I do not own CSI; the characters belong to someone else. I love borrowing them, though. But I always put them back

On the day of Sara's 18th week of pregnancy, she woke up with a thundering headache. She wasn't sure what had caused it; she had a relatively peaceful night, work had gone well, and she had slept long and hard. Still, the thundering in her skull made her wonder if she had slept wrong.

Grudgingly, she rolled out of bed to look at the bedside clock; she had less than an hour before work.

'Perfect' She told herself as she pushed the covers back onto the mattress, making a somewhat shambled attempt at making her bed.

Heading into the bathroom, she paused again in front of the baby's nursery, smiling despite herself at the boxes full of baby furniture piled around the room. Nick had offered to come by and help her assemble and arrange it all; but Sara had convinced herself that Gil would want to share in that experience. After all, he had purchased it, wouldn't he want to help make the room perfect?

She went into the bathroom, cursing herself for taking the last of the Tylenol the night before and stripped her clothing to climb in the shower, letting the water wash over her as though it would relieve the overwhelming pressure in her head.

By the time Sara arrived at the lab, the all-too-familiar nausea she thought she'd beaten was back, and the first place she headed was the ladies room. She knew she should have called in, but after the last attack from Gil for missing work, she did not dare; even if Catherine were now her boss, the fear of humiliation was great.

Heading out of the room, she rounded the corner towards the break room when she saw her.

Lady Heather

Leaning on Gil's desk, dangerously close, and they were both smiling

Smiling

As she watched, Heather bent forward and planted a single kiss on his temple

Suddenly, Sara felt as though she were going to vomit

She turned, trying desperately to make her way in any other direction but theirs. As she was heading back into the ladies room, a voice behind her stopped her cold

"Sara Sidle" Heather said in dripping charm "How are you?"

She stopped, frozen, with her hand on the door panel. "I'm fine, Heather" She responded, her voice dripping with its own incantations. She turned slowly to face her, trying hard to look more solid than she really felt.

Heather's eyes kept Sara's only for a moment before slowly scanning down her body, landing on her swollen middle before a sly smile spread across her lips "Well," She said "I did not know that you were expecting a child..." She smiled again

"Well" Sara said sarcastically despite herself "Now you do"

"Hmm..." Heather continued, glancing down the hallway towards Gil's office "I am puzzled as to why Gilbert did not enlighten me of this. He seems to be quite fond of you"

Sara felt her face flush at the way Heather said his name. She was about to excuse herself to run away when suddenly she heard Gil's voice as he rounded the corner "Heather, are you ready--"

He stopped suddenly when he saw the Sara, his mouth dropping open as the words escaped him.

'Sara' He thought in a panic

For all of Gil's life, he knew he would never forget the look in her eyes at that moment. She stared at Heather, her mouth opening as she tried to speak, shifting her gaze to him. He knew that after everything he had put her through, the last thing she needed was a personal conversation with Heather right there in the lab

As if oblivious to the situation, or highly in tune with it, Heather smirked while keeping her eyes glued on Gil. "Well, we must go" She said smoothly as she draped an arm through his before returning her gaze to Sara "Congratulations again, Sara. I am sure you will make a wonderful mother"

Sara's eyes widened and she felt her face burning red at the comment, glancing at Gil before turning to rush away from them.

She could hear him behind her, calling out to her as she rushed away but she would not stop. Pushing the door to the elevator open with impatience, she hit the button repeatedly until the door closed glancing up just in time to see him coming down the hallway after her. Exiting the elevator at the car garage, Sara ran full force into Catherine, nearly knocking the other woman down.

As if a damn had burst within her, Sara began to sob, grabbing onto Catherine as though her life depended on it. Caught off guard, Catherine put her arms around her sobbing friend, feeling her shake as she cried.

"What am I supposed to do?" She sobbed, choking on her words as she gasped for air. "Why does it hurt so much, Catherine? No one said it would hurt like this…"

"Shhh…"Catherine soothed, feeling tears in her own eyes. "Sara…calm down…" She knew if she kept crying like this, she would end up sick.

"It hurts so much…God, why does it hurt so much?"

"Sara…" Catherine pulled away to look at her. "You have to calm down…"

Sara tried, taking a deep breath to steady her sobbing. "I don't have anywhere else to go…I don't have any family…I have no one…"

"What happened?" Catherine asked as she gently rubbed Sara's arm

"I knew I shouldn't have come in today…" Sara began through tears. "I was going to call in sick, but I didn't want him mad at me again..." As if she had flipped a switch, Sara began sobbing again. "But she's here…she kissed him!" She took a deep breath. "Oh, God. Why am I so stupid, Catherine?"

"Who?" Catherine asked, her confusion evident

"Heather…"

Catherine stared at her. "Heather?" Surely, they had to know more than one Heather, the world wasn't that small…was it?

Sara nodded, her tears falling continuously. "He always said that they were just friends…just friends…" She wiped at her eyes and Catherine pulled a tissue out of her pocket, handing it to her.

"It's clean, I promise" She tried to smile as Sara attempted to pull herself together. The nagging feeling that Catherine had in the back of her head was overwhelming; somehow, she was beginning to think she knew who the father of Sara's child was...she only hoped she was desperately wrong

"I need to get out of Vegas, Catherine. I just can't do this anymore, it is too hard. I have really tried to make it work, but I cannot see him everyday and act like nothing is wrong...I can't keep pretending like it doesn't hurt because it does." She looked down at the tissue in her hand, whispering "I just never thought Gil would do this..."

At that moment, everything became very clear to Catherine as she realized her nagging sensation was right; Gilbert Grissom was the father of Sara's child. It all made sense: Grissom's attitude, Sara's depression at work, the switch from close friendship to extreme animosity between the two of them since Sara made her pregnancy known. Why had she not seen this before? She always thought it was due to Grissom's crush on Sara, and the fact that she had gotten pregnant while unmarried. "Sara…Grissom…is the father?"

"Oh…. Catherine…" Sara's eyes grew wide as she realized what she had said. "Oh, God…" She pulled away, ready to run when Catherine caught her.

"Sara." She said firmly. "Is he?"

She looked up, fighting a new rush of tears. "I love him, Catherine." She said quietly. "How stupid is that?"

Catherine stood speechless, staring at Sara in disbelief. She didn't know what to say or even how to begin. In her wildest imagination, she would never have thought Gil the father of Sara's child. There was no feasible way that she could fathom the reality of it, but all of the evidence pointed to the truth. Gil Grissom was the jerk who left Sara alone, the man who had not been man enough to step up to his responsibility? It didn't make sense to Catherine, it just wasn't typical of Grissom. But then again, he had never gotten a woman pregnant before; let alone a younger woman who just happened to be his subordinate. The sudden knowledge left her feeling thunderstruck and she found herself unable to say a word.

Just then, the door for the stairway flew open and he was there, rushing out breathlessly to stop before both women. Catherine looked from Sara to him, her arms still protectively around the younger woman.

"Catherine..." He began, stepping towards them

"I think you have a lot of explaining to do, Gil" She said as Sara pulled away. She watched Gil's expression closely, reading there a man in extreme turmoil, his emotions played clearly on his face. He stared at Sara as though his heart were being torn from his chest and Catherine felt herself feeling sorry for him, despite her anger

"I just..." he began, faltering as he tried to catch his breath. "I just need to talk to Sara..."

Catherine looked over at Sara, taking her hand. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked her in a whisper

Nodding, Sara wiped at her eyes again and Catherine hugged her one more time before whispering in her ear "Call me if it gets out of hand...I'll be down in two seconds" Letting go of Sara she walked towards Gil, glaring at him as his eyes slowly met hers

"I always thought you were a better man than this, Gil" She whispered in his ear. "And I love you, you know that, but if you do the wrong thing, I am afraid I'll have to rip your balls out of your nose." With that, she left, looking back at Sara one final time before getting into the elevator and heading up to the lab.

Once the elevator doors were closed, silence seemed to swallow them whole. The sound of the cars whizzing by on the street helped only to placate the overwhelming crush the silence shrouded them in. Gil could feel his heart pounding violently against his chest and was not sure if it was due to the rapid descent down the stairs or the nerves raging through his body.

He watched her a moment, seeing how hard she was trying to curl up within herself; it broke his heart. "Sara..." He took a step forward, reaching for her but she reeled on him with an anger that surprised them both

"Don't!" She nearly screamed as she backed away, pulling her arm out of his reach. "Please...just...don't..."

He stood, shoving his hands in his pockets instead as he looked down to the ground. "Can't you just give me a chance to talk to you?"

"No" She shook her head "No..."

"Just give me a chance Sara!" He begged, taking another step towards her. "I deserve at least a chance!"

"What?" She gasped in disbelief "You had your chance, Gil! Remember? You threw it away. Why the hell do you think I would even consider giving you another one?" She folded her arms across her chest, her brown eyes boring into him. "You do this to me...you do this to me every time and do you know the sadness of it, Gilbert?" She asked, continuing before he had an opportunity to respond. "The sadness of it is that I believe you every... Single...Time..." She threw her arms up in exasperation "Like your phone call the other day, the lilies, the baby furniture...after awhile it all just becomes..." She paused "...empty"

"I am not asking you to forgive me" He said in defeat. "I am just asking you to listen to me"

" I do not need to hear again how we need to work this out for the sake of the baby" She replied, making quotation gestures in the air as she spoke "...it doesn't make anything easier for either of us"

"Then, let's work it out for us" He said softly, another step closer to her

"What about your dominatrix?" She spat

A hand went through his hair "Heather has nothing to do with this" He responded pleadingly

"She was in your office!" She yelled "You two looked pretty cozy, Gilbert. I do not recall the last time you let just anyone kiss you in public...let alone in your office. God knows you never even let me touch you in this building"

He sighed, looking down as he ran a hand across his face. "Can we go somewhere else?" He asked, looking around "I would rather not discuss this here"

"Why?" She responded "Because someone will see us? Someone will know?"

"No!" He was getting angry, trying hard to keep his temper. Why wouldn't she just listen to him? "Listen, Sara...I don't care about that; about any of it..." He had closed the gap between them, standing only a few inches from her. Reaching out, he took her chin in his hand, making her look at him. "At this point, I really don't care who knows...I just don't want to do this anymore... all I care about right now, Sara, is you"

He watched as her eyes, her beautiful chocolate eyes, misted over and she tried hard to turn away, but he would not let her. He held her chin in his hand, his thumb softly stroking her skin "I have been so very cruel to you, Honey...and I just want a chance to make it up to you...although, I would fully understand if you turned and walked away right now" He paused, his eyes skimming her face before adding softly "I can only hope that you do not"

She dropped her eyes as he let her go and she nodded, feeling a tear sliding down her face. He reached out tentatively and wiped the tear away before squinting at her familiarly as she looked back up at him.

"I just don't know, Gil" She said softly. "I am afraid to throw everything out there again...to have you change your mind again...to end up here..."

"Then do not" he replied "Let's talk about everything; let's throw all the pieces of this on the table and sort them out from where they fall." He placed a hand on her cheek and she found herself leaning into it, despite her reservations "Let's just begin again, Sara."

The sound of the elevator bell alerted them and he looked over quickly. "Perhaps we can go somewhere else?" He suggested, dropping his hand "I would rather not rebuild our relationship in the basement parking garage"

She agreed and he followed her to her apartment, her insistence on not riding together troubling to him. Still, he understood and offered no objection. He noted her pale appearance as they reached her door and she excused herself immediately to the restroom. Gil found himself gazing around the rooms, having never been in her new place. It was nice, much larger and far brighter than the last one and she had purchased new furniture. The living room was quaint with a small fireplace, the bar leading to the kitchen was lined with matching stools and she had even gotten a new table and chairs. Wandering down the hallway, he lingered momentarily at her bedroom door, noting the familiar spread on the bed and filled with a sense of nostalgia.

Turning, he pushed a door open to another room and found himself staring into the nursery, the boxes of furniture he'd bought stacked into the middle of the brightly painted room. Entering slowly, he looked at the pastel walls, the artwork including butterflies and ribbons and outdoor-type themes...even bugs. His hand trailed along some of the other belongings in the room, including a lamp and boxes of bedding and soft animals. He was studying a stuffed elephant when Sara came to the door

"It isn't quite done yet" She said as she leaned in the doorway

He looked around "Did you do all of this?"

She nodded as she entered the room "Nick helped"

He felt a twinge at that, feeling some of the old insecurities seeping in but tried not to let it show "It is very nice"

"We tried to keep it neutral," She said, coming to stand next to him. They were quiet a moment before she said, very quietly "I am not sure that bugs are a girl thing, but..." she stopped, looking down at her hands as she wrung them in front of her "...I thought they were a symbol of you..."

He swallowed. Damn, this was hard. "It's a girl?"

She smiled and shook her head with a shrug "Oh, I don't know" She replied quickly "I just mean...if it is a girl...I don't know that bugs are appropriate"

"You like bugs" he commented, giving her a sideways glance

Again, she smiled "I tolerated them" She commented "For the sake of my boyfriend"

He watched her. God, she was beautiful. "Your boyfriend was a jerk." He said simply.

"Yeah" She sighed "But, he wasn't always..."

"I'm sorry, Sara" He said as he nodded towards the walls "I should have been here. This was my place; not..." he swallowed "Nick's..."

She looked at him, seeing the struggle in his head "We all make choices" She said simply "What matters is how we deal with them"

"Or how we change them" he replied, looking back at her. He set the elephant on a box in front of him, turning to face her. "I would really like to change my choices, Sara"

She met his gaze, her hand unconsciously going to her stomach. "Well," She said slowly "Then I guess this is a good place to start..."

He smiled, reaching out for her hand, feeling a jolt of excitement go through him as she took it and allowed him to pull her to him. As they stood there, in the middle of their child's scattered room, and held one another, Gil slowly began rocking them back and forth, thinking that he had not held Sara in his arms in over a month. As he held her, he realized the changes in her body and how differently she fit within his arms; it felt good. He could feel her crying and held her tighter, kissing the top of her head as she wept. "Please do not cry anymore, Honey" He whispered into her hair. I promise you," He whispered into her hair "That I will make this up to...no matter what it takes...I will make everything right again..."

And as he held her, there in the sanctity of her unborn baby's room, Sara almost believed him.