Chapter Two:
Nearly everyone had come back to Catherine's house after the dinner. Everyone was outside but Catherine who was standing in the kitchen to serve her guests. The four junior CSI, Mia, and Lindsey were in the pool playing chicken. Sara was on Nick's shoulders, Mia on Warrick's, and Lindsey on Greg's. There were into their tenth round and so far Lindsey won five times, Sara four, and Mia once. Grissom, Brass, and Robbins were standing on the deck talking about ... work. Archie had been there earlier along with Bobby and some other lab techs that were at the dinner but due to having to work that night they had to leave.
Catherine pressed the button on the blinder and held the lid down as she thought of what her daughter had said. About how she hated her dad. 'Why didn't she ever tell me,' she though as she poured the margarita into a large pitcher sitting on a tray. 'I only let him see her because I thought she wanted to.' Walking to the fridge she pulled out a pitcher of lemonade and set it on the tray also. Opening the freezer she pulled out the carvel ice-cream cake Lindsey loved dearly. 'As Grissom once said 'It's in the past' ... or was that mom?' She laughed.
"CATHERINE!" Nick yelled from the pool. Mia and Lindsey were now the only two left in the chicken fight. "It doesn't take twenty minutes to get drinks!"
"When you're Catherine it does." Warrick said loud enough for her to here.
"Be careful boys you may not get the drinks were you want them," Grissom said getting laughs from everyone but the two of them who now looked rather worried.
In the house Catherine smiled to herself and picked up the tray. Walking outside she set the tray down on the table. Walking over to outside stereo she bought not long ago she turned it on and then went back inside. Grissom watched her concerned but shrugged it off and changed the topic from work to sports. Mia cheered having gotten Lindsey off Greg's shoulder. Grissom looked back at the patio door as Catherine came out and placed some snacks on the table looked at Lindsey then went back inside.
Entering the kitchen she went to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice and then pulled the vodka bottle off the top and set them down on the counter. Grabbing a small glass she poured her drink. Just as she was about to drink it her phone rang. Sighing she picked up the cordless. "Willows."
"Mugs," Sam Braun's voice said on the other end.
"Are you going to tell me how you got my phone number and why you called," She snapped after a long pause. Cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder she grabbed her cup in one hand, vodka in the other with the orange juice between her arm and waist. Walking back outside she placed them on the table and went to go back in the house when Sam spoke again.
"I wanted to answer you question from earlier," He said coolly. She paused and quirked and eyebrow.
"And which question because there was two you didn't answer," She snapped catching the attention of the three talking men standing close by.
"I have an answer for both but I was planning on telling you that I'm honored to sit at a table with you," he said not once letting any emotion seep into his words.
"Okay now for the other question. What type of excuse was that?" She went to walk into the house but again his answer stopped her.
"A partially true answer to a child that wouldn't have understood the rest," once again he was cool and the words held no emotion.
"Okay care to tell me the rest of the 'excuse'?"
"Your number is listed in the phone book," He said. "Tell Lindsey I congratulate her and hope she has a fun time on this trip," he hung up leaving her tempted to throw the phone into the pool.
"Mom come get in the pool," Lindsey yelled this time she and Greg were out because there were now playing with the men on top. "You could hold Greg on your shoulders!"
"Um ... maybe later," she replied going back in the house. Grissom this time followed her. After she hung up the phone she turned around and ran smack dab into Grissom's chest and stumbled backwards. He wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her from falling leaving her slightly leaning backwards while she grabbed a hold of the front of his shirt. "Gris ... uh ... are you going to pull me back up?"
"Do you want to be pulled back up," He smirked as he pulled her back up. Her hands went flat against his chest and his other arm went around his back. "What's bothering you?"
"No ... nothing," she looked at her arms.
"Cath ... sweetie tell me what is bothering you." He was sterner. "Or I won't go on this trip to Europe with you."
"You ... okay so maybe you would do that but if I called you up complaining of anything you would fly out right away," she tilted her head. "And if you did stay behind you would be missing out on a very educational experience you have been looking forward to doing for the past what five months even more then Lindsey. Calling me up once a day to see how the competition was ..."
"You are rambling and I want my answer. Something is bothering you. Was it the ... are you upset because I ... "He went to release her but she moved her arms around his back and held him close to her.
"She never told me that she hated him," she whispered. "If she had told me I could have made it so she didn't have to visit him. I could have more time with her while she was a kid and things would have been so different. Why didn't she ever tell me? Why haven't you kissed me till tonight? I mean I have been dreaming about that for a long time and did I just say that out loud," she blushed slightly.
"She never told you because she never wanted to hurt you," kissing her forehead he smiled. "And I want to do more then just kiss you. Catherine earlier what I was trying to tell you ... I wanted to say ..."
"The kiss explained it all," She looked up at him and smiled. "We don't have an audience anymore."
"That is true," he smirked and bent his head closer to her. She returned his smirk.
"You realize this will cause problems at work especially with Ecklie," she frowned slightly.
"Catherine Ecklie could burn in hell for all I care. Right now all I care about it making you happy."
"I am happy. I'm always happy when I'm in your arms. Except if I have been crying because then I look all messed up and rather stupid and you see me ..."
"You are most beautiful when you least expect it. Like at this very moment," he smiled and lightly kissed her lips. "With a soft blush upon your cheeks."
"Flattery will get you no where Mr. Grissom."
"But it is the truth. To me one of the times you looked most beautiful was after Lindsey had been born," he gave her another kiss. "Your cheeks were rosy pink as you smiled down at the tiny baby in your arms. Eyes shinning with love for the lovely creature you brought into the large and complicated world. A love creature that you knew would grow up to be like the love women who gave birth to her."
"I'm afraid to ask you what I looked like when you first meet me," she laughed slightly not expecting him to actually respond with the answer but surprising her he did.
"You looked stunning," he smiled picking her up and setting her on the counter. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he place his hands on her hips. "It was a dark night in the middle of the desert. You were in a pair of black leather low rise pants and knee high black boots. It was chilly so you wore a black leather jacket that was rather old and worn out. Under the jacket was a red halter top that showed off your pierced belly button and pale but sun kissed skin." She was staring at him in shock. "The headlights from the firebird behind you created a glow around your body making you look like the angel you were. Long strawberry blonde hair pulled up in a tight french braid. Your head tilted towards the sky looking at the stars as you slightly recited each and every single constellation you could think of. Not even bothering to move back into the firebird as the rain started to poor down on you."
"Wow ..." She looked at him stunned.
"There is more to that memory," he smirked. "Like you taking your hair down and your jacket and boots off and then running around in the rain screaming at the top of your lungs about random things you didn't really care about. You running into me and both of us falling to the ground and getting muddy. Laughing are heads off as you forced me to run around with you singing 'Dancing in the Rain'. Jim showing up thinking we are two raving lunatics with Eddie who took a swing at me because he was drunk and called you in missing. Oh and the ever famous watching Jim arrest Eddie for assault and haul him off to the station and then telling me that I have officially lost it."
"You can't forget the both of us having to go to the hospital because we stayed out in the rain for seven hours in the freezing rain," she smiled. "I remember that they made us huddle together in a heated room with no windows. We were wrapped in a blanket and I was sitting in your lap when the power went out."
"The doctors had locked the door because both of us had wanted to leave and the door was stuck and they couldn't get in," the two were smiling now not noticing they had an audience. "That's when I found out you had claustrophobia. You started freaking out and banging on the door screaming that you were being squished by the walls ..."
"You started laughing at me and I looked at you as if you were the crazy one," she began to laugh slightly. "And then out of no where you tell me that the walls are not closing in on me and I'm not being squished that I looked ..."
"Perfectly fine and rather cute when you were panicking," he too was laughing. "Then you fell asleep on my arms with a large smile on your face. Thirty minutes later Brass had arrived and gotten the door open took a look at us shuck his head and told me 'You better behave your self next shift she's the new lab tech.' "
"I remember what happened when I worked that night. I was sent out to Ecklie's crime scene because he got the blood splatter all wrong. That's why he hated me so much," she smiled. "You had my back that day when the sheriff started yelling at me in the middle of the DNA lab."
"I thought he was just upset because your music was too loud and you weren't doing anything," he shrugged. "You had finished all your cases impressing everyone. But once I heard him say you had no right to go to Ecklie's crime scene without permission I told him I told you to go and I got suspended for three days."
"The next day I had to deal with Ecklie accusing us of sleeping together. I told him he was just jealous because I wasn't sleeping with him."
"You said that!" Grissom yelled shocked. "No wonder the sheriff came to my house reprimanding me about sleeping with the lab techs."
"Sorry but I thought it was rather funny. Though Ecklie did call Eddie and told him what I said. That's when ..." she stopped. "Never mind."
"That's when what?" He asked looking worried. "That's when he first hit you."
"Sorta ... I mean he didn't actually intentionally hit me. It was an accident. I walked off and he followed. When he went to grab my arm I was turning around to apologize for something I said and his hand made contact with my face instead. It was a complete accident and he was shocked and left. When he came home he ... he apologized and well ..." she smiled. "It created a good thing which he destroyed in a drunken rage."
"What happen?" Grissom asked. Neither noticed that Lindsey had completely entered the room now and sat down at the small kitchen table.
"Well I found out I was pregnant and was rather happy. When I went home to tell him I found a note saying he had to go out of town because his sister needed him. He called me a couple hours later to say that his sister's husband had become abusive and that he missed and loved me then he had to go because his sister was screaming for help," she frowned. "I kept thinking you are willing to help your sister but yet when you hit me you said it was my fault. When he got back I told him I was pregnant and he ... he accused me of having an affair with you and he hit me ... he didn't stop hitting me for hours and when he was done ... he ... he told me he hoped the baby died because no child brought up by me would live to see the age of five."
"Cath ..."
"I couldn't move and passed out. One of my neighbors had called the cops when she heard him leaving and saying he hoped that ... that I died there on the floor. I remember waking up when the officer entered. I didn't know who he was and he scared me and I moved quickly. I yelled because it hurt so much and he told me he was an officer and not to move. When the ambulance arrived I heard him tell them who I was before I passed out again. When I woke up next I was in a hospital room, I never opened my eyes fully but I heard two voices. One was oddly familiar and one was the doctor. The doctor was telling the man that I ... I lost the baby and almost died myself. The man, I think it was Sam that could be how he knew, he asked the doctor if I would wake up again and if I could ever have a child again. The doctor told him that I could go into a coma and it's possible I wouldn't be able to have children but had to wait till I woke for further tests."
"Cath ..." Grissom tried to get her to stop talking but she ignored him.
"I went back to sleeping because I didn't want to believe it when I woke up again the officer was there. He asked if I knew who attacked me because my neighbor wasn't sure who it was because her television was too loud and she never saw who left the apartment. I told him I knew who it was but I wasn't pressing charges. He said that he understood and asked if I wanted to see my husband. I asked why he was asking and he told me because his father was abusive and he knew right away who attacked me. I smiled slightly and told him he could send Eddie in if he wanted too. Of course he did and Eddie started apologizing while the officer was there. But after the officer left he smirked at me and told me the test came back saying I could never have children again."
"But you did," Grissom said. "A beautiful ..." she interrupted him.
"When I found out I was pregnant again I was scared. I went to the doctor that treated me before and he told me that sometimes over the years things change. I kept getting different doctors opinions. But god I was so happy every time they told me that I was definitely pregnant. One night Jim gave me a domestic violence gone very bad and when I got there the officer from when Eddie beat me was there. I asked him what he got from the husband and he told me 'He beat her because she told him she was pregnant and he knew it wasn't his baby but that of one of her colleagues.' When I froze he asked me if I was okay and all I had to do was say Eddie and he understood. After work I tracked him down and told him I was pregnant again and I was afraid to tell Eddie. He offered to stand outside the house while I tell him just in case.'
"Cath you don't have to continue." Grissom was getting worried because she now had tears in her eyes. He had noticed Lindsey move towards them and motioned for her to leave but he didn't know if she had or hadn't.
"When I told him he looked at me in shock. He said it wasn't possible and I slapped him. I yelled at him saying he was going to be a father. He looked at me in shock again because I had tears in my eyes. He got angry and started yelling at me. Told me I wouldn't have that child if he could help it. I was so scared and crouched back in a corner. He just continued to yell and yell at me and I was crying so hard. The officer had entered and was trying to calm Eddie down but Eddie ... Eddie went after him. He led Eddie back into the bedroom and locked the door on him. He came back out for me and asked if there was anywhere I could go. I told him there was no one that knew about this. He offered to let me stay at his place for the night and I told him no. I said that I could get a hotel room somewhere. When I got home the next morning Eddie wasn't there so I went looking for him. It turned out that Eddie went out for a few drinks with his friends. The officer who helped me ... one of Eddie's friends shot and killed him."
"Cath ... sweetie ..."
"He wasn't even on duty. Just walking the streets with his wife and daughter. He just pulled out a gun and shot him. Eddie was the one who called for help as his friends left. He died in his wife's arms and his daughter trying to stop the bleeding. When I heard I went to the funeral and talked to the wife, Lindsey, and his daughter, Elizabeth. They told me that if Eddie ever laid a hand on me to come to them. So I did. Every time Eddie hit me I went to them. But ... things had changed Eddie had stopped hitting me when he found me crying one night while I was pregnant. I told him about the officer and what he did to help me and he held me. He was so nice then. Every time Lindsey cried at night he would go to her. In the morning I would find him holding her on the couch both asleep. But again things changed when I came home late one day. When I finally kicked him out and we went to court for the divorce he told the judge he wasn't even sure Lindsey was his. It hurt me so much because he started telling the judge that he shouldn't have to pay for a child he probably wasn't the father off. Told her of my past and everything and I started crying right there in the courtroom. He just looked at me and smirked. My lawyer couldn't calm me and the judge couldn't calm me. Sam was there," she smiled and laughed a bit. "He punched Eddie out and then held me. Held me like a father would. Funny thing was after I calmed down he left the room. Eddie just glared at me while holding his bloody nose."
"Cath you could stop telling me this stuff now."
"When the judge said that Eddie's suspicions were well accounted for I took Lindsey's DNA one night. The next day when I came to court I showed them the results. When I went up to Eddie and gave him the results he looked happy and I expected him to be upset. I don't know but at that moment it occurred to me that I was the one who was upset. Even though I knew he was Lindsey's father I always thought of you as her father."
"Cath stop talking now."
"No you have to know this. You have to understand everything," she shuck her head. "Lindsey had a father. One she hated. I never actually had a father but when I found him I hated him. He was both Eddie and you for me. He was the father I wanted and the father I actually had. I always felt bad for having gotten a divorce with Eddie because I thought Lindsey hated me for it. But she didn't she hated him and I never knew. I forced her to see him all those times."
"Mom I may have hated him but I wanted to see him," Lindsey said shocking them all. "And I never told you because I thought you would hate me for hateing him. I thought you would think I was some bad person for doing so."
"Linds ..." Catherine looked at her in shock. "How long ... what did ..."
"Mom it's okay. I read it all in dad's journal. I knew all of it from his point of view. Now I have it in yours," she smiled standing next to Grissom. "Normally you scold me for standing soaking wet in the kitchen."
"Lindsey," she laughed. Looking at Grissom she saw he was smiling. "What?"
"I am Lindsey's father," he smiled at her confused look. "Catherine biologically I may not be her father but I like to think of myself as her second father."
"I think of you as my first," Lindsey grabbed the cake from the counter and left the kitchen. "I've got cake!" They heard her yell in the backyard and then the sounds of joy from everyone. Grissom smirked and stepped back. Picking her up he cradled her in his arms and headed out towards the pool.
"Gil ... Gil what are you doing," she asked as he just continued to smirk.
"Nothing my dear Catherine. Just relax and enjoy the ride," he said. Everyone was around the table as Robbins cut the cake. He walked past the table and towards the pool and she began to squirm.
"Don't you even think about it Grissom!" She yelled catching everyone's attention. "I swear to god I will ..." her sentence was cut off by the splash of the water as she entered. Coming up she glared at him. "I am so going to kill you!" She yelled over the laughter of everyone. Having been completely clothed she was fuming. He bent down and smiled.
"You won't ..." his sentence was cut off as she pulled him in smirking. Now his cloths were also soaked. Coming up he was laughing. "You would do that though."
"Die!" She jumped at him ducking his head under the water. The two were now fighting in the water as the others cheered on. After the others finished their cake they jumped in and a full war of male vs. female broke out in the pool. Robbins and Brass, both being a bit intoxicated from the margaritas, were judging the competition rather badly.