Chapter Thirteen - New Start

"Penny for your thoughts." His wife appeared in the doorway to his study, giving him a smile as he glanced up at her. "You can't be missing this dingy little office, already." She made her way over to him, sliding her hand into his. "Your new study is much bigger. Nicer windows, your own bathroom..."

"I wasn't." He looked around the empty room a moment, before he turned his attention towards his wife. "Truck all packed up?"

"Packed and ready to go." Sara raised her other hand, holding up her necklace with a jade pendant hanging from it. The necklace she thought that she had lost a few days ago. "We found it. When Vartann and Nick dismantled the bed, they found it on the carpet under the bed. No wonder we couldn't find it, I never thought to look there. Still haven't found, George though."

"She'll turn up." Grissom smiled at her, taking the necklace from her hands. The beautiful jade pendant was a gift he had given her, long before they decided to get married. He turned his wife in his arms, lifting it over her neck. "We've left memories in just about every house we've lived in. This is the only place that we didn't stay long enough to make any memories."

"Sure we did." Sara turned around as soon as she heard the click of the clasp, reminding him. "We'll always remember this as the place that Catherine lost our daughter's pet spider." She smirked, leaning closer to press a kiss to his lips. "Let's do one more quick sweep of the house, before we get going. We've got a new place to make new memories in."

"Okay." Grissom took her hand, walking with her down the stairs. They both took another look through each of the rooms, making sure that they had everything. As he stepped into the kitchen, he found Nick and his daughter knelt down on the kitchen floor. "What are you looking at?" He stepped up behind his daughter, seeing her holding a flashlight in her hands, while Nick was peering under the sink counter.

"Daddy, I saw, George." She jumped into her father's arms, handing him the flashlight. "She's been under the sink the whole time, Daddy."

"Yeah, you've got like a mouse hole in the back there. She's crawled inside it." Nick confirmed for him, setting down the box that he was going to trap the spider in. "I think this counter just lifts away."

"Yeah, it does." Grissom set his daughter on the floor, giving the man a hand with the counter. They lifted it free from the pipe work, giving them a better view of the mouse like hole in the wall. "I'll get her." He knelt down on the floor to get a closer look, lying flat as he spotted the spider inside the wall. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually got her out, placing her into the little travel box. "One spider, check. Now we can go."

"Rosa, you left your crayons in the front room." Her mother called out to her, while she knelt down to pick them all up. Rosa hurried in a few seconds later, scooping up a handful of her crayons. "Thank you, sweetie. Are you ready to go now?"

"Daddy rescued, George. Uncle Nicky found her, but Daddy rescued her."

"He did? Wow, I guess we're really ready to go now." Sara lifted her daughter into her arms, making her way through to the kitchen, where the men were talking. She stayed in the doorway for a moment, relieved to see that there wasn't any signs of resentment on Gil's face at the moment. "Okay, I think we're ready to go."

"Are we?" Grissom lifted his daughter from her arms.

"Yeah." Rosa nodded her head, giggling softly as her father hugged her tightly.

He carried her out of the house, while the other two followed, taking another look at the house from the outside. "Do you want to say goodbye?"

"Buh bye, house." The little girl waved to their house that they had only been living in for a short space of time.

"Goodbye, house." Grissom did the same.

Sara cracked into a wide smile, resting her forehead against her daughter's as they waved goodbye to their house. "I promise, no more moving for a long time. We'll actually be able to decorate your room at this new place. Any colour you want it."

"Don't tell her that." Grissom carried his daughter over to the car, setting her in her seat in the back. "You already know that she's going to pick pink. She always picks pink." He chortled, pressing a kiss to his little girl's forehead, before he strapped her into her seat. "Wait till you see how big your new room is."

"Is it as big as a castle? Fit for a princess?" She excitedly asked him.

"It'll certainly be fit for my princess, once we get decorating. We might just have to put your Uncle Nicky to work." He smirked, catching the man fanning his t-shirt away from his chest as he sealed up the back of the moving van. "Be back in a minute. Sit tight." Grissom pecked a kiss to his daughter's cheek, leaving her in the car, while he went to thank his old colleagues that helped them out.

"Might wonna take it easy on the bends. I'm no expert in packing up trucks, but I think some of that stuff in there might fall over." Vartann dusted down his shirt, handing over the keys to Grissom. "Sorry I can't help you out once you get there. My shift starts in thirty."

"Thank you." Grissom shook his hand. "You've been a big help." He waved the man off, turning his attention to Nick. The younger man was perched on the back of the truck, sipping the ice cold bottle of water Sara had given him in the scolding heat. "Nicky," He nodded to him, awkwardly stuffing his hands into his pockets. He hadn't had a real conversation with him in almost five years, so he wasn't quite sure where to begin.

"Sara said you'd need somebody to drive your car or the truck over to your new place, do you want me to stick around?" Nick shielded the sun from his eyes, looking up at his old boss. "I don't mind. I'm not on shift tonight."

"Yeah." Grissom pulled the truck keys from his pocket, feeling as though he was handing them over to his son as he placed them in Nick's hand. "You can drive the truck over. Just follow us. I'll give you a lift back to your car later." He gave him a half smile, before he started to walk away.

"Grissom," Nick quickly pushed himself to his feet, stopping the man in his tracks. "I just want you to know . . . that I would never turn back on my word. You've always been there for me. You're not only a great teacher, but you were like a father figure to me. Rosa . . . she's not mine. I know that. I don't even feel related to her. And she knows who her Dad is. I know you're havin' trouble gettin' past that, because of where she came from, but I don't look at her and think of her as mine. She's yours and Sara's. I don't want to spoil that. She already has the best father that she could have. I wouldn't want to take that away from her."

"Thank you," Grissom spoke softly, looking the younger man in the eye. "It means a lot to me, Nick."

"It's okay." The sentimental cowboy suddenly stepped forwards, hugging his ex-supervisor, as though he was going off to war. "It really doesn't matter that she doesn't have your DNA either, especially not to her. Like my Mama used to say, blood may be thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood. Your daughter was made out of yours and Sara's love. If you think about, I really had nothin' to do with bringin' your amazin' little girl into the world and bringin' her up is all down to you guys too. She's a miniature you, no matter what her genes say."

"Nick, stop hugging me." The older man pulled back from him. "You'll see me when we get to the house." He rolled his eyes, walking away from the sappy man. "You haven't changed in years, Nicky." He chuckled to himself, climbing into his own car to leave. "Are we ready?"

"Rosa wants her ears pierced." Sara announced, getting a surprised look from her husband. "Her friend from school just got them pierced with little gold stars. What is it you want, sweetie?" She peered through the seats at her little girl.

"Butterflies."

"No." Grissom firmly shook his head. "She's far too young to get her ears pierced. Why would a five year old need her ears pierced anyway?"

"I got mine pierced when I was ten."

"Exactly, ten. That's almost in your teens. She's still just a baby. What if she gets an infection or gets it ripped out of her ear? She has to be old enough and responsible enough before she's allowed any kind of piercing." The man set down the law, making his wife smile as he actually took charge, rather than just asking her for advice.

Once they got to the new house, Sara and Rosa began to explore, while the men unloaded some of the heavier furniture from the back. They were going to hire some men to do the whole job for them, but they were worried about their things getting lost or broken. Sara didn't exactly welcome the notion of complete strangers walking in and out of her house, with her most private possessions either, so she felt better knowing that it would be her close family bringing in her prized possessions.

"I don't like it, Mommy." Rosa made up her mind, the second they stepped into the front room.

"It's just a little empty and eerie, because it doesn't have our things in it yet. Wait until everything is unpacked, it'll begin to feel a little more like home then." Her mother assured her, even though the house did feel a little empty and eerie to her too. She took her daughter outside to inspect the garden first, finding a reasonable sized back yard that was partially overgrown. The flowers in the borders were swamped with weeds. The grass was creeping up the battered fence panel and the dead leaves from the large tree at the end scattered the pavement. "Damn it." She mumbled under her breath. She really hated gardening, but this place needed a lot of work.

Her daughter however immediately ran wild across the concrete pavement, her sneakers crunching against the dead leaves at her feet. "What does my room look like?"

"Well, let's go see," Sara reached her hand out to her, giving her a smile as she skipped back through the leaves towards her. "You better take those shoes off before you come inside. We just had all the carpets cleaned." She sat her daughter down on the step, untying her shoe laces for her.

"Hey Sara, where do you want these?" Nick stepped into the kitchen with a box.

"Oh, just put it on the counter over there. I was gonna make up the beds and things first. We'll slowly unpack the rest of it as the weeks go by." She smiled at him, setting Rosa's shoes by the door. "You're not letting Gil lift anything too heavy are you? He's already had enough problems with his back lately."

"No, I'll make sure he doesn't." He promised her, stepping around Rosa as she started peeking through the cupboards. "Do you want me to carry the stuff for the beds up for you?"

"Sure, I'll give you a hand in a minute. We're just going to inspect the rooms." Sara ushered her daughter out of the kitchen, leading her upstairs to see the rooms. "Well, there's the bathroom. Not too far from our room, so your Daddy can easily get to it during the night."

"Is this my one?" Pulling her mother by her hand into the next room, Rosa immediately lit up at the sight of the new room. The walls were a little bland and none of her things were in there yet, but that didn't stop her from seeing the potential. It was almost twice as big as her last bedroom and it even had a bay window. She just had a regular little window in her last bedroom, but this one had a seat and everything.

"C'mon then, let's go help with the boxes." Once they finished exploring, Sara took her daughter downstairs, where she could keep an eye on her, while they unpacked their things from the van.

"Looks like there's a family with a baby living next door." Grissom reported, getting a smile out of his wife. "What? I just saw through the window. Looked like a little boy. There's bikes and things across the street too. Might be some kids Rosa's age over there." He swept her into his arms as she ran round his legs, pressing a kiss to her little cheek. "So, what do you think of your new room?"

"Big. Can we paint it now?"

"We don't have any paint with us at the moment. We'll have to go to the store later in the week for it. We need our things in there, before we can get ourselves settled in." He lowered her to the floor, taking one of the boxes from his wife's hands. "I found the tool kit. I'll come up and fix those beds together in a minute. Do you want the kitchen unpacked too, or are we gonna order in tonight?"

Sara looked at her watch, realising how late it was. They had spent practically all day packing up the last of their things into the truck, now it was almost the usual time for her daughter's bath, before she put her to bed. "We better order in. I better find the bed sheets."

"Nick already found them. He put them at the bottom of the stairs for you." He smiled at the man as he stepped out the front door to grab another box. "You ready to tackle the furniture next? My backs fine." He stopped his wife from intervening, taking hold of one end of the sofa, while Nick took the other. They had to tilt it to the side to get it through the front door then they had to fight against it, twisting and turning it in the hallway in order to get it through the narrow doorway of the front room.

As soon as they set it down against the wall, Rosa jumped on, giving out an excitable giggle as her father playfully pushed her onto her bottom against the cushions. She bounced off the sofa a second later, follow them outside to the truck again. They left the larger pieces of furniture in the front room, not wanting to risk carrying a large wardrobe all the way up the stairs by themselves. Sara managed to fix the beds together herself, making up her daughter's bed first, so she could put her to bed, while they continued unpacking.

As she suspected though, Rosa was too riled up with excitement to sleep, so she let her help out with some box co-ordinating, before she sat down on the sofa for a slice of pizza.

"This place looked bigger without all of our things in it." Sara stumbled over a box in the kitchen doorway, handing Nick one of the cold cans of soda from the ice box she just found. "Did you get some pizza?"

"He had three slices already." Her husband reported, grabbing the second can from her hands. "Hot water is on now, if you wanted to shower. Are you gonna give Rosa a bath before you put her to bed?"

"I think she's ready to fall asleep any minute. I'll just carry her up as soon as she is. Help yourself to as much as you want." She gave Nick a smile. "You earned it. Thanks a lot for your help today."

"Yeah Nicky, we couldn't have done it without you." Grissom agreed with her. "I can drive you back to your car in a few minutes. You on shift tonight?"

"No, I've got the night off. I can finish up helpin' you guys, then take the truck back for you."

"Thank you." The man said it again, giving his wife a smile as she stepped past him. She gave him a proud smile to congratulate him on putting the past behind him. But really, he was a lot more proud of himself. "Hey, where's Rosa gone?" He looked around for her, finding her in the front room, beginning to fall asleep. "C'mon, Princess." He slid his hands beneath her arms, lifting her against his chest.

"Daddy."

"Shh, shh," Adjusting her against his shoulder, Grissom carried her up the stairs to her new room, sitting her on the edge of her bed, so he could change her into her pyjamas. He placed her under her covers as soon as she was dressed, pressing a kiss to the centre of her forehead.

"I don't want to sleep." She tried to keep her eyes open, but it was proving to be a lot harder now that she was laying down.

"You look tired." Her father gently combed her hair behind her ear. "It's your first night in your new room too. It's always the best part of moving house for me. Your mother takes a while to get used to a new room. She says that the walls feel different or the location of the room in the house throws her off balance, but I always sleep like a baby the first night."

Rosa smiled up at him, holding his hands tightly in her own. "Did I used to sleep when I was a baby?"

"When we moved house?" He leant down to her level, remembering it like it was yesterday, "First night in a new house, you always slept straight through the night when you were a baby, especially when you were in our room. Your mother thought my snoring would keep you awake, but you found it a source of comfort. Your first night in your own room, you never slept through the night though. It didn't matter how many times we put you back to bed, you always got up again and crawled into our bed."

Rosa giggled softly, adjusting her fresh covers around her. "Night night, Daddy."

"Good night, sweetheart. I love you." He whispered to her, remaining put at her bedside for a moment, while she dozed off to sleep.

"Only two more boxes." Nick panted, carefully setting down the box he had in his hands on the soft carpet in the master bedroom. "It's nice in here." He fanned his t-shirt away from his chest, noticing the attached bathroom. "I used to dream of havin' a house like this when I was a kid."

"You still could." Sara grinned at him, dropping the plumped up pillows onto her freshly made bed. "I never even thought about having anything like this. Most of the other places we stayed have been apartments, condos or places where the front room, kitchen and all that were just one room. But this is an actual family home. And look at that back yard." She stepped up to her new bedroom window that had a perfect view of their large back garden. "And upstairs is huge. Besides our bedroom and the master bathroom, there's also a guest bedroom, with bathroom and three smaller bedrooms, with another bathroom down the end of the hall. No idea what we're going to put in half of them."

Nick chuckled softly, making his way towards the door. "It's a great place. I see why Grissom picked it. You'll have little Grissom grandkids runnin' around here one day."

"Maybe some little Stokes kids can come and stay too?" She smiled at him, reminding him, "It's still not too late, Nick."

"I think that ship has well and truly sailed, Sara. I'm alright though." He assured her, giving her a smile in return. "I've got more family than most people."

Sara gave him a wave, letting him get the last two boxes out of the truck, while she made her way across the hall to her daughter's room. She checked that she was fast asleep, before she went on search for her husband. She soon found him in the kitchen, setting up the coffee machine in the kitchen.

"Nice to see where your priorities lie."

Grissom smiled at her, explaining, "We're going to beat our record time of unpacking. I don't have any courses to teach for the next three days, so I'm gonna get this house unpacked and in order. Usually we don't finish until our first month in the place."

Sara chuckled in agreement, stepping aside from the door as Nick returned to collect the keys to the truck. "Thank you again, Nick. You know, we do actually have a spare bed that we could put together for you."

"No, it's okay. I was gonna meet up with my sister in the mornin'. Don't worry about drivin' me back either, I can grab a taxi back to my truck. Thanks for the offer though." Nick pressed a kiss to her cheek, giving her a hug goodbye. After he broke the hug, he reached his hand out to Grissom to shake his hand, getting pulled into a hug by the man.

"Thanks, Nick." Grissom hugged him tightly, wanting to properly thank him for everything he had ever done for them, but he felt a little embarrassed to thank the younger man for his sperm donation. "Rosa's asleep, but you can go say goodbye to her if you want."

"She's asleep, isn't she?" His wife looked at him surprised.

"Yeah... but you can if you want to, Nick."

"No it's alright." He shook his head, not wanting to disturb them for much longer. "I should get goin'." Nick turned for the door, leaving the family in peace. He used to envy Grissom for what he had, but now he was in admiration of the man.

"Daddy!" A little voice called down the stairs a few seconds later. "Daddy."

"Hang on." Grissom finished setting the coffee machine, pecking a kiss to his wife's cheek, before he hurried up the stairs. "What are you doing out of bed?" He lifted Rosa into his arms from the top of the stairs, carrying her back to her bedroom.

"I can't sleep."

"You've only been in here a few minutes. Why don't we read a story?" Gently placing her back in her bed, Grissom reached into the box beside her bed, lifting out one of her fairytale stories that always sent her off to sleep.

Rosa got herself comfortable, sticking her thumb in her mouth as she listened to the familiar tale.

"And they lived, happily ever after." Glancing up as soon as he finished the story, Grissom smiled as he spotted his wife stood against the door frame to their daughter's bedroom. "So, what do you think, Mommy? Are we going to live happily ever after here?"

For once, Sara didn't have to lie. They weren't in a foreign place, where everyone and everything was a stranger to them. She felt as though they had come full circle now and were finally home.

The End

Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought.

~ Holly