Growing Up

Part 5: Dinner Survivor

Summary: Dinner finally happens, but the evening has one more surprise for them.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and drakien, I think in this relationship such a solution would be too easy ;)

xxxxx

They survived making dinner without any major mishaps.

Grissom had almost cut himself when he was watching Sara instead of the knife and the carrot, but he was lucky it only grazed the nail. Sara was equally distracted, and if Grissom had not called out to her, she would have touched the pot too low and would have burned her hand. All in all, it went better than their last attempt: no injuries, no burnt food.

However, the accident did happen. The vegetables were slightly salty, true to the theme of being in love, but that was nothing a little wash and a bit of cream could not amend. Together with the rice no one could tell, and for Sara, it had been worth it. When Grissom tasted the vegetables, a small smile of recognition of the age-old myth lit up his face, telling Sara that he felt the same.

Dinner was a quiet affair, both too content to change anything about the comfortable silence. Being together felt too right to risk anything.

They were still basking in the afterglow of a wonderful dinner when the phone rang.

At first, Grissom tried to ignore it, tampering down his irritation, but seeing Sara pull away, switching back to work mode, he sighed and went to get it. "Hello?"

"Dr. Grissom? I hope I didn't wake you."

Grissom recognized the voice of Alex Knightley, and his mood improved. There would be no case ruining their time alone. "No, I was just finishing my breakfast."

With his voice and his purposeful relaxation, he tried to signal Sara that she did not need to worry, but she was refusing to look at him, busy cleaning up the kitchen.

"How may I help you, Mrs. Knightley?" he stressed the name, and this time Sara stopped what she was doing and looked up. Her shoulders dropped as the tension fled her body.

"Were you serious about your offer to watch Amelia again?"

"Yes, of course. Otherwise we wouldn't have offered."

Sara was now curious and stepped closer to Grissom and the phone to listen to the conversation more closely.

She couldn't hear Mrs. Knightley's next words. "I don't know your schedule, but would you be able to watch Amelia on Friday afternoon?"

Grissom mouthed 'Friday?' to Sara, and at her quick nod he answered, "I think that can be arranged."

"That would be a great relief. My husband and I have planned this weekend for months, and my sister was going to take Amelia, but she can't pick her up until late. Our flight is at three and…" the woman kept rambling on, and Grissom had to smile at her nervousness.

"Mrs. Knightley, it's okay. We'll take Amelia until your sister can pick her up."

He could hear her sigh of relief and see Sara's nod of understanding. "Thank you, we would be really grateful. How can we make this up to you?"

"Don't worry about that." Now it was getting a bit uncomfortable for Grissom. Taking gifts or doing favors to benefit from them was not really in his nature. The idea bothered him.

"But…"

"No really, we offered. We want to do it. Don't worry about it."

She tried to argue once more, but Grissom stood firm. They agreed on Grissom picking Amelia up before her parents had to leave for the airport.

Grissom hung up to find Sara staring at him quizzically, waiting for him to fill in the gaps. He led her over to his couch and pulled her down with him. When she was sitting next to him, relaxing back into the cushions, he told her what had been said.

"They'll probably pick her up long before we have to be at work."

Grissom was confused when Sara shook her head, denying his statement. "What?"

"You have to be at work, I'm off." She was teasing him, taunting him with the fact that she had the night off.

The wheels in his head were turning, trying to figure out why this sounded strange. Obviously, this was them, Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle. They usually grumbled when they had to stay away from work.

However, things were different now. They still loved their work and liked coming in even if they were scheduled for a night off, but since they were seeing each other, they found a new appreciation for their nights off. Not all of them, but some, even if they were not spent together.

Looking at Sara now, contentedness rolling off of her in waves, he could not begrudge her for looking forward to Friday.

"That's right. I should have known since I made the schedule this week…and last week…and the week before and…"

She shut him up with a kiss.

The smile on her lips made it even sweeter. This was heaven. Never in her life had she dreamt of a scenario like this.

Grissom obviously hadn't either because a whispered 'wow' was everything he got out. The smile on his face was more than enough to make up for the lack of his usual poetic sentiments.

"So…think we can manage 'bug girl' on Friday?"

Although it was meant to be teasing to keep the good mood up, her voice told him that she still didn't trust her own ability to take care of a child. Sure, she had offered to baby-sit, but the fact remained; their exposure to childcare was minimal.

"I think we can. Although we could put her back into a terrarium if we want to take a breather."

Her snicker told him that he had succeeded in reassuring her.

She lifted her arms and wound them around his neck, her eyes meeting his. She let him stare down into her, telling him what she couldn't find the words for. He had seen her fears but hadn't made a big thing of it, only trying to alleviate them to a degree.

The longer he stared into her eyes, the more everything else began to fade.

xxxxx

Time seemed to fly and before they had another chance to talk about it, Friday had come.

They were still at work, finishing their cases of the night, when Grissom remembered that they had better get some sleep in the morning since they wouldn't have the time later that day.

He paged her, hoping that no one else was in reach to read his message: 'Busy day, time to get some rest!'

He expected her to text something back, but the pager remained silent. The page before him seemed to blur. Maybe it was time for him to go. Sara would know how much rest she needed.

He shut the file and stowed it away in his briefcase, just in case he had time to work some more. Suddenly, he was startled when he heard a voice speak to him. "Your place or mine?"

When he looked up, he saw Sara standing in his office, leaning against the closed door with a huge grin on her face.

After a moment to collect himself, he knew how to counter, "Well, since you have already closed the door…", but Sara did not fall for his bluff.

Her grin widened, ending the game with her next words. "I always wanted to say that. And I always wanted you to answer."

"And what would be the right answer?"

She was now standing as close to him as she dared; there were glass walls to this office after all. "There is no wrong answer."

She looked out, waiting until the lab tech that was just walking down the corridor was out of sight. Only then, did she lean in closer so that her voice dropped to a whisper, "Today, your place!"

Sara stepped away, leaving a flustered Grissom behind.

It was not long, though, until he could be seen hurrying towards the exit.

TBC