Growing Up
Part 6: Honey bear
By Dany
Summary: Grissom and Sara get their first taste of the problems parents are confronted with everyday.
A/N: Thanks to Ace for her valuable help.
xxxxx
Sara looked over her shoulder, watching the young girl cuddling her toy, softly talking to herself. So far she was not crying, which Sara hoped was a good sign.
They had picked her up at home. The Knightleys had already been packed and ready to go, having an equally large, if not larger, bag for their daughter. Grissom and Sara had been surprised by the amount of stuff a child obviously needed.
Once again, her parents left them with a mass of instructions on how to get her to nap, when and what she should eat, and whatever else they needed to know. They stored everything away with a simple nod, hoping that none of the worst-case scenarios that they were warned about would come true.
After a teary goodbye on the parents' side, they were on their way back to Grissom's townhouse.
It was bigger than Sara's place, and although he had more breakables, they were mostly placed high enough to be out of reach for a two-year-old. Plus, he had the bugs, and he had promised Amelia that he would show her some more the next time they were together.
When Sara returned to the present, she saw that Amelia had stopped talking and was now watching her while chewing lightly on her thumb. She noticed that although the girl wanted to keep her eyes open, they kept dropping. If they were lucky, she would fall asleep in the car.
They were not.
When Grissom neared his home, Amelia's head was hanging and her eyelids were almost closed, but Sara could see her still jerking her head up to keep awake.
She leaned over to Grissom, "Drive around the block again."
He looked at her in confusion, but when she nodded her head to the backseat, his eyes cleared, and he drove past his home.
After circling the block twice more, they were sure that Amelia was fast asleep. He parked in the driveway and looked over at Sara. "How should we do this?"
He was in doubt of how to proceed. Should one of them stay with her in the car while the other unloaded everything? Should they get her inside first and then…? The logistics of this seemingly simple task of unloading the car was going over his head.
Sara didn't seem to fare much better. She shrugged her shoulders and followed his gaze back to the sleeping child. "I would say we put her on the couch, but it may be too small, and she might fall off."
Grissom nodded but got out of the car to take a closer look at the stuff in his trunk. "I think this is one of those travel beds. We could drag that in first and get it ready. Then we could leave her alone for a few minutes to get the rest."
It was the best plan they'd had, so Sara got out to help him.
When Grissom was carrying it inside, Sara carefully unbuckled the girl, taking extra care not to wake her, and followed him inside.
She found him struggling with the set-u p of the bed. This scene of domesticity made her heart warm and her mind come up with other images of the same kind; images of Grissom watching another child sleeping in this bed or of her holding another baby. She pushed them back, knowing they were both not ready for that.
She kept holding Amelia, feeling the warmth of the child suffusing her, thus making her more relaxed, while Grissom continued to struggle. A few minutes later, he was done.
When she wanted to place Amelia in the bed, he stopped her and hurried out again. He fetched a bag from his car and pulled a blanket out of it, which he spread on the bed. Amelia would be much more comfortable this way.
"And now?"
"We can get the rest of the stuff."
Sara was already on her way out, when Grissom's words halted her. "Do you really think we should leave her alone?"
He was gazing down into the bed, hesitant to leave her alone, even when it was only for a few minutes.
"You're just trying to weasel your way out of having to unload the car." Although she was trying to make a joke, she was touched by Grissom's tender concern. Another look in his eyes told her he was really worried. Their job made them hypersensitive to the dangers that lurked in everyday situations.
She walked back over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, massaging them gently. "It's okay. We'll keep the door in sight. She will be fine."
He turned his head, his eyes still showing his doubt, but he nodded slowly.
Sara smiled, thinking of Grissom as a protector who would do everything to keep someone he loved safe.
xxxxx
They were relieved when Amelia slept for almost two hours before a small whimpering announced her return to consciousness.
During her nap, Grissom and Sara had also rested some more, watching a documentary about developments in early childhood. Scientifically, it was interesting and very fitting to the momentary situation, but even that couldn't keep them awake the whole time.
Sara nodded off for twenty minutes while Grissom was resting his eyes for almost an hour. While they were keeping an eye on the sleeping child in the travel bed and on the ones on the screen, they were inching closer on the small couch until she was in his arms and he was resting his head on hers. The whole situation should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn't.
When they heard Amelia whimper, Sara extricated herself from his arms with regret and went over to see if she was really awake.
Two dark eyes were staring at her as she bent over to look in. "Hey there!"
Amelia rolled to her side and pushed herself up into a sitting position. She lifted her hands and smacked her chops.
"Griss, can you get her something to drink?" Sara asked while getting the child out of the little prison, carrying her over to the kitchen area.
"Cold or not so cold?" He help up two packs of the juice the Knightleys had packed for their daughter.
Sara only shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what would be better. Grissom finally decided on the not-so-cold juice, thinking about possible stomach cramps from the cold. They gave her some of the juice and let her eat half of a banana with some crackers.
As detailed as the instructions from Amelia's mother had been, they didn't need to guess what the girl wanted to eat. They were able to relax somewhat.
xxxxx
"Let's get her ready to go to the park." Sara was cleaning up the mess that the girl had made of the rest of the banana while Grissom was trying to clean her at the kitchen sink.
He finally gave up. The girl was squirming too much to get the stains out of her shirt and her pants, but as long as her face and hands were clean, he figured it didn't really matter. "Are you sure that it's safe?"
He was thinking about all of the calls they had responded to which had them investigating a crime scene in a park. Images of bodies, weapons, lye, and even harmless glass shards were floating through his mind.
Sara thought about the truth of his words. These were real problems that real parents had to face every day, and she shuddered, thinking of the possibility that one day they might concern her with her own child, not that she didn't take things seriously with Amelia.
Maybe it was just worse because they were CSIs and knew the dangers all too well. "I think she will be as safe as it gets."
They had to believe that to venture outside.
Sara truly believed that Grissom would not let anything happen to Amelia. He would not leave her out of his sight for a second.
He was so protective, and although she had rebelled against the same trait from time to time, she reveled in it at the same time. It was not easy to get him enraged, but if he was, god help the person on the receiving end. Grissom was always overlooked as a potential threat because of his quiet nature and geekiness, but she knew that there lay a hidden strength behind this façade.
Grissom was a big man, strong by physical appearance, who knew what he was hiding.
He may look like a big fluffy teddy bear, but get him mad, and he'll show you his teeth and his paws.
She had never thought of him outside of the insect realm, comparing him to his bugs, but now she wondered what else she had missed.
When Grissom bent to pick Amelia and her bag up, he brought her back to reality. "Honey, could you lock the door? The keys are on the sideboard."
Sara did not move, the words making no sense to her. 'Honey?'
Grissom turned at the door, wondering why Sara was not following, and found her grinning from ear to ear. "Sara, is everything alright?"
She shook herself from her trance, picked up the keys, and when she reached him, she whispered, "Bear," into his ear.
Before he could react, other than show total confusion on his face, she had shoved him out and locked the door.
"Bear!" Amelia called, clapping her hands, echoing Sara again.
Grissom growled, and Sara started giggling.
Bear, indeed.
TBC
Please let me know what you think.