Growing Up

Part 2: Shopping bliss

By Dany

Summary: A normal life for Grissom and Sara?

A/N: The reviews were really encouraging that some people like the continuation of my Baby series. Thank you. Also thanks to Ace for her help.

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI

Xxxxx

Emerging form the bathroom, Sara toweled her hair as her eyes fell on the long forgotten cup of coffee. It would be cold by now, but she didn't mind. The man in her bed was hot enough.

She couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up at that thought. It was so ridiculous but so true at the same time, and for a brief moment, Sara wondered what the others would say if they were privy to her thoughts.

They wouldn't understand, but they didn't have to. This was what she wanted, and she wanted nothing or no one else. The main thing was that she understood. Grissom was hot…to her, for her.

She laughed again, and this time it was loud enough to wake Grissom. He stretched languidly, cracking one eye open to search for the source of the noise.

She tried to imagine what kind of sight she presented, standing in the doorway only wrapped in a towel, tussled hair and still flushed from the shower…and something else.

Grissom put her mind to rest, "You're so beautiful."

Her breath caught in her throat. She was still not used to hearing Grissom say things like that.

However, it looked like he was getting used to saying it. It seemed to roll off of his tongue easier every time he said it. "It's true," he reassured her, holding out his hand for her.

Sara thought about taking it, about how good it would feel just to spend all of her time here with him, but today it was impossible.

"You've kept me in bed long enough," which was a weird thing to say to Grissom, and she doubted she would ever get used to it.

Grissom lowered his hand back to the sheet, his expectant expression turning into a light frown. 'How much more surreal could this day become,' Sara wondered silently as she shook her head at Grissom to demonstrate her point.

"I can't. As much as I wish I could just stop time to be with you as long as I possibly can, I have to get dressed." As she spoke, she hoped she wasn't being too forward, scaring him with a wish for an infinite future. "It's Greg's birthday tomorrow, and I put off buying a gift for so long that I have to go today."

She wanted to reassure him with a kiss but refrained from it, knowing Greg would be empty-handed tomorrow if she followed the urge because then she wouldn't be going anywhere but Grissom's arms. When had she become so sappy?

Looking at him lounging in her bed, she didn't want to leave him. A strange idea formed in her mind, and before she could stop herself, she had blurted it out, "Would you like to come with me?"

Her mind wandered back to their last outing in a shopping center, smiling at the thought. It had been strenuous but exiting, and if she was honest with herself, the only time she had enjoyed shopping. She seemed to have stumped him with her request, for he lay motionless, staring at her. She bit her lip, uncertain about the whole situation, wondering what her offer was making him feel.

Was she going too fast again?

She looked at him again and then decided that she didn't care. They had made love and what was shopping against that – nothing.

When he didn't answer, she pretended to forget her proposal and just finished getting dressed, even if his non-reaction stung.

She was almost dressed when she finally heard him call her name, "Sara?"

She turned towards him, hoping he had decided to go with her, and the smile on his face and the way he reached for his pants let her know he would not disappoint that hope.

"You don't mind?" he asked as if there was any doubt to her commitment.

"Grissom, if you'd rather be alone to think about everything," which she did not want him to do because she was afraid he would overanalyze and retreat, "then say so, please. I don't mind, and I promised you not to pressure you."

This was his chance to bow out, but he didn't take it. "If you don't mind, I would like to join you," he smiled.

Sara couldn't hide her joy as he expressed his wish to spend more time with her. She went over to him where he sat on the bed, moved in between his thighs, taking his face in her hands, stroking her thumbs over his stubbled cheeks before leaning in to kiss him.

They lingered a while longer before breaking apart, but they both knew they had to. Greg's birthday present was out there waiting to be found.

xxxxx

Sara had checked the Internet for a 'hip' music store which sold some of the more extravagant choices the lab tech blasted through the halls.

On second thought, taking Grissom to buy a new noise pollution for Greg might not have been her best idea. Grissom would probably refuse to buy anything at all.

Sara glanced at Grissom who was walking beside her towards the entrance of the mall, and she realized that it didn't matter if he would be grumpy; he was with her.

As he opened the door, his hand wandered to the small of her back, guiding her through. His hand remained there, making her skin tingle. This just felt right.

They made it through the music store in record time. Sara had narrowed her choices down to three at home, and now she picked the first one she could find to avoid the horde of noisy teenagers that populated the aisles.

Out side, Grissom turned to her, "Are you sure that this is the right present? I mean, those are all kids, and this is for someone in his late twenties."

She looked at him as if he had lost it. "Are we talking about the same guy? Blinding, loud clothes, spiky hair, childish behavior, but an ace in the DNA lab?"

Grissom smiled, realizing she was right. This was Greg.

"Hey, what are you getting him?" Sara asked, knowing he had probably not thought about it.

His clueless expression told her she was right. "Uhm, nothing?"

Her responding look chided him for his thoughtlessness, but she knew he meant no harm. Grissom held her penetrating gaze, and she could feel him give in. "Any ideas?"

"Well, we could buy another CD," she proposed, but Grissom vehemently shook his head.

"I'm not going back in there," he pointed to the store, waving his arms, showing almost panic-like behavior.

Instinctively, Sara grabbed his arms to calm him down, additionally soothing him with her voice, "Okay, then we'll find something else."

She looked around, mentally cataloguing the stores trying to get an idea.

"How will it look?" Grissom grumbled, not ready to give up so easily, but when Sara turned to him with a look of anger on her face, he backed up and answered his own question, "it will show him that I care."

Sara gave him an approving nod. Her anger started to wane, thinking about the present he had given her and how uncomfortable he was about these public outings. She shed her hand from his lower arm to his hand, gripping it tightly to hurry him on, and at the same time give him a sense of security that he was not alone.

They strolled through the mall, looking at various window displays. At a stationery shop, Grissom stopped. Sara didn't see anything special that could have held Grissom's attention, but the smile on his face told her that he had found something.

Without a word of explanation, Grissom pulled her into the store. When the sales clerk came up to them, he asked him for one of the notepads in the window along with some rollerball pens. Then he surprised Sara by picking out a more expensive pen from the display case.

At her questioning gaze, he explained it to her after paying for his purchases, "The notepad and the rollerball pens are for taking notes. That's what Greg was always bugging me about without coming out straight and saying that he wanted to be a CSI. The other pen is for his reports when he is a CSI."

Sara smiled at his very pragmatic reasoning. She knew that Greg would love this gift once Grissom explained it properly. "You will score big time with him."

"Will I also score with you for that?" His question surprised her, and she stopped in her tracks, giving him a pull because of their linked hands.

Now it was his turn again to be confused. He wondered if he had said something wrong. "I didn't mean it like that, I…" he trailed off, realizing too late that his statement could be misconstrued, even if she had started it.

Not willing to let this ship ruin the day, Sara leaned closer to Grissom and whispered into his ear, "You have already scored with me, and you will again, but in terms of getting on my good side, you're right. This will certainly earn my appreciation."

She could see Grissom blush and decided to reward him. Sara leaned up and quickly planted a kiss on Grissom's mouth before pulling away, winking at him. He stood dumbstruck for a moment before he followed Sara through the halls.

As they were nearing the exit, they were suddenly stopped by a familiar sound, "Bugz! Da!"

They didn't even have the chance to determine the direction of the origin before Grissom felt a tug on his pants.

"Amelia," another voice called out, sounding more than slightly unnerved.

Alex Knightley came to a stop right in front of them only seconds after the tug on Grissom's pants. She bent down to pick Amelia up, and when she straightened up with her daughter on her arm, she greeted the two CSIs, "Dr. Grissom, Ms. Sidle. It's so nice to see you again."

She shook their hands, but gave them no chance to greet her back, "No wonder I couldn't hold Amelia. She usually never runs away, but she must have seen you."

Sara and Grissom nodded, still too surprised to react. Amelia was not one for inaction, though, and squirmed in her mother's arms until she was able to lean over to Grissom and grip his shirt.

Sara had to suppress some laughter. Every time they met the little girl, she was trying to get into Grissom's arms. Not that she couldn't understand that.

It was cute, although Grissom always seemed to be a little uncomfortable at first. This time was no exception.

His touch was light at first when Amelia had succeeded in switching arms, but after her first big toothy smile, his arms tightened around her to secure her little body.

Sara decided to give him a little relief and shift the attention away from him. "Mrs. Knightley…"

"Alex, please," the other woman interrupted her.

"Sorry. Alex, it's nice to meet you again. How are you?"

"Fine, we were just looking for some new clothes, for both Amelia and me. How about you?"

Her plan to distract the attention from Grissom failed when Amelia pulled on Grissom's breast pocket. "Bugz?"

She pouted when she found the pockets to be empty. The women burst out laughing at the unusual bonding theme between the child and Grissom.

"I think you will always be the one with the bugs in the shirt now. Which would be even funnier if it weren't true 90 per-cent of the time," Sara commented, still laughing.

"Sorry little bug, but I have none of our friends with me."

The awkwardness seemed to have passed as Grissom was behaving freely with the child once more.

Amelia's mother seemed equally taken with the picture the two presented, so she just watched them interact.

Suddenly an idea struck Sara. Despite their new found closeness, Grissom was still too cautious about being open, but every time they were with the little girl it seemed easier for him, and why shouldn't she make use of that?

So before she could talk herself out of her plan again, she put it in motion. "Alex, uhm, I wonder if you would need someone who could watch Amelia during the day."

Grissom's eyes were wide with shock as he realized what Sara was proposing, but she continued, unimpressed, "Maybe we could baby-sit some time again. I mean, she really seems to like Grissom and uhm, if you're ever in a jam…" she trailed off, not daring to look at Grissom, afraid that he would be angry.

"That's a very kind offer, and I'm sure Amelia would like that, but are you sure?" The woman seemed to be seriously considering Sara's offer. After all, they had already taken care of the girl, and it seemed to have gone well.

"I understand if you are hesitant to leave your daughter with us. I mean, we don't know each other that well." Sara tried to sound surer than she was because she realized that it was not only for Grissom. She wanted to spend more time with Grissom and Amelia. The girl had wound her way into her heart.

"No, that's not it. This is just such a generous offer. First you save my daughter and then take her with you to the park. It's just so much, and we don't want you to feel used."

At that moment, Amelia began to whimper, obviously displeased with the waning attention of the adults.

While the women fell into silence, Grissom turned his attention back to the girl and started bouncing her a bit, promising her there would be bugs the next time. "Assuming you agree Mrs. Knightley. We wouldn't mind watching Amelia again." With these words, Grissom shocked Sara as well as himself.

He wanted to spend more time with the girl, and he had referred to them as 'we'. Sara felt herself floating again, reveling in the knowledge that Grissom was making the effort to be more open about himself and his feelings.

Amelia voiced her displeasure again, but this time she was also rubbing her eyes, showing that she was tired. Grissom put her into her stroller and had to smile when he saw a familiar plush animal.

Alex Knightley must have seen his smile because she commented on her daughter's toy, "It's her new favorite. She takes it everywhere."

Sara blushed, but was pleased at the same time that the little girl loved her birthday present so much.

When Amelia rubbed her eyes once more, Alex Knightley put her bags in order and got ready to leave. "I think we better go now. She needs to get a nap."

They said their good-byes and parted ways.

Grissom and Sara continued to the car in silence. Sara was still shocked at his easy acquiescence, and Grissom was in awe how much that little girl always got to him.

Only at the car did Sara break the silence, "Did you really mean it?"

He turned to her, apparently taking her question very seriously, since his face didn't betray anything. He took his time answering, making her uneasy about his possible answer. "All of it."

A tingle ran down her spine, and her heart was ready to explode. He had sought out her eyes to show her that he meant it, all of it, and he was not just talking about Amelia. He meant everything that happened since Amelia entered their lives.

She couldn't help the bright smile that broke out on her face, which Grissom answered with a shyer version.

For once, they seemed to be where they should be.

TBC