A/N: Sorry if I haven't been able to respond to your guys' reviews, it's my brother's graduation from high school this weekend, and we have oodles of family in town. And now, TWO graduates in the house! Snuck away real quick from game night to post this one :)

"Little Sara Sidle? Is that really you? I haven't in seen you in… gosh, decades!"

"Hi, George," Sara smiled at the older man behind the ticket booth. "I can't believe you still work here."

"Retiring next month," he winked at her. "Where have you been, darlin'?"

"I live in Las Vegas now," Sara answered. "I'm a crime scene investigator."

Though George didn't know Grissom at all, he leaned across the window's counter and addressed him.

"This girl here, I knew her when she still wore pigtails in her hair," he said. "Used to come here all the time, didn't you?"

"It's my favorite spot in town."

"Go on through, darlin'."

"But I didn't get my parking ticket-"

"Sara," George cut her off with a smile. "If anyone asks, just say this ticket's on me. It was good to see you."

"It was good to see you too, George," Sara said. "And thanks."

George lifted the gate and Sara drove past it, swerving into a parking lot and bringing the sedan to rest, as Grissom marveled at how many people from Sara's past he'd seen and met in just the last few short hours.

"George's worked here since basically the dawn of time," Sara explained. "He'd always let me and Adam in for free when we came out here."

"Where are we?"

"Tomales Bay State Park," Sara replied. "C'mon. I'll show you my spot."

After pulling out a few grocery bags from the backseat that Sara had insisted on stopping and getting, they made their way, hand-in-hand, down a wooded path. It was approaching evening, and the bright sun was starting its slow descent towards the horizon. The trees were shaking softly in the wind and cast shadows on their quiet path. Eventually, the path emptied onto a beach, completely empty and beautiful, the lake surrounded by thick trees on all sides.

"For some reason, this beach is never crowded," Sara said as she led him by the hand to a spot in the sand.

She pulled out a blanket from the bag and spread it out. She plopped down on it and laid down, stretched out on her back. Grissom smiled at her and joined her.

"Adam found this place," she said softly. "He said it was the only place he could hear himself think. Whenever things got too much at home, we'd come here, no matter what time it was. We once snuck out at three in the morning, walked all the way here."

Grissom kept quiet, but reached out to put his arm around her. She snuggled into him.

"Despite everything, it's still one of my favorite places in the world," she whispered.

Grissom turned his head to plant a kiss in her hair.

"I'm really glad you brought me here," he said softly.

"Me too."

For a few minutes, the only noise around them was the soft rustling of the trees.

"I can't believe we saw my mother today," she said, eventually breaking the silence. She propped her head up on her elbow. "What did you think of her?"

Caught off-guard, Grissom squirmed a little, unsure of how he should answer her simple question.

"Well, I… I, uh–"

"It's okay," Sara cut him off. "Just be honest."

He still had to take several moments to contemplate his answer. He just simply did not know what Sara wanted to hear, and he didn't want to upset her by saying the wrong thing. He finally decided to take her advice and speak the truth.

"She seemed, well… normal," he admitted. "And… nice."

Sara nodded as she took that in, and sank off her elbow back into her blanket.

"I was actually surprised," she said finally. "I've imagined what meeting my mother again would be like over and over in my mind… it was kind of… I don't know, casual. Simple. In my mind, there's usually yelling. Or tears. Or both."

"You're both adults now," Grissom pointed out. "She knows there's no longer a need for you to be protected, and dually recognizes that you have no strong desire for a mother figure. I think she's possibly partly given up on the idea of being your mom… and just wants to be your friend."

He could feel her nodding beside him, but she stayed quiet. When she spoke, it was not what Grissom was expecting to hear.

"Was I too mean to her?"

This time, Grissom had to lift his head to his hand, in order to be able to look at her.

"What?"

"I don't know… was I too… distant?" Sara asked nervously. "Should I have said more? I don't –"

"Sara," he cut her off softly. "I think you did just fine. I told you that. Your mother doesn't expect to be your best friend after all these years."

"But in the circumstances –"

"Grief often prompts reconciliation, yes," Grissom relented. "But you can't expect yourself to forgive everything your mother has done, just because you lost a loved one."

"You're right."

He could tell she was unconvinced.

"Honey," he said softly, stroking her arm. "I think it's good that you saw your mother today. And I think it's good that you spoke to her. It took a strong person to do as much as you did. I don't think she could have expected more from you."

Sara held his gaze.

"Really?"

"Really," he confirmed. "I'm very proud of you."

She smiled at him and reached up to grab his collar, tugging him down towards her. She kissed him, pulled him close and they laid in silence for a while, body pressed against body, and hands intertwined. After what seemed like hours laying in comfortable quiet, Sara again propped her head on her elbow and smiled at him, a twinkle in her eye.

"You hungry?"

"A little," he grinned back at her. "You going to show me what's in the rest of those grocery bags?"

Sara grinned wider and extracted two pre-packaged wraps, one chicken and one veggie, a bag of grapes, a stack of plastic cups and a bottle of wine.

"A picnic?" he beamed.

As the moon began to rise above them and the stars came out in full force, they joked as they ate their wraps, as Grissom fed Sara the grapes as she giggled and they made a great head start into the bottle of wine. They made out under the stars like teenagers, both nipping playfully and kissing deeply and passionately. Full and happy, he took Sara into his arms again, listening to the water lapping on the shore.

"I love you, Sara," he whispered into her ear as his nose nuzzled into her ear.

"This is the only place in town that doesn't hold any bad memories for me," Sara said. "Tonight is one more memory to add to the pile. I love you, too."

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her some more. She shivered in his arms as their lips made contact.

"That was either one great kiss, or you're getting cold," he said as they pulled apart.

"I'm okay."

He ran a few fingers down her arm.

"Honey, you have goose bumps," he protested. "Maybe it's time we should head out. When does the park close?"

"An hour ago," Sara said, glancing at her watch. "But George probably just left the gate up for me."

"It's that late already?"

"Time flies when you're making out," Sara joked.

"I always lose time when I'm with you," he said, stroking her cheek as the wind ruffled her hair. "I could kiss you forever."

She giggled again.

"C'mon, Romeo," she said. "Let's get out of here before the midnight watch finds us and cites us for public display of indecency."

Grissom stood and pulled Sara to her feet, drawing her closer for one last hug and kiss.

"Tonight was amazing," he said. "Are you doing okay?"

"Much better," she replied. "I think this is just what I needed… you're just what I needed."

Grissom grinned as she collected the blankets and remaining food and put them back into the bags.

"Lucky me."

Later that night, after Sara had showered, wrapped herself in her robe and fallen asleep in Grissom's arms, he detangled himself from her and slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him before turning on the light, so he wouldn't wake her with its brightness. The pants he wore earlier were discarded on the floor from when he had showered, and he reached down to pry out the piece of paper he had put there that afternoon. He stared at it for a moment before unfolding it and reading the few words that were scribbled on it.

"Meet me tomorrow at 11 a.m. It would mean a lot if you could make it."

Underneath was an address; one Grissom assumed was where he'd find the Tomales Bay Center for Women. He leaned against the bathroom counter and sighed, running through the dozens of possibilities of what Laura Sidle would want to talk to him about.

Should he even go? She obviously didn't want Sara to know, otherwise she would have asked him in front of her. He shouldn't go behind Sara's back… it wasn't his place for him to decide what was best for her. She'd been doing that on her own for years.

Then again… maybe she'd be appreciative. Maybe Laura would tell him the words she wanted to say to Sara, and Grissom could relay them to her. That way, Sara would know without actually having to see her again. But what would he tell her? He couldn't just disappear for the morning without telling her where he was going. And besides, it was their last day in California together, he wanted to spend the entire day with her before they both had to head back to Vegas and back to work.

What should he do?

He turned out the bathroom light and slipped back into the hotel room, searching through the dark to find the jacket draped on a chair. He tucked the piece of paper into the pocket and tiptoed back to the bed. He slipped back under the covers and propped his head up on his elbow, watching Sara as she slept.

Her lips were parted slightly and he could just barely hear her quiet breathing. Her eyelashes were dark crescents against her pale skin, which seemed almost luminescent in the darkness. He looked at every freckle on the face he knew so well, and when he reached out to brush her hair out of her face, she leaned into his touch in her sleep. His heart almost burst with appreciation for how much he loved her. He wasn't kidding when he meant he loved her for good things and bad, he'd never experienced a love so deep, never cared for a person as much as he cared for Sara. She kept his heart beating, his life worth living. She was everything to him.

He slid down further into the sheets, so he was lying flush against her, and gathered her up in his arms. She settled into them comfortably, into the place that she called home.

In that moment, holding her, he made his decision.

TBC!