Saying Yes to Eli Chapter 3
…Somehow, men and women separated. The men, few in numbers, had assembled around a table, talking about work, sports, the new construction on the Grissom house, and Las Vegas. The four had worked together for so many years that conversation came easily, randomly moving from one topic to another. Occasionally, Eli or Bizzy crawled into a lap and received undivided attention until something or someone caught their interest. Eli brought a ball to the table and Greg and Nick agreed to an outside game.
Grissom called as they left the house, "Remember he's only four!"
After they left, Jim leaned to Grissom asking, "How do you do this, Gil?"
"Do this? It's the best thing I've every done."
Jim shook his head, laughing. "No—I see that—I see a completely changed Gil Grissom today. What I mean is how? Four babies in one house. Buying groceries—I can't imagine. The house looks great; you look years younger. Sara looks like a girl—and she's had three babies in two years!" He chuckled. "Everyone took a financial beating in 2008 and you retired! Tell me your secret—not that I'll every retire."
Grissom grinned. He pointed toward the porch where Sara, Catherine, and Sara's mother each held a baby. "Sara."
"Sara?"
"Jim, she knew she could not stay in Vegas, not after Warrick. One day, she said she had to leave, wanted to take a trip. I thought I could not leave—of course, I was wrong, and she left alone. One of the things she did before leaving—while she was trying to convince me to go with her—she showed me what she had done with her savings, her retirement accounts. She had really done her research, moved money around; did not care that she wasn't making money. She wanted safety." He grinned as he continued. "It's that math and physics mind she has. And she never liked to gamble.
"I took her advice and did the same—we lost almost nothing, purchased this place when nothing was selling. She's a genius, and not just with planning and money." He laughed as he bent to pick up his daughter.
"Of course, it's like the lab—everything runs smoothly, then everything happens at once. The washer breaks, Eli paints Bizzy up like Spiderman, Sara goes into labor, and I can't get in touch with our neighbors because some highway crew has cut the phone line. I'm trying to get two kids into the van while my wife is counting breaths and all I can think about is delivering twins on the side of the road!"
Brass was laughing as tears ran down his face.
Grissom laughed, too. "I can laugh today, but I don't think I was laughing when it happened."
Bizzy wiggled and squirmed until she had an arm around his neck and her head against his shoulder. "Big day, Bizzy Bee." Her little hand rested against his cheek.
"She's the image of her mother except for those eyes." Brass said.
"Yeah, it's easy to love her." Grissom's hand covered the child's back. "I know this is weird, but I feel like I get to watch Sara grow up again, making everything how it should have been for her. With Eli, I want to do the same for him—make life as it should have been for his dad."
A shout from outside brought both men to their feet and to the door. The women were already running toward a horizontal figure on the ground.
"Greg," Brass said as they hurried across the front yard.
"It's only a sprain," they heard as they approached.
"He jumped and ran into the ground," Eli said as he stood beside his mother who had placed an arm around the young boy as soon as she knelt beside Greg.
Nick had removed the shoe and sock. "Man! When did you wash your socks?" He teased. "You've been wearing them so long your foot is blue!"
Grissom and Brass glanced at each other, both men recognizing more damage than a twisted ankle.
"Get him up, Nick. I'll bring the van."
"Baby seats," Sara called. With four baby seats in the van, there was limited space. Grissom quickly removed two.
A hurried, controlled chaos ensued while arranging Greg with foot propped up inside the van, Nick riding shot gun, and Grissom as driver headed to the nearest emergency clinic. In the rearview mirror, Grissom caught an image of three women holding three babies, and a man slow pitching a ball to a running boy as life resumed.
It disappeared as Greg said, "Road trip—like the old days!" Nick groaned.
A/N: Two more chapters for this short story! Enjoy!