Sara found herself at the counter mixing together turkey, peas, carrots, and vegetable broth while Grissom stood beside her preparing pie pans. They'd decided to make turkey pot pies instead of making a whole turkey. The team, including Sofia as Sara had extended the offer, would be coming over. Lindsey had asked if she could have Thanksgiving with just her grandparents and Catherine had agreed. She figured that Lindsey wanted time with them without her mother around.

"Dryer is done." Sara put the bowl of pie ingredients down and wiped her hands on the dishcloth. "I'll get the load out if you can get these done."

Grissom said nothing, taking over from her as efficiently as he did when they worked together. Sara ran her hand across his back as she moved past him to the laundry room. As Sara came back five minutes later with a basket of laundry, Grissom watched her pause at the kitchen table to put the tablecloth on that she had just washed. Using placemats, she set the table for four people and then the remaining three at small foldout table that he'd borrowed from the lab. They'd pushed the two tables together and while the round table didn't fit completely with the square table, they'd made it work.

"I think the nice plates my mother bought me are at the very top of the cabinet." He told her as she made her way to the cabinets.

Sara opened the cabinet and looked on the top shelf, it was a bit taller than her so she lifted onto her tiptoes. "The green ceramic?"

"Yes, Dear." Sara pulled the plates down and counted them out, placing the unneeded one back on the shelf. Grabbing cutlery from a drawer, she put them on the plates and walked over to the table.

The doorbell rang thirty minutes into the baking of the pot pies. Grissom was in the office working on his insect preservation while Sara stood in the bathroom straightening her hair. She'd taken a quick shower and was dressed in jeans and one of her newer tops. Sara could hear Grissom leaving the office, talking to Hank as he did. Sara put the straightener down after turning it off and headed out into the bedroom. Opening the top drawer of the chest of drawers, Sara glanced over her necklaces and grabbed the red leather and jade necklace. It went well with her red shirt so she clasped it around her neck and left the bedroom with Hank beside her.

Catherine and Sofia had arrived and Grissom was inviting them inside. "Wow." Catherine stated as she looked around. "I knew you moved when your lease was up last year but this is nice."

Hank started towards the two women but Sara stopped him. "Hank, heel." The dog turned around and returned to her side, sitting patiently with his stub of a tail wagging.

"Hey, thanks for inviting me." Sofia stated to Sara as they joined them on the lower floor. "My mother hasn't been too keen to see me since the shooting. Even the hint of me being responsible has her up in arms."

Sara smiled at her, "of course, you've been part of our team so you're welcome."

"Hi Hank." Sofia knelt down and petted the boxer. "He's so sweet. Is he well behaved?"

"Sara's training him." Grissom stated as he opened the fridge to pull out a bottle of wine. "I adopted him but he's attached to her."

Sara motioned to the bed at the edge of the kitchen. "Bed." The boxer went to his bed and laid down. "Wine? Beer? Tea? Coffee?"

"Wine." Both women stated at the same time.

The doorbell rang again and Sara headed upstairs to answer the door. Catherine was looking over the shelf against the wall of the dining room. It was filled with books and different items like jars, pictures, preserved insects and butterflies. Picking up one of the frames, she turned towards the kitchen where Grissom was speaking with Sofia and Sara was inviting the boys inside. Warrick had texted an hour before that he'd gotten called into the lab for a case so he wouldn't be joining them.

"How long have you known each other?" Catherine asked Grissom and turned the photo around so he could see it.

"1998, Forensic Academy Conference. He wanted a tour guide after the conference so I showed him San Francisco." Sara told Catherine as the redhead put the photo back on the shelf.

Greg immediately went for the dog. "Hey there boy." He scratched the boxer's ears. "You're so sweet."

"So, you remember the dog from the scene?" Nick asked Sara. "I adopted her. Once she's settled, we should get them together for a playdate."

Sara smiled at him. "You adopted Kahlua and not her doppelganger, right?"

"Of course. I don't need a dog that goes nuts at the sound of a door slamming." He shook his head, "come on Sara, you have more common sense then that."

"Of course." The brunette stated as she accepted the wine Grissom handed her.

Catherine chuckled and they looked over at her as she looked at several of the framed insects and butterflies. "Sara, seems you've taken up entomology also." She pointed to the frames, "your handwriting."

"Just a hobby we do together." Sara told Catherine with a smirk.

"We collected those on a camping trip." Grissom stated. "A couple of Sara's photos are upstairs on the wall."

Sofia looked at Sara. "You do photography?"

"I dabble, I have since my days at Harvard and Berkeley. It's why I get stuck with photographing scenes a lot of the time."

Greg looked at Grissom. "Why doesn't your dog move despite me holding a toy?" Holding up Hank's rubber ball.

"Because Sara gave him a command to stay on his bed." Grissom handed the youngest CSI a beer, Nick got given one too.

"But it's your dog."

Sara snapped her fingers and Hank stood up, immediately going to Greg once he saw the ball. He sat at the feet of the newest tech, tail wagging. When he didn't throw the ball, Hank barked.

"Oh, sorry boy." Greg threw the ball and the boxer went after it.

Catherine grinned as she stood by the island. "So, Sara did you get told that Ecklie is giving you a commendation after your work managing the teams after the Bell shooting?"

"No, and if you weren't telling me, I wouldn't believe it." Sara took a sip of her wine. "I mean, I'm not exactly his favorite person."

"Day and Swing shift supervisors were the ones who submitted the request." The redhead added, "apparently you managed over thirty people and evidence from start to finish. I certainly am in awe; I could barely handle four when I was Swing shift supervisor."

Nick chuckled, "next stop is lead CSI then supervisor and director."

"God no." Sara sipped her wine. "Lead CSI, sure, but supervisor and director, not a good idea. I think we all have forgotten my temper gets the better of me sometimes."

After half an hour of talking and mingling, mostly by Sara and the rest with Grissom just watching with intermittent comments, the food was ready. Sara had decided to just eat around the turkey in the pot pie instead of making more food. Besides the pot pies, there was sweet potatoes, vegetable stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Everyone sat down and conversation continued while eating.

"Okay, who cooked?" Catherine asked and looked at the two. "Because this is amazing. I need the recipe."

Sara scooped part of her sweet potato, "I'll send it to you."

"Sara, you can't boil water." Greg told her. "Since when do you cook?"

"I had to do something on my first suspension last year." She told her friend and colleague. "Two weeks with nothing but books, I got bored two days in. I started learning to cook, although not without a tiny fire and the smoke detector going off continuously for a while." She shrugged, "Gil was the one who was the guinea pig for a while. I was worried he'd get food poisoning at least once."

Grissom chuckled, "you burnt food more often than you undercooked it."

"You ate Sara's cooking attempts?" Greg looked impressed. "You're braver than I would have been."

"Right there with you Man." Nick stated. "We love you Sara but we valued our lives. We wouldn't have been a guinea pig for you."

Sara's mouth fell open partially. "I can't believe you two. I cook just fine now, thank you. Dinner was about ninety percent me, you're still alive after an hour so you can shut up now."

Whining made Sofia look down to see Hank looking up at her, his stubby tail wagging. "Uh, I don't think I can give you any food, Buddy."

"Hank, room." Sara spoke firmly before snapping and the dog left the table and disappeared down the hall. "Thank you for not feeding him Sofia."

Catherine watched Grissom when Sara gave the dog the command, he didn't seem bothered. Finished eating, Grissom just watched the rest of them as they slowly finished eating and continued talking. He mainly watched Sara and her interactions, smiling at various points. Shaking her head, Catherine couldn't help but grin at the fact that the man was head over heels in love with the younger woman that sat next to him.

During cleanup, Sara collected plates and put them in the sink. The team was on the upper floor with coffee and talking. Grissom intercepted her at the sink. "Go socialize." He turned her around gently. "I'll handle the dishes."

"But…" She looked at him, "I cooked, I clean."

"Not today, Honey." He ran his thumb against her cheek. "Go on, you're enjoying yourself."

"Okay." She stole a kiss before leaving him in the kitchen.

Getting upstairs, she saw Greg had found the Scrabble from the shelf and they were starting to set it up. "Teams?" Catherine asked as Sara sat down beside Greg on the floor.

"We're a man short." Nick said before turning, "hey Grissom, you gonna join us?"

Sara stood up and leaned against the banister. "Come on Babe, it's a holiday. You'll be playing with me instead of against me; it'll be a challenge."

Wiping his hands, Grissom made his way over and up the stairs. "One game."

"Thank you." Sara told him before looking at Nick. "Come on Nick, we'll get the extra chairs from the office."

Nick followed her to the office and paused at the door as she walked in and over to the desk. He looked at the room and saw the two desks, one that was clearly Grissom's by the books and insect containers. The other was Sara's due to the computer, journals, books, and a few post-it's with her chicken scratch writing. "As I okay being here? I don't want to encroach on Grissom's office."

"You're fine." Sara told him as she grabbed one of the chairs.

"You have a desk here?"

Sara pushed back her hair behind her ear. "Uh yeah, I'm over here a lot. No pets allowed at my place and Hank's always with one of us unless we're at work."

"That dog seems more like yours than Grissom's."

"He kind of is. It's due to some stuff from my past that only Gil and I know about," she shrugged, "well, and my therapist. Anyways, Hank is attached to me and pretty much stays with me when we're home. I just sent him to the bedroom so he'd be out of the way." She handed him the chair from Grissom's desk and took her own.

Three games later, much to everyone's surprise on the fact that Grissom continued to play, the holiday visit was ending. Sara was the one to show everyone out after goodbyes were given and promises to bring extra food the next day. While Grissom worked on dishes, Sara returned the chairs to the office and began cleaning up the tables and living room. While handing off items on the table, Sara caught Grissom's arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Thank you."

"For what?"

She shook her head, "just being yourself and joining us. You didn't have to but you did."

"It's been years since I took part in Thanksgiving but it was hard to ignore your infectiousness."

"Well, I was enjoying myself." Sara pulled away and kissed his cheek. "I've never had a family holiday before. I think I caught myself several times wondering if this is what most families do."

Grissom picked up the dishcloth next to him and turned to her. "You have a family now Sara."

"I know but I still get the thoughts." Sara found herself in a hug and she closed her eyes as he hugged her. "Thank you for letting me do this. I know it wasn't easy letting in the house."

He pulled away and cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb against her skin. "If letting the team inside the townhouse for a holiday meal makes you experience a good holiday, having my privacy invaded is a small price to pay."

"I know and I love you for it." She smiled as she turned to start putting away food.

"Hey Sara." He caught her attention and she glanced at him. "We'll start looking at what we're doing for Christmas next week. Maybe we can have the team over for a late holiday or New Year's." Watching the grin grow on her face, he couldn't help but smile also.

I felt like Grissom would be willing to step outside his comfort zone so Sara could have a family holiday for the first time in her life. With her past family history, the way her character's backstory is, I don't feel like she had family holidays.