A/N: Back finally. I always seem to apologize about the wait… :) I need another me. Anyway, here we go with another chapter. Wake up time for Sara and I hope she is feeling okay. I do feel a little fluff before the storm though so I hope you enjoy it :D

My gracious thanks to Calim for the excellent beta as always :)

On we go…..

Chapter 17

About an hour after Sara returned to her room, Grissom heard her stirring. Getting up from his chair, he watched as her hand drifted over her stomach then her lips parted and a quiet moan escaped. Patiently, he waited until her eyelids fluttered then opened fully to reveal her beautiful eyes.

"Hi," he whispered, a smile catching his lips.

Blinking a few times as her world first appeared a little hazy, her gaze finally managed to focus on him. Letting out a soft sigh, her hand lifted and Grissom immediately reached out to help make the task a little easier.

"Hi," she mumbled back, the warmth of his hand immediately radiating through hers.

He noticed she was a little pale but that usually came with surgery as did Grissom's next question.

"Do you feel sick?" he asked.

"No," she breathed, closing her eyes again for a second. "Thirsty though."

Hearing footsteps, Grissom glanced over his shoulder as Maggie stepped in.

"Looks like I have good timing," she said, approaching the patient. "Have we been awake long?"

Grissom shook his head. "She literally just woke up."

Nodding, Maggie reached for the blood pressure cuff. "How are you feeling?" she asked Sara as she lifted her arm and wrapped the cuff around it.

"Tired," Sara slurred. "Thirsty."

Maggie hit the button on the machine and the cuff did its usual expanding around the arm. "Any nausea?" Sara shook her head. "Feeling any pain?"

"No. Not yet anyway."

"Your pain relief is quite high," Maggie informed her, having a quick glance at the IV. "We'll keep it that way for at least the next few hours." Taking down the reading, she released the pressure and removed the cuff. "Not looking too bad," she commented. "A little high but not majorly."

"That's expected with surgery, right?" Grissom asked.

The nurse nodded. "I'll get you something to drink and a sandwich, okay? You need to get something into your stomach as we only have you on a pain relief IV at the moment. If you can't keep anything down then we can rethink."

"Hmmm," Sara muttered, closing her eyes.

Smiling, Maggie walked around the bed and leaned towards Grissom. "Try and make sure she stays awake so she can eat," she whispered. "She can sleep all she wants afterwards."

"Okay," Grissom agreed. "So her checks are all right?"

"Looking okay so far so try not to worry too much," she replied, tapping his arm. "Be right back."

He nodded before looking back at Sara and leaning over her. "Honey?"

"Mmmm."

Smiling, he kissed her gently on the lips and her eyes opened. "Try and stay awake, okay? Just for a little while."

"K," she said quietly. "How…did it go?"

Sitting back down, he retook her hand. "I don't have any intricate details yet but Steven was positive when I spoke with him earlier. There were no complications and the procedure went well."

"Promise?"

He smiled again. "Yes," he said firmly.

Now she returned his smile. "So…I'll be dancing by next week?"

"I might hold you to that," he joked. "I can try out my new suit."

Narrowing her eyes a little, Sara pursed her lips. "When…did you get a new suit?"

"I'll have one ready for you as soon as you're ready to dance," he said sweetly, squeezing her hand.

Her smile grew. "Smooth talker," she snorted and then yawned. "I really…hate anesthesia," she complained. "Feel so…blah."

Happy she seemed in reasonably good spirts, Grissom reached for her hair and curled a little behind her ear. "Just a little something to eat and then you can rest some more."

"Yeah," she breathed. "Have you…told Claire how it went?"

He nodded. "She'll be back later. Mike's going to stay here tonight."

Sara frowned. "He is?"

"Hmmmm," Grissom muttered. "I didn't think it would be a problem. You don't mind do you?"

"Of course…not. Is he okay?"

"He's just missing us a little bit," he admitted. "Claire told me earlier that with your surgery and the twins, I don't think I've been giving him as much attention as I think he needs."

Now she squeezed his hand. "You are…doing everything you can right now. And I should have seen something wasn't right as well."

Before they got into more depth, Maggie returned, placing a tray down onto the trolley and pushing it towards Grissom.

"A cheese and pickle sandwich, chips and orange juice. I hope you can contain your excitement."

Sara smirked. "I'm sure my stomach will be…just fine with that. Thank you."

"Enjoy," Maggie said. "I'll be back in a little while."

"Are you going to be okay to hold this?" Grissom asked, picking up the plate.

"Should be okay," Sara replied. "Just pop the plate on my tummy and…we'll see how we get on."

Doing just that, Grissom carefully lay the plate on her stomach before grabbing the orange juice carton and popping in the straw.

Taking half of the sandwich, Sara took a small bite from it. "Are you sure…Mike's okay?" she asked while chewing.

He tried to smile. "Don't be worrying," he instructed. "I think he just needs some love and proper time around us. We haven't ever spent this much time away from him."

"Yeah," she sighed, holding the sandwich out to him. "Want…a bite?"

"No thanks."

Sara's eyes narrowed at him. "Have you…eaten since breakfast?"

"Does ice cream count?"

"No," she argued.

"That's yours," he shot back. "I promise I will eat something later when Mike gets here because knowing him, even if he's had dinner, he will want more before bed."

Snorting, Sara placed the sandwich down and held her hand out for the juice which Grissom handed her. "He is such a little piggy."

"That's good," he countered. "Hopefully, his baby brother and sister will take after him."

"Hmmm," she mumbled, sucking up some of the juice. "Let's hope." She handed him back the carton. "Are they doing okay?"

Reaching up to the cabinet, he poured himself a glass of water. "They're doing fine. Stop worrying for five minutes and eat your sandwich."

Smiling at him, she went back in for another bite but she could feel the tiredness creeping up on her, managing just half before dropping her head back onto the pillow.

"Had enough?" Grissom asked softly.

"Hmmm," she murmured, closing her eyes and letting the sandwich fall through her fingers and back onto the plate. "You…finish it."

Smirking, he stood up and reached for the plate. "Sara?"

Silence.

Kissing her softly on the forehead, he placed the plate back onto the tray with the half-empty juice carton. Sara seemed happy which made him happy. Whether it was the drugs or not, he didn't care because he was planning on making the most out of it before the shit really hit the fan.

Because it just had to. Her recovery was going to be painful so he needed to prepare - for the both of them.

CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI

The extremely unusual dream Sara was having of flying through the clouds on an elephant (not unlike Dumbo) drifted away upon hearing voices nearby. Frowning, she scrunched her eyes tightly before opening them, instantly feeling a burning in her legs. It wasn't unpleasant just a little bit peculiar.

Immediately deciding she was going to call that particular moment in time 'the odd hour', she tipped her head to the right to see Grissom sitting in the corner of the room. His arm was aloft and swinging up and down in front of him just like… an elephant. Her eyebrows rose. That would explain her dream. Or, maybe, she was still dreaming.

"Make the noise, Daddy," Michael said as he tapped the book in Grissom's hand from his position in his lap. "Make the elephant noise."

Sneaking a look towards the bed, he slowly lowered his arm upon seeing Sara's eyes on him.

"Maybe we can do that in a little while," he suggested, glancing down at Michael.

"Awww," Michael pouted. "Why not now? I like elephant. Elephant is big and strong."

Smiling, Grissom pointed towards the bed and Michael followed his direction. His face instantly lit up like the Eifel Tower illuminations when he saw his mother was awake.

"Mommy!" he called out with delight trying to jump from Grissom's lap.

Dropping the book, he caught him. "No, no, Mike. Calm down. Mommy's just had an operation so we need to be careful and not go jumping on her, okay?"

Huffing impatiently, Michael looked back at his father and nodded.

Grissom eased his son off his lap then stood. Taking his hand, they both headed towards the bed. Smiling, he leaned over and kissed Sara's lips.

"Hey you," he greeted as he helped Michael onto the chair by the bed.

"Hi," she breathed. "Hey, Mike," she said holding out her hand to him.

Smiling brightly, Michael took her hand. "Mommy better?" he asked.

"Not quite, baby," Sara replied. "But I hope we're moving in the right direction."

"How are you feeling?" Grissom asked.

Sara thought for a moment. "Weird."

He frowned. "Weird?"

"Hmmm. Dreaming about flying around on an elephant and then woke up to…." She frowned. "We're you doing an elephant impression or did I imagine that?"

"Elephant," Michael giggled. "My favorite. Big elephant."

Sara's eyebrows soared and Grissom smirked.

"No," he said. "You didn't imagine it. We were going through one of Mike's animal books and the elephant is currently his favorite. He likes it when I pretend to be one."

She looked surprised. "Wow. That's new."

"The every changing world of an almost 3 year old," he snickered.

"Indeed," she agreed, groaning a bit as she moved.

"Are you hurting?" Grissom swiftly asked.

"My legs are burning," she admitted. "Back's a bit sore as well."

Without even questioning her, Grissom hit the call button. "Time for the nurse then I think."

"Time is it?" Sara asked.

"Almost 9," he replied.

"Oh," she said surprised. "I slept."

"No harm in it," Grissom countered. "You did have major surgery."

Clenching her eyes again, Sara nodded. "And don't I know it."

"You rang?" Maggie said as she stepped into the room, her gaze falling on Sara and knowing why they'd pressed the call button.

"She's having some pain," Grissom informed the nurse.

Maggie nodded. "Okay," she said, going right for the blood pressure equipment. "Can you tell me about your pain, Sara?"

"Just burning," she replied, releasing Michael's hand as her blood pressure was taken.

"In your legs?" Maggie asked, watching the blood pressure reading.

"Hmmm."

"And her back is a little sore," Grissom added.

Her eyes flicked to him. "Tattletale."

He smirked and Maggie repeated the gesture.

"Do you have this burning in both of your legs?" she enquired, putting the cuff down.

"Yeah," Sara confirmed. "More in the left though."

Glancing over his wife's legs, Grissom nipped down on his lip. With the support bandages completely concealing every inch of skin as well as her feet, he couldn't get any reading as to whether anything was wrong. Then again, he probably wouldn't know what he was looking at even if he could see it.

"What does this mean?" he asked.

"It's just pain from the procedure coming through," Maggie told them. "And obviously being vertical for so long isn't having the best effect on your back. We need to lower the pain relief amount gradually so Sara can have enough feeling for her tests tomorrow. Burning is notorious with tendon and muscle surgery. I'll give you a shot to try and lessen the feeling a little, okay?"

"Okay," Sara agreed.

Smiling, Maggie gathered the required shot and injected it into the IV.

Sara watched her. "Do we know how long my legs are going to be kept up like this?" she asked.

"The doctor's will decide that tomorrow when they assess you."

Blowing out a breath feeling slightly frustrated, Sara tipped her head to look at Michael who was just sitting patiently as the conversation rolled around him.

"You okay, baby?" she asked, taking his hand again.

Michael nodded although it wasn't all that convincing. "Can we read?"

She smiled. "Sure," she replied looking at Grissom. "Do you want to get a book?"

"Do you feel up to it?" he questioned.

"Yeah," she said softly. "Just for a little while and then it will be your bedtime, Mike, okay?"

"Okay," Michael agreed.

Maggie smirked. "Are you hungry, Sara?" she asked. "You should try and eat."

"I am!" Michael shouted, holding up his hand and causing both Grissom and Sara to snort in unison.

"Are you now?" Maggie chuckled.

"You had dinner before you got here," Grissom told his son.

Looking at his father, Michael threw his arms up into the air. "Am hungry now," he insisted.

Sara laughed. "You are always hungry."

Looking highly amused, Maggie folded her arms. "I can bring him something if you guys are okay with it."

Grissom rolled his eyes. "Okay." Michael giggled at him. "Thanks."

"No problem," she returned.

"Can you bring my husband something as well?" Sara cut in and Grissom immediately stared at her. "Don't look at me like that. Remember what you said earlier. 'I will eat later'."

Giving a mock smile, Grissom held up a hand. "Fine," he said. "But you're eating, too."

"Got to love a good family meal around the hospital bed," she joked.

Maggie laughed. "I'll see what I can rustle up and be back in a little while."

Nodding his thanks, Grissom swept a hand through Michael's hair before moving across the room to grab his book. "You want the animal book, Mike?" he called over.

Michael clapped his hands. "Yes," he replied keenly.

Grinning, Grissom picked up the book and headed back to the bed. "Are you going to show Mommy how clever you are and that you can name all the animals now?"

Sara's eyebrows rose. "He can?" she asked surprised.

"Ugh huh," Grissom replied with a nod.

Michael pointed to Sara. "Can I sit on bed?"

Grissom didn't look too certain about that request and his eyes flicked back to Sara.

"He'll be okay," she said.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "You'll be careful, won't you, baby? Don't jump on me and don't touch my legs, okay?"

Michael swiftly nodded back. "Yes, Mommy. I be careful."

Putting the book down, Grissom reached for his son and lifted him into his arms. "No bouncing up and down and keep still, you got that?"

"Yes, Daddy," Michael agreed.

"Okay," Grissom said, carefully placing Michael down on the edge of the bed and as soon as he was there, Michael pointed to the IV in Sara's arm.

"Why the tube, Mommy?" he questioned, looking at his own arm. "I don't have one."

Not quite expecting that question, Sara looked back at Grissom who lofted an eyebrow. "I think we have the world's most inquisitive son," he chided, grabbing the book.

"Your fault," Sara shot back.

He smirked, drawing close. "Really?"

She smiled, eyes flicking back to Michael. "It gives Mommy the medication she needs to stop her body from hurting," she told him.

He frowned. "Why not pills or medicine?"

"Because this works a lot faster and it's a bit easier on Mommy's tummy while I'm not feeling so good."

Michael screwed up his nose. "I not like medicine. Taste nasty."

Reaching out, she tapped him on the nose. "I don't think anyone does, baby, but it helps you when you're sick."

"I not get sick," he replied.

"I hope not but sometimes we all do and, unfortunately, we just can't help that."

In an attempt to change the course of the conversation, Grissom held up the book. "Right. Shall we read a little, Mike? Because once you've had a little snack it will be time to go to sleep. It's already way past your normal bedtime."

Michael's eyes drew to his father. "Sleeping here?"

Although Michael had been told he was staying there, Grissom wasn't entirely surprised he wanted clarification.

"Yes, Mike. With Daddy," Grissom confirmed, enjoying the smile that hit his son's lips.

Nodding happily, Michael tapped the book. "Open and I can show Mommy the animals."

Sara held her hand out. "Give it here," she requested.

"Are you sure?" Grissom asked. "You feel strong enough?"

"It's a book, Gil, not a whale."

Rolling his eyes, Grissom opened the book and placed it into Sara's waiting hand. "Fine but don't overdo it."

"I'll try not to," she snickered, smiling at Mike. "Come on then, young man, show me how clever you are."

A/N: Aww, I do love some nice family time. Wonder if Evil hat is lurking though, he's been missing for a while….