AN: Thanks for the reviews, sorry about the short delay, but here is the next chapter.
Chapter 8: Three weeks later
Devon woke up with the sound of his girlfriend getting sick in the bathroom, and when he turned his body to look at the clock on his nightstand he saw there was an hour before they had to get up and get ready for work, then his attention turned back towards the door when he heard the toilet flushing.
He was just about to get up when the bathroom door opened abruptly before Mariah, who was wearing one of his shirts, went to the corner of the room, where her bag that she brought last night was on a chair, and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and slipped them on, and he thought she was just going to crawl back into bed, but when she continued her movements, grabbing her shoes and socks and putting them on in a frantic way, he sits up so his back was against the headboard and asked in concern. "What's going on?"
Finally realizing her boyfriend was awake, she looked at him as she walked to 'her' side of the bed, waving off his concerned look with a small smile. "It's nothing, I just realized I forgot to pack something last night, so I have to go home."
Devon wasn't sure if he totally believed her, but didn't push the issue, instead he just looked at her fondly when he replied. "You know that it wouldn't happen if you move in here."
She looked at him a little wide-eyed. "Move in here?"
He nodded as he scooted to 'her' side of the bed she was standing next to, and took her hand before asking again. "Yes, I'm asking you to please move in here."
Still a little speechless, she asked in a nervous tone. "Isn't that a little fast? We've barely been together a month."
Although she did have a point on both counts, and maybe he was asking a little sooner than he had planned, but he couldn't help it. No other woman made him feel this happy before and to him this milestone in their relationship just felt right, so he smiled with love in his eyes. "I know what I want, don't you?"
She looked into his eyes for a few seconds, falling in love with him even more than she already did, then she snapped back to it, and slipped her hand out of his as she spoke nervously again. "I, uh, I have to go."
He looked concerned again as he watched her walk to her bag. "Mariah?"
She turned around for a second and just said. "I'll see you at work."
It was obvious he wasn't going to get answers, no matter what, so he just said the next best thing right as she got to the doorway of his room. "I love you."
The 'L' word had been used between them for about a week now, and it still held its meaning, which was one of the reasons Mariah had tears in her eyes when she replied. "I love you too." Before walking out of the room.
Devon sighed and ran his hand down his face, hoping that whatever was going on with his girlfriend, she knew that she could tell him.
Now knowing he couldn't get back to sleep, he sighed again as he slipped out of bed and stood up, reveling him in nothing but boxers, then after slipping on some sweatpants, he got ready for his morning run, something he doesn't do too much these days, but still loved it, especially days when he felt he needed to clear his head.
15 minutes later
Nicole was sitting at her kitchen table, drinking her morning coffee, while also enjoying a little alone time before she had to wake up Carson so she could take him over to a friend's house while she worked, when her phone starts to vibrate. A part of her was hoping it wasn't work as she was picking it up, and she had gotten her wish when she was reading the text message. 'Please let me in, I didn't want to use the doorbell.' but it made her curious on why Mariah would be here, especially this early.
She shook it off as she stood up, leaving her coffee and phone in the kitchen before heading towards the front door, and when she opened it with a smile, which lasted a second when she saw the other woman almost in tears, so she asked in concern. "What's wrong?"
A few seconds later, Mariah pulled a box out of the paper bag she had in her hands and held it up, speaking with a few sniffles. "I didn't know where else to go."
With her best friends living in different states, and her family living in Washington, her team was really the only people she could turn to in times like this, and Nicole was the first person that popped in her head.
No mistaking what she was holding up, Nicole gave her a nod and smile as she moved to the side to let her in. "And you're always welcome here, anytime."
She softly said 'thank you' as she walked into the house, and after the door was closed, Mariah headed for the bathroom, ready to take a test that could change hers and Devon's lives forever.
While Mariah was finding out if her life was going to change, another couple across town was wondering the same thing about their own lives.
Sara sighed while sitting at the end of the bed and asked. "How much time has gone by?"
Grissom, who had been sitting next to her on the bed holding her hand, looked over at her and replied sincerely. "About a minute since the last time you asked."
She sighed again, then cleared her throat before asking. "Distract me then. Talk about something."
"Like What?"
Sara shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know...anything." She paused for a second before giving him a smile. "Baseball, how are your Cubs doing?"
He smiled in return as he squeezed her hand. "You already know how they are doing."
That was true, she not only knew what their win/loss record was at the moment but every stat each player on the team had, and while it didn't mean the greatest deal to her to know all of that, she didn't have the heart to tell him, so whenever he had a fact or stat he wanted to tell her, she listened to every word. Plus, it helped when she loved the sound of his voice, so she could have been listening to anything he had to say.
She nodded with a smile. "I know, but I love how happy you look when you talk about them."
His eyes sparkled a little as he nodded, then he cleared his throat and started talking about them, and after a bit, he stopped and she asked. "So, you hope they are going to the World Series this year?"
He smirked. "That's what I hope every year." She couldn't help but smile again before he continued with a nod. "But this year does feel different, so I'm going to say..."
He gets cuff off when they heard the timer go off in the bathroom, indicating it was time to see if their lives will change starting this month, so they look in that direction for a second or two, then they looked at each other before she whispered. "Can you check? I'm too nervous."
He gave her a short nod, then after kissing her forehead, he gets up from the bed and walked to the bathroom with his heart racing, and while he has felt nervous before in his life, he didn't think it ever got this intense before, so he took a breath as he stopped at the bathroom counter, then he waited another second before he looked down to see the results, and once he did, but before he could react, he hears Sara's voice from the doorway. "What's it say?"
He took a breath before he looked her way, and the sad look on his face a second later made her know exactly what it said, so she started to have tears in her eyes, so while he shook off his own feelings, he walked up to her, wrapped his arms around her immediately as they whispered comfort words to one another as the tears came down their cheeks.
After a few minutes, they pull back before he cups her cheek and speaks with emotion/comfort. "This is only one try, we got plenty more."
They both agreed that if they didn't get pregnant on their own by the end of the year, then they will talk about what other options they could do.
Sara knew that, but she couldn't help but be sad that she wasn't pregnant with his child yet. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head and wiped a few tears off her cheek as he continued. "You have nothing to be sorry about. We both knew it wasn't going to be this easy." She nodded again and looked down before he lifted her chin up so he could look into her sad eyes as he finished with nothing but love in his. "You can take all the time you need, but please don't think you let me down or pull away from me. Like I said, this..."
She cuts him off with a nod and small smile as she cupped his cheek. "This is only one try, I know." He nodded as she continued. "And I'm ok, really. I'm not going to run and hide from you. This feeling just took me by surprise is all."
He gave her a little smile as he took her hand from his cheek and kissed before replying. "You didn't know how much you really wanted a baby until this moment."
She nodded with a sniffle. "Yeah."
Even when she decided that she did want to have a child with Grissom, she still wasn't completely sold on the idea, and that a large part of her felt she was mainly doing this for him because she could tell the more he thought about a child, the more he liked the idea. But after taking that pregnancy test/waiting for the results, she realized that she really did want this child more than she thought she did, and after finding out that it was negative, she'll admit it was a slight blow to her.
He gave her one more small smile as he brought her in his arms and held her to him as he whispered. "Then I guess we'll just have to keep trying until it happens."
She smirked a little as she ran her hand up down his back. "Oh, and I bet you won't like every minute of it."
He replied with a smirk as they were pulling back. "You have no idea." When they looked into one another's eyes again, they were filled with nothing but love and devotion, then he cupped her cheek again and replied softly with comfort. "But only when you're ready. I still don't want you to feel pressure about this, ok?"
"Ok, and I'll try."
His eyes twinkled as he brought her closer to him again before kissing her forehead and whispering. "That's my girl."
When they pulled back a few seconds later, she clears her throat before speaking. "I uh, I should finish getting ready for work."
Before she could walk away, he took her hand again as he asked. "You sure you don't want to play hooky today?"
She shook her head as she asked with a raised eyebrow. "And miss the last day of you being an official full-time CSI, I think not."
He chuckled while shaking his head a little. "Why, it isn't like I won't see them all at the park later, where a party is being held in my honor, right?"
She smiled shyly as she cupped his cheek. "Sorry, I know you don't like it when the spotlight is on you, but the team wanted to do something nice for you, and I didn't have the heart to stop them."
With a smile on his face, he nodded. "It's ok, just as long as you're by my side."
She brought him closer to her and whispered with love in her eyes. "Always."
They kissed softly a few times, then when they placed their foreheads together, she whispered. "I love you."
"I love you too."
They kissed one more time and released one another before they started on the task of getting ready for work, while they both tried to shake off the disappointment they felt about finding out they are not pregnant at this time.
AN: I know, not the result that you all wanted, but the good news there is more to come, so there is still a chance, stay tuned for more. Please review.