I do not own CSI; the characters are not mine, but I like using them for my own pleasure
As Gil awoke the following day, his mind immediately went to Sara. He had honored her wishes and not called her back, though the urge to just show up on her doorstep was nearly too much to bear. For the first time since he had begun a relationship with Sara Sidle, Gil found himself taking a sleeping pill (two, if he had to be honest) just to still his mind and fall asleep. When he awoke hours later, he realized that he was nearly a full hour late for shift; it was going to be a long day
As he monotonously showered, his mind continued to be haunted by his actions of the last few weeks. He had never been in love with anyone in his life and Sara had woken feelings in him he never knew he had, when he looked at her he felt his breath catch, and when she smiled at him, everything bad seemed to disappear. But, aren't men in love happy about being a father? Wouldn't they celebrate in the creation of a life with the woman they loved? Gil wondered what was wrong with him; why he hadn't felt that happiness. If he loved her, would he have left? If he loved her, wouldn't he naturally love this baby?
Maybe, just maybe, he was a lot like his father after all.
He walked down the hallway of the lab somewhat grudgingly; unknowingly looking into every corner and hallway for a glimpse of Sara. As he passed the front desk, something caught his eye and he stopped, suddenly faced with a large bouquet of yellow and multi-pastel colored balloons, one of which said "Congratulations on your bundle of joy"
"Well, hello Doctor Grissom" Judy greeted with a larger than normal cheeriness.
He pointed towards the bundle, furrowing his eyebrows "What is this?"
"Oh!" She exclaimed in excitement "These are for CSI Sidle. She's havin' that baby, you know"
He glowered a moment "Yes, I know."
"CSI Willows asked me to bring some in for her" Judy continued, oblivious to his change in mood. Glancing around, she leaned forward across her desk towards him "Her baby shower is tonight you know" She nodded knowingly at him, as though they shared a hidden secret
Gil stared at the balloons as Judy continued to babble "It's a little early and well...no one knows if its a boy or a girl...I say its a girl, by the way but Susie in housekeeping..." she rolled her eyes "...she insists its a boy on the count of the way CSI Sidle is carrying it...anyway, CSI Willows thought a shower would cheer her up" She smiled at Gil. "Poor soul's been so down in the dumps lately. She needs something to keep her mind off of everything. Someone expecting a baby should be happy, not so sad...don't you think?"
He did not respond and merely turned and walked away in a daze "no one knows if its a boy or a girl..."
As the words played again in his mind, he felt dumbstruck by the looming fact that Sara would soon have either a son or a daughter.
My daughter. He wondered if their daughter would look like Sara; if she would have her incredible chocolate eyes, or his curly hair. Maybe they would have a son, a little boy who would have his mother's kindness and his father's curiosity.
Suddenly the idea seemed immensely overpowering and he leaned against the wall, head down, as he gathered his thoughts and attempted to clear his mind. He looked back towards Judy who watched him apprehensively so he smiled and waved a little before continuing down the hallway.
Catherine was sitting at her desk, trying desperately to clear up some paperwork form an older case. She utterly loathed digging into old cases, but the undersheriff had insisted that the lab had missed something.
Missed something my ass. She thought as she heard a light tapping on her door. Looking up, she smiled as Gil leaned in the doorway, looking at her with puzzlement
"Hey, Grissom" She greeted "You look lost"
"You, uh..." He began, pointing slightly over his shoulder. "You're having a baby shower for Sara?"
"Oh!" Her eyes grew wide as she jumped up, grabbing his arm and pulling him in, closing the door behind him. "Yes" She said in a hurried whisper once the door was closed "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I forgot actually" She went back behind her desk and motioned at the paperwork "I got so caught up in this case..." She looked at him "I'm sorry, Griss...I told everyone else..." She noticed the look on his face and shurgged "...it's..uh...it's kind of a girl thing"
"No" He held his hand up to stop her. "I completely understand." Shuffling, he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Where are you having it at?"
"My place" She replied as she put the papers away. "Of course Sara knows nothing about it. She thinks she's coming over tonight to do a pedicure with Lindsey, so you can't tell her"
He nodded "Oh, okay" Looking around, he cleared his throat. "Can I...send something?"
She smiled softly, noticing his nervousness. "I think that would be nice" She said "Sara can use all the support she can get right now"
Again, he nodded and then stood, completely still while he looked at her. Catherine could tell from years of working together and even more years of friendship that something was wrong. "You okay?"
His mouth opened and he closed it, he shuffled again uncomfortably, looking down before taking one hand to run it through his hair. "Do you think..." he began, faltering. "Do you think that the guy..." he cleared his throat "What do you think of..." He stopped again, unable to speak
As if knowing what his question would be, Catherine crossed her arms. "Do I think that the father of the baby is a creep?" She asked and he nodded only slightly. "Griss, I think that this guy has screwed Sara over in more ways than the Kama Sutra can define in a bedside book. I think he's a real piece of shit and I wonder how he sleeps at night. You?"
He looked ashen, almost pale. 'I don't sleep at night' He thought. "Yeah...me" He replied aloud and started to turn to leave, stopping to look back at her.
She came over to him, again rubbing his arm softly. "Look," she said in a soothing tone "I know how you feel about Sara, I know how hard this must be..."
"You really have no idea, Catherine" He said sadly, before opening the door and walking out.
As he headed toward his office, another thought struck him and he grabbed his jacket, leaving the office and the lab with all of the paperwork behind him.
Gilbert Grissom had shopping to do
They were walking, hand in hand, down a small street in Vegas. They had gone to lunch and decided to spend some time wandering the shops. Gil had needed a new bedding set and Sara had agreed to help pick it out. He had figured, after all, that it was only appropriate; after all, she nearly lived with him full time anyway.
Gil hadn't decided what it was that made it seem so completely right to walk down a street in public with his subordinate, openly holding onto her hand. But, that day everything seemed so natural and the idea of not holding her hand, showing externally their connection, seemed more odd than the simple act of feeling the smooth skin of her hand and fingers in his.
They had gone into a large natural wood furniture store, Sara insisting that they also had some of the nicest organic bedding sets in the sates. He had laughed at her "Organic" he had scoffed. "What, they make it from dirt?"
Sara had merely smiled at him and pulled him inside. They wandered the store, looking at a myriad of furniture, bedding, chairs. They had just started towards the back of the store when Sara stopped and let go of his hand, wandering towards a handcrafted crib in a display section of the store.
Amused, Gil followed her and watched as she ran her hand along the soft wood, trailing down the sleigh frame to gaze into the crib. "You trying to tell me something?" He joked
She looked at him and smiled "Isn't this beautiful?" She asked, walking around to the front of it
He shrugged; he really had no opinion. It was nice. It was a baby crib. That was about it. "Sara?"
Again she smiled at him. "I think..." She said "That if I ever had a kid, I'd have to get this one...it's lovely"
He looked at the price tag "It should be lovely for three-thousand bucks"
"Whoah" She laughed. "Damn.."
"So," He asked feeling somewhat uncomfortable looking at baby furniture, let alone looking at it with Sara "You thought a lot about this?"
Again, she laughed, coming around the crib to lock arms with him as they walked away. "No." She said. "But this store is so amazing. And, I really think that any kid of mine, if I ever had one, would deserve the most expensive stuff just for having to deal with the issues of being my kid..." She rolled her eyes "Can you imagine? Me, a mom?" She shook her head with a laugh "I am so glad I am not going that direction...poor kid would be doomed before it was even born"
He had smiled, squeezing her arm "Well, I for one, think you would make a great mom" He replied simply as they walked away, the incident forgotten as soon as it was begun. They'd bought his bedding set, went for ice cream and then back to his townhouse, where they stripped the bed and made love on the bare mattress before showering and putting the new set on.
Months later, neither one really remembered the interaction over the crib
Standing there now, in the same department store, Gil looked at the set they'd joked about over a year before. It was expensive, it was elaborate...it was perfect. He did not know if Sara had a crib already, had no idea if she had purchased a nursery set or if she even wanted one; but as he pulled out his credit card and gave the street address for delivery, including complimentary wrapping in the package, he felt that somehow this set was the only one that would suffice for their child. He only hoped that Sara would like it.
The shower was fully underway, Sara having been completely surprised by the event. There ended up being quite a few people there, including Catherine's mom, Warrick's wife and Sofia. Judy excitedly handed out snacks and beverages and they had just begun the games when the doorbell rang.
Catherine ran to get it, one hand still holding the baby food that she had fed to Sofia to see if she could guess the flavor. Opening the door, she was greeted by two delivery men with a dolly engulfed in a brightly wrapped package. "Delivery for Sara Sidle?" The man asked
Catherine looked behind her, noting Sara sitting in the chair surrounded by friends, laughing and watching the events. They had already opened the gifts, but Catherine was thrilled at the size of this newest delivery. "Wow..." She said, moving aside "What'd you bring, the whole living room?"
The delivery man smiled back "Oh, no." He said "This is just part of it. The rest is to be delivered to another address tomorrow"
They pushed the large package into the house and there was a wave of silence as they put it against a wall. "Damn!" Sofia exclaimed. "Who is that from?"
"Not sure" Catherine shrugged as Lindsey gave Sara a hand to help pull her up. "There's a card..."
She signed for the package, smiling at the delivery men as they left before turning to look at Sara who was eyeing the package apprehensively. "Well," She said "Open it!"
"Who's it from, Aunt Sara?" Lindsey asked as she came over, running her hand on the paper. "Ooooo..its a crib! I bet its a crib!!"
"Open the card!" Judy exclaimed as Sara reached out and tentatively touched the paper. She did not know what to think or what to say. Who would send her something like this?
Catherine ripped the card off and handed it to her. As Sara took it, she glanced around at the faces around her, laughing a little with nervous excitement despite herself. "You all did not have to do this..." She said as she started to open the card.
Glances went around the room as Sara pulled the card out and read it: "I still think you will make a wonderful mother and this child deserves the absolute very best. The rest will be delivered to your apartment tomorrow" There was no signature, but Sara knew immediately who it was from. Dropping the card to the floor she looked at Catherine, her eyes filling with tears.
"Who is it from?" Sofia asked as she picked up the card
Sara moved forward, taking the wrapping in her trembling hands as she pulled off the first layer. Catherine came over and helped pull some off and the room went silent as they gazed at the picture on the box that contained the hand crafted sleigh crib Sara had picked out so many months before.
"I can't believe he remembered" Sara said in a whisper as she ran her hand along the box.
"Who?" Catherine asked and Sara looked at her with eyes filled with wonder and happiness
"The father" She replied with a smile as Catherine wrapped her arms around her.
The room was engulfed in laughter and chatter as the rest of the wrapping was removed from the package. To Sara, she felt as though she were floating on cloud 9 and made up her mind to talk to Gil later that day. The simple fact that he had remember a brief moment in time to do something this amazing showed her that he was serious; he wanted to do the right thing.
It turned out to be, in Sara's opinion, the best party she had ever been to