondering if he would even register with Alex. But the boy did look in his direction, and while he never made eye contact Rose was successful in getting him to repeat 'hi.' After that however, Grissom was completely ignored. Rose explained that this wasn't really intentional, that because Grissom was just a random stranger to Alex he wasn't really all that inclined to get to know him. Over time though, Alexander would become accustomed to Grissom's presence, he hadn't expected much else in the first place; after all, instant bonding only happened in the movies.
But for the moment, Alex had been quite content to play with a toy train engine by himself, while they talked. It had been a nice conversation, though Grissom had been careful with what he said because although Rose seemed nice and had an air of innocence about her, she was also a tad nosy. He had an inkling that Sara had informed Rose of their life in Las Vegas, of working together and… other things.
The park excursion was ended abruptly at eleven thirty am, when Alex handed his train to Rose and recited the daily specials he'd seen written on a sign in a restaurant window at the entrance of the park. It was apparently lunchtime.
Grissom's status as assistant professor at the university gave he and Sara passes to all of the guest lectures being given over the weekend, and also to the nice refreshments reserved for faculty members, not just the bland cookies put out for the general public. It was these they snacked on during the midday break between lectures; warm deli sandwiches while staring out the window at the campus that was struggling to shake winter's dreariness and welcome spring. It would soon be March, and hopefully the weather would start kicking into gear and come to life.
Friendly chatting passed between them, soft questions to inquire about the time they'd not been in touch. Grissom didn't feel like talking much about his twelve years, a shade of embarrassment mixed with a little disappointment accurately described how he felt about them. Even though he was happy he'd spent his time working at a job he enjoyed, he felt somewhat jealous upon hearing Sara's fond recollections of being married, and how she didn't regret at all becoming a mother. However, he did like hearing about how she was, and what her life was like, so although he was caught in a mental catch-22, he kept listening.
They'd found a quiet hallway not far from the lecture theatre to enjoy their lunch, as it seemed that Friday's attendance levels were a bit lower than the rest of the week. Sara was rather animated that day, partially spurned on by frustration as she narrated to him what she was currently annoyed with. He'd read about the struggles parents of autistic children faced in getting the proper education and therapy for their kids, but to hear about it first hand seemed all that more realistic.
"I think he'd love this class. I want him to be in it, too. The one he's in now is a good one; I fought for two years to get him in there. But this new one is solely for kids with autism. Imagine the growth, the environment he'd be in."
Sara's veggie sub sat half eaten in the paper plate beside her, kept warm by hot air from the heater behind their bench. Her hands moved slightly through the air as she talked, not as obnoxiously as some people but animated enough to show she was into the conversation. And Grissom admired her for that. Admiration for her stamina and stubbornness to get her son what she knew was best for him.
He grinned a little, thinking of how glad he was this trait hadn't changed in her. She saw the grin though, and called him on it, smiling herself.
"What? Is something funny?"
"Was Alexander's dad this stubborn about challenging the city to get his kid the best?" His teasing was very slight, like they used to do when they first started working together, and Sara chuckled.
"So I can be a little pushy," she agreed, smiling back and then pondering. "It doesn't always get me what I want though."
"It got you here. A good job, a nice family, a great son." Grissom supplied, still missing the point like he used to all those years ago.
Sara didn't reply, but instead sat quietly and looked out the window for a moment.
"You know, I was so glad when we found out Alexander was a boy. I didn't know why for a long time, even after he was born. I just remembered feeling really glad, and relieved."
Grissom took another small bite of his sub, spilling a little bit of shredded lettuce but catching it quickly. "Because Michael wanted a boy?"
"No..." Sara mused, "Michael was ecstatic. Alex could have been born with three arms and he would have been just as happy. I think it was because of the relationship I had with my mother, growing up in a not-so-stable house and well, the other issues. I didn't want that. But now I wonder if Alex had been a girl, if he would have been okay." Draining her juice, she placed the empty bottle down onto the old wooden bench, next to her plate.
"Autism is four times more likely in boys than in girls," Grissom offered, a random fact he'd read in an article on autism a few weeks earlier.
"That's right," Sara agreed, nodding her head slowly. "Turns out it didn't matter what sex he was. No one can be completely problem free."
March slowly came around to Seattle and on the days Grissom had off from teaching he spent part of his time with Alex and Rose. He felt a little guilty in not telling Sara, but every time he wanted to mention it, she'd either change the subject or he found he just couldn't do it. It frustrated him, because he felt it wasn't really true to his personality to be nervous about something like that.
Rose sat at the kitchen table updating the family photo albums as Grissom watched, nursing a coffee and occasionally glancing at Alex, who was also sitting at the table with them and running a toy train engine back and forth in a seemingly perfect straight line. Grissom doubted he'd been paying much attention to their conversation, but he hoped Alex wouldn't repeat to Sara later anything that had been said.
Not that anything was criminal, but Rose had been questioning Grissom's motives with Sara since he'd moved to Seattle, and Alex had a talent for repeating juicy tidbits of conversation only.
Alex seemed to have lost interest in the train engine however, after studying it intently for a while. He walked to the single leather chair Sara had placed in an unused corner of the oddly shaped kitchen and sat down, not relaxing himself into it at all. Rose managed to organize and keep an eye on Alexander at the same time, a feat that Grissom admired. His own attention was usually too focused to be able to multitask like that.
"Zoom zoom zoom."
Grissom's thought disappeared as he spun to face Alex with a quizzical look.
"That's functional echolalia, Grissom. Like sometimes when he's hungry he'll sing the commercial tune of a restaurant. It's basic echoing, but functional."
"And this is the song of the Mazda commercial…" Grissom pondered aloud, clueing in a little. "So that means he wants to go for a car ride?"
"Mmm, not always. A car ride, to play with toy cars, to do something fast. Use your imagination, Alex does." Rose glanced amused at Grissom's facial expression, not willing to just offer up the answer. If he wanted to get to know Alex, he had to start thinking like Alex did.
"Zoom zoom zoom."
Grissom wasn't used to live puzzles.