A/N: I apologize for all the spelling/grammar errors in the last chapter and the ones to come. They are all mine, since I don't have a beta. I guess I rushed to post that last one. Thanks for the reviews! Please feel free to give criticism… this is only my second fanfic.

Chapter II

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are fourth in line for departure, so we'll be on our way shortly. Thank you for your patience."

Sara was now convinced that this was to be the longest flight ever imaginable.

"My name is Meredith Grissom. It's so nice to finally get to meet you. Gil has told me so much about you!"

She swallowed hard. "He has?" She asked warily.

"Oh yes!" Mrs. Grissom exclaimed. "Why, when I read the letters he writes me, I often learn more about you than about my own son!" Meredith was smiling broadly, holding her hands together as if she were praying to give thanks to that fact that this meeting had occurred. Sara, on the other hand, had sunk down into her seat, now feeling smaller than an Oligomyrmex yamatonis(that's the smallest species of ant in China, by the way).

It took Mrs. Grissom a few moments to realize that Sara was not quite as overjoyed as she was. "What's the matter, dear?" She then answered her own question. "You're a bit embarrassed, aren't you?"

"Embarrassed? Me? I…"

"Dear, you don't have to hide your feelings for him from me! I know everything already."

"Mrs. Grissom…" Sara looked down at her feet, searching for words. "I, uh, this is just a little awkward for me and I don't think…"

Meredith interrupted calmly, "Sara, if you don't look at me when you speak, then I can't understand what you're saying."

Nervously pushing a curl behind her ear, she looked up at Mrs. Grissom. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "this is just kind of awkward for me."

Mrs. Grissom placed her hand on top of Sara's. "I know my son isn't exactly… adept at expressing his feelings..."

Sara snickered at the choice of words. Adept? Well isn't that the understatement of the year…

"…but I know he loves you." She signed the last phrase for added emphasis.

Loves me? She couldn't tell if the strange sensation in her stomach was from the 737 taking off or Mrs. Grissom's words. This was way too much for Sara to comprehend at one time – being stuck in an airplane with the mother of the love of her life and learning that he actually does care about her. She rested her head back against the seat and tried as hard as she possibly could to concentrate solely on the rumbling of the engines and not the million thoughts of Grissom running through her head.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Grissom interrupted Sara's meditation. She had taken her wallet out of her purse and was flipping through the pockets in search for something.

"This is little Gil with his first pet." She handed Sara a small black and white photograph of a bright smiling little boy with the most adorable curly brown locks, sitting underneath a tree. After taking in the sight, she turned to Mrs. Grissom could see her speak. Sara realized there was no reason not to befriend the woman. It wasn't like her relationship with Grissom could get any worse than it already was.

"He was adorable!" She almost squealed. And he still is… "But I don't see a pet."

"Would you mind speaking a little slower, dear?"

"Oh, sure. I said I don't see a pet in the picture."

Mrs. Grissom chuckled. "Her name was Charlotte. She was a spider that made a web in our backyard. You can kind of see the web right here." She pointed to a spot between the tree and a small bush. "Gil was four. He and I were playing catch outside when the ball rolled over by the web. Now, most children would have been startled by the sight of a spider, but Gil was fascinated! He didn't want to play catch anymore. He spent the rest of the day watching the Charlotte spin her web and catch insects."

Sara smiled. "So that's how he became the 'bug man'."

Mrs. Grissom nodded. "The story doesn't stop there. Gil spent weeks and weeks watching that spider and caring for it. He tried to feed it, too! But one day the boy from across the street attacked the web with a stick and killed poor Charlotte. My son was devastated and he sulked and mourned for a whole week. That's when Gil decided to learn all he could about spiders and other bugs. When I asked, he told me that he wanted to be able to teach the other kids that they were not simply meant to be squished." She paused for a moment, and then looked away from Sara. "The night before Gil's father left, he went out and bought him his first pet tarantula. I wasn't very happy at all with his choice in pets, but at least he had someone to talk to. Within a year or so I had gone deaf."

There was more silence for a while. Sara didn't know what to say about the story.

Going through her wallet again, Mrs. Grissom continued. "This one's from his first year in the little league." She handed Sara a picture of a slightly older Gil in a baseball uniform.

"Grissom played sports?"

"Why yes, and he was quite good, actually… played center field."

"Hmm, I would never have guessed."

"But I bet you could have guessed why his coaches often scolded him. While sitting in the dugout he'd read entomology textbooks. Gil used to forget to get up to bat!"

They both laughed for quite some time. After the laughter subsided, Sara let out a content sigh. Maybe this will be a nice flight…

"Did he ever tell you about his first crush?"

"No…"

"Well! Her name was Caroline and they were in the same second grade class…"

Grissom sat impatiently outside gate seven, having left the lab early to pick up his mother and spend the rest of the day with her. Grissom didn't mind leaving work to be with his mother…very much, anyway. She didn't come to Vegas very often and he hadn't taken a day off in months. What he did mind was the fact that her plane was late, and he could have spent the now wasted time making good progress on the double homicide he had been working on.

"Now arriving at gate seven, Delta Flight 5814 from San Francisco."

Well it's about time.

Grissom closed his forensic journal, looked at his watch and stood up to wait for his Mother. Within a few minutes he heard familiar laughter.

Mom? Grissom heard his mother laughing…hysterically. He was baffled, since Mrs. Grissom had always been a very quiet woman. What could possibly be so funny? His mother wasn't one to make small talk with anyone, especiallybecause of her disability. Finally he spotted her coming through the gate, laughing with a young brunette woman who looked a lot like…

Sara?

Grissom removed his glasses quickly to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. He knew that laugh. He used to hear it all the time, before things became more complicated with their relationship, or lack thereof.

"Grissom!" The brunette shouted and waved.

There he stood, watching the women in his life.

To be continued….