Sara took a long slow sip of the coffee Greg placed down in front of her and leaned back in the overstuffed red leather chair in her favourite coffee-house.
"Ahh that's much better" She sighed, closing her eyes and feeling the warm liquid run through her veins.
Greg smiled over his mug at her carefully adding milk and swirling his over-expensive coffee around with a small wooden stick.
"So how was Frisco?" He grinned
Sara shrugged, glancing out of the window at the people charging back and forth along the sidewalk.
"It was ok... I'm glad it's over to be honest"
"You missed me" He declared with a self-assured smile as he leaned back and crossed one leg over his knee.
Sara chuckled into her coffee, taking a sip and narrowing her eyes in his direction. She could spend hours having a pretend argument with him over whether or not she missed him. She was certain that if she had had a moment to think about it she probably would have missed him, although she could never tell him that.
"Something like that. Where were you anyway?" Sara replied, changing the subject.
"Oh, Brass has this cabin..." He Began.
"Right, out by the lake?" Sara interrupted with a nod. Grissom had taken her out there several times for some solitude. It held a lot of happy memories for them both.
"You know it?" Greg frowned, thinking that Brass cabin was a well kept secret he had been lucky to figure out. A nostalgic smile lit Sara's features and she tilted her head and took another sip of coffee.
"Yeah, Grissom and I..."
"Ew!... that's all I need to know!" Greg demanded, holding his hand up and feigning distaste.
"Do I need to get my honeymoon photo's out again Greg?" Sara teased back with a smile.
They'd had similar conversations over coffee. Despite how much time had passed Greg still liked to tease her about Grissom. It had become as much a part of their relationship as their monthly midweek movie marathons.
"Oh no, please spare me the horror!" Greg laughed, he took a long sip of his coffee before looking back to her and smiling "We had a lot of fun"
Sara scanned her eyes over him. The soft smile and wistful expression, the way he glanced out of the window and his eyes clouded over.
"Look at you all loved up!" She declared with a wide smile "Its disgusting! bring back the real Greg!"
Greg flicked the coffee stirrer in her direction and shrugged.
"Jealous?" He teased "Anyway... about this sister..."
Sara sighed, she had been trying hard to forget about it. Michael's words still echoed in her mind. She had come back to Las Vegas hoping that she wouldn't look at every woman who passed her on the street wondering if maybe it was her. The truth was she was scared of finding her and finding out that she was like Michael already. Maybe he was right and they were genetically pre-programmed to fail whether they grew up in a destructive family or not.
"I don't want to find her anymore..." She muttered.
Greg frowned, surprised and confused by her change of heart. She had seemed so keen to find this girl when they spoke on the phone. He wondered what could have happened to make her change her mind so definitively.
"Why not?" He queried, attempting to catch her eye.
"Its... complicated. She probably doesn't want to know anyway. Its better for everyone if she just gets on with her life" Sara murmured, trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince him.
"How do you know that?" He pressed on. He wanted to be sure she knew what she was doing before he destroyed all his hard work.
"Just leave it Greg" She declared, the angry bite in her tone instantly making her feel guilty "But thank you anyway. I appreciate it"
She met his eye with a soft grateful smile and Greg shrugged.
"I didn't find her you know..." He muttered, pretending not to notice the way her interest peaked.
"You didn't?" She was surprised. It really should have been a straight forward search considering she had given him some pretty specific details.
"Nope. I narrowed it down to 8" He explained, pulling the list out of his breast pocket and sliding it across the table.
Sara drew breath, her curiosity peaking as she quickly scanned her eyes over the list before averting them.
"I don't want to" She muttered, trying to keep her eyes on the window or Greg or anything but the names in front of her. "I'm sorry Greg... I... I just can't"
Greg nodded, sensing the sadness seeping out from her pores. He reached out and rested his hand on the paper, her eyes involuntarily following and fixing on the words printed there. One name in particular seemed to jump off the page and she shook her head sadly.
"She used her own name..." She found herself whispering to no-one in particular.
"What?" Greg frowned, pulling the list away and stashing it in his pocket again.
Sara looked up from the table as though in shock. The number of lies she had been fed over the past few days was exhausting.
"Sandra... she told me she posed as Amy's mother" Sara explained as her brain ran through the vast amount of information she had collected on the subject "I assumed she meant my Mom... but she used Clark. She used her own name"
Greg thought about what she was saying, his mind creating the story as it unfolded in front of him. It was no wonder she looked so drawn and tired, it was hard for him to get a firm grip on the details it must be near impossible for her.
"so its Amy Clark? She's the one?" Greg couldn't help but get excited at the thought he had actually found her after all his work breaking the list down.
"It makes no difference" Sara sighed as she nodded "I still don't want to find her"
They sat together in companionable silence, sipping their coffee and watching the world go by until Sara realised she had to leave for her class. it had been a while, and she missed it. Exercise was a great distraction technique, not to mention a way to let go of all the unresolved stress and tension in her body. She glanced at her watch and began gathering her things.
"I have to go" She explained as Greg stood from his seat to wrap her in a warm hug "you haven't forgotten Dinner?"
She and Grissom had invited them over for dinner, a novelty for her considering it was rare they were together long enough to be staging dinner parties with other couples.
"Of course not. We'll be there" He reassured her as he walked her out to her car. She pulled away from the coffee-house and headed across town to her class wondering why Sandra changed the baby's name. Its possible she had planned to keep her after all and changed her mind somehow. She knew it was highly likely she wouldn't find out, Sandra didn't have long left in her fight and Sara didn't really want to go pestering her for more answers when she had already decided to forget about Amy.
She pulled into the parking lot, scanning the cars for signs of Robyn and seeing none. Her time keeping hadn't improved since she met Greg that was for sure. Sara wandered into the building on her own and headed to the class, taking position along the back row where she could stay invisible and undisturbed.
True to form Robyn turned up halfway through the warmup, grinning at the instructor as she shuffled to her place beside Sara and shrugged her apologies.
Sara felt rejuvenated and energised after her workout. She had left Robyn talking to the instructor to shower quickly and collect her things from her locker. Their traditional after class coffee was forgotten today since they would be sharing a meal in a matter of hours anyway and Sara wasn't sure she wanted to hear the instructor's inane chatter today anyway.
"How were you still late?" Sara quizzed Robyn when she finally appeared in the locker room beside her "Greg said you were ready before he left"
"I was" She smiled with a shrug "But then I realised I was too early so I did some cleaning and I had to change again"
"I hear you had a nice weekend?" Sara smirked, wondering if Robyn was as bashful as Greg pretended to be.
"We did... it was great" Robyn couldn't keep the smile from her face.
"I didn't mean to disturb you" Sara explained, hoping she hadn't gotten in the middle of a romantic tryst "If I'd known..."
"Its ok" Robyn smiled "I understand. Did he find her?"
Sara sat down on the bench, waiting for Robyn to finish retrieving her things so that they could walk out together.
"I think so." she nodded "But I'm not taking it further. I don't think she needs me turning up at her door looking for a family"
Robyn twisted her hair into a hairband, frowning slightly as she pondered Sara's statement. She slung her bag over her shoulder and they began walking out of the building.
"Smight be looking for a family too" Robyn offered with a hopeful tone.
The sunshine hovered in the middle of the sky, casting a warm orange glow over the parking lot they stood in. Robyn was parked closer to the doorway, they loitered around her car.
"I'm not sure I'm the right person to give her that" Sara stated sadly as Robyn swung her door open.
"I guess the information's there if you change your mind... take your time. its a big decision."
Sara nodded as she walked away, shaking her head at Robyn's tyres screeching on the tarmac as she pealed out of the street and headed home. Sara drove home quickly, keen to kick off her shoes and relax in familiar surroundings for a while. Music surrounded her before she even opened the front door.
Grissom stood by the stove, humming to himself as he stirred a huge pot. The smell of his cooking wound around her like a hug, embracing her heart as she approached him with a soft smile.
"You started without me?" She smirked as she wound one arm around his waist.
"I bore easily" He declared, pressing a small kiss on her cheek "You don't mind?"
Sara laughed recalling the reason's why it was a good idea for Grissom to cook. Her adventures into culinary experimentation had never gone well. She and Greg had even been asked to leave their Thai cooking class for arguing over just about everything in every class.
"When was the last time I cooked for company?" She smirked knowing it wouldn't be difficult for him to answer.
"July 10th 2008"Hhe declared without a moments thought.
"And you remember that because..." Sara raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes.
"We all got food poisoning" Grissom sighed.
Everyone remembered that particular dinner party well. She had been subject to many jokes and teasing at the lab afterwards and swore she would never stage another dinner again.
"Exactly" Sara nodded, taking the spoon and scooping some of the soup Grissom was stirring.
"You can set the table if you like" He offered, glancing behind him momentarily. He had already set out the table-cloth and utensils, a vase full of white lilies stood on the counter waiting to be placed beside the candle holders in the centre. They didn't have people round for dinner often but every now and then they liked to have a special meal between the two of them.
"Are you sure I can handle the responsibility?" She teased, unfolding the cloth carefully.
"I trust you" Grissom smiled "How did it go with Greg?"
Sara paused momentarily wondering whether she should tell him the truth. He had been very vocal about her taking her time to process everything and not rush into anything. He was right of course but that didn't mean she was ready to admit it. The fact that Greg had found her sister and she had took a step back only illustrated to him that his advice had been useful and the last thing she needed right now was someone telling her he told her so.
She glanced over at him checking the food in the oven. He was always so endearing in the kitchen, he had such an eye for detail and concentration she couldn't help but smile at him.
"He found her... I think" she muttered, throwing the tablecloth over the table with a flourish.
"He did?" Grissom immediately stood, looking at her with concern in his eyes as he tried to decide if she was upset or worried or ecstatic about this information.
"Yeah..." She nodded "I told him I didn't want to know"
He stopped what he was doing and watched her as she carefully placed 4 placemats on the table, tearing her eyes away from them to meet his eye with a sad smile.
"Are you sure that's what you want?" He questioned quietly.
"For now it is" Sara sighed, realising that taking her time to figure out how she felt about the whole thing was a good idea after all.
She crossed the kitchen to retrieve the cutlery, gratefully receiving his gentle kiss to the cheek as she passed.
"I think that's the right attitude to have" he declared.
"Maybe" Sara responded shortly. She placed the cutlery down on the placemats carefully. Her conflicted mind pulling her in different directions. "Do you think I'll be left wondering forever?"
"Wondering what?" Grissom asked, turning back to his cooking.
Sara placed the flowers and the candlestick on the table. standing back to admire her handiwork as she sighed and glanced around the room.
"What she's like... who she looks like, where she is, what she's doing... what her life's been like?"
"I don't know" Grissom confessed, turning to look at her again "Maybe"
She leaned back against the counter, staring at the floor and wringing her hands together.
"I just wish I knew what to do" She explained with a sigh.
"You will" He soothed, passing her a glass of wine "Just take your time and you will"
"I hope so" Sara nodded, taking the wine with her to get changed.
She emerged a short time later wearing a green wrap around tea dress with her hair wound into a messy bun and clipped with a tiny clip. The minimal make up she wore was enough to liven up her tired skin and bring the sparkle back to her eyes as she took the stairs back into the living area and smiled at him.
"You look beautiful" He declared when she reached the floor.
"Thank you" She smiled, smoothing out the skirt and smiling at him anticipating the night ahead.
"What time are they arriving?" Grissom asked, looking at his watch.
"Around 7 but Robyn's always late" She explained "I think you'll like her"
"For her time keeping abilities?" He smiled.
The doorbell broke through the sound of Grissom's music and Sara immediately made her way to the door while Grissom adjusted the volume and twisted the teacloth around in his hands.
"No, you just will. trust me"