Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of the characters in this story...except Thomas who is in fact a real cat.
Spoilers: None.
A/N: I said to myself i should wait a while before posting chapter four, at least until chapter three got 10 reviews. well that happened a lot quicker than i thought it would! thank you to all who have reviewed, it really means a lot. I hope this chapter continues to please you! sorry to anyone who reviewed that i haven't replied to, i got a little confused with my replies! Enough from me...
New Home
Chapter Four
He could have said partner, or girlfriend, but no, he had to be particular, thought Sara as she tried her best to look as shocked as the others. They had been engaged for almost six months now, only a week after Sara had properly moved into Grissom's apartment. Neither particularly believed in marriage as an institution, but they each craved the stability of marriage that was missing from both their childhoods. Suddenly Sara realised a small hole in their plan. The others knew she had known about Thomas, and had helped Grissom move into the house, therefore she should also have known about a fiancé.
Luckily for them, everyone was too shocked at Grissom's sudden announcement to be paying any attention to her reaction. Before any of them had a chance to regain their voices, Grissom led them to the final room of the house, the master bedroom with en suite bathroom.
"And this is our bedroom." Announced Grissom, as if he had already explained the earlier bombshell.
Everything in their bedroom was neatly hidden away in the large wardrobes and walk in closet. They hadn't been living in the house long enough to really personalise the bedside tables and all of the furniture was bought new and together for this room. Grissom tended to use the en suite, while Sara primarily used the bathroom down the hall so there were no clues at all in there. The agreed upon obvious clue for the bedroom had been Sara's silk bathrobe hanging on the outside of her closet, though both now realised that no longer counted as he'd already happened to mention he was living with a woman.
Amazed at how long it had been since anyone had spoken Grissom led them all back to the living room and waited. Sara found it very hard not to smile as she looked at each of her friends faces one by one, the shock evident on each.
Greg was once again the first to find his voice. "You're engaged?" he asked as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had heard.
"Okay. This is getting a little confusing now man. First we thought you were living alone. Then we thought you were living with…um…a guy. Then we find out you're engaged, and I'm assuming it's to a woman." Nick said aloud so as to make it clearer in his mind.
"Yes Nick. I am engaged to a woman, and she does live here with me." Grissom said honestly.
"So Gris, when are you going to introduce your fiancé?" Sara asked him, wanting to put all the pressure onto Grissom now, seeing as he was the one who had let slip about the engagement.
Grissom gave her a knowing smile and tried to get his own back. "Well Sara, I'm not sure she's ready for a big unveiling yet, but what do you think?"
Sara wondered how anyone could possibly miss the obvious way they were teasing each other, but once again their friends seemed oblivious. She couldn't understand how no one thought to ask why she knew so much about Grissom's personal life, when they were all so in the dark. Especially Catherine.
As if on cue Catherine finally spoke up. "So Sara knew about this?" She asked incredulously. "Before me?!" she added, much to Sara and Grissom's amusement.
"Sara and I are very good friends Catherine. In fact she's agreed to help me cook dinner for all of you, if you're all still interested in staying." Grissom calmly explained, and without waiting for an answer took Sara's arm and led her to the kitchen.
Once she was sure she couldn't be seen or heard, Sara began to giggle uncontrollably. She knew she had to be quiet, which only caused the whole situation to become even funnier. Grissom had a hard time keeping his own laughter in check as he looked down at his beautiful fiancé, who was now collapsed on the floor in hysterics.
In the living room the four guests were still struck dumb. Warrick broke the silence with a question he was sure the other three were also thinking.
"Does anyone else feel like they got home after shift this morning, fell asleep, and this is all some long, elaborate dream?"
"Oh yeh, I totally agree with you on that man. I thought Gris might have been seeing someone, but a fiancé? That was totally unexpected!" exclaimed Nick.
"You know, now I think about it, I did wonder why he had a set of pink towels in the main bathroom." Greg added thoughtfully.
"And it explains why he's been so different at work lately, been more sociable and relaxed." Warrick continued.
Catherine was looking around the living room with fresh determination now, trying to find clues as to who this mystery fiancé was. She decided the best way to find the answers she wanted was to talk it out, like they would a case at the lab.
"So what do we know so far?" She asked in a hushed tone, not wanting Grissom to hear her. "There's the absurd number of plants, the two desks in the office, the clearly artistic decorating throughout the house, the silky bathrobe in the bedroom, and did anyone else notice the cookbooks in the kitchen?"
"I did." Answered Nick. "Since when does Grissom eat that much vegetarian food?"
"Um guys…" whispered Warrick as he spotted the photograph in the blue frame on the side table and began walking towards it. He stood rooted to the spot, photograph in hand, sudden realisation dawning on him.
"Rick?" Catherine wondered what could have caused Warrick's sudden odd behaviour. Stopping beside him, her face broke into a smile as she came to the same conclusion as he had.
"Guys? What's going on?" Greg and Nick asked at once as they came over to their friends to see for themselves what had made them appear frozen to the floor.
"Oh. Ooooooooh!" exclaimed Greg before Nick nudged him into silence. All four then turned to the kitchen and what they saw confirmed all suspicions.
Grissom and Sara had gotten so carried away making the vegetable lasagne in their kitchen, they had almost forgotten about their friends in the next room. The pair had been making dinner together for so long now, they worked in perfect sync, in just the same way they would at any crime scene. To the casual observer, they could be just two friends preparing dinner, but to their colleagues, who stood watching from the next room, it was clear that something more was going on.
"The vegetarian cook books and Sara's furniture is starting to make a lot more sense now you know." Greg said whilst grinning broadly at the sight before him. He had always found Sara attractive, but recently she was more like an older sister to him than anything else, and it made him very happy to see her so content.
"Everything Sara and Grissom have said today is starting to make a lot more sense!" Added Nick. He too had a large grin on his face, partly from being happy for his colleagues and partly for finally knowing why they both had been acting so differently recently. It was as if everything suddenly became clear.
"You know guys, they must have had a lot of fun messing with us today. How about we have a little fun of our own?" Cath suggested, a devious plan forming in her mind.
TBC
A/N: ihope you liked chapter four. please review and let me know what you thought. i'm going to try and wait a little while before posting chapter five, but not too long!
