She starred at him, not really knowing what to say. He was standing there asking for her forgiveness, and she didn't know if she wanted to give it to him or not. Part of her screamed to tell him it would be alright, that they could be a family. But the other half of her shouted that he would let her down again, like he had before. He would forget everything he had told her the minute she followed him back to Vegas. She was torn. She wanted to believe him, that he wanted to be with her and the baby, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he would abandon her again.
He watched her watching him, and caught a glimpse of the internal conflict. He could see her tears, but also saw the hurt look in her eyes, which told him that the wounds he had inflicted upon her were not healed yet.
His eyes would not leave hers. His blue ones held fear, pain and hope all at the same time, and she wondered if he had truly changed.
"You want to be part of the baby's life…and mine?" she whispered finally.
He nodded, "More than anything."
"What happens if I come back to Vegas? What happens at the lab? You've always said your job is number one. What then Grissom?"
"Our baby is number one, and so are you. I don't know why I couldn't understand that before," he answered, gently placing his hand on hers, over her belly.
She felt the warmth of his hand, felt the weight of it on hers, and saw the look in his eyes. He was serious. She had never seen him look this way before.
"I've been wasting precious moments that I could have been spending with you, and I don't want to waste anymore. And I don't want to waste a single moment that I could be spending with our baby. I love you Sara."
The tears slipped down her cheeks, and she smiled up at him,
"I love you too Grissom," she said softly, finally speaking the words she had wanted to for so long.
He sat down on the edge of her bed, closing the distance between them. It was then that he lightly kissed her. It was mild compared to their first one, but just what they both wanted at the moment. He leaned his head beside hers, and lay with her on the bed, his hand still on her stomach.
Abby Lockhart stopped outside the trauma room doors, and peered in. She was going to check up on Sara Sidle, but she decided it could wait awhile more. Her patient and Mr. Grissom were sound asleep together on the bed, both smiling contentedly. Abby was glad they had resolved their differences, and moved onto her next chart.
She was moved to her own private room, and he insisted on staying with her. He called the lab, taking some vacation time and refused to leave her side. She spent a few days in the hospital, resting her weary body, and soon, both her and the baby were given clean bills of health and allowed to leave County General.
They both opted to stay in Chicago for a little longer, to let her rest before taking a flight. Her injuries were still tender, her fractured wrists from the air bag impact and broken ankle didn't make the moving situation any easier.
As another week passed, they fell into a steady routine of playing house in her small apartment. It was in the second week that the phone call arrived.
It was a sunny afternoon, and she was happily curled into Grissom's arms on the couch as she read the newest issue of her favourite forensics magazine. Grissom was reading as well when his cell phone broke the comfortable silence.
"Grissom," he answered casually.
"Where are you and when are you coming back?" Catherine retorted.
"Well hello to you too. Is there something wrong at the lab?"
"You didn't answer my question, and it's not just me asking. Ecklie is in the process of hunting you down, and I'm running out of excuses. He wants you back here. Apparently you've taken enough vacation time. And besides, you never did give me a clear answer as to where you were going and why? You just ran out of here one night and called from the plane later. What the hell Grissom?"
"I'm really sorry Cath, but I was really needed here, and frankly, it was more important than the lab. I am in Chicago, and tell Ecklie that I might be able to be back on Monday."
Catherine was stunned, "More important than the lab! I never thought I would hear those words escape your mouth Gil. And what's this might be back on Monday? What is so important there?"
"Just what you told me to find," he smiled into the phone.
"Oh…ok…I'll do my best to stall Ecklie awhile longer. Be back as soon as you can. And bring what you found with you. We miss her," Catherine replied, catching on.
They exchanged goodbyes, and Grissom hung up, gazing down at Sara.
"They miss you," he said.
"Even Catherine?"
"Even Catherine. Do you think you could manage to come back to Vegas with me? We could start shipping your stuff tomorrow. We have enough time."
"I don't have an apartment anymore there."
"I have a townhouse with more than enough room. How does that sound?"
She grinned up at him and they kissed.
Oh it's going fluffy! More to come I promise! Might be a little while though, cause I have a paper to do and more readings than I have time for. If I want to get everything done and still go to work then I may have to eliminate sleep from my schedule. I'll try my best. I also had another idea for extending Gum Drops, but it's going to be a Nick-centric fic. So look for that to come later!
Thanks to everyone who keeps coming back to read my story! You guys ROCK! Byes, L