Disclaimer: See chapter 20.
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Epilogue
He whistled as he pulled his Tahoe into the garage beside his wife's minivan, pushing the button to close the door behind him. Carrying the three bags of groceries in one hand he slipped the shiny key into the doorknob of their new townhouse in Summerland. He wanted to go in a direct search for his family, but new Sara's pet peeve about him leaving groceries or empty bags on the counter. So instead, he quickly put the food away and the bags into the recycling bin.
He was careful not to make noise as he walked through the house, as sleep came very infrequently in their house as of late. Walking through the living room, he folded the two baby blankets that were thrown haphazardly on the back of the couch and picked up the half empty bottles and burp cloths that were on the coffee table. After washing the bottles and placing them on the drying rack that sat beside their sink, he started his search again. Before heading upstairs, he took a side trip to the laundry room to drop the burp cloths, where he found the 'baby laundry basket' full. One of the many things he'd learned after becoming a father was that babies had extra sensitive skin and consequently had their wash done separately with a special detergent. After loading their new ultra-quiet, super-capacity washing machine with what must have been every baby item in their household, he headed upstairs and found his wife curled up on their king-sized bed in a peaceful slumber.
With the silence that filled the room, he knew when he walked into the nursery he would find the same tranquil sleep. For a moment, though, he stood and watched Sara as she took even shallow breaths with a slight smile on her angelic face. The pregnancy had been hard for her. She wasn't used to the fatigue or the illness. Morning sickness had attacked her, causing dehydration, and her normal work habits were quickly cut back to eight-hour shifts with one or two catnaps to get her through.
Six months into her pregnancy, the strain got to both of them and after discussing it, she turned in her resignation and he turned in a leave of absence. A little over two months later, on October 28th, she'd gone into labor. Now, eight weeks later, he was completely satisfied with his life. Earlier that evening, before his trip to the grocery store, he'd turned in his resignation also. His time at home with his family was precious and he didn't want to waste one second of it. He knew if he'd gone back to work he would have fallen into the traps of second shifts and bringing work home. Instead, the supervisor position was handed to Catherine and they were going to hire her replacement.
Once he got to the point where he felt comfortable working again, he was going to return to lecturing and helping out on cases where an entomologist's specialty would be needed. Until then, he was going to treasure every priceless moment with the family he'd always dreamed of.
After feathering a soft kiss on his wife's forehead and pulling a blanket over her shoulders, he went into the adjoining nursery. The three cribs, each nestling a tiny bundle of joy, sat side by side and covered one wall. With a smile, he remembered the day they found out Sara was carrying triplets. She had been overcome with worry, wondering how she'd ever take care of three children when she didn't even know if she could take care of one. He'd calmed her, though, telling her that they could do anything as long as they did it together. Now, even with the sleepless nights and tiresome days, neither could see life without each of their precious children.
Upon finding out they were having one boy and two girls, baby naming became their next adventure. The scientific part of both of them made them search the Internet for the meanings of every name they came up with. For their son, they'd chosen William Ian; William because it referred to a firstborn son and Ian like his father. Their two daughters had been much harder, though, as each name they picked had a meaning neither parent liked. Instead, Sara found a site that allowed them to search for names that matched the meanings they wanted. With that trick they'd stumbled across the perfect names. Their eldest daughter, even if only by 19 minutes, was named Abigail Mariposa. Abigail, meaning 'beautiful' and Mariposa, meaning 'butterfly' was named by her mother. He had named their younger daughter, partly after his wife. He'd looked up the meaning to Sara and found that it meant 'princess,' and after looking up other names that had the same meaning, he wanted to pair it with a middle name that meant 'miracle.' He was very proud when he came up with the name, Cassandra Maravilla.
Their friends had argued that kindergarten was going to be hell for all three children, but neither parent budged saying they would simply use nicknames. William, who had his father's chin and nose, but his mother's chocolate eyes, had quickly become Billy. Blessed with her father's baby blues and her mother's nose and high cheekbones, Abigail turned to Abby. Cassandra, who had taken after her father's parents with her grandfather's navy blue eyes and her grandmother's slender face, had switched to Cassy.
As he watched his three precious babies sleep, he felt the presence behind him that was confirmed by the arms snaking around hid waist. In a whisper, "You should have woken me up."
He followed suit in a hushed tone, "You looked so peaceful. Besides, you need sleep whenever you can get it. How did you get them all to sleep at once?"
"I sang to them."
Her beautiful voice was a gift he'd only recently discovered. "Mmm, it usually works for me, too."
"How'd it go?"
"Fine. Catherine was happy about her position and everyone said they expected me to leave anyway." He turned in her arms and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I'm going to switch the laundry over to the dryer. Why don't you get back into bed and I'll be up in a minute. We'd better get sleep while we can."
"Okay." A few minutes later, he crawled into bed beside her, "I love you, Grissom."
"I love you, too, Sara."
They drifted to sleep, snuggled in each other's embrace. When a baby cries filled the room, they both woke up. He opened his eyes, expecting it to still be dark, and was surprised when sunlight assaulted his vision. After glancing at the clock, "It's six thirty. Did you put sleeping pills in their bottles last night?"
With a playful punch to the shoulder, "I'm not that desperate for sleep!"
He liked the new side of her that seemed to always be cheerful, no matter what time she had to wake up. Motherhood had definitely put a joyful light in her life. Crawling out of bed after a quick kiss, he threw on a pair of lounging pants and walked toward the nursery. "I'll change diapers if you'll go start coffee and bottles."
"Deal."
A few minutes later, Sara returned and picked up Billy, freshly changed and smelling of baby wipes and powder, a smell she would never get tired of. From her husband, "I'll be down in a minute with the girls."
"Okay."
A half hour later, with fed babies and caffeinated parents, he presented her with a tiny white box. "I know we agreed we wouldn't buy gifts for each other, but I wanted to give you these."
"Grissom!"
"Just open it." She opened the box to find three charms for her anklet, each representing one of their children. "Merry Christmas, Sara."
"Merry Christmas, Grissom."
THE ENDI hope everyone enjoyed it. I know I'm long-winded sometimes and my fics seem to expand to novels, so thanks for taking time to read and review. Sorry for the couple of errors a couple of you caught. I don't have a beta, so I do my own proofreading and I do miss some things. Everyone's reviews were really great! It's nice to know so many people like my writing! Again, thanks for your time; see ya next go round!