Author's Notes: Fluffy fluff has its place, too;) Thanks for reading!
The Honey and the Moon
by Kristen Elizabeth
"What about Australia?"
"It's a big country, honey. Are you thinking of any particular place in Australia?"
Sara shrugged. "Not really. I was just picturing us snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef."
Grissom considered the brochure that advertised the Land Down Under, then pushed it aside with a shake of his head. "Irukandji."
"Gesunheit?"
"Irukandji is a type of jellyfish," he explained. "They're about as big as a fingernail and can kill a grown man in a matter of minutes."
"And this has to do with Australia…how?"
"They're particularly prevalent in Australian waters."
She stared at him. "You're kidding."
Grissom frowned behind his reading glasses. "I rarely kid about deadly sea creatures.
"Thousands, if not millions, of people swim Australia's beaches and live to tell the tale." Sara placed the colorful brochure back in front of him. "The odds are on our side."
"But it's not just jellyfish. Australia is also a major site for great white shark attacks." He set the pamphlet on the rejection pile. "Sorry. It's just not worth the risks for a T-shirt that says 'Surf's Up in Sydney'."
Sara rested her head on her arm for a minute, counting to ten. Finally, she looked back up and nodded. "All right. What about Thailand?"
"Did you know that there are currently at least a dozen American citizens sitting in Thai prisons on drug trafficking charges?"
"I promise to leave the cocaine at home, sweetie." Sara held up the new brochure. "Yes or no?"
"What else have you got?"
She drained her coffee mug before moving on. "Egypt. Mummies, pyramids, the Nile..."
"Kind of close to the Middle East, isn't it? I'd rather we didn't get caught up in that mess."
Her teeth ground together. "How about Paris?"
"Everyone goes to Paris."
"Moscow?"
"Do you still have to bring your own toilet paper?"
"China?"
"Bird flu."
"Oh my god!" Sara's eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to provoke me into murdering you, so that you'll get to die a bachelor and win the pool?"
Grissom regarded her like he might a wayward student. "Sara, this is our honeymoon we're planning. It's not just any old vacation."
"I realize this! If it was any old vacation, these would be brochures for the Grand Canyon and the World's Biggest Ball of Twine. Not for the Greek Isles and the Himalayas." She took his hand. "I'm trying to think big. But you're kind of limiting our options."
He covered her hand with his. "I just want everything to be perfect."
"Oh, sweetie…" Sara gave him a light kiss. "That's never going to happen."
"Well, thank you for being the eternal optimist."
"Just realistic. Anything that can go wrong, will. It's better to accept that now than be horribly upset when our flight is delayed, our room isn't ready when we arrive, one of us gets food poisoning from the local cuisine, or we're so tired from the wedding and the traveling, that we end up falling asleep before we even consummate our marriage."
Grissom blinked. "Maybe the Grand Canyon wouldn't be so bad."
"We're not honeymooning at a big crack in the ground."
"Niagra Falls?" She shot him a deadly look. "It's a classic honeymoon site."
"In the 1960's! I wasn't even born…" She stopped. "But you don't need to be reminded of that, do you?" Sara tried again. "I see this as a big deal, Gil."
"So do I. It's the start of our marriage. It took us a long time to get here, Sara. All kidding aside, I'm not about to have our first night together as husband and wife be spent in a cheap motel just over the Canadian border."
She fanned the brochures out in front of him. "Then pick a freaking place already."
Grissom looked them all over. Safari in Botswana, a week on the Orient Express, the Lord of the Rings tour of New Zealand, a villa in Tuscany…the possibilities were endless.
Their possibilities were endless.
"Close your eyes," he told her.
Sara arched an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Trust me?" He shut his own eyes. "We'll do this together."
Her doubtful expression melted as her eyes closed. She felt his fingers entwine with hers, guiding her. Grissom moved their joined hands around in circles over the brochures. "Tell me when," he murmured into her ear.
She shivered slightly. "When."
With their eyes still closed, Grissom located the nearest brochure and picked it up. They opened their eyes at the same time.
"What do you think?" Sara asked him after a long moment of silent consideration.
Grissom removed his glasses. "Did you know that the crime rate in…"
"Stopped listening to you." Sara picked up her cell phone. "Calling the travel agency. Putting it on your credit card. You can go now."
He took her hand again just long enough to bring it up to his lips. "It's like being married already."
Fin