Disclaimer: It's not mine, I just mess with their lives.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! There were lots of good guesses, but the person who finds out about them is Lindsey! So congrats to x-sara-x for being the first to guess correcty! E-mail me, or leave a review with your e-mail so I can let you know what your prize is! Also, a round of applause to Ravynsword, Unlikely-to-bear-it, arkiecsi, MyBella131, and hola girl 14 who also guessed correctly. Oh, and just to clarify, Catherine and Grissom are not dating. Now onto the story!
A Marriage of Convenience?
Chapter Eight
"Hello?" Sara answered her cell phone.
"Hey, it's Catherine."
"Hey, what's up?"
"Not much. Listen, since your place is on the way to the Circus Circus Adventuredome, you want to carpool?" Catherine suggested.
"Sure," Sara agreed.
"All right, we'll be there in a few minutes."
"See ya then."
Thirteen year old Lindsey clapped her hands excitedly, the sound reverberating through the car. Since they were picking up Sara and Greg, she'd get to see their dog. And the cat too, hopefully. After hearing her mom's funny story about what the cat did at breakfast, Lindsey wanted to see Belladonna. Everyone had agreed to meet at ten o'clock at the Circus Circus Adventuredome; home to the largest indoor rollercoaster, mini-golfing, laser tag, food, and games. It was a must-see for tourists, and usually pretty crowded. However, it was the off season, and a Sunday, so it would be decidedly less crowded. Arriving at the townhouse, Catherine stayed in the car while Lindsey ran up to get them.
"Hi Miss Sidle," she said politely after Sara answered the door.
"C'mon in Lindsey," Sara opened the door. "Greg's finishing getting ready. And call me Sara."
"Okay," she smiled, stepping in. "Sara?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I see your dog and cat?"
"Sure, the dog's in the living room there," Sara pointed. "And Belladonna will show up soon after hearing our voices. I'm going to go upstairs and get my sneakers on, so I'll be back in a minute, all right?"
"All right," Lindsey gave her another smile before opening the gate and stepping into the living room.
She held back a squeal as she went over to the dog who was sleeping on the dog's bed. Kneeling down, she began petting the dog who gave a content growl as he turned on his back, allowing Lindsey to scratch the soft belly. A sound behind her made her turn her head, and she saw the cat standing on a desk over against the wall. Getting up, she walked over slowly so as not to scare the cat, and began petting her gently. A minute later though, a sound outside caused Belladonna to jump down and run out of the room. When she jumped down, she knocked a couple of papers off the desk. Lindsey reached down to pick them up and put them back on the desk. As she did so, one particular one caught her eye.
"This looks like the one in the photo album, from Mom and Dad's wedding," Lindsey muttered to herself. "This is to certify that the undersigned did on the 14th of November at Las Vegas Presbyterian Church, of Las Vegas Nevada, join in lawful wedlock Gregers Hojem Sanders of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Sara Marie Sidle of Las Vegas, Nevada with their mutual consent, in the presence of Lillian Fanning."
"Lindsey, you ready…" Greg's voice trailed off as he and Sara saw what she was holding in her hands.
"YOU TWO GOT MARRIED?" Her voice was full of shock as she waved around the certificate. "Does my mom know about you two Mr. Sanders?"
"Why are you so formal with everyone's name?" Greg questioned randomly. "Can't you just call me Uncle Greg or something?"
"Because mom tells me to, but okay! Fine! I'll call you Uncle Greg, Aunt Sara," Lindsey said pointedly. "Does anyone know?"
"No, and you can't tell them," Sara looked at her.
"You know, telling me I can't, just makes me want to even more," Lindsey rolled her eyes. "And why not?"
"Because we'd like to tell them on our own," Sara explained. "We want to prove that our relationship won't have any effect on our work."
"How about I give you fifty bucks to keep quiet?" Greg reached into his back pocket for his wallet. "And we're going to be telling them in a couple of weeks anyways."
"Okay," Lindsey grinned, taking the money from Greg.
"Greg! You can't bribe her," Sara admonished, but she was smiling.
"I just did," he laughed, and Lindsey giggled.
"One of the many reasons I love you," Sara shook her head in disbelief that he had just paid off a thirteen year old.
"And I love you too," he said back in a lilting voice, thinking she was teasing.
"Gross," Lindsey said, making a face. "Hey Uncle Greg, Aunt Sara, we'd better go before my mom gets suspicious. And next time, you two should put this somewhere else, away from prying eyes."
"Will do kiddo," Greg replied, and with an exaggerated bow, pulled open the door to let the two girls precede him out.
"It's about time you three," said Catherine with a hint of exasperation in her voice. "I was about to come in and drag you out."
"It's all Uncle Greg's fault," Lindsey lied smoothly. "He took forever to do his hair."
"Uncle Greg, hmm?" Catherine raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Greg and Sara in the rearview mirror.
"Yup. They said I could, cause Mr. Sanders and Miss Sidle are too formal."
"Well, as long as they said it's all right," Catherine once again looked in the mirror for confirmation.
"It's fine Cath," Sara nodded, giving a reassuring smile.
They pulled up at the Circus Circus Adventuredome a few minutes later, and piled out of the car into the bright sunlight. Walking inside, they took a few minutes to have their eyes adjust to the seemingly-dim, harsh fluorescent indoor lighting.
"Hey guys!" Nick's voice reached them. They were the last to arrive.
"Hey Nicky," Catherine called back as they walked towards the group.
"Grissom!" Lindsey ran over and hugged the man who had been somewhat of a father figure in her life.
"Hey Linds," he replied, returning the hug.
"Hello Mr. Brown, Mr. Stokes," Lindsey said politely. She didn't know them well enough to feel comfortable calling them by their names. Not to mention the fact that her mom would yell at her if she called them anything else without them giving her permission to.
"Hey girl," Warrick gave her a smile. "This is Mia Dickerson, she's our new lab rat."
"Very funny Warrick," she smacked him upside the head. "Nice to meet you Lindsey."
"And this is my girlfriend Whitney Jenkins," Nick introduced Whitney who gave a wave.
"Nice to meet you Miss Dickerson, Miss Jenkins," Lindsey gave them both a smile.
"So, who's up for a game of mini-golf?" Sara glanced around. "Unless someone wants to do something else instead?"
"Mini-golf!" Lindsey and Greg cheered at the same time.
"I guess that settles that," Grissom said with a laugh.
"I'll race you over Uncle Greg," Lindsey said, and made a dash for the course without waiting.
"No fair, you had a head start!" He called, chasing after her.
"Since when is he Uncle Greg?" Warrick said, laughing at the two 'kids' of the group.
"Since Greg told her that Mr. Sanders and Miss Sidle are too formal," Sara explained as they began walking over to join the two. "So he suggested Uncle Greg and Aunt Sara."
"Cool," Nick smiled as he went to the window to pay for himself and Whitney.
"I already paid for us," Greg stopped Sara when she went to join the line.
"You didn't have to do that," she protested, but smiled at the chivalrous display.
"I know, but I wanted to," he said before lowering his voice and whispering. "Besides, what kind of husband would I be if I didn't?"
Sara laughed lightly and gave him a hug before moving to pick out a club and a ball along with everyone else. As they moved onto the course and began taking their turns at the different holes, Greg found himself doing rather poorly as he was distracted by Sara. Now he knew he acted like it at times, but he wasn't crazy, so he knew he wasn't imagining things. Like Sara being more flirty with him than usual, and touching him more; whether it was just a hug, or a kiss, or a touch on the shoulder.
Ever since she had come to work at the LVPD, he had had a crush on her. However, he thought she was out of his league, not to mention her crush on Grissom at the time. But like any guy who's in-like with a girl, he asked her out. She had said no of course, but he had only liked her even more because of it; after all, he always had liked to chase after girls who loved playing hard-to-get. Made the catch all the more sweeter. And with the seemingly horrible situation his mom had caused, he had to be honest with himself and say he was extremely glad he had opened-his-mouth, inserted-his-foot and said he was marrying Sara. Even in the short time that they had spent together, as husband and wife, he couldn't help but let go of his emotions and let himself fall in love with her. Although when he thought about it, it wasn't that short of a time. If he was being really honest with himself, he had been falling for the past couple of years. Their marriage only served as a catalyst for everything he was feeling for her to come to a head.
"You know, I think Nicky has got to be one of the slowest mini-golfers I've ever seen," Sara sat down next to him on the bench while they waited for their turn at the last hole; they were last in the group.
"He's from Texas, everyone moves slower in the south," he replied with a grin, throwing an arm around her shoulders.
"True," she agreed, leaning into the embrace, not really caring if anyone saw.
"Hey you two, it's your turn Sara," Mia called, disrupting their little moment.
"All right, hole in one baby!" Sara high-fived Greg after she hit the ball.
"Damn," Greg wrinkled his nose after taking three tries to get it in. "How are you so good at this game that you get one or two par for every hole?"
"I did major in physics in school kjære," she reminded him, linking her arm through his as they returned the clubs. "One project I had to do involved mini-golf courses; calculating angles, friction, speed, velocity, all that good stuff."
"Geez, take the fun out of the game by making it scientific, why don't ya?" He rolled his eyes as they joined everyone back outside of the course.
"So what now?" Whitney looked around them.
"I want to ride the roller coaster Mom, can I, please?" Lindsey turned to her mom.
"I don't know Linds, we're going to be getting pizza soon," Catherine frowned slightly.
"Hey, why don't you guys go to the food court and order the pizza," Greg suggested. "And by the time Sara and I get back from taking Lindsey, it'll be ready for us to eat?"
"Please mom, let Uncle Greg and Aunt Sara take me?"
"All right," Catherine agreed, and then began rifling through her purse for some cash for the ticket.
"I've got it Cath," Greg said, and before she could protest, he had already hoisted Lindsey on his back for a piggy-back ride, and was headed towards the coaster, a laughing Sara in tow.
Greg quickly bought two tickets for Lindsey, so she could ride it twice. As she climbed into a seat and was buckled in, she gave Greg and Sara a wave. They were standing over near the exit ramp so they could meet her once she got off.
"I always wanted to have a big family," Greg said wistfully, watching as the coaster took off, full of happily screaming people, predominantly children.
"Really?" Sara turned to look at him.
"Yup. I always thought it'd be cool to have an older brother to teach me stuff, a younger brother to look up to me, and a younger sister to watch out for. I got the sister, but no brothers."
"I always wanted more siblings too," Sara lifted his arm off the rail and settled herself against him, letting his arm fall to where it rested around her back. "I love my brother of course, but I'll always remember how much happier I was when I was in those large foster families. There was always laughter in the house, and someone to talk to."
"I want to have a lot of kids someday, so they'll always have playmates," Greg said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. It was the first time he had ever hinted, even so indirectly as this, that he had entertained the idea of their marriage lasting, and not just being a couple months long sham.
"Me too," she said, leaning in closer to him, taking her left arm off of the rail and wrapping it around to rest on Greg's waist.
"Someone might see us," he commented, but only held her tighter, and did nothing to try and move away.
"I don't think I really care," she replied. "I meant what I said earlier, back at the house."
"What?" Greg questioned, not remembering.
"UNCLE GREG, AUNT SARA!" Lindsey shouted, effectively interrupting Sara from answering. "COME RIDE WITH ME, PLEASE!"
"Who are we to deny her royal highness?" Greg laughed, pulling away from Sara reluctantly. "Shall we?"
"Sure," Sara smiled, hiding her disappointment at having to lose contact with him. Greg quickly went and bought two tickets and they climbed on the coaster, a few rows behind Lindsey.
"So what was it that you were talking about earlier?" Greg asked as the coaster began its ascent up a long hill.
"Back at the house, I know I was acting like I was teasing, but I meant it," Sara paused, blushing slightly. "That I love you."
"I LOVE YOU TOO!" Greg yelled after a moment's shock, making sure he could be heard over the screams as they began flying down the hill.
As soon as the coaster came to a stop and the seats released, he hopped out, then helped her out. The moment her feet were on the ground, he promptly pulled her to him in a searing kiss. Lindsey came up and immediately made a face, however, they took no notice.
"I love you," he whispered, resting his forehead against hers as he wrapped his arms around her tighter.
"I love you too," she whispered back, not able to stop the smile that spread across her face.
"God, that's so amazing to hear," he threw his head back in a laugh. "You have no idea how long I've dreamed of hearing you say that. Say it again."
"I love you," she repeated, also laughing. "And trust me, it sounds just as amazing to hear it from you."
"Then I'll happily say it a million times more. I love you, I love you, I love you!"
"You know, this is really touching, but I would like to be able to eat my lunch!" Lindsey interrupted them, hands on her hips. "So can you stop with the mushy stuff?"
"Sure thing Lindsey, sorry," Greg let go of Sara as he apologised, although he wasn't really sorry at all.
"Well it looks like you had fun sweetie," Catherine hugged her daughter as the three finally joined them.
"Yup, and Aunt Sara and Uncle Greg rode the second time with me, although they were a couple of seat behind me," Lindsey plopped down in her seat.
"So what'd you end up ordering?" Greg asked.
"We got three larges, one half cheese, half veggie for Sara and Lindsey, one supreme, and one pepperoni," Nick explained, just before two waitresses came over and set the pizzas down on the table.
"Good, I'm hungry," Sara said, immediately grabbing a piece off the tray.
"Yeah well, beating everyone in mini-golf then screaming your lungs out on the rollercoaster will do that to you," Whitney laughed.
"Not to mention making out with your husband," Lindsey muttered under her breath to Sara, who immediately blushed.
"Hey, no telling secrets," Warrick said with a laugh. "But tell us, since I want to know how you made Miss unflappable their blush."
"Just girl talk Mr. Brown," Lindsey replied with a smile.
"Hey, since you call Greg and Sara Aunt and Uncle, why don't you just go ahead and call me Uncle Warrick," Warrick suggested.
"Yeah, same here," Nick jumped in. "I've got enough nieces and nephews it's nothing new to me."
"I guess that makes me Uncle Gil," Grissom added.
"And you can call me Mia," Mia suggested.
"And me Whitney," Whitney also spoke up.
"Okay," Lindsey smiled, after getting approval from her mom.
"You know, this now means we've now got an even larger dysfunctional family?" Greg whispered conspiratorially to Sara.
"Don't remind me, cause it means that I'm pseudo-related to Grissom, and the fact that I had a crush on him is pseudo-incest," Sara gave a mock groan of disgust.
"Hey, what'd we say about secrets?" Nick looked down at the two who were whispering.
"Oh, we were just talking about how we're now part of a large dysfunctional family," Greg gave a laugh.
"Aw man, you're right," Nick pretended to look sick. "I don't want to be related to you!"
"Children, settle down, no fighting," Catherine chided them. "And eat your pizza, or no ice cream for you later."
"Yes mother!" Nick and Greg chimed simultaneously, causing everyone to laugh.
Finishing up the pizza, everyone chipped in to pay the bill. Stretching for a moment, they walked around till they came to the carnival style games. Immediately, all the guys but Grissom pulled out their wallets and went to the nearest booth; knock the milk-bottles down. The guys lined up and took their turns at trying to knock the three bottle tower over, but Warrick was the only one who succeeded. His prize was a peculiar looking, neon-purple cat.
"For my lovely lab rat," he said with a flourish, handing it over to Mia.
"Oh thank you, I'm so honored," she said sarcastically, but then gave him a smile and a quick hug.
The other guys made quick work of spreading out to different games and attempting to win prizes. Nick was the next to successfully win a prize at the water pistol shooting game, and he promptly handed over the pink and white panda bear to Whitney. Grissom didn't participate in the games, but he did buy Catherine a funnel cake, and Lindsey some cotton candy, and stood by watching the 'boys' have fun. Greg tried his luck at the booth where you throw ping-pong balls into goldfish bowls, and depending on which one it lands in, you get a prize. He bought six balls, and took his time throwing them, making sure Sara kissed each one for luck, much to everyone's amusement. However, something must have worked, because he ended up with six large prize tokens, and three large tokens equaled one grand prize. So he picked a giant teddy bear with a big blue bow, and an almost life-like sized Dalmatian dog.
"For the beautiful Miss Willows," Greg said with a flourish, handing the teddy bear to Lindsey.
"Thanks Uncle Greg!" she said throwing her arms around his neck, giving him a slightly sticky kiss on the cheek.
"Anything for my leading lady," he replied with a wink, kissing her hand. "And for the beautiful Miss Sidle."
"Thanks Greg," she laughed, taking it from him.
"What, you're not going to thank me like Lindsey did?" He put on a pout, pointing to his cheek.
"Playboy," she rolled her eyes, but gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Woo hoo!" He cheered, dancing around as everyone laughed. "I got kissed by Sara!"
"Not to spoil your fun Greg," Grissom interrupted. "But it's one o'clock, and we do have to work tonight."
"Aww man," Nick wrinkled his nose in annoyance. "I forgot about that."
"Yeah, we should probably head home, catch some Zz's" Warrick agreed.
Everyone said their good-byes, exchanging hugs and see-ya later's before leaving. Catherine, Lindsey, Sara, and Greg all climbed into the tahoe and headed back to Greg's townhouse. Catherine waved good-bye as they got out, before heading to her house. Sara and Greg let themselves in, and took Duke for a short walk around the block to let him do his business. Back in the house, they changed into their pajamas before climbing into Greg's bed, the dog at their feet, along with the cat.
"You know, I think you need to move some of your stuff in here," Greg said sleepily as he pulled her to him.
"And why's that?"
"Because I love you and don't plan on letting you spend another night away from me," he said with a smile, right before kissing her tenderly.
"Good, because I love you too, and I like the sound of that," she smiled back, her eyes fluttering closed.
Greg gave her another kiss, before he too settled himself, and allowed sleep to claim him.
A/N: Okay, that's it for this chapter. So…what'd ya think? I'm desperately seeking approval for their exchanging "I love you's" and all. Do you think I moved too fast? To me, Greg's always had a thing for her, and Sara seems like one who feels deeply, not to mention they've been friends for a while. And what'd you think of the rollercoaster? I thought that'd be cute- kinda quirky like Greg is. And I hope Lindsey doesn't seem to OOC. To me, she's a 13 year old girl who's still very much a child. And I think Catherine is the type to make Lindsey call everyone Mr. Sanders, Miss Sidle, etc., as a sign of respect and all. Anyways, please let me know what you think if you've got time to review! Next chapter'll be up Sunday as usual, maybe a day or two early, but no promises.