Title: Returning Home
Author: Elizabeth Kelly
Rating: T (PG-13)
Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.
Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?
Chapter Twelve
"Procreate… my ass," she muttered through gritted teeth. "I am never doing this again." Grissom chuckled, taking up her hand and squeezing it.
"It will all be worth it, I promise," he reassured her, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "When little Helena arrives…"
"We are not naming our kid after the butterfly hanging in our lounge room." She said firmly.
"Why not, that's where she was conceived," he teased, receiving a punch for his efforts. "Sara," he continued seriously. "Helena is not just the name of a butterfly, it is also the name of a Shakespearean character and a Queen in Greek Mythology. Besides, what's wrong with being named after a butterfly? Sara is the name of a butterfly," he pointed out much to her annoyance.
"We are not naming her Helena," she replied. Sensing that there was going to be no arguing with her, he dropped it.
"What do you want to call her?" he asked.
"I don't know, I'll have to see what she looks like first." She smiled and squeezed his hand reassuring him that she wasn't angry with him.
"You do know that you are the only man on earth I would voluntarily go through this much pain for, right?" she asked, sincerely.
"I know," he replied softly, rubbing her back as another contraction seized her.
"Well, you're fully dilated, are you ready to see your new baby?" the doctor asked them politely.
"Yes!"
"No!" they replied at the same time. Grissom looked over at his wife, she looked terrified. The reality of the situation seemed to have hit her suddenly. In a few minutes time, she would be seeing her child, the tiny human being that she had been carrying round for the last eight and a half months.
"Come on honey, you can do this," he encouraged her.
"No, I can't what if she doesn't like me. What if I am a terrible mother?" Grissom put his arms around her, and gave her a hug.
"Sara, you are kind and caring and you have a huge heart that's full of love, with those qualities you can't be anything but a good mother." Sara smiled through her tears, and feeling another contraction coming along, reached for Grissom's hand.
"… Thank you Ray, and now tears of joy for two families who were reunited with their daughters five years after they disappeared from a Catholic Elementary School in Brisbane, San Francisco. It is believe that the elder of the two girls, fourteen-year-old Emily Guthrie, escaped from their captor in the early hours of this morning and alerted authoritiesto the whereabouts of the apartment where they were being held, not far from the Las Vegas Strip. After a brief search, Las Vegas Police tracked the kidnapper to a hospital in Bakersfield, where he had sought help after eleven-year-old Madeleine Grissom had reportedly lost consciousness. She is said to be in a stable condition with both of her parents, Las Vegas Criminalists Gilbert and Sara Grissom, by her side. Police have the suspect in custody and will release more details in a press conference which has been scheduled in half an hour…"
Nick lowered the television volume, and turned to look a the small group gathered around the table in the break room. Shift had been over for several hours, but none of them had been able to bring themselves to leave.
"Something isn't right," Nick was the first to speak.
"I know, Isaacs will probably get off by reason of mental defect," Warrick agreed.
"No, I mean something doesn't feel right," Nick replied.
"But we got the guy, Catherine said he confessed to taking the girls, and that everyone was fine. Sara and Griss are by Maddie's bedside, she is physically fine. Emily is home with her parents! Everything is back to how it should be." Greg spoke up.
"I know man, but something just feels wrong. Sara should have called by know, she promised that she would and she hasn't," Nick insisted.
"She is probably busy catching up with Maddie, or maybe she just forgot." Brass suggested, from his spot at the head of the table.
"Nah, I can't explain it, but I think this is far from over."
"And you feel this because Sara hasn't called you yet?" Warrick asked, raising his eyebrows. Nick glared at him before looking at the floor. "Look, man, I know she promised, but her emotions are probably all over the place and she's tired, she'll probably remember to call in a few hours." Nick looked up and shrugged.
"Maybe you're right," he sighed, yet he couldn't squelch the uneasy feeling in his stomach.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, gathering their thoughts.
"Well, I'm headed off," Brass said standing up. "I'm gonna catch a few Z's because I have a whole lot of paperwork to do tonight." Nick and Warrick said their goodbyes, as Brass headed for the door.
"Wait!" Greg's voice piped up. Brass turned around to see the spiky-haired lab tech's attention focused on the television.
"What?" he asked a little too harshly, his exhaustion creeping through.
"Shhhhh," Greg replied reaching for the remote and turning the volume up.
"…ing us live from outside Bakersfield County Hospital is our reporter Sandra Martin. Sandra, we believe that you have some new news for our viewers."
"Thanks Jessica, yes, we have just been updated on kidnap victim, Madeleine Grissom's condition. She is now listed as critical and approximately two hours ago she was moved into intensive care. The hospital has not officially released the details of Madeleine's condition.They have said, however, thatshe remains in a drug induced coma. But viewers please note that these details have not been confirmed…"
Warrick grabbed the remote control off of Greg and turned the volume down. Everyone turned to look at Nick.
"Oh God."
"Madeleine." she whispered.
"What?" Grissom asked.
"Madeleine," Sara repeated staring into the eyes of her hours old daughter.
"After Mom?" Sara nodded.
"Ok…" Grissom watched as his daughter wrapped her tiny hand around his fist. " Charlotte." Sara cocked her head at him. "It means strong and courageous, and I can already tell that she takes after her mother." Sara smiled.
"Madeleine Charlotte Grissom," she whispered, looking at the child as though sizing her up. "It's perfect." She smiled as Grissom bent forward and kissed her, before leaning down to kiss their daughter.
"She's smart," he said leaning on the railing of Maddie's crib.
"She one month old, how can you tell?" Sara asked, curiously.
"Well she started crying when she heard that you were making your meatloaf for dinner." Sara laughed, and jabbed Grissom in the side.
"She's not even having meatloaf for dinner."
"Ahh, but you see she was crying because she felt sorry that I had to endure the torture that you call meatloaf." Sara placed her hands on her hips and smirked at him.
"Well, if you don't want what I'm making, you have two options. You can make dinner, or you can starve."
"How does spaghetti sound?" he asked begrudgingly.
"Heavenly," she replied, sitting down and putting her feet up on the table, her mouth twisting into a huge smile.
"Maddie, please sit still," Sara begged, trying to pin the last curl on Maddie's head in place.
"I'm scited!" Maddie enthusiastically replied.
"Excited," Sara corrected her. "Your Daddy better be home soon or you are going to drive me insane." At the sound of the front door opening, Maddie jumped off the chair and ran for the door.
"Daaaaaaady!" she yelled running to give him a hug.
"Thank God," Sara muttered, picking up a dish cloth and wiping the juice Maddie had spilt in her excitement earlier.
"Hi Beetle, are you annoying you mother?" he asked sternly.
"Maybe a wittle," she confessed.
"Little," Grissom corrected her and smiled. Going to ruffle her hair he stopped when he heard Sara's cry.
"Don't! It took me half an hour to do her hair, don't touch it!"
"Hello Honey, did someone wake you up early?" Grissom asked giving her a kiss.
"Four o'clock!" Maddie replied almost proudly. Grissom chuckled.
"And what where you doing up at four o'clock?" he asked bending down to be closer to Maddie's height.
"Getting ready to go to school," she replied happily.
"Is that today?" Grissom replied as though he had forgotten.
"Daaaady," she whined, knowing that he was teasing her. Grissom chuckled again and pulled her in for a hug.
"Well, I suppose we better be going if you don't want to be late." Maddie, pulled away and grinned. Running to her room she came back with a bright pink back pack, closely followed by Sara who was pulling on her shoes.
"Oh, wait the camera!" she cried, running back towards the bedroom.
"Silly Mommy," Maddie said, shaking her head.
"Silly Mommy." Grissom agreed.
Grissom stared at the wall in front of him. An hour and forty-five minutes, that's how long he had been sitting in this chair. An hour and fifty minutes, that's how long it had been since they had moved Maddie into the Intensive Care Unit. Two hours and forty-five minutes, that's how long it had been since they had been forced out of Maddie's room.
No one had told them anything. Sara had spent the first thirty minutes pacing, now she was just sitting in the chair beside him, chewing a nail. The last time he had seen her chewing her nails was the day Maddie had gone missing. Grissom knew that the fear was getting to her, he, himself, felt like he was drowning in it. He had sworn on whatever higher being there was that he would protect his daughter with his life, and he had failed her.
She had lost her hearing, she had been kidnapped and now she was in the ICU of Bakersfield County Hospital. He knew that he really should not be feeling guilty, it wasn't his fault these things happened, but deep down he felt like he had broken the first rule of being a father: protect you child at all costs. Although he didn't let on at the time, he had understood the pain that Susannah Kirkwood's father had felt. He had failed to protect his daughter, just as Grissom had failed to protect Maddie.
A cool hand on his cheek, brought him out of his self loathing.
"None of this is your fault you know," her voice was soft and low. Grissom turned to look at Sara, who had been watching him for the last half hour.
"I know," he replied meekly.
"Do you?" she asked, staring into his eyes. "I don't blame you, and I know that Maddie doesn't blame you, so you need to stop blaming yourself." Sometimes he hated just how well she knew him. She had always been good at picking up on his moods.
"It's just hard to be a bystander in all of this," he replied, his voice husky.
"I know," she whispered. He stared into her eyes and the pain he saw there broke his heart. He knew that she was seeing the same pain in his. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her into him. He had to remain positive. They were going to get through this.
'We just have to,' he thought to himself.
A/N: Hey guys, yay another chapter done. The story is moving kind of slow at the moment, I admit it's entirely my fault. I'm just not quite sure where it is going, but hopefully the pace will pick up in the next couple of chapters. I will try and get the next chapter up soon. Sorry for all the delays, you know how it is on the holidays. Thank you for all the tremendous reviews, especially my 'regular' reviewers. I respect all of your comments and believe it or not I do take them all into consideration. Also, do you like the 'flashbacks' to the past or are they just confusing/annoying? - Liz