Disclaimer: Same as always

A/N: Welcome to the end of the road. Thank you to everyone for reading and especially to those who took the time to leave me a review. They are greatly appreciated. I hope you've enjoyed my little story. One person guessed correctly on how Grissom accomplished the delivery of the third gift which will be explained in this chapter. As always this story is not beta'd and all mistakes are mine. Now on with the story.

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Chapter 4

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"Something on your mind dear?" Gil noticed Sara had been staring out the window since they left home.

"Oh I'm just wondering who my Secret Santa is. I just can't figure it out. Nothing about the gifts stands out as being from one specific person. I'm stumped."

If Sara had looked to her left at that exact moment she might have caught the grin on Gil's face before he had the chance to wipe it away.


"Merry Christmas Sara! Merry Christmas Gil!" Catherine gave each a hug as she welcomed them to the lab Christmas Eve party. Fingers were crossed that crime would take a break for a while so everyone could enjoy the party and then Christmas Day with their families.

Sara asked "Are we waiting for anyone else?"

"No, you two are the last to arrive, but not by much. Nicky just got here 5 minutes before you. Now come. Have some punch and mingle before we open gifts."

Gradually Gil and Sara made their way around the room, chatting with their co-workers and friends. Surprisingly Ecklie seemed interested in hearing about Grissom's work in Peru. Finally D.B. Russell and his wife invited Gil and Sara to lunch after the start of the New Year. D.B. was interested in hearing about Gil's consulting work and Entomology. They hadn't been able to talk much since Gil returned to the lab part-time, other than the cases they worked on. Gil was excited too to get to know the man who now filled his former position and about his mushrooms.

"OK people! Time to gather around the tree for gifts!" Ecklie hollered over the crowd. Noisily the group searched for open seats as close to the tree as they could. "D.B., would you like to do the honors?" Ecklie offered the night supervisor.

"I'd be happy too…ok first up we have here a gift for Greg. Here you go Greg."

At first the crowd was quiet and patient as each person opened their gift but it wasn't long before the excitement of the evening got the better of them and soon multiple people were opening gifts at once, as everyone chattered around them about the gifts they received and from whom.

"Sara! Here's a gift for you!" D.B. spoke loudly through the noisy crowd as he handed Sara her gift.

Sara felt the wave of excited butterflies fill her heart as she anticipated finally learning her Secret Santa's identity. Sara took hold of the gift, wrapped in purple with light purple ribbon just like the others.

TO: Sara

Love: Gil

"Gil?" Sara looked at her husband with a look of surprise, only to be greeted with a devilish smile in return. He had successfully stumped his wife. "But how did…yesterday…my locker"

Grissom's smile broadened.

"When Marie was showing you her pictures. It gave me just enough time to pull around and sneak in the back entrance. I only needed a few minutes."

"You mean Marie knew? You got her to help you?"

"Not exactly. I had seen the same photos the day before. I told her you would love to see them and that she should catch you when you came into work the next evening. I guess you could say she was my unknowing accomplice."

Sara could see the mischievous sparkle gleam in Gil's eyes.

"Now go on, open your gift."

Sara looked back at the tag, "What? No cute quote this time?" she teased. As she began to open the gift, Gil leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"A dream come true for my dream come true."

Sara spread open the tissue inside the box, "A Best Friends Animal Society volunteer t-shirt?"

"That's right. We're driving up to the sanctuary in Utah. You're always talking about how you've always wanted to go volunteer for a week or two. We leave the day after Christmas. Mom will watch Bruno while we're gone."

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Sara screeched as she threw her arms around Gil's neck, "This is the best gift ever!"


Sara rubbed the hem of the shirt between her fingers.

"I can't believe we're actually going…hey, where are we going?" Sara looked up to see they were not heading for home.

"I just want to make a quick side trip first to thank someone for helping me."

"Helping you?"

"He gave me some advice that came in handy" Grissom smiled.

A few minutes later Grissom pulled up to the sidewalk where he was disappointed to see it empty. "He's not here. He's always been here at this time." Grissom glanced around.

"Who?"

"George. He's an older gentleman who dresses as Santa and collects money for charity. This is his spot."

"Maybe they close up shop early on Christmas Eve so they can tally up the money and get it where it's needed for Christmas?"

"Maybe"

"Shall we go home then?"

"In a moment."

Grissom got out of the car. Sara followed his lead. Together they walked into the nearby store.

"Hey Joe"

"Hey Mr. Grissom. How are you? How'd your wife like the candle votive?"

"I liked it very much thank you" Sara smiled, stepping into view beside Grissom.

"Hey Joe, where's George?"

"George?" Joe looked at Grissom like he had two heads.

"You know, the Santa whose been collecting money for charity right out front of your store. He gave me some advice on what to get my wife here for Secret Santa gifts."

"I know who he is but…"

"But what? Did he go home early? Was he sick today? I just wanted to thank him for his help."

I don't think that'll be possible"

"Why?"

"George died 10 yrs. ago."

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TBC…

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A/N: BUM BUM BAAAAAAAAH! Did anyone see that coming? Or did I surprise ya. I was going to end this story here but I decided to end it with an epilogue which will be coming right up. Best Friends Animal Society is a real sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. If you'd like to check out the site just type in BestFriends and add .org to the end. Please take the time to leave me a review, thanks.

~Neelloc12~