No matter how hard he tried, Gil was unable to get the image of the mysterious girl out of his mind. During supper, Sara chatted away about Emily's new words. Gil nodded along, but was hardly paying attention. For their dinner that night, Sara had cooked vegetarian spaghetti. It closely resembled regular spaghetti and you could hardly tell it was made without meat.

"Gil," Sara said. "Where are you right now?"

Gil looked up. "Hmm?" he said.

"I just said that Emily said 'Shit' and you just nodded along," Sara said. "Where is your mind?"

Gil shook his head. "It's nothing," he said. "I just had a busy day."

"Oh," Sara said, pouring more wine into her glass. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Gil hesitated, but then forged ahead. "I ran into this woman today," he said. "Something about her was so familiar. She said that she was one of my former students."

Sara was confused. "And why would that bother you?" she asked.

Gil shook his head. "I'm not too sure," he admitted. "I felt so… angry with her."

Sara stood and went around to stand behind Grissom. She put her arms lovingly around him and kissed his neck. The tenderness of Sara's affection washed away his uneasiness.

"Just let it go," Sara suggested. "We finally have everything back on track. Why risk it?"

Gil agreed. "You're right," he said. "It doesn't matter."

O~O

Springtime had come and with the change in seasons, Gil had his cast removed. He now wore a leg brace that ran the whole length of his leg. He was nervous about walking without crutches, but Dr. Stogner gave him a pamphlet on exercise techniques that were designed to strengthen his muscles. Every day he hobbled with the help of a cane, but soon walking became easier and he began to walk normally again. Sara was glad his cast was gone for reasons of her own.

"I'd rather feel your bare legs against my skin and not that rough, prickly cast," she teased.

Gil assumptions that Sara was pregnant proved to be true. She admitted that she had known for a few months, but was scared to raise her own hopes of having another baby. At the first sonogram, Gil stared intently at the screen. It was amazing to see something you made inside of a person you loved. One of the upstairs bedrooms was picked out for a nursery and Gil wondered if he would have to buy more pink paint, or if he would buy blue. It would make him proud if he had a son, but Sara warned about raising hopes.

"Gil," she said. "I know you're excited, but we haven't had much luck with children."

Gil shook his head. "I feel that this will work out," he said.

O~O

One sunny afternoon in March, Gil found himself wrapping up his classes and turning in final grades. He was pleased that a lot of his evaluations reported positive feedback, but there a few negatives here and there.

"Dr. Grissom," he secretary, Kate, said as she opened his door.

Gil looked up. "Yes," he said.

"The Dean of the college is here to see you," she said.

Gil was surprised. "Show him in," he insisted.

Kate opened the door wider and in walked two serious looking men. One man was completely bald and reminded him of Conrad Ecklie. The other man had long red hair and he looked like musician from the renaissance period.

"Dr. Grissom," the man with red hair said. "We have met before, but I understand if you don't remember. My name is Walter Beckham and this is the school's lawyer, Mr. Lewis."

Gil nodded at the two men. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

Both men took a seat and Mr. Lewis opened his briefcase. "We received a very startling phone call from a man named Daniel Stevenson," he said. "He claims that you attacked his daughter."

Gil was speechless and very unsure what to say. "I can assure you that that never happened," he insisted.

Beckham nodded. "The college is going to stand behind you," he said. "But you need to understand the gravity of the situation."

"First of all," Mr. Lewis said. "There is going to be a hearing. Your wife is going to be cross examined and so is the student who made these accusations. Now, since you cannot remember the truth… this puts us in a bind."

"Sara?" Gil said. "Why… what does she have to do with any of this?"

"It's just standard procedure," Mr. Lewis said. "We don't want to cause trouble, but when accusations like this are made… we have to take the necessary steps."

Gil felt as if he were in a horrible nightmare. "What's going to happen?" he asked.

"If the board finds you guilty," Beckham said. "Then we will be forced to terminate your employment here. You will not be able to work at any other college or university, and you will be fined ten thousand dollars. I know that your daughter needs a lot of medical attention," he continued. "So we are doing our best."

"Your best?" Gil asked. "Do you know how my wife is going to reacted when I tell her what I am being accused of hurting a student."

"She didn't just accuse you of hurting her," Mr. Lewis said. "She's accusing you of raping her."

"This is bullshit," Gil said. "You know I would never do such a thing."

"I'm sorry," Beckham said. "I'll give you a few days to tell Sara. We have to move forward with this."

The two men left quickly and Gil sat dumbfounded at what he had heard. He knew his own self better than that, and there was no way he would ever hurt a student. He had no desire to tell Sara what had just occurred, but if she was going to be questioned, then he couldn't get around it. Quickly he pulled open his desk drawers and looked for all the students with the last name 'Stevenson'. He found a total of twenty students that he instructed, fifteen of which were male. He put the male folders back and only concentrated on the females. Two of the females were married with children. The fact that their fathers would call the school and suggest that Gil attacked them was unlikely. Once he eliminated the married students, three remained. He opened their files and saw that one was a graduate student who had been recently hired as a graduate assistant. He set the graduate aside and concentrated on two others; Brianna Stevenson and Nichole Stevenson. Neither name rung a bell, so he packed them into his briefcase and left his office.

O~O

When he got home, Gil locked himself in his office and opened his filing cabinet. He found no files or papers on either of the Stevenson girls. Sara was in the kitchen cutting vegetables. She had already begun to gain weight and was eating more food then she was making. He knew he had to tell her what had transpired, but he didn't want to stress her out.

"Gil," Sara said, knocking on the door to his office. "Dinner is ready."

Gil took a last glance at both files and put them in the middle drawer of his desk. Perhaps this was a situation that would fix itself. Maybe tomorrow Mr. Stevenson would call UCLA and tell them he had made a mistake.

"Gil," Sara said again.

"I'm coming," he replied.

Sara's footsteps padded away and Gil stood to leave. He made up his mind to tell her. She had a right to know and not telling her would cost him a lot more. In the kitchen, Emily sat in her chair. Hank had taken her palace at her feet, waiting on an unlucky piece of food to fall from her tray.

"Honey," Gil said he took a seat. "We have to talk about something."

Sara piled salad onto his plate. "Oh boy," Sara said. "Sounds like you had a bad day."

Gil couldn't disagree. "It's been a wild one," he said, placing his hand on her belly. "Feel anything yet?"

Sara shook her head. "Not yet," she said, patting his hand. "It won't be long, hopefully."

Gil took a deep breath and proceeded to tell Sara what happened. As he spoke, worry lines creased her forehead. He told her about the accusations and the upcoming hearing.

"And if I am found guilty," Gil concluded. "I'll be fired. I won't be able to work at any other university ever again."

"What about jail time?" Sara asked.

Gil shook his head. "A few years at the most," he replied.

Sara pushed back her plate. "What was the girl's name?" she asked.

Gil didn't know. "The Dean didn't mention it," he said. "The last name is Stevenson."

Sara looked up. "You had one student named 'Stevenson' last term," she said.

She stood, went back to Gil's office, and then returned with a grading book. She thumbed through the pages and then pointed at a name.

"Nichole Stevenson," Sara said. "I failed her."

"What are her other grades?" Gil asked.

Sara scanned the book. "She did terrible," she said. "I gave her what she deserved. She should have just dropped the class."

Gil scratched his beard. "Do you think she is trying to get back at me because she failed?" he asked.

"Of course," Sara said. "Proving it is what we need to do. Did you look through all your files? Is there anything about her?"

"Nothing," Gil said.

Sara nodded. "We'll hire our own lawyer," she said.