AN: AHHHHHH! Eough extended vacation. I can't take anymore vacation. MUST...KEEP...WRITING! Besides, I'm still having writers block on my other story. But I'll try very hard to get another chapter out for A Growing Family.

They dropped off Greg, Sara and Kiley at Greg house first. Greg hopped out of the car before the others, leaving Sara and Kiley to drag the suitcases out. Trent and Brittany were already waiting for him on the step and Greg hugged them both.

"I want to see your stitches," Trent said loudly. Brittany nodded in agreement. Greg already had the bandage undone before any of the other teenagers got out of the car.

"Ewww," Trent and Brittany cried together. Greg laughed.

"Did you get bitten by a shark," Brittany asked, looking at her older brother with pride and amazement. Greg glanced quickly at Sara, who had come up behind him, and then turned back to his sister.

"Yeah! It was a big shark with a million teeth," Greg said, miming the sharks mouth with his hands. "It nearly ripped my arm off."

Sara rolled her eyes, but Brittany and Trent ate the words up. They completely believed his story.

"You're so full of it Greg," Sara muttered in his ear. Greg shrugged and flashed her a goofy smile.

The rest of the summer went by fast. Like someone had sped up the clocks. Two days before the start of school found Cassy, Sara and Kiley standing in the line of the movie theater concession stand. The Nerd Squad agreed to make it a girl day and a boy day. The girl were going to a movie marathon. Minus Catherine. Catherine had opted out for reasons she wouldn't tell anyone.

"Big popcorn," Kiley whispered to Cassy, like the older girl would forget. Though that wasn't likely since Kiley had reminded her about two dozen times in the past five minutes.

"I know," Cassy hissed back.

Having successfully obtained a large popcorn and 3 large sodas, the 3 girls walked happily to their first movie, joking and laughing, causing several other movie-goers to scowl.

Catherine wasn't with the other girls at the movies. She was sitting in her typical place at Lake Mead.

"Hi," came a voice and Catherine turned. She wasn't at all surprised to see Gil Grissom standing there. He had a large jar in his hand, containingtwo beautiful, but obviously dead, butterflies.

"Hi," Catherine said returning the greeting.

"Happy to be going back to school," he asked her, sitting down next to her. Catherine shrugged.

"One year left," she said, fairly happy.

"Yep," Gil said nodded. "And then collage," he added. He was looking at her hard.

Catherine almost laughed. Collage... her...yeah right. More likely she'd dye her hair purple, bye a jet plane and relocate to Egypt.

"What are you going to collage for," she asked.

"Entomology...Biology...science," Gil said with a smile.

"Entomology...study of...bugs? right," Catherine asked. Gil nodded.

"Yep. I plan on being a criminalist, or a coroner...something to do with dead bodies or solving crimes," he said. Catherine nodded. She didn't find this as weird as she should have.

"Solving crimes huh," she said, slightly amused. Gil nodded.

"So what do you want to go to collage for," Gil asked. But Catherine could tell from his look, that he already knew the answer.

"I'm not going to collage," she said shortly.

Thankfully Grissom dropped the subject and went on to tell her about the butterflies he just recently caught. Catherine was grateful for his presence and his company and his friendship. Because, though he obviously had some social issues, he didn't judge her at all.

"I'm not going on that," Archie said shaking his head, pointing at the roller coaster the others wanted him to go on.

"Man, I'm almost wishing we brought the girls," Nick teased.

"I'm sure you are," Archie said, unembarrassed. "I am not going to ride that!"

"Fine," Fredy said. "You get to hold our stuff and wait for us at the exit."

Archie nodded. He really did not want to ride that roller coaster.

"Come on Archie. It's only a 12 story drop," Greg said in a pleading voice.

"That's supposed to make me want to go on. No I like my head attached to the rest of my body, thank you!"

"It's not gonna kill you Archie," Warrick said.

"Yeah... I'll be sure to tell that to the coroner when you end up in a body bag."

"Guys, let's go," Fredy pressed. Archie happily took all their hats and sunglasses and sat on a bench near the ride exit.

"Have fun looking at the face of death," he muttered as they rushed off to stand in line.

"That was a good movie," Kiley said happily as the exited the theater.

"Yeah," Cassy said. Sara nodded in agreement.

"Glad we didn't bring the boys," Cassy continued.

"Greg wouldn't have shut up," Kiley said. Then she looked at Sara. "Well...except..."

"Can it Kiley," Sara said, even though she totally agreed with her foster sister. Cassy laughed.

"We have about 45 minutes left until the next movie," Sara said. "We gonna go out and get some food."

"Hello..."Kiley said, waving the mostly empty popcorn bag in Sara's face.

"Real food," Sara corrected herself.

"Ruining a perfectly good junk food day," Kiley muttered. Sara cuffed her sister on the back of the head.

"Hey," Kiley exclaimed.

"What," Sara said, faking innocence.

"How about Pizza," Cassy said, indicating the pizza shop across the street. Both Kiley and Sara shrugged and nodded.

"How was your day," Sara asked Greg and the other guys when they all reconvened in Greg's back yard that night.

"Archie chickened out and wouldn't ride the roller coaster," Greg hastened to say.

"I sure did," Archie said.

Cassy smiled. "Got scared Archie," she asked teasingly.

Archie nodded, very seriously. "I don't like roller coasters," he said.

"So did you force him on it," Cassy asked, turning to Fredy. Fredy shook his head.

"Naw...we let him hold our stuff and wait at the exit."

"Which I did," Archie added.

"Did you go on any rides," Kiley asked Archie.

"He went on that ride that takes you up...and up...and up and then drops you...BOOM," Greg said enthusiastically animating the entire thing.

"And you didn't go on the roller coaster," Cassy asked, very amused now.

"I said I don't like roller coasters," Archie said. "I'm good with everything else."

Cassy and Kiley both laughed.

"So you had a good time," Sara asked. They all nodded.

"But we had a problem with Greg," Warrick said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"And what was that," Sara asked. Greg frowned.

"He was having 'separation anxiety' and almost popped," Warrick said.

"Popped," Sara questioned.

"Like a balloon," Warrick insisted nodding his head.

"From me," Sara asked, wearing a grin identical to Warrick's.

"From his kittens," Warrick said. Sara frowned at Greg, but the smile wasn't gone from her eyes.

"You missed your little furballs more then me," Sara.

"They're cute furballs," Greg said sheepishly. Sara bit her lip to hold back her laughter.

"You didn't miss me at all," Sara said, trying to appear hurt.

"I did," Greg said quickly. "I was gonna call you...on your cell phone...but I didn't have an quarter."

The others were all trying hard not to laugh, or at least not out loud. Kiley was actually clutching her sides, they hurt so much, from keeping the laughter in. Warrick, who was directly behind Greg, gestured to the boy's right pocket and mouthed the word "quarter" to Sara.

Sara walked forward and put one hand on Greg's shoulder. Greg didn't move. She slipped the other hand intoGreg's right pocket and pulled out a coin.

"So...what was wrong with this quarter," she asked. The others were still trying their hardest, without much success, to contain their hysteric laughter.

"Um... well...," Greg started. But he couldn't finish the sentence.

"You are a horrible liar," Sara said. But she was smiling now.

Thankfully, Greg was saved by Catherine who chose that moment to drive up. She got out of her car and so did another boy. Sara recognized him as Gil Grissom and wondered how Catherine knew him.

"Hey," Catherine said to the others, not finding it strange to see them spread out, clutching their sides, huge grins on their faces.

"Gil, meet...the Nerd Squad. Guys...Gil Grissom."

There was a chorus of hi's. Then Warrick turned to Cassy and Fredy.

"Should I feel threatened," he asked jokingly. Cassy rolled her eyes.

"You should be more threatened by that quarter Sara took from Greg. Hell, you should be more threatened by Sara," she said.

"I'm very threatened by Sara," warrick said.

"What," Cassy exclaimed.

"Well yeah. The girl could stick a knife between my eyes without flinching," Warrick said, grinning.

"Not that kind of threatened," Cassy said.

"And I wouldn't do that to you Warrick," Sara, who had heard, put in.

"Well of course you would deny it," Warrick said.

"Hey Cath," Fredy called. "Do you think Sara could stick a knife between Warrick's eyes without flinching?"

"Wouldn't put it past her," Catherine said, also smiling widely.

"Hey," Sara exclaimed.

"Take it as a compliment Sara," Nick said.

"How," Sara asked, glaring furiously at Nick now.

"I don't know...but it'd probably make you ell better," Nick said with a shrug.

"This is perfectly normal," Catherine insisted to Gil.

"Yeah...normal...right," Sara muttered.