Thanks for the many reviews, they have been wonderful. And again, I must give credits to my beta's Just Thinking, GSfanatic, and Elton John also know as thegreatbluespoon. Your secrets out now Jess.

Teens & Tribulations

Chapter 3

Grissom went through his normal evening ritual that he did every day before he would head out to the lab. After showering, the smell of food entering his sinuses drew him into the kitchen. Sara was placing several items on the table, while Kassie was placing the plates and silverware.

"Are you hungry?"

Sara's question brought him out of his trance.

"Hun?"

"I asked if you were hungry."

"Yes, I am."

He walked in and sat down next to Kassie. She inched her chair away from him to scoot closer to Sara.

"Kassie, it's ok. This is Gil."

Grissom held out his hand.

"Hi, Kassie."

She placed her small hand into his larger one. Grissom was surprised at her light touch and smiled and gently shook her hand. Sara dished out some food for Kassie. Grissom and Sara ate and talked about work. Kassie finished her dinner before either of them.

"Can I have some more?" her tiny voice squeaked out.

"Sure." and Sara filled her plate again.

Grissom was amazed that such a tiny body could hold so much food.

When they were done he helped Sara clean up while Kassie watched TV.

"I don't think she was properly taken care of. At least not by Jason's father."

Grissom didn't respond.

"What can we do for Jason?"

He checked his watch. "Sara, we need to talk about this more, but I have to get to the lab. Tell you what, give me a chance to hand out assignments, and then come by and we'll talk." He kissed her and headed for the door, "I'll see you later."

He left and Sara joined Kassie in the living room. She wasn't surprised that the little girl had taken to her since she resembled their aunt. It had been over two years since Debbie Marlin was murdered, and she wondered if Kassie remembered, or if she had ever met Debbie.

Grissom headed to the break room to pass out that evening's cases, and as expected he was bombarded with the question of, 'Where is Sara?'

"She's on suspension. End of subject. Now, for the task at hand-"

"Hey Sara," Greg interrupted.

Grissom turned to see Sara leading Kassie into the room and eventually taking their seats on the couch. He also noticed that she was wearing her ring.

It didn't take long for Catherine to see it either. "Nice rock."

Everyone else in the room then looked at her left hand.

"Thanks."

"So, what did you do, pull a Warrick on us?" Catherine said still sore over what Warrick did last year.

Warrick shot her a surprising look.

"I guess you could say that, but I'm just engaged."

Catherine looked to Grissom. Her eyes silently told him he waited around too long.

"So, who's the lucky man?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, do we know him?" Greg butted in.

"Actually you do."

Now every one was looking at Grissom.

"What?"

Sara stood and moved to him as they all watched.

"Don't you dare Sara Sidle." Grissom threatened.

Sara stopped dead in her tracks at the seriousness in his voice.

"Let's take this discussion to my office, shall we?"

"What's wrong with here?" But Catherine's question went unanswered. Grissom had already left.

They all stood and headed for his office. Sara took Kassie by the hand and followed everyone. She was the last to enter. Sara sat Kassie down on the couch and moved to stand beside Grissom.

"Think of this as one of my seminars, ask your questions one at a time, and I will answer them to the best of my ability."

Catherine was quick to jump on that one. "Are you and Sara seeing each other?"

Grissom looked to Sara and she answered, "Yes."

"Since when? And why didn't you tell us?" Catherine blurted out.

"Look, you all know that I keep my personal life very private, and Sara does too. We just decided that we would try this out and see what transpired before telling everyone. I know it's going to make things complicated around here for a while."

"Why?" Catherine asked.

She had that cocky tone in her voice and Grissom knew only one way to change it. He looked at Sara for approval to explain the situation. At her nod he spoke, "For starters, I can't be her supervisor if we are in a relationship."

"Yes, you can." Catherine interrupted again.

"Let me finish,..." He sighed, signaling to everyone that what he was about to reveal was very personal,... " We're trying for a baby." His eyes widened awaiting the reaction from the people he thought of as 'family'.

The silence hung in the air for some time, but it was eventually broken by Catherine. She was excited about the whole idea, and to Grissom's surprise, she congratulated Sara first. The guys all stood to give Grissom a congratulatory pat on the back.

Greg decided to ask a question. "Who's the kid?"

Sara answered, "This is Kassie, she's staying with us until this case with her brother is resolved. Don't worry, Child Services knows that we have her."

The group nodded at once, not wanting to push the subject anymore. Grissom cleared his throat and sent them on their way. Sara sat down in front of his desk, and Grissom placed himself behind it to distance himself from her. He knew this conversation could get ugly.

"Sara, I know why you have taken Kassie under your wing, you have sympathy for her. You don't want to see her go through what you did." He winced when he saw Sara's relaxed expression change into a pissed off Sara Sidle.

"You have no idea what I went though Grissom." Lately she only called him Grissom at work or when she was mad at him. "I was mad at my mother for killing my father, not because of the act itself, but because of what the final result was. And let me tell you it's no life for a child to be jumping from home to home."

"Well you turned out fine."

"Yeah, I'm a statistic. One in a hundred. She doesn't deserve that life." Sara pointed at Kassie who had laid down and was sound asleep. She took a deep breath to curb her anger, "Listen, we both want a family, and if it's not in the cards for us to have children of our own, then what?"

Grissom let out a breath and slowly shook his head.

"We would probably adopt, right? So, why not now?"

"What you are asking is a lot Sara. We need to think about all of the changes that are going to happen right away."

"Just think it over, that's all I ask. If not for me, then for them."

Grissom pursed his lips, "I'll think about it."

Sara smiled and moved to give him a quick peck on the cheek. She then roused Kassie and took her home. Grissom remained in his office and made some more phone calls. He finished and placed his head on his hands. Like Sara, he too did not want to see either of the kids fall victim to 'the system'.

Just as he was thinking about leaving, the DA entered his office. "Gil, can I have a word?"

Grissom motioned to the chairs in front of his desk.

"We are planning on a plea bargain for Jason. I have arranged a hearing for him in a few days."

"Where is he going to stay?" Grissom asked.

"For now in juvenile detention, then Child Services will place him in a foster home. But you won't need to be presenting any evidence at the hearing, we have it all sorted out so that whatever punishment he gets, it won't follow him into adulthood." He checked his watch. "Damn, I have to get home. Thanks Gil."

The DA scurried out just as fast as he had entered. Grissom sat and thought about Sara's rants from just a short time ago. He picked up the phone and began making the necessary calls. Once he had all the information he needed, Grissom gathered his belongings and headed to the juvenile detention center.

He stood impatiently as he watched Jason be run through the paperwork and handed back his belongings.

"Hi Jason."

"Hello."

Grissom stood uneasy. He didn't know where to start. But Jason did. "Where's my sister?" He asked.

"For the moment she is staying at my place. You are more than welcome also, unless you have somewhere else you can go?"

Jason shook his head.

"I think you might find it more interesting with me anyway."

Grissom put his hand on the young man's shoulders and led him to his vehicle. On the way home Jason sat silently looking out the window. Grissom had so many questions he wanted to ask but decided to leave it alone for now.

Once home, Jason slowly followed him to the front steps where Grissom turned to face him.

"Jason, I want you to be clear on several things, first, I live with my fiancé, remember, the one who looks like your aunt?"

He nodded.

"And second, for now this is temporary, if you do not wish to stay then Child Services can place you in a foster home."

"What about Kassie?"

"I don't think I could convince Sara to let her go." Grissom gave a slight shake of his head as he remembered his conversation earlier that evening with Sara.

"What about your kids?"

Grissom smiled. "I don't have any kids. My work consumed my whole life, until I met Sara."

Jason smiled and nodded.

Grissom opened the door to let him in. They both could smell breakfast cooking as the stepped into the entryway. He led Jason into the kitchen.

"Look who I found." the statement was directed more to Kassie.

She squealed and ran to Jason who quickly swept her up into his arms squeezing her tightly against his body. Grissom moved over to give Sara her good morning kiss. Once Jason released his grip on Kassie, her mouth began to move a mile a minute. She was telling him about all the things that her and Sara had done in the last day.

Grissom looked at Sara. "I thought you said she barely spoke a word?"

"She did. I guess she's just letting it all out right now. Catching up."

She served their breakfast and they all sat down to eat together.

"Wow." Jason stated.

"What?" Sara asked.

"Do you know how long it has been since we have had a real cooked meal that everyone sat down to eat together?"

Sara and Grissom looked at each other. Their hearts tugged for both of these two children whose lives have so obviously been difficult.

After they all finished eating, Kassie helped Sara clean off the table.

"Jason, come with me. I want to show you something." Grissom instructed.

Sara smiled. She knew exactly where he was taking the boy. Grissom led him down to the basement. It was dark when they entered, but with the flip of a switch the many black lights came to life highlighting the many terrariums that surrounded the edge of the main room.

Grissom could see the words forming at Jason's mouth, but they came without sound as he moved around taking in the many different species of live insects. He smiled as he watched Jason carefully observe each species with care and fascination.

"Do you like bugs Jason?"

He just nodded and kept his eyes focused on the tarantula.

"Would you like to hold him?"

"Are you serious?"

Grissom moved over and gently picked up the hairy spider.

"Just keep your hands like a moving surface as he walks."

The spider moved from Grissom's large hands to Jason's smaller ones. Grissom watched as Jason carefully handled the tarantula.

"Can I take him to show my sister?"

"Sorry, Sara has this rule about insects and spiders out of their cages in the house."

Jason then just as carefully as Grissom, placed the spider back in his cage, and continued to look around. He noticed the experiment boards.

"What are you, some kind of scientist?"

"Yes, actually I have my PhD in entomology. I like bugs."

"I like them too, but I'm more into chemistry."

"I could tell by all of the microscopes you had in your room at home."

Jason hung his head as Grissom realized his words struck a chord with the young man.

"Home. Where is home for us now?"

Grissom moved closer placing a reassuring hand on Jason's shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll think of something."

They walked back up the stairs and Grissom locked the door behind him. Jason went ahead to join Sara and his sister in the living room, and Grissom followed.

"I'm going to take a shower. Why don't you show them around, then we can take the truck over to collect some of their things."

"Sure."

Sara stood and began to show Jason and Kassie around where they would be staying for the time being.

TBC

I hope there are people out there that are still reading. My life has been like a roller coaster lately. I will update when I can, please bear with me.