Growing Together

Part 14

Summary: Grissom and Sara are looking for a house and find out more about themselves.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but after weeks of trouble my PC decided it was time to quit working all together. It took a while to convince him to get his butt in gear and do his job and he's still not doing it like he should but at least he works again. This is the long way of saying, sorry I couldn't get it done any faster and I don't know how long it will take for me to get he next chapter ready.
Please hang in there.

xxxxx

"I don't know." Sara was unsure how to put what she was feeling into words.

They had just looked at the sixth house in two weeks. So far, they hadn't found anything they could agree on. Only one house was a tentative yes for her, but a no for Grissom. The same was true for Grissom's only serious consideration. All of the others had looked promising on paper, but lacked several points in reality. This house fell into that category for her.

"Too small, too dark and too expensive for what is offered." Grissom summed up her thoughts perfectly.

Never had she thought that it would be easy to agree with another person on such an important thing. The two houses where their opinions had differed a bit were nothing to argue about. The other one had been easy to convince to let it go and keep looking.

At the beginning, Sara had wondered if they had talked enough about what they were expecting from a house, but she soon found out that even without many words, they knew exactly what they were looking for.

"Well, we still have one more to look at today."

That house was simply not made for them. They could only hope that the next house would be better. The realtor had already driven ahead, leaving them outside, probably hoping that they would change their minds. But they already knew that they wouldn't.

Grissom moved closer to Sara, wrapping his arms around her. "We both want it to be perfect. It's okay if it takes a while to find the right one."

Sara nodded, silently wondering how long they could let the realtor wait, because right now, she didn't want to move.

"Hmmm, you feel so good," she murmured into his neck, breathing in his scent. "Maybe we should lower our expectations. After all, there are other things that are important. 'Home is not a house but a state.'"

Grissom smiled at her assessment. The last weeks had changed Sara, in a good way. She was still Sara, but she was a bit more relaxed and freer in her spirit. However, it was not only Sara. Every visit to a new house had made her – and him – surer that this was the right step.

What Sara didn't know yet was that the reality of progression had made him think about his own development again. He made his own plans, arranging a meeting that would determine the rest of his life. Now he could only hope that Sara wouldn't be mad at him once he told her. It was a good thing, but you never know.

He tightened his embrace one last time before breaking apart. "Let's see if seven is indeed a lucky number."

xxxxx

Grissom stood looking through the huge bay windows into the backyard.

Sara was still upstairs, wandering around, but he had retreated down to the first floor. It had developed as a MO; he would take a good look at the whole house and then retreat to the biggest window of the house to let all of the new impressions settle in. Sara would do the opposite; she would take another look, going through the rooms again.

He looked up when she entered the room, meeting her eyes.

"It's more than we wanted to spend."

"It's bigger than we had planned."

"It's got a lot of extras we don't need."

"It's not in one of the neighborhoods we agreed on."

"It's further away from work than we wanted."

There was a pause and the realtor entered the room after listening to the conversation from outside. He looked disappointed and slightly resigned. "Well then, I'll pick out some other houses and we'll set up another appointment. I'll wait outside until you're done."

He left them alone again, and Grissom went back to staring out the window. Sara moved up behind him, wrapping her arms around him.

"It's perfect."

His silent admiration of the backyard told her that he was thinking the same.

"Will we be able to handle the additional sum?"

Grissom took his time thinking about it, calculating the costs again. "The price is above the limit we set, but counting on a steady income, we should be able to pay the difference too."

A smile spread over Sara's face. "Let's stay here for another minute or so before we tell the realtor that we want to put down a bid." With a kiss to his cheek, she went back to staring over his shoulder.

The house would change their lives. Although they would be closer, it offered enough space for retreat. Grissom could have his study with his little friends and she could have a room to put up her PC, stereo, scanner and other things to create her own realm. The backyard looked really inviting, and although she doubted they could spend as much time on it as the previous owners, she was glad to have one. Maybe it would help them get away from work.

"Time's up." Grissom turned around, taking her hand and leading her out of the house that would hopefully soon be theirs.

The realtor was waiting outside to lock up. They waited until he had closed the house back up and had his full attention again. "We would like to put a bid down."

It was clear that he hadn't been expecting this, because as good as realtors usually had to be to make enough sells, this one was truly surprised. "I thought the house was not to your liking."

Grissom smirked, feeling a bit superior at the moment. "Things can be deceiving."

xxxxx

The phone rang, and Sara hurried out of the bathroom. She was at Grissom's place, waiting for him to come home.

The answering machine picked up, and when she recognized the voice of the realtor, Sara took the call. "Hello?"

"Ms. Sidle. Is Dr. Grissom with you?"

Sara felt nervous excitement bubbling up in her, wondering if this was it. But then, disappointment set in as the question of the realtor registered. Grissom wasn't here. "No, he's at work."

"Anyway, I'm calling about the house. Should I call back later when both of you are there?"

She thought about it for a few seconds, but her curiosity won out. Maybe she could give Grissom a nice present when he came home. Since they put the bid down together, Sara decided she wanted to hear what the realtor had to say.

"No, it's okay. "

"Alright then. To make it short, the house is yours."

Her breath locked in her throat as the words sunk in. They were really going to have that house.

"That's good news. Thank you." She didn't really know what the etiquette was in such a situation.

"Congratulations."

Thoughts about telling Grissom and the things that had to be arranged mixed in her head, making her feel a bit helpless. The realtor took some of the weight off her shoulders by proposing the next step.

"We should set up another appointment to sign the necessary paperwork."

A date was set up quickly, and when Sara finally came out of the daze, she had a broad smile plastered to her face. Never had she thought that she would be so happy and looking forward to it so much.

All of the stress of the last two weeks had been worth it. She knew that a lot of people needed a lot longer to find the perfect house.

The perfect house…with Grissom.

xxxxx

An hour later, she had arranged their celebratory dinner and practiced several speeches. Although she knew that they had consciously made this decision, she was nervous how he would react.

She knew she felt ready for it. Her first doubts had vanished with continuing to build a new routine. Her list was definitely a WIP, but it felt good.

Suddenly, she heard Grissom insert his keys into the lock. She dried her sweaty palms on her jeans, anxiously waiting for the moment where she could make eye contact and tell him.

"Sara?" Grissom entered, putting his stuff away first before really looking at her.

When he saw that she had prepared dinner and had gone to the trouble of setting up a nice place to eat for them, he stopped short. He had expected her to be relaxing on the couch, reading a book or watching a movie, but this was absolutely not what he had expected.

"Sara?" he asked, swallowing hard.

"It's okay."

It was a stupid thing to say, but somehow she didn't know how else she could start. However, the statement did nothing for Grissom's confusion.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore, throwing all of her carefully laid out plans overboard and just blurting it out. "The realtor called."

It took a few seconds for the words to set in, but then Grissom was ready. "So, is this a celebratory dinner or a consolation prize?"

He moved closer, but didn't touch her, waiting for an answer. Sara had no such qualms and stepped even closer, taking his hands.

Her hands were shaking and she wondered if Grissom could feel that although her grip was tight. "Are you trying to give me coronary arrest? Because the way you're dragging this out can't be good for my poor, old heart."

It was meant to make her smile, but she swallowed hard. This was the moment to tell him. "We…will own a house…together."

Her eyes went a bit dreamy, but reality was not lost on her as Grissom scooped her up in his arms. Joy was radiating off of him.

"Our house."

"Our future."

TBC