A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!

I don't own CSI.

October 2015

"Hi."

Sara looks up in surprise as Grissom walks into the living room. "Hi," she said. "What are you doing here?"

He chuckles. "Is that any way to greet your husband?"

"I'm sorry, dear," Sara replies with a slightly sarcastic smile. "I mean, what are you doing here in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday? Don't you have office hours?"

"I cancelled them," he explains. "I'm leaving tomorrow for that conference in Sacramento, so I thought I'd go with you to pick up Anna today."

"Oh," Sara says. "If you want some time with her, you can go by yourself. I'll be here when you get home."

"No, no," Grissom says quickly. "I want you to come. I thought the three of us could go out."

"Oh-o," Sara says. "A little goodbye celebration?"

"Yes," Grissom says, knowing that his answer is simultaneously honest and dishonest. While he does want to spend one last evening with his girls before leaving for his trip, he also thinks that Sara needs some time with her family to help dispel the horror of her recent case.

"So, what do you have planned?" Sara asks.

"That, my dear, is a surprise."

October 2003

Grissom finally managed to detach his lips from Sara's. He gave her a slightly embarrassed smile, and resumed his search for a corkscrew to open the wine she had brought for dinner. Sara smiled shyly at him and sat down on one of the barstools at the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"So…" Sara said, clearing her throat. "How was work?"

Grissom smiled as he pulled the cork from the bottle and poured them each a glass of wine. "Uneventful."

Sara frowned slightly. "What about your case with the baby?"

"Catherine kicked me off it."

"What?"

"She didn't want me dealing with another child so soon after Susana."

"That was very kind of her."

"I know. So, I tried to help Warrick with his case, but he didn't really want me there."

"Poor baby," Sara teased. "So, what did you do with your night?"

Watched you and Nick, trying to figure how who I should promote. He'd never say that to her. "I caught up on my paperwork."

"Sounds like fun."

"Well," he said with a smile, "I did have thoughts of this dinner to cheer me up."

A bright smile lit up Sara's face. She reached across to touch his cheek. "That's really sweet, Griss."

"It's true."

Sara held her breath, waiting for him to kiss her. To her disappointment, he cleared his throat and turned to the stove.

"Everything's ready. Shall we?"

Sara nodded, fighting the feeling that she had been denied a very special treat. "How can I help?"

Grissom passed her the bottle of wine, silently asking her to carry it to the table. She took it with one hand and her wine glass with the other, and followed him to the dining room.

"So," Sara said as they sat down at the table, "Greg was flirting with me today."

Grissom's head came up in surprise. "You mean, he was harassing you?"

"No!" Sara shook her head, knowing Grissom was already mentally pulling a sexual harassment form out of a drawer in his office. "No, nothing like that! He was just … Grissom, right now, I'm don't want to talk to my boss, okay? I want to talk to my boy- to the man who invited me over and made me dinner," she quickly corrected.

She blushed, hoping he hadn't noticed her slip. Although she thought of him as her boyfriend, they hadn't discussed labels. She wasn't sure she wanted to have that discussion. It would hurt too much if he didn't think of her the same way she thought of him.

He smiled. "I'm sorry. This is … well. It's all very new to me. It's sort of … I remember what it was like when you first came to Las Vegas. I think there was a definite adjustment period as we went from being in a teacher / student, long-distance friend relationship to being coworkers. It's sort of like that again. This time, we're going from coworkers to …"

"Something more," Sara said, her voice just above a whisper.

Grissom's smile was full of promise. "Something more," he agreed quietly.

October 2015

"Hello, Sara."

Sara turns to smile at Tracey, the mother of one of Anna's classmates. While not close friends, they chatted on a nearly daily basis while waiting for their children.

"Hi, Tracey," Sara replies. "Do you know my husband?"

"No," Tracey says with a smile, extending her hand. "Tracey Williams."

"Gil Grissom," Grissom replies, shaking her hand.

"Tracey is Isabella's mother," Sara explains.

"Oh, right," Grissom says. "She was at Anna's birthday party last year, right?"

"That's right," Tracey says with a smile. "Isabella and Anna have been in the same classes starting in preschool."

"Mommy!"

Both women look up to see their little girls coming toward them. Anna's face lights up with a beaming smile that is so like Sara's that Grissom can never help smiling when he sees it.

"Daddy!"

He laughs and catches her as she jumps into his arms. "Hi, lady bug. How was school?"

"Why are you here?" she asks rather than answering.

Grissom looks at Sara and raises an eyebrow. Sara laughs.

"You two are far too much alike," he says as he sets Anna on the ground.

Sara laughs again. "Daddy wants to take us on an adventure, sweetie."

"Oh-o," Anna breathes. "Where?"

"He says it's a surprise."

"But, we're going to have to hurry," Grissom said. "Do you have all your things?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then. Let's go!"

Anna waves goodbye to Isabella, then takes each of her parents' hands, swinging their arms as they walk to the car. Once they get to the car, Sara makes sure Anna is properly buckled in, then climbs into the passenger seat next to Grissom. He smiles at her, then glances at Anna in the rearview mirror.

"Are you ready?" he asks.

"Yeah!" Anna exclaims.

Grissom smiles. "Mommy?"

She smirks at him, knowing that he knows that it irritates her when he calls her that. "Let's go."

October 2003

"Let me clean up," Sara volunteered after they had finished dinner.

"Don't be silly. You're my guest," Grissom replied.

"At least let me help."

"Okay." Grissom smiled at the way she smiled at the compromise. "But you can only help, Sara, not take over."

"Take over? Me?"

Grissom chuckled. "Yeah, imagine that."

Sara smiled and stacked their plates to carry to the kitchen. "I will obey your every command."

"If only," Grissom teased.

Sara raised an eyebrow. "Work or personal?"

"Both."

She shook her head and smiled. "Uh-uh. No work away from work."

"No work away from work," Grissom repeated. He smiled. "Could be difficult."

"It could," Sara conceded. "But, I think we can make it work."

Grissom smiled, and Sara suddenly felt weak in the knees. "Yeah," he agreed, his voice dipping into a lower than normal octave, "I think we can, too."

October 2015

They have only driven a few miles from the school when Sara realizes where they are going. Anna, chattering away about her day, is oblivious to her father's intended destination. It isn't until they are only moments away that she realizes where they are.

"Daddy! Are we going to the museum?"

Grissom smiles indulgently as he glances at her in the rearview mirror. "Yes, Anna Banana."

She squeals with happiness. "We can talk in the tubes! And take pictures of our shadows!"

Sara glances at the clock. "We don't have much time. The children's museum closes in an hour."

"I know," Grissom says. "But, she loves it …"

Sara smiles and touches his arm. "You're a good dad."

He glances at her and returns the smile. "And, you're a good mom."

Tired from her day at school, Anna plays out quickly. As she starts to get cranky, Sara glances at her watch.

"The museum's going to close soon," she says. "Should we get something for dinner?"

"I thought we could go out," Grissom says.

"I wanna stay here," Anna whines.

"No, you don't," Sara replies. "You're tired, and you need something to eat."

"No!"

Before she can begin a full-scale temper tantrum, Grissom lifts Anna into his arms.

"We need to have dinner," he whispers in her ear. "I want to take you to Venice. We'll eat at one of the restaurants there, then we'll go on the gondola. Is that okay?"

Anna nods against him, as he had known she would. She loves to go to the Venetian Hotel.

"Okay, then. Let's go back to the car."

She nods again, and Sara sighs with relief. She may be good at calming Anna down once she's in an emotional fit, but Grissom is far better at heading one off at the pass.

"To the Venetian, then?"

Grissom nods at her. "To the Venetian."

October 2003

Grissom reached past Sara to put the last of the dishes away. She held her breath as his arm slid around her lower back. She turned to look at him, and their eyes locked.

"Griss," she whispered.

Grissom looked into her eyes for a moment longer, then kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he grabbed her hips and pushed her back against the counter, kissing her deeply. She moaned and he broke the kiss to look at her. He brushed a lock of hair back from her face.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered.

Sara blushed and, unable to think of anything to say, kissed him again. Once again, he began to move, directing her, breaking the kiss at small intervals to make sure his steps were leading them to his intended destination.

Sara truly had no idea where they were going until she realized that Grissom had taken her to his bedroom. She gasped as the backs of her knees hit his bed; she collapsed onto it. Grissom followed her down, his lips finding hers again.

As he settled himself on top of her, his lips and fingers making her moan, Sara could hardly believe what was happening. She was making out with Grissom. How many times had she imagined it?

The saddest part of a fantasy is that reality never tends to live up to it. In this case, however, Sara found that reality put her fantasy to shame.

She moaned and pulled him even closer.

Grissom responded instantly, his hands sliding up under her shirt. "Sara," he moaned. "God, I want you …"

Sara abruptly stopped. She pulled away from him, and put her hands against his chest, shoving until he sat up.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her in confusion.

Sara bit her lip. "Griss … I think … I don't want to do this tonight."

"What?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean … Look, we were just out there talking about how hard it's going to be for us to separate the professional from the personal. This is all so new, and so fragile, and so … I just … I don't want to wreck it by sleeping with you tonight."

"Sara, believe me, I won't think any less of you," Grissom said.

"That's not entirely what I'm worried about."

"But, it's part of it."

"Yeah," Sara acknowledged, looking down.

Grissom grabbed her chin and tipped it up, forcing her to meet his eyes. "I will never think any less of you. You are a wonderful, talented, intelligent, funny, warm, compassionate woman, and I care about you very much. No matter what our relationship, I'll always think of you that way."

His words, so sweet and so obviously straight from his heart, brought tears to her eyes. Sara blinked, refusing to let them fall.

"If you want to wait, that's fine with me," Grissom said.

"You're sure?"

He nodded. "I'm sure. We have all the time in the world."

Sara leaned across to give him a chaste kiss. "Thank you."

He smiled and let her hair slip through his fingers. "I want you to be happy, Sara."

She smiled and leaned her forehead against his. "I am. Just being with you like this … I am."

October 2015

The drive from the Venetian to their house isn't more than half an hour in good traffic. In the traffic they encounter, however, it is much longer. By the time they arrive at home, Anna is sound asleep. Grissom lifts her from the car, and carries her to her bed.

When he returns to the living room, he finds that Sara has opened a bottle of white wine, poured them each a glass, and turned on some soft jazz. He smiles.

"What's all this?"

Sara smiles back. "You got to surprise me all afternoon. It's my turn to surprise you."

He smiles. "I think I like this surprise."

She crosses to him and wraps her arms around his neck. "Dance with me?"

Grissom smiles and kisses her cheek. "I'd be honored."

They begin to sway in time to the music, gradually dancing closer and closer to each other. Once she's close enough, Sara rests her head on his shoulder. Grissom kisses along her hair line until Sara lifts her head to look at him.

"Hi," she whispers.

"Hi," he replies.

No more words are exchanged as he begins kissing her. Sara knows exactly what he wants, and breaks away long enough to turn off the music and the lights while he grabs the wine.

"Come on," he says, taking her hand. "We can continue this in the bedroom."

Sara smiles and leans up to kiss him. "Your wish is my command."

He chuckles. "I think that might just be my wish."

"Well, for tonight, it's granted."

He groans. "Come on, Sara. That bedroom is waiting for us."

Giggling, she runs up the stairs with him on her heels.