1 year later...
Captain Jim Brass stood behind the podium and addressed his colleagues, all of whom had gathered together on this day to remember a lost friend, a mentor, a boss, a loving husband. He looked over at Catherine and smiled softly, motioning for her to come over to where he stood. Catherine slowly walked toward him, feeling the sympathetic stares from her friends, the people who she had worked with, confided in, counted on..her family. It had been a year since the accident but still she felt like the one everyone felt sorry for, which in part was true. She reached the podium and gave Jim a friendly hug before he left her standing alone in front of a room full of the people who knew her best. She drew in a breath and looked down at the speech she had prepared but suddenly it didn't feel like enough. She felt a lump begin to form in her throat as she folded up the piece of paper and set it aside, looking out into the sea of encouraging eyes before her. She glanced over at Greg Sanders who made her smile by flashing her a goofy grin and a thumbs up. He sat there with his new wife who was now 3 months pregnant. Brass returned to sit beside his new bride Sophia, so much had changed, so much he was missing, so much he would have loved to see. She cleared her throat and smiled slightly before beginning to speak.
"Um...first of all thank you all so much for this. It means a lot to me and I know it would mean a lot to Gil."
Her voice trailed off a little as she looked at the banner Nick and Warrick had hung on the wall "Happy Birthday Gris, we miss you buddy." She cleared her throat to push back the tears threatening to poor. Her voice came out sad and the crowed was silent.
"I had something written down to um...to say but um...this past year has been extremely hard on me, I'm sure its been hard on us all. Sometimes I find myself coming in from the field and walking toward Gil's office forgetting what happened."
She paused. Looking down, she gathered her thoughts.
"This past year has been a blur. Everything seems to be happening so slow, yet so fast at the same time. Gil's..." she swallowed hard "death has been hard on everyone. Not a day goes by that he isn't missed. I miss him more and more each day...everything seems to remind me of him..." she smiled slightly "I can't ever look at a radiated pig or a bug without thinking of him"
Gil's friends and coworkers laughed, knowing exactly what Catherine meant.
"I'm sure many of you would agree when I say Gil was a hard man to work with. But he was such an easy man to love. He was quiet and reserved but he would do anything for his friends. He was the kind of man that you could go to with your problems and he would sit and listen. He may have not always known the best thing to say but he knew how to listen, he knew how to make you feel special even though he never really expressed anything verbally."
Her voice trailed off yet again and this time she looked over toward the table where she had been sitting. She looked at the little man in his Uncle Nick's arms. At first she didn't know how she would be able to deal with having a boy. She knew before he was even born that he'd look like his father and when he was born her fears became a reality. Everything about him reminded her off Gil, even at a year old he had already started biting his tongue when he was really trying to concentrate something. He already had a strong liking for bugs and every time she looked into those big blue eyes, she saw Gil. The minute he was born though, all of her fears went away. Now, she couldn't thank God enough for making their baby look just like his father. Anytime she wanted to see Gil all she had to do was look at their baby...their baby.
Their son smiled up at his mother and she smiled back at him before beginning to speak again.
"I know that everyone misses Gil, I know that I do and that I always will. The one thing that I'm the most grateful for his that he can still live on through our son and everybody who knows him knows that he is already just like his daddy. The thing that kills me the most is that he won't ever get to see what an amazing man his father was and just how much he wanted a little boy. Gilbert Nicholas Grissom will forever be reminded just how much his daddy loves him and I know Gil is looking down on us right now..." tears began to fill Catherine's eyes, "So baby...we miss you and love you...I'll always love you...and I can't wait to see you again. Watch over your son and I know that you'll always be with us...I love you."
And as Catherine finally let the tears escape her eyes and the crowed stood to their feet clapping, not only for the speech that Catherine just made but in memory of Grissom, Nick carried baby Gil to his mother and as he smiled at her...she saw her husband...she would forever see him.