So here's another update. Please read it before you blow your hand off or any other miscellaneous extremities setting off fireworks. Thanks to those who continue to review, you guys rock. Big monstrous thank you to Just Thinking, I'm getting better and better with each passing chapter. And thegreatbluespoon, props to her for the ending and the next few chapters to come; details are at the bottom. Enjoy.
Teens & Tribulations
Chapter 29
All he wanted to do was leave, go home and be with his family. Grissom scoffed; family, only a short time ago he was thinking he was too old for the hopes of one. Now he was a husband and a father of three.
A knock brought him back to reality. "Ecklie informed me about finding a replacement for Sara, what's up with that?" Catherine moved in and took a seat as if she owned the place.
Grissom rolled his eyes. "He wants to keep Sara in the lab, saying something about how we're short staffed for the field."
"And you're not happy with that?"
Grissom sat up and folded his hands on his desk. "We discussed this the other day; Sara wants to start coming back part time. I don't see a problem with that, but it's evident that Conrad thinks he can just push Sara out of the lab."
Catherine's face turned to shock. "He never said anything about firing her."
"No, I think he's planning on making her so mad she'll quit and want to stay home."
"Ha! Not Sara."
Silence fell upon them after that last remark as they both sat pondering what course of action they should take next. Grissom sat looking past Catherine, pursing his lips; Catherine was looking at the picture that was sitting proudly on his desk. She smiled as she remembered the day she took it. Sara was sitting in a hospital rocker cradling a newborn while Grissom, Jason, and Kassie stood proudly around her.
"I got it." Grissom looked to Catherine as she once again broke his train of thought. "Since I technically am Sara's supervisor, I'll keep her while you find a suitable replacement for her full time slot."
"In other words, just hire another CSI."
"Exactly. How long is it going to take you to find someone anyway?"As always she answered her own question. "Weeks, a month?" Grissom went to answer but was cut off again. "Then Sara can work part time for a while, and if she decides to come back full time, we'll just have more bodies around so that would mean more nights off for the rest of us."
He never knew how, but Catherine always seemed to have it all figured out.
Grissom checked his watch as he pulled onto his street. It was nearly ten in the morning. He and Catherine spent over an hour trying to figure out how to make everyone but Ecklie happy. Just as he pulled into the driveway, the garage door opened.
Jason emerged with the lawn mower. He gave a quick wave before starting it, and proceeding to mow the front lawn.
For a moment Grissom just sat and watched as Jason walked back and forth before exiting his Denali andheading into the house. Kassie was the first one to greet him.
"Daddy, Daddy, guess what?!"
Grissom dropped his briefcase just in time to hoist her up before she crashed into him. "What?"
"Momma says I get to go to the first grade this year." Her voice was several octaves higher than normal as she never attempted to hide her excitement.
He smiled. "That's right. It also means you'll learn new things."
"Will I still get to color?"
"I'm sure you will." Grissom set her down and watched as she headed to the back yard at a full sprint.
Hunger took him into the kitchen, where he found Sara cleaning up the breakfast dishes as she discussed the matter of her return to the lab with Sydney.
"Your uncle is going to watch you tonight." Sydney gurgled. "Yes he is, 'cause Momma's going back to work with Daddy." Her hand moved over and she gave Sydney a quick tickle which elicited a brief laugh out of the infant.
Grissom didn't want to interrupt her, so he just made his way to the fridge.
"Your breakfast is in the microwave."
His hand stopped inches from the handle, as he looked back over his shoulder to see Sara's back to him. "Thanks."
Sara turned to Sydney. "See, Momma has this freaky connection with Daddy; I know when he's in the same room without even looking."
Even though the child had no idea what she was saying, it still made her laugh. Grissom even giggled. "I think you know when I'm within a hundred yards of you."
"Sometimes." She moved over and kissed him, Sydney laughed. "Hey don't laugh. Do you know how long it took me to be able to do that?"
"Well let's see..." he moved a finger to his lips as he pondered.
Sara turned to throw a towel at Grissom before he had a chance to fully answer her question.
"It was a joke, calm down."
They shared a smile and Grissom began the reheating process of his belated breakfast.
While he was eating, Sara put Sydney down for a nap, before returning to the kitchen. "Gil I was wondering..." She started as she returned to the room.
Might as well get it over with. "Ecklie wants me to get a replacement." Grissom suddenly interrupted without even looking up at her.
Sara stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth falling open and her eyes widening. "For me?"
He only nodded, still not risking a glance at her expression.
"Does he want you to fire me?" Sara's voice remained calm, how, even she didn't know.
"No." Grissom simply said before taking another bite of his food.
"Good, otherwise I would sue his ass off. I'm still on maternity leave." Her voice began to drip with annoyance. The chemistry between Ecklie and herself was like baking soda and vinegar. Combine the two and you could make a model volcano erupt.
"I know Catherine and I talked about that. Don't worry we have a plan." It was all he could say to let Sara know that he was on her side, not the lab's.
"I'm sure she does." They looked at each other briefly before Sara completely changed the subject. "Who's mowing?"
Grissom looked to where the sound of the lawn mower was coming from. "Jason, I think he wants something."
Sara smiled, "I'll let you make the yes or no decision on that. I'm sure it has to do with a guy thing anyway."
It only took Jason two hours to mow and weed eating the yard. Grissom was already asleep when he finished, and so was Sara, trying to rest before her return to the lab. He kept Kassie and Sydney occupied while his parents slept.
"Jason, will you help me feed my fishes?" Kassie asked extending the small container of fish flakes to him.
"Sure." He moved from the couch to where the aquarium stood proudly in the living room, and placed the flakes into her hand, watching with her as she threw them in. "Man, Fritter's getting big." Jason leaned over to look at the Shubunkin as the fish began to eat.
"Uh-huh. He's bigger thanCha-cof-ski now." Kassie made her best attempt at pronouncing the name as she pointed to the Calico Fantail.
"Kassie that's Tchaikovsky.And look at Booger." He mentioned the fish he had picked out and named.
He admired the fish with her until Sydney began to cry. Jason rushed to the nursery hoping that he got to her in time.
"Shhh, it's okay, Bubba's here." He lifted her up and noticed she had quite the load in her diaper. "It's sad I know. I've changed more diapers than Mom or Dad."
Jason quickly had her changed and took her with him back into the living room to watch TV, and began to ponder how he was going to approach the subject of going to a concert.
It was nearly four in the afternoon when Sara emerged refreshed and ready to face the night. She found Jason sitting in the living room with the girls. He had Sydney sitting in his lap, her back propped up against his stomach. Kassie was next to him as they watched the Disney classic, The Jungle Book.
"Hey, have you been watching them all day?" She asked standing at the threshold between the living room and kitchen.
Jason turned his head sharply, startled by Sara's sudden appearance. "Yeah."
"It's funny, your dad said something earlier about you wanting something." Sara let out a small laugh, but when Jason didn't even smile she knew Grissom was right. "What?"
Jason sucked in a breath, held it, and released it before proceeding. "I got an email from Rifle; he's got extra Ludacris tickets for tonight…"
"Luda what!?" She shook her head, unable to keep up with what's popular in the world of the teenager.
"Just listen. It's a concert at the events center…"
"Who's all going to go?" Sara butted in.
"Dirk's going, and some other guys will be there. Please?"
It was then that Sara remembered what she had told Grissom earlier. "Ask your dad."
Sara gathered Sydney and left Jason to ponder how he was going to convince his father to let him attend a concert. He was still on probation and Grissom rarely let him stay out past ten at night.
Grissom emerged only minutes later. He passed Jason sitting on the couch on his way to the kitchen to help Sara with dinner before Greg arrived to baby-sit."Need any help?"
"Nah, but Jason wants to ask you something." She stopped what she was doing and looked at him.
"He does?" Grissom narrowed his eyebrows in confusion before turning his back to her.
She smiled and watched him head back into the living room, and then continued to prepare their dinner.
"Mom says you wanted to ask me something."
Jason's head shot up surprised at Grissom's sudden presence. "Ah...well...there's this concert and I was invited."
"A concert?" Grissom asked intrigued as looked over his son.
Jason nodded, "A few of the guys are going, I asked Lindsey, but Catherine told her no. I've never been to a concert before."
Grissom raised his eyebrows and sat down in the recliner across from the teen. He closed his hands together and stared down the young man sitting across from him.
Jason was convinced he could hear the second hand ticking on Grissom's watch before anything was said.
"Okay, but, there and nowhere else. If I find out that you lied to me, God help you, because I will ground you until you're thirty." Grissom wasn't very good at threats, but it was the only way to get his point across that if Jason were to lie to him, there would be hell to pay
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. "Deal." He jumped up and ran upstairs.
Grissom remained at his post, thinking over if he had made the right decision. He could only assume that since Jason was more relieved about being able to attend, that he would respect his wishes.
After dinner Grissom stood in front of the bay window looking out to the street. He took a sip of his coffee when a new Red Ford Mustang pulled up and honked its horn. The thundering of feet coming down the stairs caused him to turn and interfere with last minute instructions.
"Home by midnight, nowhere else. Greg will be here"
"Got it." Jason said as he ran by and out the door.
Sara joined Grissom at his post watching as Jason ran to the awaiting car and climbed into the back seat.
"Stop it."
He just turned his head slightly, but not looking at her. "I just don't fully trust him yet."
"Why did you let him go?"
Grissom shrugged his shoulders, "He's got to regain my trust somehow."
A knock came at the door. "Greg's here." Sara placed a kiss on Grissom's cheek before heading to the door to let Greg in.
Grissom was ready to head to the lab shortly after. He was afraid of being later than normal as Sara kept giving Greg instructions on what to do if the world should come to an end.
"Sara, come on." Grissom called out as he checked his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time.
He remained quiet during the drive, his agitation wafted off of him and Sara could sense it. She decided it was not a good night to start something bad, so she remained quiet as he drove.
As Sara opened her locker, she realized it had been a while since she had been there. Her favorite jacket still hung in the same spot she had left it, a change of clothes, and several personal items. She dug around and found her last prescription for birth control. Maybe going back on the pill would be better than trying to remember a condom every time the fireworks ignited, because with three kids in the house, sex was definitely spontaneous.
"Hey girl. You back already?"
"Hi Warrick. Yeah, but only part time."
He opened his locker and checked his sidearm before placing it in the holster. Sara watched as he handled the gun so smoothly. It had been months since she even held one.
"So, is the house being destroyed as we speak?" He interrupted her thoughts.
"Huh, oh no. Jason's at a concert with some friends, and I conned Greg into watching the girls."
Warrick laughed, "Well he always claimed to be a ladies man."
Sara laughed with him. "True."
Just then Nick walked in. "Sara!" He moved over and hugged her, lifting her off of her feet in the process. "Good to have you back."
"So I've been told."
"Come on you two, if we're late for assignments her husband's going to give us a hard time."
Sara tried to kick at Warrick as he passed. "Not funny."
They sat in the break room enjoying small talk when Catherine walked in.
"Hey, look who's back. Nick, Warrick, Grissom has your slips. Sara, you're with me tonight." She turned to walk out, but quickly stopped. "Oh, and Sara, Grissom says you have to lose the gun."
"What?"
"Yeah, something about you're not up to date on your firearms test. And the only reason you're allowed in the field is because I told him you were going with me. Saddle up." Catherine seemed more than excited about Sara being back.
Sara shrugged her shoulders and left with Catherine. In the past year they had gone from annoyed colleagues to friends. The whole idea shocked them just as much as everyone else. They remained quiet as they walked to the awaiting Denali.
Catherine could only remain quiet for so long, her need for gossip fuel was overwhelming. "So, how was your vacation, how are the kids, did you enjoy the away from home sex?"
"What…Catherine!?" Sara turned in her seat to stare at Catherine, mouth agape.
Catherine started the truck and headed to their scene laughing the entire time. "Seriously Sara."
"Vacation was great, the kids are good, and the sex is none of your business."
"Ha! That means the sex was mind blowing. Or really bad."
Sara smirked and didn't answer.
Grissom sent Nick and Warrick out on their own cases before retreating to his office. After a week away from the lab, the paperwork piled on his desk was astronomical. He pulled a file from the top and sighed as he flipped it open.
After an hour he wanted to call Sara and check in on her, and see how she was getting along. If he called, she would bite his head off for not trusting her, and if he didn't call, his mind would worry all night.
Even though they only worked the scene after the crime had been committed, suspects have been known to return, or some inexperienced cop did a shitty job of clearing the scene. He was her husband, and she was the mother of his children, it was his job to worry.
Grissom picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hello."
"Greg, what's going on? Why do you have the stereo turned up so loud?"
The ambient noise died down. "Uh, Kassie and I are playing games."
"Where's Sydney?" He had that tone in his voice that was reserved for interrogations.
"She's asleep." Kassie shrieked in the background. Greg pulled the phone away from his face and whispered. "Shhh, it's your Dad."
"How can she be asleep with all of that racket? You didn't slip her anything, did you?"
"No, no God no." Greg quickly defended himself. "I guess we just wore her out."
"Or got tired of listening to you." Grissom shot back. "Look, is Jason home yet?" He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Nope, haven't seen him."
Grissom looked at his watch, it read ten after midnight. "Call me when he gets home will you?"
"Alright."
Grissom hung up without saying goodbye and called Sara.
"Wow, you almost made it three hours, I'm proud of you."
"I've been sitting here for an hour debating on calling. Jason's not home." He sighed in disappointment.
Sara knew all too well this was bound to happen and tried to put his mind at ease. "Maybe it lasted longer than they thought, or they went to get some food. He's fourteen Gil. Remember he's never had a childhood."
"Sara, he's on probation. If he gets caught on the streets after midnight, he could go to jail." He was beginning to get uneasy as the clock continued to tick past midnight.
"Give him another hour. I'm sure everything is alright" She did the best to hide her own concern that began to surface at Jason's absence.
"Sure. How are you guys coming?"
"We'll be back within the hour. I'll get the evidence processing then head home. I guess that means you've talked to Greg?"
"Yes."
Sara heard the tone of his voice. "And?"
He sighed heavily. "You don't want to know."
"I'm sure. I'll see you after a bit. Bye." With a smile Sara hung up the phone figuring Greg was having too much fun with the girls and Grissom didn't approve.
"Bye." He hung up his phone and tried not to think about what his son could be doing.
Sara and Catherine made it back to the lab as she had promised, and was getting ready to head home. She was storing some items away in her locker when her spine began to tingle. A smile cracked her face. Grissom placed his hands on her hips and pressed himself flush against her backside.
He inhaled the scent of her hair. "Mmm. Heading home?"
"Yes. Why?"
"How are you going to get there?" Grissom placed a kiss to her neck.
Sara let her head fall back onto his shoulder. "I'm bumming a ride from Brass. He's waiting for me now."
"Will you wait up for me?" His voice low and seductive.
She smiled. "Of course."
"Good. And if you see my son, tell him he's going to hear it from me."
That brought a laugh out of her. "Okay."
Once they had parted, Grissom retrieved himself a cup of coffee before heading back to his office. Just as he sat down, the phone on his desk rang. He quickly checked his watch before answering; two fifteen.
"Grissom." He was waiting to hear Jason's voice plead for forgiveness.
"Mr. Grissom, I'm Tracy Roberts, a nurse here at Desert Palms."
Wholly shnikies batman!!! I just want to remind everyone that the majority of this idea came from thespoon, so please direct any hate mail towards her. Stay tuned to see what happens next. And leave a review telling me your hopes and dreams so we can shoot them down.
TDCSI