I wanted to thank Sharon, Elizabeth, forensicsgirl, nina90, sara, aria, ladybug07, eac-dudette, angelapple1, augusta, juwist, lin, jtbwriter, saskia2, csi-ds9, oneillite, and tarrabeena for reviewing. I really do appreciate and it does help me continue to write when I know what someone besides me is interested in the story. So, thanks! Here's the next part, hope everyone enjoys.
Also, I was wondering if Sara's decision to stay with Hannah and Grissom is believable at this point – or was it a little too quick for her to fall into the roll? Let me know what you think. Thanks!
Chapter 5 New Friends and Old
Sara didn't think the little girl was ready for much excitement, but she did want her to get used to society at large. She imagined that Hannah hadn't seen much of the civilized world in her young life. They headed first to the build-a-bear workshop. Sara had wanted to make one since she'd first discovered the store but thought she might look ridiculous without a child. Also, she had an inkling that Hannah would love it. She was right. As soon as they entered and faced the multitude of stuffed-animal possibilities, the little girl grew very quiet as she concentrated on her decision.
"Any one?"
"Any one," Sara answered with a smile. She knelt down next to the little girl and they quietly discussed the possibilities until Hannah was struggling to decide between a brown teddy bear and a gray puppy dog.
"Is this your first time building a friend?" The sales lady asked as she came upon the two. Hannah nodded and Sara smiled in greeting at the sales girl. "Well, take all the time you need. These are special stuffed animals."
"I think the puppy," Hannah said at last.
"Wonderful choice," the sales girl acknowledged. She pulled down one of the empty puppies and pointed to the next part of the store. "If you go over there, you can stuff him."
"Her," Hannah said emphatically.
"Okay, let's go stuff her," Sara said as she took the little girl's hand. Hannah took her time picking and positioning the little cloth heart before another employee filled the puppy with just the right amount of stuffing and then sewed him shut. "What are you going to name him?"
"Griss," Hannah answered without much thought. Sara tried not to laugh but it was too funny. Not only was the dog now named after Grissom, but it was also apparently a girl dog.
"It's a good name," she assured the little girl after she regained her calm. "A very good name." They picked an outfit for the stuffed animal and took their purchases to the checkout, where Hannah was able to pick a variety of satin bows for Griss's ears.
"You daughter is beautiful," the cashier said as they watched Hannah examine of the nearby displays. Sara looked confused for a moment but then simply smiled and nodded.
"Thank you. Come on, Hannah," she called after she'd paid. The little girl scampered over and grabbed Sara's hand, waving to the sales girls while keeping Griss tucked under her arm. It took an additional hour for Hannah to pick out several books from the children's section of the humungous Barnes and Nobles. They eventually ended up with Where the Sidewalk Ends, a few Dr. Seuss editions, the first few books in The Magic Treehouse collection, and several other books Sara picked up on a whim. She knew she was trouble in a bookstore, but she hadn't realized that she would be the same way when faced with children's books.
Back in the car, Sara was planning on heading back to Grissom's townhouse, but Hannah had other ideas. "Can we show Griss to Uncle Gil?"
"He's at work."
"Oh," Hannah answered sadly.
"I guess we could visit," Sara suggested after noticing the girl's disappointment. She turned at the next light and headed toward the lab, knowing that she would be facing a lot of odd looks by entering the place with a four year old. Parking in the closest spot available, she plucked Hannah out of her car seat and they started toward the lab. Security looked at her a bit strangely but admitted her without question. As they walked toward Grissom's office, they came across a very curious Catherine.
"Hey there," she said lightly, a smile on her face. "I thought you were off tonight."
"I am," Sara answered back "Hannah and I were just stopping by for a visit. Hannah, this is Catherine. She works with Gil and I."
"Nice to meet you, Hannah. Who's your friend?"
"This is Griss," Hannah said proudly, showing the stuffed animal to Catherine.
"Very nice," Catherine said, trying her best not to laugh. Sara avoided her eyes, knowing that if they looked at one another they would both burst into laughter. "It was nice to meet you, Hannah, have fun with Sara. Night Sara."
"Night Cath," Sara said before continuing down the hall. Luckily, Grissom was in his office when Sara and Hannah arrived. He looked up from his paperwork and smiled at the sight of the excited little girl.
"We went shopping," Hannah told him excitedly.
"Apparently Sara's good at spending my money." Sara shrugged her shoulders and plopped down on the sofa while Hannah took Griss to show her uncle. He didn't find the name as amusing as everyone else, but he wanted the little girl to be happy, so he simply went along with it. Sara flipped through a case file that has been sitting on the sofa while Grissom began to read some of Where the Sidewalk Ends to Hannah, who had crawled into his lap.
"Once I spoke the language of the flowers, Once I understood each word the caterpillar said, Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings, And shared a conversation with the housefly in my bed— " his recitation was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.
"Hey Griss, did you forget about the meeting? Sorry," Nick said as he realized that Grissom wasn't alone in his office.
"It's alright," Grissom answered. "I'll be there in a minute."
"Hey Sara."
"Hi Nick," she answered with a smile. He walked back toward the lounge and Sara stood, reaching for the little girl. "We should probably go, baby doll."
"Sara, maybe we should introduce her around the lab. Stop the gossip before it starts."
"Grissom, the gossip has already started," she said with a smirk. "But that's probably not a bad idea. Do you want to meet the people we work with?"
"Are there lots?" Hannah asked, somewhat doubtful that she would like it at all.
"About six," Sara said as she reached out to the little girl.
"Okay." Hannah moved from Grissom's to Sara's arms, snuggling herself and Griss against the older woman's soft black sweater.
"Sounds good to me," Grissom answered, holding the door open for Sara. They walked down the hall and Hannah hid her face against Sara as they entered the room with the other CSIs. The room was silent once the three entered the room and Grissom closed the door. "You've probably noticed that there's been a little girl in the lab these past two days."
"You do pay us to be observant," Nick joked.
"I think you have a right to know what's going on. This is my niece, Hannah. She's going to be living with me from now on." Despite her earlier decision to come, Hannah was being shy and refusing to show her beautiful little face.
"It's okay," Sara whispered. "Just say hi and we'll go." Hannah slowly turned her head to look at the group of people and was slightly less intimidated when she realized that she'd already met most of them.
"Hannah, this is Nick, and Warrick—"
"Hey girl," Warrick responded with a friendly smile, causing Hannah to smile back.
"And Greg, Catherine, and Sophia." Hannah didn't smile at the last blond. In fact, she turned her face back toward Sara and laid her head down, signaling that she was done being social.
"We should go, she's getting tired," Sara said softly to Grissom. He nodded, gently ruffling Hannah's curls before leaning over to drop a kiss on the top of her head. Sara tried not to blush as he invaded her personal space but Catherine must have seen her because the older woman was looking at her knowingly as she turned to leave.
"Hey, Sara, are you on some sort of maternity leave now?" It was Greg who addressed the situation that was on everyone's mind; when would Sara be back to work. Granted, he chose words that he knew would annoy Sara.
"Greg, I'm taking a vacation week," Sara said firmly but in a soft voice, glaring at him over Hannah's head. "I'll be back before you can screw up too much."
"That's what I wanted to know," Greg said lightly, smiling. Sara walked back to Grissom's office and set Hannah down on the sofa so that she could pull on her own coat.
"Are you okay?" She asked the little girl with questioning expression.
"I didn't like that lady."
"What lady?" Sara sat down next to Hannah and pulled the little girl into her lap.
"The lady with the yellow hair."
"Hannah," Sara said warningly, "Gil told you her name."
"The Sophia lady," Hannah said softly. "She wasn't nice."
"What makes you say that?"
"I don't know," Hannah said, her expression almost a pout. Sara could see that she was tired; that probably was the reasoning behind her irrational feelings about Sophia. Then again, she also might have picked up on Sara's and Catherine's feelings about the other woman. She was a very observant little girl and Sara realized that they were going to need to be very careful about what they divulged and how they acted when she was around.
"Well, you don't have to like her," Sara said gently. "You trust yourself if you don't think someone is a nice person. Most adults are nice people, but not everyone. Okay?"
"Why isn't everybody nice?"
"I don't know," Sara admitted softly. "Were there other people you didn't like, before today?" Hannah was quiet for a long time but she was fidgeting, playing with Sara's hair and looking like she was deep in thought. "You can tell me anything, sweetie. Gil too."
"Mr. Jack."
"Who was Mr. Jack?" Sara asked as passively as she could, not wanting to alarm Hannah into silence.
"Miss Debbie's friend."
"And Miss Debbie?"
"That's where Mr. McCall found me," Hannah answered, her eyes turning toward her lap. Sara rubbed her back and stayed silent for a few minutes, sensing that this was a difficult thing for the child to remember.
"Did Mr. Jack hurt you?"
"I didn't like him," Hannah said, her voice trembling and her eyes filling with tears. "More than anybody. I didn't like him," she repeated mournfully. "I told him no, and he didn't listen to me."
"It's okay now," Sara said in a soothing voice. "He can't hurt you anymore," she whispered as she hugged the little girl closer and continued to rub her back in gentle, reassuring circles. Sara carefully moved into a more comfortable position on the sofa and cocooned Hannah between herself and the soft black leather of the sofa back.