Sara stared at herself in the mirror, her eyes studying every line in her tired face. Her body was tired too. Especially the aching muscles in her small back.
It was now six months in and she was exhausted.
She shut her locker door, easing her aching form back into the hardness of the lockers behind her. She let a tight moan escape her lips as she gently nudged her hands underneath her pregnant belly.
"God help me get through three more months." she whispered as she stared down at the mountainess buldge in her hands.
"You okay?"
It was his voice. A voice that could render her speechless in less than a second or too talkative in the same amount of time.
Her head flew up, only to come in sudden contact with the cold lockers behind her. She cried out momentarilly as her hand grabbed at the throbbing place on her skull, trying to quickly massage away the pain.
Grissom's large hand covered her's on the back of her head as he squatted down in front of her, "I didn't mean to frighten you." he said softly as he took over massaging her head with his thick fingers.
She dropped her hand, mostly afraid of feeling his hand on her own for too long, "It's okay." she said, feeling like a small child as he searched her eyes.
"You're okay?" Concern was etched in every crinkle of his attractive features.
"Yeah." she smiled softly, her lips twitching lightly as she stared at him.
The position was so strange. One of his hands was on her knee; the other still buried in her hair, "You're head going to be okay."
She felt a ripple of a muscle cramp building in her lower back as she tried desperately to keep herself sitting up as straight as possible, "Yeah." she shook her head, some of her hair falling into her face.
He dropped his hand to her other knee, still squatting in front of her, "You look tired Sara, are you getting enough sleep?" he looked worried as he brushed some hair from her face, now clutching it at the back of her neck, "You really need your sleep, honey."
"I'm getting five hours a night, Grissom." she smoothed her shirt over her belly, "I'm fine."
"Did you eat dinner yet?" he asked as his eyes roved her face.
She smiled, "Grissom..."
"What did you eat?"
She gripped tighter to the bench as another sharp pain shot through her back, "Salad and a yogurt."
"And?" he raised his brow.
"That's all I was hungry for at the time."
"Well," he said, now standing up and putting out his hand to her, "I brought you back a veggie burger and some fries." he stood there staring down at her, his palm waiting for her's, "Come on."
She rolled her eyes lightly, one hand snaking its way under her belly and the other reaching out for his.
She felt his hand close around her own as he pulled her up, "I may not eat all of it."
"I'm not asking you to." he said, then added, "Now go on."
She left him. Upon entering the breakroom she noticed that her food was sitting on the counter in a styrofoam take out box. She smiled mainly because she knew that he had been thinking about her when he was out.
She devoured the burger as if she hadn't eaten in days. She had to admit that maybe she really hadn't been eating enough.
When Catherine walked in moments later, Sara was almost finished with the meal, "Hey." she said easily.
Catherine smiled, coming over to her to pat her stomach, "How are they?"
"Energetic." Sara said as she watched Catherine's hand move over her stomach, "This isn't their kicking time."
"I see that." Catherine smiled, "So, how are you?"
"Good." Sara finished the last fry and threw the container in the trash behind her, "Just...uh...some pain in my back."
Catherine turned from the coffee pot to look at her, "I got that in my last month with Lindsey." she said, "Thank God Eddie was good with his hands."
"Massage?" Sara asked as she cleaned up the table of her peices of lettuce that seemed to have scattered everywhere on the smooth surface.
"Yeah." Catherine smiled sadly at her, "Since you don't have a man to help you out," she shrugged, pressing her lips together, "a heating pad always helped me too."
"I use that already." Sara stood, now pushing the chair under the table.
A fraction of a second later Grissom came into the breakroom, he eyed Catherine as she exited, then he looked to Sara, "Already done."
She moved around the table toward the door, "It was good." she opened another water and took a long drink, "Thanks."
"Good." he said, "You ate all of it?"
Sara stood stark still, a furrow meeting her brow. Suddenly she felt tiny bits of movement in her belly. She looked down, gently placing her hands on her swollen middle, "Their both kicking." she said as a small smile came to her lips. Then she realized that Grissom was still standing in front of her.
"Is that strange?" his voice sounded hesitant.
Her eyes met with his, "For this hour?" she puzzled it, "Yes."
He eyed her stomach, "May I?'
Sara took in a quick breath of air, not sure if she could handle such a personal moment with him, "Sure." she ended up saying as his hands decended on her belly.
She moved her hands, watching as his tan, thick hands slid over the material of her shirt, causing her to almost wince, "Where?" he asked unsurely.
Sara looked at him, seeing how concentrated he seemed on her. She looked down at his hands, gently putting her shaky fingers over his wrists and pulling his palms forward to where two little feet pushed softly, "There." she said, her eyes scanning his face to see what would show.
At first his brow furrowed lightly and then, to Sara's glee, a small smile edged the corner of his lips, "I feel them."
Sara swallowed hard, "They must like your voice." she said it without thinking about it.
Suddenly his hands were off her stomach and he was turned pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"I mean," she rolled her eyes at herself, "it's probably because of the spices in that veggie burger."
He turned, "Yeah." he said, his eyes only scanning her stomach quickly and fleetingly, "I'll get you a less spicy one next time."
She watched him leave the room. Gently she smoothed her shirt back over her bulging middle, "Don't fall in love with him, babies." she whispered as she turned to leave the room, "I don't want your hearts broken too."
