AN: So, I feel like things are going pretty slow, but there's just a lot of establishing to get through, and I don't want to rush it, so it's going to be a few more chapters of very everyday things – hope nobody's getting tired of it! I promise there will, at some point, be a plot outside of Grissom and Shelby getting to know each other, and other characters will be (re)introduced!

As always, thanks to everyone who took the time out to review the last chapter – it's always the highlight of my day

Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to CSI

Chapter 12

Grissom pulls into an open parking spot in front of the colorful building his GPS indicates is his goal. There's a playground to one side of it, fenced in and covered to offer the handful of children and one adult currently occupying it some shade. A large sign provides the name and phone number for the establishment, and welcomes visitors.

Sara asked if he would come inside to meet the staff, so they will recognize him in the future, so he turns off the engine and approaches the entrance. A sign on the glass door instructs him to press a button to one side, and a moment later, the door swings open.

"Hi there," the middle-aged woman who opened the door greets him with a smile. "And who are you here for?"

"Shelby… Sidle," he replies, hesitating for a brief second on the surname.

"Mr. Grissom, of course, Sara mentioned you would be stopping by. Come on in." She steps aside to let him in and then carefully makes sure the door is closed and locked behind him. "If you wouldn't mind signing in," she then says, nodding at a clipboard attached to the wall where there's a sign-in sheet.

He writes down his name on the first free line and checks his watch before putting down 3:54 in the "Arrived" column. When he drops the pen to let it dangle from its cord once more, the woman is waiting for him at another locked door at the end of the small entranceway.

"We're very strict about security here," she tells him. "Wouldn't want one of the little ones to wander off."

"A good policy."

The door leads to a large, open room. Along one wall are low tables, two of which are occupied by groups of children with an adult each, engaged in various activities. In one corner is a comfortable looking sofa where another adult is reading to four more kids. Sara's sitting on the floor in the middle of the room with Shelby and another girl of roughly the same age, a wooden train track between them. The sound of the door closing alerts Sara to his presence, and she looks up with a smile.

"Hey, you found it."

That peaks Shelby's attention and she looks up at him and waves. "Hi."

He goes over and crouches down to take a closer look at the train track. "Hi. That's a nice train track. Did you build it?"

"Uh-huh."

"Why don't you go wash your hands," Sara suggests. "Then we can get going."

Shelby pouts a little at that, but still gets up and goes over to a low sink next to the door he just came through. He and Sara follow, saying goodbye to the woman who let him in on the way.

"Don't forget to sign out," Sara reminds him after doing so herself, and he puts down 3:58 in the "Left" column next to his name and arrival time.

"I thought it was strange, at first," he notes. "All these security measures. But then I remembered that kidnapping case a few years ago."

"Yeah," she agrees, clearly knowing what he's talking about – a woman walked into a daycare center and simply picked up a child that it turned out she had no relation to without any of the staff realizing. Luckily, the case had a happy ending, the child being recovered within a few days. "It's a bit of a hassle when there's someone new and you have to identify yourself, but really, what's a few seconds of inconvenience compared to missing children? Could you grab that?" She nods at Shelby's car seat, which is sitting in the corner next to the door, while taking the girl herself by the hand and leading the way out the door.

"That's what you meant by the approved list," Grissom says once they're in the car on their way to the car dealership Sara's decided on, Shelby buckled up in the back.

"Right, I didn't think about explaining that, sorry," she apologizes with a smile. "It's a list of people who are approved to pick her up. So me, you, and Catherine, for now. I figured I'd ask if maybe Nick or Warrick, or both, would mind being on there too, once I'm actually back at the lab. Considering our line of work, it can't hurt to have a few back-ups, you know?"

"What happens if someone who's not on the list needs to pick her up for some reason?"

"You can add people temporarily," she explains. "I think that's mostly for, you know, out of town relatives, people who aren't around all the time but still trusted. Or just let them know in the morning if someone not on the list will be picking her up. And if someone who's not on the list shows up without any warning, they'll call to see if it's OK."

"It sounds like there should be some sort of introduction material," he notes.

"There is," she replies, laughing when he gives her a surprised look. "I mean, they call it a 'welcome packet', but yeah. It's back at Catherine's place, remind me to give it to you later. It's mostly common sense, really, but still."

"Will do." He pulls off the street and into the parking lot at the dealership. "Ready to play the damsel?"

Being at a car dealership with Grissom isn't quite as bad as being at one alone – for one, it doesn't take more than a few minutes of them looking at a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid before an overexcited salesman appears.

"That's an excellent choice," is his greeting. "Not quite twelve-thousand miles on the meter and only one previous owner."

Sara's surprised he doesn't follow up with a claim that the previous owner is a little old lady who rarely leaves her house. Car salesmen really are predictable.

"Plenty of space for a stroller and whatever else this little lady might travel with in the back," he continues, waving at Shelby who hides her face against Sara's shoulder – she fell asleep in the car on the way and isn't quite awake yet. "And, of course, LATCH anchoring points in the passenger seat and backseat as well as child locks. Would you like to take it for a test drive?"

Of course, he directs the question to Grissom and not her.

"I'm not the one looking," he replies, nodding to her. "Ask her."

Hesitantly, the young man turns to her instead. "Ma'am?"

"Yes, I would like to take it for a test drive, thank you." She hoists Shelby a little higher on her hip. "We need to move her car seat, though."

"No problem," he agrees immediately. "If you wait outside, I'll bring the car out in a minute."

"You didn't want to shop around a little first?" Grissom asks when they leave the dealership forty-five minutes later, Sara with the keys to her new car in hand.

"I checked out a few websites last night, looked at different options, this one was the best one," she replies. "I wanted to check it out in person and drive it, but unless there were some major red flags, I knew I was going to get it, so why beat around the bush?"

"True." He glances at Shelby, who's still half asleep. "I know we said we'd grab dinner after, but I don't know if she's up for that."

"Yeah…" Sara brushes some hair away from Shelby's forehead. "Why don't I call Catherine and check if she's eaten yet, and then we can pick up some take-out and eat at her place? Shelby can have something later, when she wakes up."

He was ready to call it a day and maybe suggest a rain check for tomorrow, but not because he wants to, so he agrees quickly. Sara gets Shelby settled in her car seat again and then pulls out her cell.

"Hey, Cath, did you eat yet? Yeah, we're done at the dealership, but Shelby's out for the count, so we figured take-out at your place, if you want in… Sure, that works. See you in a while." She hangs up and gives him a smile. "She said she's craving pad woon sen, you up for thai food?"

"Sounds good. Why don't we call in the order and then you can take Shelby home while I pick up the food?"

Which is how he ends up at Catherine's place eating chow mein while she digs into her pad woon sen and Sara some pad thai. Lindsey thanked him for her own pad thai and disappeared into her room with the food.

"So, Gil, you hanging around until shift starts and giving me a ride?" Catherine asks.

He swallows some noodles and carrots before answering. "I don't have my kit, so I need to go home first. Besides, if one of us gets stuck at a scene, you'll need to catch a ride home with someone else in the morning."

"Fine, I'll drive myself," she grumbles good-naturedly.

"Don't complain, I did buy you dinner," he points out and she rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah."

She turns the TV on to a marathon of old Jeopardy reruns and he and Sara compete to get the right question first for the rest of the meal and a good hour after, Catherine piping in now and then when neither of them knows it.

Catherine has just gone to put away the leftovers when Shelby appears, climbing onto the couch and then into Sara's lap. "Hey, baby." She kisses the top of the little girl's head. "Did you have a nice nap?" Shelby nods, blinking sleepily. "You hungry?" A shake of the head.

Grissom glances at his watch – twenty past seven. "It's her bedtime soon, right?"

She glances at her own watch and frowns. "Yeah, we'll see about that tonight, she just slept for two hours. But I need to start working on being up all night anyway, so no worries."

"Still, I should probably get going," he says, reluctantly. "I do need to go home to grab my kit, shower and change."

She nods. "Of course. Come on, I'll get that folder from the daycare center and walk you to the door."

She shifts Shelby to the couch instead, and she curls up against the cushions.

"Bye, sweetheart," he tells her. He wants to lean down, kiss her on the top of her head like Sara did, but refrains. Not yet. But maybe, he hopes, soon.

"Bye, Daddy."

Her faint voice brings him to a stop halfway through the room and he turns around, but her eyes are closed and her thumb is in her mouth.

For a moment, he thinks he might have imagined it, but when he turns back, Sara's watching him with a small smile on her face. "You OK?"

"You didn't tell her to say that?"

"Of course not. She's barely awake, it might have just been… instinctual." She shrugs. "Do you want me to tell her not to…"

"No," he cuts her off. "No, I was just… caught off guard."

The smile widens, and he's pretty sure she knows exactly what he can't find the words to say. "OK, good."

She disappears into the room she and Shelby are sharing and returns a moment later with a glossy pamphlet that she hands over.

"Very professional," he notes, turning it over in his hands.

"Yeah, that was my reaction too. In San Francisco, I just got a one-page printout, but maybe someone's into computers or something."

"Thank you," he says, hoping she knows it's for more than just the pamphlet.

"Of course." He realizes that they're very close when she takes a step back, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "So, uh, tomorrow's Wednesday. Any plans?"

"Just work. And you said you and Shelby were going to the daycare for… five hours?"

"Yeah." She nods. "Eight to one, so she gets to be there for lunch, and then we'll probably go back here so she can get her regular afternoon nap."

"Unlike today."

She laughs a little. "Yeah, the schedule got a little messed up today, but it's not the end of the world. I was thinking we could maybe come by your place for a while later in the afternoon? If you want."

The idea that he wouldn't want to see both of them any chance he can get is so absurd to him it's hard to understand how it can even occur to her.

"Of course. But I do still need help with child proofing," he reminds her.

"Yeah, that's more for when she's over there with just you," Sara reasons with a shrug. "Spending the night or taking a nap. As long as I'm there, one of us can keep an eye on her, so it should be fine. And I'm kind of curious to see how she reacts to your bug collection."

"Well, when you put it that way."

"Just give me a call or text when you're up."

"I will."

"Night."

"Good night."

Catherine's back on the couch when Sara returns to the living room, and she takes a seat between her and Shelby.

"You know," Catherine starts, "I never say no to free food, but I hate being the third wheel."

Sara glances at Shelby, but she's fallen asleep again. It might not be worth it to try to get her to wake up to eat, better to just put her to bed altogether. She did have a snack at the daycare before they left, and if she wakes up during the night, she can always have a banana or something.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she says innocently, ignoring Catherine's eye roll.

"I think you do. But fine, be that way. He's more fun to tease anyway."