A/N: Just a quick note to thank all of you who have been reviewing and sending me your comments, you guys make my day, every time! I decided to post this a little earlier than I had planned, so I hope you enjoy it! :)

"Um, Gil, this is... this is Laura," Sara said as best as she could manage, her eyes still wide in shock. "Laur – Mom – this is Gil Grissom, my… uh-"

"I'm the one who tore her away from California," Grissom offered.

Laura gave him a second of attention as she nodded to him before turning back to Sara.

"Sara, honey," she said. "It's… I don't even know what to say."

"Why are you here, Mom?"

Laura ignored the question as she continued to take in every inch of her daughter.

"I didn't expect to see you here – I didn't even know if you knew – but I saw you in the back, and I just knew it was you," she rushed. "I'm so glad you came, sweetheart."

She made a movement like she was going to spring forward to hug her daughter, but had thought better of it, and remained where she stood. Sara only nodded in response to her sentiments as Gil shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was conflicted – uncertain as to whether he should leave Sara alone to talk with her mother, whom she clearly hadn't seen in who knows how long, or remain by her side, if she needed him. He leaned into her just slightly.

"Sara-"

"Stay."

Her one word left him rooted firmly to the ground.

"They, uh, they let you come?" Sara finally asked, her voice trembling. "Wherever you are?"

"I'm working at a shelter for women," Laura answered. "I help them – or at least, I try to."

Again, Sara only nodded; searching desperately for the words she should say.

"Honey, I know that, after everything, I probably don't have the right to ask this, but... will you answer me just one thing?" Laura prompted. "Are you happy? Are you doing right by yourself?"

Sara's fingers twitched within Grissom's and it took her several moments to answer.

"I… I'm happy, Mom," she managed. "For the first time in a really long time, really and truly happy."

Laura pressed her lips together tightly in an effort not to cry.

"I'm glad," she said. "I'm really glad. And I'm really glad you came, Sara. It's so good… it makes me happy to know you're okay."

Sara tugged at Grissom's fingers and he knew immediately that it was time to go – Sara had taken all that she could handle. He put a firm hand on the small of her back and cleared his throat softly.

"Mrs. Sidle, it was great to meet you," he said, steering Sara towards the car.

Halfway there, she stopped and turned.

"Mom," she said. "It… it was good to see you, too."

Laura looked as if her heart might burst. Grissom opened the door for Sara, and she slid inside, collapsing into the seat as if physically and emotionally exhausted, as she probably was. He trotted to the driver's side of the red sedan, but before he could even crack open his door, Laura made a split second's decision and was at his side in moments.

"Mr. Grissom," she said. "It was very nice to meet you, too."

She offered him her hand, and in the first second that he took it, he could feel the slip of paper she was passing from him to her. He nodded at her, but with a confused look upon his face.

"Later," she whispered without moving her lips, so softly he could barely hear her.

She backed away from the car, waving one last time to Sara, and Grissom slipped the paper into the pocket of his pants before sliding into the driver's seat and joining Sara into the car.

"What did she say to you?" she asked.

"Just that it was nice to meet me, too," he replied honestly. "Sara? Are you okay? I know that was… unexpected."

Sara let out a breath and nodded.

"I'll say," she said. "I think… I think I'm okay."

"You handled that very well, honey," he told her.

She turned to him with a look of surprise.

"I did?" she asked incredulously. "I didn't even know what to say… I probably said three words total."

"At least eight," he assured. "But I don't think she was expecting a novel."

"It didn't even occur to me that she might be at the service," Sara said, still a little shocked. "I didn't even... think about it."

"You didn't think she was still in jail?"

"Well, no," Sara admitted. "But I haven't checked up on her in years, I don't know where she's been lately. She could have been dead for all I know. I didn't really expect to ever be informed."

"Sara, she's still your mother."

"Biologically, yes. But Gil, I really only had a mother for seven or eight years of my life, and with each passing year, those memories grow fainter."

"She's proud of you," he offered.

"She doesn't know anything about me."

"But you just said it yourself, she was your mother for seven or eight years," he pointed out. "I know that even back then, she could have known that you'd be successful in life. I bet she could tell by just looking at you."

Sara smiled just a little and looked at him.

"Thank God you were there," she said with an almost-laugh.

"Told you I'd be there for the good and bad," he reminded her. "I always will be."

"I know."

Grissom leaned into give her a soft, but passionate kiss.

"Should we go to the burial?"

Sara fidgeted.

"Could we… skip it?" she asked embarrassedly. "If that makes me a horrible person, we can go, but I just… all those people around, staring at me. I don't know if I can do it again. I'd rather visit Adam for the final time on my own terms. Speak to him privately."

"Of course, honey. We don't have to go."

She reached over to take his hand.

"Thanks, Gil."

He leaned over the console and kissed her as, one by one, the cars pulled out of the church's lot until their sedan was the only vehicle remaining.

"What do you want to do?"

Sara smiled at him.

"I have an idea."

TBC!