A/N: This was most definitely the hardest chapter to write to date. I was having so much trouble writing in the grandma angst while writing in the grandma love. Not to mention trying not to make Shelly seem rude while trying to get her point across. Grrrr. I'll say this straight up … I don't like how this chapter flowed. I feel I rushed it but I couldn't think of what else to add to it so … I hope you enjoy anyway.
Chapter 13 – The Grandmother
8:15pm Saturday Santa Monica, LA
Jillian Elizabeth Grissom was worrying a hole in her living room carpet waiting impatiently for her son. He had never been one to talk about his personal life, not even in details with his own mother, but his latest email, when he said that he was flying out, it was most definitely different.
He had emailed again, just before five, saying that they would be landing at around 7:40, meaning that they would be by the house around 8:30. They…
My boy and his bloody, no good cryptic writing. Never can he just come out and say what he wants to say, he's always difficult. She thought. She plopped down into her big comfy chair. I should be in bed by now. My bedtime is 8; does he not realize this? I guess I shouldn't be complaining …my boy is coming to visit. She smiled bright.
It's always about work with him though. This time, he says he's got someone for me to meet and he's bringing them …them? I still don't understand my own child. I hope it's something to do with a woman. I can't stand going to bed terrified about my boy's job instead of thinking about how happy he could be with a girlfriend, or wife, or family. She sighed.
It better be a girlfriend. But he only talks about work, never about a woman in his life. So bringing a girlfriend now would seem very fast … wouldn't it? She sighed again, more heavily this time and stood up to pace. He talks about that Catherine lady but … she's not right for my boy. Things he's said, helping her out of stripping, drug use, abusive husband … not someone my boy would choose. Not one I'd choose for him. She shook her head lightly, taking a sip of her water and then sat down slowly.
Other then her, the only other woman he's every talked about is Sara. She's the only one he's ever said anything remotely personal about when it came to his feelings, and even that was cryptic; though a mother always knows. She smirked as she started ticking off the things he'd said. Met at a seminar, great potential, great mind … even slipped up about her 'beautiful brown eyes'. Boy, did he blush that night at dinner. Yeah, he likes her. She smiled knowingly and finished the rest of her water.
But I'm going to sleep if that boy doesn't hurry… The lights flashing told her that there was someone at the door.
She got up slowly, all 5'3", 118 LBS of her aging seventy-year-old body was aching. I need my beauty sleep. All thoughts of sleep left her mind however when she opened the door and was swept up into a bear hug.
When Grissom placed her back on the floor and planted a welcoming kiss to her temple, she smiled up at him and couldn't help but hug him again. "I missed you so much."
Grissom smiled. "Missed you too." He signed back. "I have someone I want you to meet." He reached behind him and grabbed hold of Sara's shaking hand. He squeezed it reassuringly as she stepped beside him. He spoke and signed, "Sara, this is my mother, Jillian. Mother, this is Sara Sidle."
Jillian smiled bright and, ignoring Sara's outstretched hand, opened her arms and mauled her with a bear hug; her slight, short frame much more powerful then it looked. "I happy fo' you bote." She told her, her voice muffled from the hearing loss.
Jillian pulled out of the hug with Sara, looked her up and down, smiled at her, then looked back at her son. She became very confused when she saw nothing but apprehension and … Fear? in his eyes. That's when she saw a shoulder pop out a little from between him and the doorway and she remembered his cryptic email. And I'll be bringing them with me to see you. She looked back up into the eyes of her son.
"Mom," He signed and spoke, "There is someone else I want you to meet."
As Shelly stepped out from behind him, he knew; he saw it in his mother's eyes. No further introductions were needed. "Her name is Shelly." He signed anyway.
They stood in awkward silence as Jillian mulled everything over in her head.
She's … it's her. Jillian didn't know whether to cry out in joy for having a granddaughter or cry out in anger for the fact that her granddaughter was a product from her. She didn't know whether to love or hate, or whether to despise or cherish. She was so turned around that she felt dizzy. The hair is hers but the smile, eyes, chin, and nose are his. Her stature, short and powerful, is hers but her stance and posture is all his … all my boy's. She couldn't decide what to do. Her brain and heart were torn.
She finally decided that her brain was going to shut up and her heart was going to be heard. This was her granddaughter, her son's daughter for bloody sakes. But she just had to ask. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. Sara was the one to test her DNA to mine to see if I was her father. She is mine mother."
"She is beautiful." Jillian signed, her hands were slow as if she was speaking softly.
Grissom nodded. "She is. She has a great mind and a beautiful accent too."
Jillian threw her arms up in the air as she dropped into her comfy chair. "Like her mother." Grissom could see the hiss that would have been spoken through her quick, jarred movements.
"That's not fair mother. She is nothing like her in the end. She is everything like her at the start. Sweet, kind, loving, very smart beyond her years."
Jillian snorted and looked over at her granddaughter. "Her mother was a corrupted soul son. She was learning from her mother for what? Twenty years? She is most likely corrupted too."
"You are wrong." Shelly signed, startling Jillian. "I watch my mother killed when I was six. She was not corrupted," Shelly signed slowly since she only just saw that word signed for the first time. "She was desperate. Drugs, bad things she got in to because to support me. Not corrupted, just desperate."
"What about when she hurt my son?"
Shelly shook her head as it dropped to her chest. She looked back up at her grandmother and signed in defeat, "I have nothing to do with before I was here. I don't forgive her for that."
Jillian sat and stared at her for many silent minutes. She wasn't sure whether to accept what she said or dismiss it and still see her as her mother.
"Because my mother killed when I was young, I went to care. The system. My little sister killed then too. My life crap since that happen. Before then too. System rip me apart." Grissom stopped her there, not wanting to mention Brennan just yet.
"Excuse me," Sara signed, shocking Grissom. "I spent weeks with," She pointed to Shelly, "and she more like," She pointed to Grissom, "then you would think. Never met her mother but she like your son very very much."
Jillian looked her up and down. She had heard many respectable things about Sara from Grissom but she was still an outsider who didn't live through her son's depression after what Rebekah had done to him. But then she took a look at him and saw the happiness, albeit surrounded with concern at the moment, in his eyes and knew that no matter what happened with Rebekah in the past, he was over it and was happy to see Shelly. Of course he is, she thought.
Jillian stood up again and walked over to stand in front of Shelly. After looking the slight, muscular girl up and down, she took the one step to cover the distance and wrapped her into a hesitant hug. After a moment, she tightened her arms around her and relished in the feeling of her granddaughter in her arms for the first time.
Grissom smiled over the union at Sara. She gave him a smile back and stepped toward him, holding her hand out for him to take. When his mother stepped out of the hug, tears clinging to her eyelids trying their hardest not to fall, he noticed for the first time since Shelly stepped out from behind him, she was smiling … and it was genuine. He stepped forward, pulling Sara along with him, and gathered his mother, Sara, and Shelly into his arms as best he could.
When the girls broke free, Jillian turned to her son and signed, "You're nuts." They laughed as she then turned to Shelly. "Can I be honest?"
"Would not expect anything less."
Jillian nodded once firmly before signing, "It will take me a while before I trust you. But, you are my granddaughter and you make him happy. So, I am happy for that."
Shelly smiled and thanked her for her honesty. Grissom stepped up and signed, "You are late for bed, mother, and we are tired from flying so, I'll show Sara and Shelly where to go while you go to bed."
Jillian hugged everyone goodnight and headed for her room.
Sara looked around and said, "Damn, Gil, your mother is seventy, living alone, didn't know she had a grandchild and yet, her house is still big."
"Yeah, money kind of poured in after her art gallery got up and running here in Santa Monica. She bought this house back then, when I was still living here, and hasn't chosen to sell it so far and I really don't think she will. She loves this neighborhood and there's a lady who moved in down the street a couple years ago who is also deaf so it gives her someone to talk to." Grissom lead them up the stairs and down a hallway to a medium sized bedroom. "You can sleep in this guest room Shelly. This was my old bug room when I was in college. Mother never liked them but let me have them anyway." He smiled at the memory, kissed her on the cheek goodnight then led Sara out of the room, closing the door behind them.
He led Sara the rest of the way down the hall to a larger bedroom. It had baseball posters as well as posters of different species of bugs and the Periodic table. Sara smiled, so cute, she thought. "So, you decided not to renovate your room grandpa?" She asked jokingly.
Grissom gave her a mock-scowl and threw her on the bed. "My mother didn't want me to change anything because she still thinks I'm her little boy." He said as he loomed over her. Sara actually giggled at that causing Grissom to smilebefore hestood up. He pushed her back down gently on the bed then walked over to the door, closing and locking it.
He walked back over to the bed and loomed over her again. "You know, there is one thing that has changed since I moved out of this room."
"Hmmm … what's that?" She asked throatily while unbuttoning his shirt.
"I've become very attracted to a certain woman that I only wish I had with me back then." He smiled and ducked his head to kiss her passionately.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9:00am Sunday
Jillian had already been up for an hour and a half when Shelly made her way down the stairs and into the living room. She sat down on the sofa and stretched as Jillian came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. She sat down in her chair and sat staring intently at Shelly.
Shelly looked over at Jillian a few minutes later. Has she even blinked? "I know you didn't like my mother for what she did but don't take it out on me." She said clearly so Jillian could read her lips. She was too lazy this morning to try signing.
"You are right, I do not like your mother, that does not mean I do not like you."
"Don't do that. Lying to your granddaughter is not right. From the moment you saw me you had hate in your eyes. I would never hurt my father, hell, I grew up thinking he hurt my mother and me."
"He didn't." She signed forcefully.
"I know that now but my mother told me otherwise. So, growing up I believed what she told me." Jillian nodded, smirking as if Shelly had just proven her point about her mother. "But, when I watched her get shot right between the eyes in the middle of our kitchen when I was six," Jillian's eyes went as wide as saucers. "and I had to listen to my little sister, three years old, get raped then killed in the next room while I await my death sentence… that all just told me that no matter what she told me about my father, it didn't matter because life just sucked anyway.
So, I did things by my own rules in foster care and I forgot about my father and family. You won't like this, grandma," She snarled as she got more upset. "but I was in a gang. Not just any gang but one that sold guns. Do you want to know how many people I killed though?" She waited for an answer, although she didn't care yes or no.
Jillian eyed her granddaughter like she was crazy.
She stared Jillian in the eyes and answered, "None. Do you want to know why since I was surrounded by opportunities? Because no matter what you think about my mother, she taught me morals and values. True, gangs don't scream morals but I was only there because I lost my family and I was looking for one."
Jillian didn't know what to say. Her own granddaughter was telling her about her life but all Jillian could think of was… it's got to be a lie. She knew it wasn't though; nobody is that good an actor. She reached out her hand to hold Shelly's but Shelly recoiled.
"Sit there and talk about my mother in disgust all you want but the one thing I know about her was that she is not judgmental, never was. She would never blame a child for the wrong doings of their parents." Shelly took a deep breath to calm down. She didn't want to wake up Grissom or Sara.
"My mother had problems," She said just louder than a whisper. "but if you look deep enough, everyone does. My mother was a rebelling Catholic, you're son's a lapsed one. My mother was desperate for attention, you're deaf." Jillian narrowed her eyes. "Like I said, everyone has problems or issues."
"But my son's problems and mine never hurt anyone. Your mother's forced my son into depression. He barely ate, barely slept, and barely left his work. He was gone for several years."
"But it was not my fault."
"I never said it was."
"But you hate me."
"No."
"Then wipe the hate from your eyes."
Jillian sat there for a few minutes just staring at her granddaughter. She was stunned. What the heck just happened here? She wondered. I thought I showed her with the hug last night that I was happy, that I forgave her. That's when she realized her mistake. I don't have anything to forgive her for. Jillian covered her face with her hands and hung her head.
Shelly stood up, unsure of her wanted or unwanted presence and knelt down in front of her grandmother. After a shaky breath, she pulled Jillian's hands away from her face and stared unashamedly straight through her eyes. "Do you get it now?" She asked softly.
Jillian nodded and pulled Shelly into a hug. She continued nodding while holding Shelly as close to her as she could without sharing the very skin she wore. Shelly pulled back slightly to grab her cell phone from her pocket. She then pulled back fully so that Jillian could read her lips. "I have someone that I want you to meet." Jillian nodded.
As she was searching for the pictures she wanted, she told Jillian about the person she was going to be seeing. "His name is Brennan Gillian Dulson O'Brien. He only turned one two days ago. You aren't going to like this..." When she found the picture folder she was looking for, she held the phone away from Jillian and once again stared deep into her light blue eyes.
Jillian stared back at Shelly, waiting for what she wasn't supposed to like. "I handled the news of you, what more do you have?" Jillian said with a smirk.
You have no idea. Shelly thought. "This here," She showed the first of many pictures of Brennan. "is your great grandson." She waited, and waited, and waited until … yep, there it is. Jillian's eyes rose to Shelly's with a mixture of joy and disgust.
"Like your mother?"
The question was asked without malice or judgment; Shelly read the curiosity in her eyes. "No, not like my mother. I'm still a virgin in my eyes." Shelly laughed when Jillian's eyebrow flew to her hairline. However, instead of answering, Shelly quickly shut down and just sat staring at her phone.
Jillian nudged her in the shoulder lightly, bringing Shelly's attention to her. "I understand."
"What?" Shelly's mind had gone back to the past and she lost track of where their conversation had been going.
"I understand what you mean. You did not want to. He forced you."
Shelly nodded and when her grandmother's arms, the feeling of family support that she had never had before, closed around her, she buried her face into her shoulder and cried.
Jillian saw Grissom come to a stand still at the bottom of the stairs but before he could ask what was going on, she glared at him. He got the hint and silently walked to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.
Jillian went back to comforting her granddaughter. Her left hand was going calmly up and down her back while her right hand held the back of her head to her shoulder. Her right hand came up slowly to wipe at her own tears that were silently sliding down her cheeks then went back to her head.
Grissom sat down quietly on the couch and watched the scene unfolding before him. What the hell happened? He thought. I never knew her to be cruel so what did she do? Jillian saw the small accusation in his eyes and quickly glared at him with such force that Grissom had to look down to his cup. After taking a sip, he cleared his throat gently, making his presence known to Shelly.
She looked up and saw her father sitting on the couch so she slowly got up, walked over to him, sat down beside him, and allowing his right arm to wrap around her shoulders as she leaned into him.
To Jillian, it was a scene she'd only ever seen in her dreams; her son showing all the love and comfort he could to her grandchild.
Grissom look over to his mother and asked her with his eyes.
"She showed me a picture of my great grandson. She told me she is still a virgin and that's when I got it. She then closed off and then cried in my arms." Grissom knew the gentle smile on her face was from being able to hold her granddaughter and the concern and worry in her eyes was for the mental state of her.
"She is fine." Grissom mouthed to his mother before turning to his daughter. "Are you feeling better now?" She nodded. "Good. Have you eaten?" She shook her head. "Then how about you go wake up Sara with as much noise as you can, since I've heard that you love doing that so much," He smirked playfully at her. "And then we'll go out for breakfast somewhere." She nodded again and walked to the bathroom to wash her face first.
"What happened to her Gil?" Jillian asked forcefully.
Grissom shrugged. "I'm not sure about anything other then her life was very rough." Jillian stared at him sympathetically when she saw his guilt-ridden eyes. "I met the man who raped her … your great grandson's father, who is now waiting on death row for murder, two accounts of attempted murder, including a police officer, and using a concealed weapon." Jillian couldn't find any words to say.
"She mentioned gangs."
Grissom nodded and anger set in his eyes. "She mentioned it to me too but she's long gone from them now. We are going back to Las Vegas and are going to find a house so that Sara and Shelly can move in. After that, we'll work on getting Brennan with us but that might take a few months."
Jillian smiled. "You take good care of her."
"Most definitely." They both smiled.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Saaaaaaaarraaaaaaa… Saaaararararara." Shelly whispered next to her left ear. Sara shifted slightly and tried to swat Shelly away, to no avail.
"Saaaaaarraaaaa, come on… foooooood." Another swat joined by an annoyed groan. Shelly laughed and sat down on Sara's back. Sara jumped but was pinned to the bed; She was now breathing hard.
"What the fu … SHELLY! Get off me." Shelly just laughed more. "What are you doing?"
"It's ten o'clock and dad said that I should come in here and wake you up really loudly so that we can go to breakfast, which I guess by the time we get anywhere would be classified as brunch."
Sara flipped Shelly to the other side of the bed and sat up. "So you decided to break into the room and throw yourself on me?"
"No, technically I didn't break in." She said casually. She was posed, lying with her head leaning in her right hand. "And really, you never sleep this long so I think it's about time you wake up anyway."
"I guess spending the night in your father's arms does a body good."
Shelly scrunched up her nose and did exactly what Sara had planned; she jumped up from the bed and walked briskly towards the door. "You're just rude."
"Meet you downstairs." Sara yelled in the direction of Shelly's quickly disappearing head.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12:50pm
For brunch they decided to go to a small diner that was just a few blocks away from the beach. Grissom remembered going to it when he was a little boy and he wanted to share that with not only Shelly, but Sara as well. He didn't know exactly what Sara wanted from him in their newfound relationship. He was unsure of himself in many ways when it came to women and now Sara understood why, but would she try to change him?
He remembered her saying that she wouldn't change anything about him because she loved him just the way he is but … Rebekah had said the same thing.
Sara noticed Grissom was starting to shut out from the conversation and reached over to grasp his hand under the table. He looked up at her, smiled, and brought her hand to his lips to give it a gentle kiss then placed both hands, still together, on top of the table. Maybe that will prove to her that I'm serious and nothing about me needs to change. He thought.
Grissom looked over at his mother and saw her look from their joined hands and back up to his eyes, hers were dancing with mischievous and joy. Oh shit. He thought. I've opened the beast. From then on Sara and Grissom were captured in the mom attack and Shelly just sat back watching.
"When do I get another grandchild?… Will I get one?… Are you moving in soon? … How long has this been going on? … Son, why couldn't you have hurried up? … If you had hurried up then my next grandchild wouldn't be so different in age from his or her sister…"
Grissom groaned as he looked at the clock and noticed how long they had been sitting there. Shelly just looked on and gave him a smug smile. Sucker… Grissom glared at her playfully and shushed Jillian by bringing his hand up near her face to get her attention.
"Mother, please stop. It is getting annoying. And it is almost time for you to take a nap."
"I don't need a nap boy. Just sit there and answer my questions."
Shelly laughed outright while Grissom blushed. Sara tried to come to his … more like their rescue. "Jillian, why don't we go back and you rest. We are only here for one more day before we go back to Las Vegas and I'm sure you do not want to spend the whole time in a diner."
Jillian glared at her harmlessly before relenting. "Fine, home, rest, then we talk some more." Grissom sighed but agreed, paid the bill, and then led the way out to the car.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5:00pm
Shelly and Grissom were making their way around the kitchen cooking spaghetti and meatballs, with vegetarian sauce for Sara. Shelly didn't know how to cook but Grissom was helping her rectify that, "They don't teach you anything in those damn places." He stated incredulously, "A person has to know to cook."
Shelly just shrugged off his complaining and paid close attention to everything he was doing. Jillian and Sara were sitting in the dining room, just off the right side of the kitchen, watching over the island separating them. They were making jokes and at one point Grissom even through a couple noodles in their direction when he heard his mother laugh then saw her sign, "He will make a fine wife one day."
He came back with, "A man should know how to cook for their woman." and gave Sara a wink she couldn't help but smile from and set back to work teaching Shelly.
They sat around the dining room table, Jillian and Shelly on one side, Grissom and Sara on the other. Grissom learned quickly from his mistake and kept his hand holding to under the table. Lots of questions about Brennan were asked and answered and Grissom was yelled at for not bringing Brennan with them.
"Grandma, Brennan is in foster care and I have to meet a list to take him home. I do not have that list right now."
"So get it."
"No, no … I have not met the list right now. I know what I have to do but I have not and it will take time, maybe months."
Jillian huffed her displeasure but let it go.
It was now almost eight, bedtime for Jillian, but she didn't want to go for once. She wanted to stay up and talk more with her granddaughter. She knew that tomorrow they left back to Vegas and she wouldn't see them again for at least three months, when they move into their new house.
Grissom had received an email from his real estate agent about a beautiful, two story house that held four bedrooms, a den for his home office, two bathrooms, a library, and a pool and shed in the backyard. In the basement were another two rooms, a playroom and "a workout room!" Shelly demanded, as well as a huge storage area in the attic, "Where your bugs will be moving." Sara stated.
The only problem Grissom saw was that the soon-to-be former owners weren't moving out until the end of May. Sara didn't find it a problem; "We can use it as an opportunity to move slowly. This way we can get used to the idea of living with each other instead of rushing it."
Grissom didn't like it, "Once I get my heart set on something I want it done all the way, right away. I'm a passionate man Sara." Sara nodded and she knew from the look in Grissom's eyes that, even with his heart set on it, he understood her need for time.
Jillian finally went up to bed after some protest; her words were lying but her body wasn't and Grissom noticed just how tired she was when she went to get more coffee from the kitchen and her legs wobbled a little. "Mom, bed now." He told her at 8:45.
Sara, Grissom and Shelly stayed up until 4 in the morning talking; they were trying to get their bodies back to their regular sleeping hours. They talked about how they were going to handle not one, but two secrets.
"We can keep the fact that we're related from people for quite a while but if you guys move in together then it's going to be very hard to keep that a secret."
Grissom and Sara glanced at each other. "Well, we can tell the crew, I mean, they would flip if they found out instead of hearing it from us." Grissom nodded.
"For once, I don't care that people know my life." He leaned over and kissed her gently. Shelly whistled low so she didn't wake Grandma G but loud enough to get their attention.
"Not in front of the kid, please." She begged.
"So, when we get back," Grissom started, "We'll get the gang together and let them know about the changes and the fact that Shelly will be staying with us." The other two nodded. "Okay, now what about Brennan? I mean, I want him in Vegas as soon as possible but Shelly … it's completely up to you with how much you want to tell the gang. I know you don't know any of them but Greg, so it might be hard…"
"Don't worry about it Dad. I'm comfortable with it because it's my son, not something to be ashamed of. It's about violence, not sex. Besides, you guys work cases all the time with this sort of stuff so it's not like it's a new concept to them."
Grissom nodded and Sara smiled at her courage. With everything she's been through, she has an amazing perspective on life. Sara thought before yawning and heading to bed. Grissom soon followed after saying goodnight, or good morning, as Shelly pointed out.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7:30pm
Their plane had taken off at 5:30pm, landing at McCarran at 6:35pm. They now sat at the diner across from CSI, awaiting their friends.
The goodbye with Grandma G was an emotional one for Shelly. It was the first time that she was saying goodbye to a family member, with a promise of coming to visit again soon. Sure, she had left Brennan to come to Vegas but that was a sure thing that she would come back to, this wasn't so much. It was the first time she hugged a family member goodbye and the first time she took flight to go somewhere with a loved one left behind. Yeah, it was hard, but she had family with her too, which was also a first. I'm starting to love firsts. She thought.
It was emotional for Sara as well. She hadn't had a mother to say goodbye to since the last time she visited her mother in prison in California. That one didn't go so well because of a lot of animosity, both knowing that Sara would never been back. That was when she was seventeen and it was only to tell her mother that she was moving away to go to University and she wouldn't be back. Now, she actually had a mother to say bye to with a promise of returning again soon.
Grissom was just happy to be back in Vegas, not that he didn't love his mother or enjoyed spending the time with Sara and Shelly, but a week away from work really ate away at him. As soon as he stepped off the plane and back onto Las Vegas territory, his first thought was, all that damn paperwork towering on my desk is going to take forever. Maybe I can pawn some off on Catherine. He shook the thought from his head knowing she wouldn't take it.
When Catherine and Warrick were the first to walk into the diner, the three already at the table tensed; now was the time to get into character. Nick was the next to arrive followed shortly after by Jim then Greg, who automatically took the seat next to Shelly.
They were all chatting about the cases that Sara and Grissom had missed over the week until Greg arrived. When he did, Sara and Grissom shut down, only now feeling the full force of barring themselves out to public, even if it was just their friends. Their private lives are theirs and they liked it that way. Shelly noticed and brought everyone's attention to her first.
She cleared her throat before starting. "Hi," She said weakly, "I uhhh, all of you know me by name at least but since I'll be moving here and staying with Gil and Sara, I hoped that I could get to know you guys better." Greg was the first to react by throwing his arm around her shoulders and smiling down to her. She relaxed into him, something that didn't go unnoticed by the protective father, and she stared back at the rest of the group who were still staring intently at her.
Nick and Warrick both smiled smoothly at her thinking, fresh meat, and, after saying their "Welcome to Las Vegas", they immediately started planning practical jokes to use on her.
Sara and Grissom had obviously forgotten Sara's slip up at the grocery store hold up since they hadn't gone to talk to Brass. They obvious don't remember me standing there when she mentioned that she was his daughter. He knew not to say anything about it, especially since Catherine had told him the story they told them about who Shelly was, and played along. "Welcome to Las Vegas Shelly. We haven't really talked before but obviously you know me." He held out his hand. "Name is Jim Brass."
Shelly smiled at him, remembering that he was the one she phoned from the grocery store, and shook his hand forcefully. "Thank you very, very much for your help that night Captain Brass."
The others looked on with questioning glances but Catherine cut off any other questions with one of her own. "Wait just a second. Did you say that you would be staying with both Gil and Sara?"
Shelly looked to Grissom and Sara telling them with her eyes that this was theirs to answer. When they didn't say anything right away she signed to them, "I gave you time to think of what to say. They just gave you a perfect lead in. Talk now."
Grissom sighed and, not knowing how to say it through words, grasped Sara's hand above the table for all to see. After a minute of silence from the group, Shelly piped up. "Come on, I've only been in Las Vegas for a few weeks and even I knew something was going on there."
Catherine was the first to congratulate them. "That's awesome guys, we kind of thought something was up when you both took off for a week but we didn't want to assume anything since Shelly was with you."
The others said the congratulations also. "Well, it's about damn time." Brass stated under his breath but loud enough for everyone to hear. Grissom and Sara blushed a deep crimson and internallythanked Shelly when she came to their rescue yet again.
"Actually, I'm not the only one moving out here to stay with them." They all looked at her expectantly after raising their brows toward Grissom and Sara. Shelly took a deep breath and glanced quickly at Grissom and Sara's supportive faces. "My son will also be moving here." After the jaws were picked up from the table, Shelly answered the first of many questions. "His name is Brennan and he just turned one a couple days ago."
"That's where you guys went?" Catherine asked.
"There and L.A. to visit my mother." Grissom answered.
Through out all the questions, Greg never removed his arm from Shelly's shoulders. Grissom seemed to be the only one that noticed this but kept it to himself. I'll castrate him later. He thought. When there aren't any witnesses.
Shelly went with them back to CSI and was sitting in the break room during their assignments. It was a slow night and therefore Catherine volunteered to stay behind to do paperwork. After everyone was gone and only she and Shelly were left, she pulled Shelly into her work area and they sat researching the universities and colleges in the area.
Life is just beginning. Shelly thought. And I couldn't be happier … God I'm being sappy. She shook her head and smiled when she saw Grissom walking to his office.
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A/N: I'm really sorry for the lack of anything good in this chapter. The interaction at the beginning between Grandma G and Shelly was my favorite part and I even re-wrote that a few times.
Next Chapter – The epilogue; the last chapter in this story. It will start out a month later and will see angst between Shelly and Rhory, a connection between Shelly and Greg and later, friendship between them all.