Sara was finishing some work on her system for tracking animal residents when Candy walked in at three pm. Her normal bubbly, happy air was missing, her pink hair was pulled back in a haphazard bun, and her eyes were bloodshot and heavy with tears threatening to spill over.

"What's the matter?" gasped Sara, panicked. Candy was unflappably happy and enthusiastic, seeing her so visibly distressed was shocking.

"I had a massive argument with my parents this morning," she sniffed, sinking into her chair and reaching for her log book.

"Why?" asked Sara, clicking save on her document and swiveling her chair to give Candy her full, concerned attention.

"If I don't get straight A's then they refuse to pay my tuition next fall, and I don't qualify for financial aide because they make too much money." Seeing Sara's slightly puzzled expression, Candy sniffed and continued. "My mom's an associate judge on the state supreme court and my dad owns a company that designs and manufactures pharmaceutical drugs. My older brother is an aerospace engineering genius and they think I should be too. They're not happy that I'm going to art school, so I have to have perfect grades to be allowed to go." Candy lost control and began to sob; alarmed, Sara reached out and hugged her, rubbing her back until she calmed down.

"I'm sorry," said the younger girl miserably.

"It's ok," soothed Sara, "Now why are you worried about not getting the grades? You told me you've always been a straight A student." Candy pulled a face and wiped her eyes with a tissue.

"Well, I've gone from a D+ to a B in calculus with your help, but unless I ace the final, I won't get an A."

"Not a problem," said Sara confidently, "we can deal with that. Anything else?"

"I'm borderline A- B+ in French. I missed a test because I was throwing up in the nurse's office and the teacher wouldn't let me make it up. He's a total asshole," she grumbled, "and my vocabulary isn't the greatest."

"Also not a problem," smiled Sara. "Well, the French vocab part, not the asshole teacher. Unless you want me to kill him and hide the body where no one would find it." Candy looked at her in disbelief.

"You speak French?"

"Mais oui," grinned Sara. "Friday is French day in my house." Candy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "My husband and I lived in Paris for a while; he had a tutor because he was teaching at the Sorbonne, but I grew up speaking French in school, I lived with a French family for a while too. So on Friday's we speak French, to keep from getting rusty."

"Didn't he learn French in school?"

"No, he took Spanish. We lived in Costa Rica before Paris, so I had to learn Spanish on the fly. I'm reasonably fluent now, but we practice a lot. He laughs at me," admitted Sara, smirking at Grissom's amusement at her original issues with Spanish pronunciation.

"Do you have a day for Spanish then?" asked Candy, intrigued.

"Thursdays," allowed Sara. She stood up to get a glass of water for each of them. "So," she said, returning to the desk, "when are final exams?"

"Next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday."

"Ok then, are you free tomorrow night?" Candy grimaced,

"Of course, I'm not allowed out before exams, even on a Friday night." She snorted her disgust, "you'd think I was a little kid, not eighteen. Why?"

"Well, tomorrow is French day, you can bring your books and study calculus in French at my house."

"Calculus in French?" said Candy, a horrified expression on her face. Sara laughed.
"Well, maybe not, but we can do both, not a problem." Suddenly Candy seized her in an enthusiastic hug, almost pulling her out of her chair.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she chanted, grinning madly.

…

On Friday morning Sara rolled out of bed with a yawn as Griss got out of the shower and dried off.

"Hey sleepy," he grinned, kissing her awake.

"Sorry," she shrugged, "I just seem to need more sleep now." She stretched slowly and languidly, smiling as his eyes wandered over her bare skin. Leaning into his embrace she looped her arms around his waist they kissed long and unhurried.

"Shall we go out tomorrow? Take a picnic and explore somewhere?" he asked, as they drifted to the closet.

"Yeah. What time does your class end tonight?" she asked, as she reached for her toothbrush. With the summer quarter now underway, Gil was teaching a four week entomology seminar on Friday nights.

"Eight-thirty."

"And you're helping Candy study after work."

"Yeah. Do you want to get some dinner on campus before?"

"It's a date," he smiled.

"I'll meet you at your office about half four then," decided Sara. Gil slipped on his jacket and shoes and picked up his bag.

"See you later honey," he said, kissing her goodbye. "I love you."

"Love you too," she returned, knowing she would never get tired of those little words. With a yawn she got in the shower. It was as she was dressing that she ran into trouble. Pulling on her pants she found she couldn't zip them up.

"What the heck?" she muttered, trying to tug them lower on her hips. She still couldn't zip them up. She tried three more pairs before giving in and rummaging in her bathroom drawer for a hair tie. Scowling, she looped it through the button hole, fed one end back through the other to secure it and then looped the free end over the button. Satisfied she selected a loose shirt long enough to cover her pants past the zipper. This was going to be a problem; thinking about maternity clothes she sighed and finished getting ready for work.

…

Walking into Grissom's office for the first time, Sara looked around while his office mate, another professor in biology, jabbered away on the phone. There were books and papers everywhere, and the computer screen was surrounded in post-it notes. A framed photo of the two of them in a park with Hank was perched next to the coffee mug still containing the cold dregs from its last use. She smiled at the photo; it was one of her favorites too. Professor telephone hung up and looked over at her.

"He'll be back in a moment. Are you a student?" he asked, clearly thinking she was too old.

"No," she replied, taking a seat in the guest chair.

"I didn't think so," he mused, taking his time to let his eyes wander down her body and back up again. Pursing his lips in approval he stepped out from behind his desk and came over to shake her hand.

"Professor Michael Harrison, biological sciences." Suppressing the urge to slap him, Sara politely shook his hand and gave him a meaningless smile.

"Doctor Sara Grissom, forensic psychology and theoretical physics."

"Doctor Grissom?" he asked, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Yes, there are two of us Michael," said Grissom stiffly, walking in and giving his associate a withering look. "Hello dear," he said to Sara.

"Hey, you ready?" she asked, raising her eyebrow with her back to Professor Harrison. Gil reached for her hand and they left.

"What is his problem?" asked Sara, switching to French as soon as they were out of earshot of the office.

"He's disgusting," said Gil grimly. "I've asked to be reassigned to a new office space after the summer break."

"I can't believe he gets away with that," she muttered as the stood in line at the Courtyard Café.

"He's always professional with students," shrugged Grissom.

"He did ask me that, right before looking me up and down."

"I saw that," said Grissom, darkly. He heard giggling in the corner and looked around carefully. Smiling in amusement, he leaned closer to Sara and whispered in her ear, still in French, but just in case there were any other speakers around. "Over there in the corner by the plastic tree are my two freshmen admirers." Subtly scanning the area, Sara's eyes settled on the two girls in question who were outright staring at her now.

"Ok, that's a little weird," said Sara as they took their food and sat in a quiet corner, across the room from the two freshmen. They sat and ate, chattering softly, talking about the day. After a while the two girls came over.

"Excuse me Doctor Grissom," said Olivia, "when do we get our last assignment back?" As she spoke she peered curiously at Sara out of the corner of her eye. Jessica openly stared at her. Trying not to laugh, Sara smiled politely at her.

"Next week," said Grissom, also trying not to laugh. Wondering if he could dissuade any further pointless after class questions and lingering, he looked at Sara. "Sara, this is Jessica and Olivia from freshmen biology. Ladies, this is my wife, Doctor Sara Grissom."

"Nice to meet you," said Sara, biting her lip to contain her laughter as the two girls paled and seemed to wilt right there in front of her. "I hope you are enjoying his lectures," grinning wickedly, she added, "I always did." Olivia looked like she was about to say something, but Jessica forced a grin and nodded her head.

"Oh yes, Doctor Grissom is a very good teacher. The other Doctor Grissom I mean," she fumbled. Shaking her head, she grabbed Olivia's arm and nodded to Gil and Sara. "See you next week professor." The pair made a swift exit. When the door closed behind them Sara gave up and let her laughter loose. His lips twitching in amusement, Grissom raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm sorry," said Sara, wiping tears from her eyes, "I couldn't resist." They continued their meal, and then Gil walked Sara halfway back to the house. Pausing behind a stand of trees he looped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. Sara slipped her arms around his neck and with one arm firmly holding her body flush with his, Griss wound his other hand into her hair. Sara's lips were soft and gentle against his at first, but when he opened his mouth slightly she was lost, kissing him back with fury and heated passion full of need and desire. Groaning into her lips he suddenly realized where they were and pulled back, resting his forehead against hers.

"Honey, we're still on campus," he gasped, relaxing his arms so he was hugging her around the shoulders. He heard a muffled obscenity in his ear.

"You had better not linger after that lecture," she warned, her eyes dancing as she stared almost longingly at him. Kissing her gently he smiled.

"I have no intention to," he returned. With a sigh Sara leaned in to kiss him again before they broke apart to go their separate ways. Smiling to himself Gil walked back to his office, thinking about his lovely wife. When she had first become pregnant, he had been unsure about how he would feel about the changes in her body. But she positively glowed with radiance, and despite the fact that she required more sleep than usual, her increased libido and sensitivity was a mutual positive. Running her words through his mind, he was suddenly less enthused by his seminar than he had been when it had been proposed.

…

Sara sent an email to Greg and did a handful of small chores before Candy arrived bearing two thick text books and a backpack full of notes.

"Where do you want to start?" asked Sara as they settled themselves at the kitchen table.

"Calculus, that one is on Tuesday. French isn't until Thursday."

"Do you have a study sheet for the exam?"

"Yeah," said Candy, digging through her bag and producing a sheaf of stapled papers. Sara looked it over, noticing the C-C Peters scrawled across the top.

"Isn't Candy your real name?" she asked, pointing the writing. Candy rolled her eyes.

"No, and you can blame my mother for that. It's Candida-Camille Anastasia Peters."

"That's a mouthful," smiled Sara.

"I hate it, but my brother's name is worse." She started writing out the first of the problems she had circled in red pen. "Andreas Radcliffe Reginald Percival Peters V," she said.

"Seriously?" asked Sara, correcting a mistake and guiding Candy through the correct calculations.

"Yeah, my mother said that if my father was naming their son that, she was picking the girl's name."

"Wow. My parents each picked name; my mom liked Sara, my dad liked Anne."

"You have a sister? I've always wanted a sister."

"Oh, no. I'm an only child, it's Sara Anne. I did have four foster sisters though. We didn't get along. Ok, stop right there. What's wrong with that symbol there?" They continued on, studying hard and laughing together. Sara had long ago learned that making learning a fun experience meant that the lessons tended to stick. While Candy solved a particularly difficult equation Sara made tea for them both. Going to the back door she whistled for Hank, sending him out for a bit of exercise before he could start his mad half hour with Juliet. Back at the table, Candy presented her with the finished problem.

"Have you picked a name yet?" she asked, while Sara checked her work. Sara looked up at her, an eyebrow raised. Candy rolled her eyes.

"The baggy shirts are fooling the others, but they won't for much longer," she said bluntly.

"Oh," was all Sara managed.

"I haven't told anyone," said Candy, working away at her next challenge.

"Thanks," said Sara.

"So have you thought of a name?" Candy's pencil scratched away on the page as Sara's thoughts swirled uncomfortably.

"No," she replied softly, "we haven't discussed it."

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" asked Candy, looking up and smiling.

"Yeah," admitted Sara, "she's a girl." Standing, she retrieved the pictures the doctor had printed for her and showed them to Candy.

"Wow," said the girl, pouring over the images, all thoughts of calculus forgotten. "That's amazing."

"It is," said Sara, with feeling, "it really is."

…

Sara was reading in bed when Grissom finally got home. She put her book aside as he crawled in beside her and they snuggled up together.

"Sorry I'm late," he murmured, "we had a spirited debate that refused to die down." Sara laughed as he regaled her with stories of his evening.

"So Candy made me think of something tonight," she said softly, when their conversation came to a lull.

"What's that?" he asked, his fingers stroking her hair. Sara twisted to look at him, her expression hesitant. "What are you thinking?" His touch was feather light as he caressed her cheek.

"We were talking about names," began Sara haltingly, "and I started wondering how long it's going to take until we feel safe to think about things like that, to go shopping and to, well, do things you need to do to get ready to be parents." Sara shut her eyes and took a deep breath, half waiting for something to go wrong. It was only when she felt Gil's fingers wiping her tears away that she realized she was crying.

"I don't know," he said quietly, his own eyes shining brightly. "But I absolutely know how you feel."

...

...

Hmmm, this one's a little rambling, but i'm indulging in some self amusement as i am currently stuck at home injured from an argument with a fridge no less. in my defense, it was of the rather large walk-in variety. never mind, being forced to relax has some benefits, chiefly the computer sitting on my lap for most of the day. hope you liked it, some Greg-Sara friendship coming up i think. please R and R, it makes me write faster.