Family, Christmas, and Talks of Marriage

All notes same as previous story, A Normal Christmas Eve. I suppose it's somewhat necessary to read that one first.

Chapter 1

One Year Later

Christmas Eve Morning

Catherine Willow walked into the break room, happy to see it was empty for once. She had come in an hour to look up phone records to her current case. That was her alibi. Gil came in to work an hour early every day, most days for obvious reasons. But for the majority of the past year, no one really knew anymore. But today was different. Today they were both leaving early.

Unbeknownst to the people of the lab, the two most gossiped about people had been coming to work early to have much needed time together. They had been keeping their relationship a secret for the past year to avoid work issues, which they knew would be caused. So far the relationship hadn't affected their work but Catherine just knew that one day it would somehow.

Just as she flopped down on a chair for a moment break, half the team entered the break room.

"Hey Cath, how are you?" Nick asked her in his charming Texan accent.

"I'm doing good, Nicky. Just a little tired today."

"Boyfriend keeping you up late at night?" Greg teased, making sure he sat far away from her in case she took that the wrong way.

"I keep him up," she corrected." And it was a late evening but that's not why I'm tired for once."

"I bet he is," Greg muttered, making his Blue Hawaiian coffee.

"I'm tired because I came to work early to get some work done," Catherine continued, pretending not to hear Greg. "Big day today?" Greg asked. It was Christmas Eve.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I still have things to wrap and I'd like to get some sleep before we leave."

"Where are you going this year?" Nick wondered.

"Going to spend time with the boyfriend?" Greg asked. "You know, you've been seeing this guy for quite a while. I think it's time we met him to give him our approval."

"Yeah, like that's ever going to happen," Catherine scoffed. "Actually I'm going with Grissom again to visit his family. They're very pleasant people."

"Are they anything like him?" Greg wondered.

"Not at all. Only way you can tell they're related is by looks."

"Hey, doesn't your boyfriend care that you're going with Grissom?" Sara piped up from her seat by the door.

"No, he's actually glad I'm going." She had a smug smile on her face. The crew obviously hadn't figured out yet who she was involved with. Sara and she had almost gotten rid of all animosities but Catherine still enjoyed breaking the girl over the one thing she wanted but couldn't have. He was all Catherine's now.

Nick's eyes caught sight of something when Catherine turned her head.

"You have a lot of late evenings with your boyfriend?" he asked cautiously. She just looked at him in confusion. He pointed to her neck for a brief second before she caught on.

"Oh, I forgot all about that. Thank you, Nicky." She stood from her chair, her hand going to her neck in fondness of the previous night. "If I don't see you guys later today, have a wonderful Christmas."

She tried to leave but Sara's voice stopped her.

"So your boyfriend's happy you're going to Grissom's?" she wondered, not understanding how things in Catherine's world worked.

The older woman turned to face the room. "Uh-huh. In fact, he's the one that suggested it."

She gave no one a chance to answer. She turned on her heel and left the room. She didn't even see Greg putting the information together in his head. But his exclamation sure followed her to the locker room.

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"Same people?"

"You bet."

"Is it supposed to snow?"

"Eighty percent chance."

"Am I gonna get to hear funny stories again?"

"You can count on it."

Gil kept Lindsey entertained while she was packing a bag for the car. Catherine was still in the shower, leaving him to keep the miniature version of her occupied.

"Jennifer gonna be there? And what about Princess?"

"Princess belongs to Jennifer so you can count on it. Did the two of you bond last year and I never heard about it?"

"Of course we bonded. We even talk on the phone."

"Well, that's good. She's a good influence for you." He handed her the CD she was looking for. "Do you get along with Kierra?"

"Yeah, it's not hard to get along with her. But did you know that she was never allowed to believe in Santa Claus?" Lindsey asked, incredulous.

Gil nodded. "Yes, and I think it's wrong but everyone raises their children different."

She sat next to him on her bed, shoes in one hand. "Uncle Gil, since you've pretty much been living here this past year, are you officially going to move in?" she wondered.

"Your mom and I have been meaning to talk to you about that. How would you feel about it?"

"I'd love it!" she exclaimed with no hesitation. "Then you'd be here all the time."

Gil laughed at her enthusiasm. For the longest time, Catherine had been meaning to talk to Lindsey about a lot of subjects. One down, many to go.

"Then I will definitely relay the message to your mother."

"Are you guys gonna get married?" she wondered with an inquisitive nature only a teenager had.

Gil was at a loss for words. That's one of the subjects Catherine and he had avoided for some reason.

"Maybe one day. Would you be okay with that if it did happen?"

"Duh! It's always better when you're around. Mom smiles a lot now, so do you." She appeared so much wiser than her age at times.

"I'll agree with you there."

"Hey, when you guys get married, are you gonna have children or plan on it?"

"Lindsey!"

"Sorry, sorry, but you need to talk to mom about it soon," she concluded, tying one of her shoes.

"Talk to mom about what?" Catherine joined in. she had come in only on the last sentence.

"Nothing," the two were quick to say.

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Catherine watched as tree after snow covered tree passed by her, stone mixing in with it. She was happy to be seeing the familiar scenery again. She smiled when she saw that same ice covered river, some children playing on it close to the banks.

"What are you thinking about?" Gil's voice interrupted her observations. She turned her head away from the car window, setting her eyes on the man next to her.

"You and Lindsey and the family," she admitted, "and how happy I am to be going back."

"I'm glad you're coming with me. The family loves you."

It was true, they did. Over the course of the last year, she and Lindsey had come to all the major family holidays with him and she could spend hours on end talking or listening to the women in the family. She was rapidly becoming one of them.

"They're great people; very entertaining." She reached over and took his hand. She held it tightly with hers, needing to feel him. There wasn't a day that went by that they didn't touch in some way for any amount of time. They were always holding hands; they always managed a kiss in uncongenial times. As Lindsey said to them, they were connected at the hip.

"Tell me a secret, Gil," she asked of him a while alter. He immediately smiled, recognizing her words.

"I love you," he shared.

"That's not a secret," she complained but her body still shivered at his words.

"I know but it doesn't make it any less true."

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Lindsey watched the two adults in the front seat. She tried not to let the smile slip onto her face but she couldn't help it. They were just too picturesque at time. Other times she was just disgusted at all the kissing they did. Handholding she could handle; anything else she didn't want to know about, not between the man she secretly called dad and her mom.

Her mom's laughter barely penetrated her music. She used to go months not hearing that sound and even if she did it wasn't always sincere or full hearted then. Now there wasn't a day that passed that she didn't hear that laughter or see her smile.

She wouldn't admit to it to her mom but she hated it when her mom was on Swing shift. It was horrible hours and she never saw her mother. At least with Grave shift she knew she'd get to see her mother at some point of the day, even if only for a short time.

Ever since her Uncle Gil had entered their lives on a different level than before, things had become happier around the house. They all watched movies on nights off, he helped her with homework. She didn't have complaints being seen with them in public. She loved seeing them together and she gladly respected their wishes to not tell their coworkers about their relationship whenever she was at the lab. She knew they were all dying to know who her mother's newest boyfriend was, though. They asked every time.

She smiled when she saw her uncle kiss her mother's hand. She knew how much they were in love, even if she was only fourteen. She'd never seen two people look so comfortable with each other before. She just knew the relationship was going to last forever.