A/N: I know I keep saying that this one is almost over, but it really is. This chapter is more POV. More Grissom and Sara interaction in the next chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Also, I don't own CSI and all that.
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Chapter Eleven
Busy Las Vegas criminals left little time for Grissom and Sara to ponder the children's departure any further at the shifts beginning. Cases were assigned and the CSIs left quickly.
In record time, Grissom wrapped up his suicide and settled down in the office for paperwork. There, he tried hard to focus on work, however, his thoughts kept returning to Sara and the children.
His head was screaming for him to proceed with caution when it came to rekindling a relationship with Sara. Deep down, he knew that things were not right. Something was off and be it good or bad, there was more yet to the mystery of Sara Sidle. However, his heart refused to heed the warning and was falling for her all over again.
When Grissom looked into her eyes, he knew that nothing had changed, that he would never have the strength to deny her anything. Although, this time around, there was so much more at stake. His career, but more importantly, the relationship with his children. The children came first, but his desire for Sara ran dangerously deep. He felt as if he were, once again, standing on the ledge of a tall building. Grissom had survived the first fall, he wasn't sure if he could walk away from another.
He sighed heavily and glanced at the metal clock on the office wall. It was well past midnight and he wondered if the children's grandmother read to them before they went to sleep.
Gil usually kept his favorite race car on his nightstand, was it with him in California or did he leave it at home? It bothered Grissom that he did not remember to check. His son said he didn't mind that the room he shared with his sister in Vegas had butterfly borders, yet Grissom had no clue what their other room like. The picture of him that was kept in their bedroom their entire lives now resided in the new home. Should he have given them another for the old room?
Would they miss him?
In Las Vegas, Gillian liked to prepare breakfast, which basically consisted of toasted bagels and juice, for her parents every morning when they returned from work. Grissom looked forward to the brief morning visits before he shuffled to his own home to bed. Who would their daughter prepare breakfast for now?
Will absence make the heart grow fonder or will the twins easily adjust to his absence? They lived their lives without him before…what if they didn't need him as much as he needed them?
Grissom's doubts were in jeopardy of spiraling out of control when he got a call for a DB in the dessert. He was relieved for another distraction.
In the truck…
Warrick reclined in his seat and prepared for the hour and a half long ride back to Vegas. Though he and Grissom wrapped up the scene fairly quickly and without incident, his boss seemed preoccupied. It was no secret, around the lab, that the children returned to California earlier and since Grissom's preoccupation hadn't affected the evidence collection, Warrick left him alone. "Griss, you mind if a catch a few zzz's? Court kept me up all day."
"Not at all."
Grissom was enjoying the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack when his cellular phone rang. Snatching it up quickly as to not disturb his sleeping friend, he flipped open the device without checking the caller id.
"Grissom."
"Daddy?"
"Jesus!" Startled, Grissom's foot automatically slammed onto the braked, causing the truck to jerk and swivel. He grabbed the steering wheel with both hands, sending his cell phone flying, in an attempt to regain control of the vehicle.
"What the-?" Warrick bolted upright in his seat. He glanced around frantically looking for some disturbance in the road. Finding none, he turned to his supervisor. "What happened?"
"Gillian is on the telephone." Grissom gestured towards Warrick's feet as he tried to calm himself.
"She okay?" He asked concerned, as he retrieved the telephone and handed it to his boss.
"Gillian? Honey, are you okay?" Grissom requested, to answer both of their questions.
"Yes. What happened, Daddy? Did you get into an accident? Are you driving? Cause Mom says that people shouldn't drive and talk on the telephone at the same time unless they have an ear thing or speaker. Do you have an ear thing Daddy?"
"No, Honey. I don't have an earpiece. Sweetheart, why are you calling in the middle of the night? Does your Nana know that you're calling when you should be sleeping?"
There was a long pause, so long that Grissom risked a glance at the LCD screen to make sure that signal had not been lost. "Gillian?"
"I'm sorry, Daddy. Are you mad at me?"
The tremble in his little girl's voice broke his heart. It hurt him even more to know that he put it there. This only served as a reminder of how little experience he had with children.
"No, I'm not mad at you, Sweetheart. It was just…" Grissom paused trying to lower his pulse rate. "A surprise - a very nice surprise to hear from you, but I thought that maybe something was wrong at home. I- I just wanted to make sure that you weren't hurt, that you and Gil were okay."
"Oh." She replied, accepting the explanation. "Gilbert is sleeping. He always falls asleep when I'm talking to him at night and I like the night so do you think that I can work at night too like you and Mommy when I grow up?"
Grissom began to relax as he listened to Gillian chat on relentlessly, obviously over his over reaction. From his peripheral vision, he could see Warrick settle back down.
Meanwhile, Warrick had never seen his boss so flustered. He watched silently as his boss tried to calm himself. Obviously, his daughter's call alarmed him. Rightfully so, it being in the middle of the night when most children would be sleeping.
But this wasn't just any child. She was a product of Grissom and Sara. He hadn't known Sara long but he learned enough to know that she and Grissom were frighteningly similar in personality as well as intelligence. The combined gene pool alone guaranteed uniqueness.
It was amazing how Grissom had immediately taken to the children. After the initial shock wore off, Grissom fell hard and fast for the miniature versions of Sara and himself - all of CSI had.
The twins were curious, articulate and very smart for their age- but who would expect anything less from Grissom and Sara?
Warrick had wondered, as well as worried that Grissom would always be alone. He had wondered why his boss had never married and started a family of his own. Granted, the man was truly dedicated to his work, he would never be accused of being a people person, but deep down, Warrick always felt that there was more to the mystery, to the mystique of Gil Grissom.
Grissom always had been a great father figure- he just hadn't realized it. He had taken Warrick under his wing and trusted him when no one else had bothered. The way he mentored Warrick, astonished the younger man. He became the father that he had never had as well as a friend. The patience Grissom showed for Nick and the way he reined in Greg in when needed or praised him when it was unexpected, did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. He was a best friend to Catherine. No one could handle or settle her down like he could and he was a best buddy to their former boss.
Grissom was the glue of the nightshift without even trying. His children would only benefit from the compassion that came naturally.
And now Warrick knew what the mystery was. Grissom's heart had long ago been stolen and broken by a brainy beauty years before. Not that he would ever divulge such personal information, but Warrick knew the remnants of a broken heart. He had never seen the older man exhibit emotions he had in the last several weeks.
Sara Sidle had waltzed into CSI and turned the nightshift supervisor's life upside down. It had become instantly clear, that whatever the two shared long ago was very much still alive and wrecking havoc on Grissom's life. Warrick watched as the older man tried to resist the pull of Sara; however, the remaining mutual attraction was obvious. Besides, Grissom had never even remotely shown an interest in another woman and Sara seemed perfect.
While Warrick secretly hoped that they would reconcile, he could not help but wonder about the woman that invaded Grissom's soul. Speculate on what could have between them that hurt him so severely that he shied away from emotional commitments and held everyone at arms length - almost everyone.
During the first few weeks of Sara's arrival, he began to second guess his initial hope until they seemed to begin to work it out. Warrick suspected they had begun seeing one another again.
Of course, he was curious as hell about what brought Sara to Grissom - they all were. But it plain just wasn't any of his business. He accepted that he may never know what transpired between the two in the past but he knew that Sara was a hell of a CSI and seemed to genuinely care about Grissom. That was enough for him.
Once again, the possible fairytale, happily ever after scenario began to re emerge. Sara seemed to be a dedicated mother and Grissom, always a quick study, was catching on at warp speed.
He was every bit the nervous new father - though the twins were hardly newborns. Warrick got a kick out of seeing Grissom interact with them. Like now, he was learning and Warrick's heart swelled with pride with each attempt. Grissom was an excellent father. Even though he didn't know it. He had been all along.
Which was why Warrick didn't understand what Catherine was doing? In this day and age, you have to find happiness where you can get it - why was Catherine so against Sara, Grissom and the children's chance at happiness?
He wouldn't let anyone disrupt Grissom's happiness- not even Catherine. Lord knows the man had waited long enough for it.
"Are you listening, Daddy?"
"Yes, of course I'm listening." Grissom assured his little girl.
"So, when will you be bringing the cockroaches here? Remember, I wanted you to race them for the talent show. And I forgot my flashlight at the new house but that's okay because you can bring it when you bring the roaches. And did I tell you-"
"Honey, I have to work on Friday. I won't be able to make it in time for your talent show, but your Mother might…"
Warrick could hear the disappointment in Grissom's voice. Since the children's arrival in Vegas, Grissom had spent every available minute with them. Trying to make up for time lost, Warrick supposed. That would be difficult now with them back in California. Unless…
"And Tommy S. said that girls shouldn't play football and I told him that we can and then Sarah J. said…"
Grissom glanced over to Warrick to signal that all was well as he ooh'd and aah'd appropriately as Gillian filled him in on her day.
Relieved, Warrick once again reclined back into his seat as a plan began to formulate in his head.
