A/N: This chatper is VERY long just to let you know. 2,439 words to be exact. I'm having a blast writing it! Enjoy!

"Willows."

Sara smiled as she heard Catherine answer the phone.

"Cath, it's Sara. I need a favor. Gil and I want go out to dinner but we need a babysitter," She said very hurriedly.

"I'll be there in just a little while," Catherine replied; The two hung up and Sara couldn't stop smiling.

She was finally going to get out of the house.

She really loved being home with Liz but she had been cooped up for too long; And she needed to get out.

"She'll be here in a while!" Sara called to Grissom, who was in the shower.

She picked Liz up out of her crib with a grin; The infant kicked happily and Sara didn't know if she recognized her mother or if she was just happy to be getting attention.

"Yes she will. Aunt Catherine is going to take care of you while daddy and I go out," She shared with Liz.

Suddenly and shockingly, Gil appeared behind her and kissed the back of her neck, causing her to jump.

"Oh! God Gil! What the hell is wrong with you? I could have dropped her!" Sara exclaimed as she took a deep breath.

He laughed as he slipped his black t-shirt over his head; Once it had covered his torso, he wrapped his arms around Sara and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you; You said Catherine will be here in a little bit?"

Sara nodded her head; Her heart was racing and not because Gil had frightened her.

She had realized that she would be leaving Liz alone with someone for the first time since her birth.

Thoughts flew through her mind as she rushed out to the kitchen, Liz still in her arms, in search of a pad of paper and a pen.

"Sar? What's wrong?" Gil called from the bedroom. "You probably ought to get dressed."

Sara looked down at her clothes and remembered she was still wearing the shirt Liz had spit up on and the pants that she had worn whilst cleaning, and spots of dust appeared all over them.

"Okay, just give me a minute!" She replied.

Clicking the pen open, she frantically started writing down instructions; When to change Liz, when to feed her, everything.

Just as she completed the list, a knock came from the door.

"Shit," Sara muttered under her breath and Liz looked up at her mother, eyes wide in horror as if she understood what the word meant.

"Don't look at me like that," She whispered to the infant then called in a louder voice, "I'll be right there!"

She rushed to the door, threw it open and was shocked to see not only Catherine, but Catherine and Greg.

"Wha—What's going on?" She asked.

Sara noticed Greg's eyes shoot to Liz; He was obviously very fascinated with the infant.

Catherine pulled the lab-tech turned CSI into the apartment with a sigh.

"He pulled up as I was getting ready to leave my house; I couldn't just leave him there! He looked all sad so I told him he could help me this evening," Catherine explained hastily.

Sara looked deeply confused; Greg? Help babysit her daughter?

"Catherine, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Remember the puppy?" Sara asked, referring to the small barking plush dog Greg had purchased for Liz.

He had been heartbroken when Sara informed him that she wasn't old enough to play with it.

"Sara I'm going to keep a very watchful eye," She glanced at him warningly, "On him. There is no need to worry."

Sara looked from Catherine to Greg and decided she would have both of their asses if anything happened; She knew nothing was likely to go wrong but with Greg around, you really couldn't be so sure.

"Okay," She sighed in defeat. "Will you take her? I have to get dressed."

Catherine accepted Liz into her arms; Greg followed her over to the couch, waiting quietly for his turn to hold her.

Sara rushed off to the bedroom; Her outfit was already laid out on the bed and she began stripping her clothes off as soon as she entered the room.

"Something wrong?" Gil asked as he messed with his hair.

Sara threw her shirt and pants into the bathroom and began putting on the jeans and t-shirt she had selected.

"Greg's here."

Gil froze, his hand seemed stuck in midair.

"Greg? What the hell for?"

Sara quickly buttoned her pants and noted she had never gotten dressed faster in her life.

"To "help" Catherine babysit."

Gil shook his head in a confused matter and sighed.

"Ready?"

The two walked out to the living room and couldn't help but smile.

Catherine was helping Greg support Liz's tiny body; He looked as nervous as Sara felt.

"Sara, Grissom! Look! I'm doing it and she's not crying!" Greg eagerly exclaimed.

Liz was staring fixedly at Greg's spiky hair; She stretched her arm out a few times as if she wanted to pull some out.

"Greg, watch your hair. She will pull it out," Catherine gently reminded him.

"Well, we're off," Gil smiled.

Sara strode over to Greg and bent down and kissed Liz on the forehead several times.

"I'll be back later; I mean, we'll be back later. Bye, Liz," Sara called as Gil tenderly took around of her arm just above her elbow and guided her out the door.

Catherine waved at them, still seated on the couch.

"Okay, I'll take her and you can watch TV," She announced to Greg.

He was still looking down at Liz with a goofy grin on his face.

"Aw, look at her! She's so cute! Can I hold her a little while longer? Please?" He cooed.

Catherine nodded, a slightly amused looked covering her face.

She pulled a book out of her purse and began reading.

Just as she had finished reading her second sentence, Liz began fussing.

"What'd I do?" Greg inquired in an alarmed voice.

Catherine pushed the book back into her purse and held out her arms.

"Give her here, she's probably hungry or tired."

Greg whined as he handed Liz to Catherine; Neither of them seemed to notice nor care.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" She asked, standing up from the couch and slowly started walking around the room.

After a few moments of silence, she motioned to Greg with her head.

"You are going to make a bottle," She ordered him.

He looked shocked, but sauntered into the kitchen.

"The cupboard just above the sink, get the formula. Now get a bottle; No, it doesn't matter which one. See that scoop? You want one of those filled with the formula," She explained.

He very slowly followed her instructions, making sure he did everything just right.

Catherine nodded encouragingly as Greg placed the bottle into the microwave.

"Just a little longer, Liz," She soothed the infant.

After what seemed like eternity, the microwave timer went off.

Greg eagerly pulled the bottle out and handed it to Catherine.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" She asked.

Greg shook his head.

"No."

"Would you like to try?" Catherine asked.

Greg looked intimidated for a moment, but finally responded with a nod.

Once again he followed her over to the couch and they both sat down.

"Okay, I'll hold the bottle for a moment while you take her," Greg gently took Liz into his arms, "And now just kinda tickle her lips with the nipple. Why are you laughing? Oh, grow up! There you go and just make sure you hold it so that there aren't any air bubbles down towards the lid," She explained.

Greg once again followed her instructions to perfection; Not usually something he accomplished outside of the lab.

Liz continued to suck happily on the bottle and Greg could feel Catherine following his every move.

"Why doesn't anyone trust me?" He blurted.

Catherine turned to him with a puzzled look on her face; What the hell was he talking about?

"Sara doesn't trust me to watch Liz. Did you see the look she gave me?"

She sighed and rested her hand on his shoulder.

"Sara's just… Sara. She can't trust anyone right away and you know that," She smiled.

"Yeah? Why does she trust you?" Greg asked feeling slightly hurt.

"I went shopping with her, we hung out. I'm not really sure why she trusts me; But I think in time, she'll trust you too."

Liz cooed loudly to signify she had finished her bottle; Greg had just shifted Liz to his shoulder when Catherine stopped him.

"You might want to let me do that unless you want to smell like baby spit up," Catherine smiled.

He grinned back at her and handed Liz to her.

"Thanks Cath. I'd be sad if I ruined my Stones shirt," He replied.

She laughed quietly as she paced the room; As she burped Liz, she couldn't help but think of how Sara and Gil were doing.

Henry's Diner

"How has the evening been so far?" Gil asked as he sipped his coffee.

Sara picked at her salad; She was really enjoying herself but she couldn't help but think of Liz.

"I'm having a blast. How do know about this place?" She asked, motioning around the diner with her right hand.

Gil swallowed some more coffee and sighed; He was so glad Sara was enjoying herself.

"I was on my way to your house one day and I took a wrong turn. Don't laugh, I'm serious! And I saw it and came in for some coffee."

Sara had to admit that she had been reluctant to even entire the diner; The outside was shiny silver color and all looked okay until you looked at the bottom of the would-be trailer; It was rusty and filthier than anything Sara had ever seen.

But once inside, the transformation was incredible.

Almost sparkling white walls, green bar stools at the counter and red booths everywhere else. It looked like something right out of the 50's.

"Interesting. Well, I'm full. Now where are we going?"

Gil furrowed his brow for a moment then smiled.

"Movies, perhaps? Or would you like to go shopping?"

Sara looked surprised; Shopping with Gil?

"Shopping sounds good; We can pick up some groceries then maybe some clothes or movies or something."

Gil stood up from the booth first and left to pay the bill; Sara walked after him but as soon as she reached him, he motioned they could leave.

Sara stepped out first and glanced around the street; Cars were bustling about and children's shrieks of laughter echoed from across the road.

"Sara watch out!" Gil called to her, but it was too late.

She had tripped over a large rock lying just by the Denali's tire and fell, face first into the gravel.

Gil was instantly by her side.

"Sara, are you okay? Tell me what hurts."

She was still lying on the ground, with dirt on her face; And suddenly she felt pain searing up her leg.

"God, my ankle! Ow," She moaned as she twisted to see what was wrong.

Gil very carefully picked her up in his arms, opened the SVU's door and placed her in the passenger seat.

"I think we need to go to the hospital," He said quietly whilst examining her ankle.

Sara bit her lip to stifle her moans; She did not want to go to the hospital.

"No, let's just go home and I'll put some ice on it. Please? I don't want to go to the hospital again," She whispered, fearing if she spoke any louder she would burst into tears.

Gil nodded as he closed her door and rushed around to the other side of the vehicle.

Quickly starting the car up, he heading for the apartment as fast as he could without getting pulled over.

They came to a stop sign and Gil snuck a sideways glance at Sara; She was staring out of her window.

He sighed again and kept driving.

"Oh no," He heard Sara whisper.

He came to a stop once again.

"What?"

"I'm leaking," She softly replied.

Gil didn't seem to understand, so Sara motioned to the two dark circles on the front of her shirt.

"Oh. I thought you weren't… breastfeeding?"

Sara crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm not; But I've been pumping it because I read it's better healthier for babies. It's better than that formula crap; But then yesterday my breasts starting hurting really bad while you weren't there so I had to use formula!" She sobbed.

Gil didn't know what to do; Sara was obviously upset but he had never done well with emotional women.

"Wh—Why are you crying?"

"Because now she's going to be dumb!" Sara wailed, hiding her face in her hands.

Gil brushed his hand up and down Sara's back as he pulled into the first empty parking spot outside of the apartment.

"Sara, just because Liz has to drink formula for a while doesn't mean she's going to be dumb. Honey it's okay. Let's go inside," He soothed.

Sara managed to compose herself in the time it took Gil to get out and walk around to her side of the SVU.

He opened her door and once again, very carefully carried her into the apartment building; He couldn't believe how light she was. As he walked up the stairs with Sara in his arms in silence, he noted to remind her to eat more often.

When they reached the apartment, Gil kicked the door a few times and called out "Cath or Greg, open the door!"

Sara buried her face in Gil's chest as the door opened.

Catherine looked shocked to see Gil carrying Sara but the brunette was more shocked when she peeked out and saw Greg confidently pacing the floor with Liz in his arms; And he was apparently talking to her.

"What happened?" Catherine asked as Gil laid Sara down on the couch.

"She tripped and," He lowered his voice so only Catherine could hear, "And had a little bit of a breakdown."

Catherine nodded.

"Gil? Can you carry me to the bedroom? I really hate to ask but I need to change my clothes," Sara hoarsely asked.

He nodded and picked her back up; Sara motioned for Catherine to follow.

Once inside the bedroom and Sara was lying on the bed, still wearing her dirty clothes, she asked Gil to leave her and Catherine alone for a little while.

Gil left the room and closed the door; What followed made him wonder what was wrong.

Sara's muffled sobs could be heard along with Catherine muttering calmly.