A/N: Exactly as it says on the tin: an ordinary December day at home for Grissom and Sara. Nothing fancy, just cute, and only a tiny bit of hurt/comfort. Enjoy! GSR

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of the show's characters.

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1. Morning

The faintest of sunlight coming through the curtains wakens Sara that morning. Her senses aren't working the first second of semi-consciousness, and thoughts, feelings and emotions haven't yet reached the surface. Slowly, more and more filters through, but her head stays fuzzy. A good kind of fuzzy. Comfortable and pleasant.

Now, in a full state of consciousness, she opens her eyes. The curtains aren't fully closed and she notices their breaths which fogged up the window, a sign of the cold outside. She turns onto her side and glances at her husband lying next to her. It looks like he's still sleeping, his head turned towards her but his eyes still closed. Her hands move to the side of his face and she feels the stubble of his beard tickle her skin.

As on command, his lips curl up in a smile. He's awake after all.

Slowly she moves closer until her lips almost touch his. 'Good morning,' she whispers.

'Mmm,' is Grissom's reply followed by a slight movement of his head as he kisses the palm of her hand.

'Cheeky old man,' she mutters, a provocative smile forming on her face. If this is how he wants to play it, he can get it.

Her trick seems to work as he opens his eyes and retorts, 'are you calling me old, Miss Sidle?' The twinkling in his eyes is indicative of the mischievous meaning behind his words. 'Good morning honey.' He removes a strand of hair from her face. 'What time is it?'

She shrugs like it doesn't matter. And in fact, it doesn't. The two have a day off. A rarity in their line of work and a rarity for the two of them in particular. Others would refer to them both as being workaholics, they on the other hand prefer to describe themselves as being passionate about their jobs. And letting go of a passion isn't easy.

Speaking for herself, hours listening to the police radio and working through files and files of missing person reports for days and nights in a row was how she used to spend her time off. How that's changed, she thinks with a certain kind of irony. A certain person had completely transformed the way she led her life. And that person was now lying next to her. She smiles. In all fairness, she had known Grissom for years, but it had taken a while before their relationship had turned into something more than a purely professional one. That it had taken this long certainly wasn't her fault! she ponders.

'What are you thinking about?' Grissom wants to know while he lazily caresses the sensitive spot in her neck.

A tingling feeling spreads around in her tummy as she feels the soft touch on her skin. 'I was thinking about how ridiculously long it took you to just say 'say' to me asking you out,' she admits smilingly. 'And that I'm happy that you finally did,' she adds. 'Otherwise, I would still be listening to the police radio or read too many true-crime novels.'

'Yes and we wouldn't want you to do that now do we?' he laughs. 'I prefer you here with me in bed, exactly like we are now.'

'It took a long time for you to realize that though. But then again, I've always known that you are a bit slow.' She sticks out her tongue to him which results in her being on the receiving end of a tickle-attack.

'What did you say there?'

'That… you're a… bit slow!' She manages to exclaim in between giggles. No way that she's letting him win this one.

'Is that right? Well, I don't think so. I think I'm extremely fast if I say so myself. Do you want me to stop tickling you?'

'Yes!' she yells out.

His fingers are everywhere on her body, but they linger longest at her most ticklish piece of skin on the side of her body, just underneath her armpits.

'Stop!' she screams.

Grissom bursts out in laughter. 'No, no, no, it's not that easy to get rid of me. I first want to hear your apology for all the appalling things you've accused me of.'

'Ahh! But… I can't… It's the truth!' she's panting by now and can't stop laughing. Suddenly, when Grissom's head is close to hers she reaches up and gives him a hard peck on the lips.

Clearly surprised by the abrupt kiss, his arms and hands freeze mid-air.

'Well, that shut you up didn't it?' Sara teases, her lips still touching his.

He cups her cheek and makes sure to keep eye-contact.

Sara notices the longing and love in his eyes and a blissful feeling takes over.

A little while later they lay in each other's arms, Sara with her back against Grissom's belly, his arms protectively around her and their fingers entangled.

'What I said before… I'm glad to have you here now. That's all that matters to me' Sara whispers.

'I know me too. There's nowhere else I'd rather be than with you here.'

For some reason, his words touch her unexpectedly, and a tear escapes running down her cheek. Quickly she reaches up to wipe it away.

Grissom has apparently noticed the shift in her body and presses a soft kiss on her hair. 'Hey, why are you crying?'

Sara tries to laugh it off and blushes. Luckily for her, the closed curtains hide the redness on her cheeks for the most part. 'Nothing, it's silly really.'

'Try me.' There's a serious tone in his voice.

She takes a deep breath before replying. 'It's just that I'm not used to belonging anywhere, you know. I never felt like I fit in. The moment my Mom… my Mom did what she did and I ended up in foster care, I didn't have a place to call home. So I stopped trying at some point, just gave up. Dug myself deep into work to be able to forget what I was missing. What I was longing for so hard. So hearing you say that…' her lips try to form the words that her brains are sending to her mouth, but she finds it extremely hard to do. 'Hearing you say that you don't want to be anywhere else than with me means more to me than I could ever express into words,' she finally manages.

'Oh Sara…' Grissom sighs.

'Please don't,' she interjects. 'I don't want you to feel sorry for me.'

He brushes his finger against her temple. 'Okay, I won't. The only thing I want to say to you is that I don't ever want you to feel like you don't belong, ever again. You belong here with me... and with Hank of course.' His lips curl up into a smile, unnoticed by Sara. 'This is your home and that won't ever change.'

It's unbelievable how much one person can flood your entire being with almost too much love to handle. More tears are being shed, but Sara won't longer hide them. She turns her head and kisses him softly on the lips.

A loud bark coming from behind the bedroom door rudely disturbs the romantic interlude of the two CSI's.

Sara nuzzles her head into Grissom's chest upon hearing their dog asking for them. 'Speaking of which…'

'Can't say our little Hank is subtle in expressing his needs,' Grissom laughs when he stretches his body and puts his feet over the edge of the bed.

'He takes after his master,' Sara laughs.

Teasingly Grissom turns around and leans over her. 'Just so you're aware, you're very close to another tickle-attack.' He makes it sound like a threat, but his eyes give him away.

'Saved by the dog!' Sara snickers when Hank barks again, getting more and more excited now he hears his owners being awake.

While Grissom is taking Hank out for a walk, Sara makes breakfast. Poached eggs and French toast are the two options she's going for this morning. She has never been a star in the kitchen but knows her way around with the basic dishes. That's also the reason why she prefers making breakfast over dinner.

In the background, an album of Blondie is playing with Heart of Glass, one of Sara's favorites tracks. She hums along with the first chorus and verse, but her voice really kicks in when the chorus sounds a second time. ''Once I had a love and it was a gas. Soon turned out had a heart of glass….'' She puts the spatula she's holding in front of her mouth, pretending like it's a microphone. ''whoo- hoo - oh - wow.'' She's so engrossed in her cooking and the song that she didn't hear Grissom and Hank coming back in. She then also almost jumps in fright when Grissom covers her eyes with his hands.

'Hello again American Idol,' he laughs, clearly satisfied with his advantage of having the element of surprise on his side.

Hank nudges his head against Sara's legs and she drops her hand to scratch him behind the ears as a form of hello. Then, she turns around taps the spatuala on Grissom's nose. 'Hello to you too.'

'Don't stop singing, I like it when you sing!' he exclaims.

She bursts out in laughter. 'Who are you kidding, my singing is awful!' Skilfully she takes out the now-ready poached eggs and puts them on a plate, followed by the stack of French toast.

Grissom takes the plates from her and puts them on the table.

Sara continues by pouring two mugs of coffee and makes sure to fill up Hank's food and drink bowls before joining Grissom at the kitchen table.

The two work together as a well-oiled machine, even though they've only been living together on-and-off for six months now.

They enjoy their breakfast in peace. Hank on the other hand makes a little more noise attacking his food like there's no tomorrow. The boxer always seems to worry that someone will steal his food, therefore makes sure to finish it before anyone can take it from him.

Suddenly, Grissom's phone rings, and his expression turns sour.

Sara raises an eyebrow, wondering who would be calling Grissom on his day off. She has her suspicions, which are soon to be confirmed.

'Grissom.' His voice's on the snarly side. There's a brief moment of silence when he listens to what's being said on the other end of the line. 'No, I've the day and night off today… Well, that's not my problem. I'm sure you can find someone else to cover for him.' Another pause. Then, 'I really can't Ecklie… Because I've got plans today. Why don't you try Garcia or Thompson? Okay, bye now. Yes, see you later.' With that, he hangs up.

'You've got plans today?' Sara asks suspiciously.

Grissom nods and gives her a wink. 'You and I've got plans actually.'