Disclaimer: Very little almost nothing accounts for what I own - but I do claim all credit for Julie-Ann and at this stage Julie Grissom, as we don't really know anything about Grissom's mothers except for her being deaf.

A/N: Sorry about the long gap between updates. I'd been working overtime doing evening stockfill up to Christmas, and then I was away in the Highlands over Hogmanay, so I'm just starting to get into a normal routine again. Saying that though, I've just moved to a new department and am busy having to learn new stuff at work again (not to mention being full of the flu at present) so it'll probably be another few wees again before the next chapter is up.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas & New Year.


Chapter 6

Sara smiled as she awoke, hearing his heartbeat under her ear and feeling his strong arms around her waist. For the third time in a row she was once again waking in Gil Grissom's arms. Although so far they'd only slept together (and not in the biblical sense), nothing 'physical', it was still very comforting.

While Gil slept on she thought over the past couple of days, since they'd told everyone about Julie-Ann. About her agreeing to Griss's unspoken question about trying a romantic relationship again.

In some ways it was like a sense of déjà vu, a feeling that nothing had really changed and they'd picked up right where they'd left off. Although they'd grown to know so much more about each other over the past 6 years.

Having lived in two separate cities (not to mention two different states) had before afforded them a certain degree of privacy, albeit there were no 'secrets' they'd kept from each other, often it had been only 'half-truths' that had been shared.

Last night after diner she'd curled up in his arms on her couch and told him all of her past - no holds barred - then he had done likewise.

Before Sara moved to Vegas, she thought she knew a great deal about and of him, and he of her likewise. She had certainly let him in closer to her that she had anyone else she knew and she was certain he had with her also. But now after telling him about her parents last year, and her talk last night there were no grey areas for either of them.

Gil had know previously that she'd spent time in foster care, and that her father was dead. But until last year she'd not told him the circumstances.

Likewise Sara had known that Grissom's Mother was deaf, though until her first year in Vegas she'd not know Griss could sign. The only time she'd met Julie Grissom, Julie had spoken clearly and lip read through their conversations. And although Grissom hadn't know it, as soon as she'd found he could sign she'd realised it was because of his mother and then taken classes to learn how. Only last night had she found out the condition was hereditary and how close Gil had come to losing his own hearing. (Though she'd had her suspicions when a few years ago he seemed to be studying everyone's mouths when they talked, and didn't seem to hear everything people said to him). Though she'd suspected, she hadn't wanted to say anything until Gil brought up the subject himself.

She had told him of her learning to sign and he looked at her incredulously. Then he told her how his deafness had been another reason for him keeping his distance in regards to their relationship, and about his surgery just after that.

At first she had been typically angry with him (especially for telling Catherine and not her about the surgery), but had soon calmed down as they continued pouring out, not secrets per say, but things they'd never mentioned for fear of the others reaction.

By now she felt that she so intimately knew Gil, that his mind was a part of her own.

Sara lay still for a few more minutes, thoughts still on the man beside her, until she felt a slight movement beneath her head and heard a change in his breathing.

"Good Morning" He said looking down at her with his usual half-smile.

"That it is" Sara replied, before shifting up him slightly, lowering her face and capturing his lips with hers. After a deeply satisfying wake-up, Gil gently broke off their kiss and smiled up at her.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"For being you".

"You know, I could get used to this" Grissom said as Sara rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Good - cause so could I" She answered. "You realise we have to go back to work tonight?"

"That's tonight" Grissom replied. "Plenty of time together before then".

Sara was about to snuggle back into his arms when she saw the time - nine thirty.

"Oh shit!" She exclaimed as she quickly climbed out of bed.

"What's wrong?" Grissom asked worried he'd upset her again.

"I haven't rung Cath yet, and I promised I'd ring her after shift this morning, cause I brushed her off when she phoned before dinner last night - I'll be back when I've satisfied her….help yourself to the bathroom in the meantime."

Grissom lay back and shook his head as she rushed out of her bedroom to the kitchen to call Catherine. Yes, he would go and use the bathroom, but realised if as per usual Catherine was pushing for details, Sara was going to be on the phone for at least half an hour.

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"Hello?" Catherine answered her phone distractedly.

"Hi Cath, sorry it took me so long to…." Sara started.

"Well, I take it your dinner must have gone really well …and maybe then led on to other things if Gil's only just left.."

"Catherine!!!!"

"Well?"

"Ok, so Gil hasn't actually left yet…"

"Sara!!"

"- But, nothing actually happened! Get your mind out of the gutter Catherine!" Sara finally finished. "We slept, and that was all. But I do believe our relationship is getting firmly back on track."

"Good. So will you both be coming in tonight?"

"Yes. Though, I think its going to be a bit strange…coming back when you all know now".

"Don't worry about it. No-one will treat you any differently. Oh, by the way, can you guys come in a bit early tonight?" Catherine asked.

"Why?" Sara asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Oh, no reason in particular, we just wanted to go over some of the stuff that's been happening over the last few nights" Catherine bluffed, hoping Sara would consent.

"Ok, I guess" Sara replied. "Its not like Gil and I aren't the first ones there most nights anyway".

"True" Catherine had to agree. "Say, why don't we all meet at the dinner for a breakfast/dinner before shift?"

"Great idea. I'll check with Griss, but it shouldn't be a problem".

"So, what did happen last night?"

"We ate. Then spent a couple of hours getting to know each other better."

"Excuse me - getting to know each other? You had a kid together - I'd have thought you'd have know each other quite well" Catherine said. Then immediately felt bad for bringing Sara and Gil's long dead daughter into the conversation - she was sure Sara would bite her head off for that one.

"Catherine," Sara sighed (not really in the mood for a fight), "How many relationships have you had where you've been completely honest with the other person? And yes, we had a daughter, so do you - how well did you know Eddy - or him you for that matter?

"Ok. You may very well have a point there" Cath concluded.

"Cath, I'm not saying we didn't already know each other very well - hell, Gil knows and has always known more about me that any one else I know, but we've now cleared up the few grey areas that we had left in our relationship" Sara said.

"Ok, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up" Catherine apologized. "But, in the meantime, I was meaning to ask….."

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In the next room Grissom could hear some but not all of Sara's exclamations, so decided to tune out the conversation until Sara was off the phone and could come back and tell him what Catherine had said as well.

Lying there in her bed, he felt a sense of peace he had not know for years. Not since before Sara moved to Las Vegas. It was a feeling of utter completeness and rightness that he only had ever felt when they we're together - either when he had been in San Francisco, or when she had come over to Las Vegas for the weekend.

He realised how worthless his life had felt to him without her. Sara was the one person who understood him completely. Yes, he was a workaholic, but so was she - so she understood when work over came the personal, not that he should ever had pushed her as far away as he did.

So much had happened over the last couple of days since the sheriff had ordered them to take time off, that he felt he'd never be able to get it all into perspective and sort it out inside his head.

In some ways it felt as if he was on the brink of something completely new and unknown. On the other hand, it also on some level was like a sense of déjà vu, and that nothing had really changed - they we're getting a second chance a visiting a relationship that had once worked very well, so they we're doing it all over again.

After last night though, Gil felt that he now completely and utterly knew every part of Sara Sidle. All the ups and down's of her life, the good times and the bad, everything she thought and felt. It was like she was an extension of himself, and the thought was a scary one indeed. Enough to almost make him get up and run out of there, until he took a second to think of all the good things that that also meant. It was true to, that Sara now knew everything there was to know about him also. Back in her San Francisco days, she'd already know more about him than anyone else, there was no-one else he'd ever let in as close as her, no-one he'd cared about as much (loved as much, his conscience put in) but now he had left nothing out.

No blanks or grey areas - that had been her words last night, and it was now true for both of them.

TBC