AN: Thanks for the reviews, here is the last chapter of the story, but more on that at the bottom. Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Leaving Vegas

Flashback

Two weeks earlier

June, 2010

After a day of rest once they got back to Vegas after leaving Paris, Sara was getting ready for work when Grissom walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her temple before asking. "You ready for this?"

"I'll miss the team of course when my two weeks are up, but yeah I'm ready."

"Ok, and you know I'm behind you 100%"

She turns around in his arms with a wider smile. "I do know that, thank you."

"You're welcome." They share a soft kiss before pulling back, then he smirked. "Alright, you better finish getting ready for work, I don't think you want to go without a shirt on."

She chuckled while pushing on his shoulder. "Well, I would have already had it on had somebody not distracted me."

He whispered while cupping his cheek. "And I could distract you some more if you want."

She placed her hand on top of his with a smile and love in her eyes. "You know I would let you, and it is very tempting, but I don't want to be late." She moved closer to him and whispered. "Besides, there can be more distracting one another as much as we want once I leave the lab."

"I can't wai…."

He was cut off when her lips touched his in another kiss, which was a little longer than the one they just shared.

Finally, he whispered against her lips. "Ok we better stop now, or you will be late."

After one more peck she pulled back so she could get her shirt from the end of the bed and put it on, then once her socks and shoes were on, they walked out of the room and headed for the living room so she could grab her jacket and shoulder bag.

They kissed one more time at the door before he spoke with love. "Be safe and I love you."

"I love you too." She then turned and walked out of the apartment so she could get to the lab.

When she got there and in her usual parking spot, Sara turned her vehicle off before turning her head to look at the building and sighed, knowing while she will miss the people she works with, she was doing the right thing because she was just ready to be somewhere else where there is less stress.

Now she knew there would be crime wherever her and Grissom end up permanently, and if she did choose to continue being a CSI there was still going to be stress since that was part of the job description, but there was a reason Vegas's lab was still number 2 in the country. Plus, she was ready for a new start, because even though there were some wonderful/great moments here, there was also a lot of bad ones as well, so she was ready to permanently say goodbye to those, or at least the best she could without the constant reminder wherever she went.

She sighed again before she shook her head and got out of the vehicle with her shoulder bag then headed towards the entrance of the building before heading to the locker room, where she grabbed her gun and badge from her locker then headed to Catherine's office and knocked on the closed door.

A moment later Sara hears the other woman's voice. "Come in."

When Sara walked in the office, Catherine looked up from her paperwork and smiled at Sara. "Welcome back, did you have a nice trip?"

Sara nodded with a smile. "It was a little bittersweet for the both of us, but overall it was very good, he was just ready to come back home."

Catherine nodded as she looked down at her paperwork before looking at Sara again. "And where will he be calling home now?"

Sara cleared her throat while opening her shoulder bag, then pulled out her two-week notice form and handed it to her. "I need to talk to you about that."

Catherine took the form from the younger woman and looked it over, and Sara didn't see an ounce of surprise on her face. In fact, to her it looked like she was kind of expecting it.

Sara's theory was proven correct when Catherine set the form down on her desk before looking at Sara and said with a sad smile. "So, it's finally time, you're leaving us for good."

"Yes." After a short pause Sara continued. "And you don't seem surprised by this."

Catherine smirked. "Why do you think I practically begged Morgan to come here, you think I only did it so her and Ecklie could mend their daughter/father broken relationship."

Sara smirked in return. "So, in other words you were one step ahead of me."

Catherine sighed before speaking again. "Let's be honest here, your heart wasn't exactly in it to come back and stay long term. In fact, I would even go as far as saying it hasn't been in Vegas from the very start, and the only reason you showed up in the first place was because the man you were/are in love with asked you to."

There was no hesitation in Sara's response. "You're right, Vegas never felt like a true home to me, especially before my relationship with Grissom. But despite everything that's happened to me here, I don't regret the move. The friendships that I've made has been the best I've ever had in my life, and I'll cherish them and the memories we've created."

Catherine smirked. "Present company included?"

Sara chuckled with a nod. "Yes. Now we may have had some rocky moments, but we've done pretty well lately, right?"

Catherine nodded. "We have, and I value our friendship as well." Catherine took a breath before she spoke softly. "I understand why you need to do this, but I'll miss you, Sara."

"I'll miss you too, Cath."

There was another pause before Catherine asked. "So, what's next in your guy's adventure?"

"First off we are going to visit his mother and stay there for a bit, then we talked about honoring our promise to visit Costa Rica for our very belated anniversary trip, and after that, we'll see. We are just playing it by ear at the moment."

Catherine nodded in understanding before she smirked again. "Well enjoy the freedom while you have it because you won't be getting much of that when the little one comes."

Sara looked at Catherine in shock. "Catherine…um I'm not…I mean we aren't…"

Catherine cuts her off with a smile. "Maybe not yet, but it will happen."

Sara took a breath and nodded before asking shyly. "How did you know we were trying?"

"Mostly from your attitude towards the children that cross our path lately, you've had that 'I'm ready for a baby' look for a few months now."

"I just hope I can do it, be the mom that our child needs."

Catherine gave her an encouraging smile. "I have no doubts you'll be a wonderful mother, and Gil will be right there beside you. Now he may have not been a parent before, but he did watch Lindsey a few times when she was a baby, so he sort of knows the ropes."

Sara chuckled. "I would have loved to see that."

Catherine chuckled in return. "It was pretty comical at first, but it didn't take him too long to figure it out, it was almost like he was a natural."

"So, what you are saying is that he's had that look for a while now, and I've just been completely missing it?"

Catherine shook her head. "To be honest I didn't see that look until after he met you, that's when I knew the only time he would ever consider being a parent is if you were the one he was having the baby with. It has always been you who he wants a life with, which I don't think I need to tell you why it took him so long."

Sara shook her head. "No, we've been through that discussion enough times. I just feel bad that it took me this long to feel this way, that I made him wait this long."

"But the point is you are there now, and Gil, well, he is a patient man."

Sara smirked again, "Oh I wouldn't know anything about that, would I?"

Catherine chuckled one more time. "I guess you would." Catherine looked at her watch and saw it was time to start shift, so she gets up from her seat, grabbing the assignment sheets as she went, which caused Sara to stand up as well and when Catherine stopped in front of Sara, she spoke in one of the sincerest tones Sara has probably ever heard from her. "And in case I never said this before, you two are good for each other, and I'm so happy that despite all the obstacles that was in both of your way, you two made it work, and now I can't wait to see a little one of you or him running around."

Sara nodded with a sincere smile on her face. "Thank you, Catherine, your support means a lot." Then she smirked one more time. "And I vote a little him."

Catherine smirked in return. "Are you afraid of a little you?"

Sara then replied shyly. "Maybe."

After one more round of chuckling Catherine asked. "So, telling the others, you want to do it now or wait?"

"Now. I want to be upfront with them."

Catherine nodded as she headed for the closed door. "OK, but now you realize that if they know early you'll no doubt be getting a goodbye party."

Sara smirked as Catherine turned the handle of her door. "Which you probably already have at least the location in mind."

"Naturally, and it's at my house, so no arguments."

Sara raised her hands up and shook her head with a smile. "You won't hear a peep out of me."

Even though like her husband, Sara wasn't into parties where she was the center of attention, she just figured she would make this one-time exception, mostly because of how she left here before, and this time was supposed to be a redo, which also meant on how she left.

Catherine looked surprised that Sara was just accepting it without a word of discouragement, but didn't say anything about it, she just gave the younger woman a nod and smile before walking out the door, Sara following behind her.

When they made it to the break room, where the team was waiting at the table, Catherine spoke after clearing her throat. "Before I officially start shift, Sara has something she needs to talk to you all about."

They all look at her expectedly, then she cleared her throat before speaking with emotion. "There is no easy way for me to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I've made a decision to leave here, leave Vegas after two weeks. I've enjoyed, for the most part, my time here. But it's time for me to move on, we want to start somewhere fresh. I hope you'll understand."

When she was done from that emotional speech, the guys, Greg and Nick, who knew her the longest out of the members who were sitting down at the table didn't look surprised at all, so she commented to them. "And you two don't look surprised at all."

Both Nick and Greg smiled before Nick was the one to speak. "We were taught to follow the evidence. We knew something was up when we got Travis from days and Catherine brought in Morgan, so we had a feeling it was only a matter of time before you made this announcement." He then smirked. "Well least you made the announcement this time around instead of just leaving."

Sara made a playful glare while everyone started chuckling, then Greg stood up and walked up to her with a soft, sincere tone. "But having a feeling it was coming, doesn't make us any less sad. I will miss you Sara, your friendship means the world to me."

As they were sharing a hug, she replied in return while Nick stood up from his seat. "I'll miss you too, Greg, and our friendship means a lot to me as well."

After they pulled back, Sara looked at Nick before holding out her arms, where he happily got into them for a hug while Sara spoke first. "I'll miss you too, Nick. I value our friendship."

Nick nodded, trying to keep his emotions down. "I value our friendship as well. And you know I'll miss you too."

Sara smirked and lightly hits his shoulder as they pulled back. "You better."

After the rest of hugs were done, Catherine cleared her throat and started shift by handing out the assignment sheets, and when she got to the last one she handed it to Nick, assigning him with Greg, then Greg looked at Sara and asked. "What do you say, Sara, one more new case before you are officially done?"

Sara looked at Catherine and she replied with a smile. "I'll let you decide on that. I just thought you might want to start closing the cases you still have opened."

Which if she knew Sara like she thought she did, there wouldn't be many anyways, so she probably could fit in one more case if she wanted to, especially if she was working with Nick and Greg.

Sara looked at the guys again and asked. "Yeah?"

Both Nick and Greg nodded with smiles while Nick spoke. "Yeah, just like old times."

Sara walked up to Nick and pats him on the chest with a smirk. "Ok, I'm in, but I'm driving."

Then she started heading towards the door while Greg smirked. "Now that is like old times."

Everybody chuckled while the guys followed Sara out the door, Catherine stayed behind with a smile on her face while shaking her head, if there is one thing she is going to miss when Sara leaves, it was watching scenes like that.

Catherine took a breath before she walked out of the room and headed to her office so she can sign Sara's two-week notice form.

After Shift

Since it was one of their more exhausting cases, they all decided to just head home after shift ended, and when Sara made it to the apartment, she was greeted by Hank and the smell of one of her favorite meals that her husband cooks for her, a veggie omelet.

As she was placing her shoulder bag and jacket on the hanger by the door, she spoke as loud as she could. "Smells amazing babe."

From the kitchen, he smiled. "Thanks honey."

Then the next thing he knew, Sara's arms were wrapped around his waist from behind while she whispered. "You're welcome." She kissed his shoulder before whispering against it. "And I take it you're up because you didn't sleep much last night?"

He shook his head with a sigh. "No dear I didn't." He then smirked. "You've ruined sleep for me, I can't seem to sleep very well when we are apart."

She chuckled. "I know the feeling very well. I'm surprised we did as well as we did these last nine months."

"Me too." He then turns around and cups her cheek while continuing with love in his eyes. "But never again will we be sleeping alone, at least until your two weeks is up."

With tears in her eyes, she whispered. "You promise?"

He wiped them off her cheek with a nod. "Yes." After a sweet kiss, they pull back and he asked. "So, how was work, how did they take your news?"

"They weren't even surprised. In fact, they were kind of expecting it."

Then he asked sincerely while running his thumb up and down her cheek. "And are you ok?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I mean it's sad when it's an end to something, and don't get me wrong, I'll miss them very much. But Catherine said it best, my heart has never been fully in Vegas, I only came and stayed for one reason, and now that I got my reason and will be saying goodbye to them the right way this time around, which is a party by the way, I'm ready to call a permanent home somewhere else."

He nodded with a smile. "You got it. We'll make a home anywhere you want."

She moved her hand to cup his cheek. "I love you, so much. And thank you for this, I know Vegas had been a huge part of your life."

"Yeah, when I was a CSI, but I'm not a CSI anymore. When I left here, I wasn't only going after you, I was ready for a new beginning somewhere else as well, as long as of course I had you with me."

"Which you do, now and forever."

"I love the sound of that."

After another kiss, he whispered against her lips. "You better eat before it gets cold." She nodded as she pulled back, then as she took a step towards the counter to grab her plate, Grissom turned around and asked. "And what's this about a party?"

Sara just chuckled as she picked up the plate and headed towards the dining room table.

End of Flashback

It was two hours after Sara and Grissom made it to Catherine's place, and as the party had a feeling of winding down, Catherine and Grissom shared a hug while she spoke. "I'm so happy for you two. If anybody deserves this happiness, it's you and her."

As they pulled back, Grissom nodded. "Thank you, Catherine. Not only for your words, but." He paused for a second to look at his wife, who was laughing with Nick, Greg and Morgan. "For keeping an eye on her. I trusted her when she said she could handle coming back here, but just to be on the safe side I'm glad you had her back."

Catherine nodded in understanding with a smile. "I get it, and you should trust your wife's word. I mean, what she went through is always going to be a part of her, but she did very well, despite the circumstances of coming back here without her husband. "

He spoke in a somewhat defensive tone. "And I would have been on the first flight out if she asked me to."

She placed her hand on his shoulder to calm down with a smile. "Relax, we both know that. But I think she wanted to see if she could do this on her own, to face that demon alone." He nodded in agreement before she continued while removing her hand from his shoulder. "Now it's nothing but looking into the future and I see some good things, like you becoming a father, I can't wait to see that."

Grissom smiled brightly. "Me neither Catherine, me being a father, which might surprise a lot of people, had been something I've wanted for awhile, like a slow burn, but…."

She cuts him off with a known look. "You just needed the right woman to share that experience with, I know."

He chuckled with a nod. "Of course you did, so it doesn't surprise you."

She shook her head with a chuckle. "Not one bit, I think about how you looked when you were in the presence of Lindsey when she was younger."

He nodded in understanding before asking. "How is she by the way, is she ready for her next phase in life?"

Lindsey had just graduated from high school and chose to go to UNLV so she could stay close to home.

"I can't believe she'll be in college in the fall, my baby has grown up too fast, and she is more than ready." She then continued while looking at Grissom with a little sadness. "And the first advice I can give you is that when you and Sara have a child, cherish every moment because before you know it, they'll be out of the house just like that."

Grissom nodded with a smile. "Believe me, we will."

As Catherine nodded, Sara walked up to them and asked. "Everything ok over here?"

Grissom nodded with a wider smile as he wrapped his arm around Sara's shoulders. "It is, she was just giving our first advice when it came to our future baby."

Sara nodded with a smile/smirk. "Probably our first of many I would imagine."

They chuckled before Catherine spoke again. "Any time. I'm only a phone call away wherever you two end up at."

After they nodded with a thanks, Catherine walked towards the team to talk to them.

Sara and Grissom watched them with smiles on their faces before looking at one another, then Sara spoke. " So, what do you think, ready to get out of here?"

He chuckled. "You want to leave your own party?"

She shrugged with a smile. "They've honored me enough, and besides I'm sure we'll get one more goodbye gathering before we leave on Sunday."

"Ok, if you're sure."

She moved her eyes up and down his body, and while he wasn't wearing a suit and tie, he was still dressed up to impress, at least in her opinion, and she couldn't help herself once again, then looked into his eyes. "Oh, I'm very sure."

Seeing the look in her eyes got to him, so he nodded with a smile. "Alright, let's go."

They share a kiss before slipping their fingers through one another, turned and walked out through the back gate, and the last thing they heard was laughing, which caused them to smile even wider.

Two weeks later

July, 2010

Once they arrived in Santa Monica they stayed/visited his mother for about three days before they spent time up in San Francisco so they could relieve some of their earlier moments together, trying to 'redo' some moments they wished they could have had when they first met, then they took that trip back to Costa Rica for their belated anniversary trip.

Now they were back in Santa Monica staying in a rented beach house that was owned by a friend to his mother's, trying to figure out what's next for them, and to say these last two weeks have been the least stressful time of their lives was an understatement, they took in every moment together, not taking it for granted for a second. In fact, the only time it had ever felt close to this feeling for them was when they were reunited in Costa Rica until she accepted that temporary position at the Vegas lab.

Grissom was sitting on the deck watching his wife on the beach with Hank, who was happily splashing in the water, trying and successfully getting the ball Sara had thrown in there, when his phone started ringing next to him on the end table. He turned his head and looked down at it, giving it a curious look at the familiar number but not someone he was really expecting to hear from, before answering it.

"Hi Juan, it's been a while. I didn't think I would ever hear from you again, which is kind of funny you did call because Sara and I just got back from Costa Rica a few days ago."

Juan was the 'leader' of the group Sara was in when she went to Costa Rica, and him and Grissom did form a somewhat friendship when he joined the team.

In his Spanish accent, Juan asked. "And how was it, Dr. Grissom?"

"Just as beautiful as ever. So, what can I do for you?"

"I'm thinking about setting up a new job, and I was hoping you and Mrs. Grissom would like to join my team, what we will be doing just might be up yours and hers alley."

Grissom stands up and walks to the railing of the deck as he asked. "Oh, and what is this new job?"

"Being an advocate for the fish and wildlife in the Pacific, you'll even get to have your own boat."

Grissom paused for a minute before he spoke. "I don't know Juan, I'll have to discuss it with Sara first and get back to you on that."

"Of course, take as much time as you need. But I do need to know soon, I need to start filling out my team."

"I understand, we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for the call, it was nice to hear from you."

"Nice to hear from you as well, Dr. Grissom, I hope you and your wife are doing well."

Grissom smiled. "Never better."

"That's good to hear." A short pause before the other man said goodbye.

As Grissom was saying goodbye on his end, he frowned as he watched Sara now standing at the shoreline with a surprised look on her face, ignoring Hanks playful barks as he was waiting for her to throw the ball again, so he sets his phone down on the railing of the deck and headed down the stairs before walking on the beach and headed towards his wife.

"Sara, are you ok?"

When he was close enough, she had turned to him and the surprised look turned into a bright smile as she replied. "I don't know what it is. I mean I could be totally imaging this feeling that I have and I don't have any solid proof at the moment that it's truly happening, but something does feel different."

Grissom looked at his wife in confusion with a slight worry. "Honey, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

She then took his hand and placed it on her stomach as she whispered with tears in her eyes. "Gilbert Grissom, are you ready to become a father?"

All Grissom could do was stand there in complete shock as his heart raced.

AN: Thanks for reading, and please review. I know I left you all on a cliffhanger, but the good news is there is more in this universe coming soon, so hope you'll like that. Have and a safe rest of your day/weekend, and until next time, GSR4ever!