A/N: Oh, look two chapters in one day…now I understand why my fingers are aching…
Two things for this chapter.
1.I live in Europe and hence don't follow or even understand American Football. The teams mentioned bellow are just some that I found on the NFL site that happened to be from the right state and have decently good scores (I think). So please don't attack me, I don't really support any teams…If you have any help you can give me on the Football matter, I appreciate it.
2.When I mentioned Charlie's IQ as being 120, it was kind of random. I wanted it to be above average, but I have no idea if 120 is too much for a 7 year old (because I can't find any charts on the internet that tell me exactly what is normal and high for a 7 year old) so if you know anything about that, please tell me.
Now, on to the story.
"Are you sure?" asked Sara as the four Grissoms sat around the dinner table "I mean, you've only just told him, are you sure you want him to meet me and the kids already?"
"Yes, I am. I want him to feel like part of the family. Because he is."
"Ok, then. But first we have to explain the situation to them…" she nodded at the two bickering children.
Nodding, Grissom announced that they could get up from the table and they all moved onto the couch.
"Charlie, Colin, daddy has something to tell you, ok?"
The two kids nodded
"Ok, Colin, you know you're friend Billy's big sister?" the boy nodded "You know that she's only Billy's dad's daughter, right? She has a different mommy to Billy"
"Yea, and she's really cool…" began the boy.
"Ok, well, tomorrow I'm taking you to meet your big brother"
The two kids looked confused, Charlie was the first to speak "but…I'm the big sister"
Looking at Sara for help, Grissom was glad when she stepped in "a long time ago, daddy had a girlfriend and they had a baby, but daddy didn't know. So you're going to meet him tomorrow, do you have any questions?"
Charlie shook her head but didn't seem all too annoyed, Colin continued to look puzzled, but neither Grissom nor Sara expected the 4 year old to understand what was going on.
An hour later, when it was time for the two youngest Grissoms to go to bed, Charlie who was in a very happy mood from watching the 'Little Mermaid' skipped up the stairs while her brother looked back at his parents.
"What is it, Colin?" asked Sara as she stood up to accompany them upstairs.
"Well…my big brother, can he teach me to play football?" he asked like it was a very serious question.
Looking at her husband who was also trying not to laugh, Sara smiled.
"I'm sure he will if you ask him" said Grissom and laughed when the boy give a funny jump and ran up the stairs after his sister.
"Where is he?!" asked an overly excited Colin running round the corner of a hospital corridor the next morning.
"Calm down, son" said Grissom grinning at Sara who was holding Charlotte's hand.
"Is he in here? Is he, is he?"
"You sure you didn't accidentally serve him coffee this morning?" asked Sara as Grissom picked the small boy up.
"Listen, I'm going to go in first, he's just been moved into his own room and I'm going to see how he's doing, I'll be back in a few minutes to get you guys, ok?" said Grissom as he began to open the door to room 528.
Taking Colin from her husband, Sara nodded.
"Hey" greeted Grissom as he approached the bed.
Finally away from all the machines, Robbie was looking slightly better, he had a tray of food in front of him and was looking grumpily at it.
"Morning…" he said staring at the cup of 'coffee'.
"Problem?" asked Grissom
"This 'coffee' thing they gave me not only tastes like sewage, but has the same effect in waking me up…"
Smiling, Grissom chanced a sip and, pulling a face, had to agree with his son: it was absolute crap.
"Well, I have something, rather, someone who is bound to wake you up…" said Grissom smiling.
"You brought them?" asked Robbie now sounding awake.
Nodding, Grissom asked if Robbie wanted them to come in and, when the boy said yes, he proceeded to leave the room. Once outside, he explained to his son that he'd have to take it easy because Robbie was recovering (or, in 4 year old talk, he had a boo-boo) and once the little boy promised to behave, Grissom took him by the hand and walked in followed closely by Sara and Charlotte.
"Hey, there" said Robbie beaming at his two siblings.
"Robbie, this is my wife, Sara"
"Nice to meet you" said the two in unison
"and our kids, Charlotte though she prefers Charlie and Colin"
"Hi…" whispered Charlie who seemed to be experiencing one of her rare moments of shyness.
"Hey, I'm Colin, what's your name?" asked the little boy walking up to the bed and peering at his big brother.
Laughing, Robbie answered "Robert, but you can call be Robbie"
"Cool! Do you like football?" asked Colin struggling to climb on the bed.
Still laughing lightly at the boy, Robbie hoisted him up onto the bed and said "yea, I like football."
"What's your favourite team? Mine's the Cowboys, I watch all their games with my uncle Nick. They're the best."
Looking up at his father and step mother, Robbie smiled "yea, they're good, but they don't' beat the Giants."
"Nuh-huh! My uncle Nick says the Giants aren't all that big anyways…"
Now Sara was really having trouble not laughing.
"Well then, I'll just have to show you some of their games, won't I?" asked Robbie passing a hand through the young boy's light brown hair and messing it up.
Next, Robbie looked at Charlotte who was hiding slightly behind her mom "hey, are you Charlie?"
Apparently the fact that this guy called her Charlie and not Charlotte scored some points and the girl seemed to gain the confidence to walk up to the bed.
"What do you like to do? Do you like football too?" asked Robbie as Colin descended from the bed and ran up to his father, whispering something in his ear.
"No! I hate football. I like baseball … and science"
Smiling, Robbie asked "how do those two link?"
"They don't. I like baseball because daddy does, and I like watching it with him, he's really funny when he's shouting at the TV" at that, Robbie looked at Grissom who smiled as he whispered something to Sara who nodded "And I like science because it's really cool and interesting, it explains how things really work and why. When I grow up, I want to be a CSI just like Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Nick, Uncle Warrick and Aunt Catherine."
"You're really smart aren't you?" asked Robbie who was surprised at the 7 year old's interests and speaking manner.
"She has an IQ of 120…"
"Ah…" said Robbie smiling at his proud-looking sister.
"Hey, Robbie" said Sara speaking for the first time "We were thinking, and the doctor told Gil you'll be leaving in three or four days, how would you like to have dinner out our place next Wednesday? Don't worry, I'm not cooking…I'll leave that to Gil"
Laughing, Robbie accepted the invitation and everyone got back to talking and finding more about each other.
TBC
Don't forget to review both with encouragement and help on the two matters explained at the beginning, thanks.