Disclaimer: nothings changed, still don't own CSI in any way shape or form.

Chapter 2

Four weeks later, Marie's visit with her family was looming on the horizon. While Sara couldn't wait to see them, there was also a kind of sick fear in the pit of her belly. She was afraid to see what Marie would have to say about the changes in her, her character and her life. And she would have a lot to say. There was no doubt about it. Another part of her was looking forward to the showdown. Marie never minced her words when she felt that something was wrong. And she could get very protective.

Giving herself a mental boot to the bum, Sara gathered her wits. There was nothing she could do now. The rooms had been prepared, she had left the extra key in the hide-a-key outside and a note with Miss Maxine, should there be problems.

As the evening wore on, with no major cases to take her mind off things, Sara was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate on anything but hiding her rising excitement. Greg had been giving her weird looks every time she waltzed into his lab and chatter with him. At midnight, with a decided lack of murders or crimes to take her mind off things, Sara actually asked Grissom if she could look at old files, see if anything new had come up.

The paperwork kept her occupied for the rest of the shift.

The end was finally coming into view, when Lorraine called her from the front desk.

"Sara. There are people here asking for you."

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute."

Nick walked down the corridor, immersed in the evidence Greg had just passed on to him regarding a shoot and run. He was barely paying attention to his surroundings, when an extremely girly shriek echoed through the halls, causing everybody to stop in their tracks and look around.

"What was that?" Confused, Nick looked around. Unlike most others, he was in the perfect position to see the scene unfold.

There in the entrance area was Sara Sidle, embracing a hulk of a man, while a young woman with a toddler in her arms looked on indulgently. Then Sara 'bounced' - Nick just had to do a double-take at that, Sara did not bounce!- out of the hulk's arms and plucked the child from her mother's arms. Nick took a step forward, expecting the child to burst into tears right that second.

He was gob-smacked again when instead the little tot burst into giggles and held onto Sara so tightly, Nick could have sworn it would be difficult to breath.

He could just make out what the group was saying.

"She's been asking about the trip for the last two weeks. When are we going? When are we going?"

"I'm amazed she still remembers me."

"After all the letters and tapes? She loves 'The Selfish Princess' by the way. Listens to it every night."

Nick watched in amazement as the unflappable Sara blushed with pleasure. Feeling as if he was intruding, he turned and snuck back down the corridor, reflecting to himself that he of all people should know best that first impressions weren't everything.

Sara couldn't believe that Ryan and Marie had decided to surprise her. She couldn't wait to leave and see what happened next.

"Give me a moment and I'll tell Grissom that I'm off. I have so much overtime he should be pathetically grateful."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sara could see Lorraine's eyes fairly pop out of her head. She knew what the receptionist was thinking. Sara Sidle did not take off early. EVER. Well, there was a first time for everything.

Two minutes later Sara waltzed into Grissom's office. "Grissom. I'm taking off early. Working off a bit of overtime. There's nothing left to do, so I'll see you in a week. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." With a wink and tickled pink with herself at her audacity Sara sashayed out the door.

All Grissom could do was nod and stare dumbfounded as Sara left his office as swiftly as she had come in.

"All set. Let's go." Sara walked up to Marie and Ryan, scooping up Susie along the way. "First off some coffee. Excitement only takes you so far. We have so much talking to do."

"Well, we saw a Starbucks on the way here, Let's go there and I can pore a double espresso down your throat, Sassy." Ryan ruffled her hair, then considered. "Well, maybe four double espressos. If you still drink as much coffee as before you left, one will not be enough."

"You know it." Sara laughed. After a quick detour to grab her things from the locker room, Sara and the Samuels gladly left the lab to head on to the coffee shop down the road, leaving behind a workplace buzzing with rumours.

"Auntie Sara, can I have a cheesecake?" Susie smiled up winningly at her victim, putting all the power of persuasion she could muster from her little body into the smile.

Sara gulped, then decided what the hell. "Of course you can, Sweetie. After all this is a holiday. We'll just tell your mom it's for me but I'm not that hungry. Deal?"

Susie giggled. "Deal. Can I carry it, too?"

"Only if you're really careful and make sure you do not spill anything, right?"

"Uhuh." Susie started bouncing from heel to toe as they waited for the queue to shift, so they could order. Then she burst out with: "Auntie Sara, why are you so thin? Mommy says you're really thin. Don't you get enough food?" She frowned up at Sara, who blushed.

"Well, sweetie, I'm really busy. Sometimes I forget to eat."

"That's not good. Mommy says you have to eat reglar meals and not too much peanut butter and jelly. But vegibles."

"You mean vegetables?"

"Yeah, them. I don't like them. Peas are icky. They're so green and taste weird. But Mommy says I have to eat them. Is it because you don't live with your Mummy anymore?"

Sara was shocked for a second. "Is what because I don't live with my mummy anymore, sweetie?"

"That you don't eat? When I come back from kindergarten mommy always has a sandwich for me. And apples. I like apples."

"You do, do you? Well, maybe we should get apple cake instead. What do you think?"

"Cool! Can we have two forks?"

As Susie pressed her nose flat against the cake cabinet, Sara reflected that the old saying about the mouth of babes seemed to be true after all. It was a sad state of affairs if she needed a small child to tell her what to eat.

"Come on we'll get a piece of cake for everybody. Your daddy still like chocolate?" Sara smiled to herself, of course Ryan still liked chocolate. He had practically lived off the stuff back when they were in the foster homes. When he could get his hands on it that was. Chocolate had not exactly been on the menu back then as an everyday occurrence. More's the pity.

That first day with her best friend and his family was the most relaxing day Sara had had for along time. After having coffee and cake for breakfast, the Samuel's had gone exploring while she caught up on some sleep. She was finally woken by Susie stage-whispering to her dad that 'Auntie Sara's still sleeping'. As Susie had not concept of a real whisper, it came out quite loud.

"It's okay sweetie, I'm up." Sara groggily sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Yay, you're up!" With one jump Susie plopped herself down on the middle of Sara's bed, bouncing with excitement. "Can we go to the zoo, now? Can we? You promised."

"That I did munchkin. Why don't you tell your dad he had better have some coffee for me or else and I'll go jump in the shower and get dressed."

"Okay. Bye." Susie pressed a slightly slobbery kiss to Sara's cheek and bounced off the bed to no doubt pass along Sara's message verbatim. With a slow stretch, Sara got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

With an exhausted groan, Sara let herself fall on her couch, slipped her shoes off in the process. "God, I'd forgotten how tired Susie can make you. How do you handle it day after day?"

An amused Ryan smiled at her, Susie draped limply over his shoulder, dead to the world. "Practice makes perfect, Sassy. Or you're just getting old." He winked at her, ignoring the show she listlessly threw after him as he went to put down his little girl.

Marie let her head fall to the side. "Don't get too comfortable girl. You have some serious 'splainin to do."

Sara sighed knowing what her best friend was going to want to talk about but choosing to pretend ignorance. "What do you mean?"

Fire flashed in her friend's eyes. "Don't give me that, Sidle. I have known you since forever and if anyone knows when you are lying it is me. But okay, let's humour you. We'll start with the slow and move on to the hard. Why did it take you two years to finish unpacking?"

Sara blushed. "I'm really busy?"

Marie rolled her eyes. "You're lucky Ryan isn't here, cause he would give you a tap on the head for that. The last time you didn't bother unpacking was ten years ago when you knew you were leaving again six months later. So either you are moving house or you never considered Vegas your home. Which is it?"

"I don't know. I just never got round to it. It's no big deal."

"It is a big deal, but lets move on to something else. Why do you look like you haven't slept properly in months, don't eat right and seem to have lost ten pounds that you really didn't need to loose?"

"That's what I was wondering, too." A male voice added from the door.

Sara shifted nervously under the combined weight of their worried faces. "I just never think of it. Or I'm too busy.."

"Or there's a case that just has to be finished. Or you're working overtime. Again. Don't give me that. We have had this conversation a thousand times." Ryan said tiredly. "I worry about you here all on your own. What do your colleagues think?"

Sara looked panicked. "What do you mean? Why should they say anything?"

Ryan and Marie shared a look, obviously things in Vegas were more off than they had thought. In an unspoken debate they decided that tonight would be about reconnecting with their sister, the nagging could wait.

"What you mean to tell me that there is no-one there who tickles your interest. What about that Greg guy that you keep mentioning."

Sara went a fiery pink and stammered. "He's just a friend. Plus he's way to young."

Marie sniggered. "Hah, that's what you always say. Don't tell me you're still hung up on that funny bug guy?"

Sara laughed. "You mean Grissom. No, just my boss. There is truth in the saying familiarity breads contempt. He is just way too into his bugs and is even more of a workaholic than I am."

The three of them laughed and spent the rest of the evening dissecting Sara's various colleagues and telling tall tales about their lives.