Grissom looked down to see Laredo tugging on his pant leg with her thumb in her mouth. "Go home Daddy. I want to go home." He picked her up and tucked her into his side. Sara grabbed the knapsack and they made their way out of the office. Before leaving the building, He stopped to tell the receptionist that he would be back in about an hour but that he had his pager if he was needed.
Sara and Laredo followed him as they drove to his place. Once there, he helped Sara with their bags including the knapsack. Dropping the bags in the living room, he turned to say something but changed his mind.
She saw it, knew there was something he wasn't saying and asked, "Grissom? What was that all about?"
Grissom wasn't sure how to tell her what he and Catherine had been doing the last four days. He didn't want her to think he was being presumptuous. "I, well, I, umm, did something that I hope you'll like. I just, well do you want to see it?"
She didn't know what to make of his stammering. "Sure, what is it?"
He pulled her by her hand and led her down the hallway toward the two bedrooms. As they reached the doors, he stepped in front of her and said, "Close your eyes."
"What?"
"Close your eyes."
She acquiesced and let him pull her forward as she heard him turn the knob on the door.
"Okay, open."
Sara was stunned. She quickly glanced around the room, taking everything in. It was freshly painted and the furniture was new. It was beautiful. "Grissom, what did you do? When did you do this?"
He had transformed it from a useful guest room into a beautiful little girl's room, especially for one that liked bugs. The walls were a very light pink color and a border had been put up around the top of the walls all the way around the room. It displayed flowers with bugs on them and butterfly's flying in the air above. The furniture was white. The comforter on the single bed that occupied the room matched the border on the wall, including the bugs. A plant sat on a tall dresser and the other shorter dresser next to the bed had a picture of him, a mid-sized terrarium and a lamp on it. Toys were scattered over the dresser and stuffed toys littered the top of the pillows on the bed. All of the toys were some form of bug. Sara turned around and looked into his eyes questioningly.
"Monday, after I arrived home, I told Catherine what I was intending, what I was looking for and my ideas. She showed me where to go, even helping with the painting and the border work." He hesitated and Sara took that opportunity to pull him into a hug and then kissed him soundly. She pulled away from him and looked up to show him one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen on her lovely face. "So, you like it?"
"I love it." Sara turned to look at the bed and saw Laredo climbing up on it. He helped her up the rest of the way and then knelt down in front of her and asked, "Do you like your room, Cricket?"
Laredo looked all over, her big brown eyes taking everything in. She blinked and asked, "This is mine?" He nodded at her and she threw her arms around her Daddy's neck and gave him a great big hug. "Thank you, Daddy."
He held her a short time, pointing out little things he wanted to share with her. Several minutes later he stood back up and took Sara's hand. "Let me show you where everything is." Leading her through the door, he showed her where the linens were and where she could unpack her things since she would be there a few days.
As they were doing that, Laredo, unnoticed by the two of them, got off her bed and quietly made her way down to the living room. She opened the knapsack. The spider was right on top of the clothes, almost like it never moved. She laid her hand out flat like her Daddy had shown her and let him climb onto her hand. Her eyes were as round as saucers as she watched him and used her other hand to smother a giggle. She then quietly, but quickly, made her way back down to her room. Looking around for a place to put him, she stared at the terrarium on the nightstand. It was smaller than her Daddy's but it would work. She couldn't get up on the bed on her own with only one hand so she put the spider down on the bed and then climbed up. Picking the spider back up, she scooted over to the dresser and took the lid off of the terrarium, gently placing the spider in the center. She then replaced the lid back over it, sat back against the stuffed toys and pillows to watch it. There wasn't a whole lot of room but it would do. It needs food. She ran out of her room and found her Mommy and Daddy talking in the kitchen.
Grissom caught sight of her and held out his hands for her to walk over to him so he could pick her up. "What's up Cricket?"
"Where's the bugs?" she asked with enthusiasm.
"Oh, so that's what you want. Let's go back in the living room and I'll show you." He walked into the living room and she spied them immediately on the corner stand between the sofa and the recliner. She wiggled in his arms so that he would put her down which he did and then he reached in for a couple of his roaches and showed them to her, she of course was fascinated.
Laredo saw sitting lower on the bottom shelf were some bugs that looked like the ones they had fed to the spider. She looked up at him and asked, "Spider's food?"
Grissom looked down to where she pointed. He nodded to her as he looked at her face. She is really intelligent.
Laredo popped her thumb in her mouth as she stared at the roaches and then back down to the tiny bugs that provided food for the spider. She removed her thumb so she could speak and asked, "Spider hungry again?"
"No," Grissom smiled. "He won't eat again until tomorrow morning; we don't want him to get too fat." He poked her in her tummy, making her giggle as she reached down to where he had poked her before her thumb once again made its way back to her mouth.
Sara broke in on this father and daughter moment to mention, "Bedtime, Cricket. Let's get you into your pajamas." She reached over for the knapsack that had Laredo's clothes in it and saw that it was open. She thought she had closed it before. Maybe I didn't.
Laredo ran down to her room and climbed up on the bed and waited. After getting changed and snuggling under her covers, Grissom came in to kiss her goodnight on the forehead and said, "Sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite." She giggled and giggled.
Sara also leaned down and kissed her on the forehead then reached over to the lamp that was on the dresser next to the bed and turned it on. Neither she nor Grissom noticed the spider tucked away under the foliage in the terrarium. They walked out of the bedroom together hand in hand, shutting off the ceiling light before pulling the door nearly shut.
Laredo turned over on her side with her thumb in her mouth and stared at the spider until her sleepy little eyes grew too tired to stay open. The little princess slept and dreamed of spiders and bugs and all little kinds of creepy, crawly creatures.
Grissom and Sara made their way into the living room. He spun her around gently and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're here. What happened to the plans for Saturday?"
"Laredo really missed you and so did I. We decided to come early. Shannon agreed to meet the movers late on Friday and make sure they get everything they need to. They should arrive here at just about three o'clock on Saturday." She smiled as she leaned forward to give him a kiss. They stayed like that for several minutes until Grissom broke the kiss and slowly let go of her.
"I should head back. There is some paperwork I could finish and I need to find out if anything has come in. Will you be all right until I get back?" Grissom asked quietly, unsure of what would carry into Laredo's room. He wanted to make sure Sara got a good night's sleep because he had plans for them tomorrow. He reached for his jacket and pulled out his keys, taking one off of the chain and handing it to her. "I had an extra key made for you so you wouldn't have any trouble getting in and out."
She grinned as he handed it to her, thinking He is so into this. Grissom grinned back as he kissed her once more before leaving. He waited outside the door to make sure she locked it. When she had, he made his way back to the Tahoe and then drove off to work.