Growing Up

Part 7: Sliding

Summary: The day is spend at the park to keep Amelia busy.

A/N: Thanks for all the support. I have to apologize for a mistake I made at the beginning of the story. I wrote that it's a sequel to Baby bug, which is not completely wrong, but actually it is the immediate sequel to Child's play, which follows the Baby series. I'm sorry. So if you haven't read it yet, I hope you will.

xxxxx

The ride to the park was spent mostly in silence. Grissom was still wondering what Sara's humor had been all about.

Her occasional giggles made him uncomfortable, as well as Amelia's calls and giggles. She was obviously trying to imitate Sara, which normally would have been very cute but was now only annoying. He felt like they had a secret that they were keeping from him – a secret about him.

What was unnerving him even more was that whenever he let his control slip and scowled at Sara's behavior, she would start a new fit of giggles. What was so damn funny? His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter, making his knuckles stand out white. Her strange behavior was rapidly pushing him to the edge.

When a growl escaped him, even Amelia giggled, making Sara's laughter worse. "Bear, bear!"

If he hadn't been the one driving, he would have whipped his head around, but he had enough self-control left to keep his eyes on the road.

"Sara," he tried to plead with her to get things under control again, but it fell on deaf ears. She kept laughing, and Amelia laughed with her.

Grissom was relieved when they pulled up to the park and he was able to get some distance between them, if only for a short while. He left the car and went around to the back to get the stroller ready – and regain control.

Sara took the time to take some deep breaths and cool off. She hoped she hadn't really angered him. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel uncomfortable enough to retreat. "Hey, little bug."

She unbuckled and leaned over to the backseat. "I think we shouldn't have laughed that much, but you understand, right?"

She knew it was impossible that the little girl had really understood her, but just sharing her thoughts made her feel lighter.

"Bear," Amelia crowed, twisting in her seat to see Grissom, who was now right behind the car. "Bugz?"

Sara couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face again. "Yeah, he is a bear that loves bugs and 'honey.'"

To get Amelia out, she had to leave the car and face Grissom without laughing again. "No more laughing about the big bear, little bug, or he will leave us here to walk back." From her tone of voice Amelia took her cue and quieted down.

With another deep breath, Sara had finally exited the car and opened the back door, freeing Amelia from her car seat. When she was about to set her down, she saw Grissom come up with the stroller. "Should we let her run at first? Tire herself out?"

He nodded but motioned for her to carry the girl. "The street is still too close. We can put her down when we are a bit further into the park."

Sara walked ahead with Grissom following, pushing the stroller with the backpack instead of the child. When they were sure she could not dart back onto the street or into some bushes, Sara set her down.

On their way to the playground, the girl wanted to be picked up at least three times, her little legs tiring quickly, only to want to run around after a minute again. Grissom indulged her, handing the stroller over to Sara. They had brought some toys to play in the sand, hoping to find a spot they deemed safe. Amelia had other plans, though.

As soon as she had seen the climbing frame, she ran over to it. She was too small to reach anything, and her steps were not really firm enough, but she didn't seem to care.

Grissom was right behind her, hoping to steer her away from the dangerous looking structure. When he took her little hand to lead her away, her other hand gripped the rail and held on tight. Her big brown eyes staring up at him melted his resistance, and Grissom took a closer look at the structure, trying to figure out a way for a small girl with a strong will to get through it safely. Thinking he had found one, he glanced at Sara, telling her wordlessly what he had in mind.

She nodded, and Grissom held out his other hand for the child to hold on to. Amelia made a step towards the small stairs, tugging at Grissom's hand.

He nodded and smiled. "Come here and give me your hand."

She looked at him once more as if she was deciding on what to do but then reached out for the offered hand.

The first couple of steps were fairly easy, but then Grissom ran into a problem that had Sara fighting to suppress her laughter. She was watching from the path how Grissom tried to fold himself together to get through a smaller opening to the slide on the other end while at the same time trying to keep his hold on Amelia.

He finally made it to his knees, still holding the girl with one hand. He knew he must have looked ridiculous and wondered why he hadn't let Sara go with her. Probably because he hadn't thought about it, only worrying about the child.

They finally made it over to the slide where he struggled to move around until Amelia was sitting on his lap and he was able to slide down without hitting his head on the small opening.

As they made their way down, Sara couldn't believe what she was seeing. Gil Grissom, forensic entomologist and hermit, was on a playground climbing and sliding with a two-year-old girl. It was an amazing sight that warmed her heart and would not be likely to ever forget. And he had doubts about his parenting abilities? If one of them had to worry, it was her. She still felt totally inept with the girl sometimes. She heard a squeal and focused on the slide just in time to see them land at the bottom.

The next time Amelia shook her head when Grissom wanted to help her up the stairs. He held her back, and she shook her head more vigorously. "No, no, no."

He looked at Sara, hoping for help, but she only shrugged her shoulders.

Amelia twisted and freed herself on her hands and feet: hands on the second step, feet on the ground.

His first impulse was to grab her and put her upright again, but then he decided to let her try on her own and to stay close behind her.

With her awkward technique, she did get to the top, and Grissom had to hurry to keep her from sliding down alone. This was still too dangerous, regardless of her stair-success.

They repeated the process another two times until Amelia was bored and made her way over to Sara.

"Tink!" She held out her little hands, looking at Sara pleadingly.

"What?" Grissom was right behind her, but the word made absolutly no sense to him.

"Applshus."

Sara laughed, finally understanding what the girl was trying to say. She rummaged in the backpack and found a baby cup filled with what looked like thinned apple juice. "Sit down."

They were walking around a bit further with Amelia sitting happily in her stroller, trying to find a clean spot to let her play on the ground.

xxxxx

They had finally found a spot a bit off to the side, away from the screams of a horde of children that had invaded the playground only seconds after they had left with Amelia.

Grissom had spread the blanket while Sara had taken care of the little girl. Once they were seated and Amelia was playing by herself, Grissom approached the topic that had been weighing on his mind. "So…will you tell me what was so funny?"

Her eyes went from showing confusion to renewed mirth. "Oh that…"

"Yeah, that." He couldn't resist and had to smile back.

"It's just…sometimes you get so…protective, fierce, overwhelmingly passionate."

His eyebrows rose as she attributed these characteristics to him. Were they talking about the same person?

"Your shoulders will straighten, making you even bigger, and other men cower in fear. That growl and that scowl…"

There it was again, that scowl, because Grissom didn't know how to react.

"That's a good thing, believe me. And then you go and call me 'honey' and I just…" She swallowed a giggle before she was able to continue, "You remind me of a bear."

The scowl vanished, and he started to blush a bit. Sara was complimenting him in her very own way.

"So, I'm a bear, and you are my honey?"

At her nod, he smiled, happiness flowing through him even though it seemed absurd to make such a comparison.

"I like that. I think I could live on honey alone. Let me get a taste."

Their lips touched, and Grissom felt another barrier fall, letting Sara in further. This was how it was supposed to be, improvement and closeness in their relationship.

When they separated after a seemingly endless moment, they felt incredibly comfortable with each other and each of them drifted off into their own thoughts.

xxxxx

Amelia was playing with her toys, pushing a car back and forth on the ground, taking no notice of the adults, when she suddenly went still, her eyes widening with awe.

For several moments, she sat completely motionless, drawing Sara's attention to her. She gave Grissom, who had been staring at the sky, watching the clouds pass by, a light push to make him look down. Together they watched her until she moved on her own.

She twisted at her waist, looking at Grissom, one arm staying on the ground.

"Bug!" she exclaimed, turning back to watch a spot right in front of her.

He leaned over and smiled when he saw her watching a ladybug. Sara did the same, her head so close that he could feel her breath tickling on his neck.

He was about to launch into a lengthy lecture about the characteristics of said bug when he saw the bemused smile playing around her lips as she anticipated his reaction. It was time to surprise her again, so he simply settled on the bare facts. "It's a ladybug, Amelia."

Carefully, he took the girl's hand and held it in a way that the bug had to crawl over her finger to get higher up. She giggled when it wandered over her tiny finger before it reached the top and flew off. Her wide eyes followed the ladybug until it wasn't visible anymore.

When Grissom looked over at Sara, he saw a happy smile on her face, making her irresistible. He leaned over and kissed her.

TBC