AN: Time for a family holiday! And some original characters I had a lot of fun coming up with, I hope you like them
Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to CSI
Chapter 41
Shelby settles into her new routine with Emma without any issues, which is a huge relief to both of her parents. The days when she wakes up before Sara or Grissom get home, the two are invariably curled up together on the couch reading a book, or at the table playing a game. When she's still asleep, breakfast for all four of them is almost always ready, which Sara tries to tell Emma is absolutely not something she has to do – with no effect whatsoever.
She's a little worried that their vacation will break the routine, but there's not much to do about that, unfortunately. To her surprise, Ecklie readily lets both of them take the whole week off, so they quickly book the flight and hotel rooms along the route they decided on. Opting to fly out on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning, she even manages to set up a playdate with two of Shelby's closest friends from her old daycare.
"So, I guess now we know what brought on the sudden move," Carrie, Lily's mom, says, her tone conspiring, as she gives Grissom a thorough once-over. He's on the phone, some ways away from the two benches they've claimed – because of course, Nick has a bug related question about a case on their first day away from the lab.
If they had been better friends than they are – Carrie is a classic soccer mom, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not really something Sara can relate to – she might have explained a little more, but as it is, she just settles for an almost genuine smile and a shrug.
"Shelby seems to be getting along great with him," Mona, Sadie's mom, notes.
This time, her smile is real – she and Mona, who's a single mother working at a hospital downtown, have always had more in common and get along better than either of them do with Carrie. "Yeah, they hit it off pretty much instantly," she confirms. "Turns out I worried for nothing, but, well…"
"We still worry," Mona agrees.
Grissom finally wraps up his call and joins them. "Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Work doesn't always care that you're not on the clock, unfortunately."
Carrie offers him a smile. "Oh, don't I know it? I spent most of our two-week vacation in the Bahamas last month trying to get Jason off the phone with his office."
Sara's not entirely sure why a city surveyor might need to check in with the office while on vacation, but she doesn't mention that.
"What is it that you do?" Carrie continues.
"I'm a CSI, like Sara," Grissom replies. "Focus on entomology."
Carrie frowns. "Ento-what?"
"Bugs," Sara supplies, biting back a smile at the way Carrie turns slightly green. Suddenly, she remembers an incident last summer, when some of the kids from the daycare and their parents got together for a picnic in Dolores Park and Carrie freaked out when a lone ant climbed onto her leg.
Mona must remember too, based on the smile on her face as she turns to Grissom. "And how do bugs help you solve cases?"
"Well, bugs can really be very informative…" he starts, the excitement Sara's very familiar with tinting his voice.
It's about two minutes before Carrie makes a show of looking at her watch, doing a double take, and rising to her feet. "I'm sorry, we actually have to get going," she says, seemingly apologetically. "Lily's cousin is having a birthday party later today and we still haven't had a chance to pick up a present."
Sara tries to emulate the look on the other woman's face, probably with limited success. "That's too bad, but I'm glad the girls got a little time together."
"Yes, I'm glad you called. Maybe we can do it again next time you're in town," Carrie suggests.
"Definitely. And if you're ever in Las Vegas…" Sara replies.
"We'll be sure to look you up." Carrie offers a general wave. "It was nice to see you again, and Shelby. And nice meeting you, Dr. Grissom."
"And you," he tells her with a smile.
She goes to get Lily and then the two leave the playground. Mona waits until they're out of sight before she lets out a laugh. "I forgot that Carrie's got a thing about bugs."
"You did not," Sara snorts.
"OK, I didn't. But that was fun!" She offers Sara a half-smile. "So, what plans do you have for the day? Need to get going too?"
Sara glances over at Grissom, who just smiles and shrugs.
"We're having dinner with friends later, and we need to pick up our rental car before that, but we're not in any hurry," she says, knowing that if he wanted to do something in particular, he would just say so. Besides, she has missed Mona.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting hungry," Mona says. "So, how about we round up the kids and grab some lunch?"
Shelby picks that moment to run over to announce that she's hungry too, Sadie hot on her heels, so they pack up and leave the playground, stopping on Oak Street. Sara looks left and right. "Downtown or the park?" she asks, raising an eyebrow at Mona.
"Either's fine with me," she replies with a shrug. "You guys are the tourists."
"Are you forgetting that I used to live here?"
"Dr. Grissom's the tourist then," Mona counters.
"Please, no doctor," he pipes in. "I'm on holiday. But if you're leaving the decision up to me, I say Golden Gate Park. It's been a while since I was there."
He's got Shelby by one hand, and Sara loops her arm through his to tug him in the right direction. "About… ten years?"
He frowns for a moment but then a smile spreads on his face. "In just over two weeks, as a matter of fact," he says, figuring out what she's referring to.
Mona gives them a curious look over her shoulder. "I feel like I'm missing something."
"It's when we met," Sara explains. "A forensics conference at Moscone Center, September of 1998."
"And we played hooky from some seminar about… I can't even remember," Grissom continues. "But the weather was too nice to stay cooped up inside all day, so we got sandwiches from some hole-in-the-wall deli and ate in the park."
"I doubt that place is still around," she says with a sigh – they had really good food. "But I bet we can find somewhere else. You're the expert, Mona – lead the way."
And she does, unerringly guiding them to a small, mom-and-pop sandwich shop a few blocks from the park, and they grab some food before continuing on and finding a couple of benches under some trees near the conservatory of flowers.
It's one of those perfect afternoons – the sky stays a pale blue with only a few fluffy clouds here and there, there's not too many people around despite it being a Saturday at the end of August, and both Shelby and Sadie doze off after their little semi-picnic, Sadie in her stroller and Shelby on the bench with her head in Grissom's lap.
"Stop fidgeting!" Sara half-whispers, grabbing the hand he was using to tug at his shirt collar.
"Maybe I should have worn a tie," Grissom mumbles back, and she raises an eyebrow.
"It's not a formal banquet," she points out amusedly. "And I doubt a tie would sway Jill, anyway."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
She opens her mouth to respond, but at that moment, the door in front of them opens, revealing a smiling blond man in his mid-forties, by Grissom's estimation.
"Uncle Eric!" Shelby immediately exclaims, throwing herself at the man, who reacts quickly enough to scoop her into a hug.
"Hey, kiddo, we've missed you too!" He shifts Shelby a little to be able to hold out his hand and smiles at the two of them. "You must be Grissom – I hope Jill wasn't pulling my leg when she told me to call you that."
Despite his nerves, Grissom has to chuckle as he shakes. "No, no, she wasn't. The only people who call me Gil are Sara and my mother."
"And Catherine, occasionally," Sara pipes in. "And Jim. And Doc."
"Usually outside the lab," he points out.
"We're not at the lab now."
He can tell that she's biting back a smile, so his next question is more or less rhetorical. "Are you trying to be unhelpful?"
She just lets the smile spread on her face before stepping through the door. Shelby's disappeared into the house, and she gives Eric a quick hug before both of them follow him into a large, bright kitchen. A petite woman with long, black hair is at the stove, her back to them, but turns when she hears them.
"Finally!" she exclaims, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel before pulling Sara into a tight hug. "I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to come back for your stuff. Another few weeks and I would have e-bayed it – possession's nine-tenths of the law, right?"
Sara returns the hug just as tightly. "I doubt you would have gotten much for any of it." She steps back. "And it hasn't been that long! It's not my fault the Vegas housing market is awful."
"Yeah, yeah." Jill rolls her eyes before turning to him. "Grissom. It's good to see you again."
He was expecting a less than warm welcome, but while the smile on her face isn't as bright as it was when directed at Sara, it's still pleasant.
"It's nice to see you too," he replies. "You have a lovely home."
"Thanks." She frowns, looking around. "I thought you were bringing the little rugrat with you?"
"She's here somewhere," Sara replies.
"I think she went to find the boys," Eric pipes in. "I'll go get them; dinner's ready soon anyway."
"Do you need help with anything?" Grissom asks as the other man disappears the way they came a moment ago.
Jill has turned back to the stove and opened the oven. "There's lemonade and iced tea in the fridge, if you want to put that on the table," she replies, nodding at the adjoining dining area, where a table is already set.
He opens the large fridge and finds two pitchers. "It smells wonderful," he notes when he's placed them on the table. "What's on the menu?"
"Veggie lasagna," Jill replies, turning away from the oven with a large dish in her hands.
He glances at Sara. "Is that where you got the recipe?"
"I told you Jill gave me cooking lessons," she replies with a shrug, eliciting a snort from the other woman.
"That's one way of putting it," she says, sounding like she's fighting hard to not burst out laughing.
"I don't envy you," Grissom tells Jill, ignoring Sara's annoyed look. "Did she tell you about the time she set off the fire alarm heating up leftovers?"
"She did that in Vegas too?"
Sara rolls her eyes. "Ha, ha, very funny."
But he can tell by her half-smile that she's not as annoyed as she's trying to come across.
Eric returns to the kitchen at that moment, Shelby trailing behind him followed by two dark-haired boys looking to be around five and eight. The older one lights up at the sight of Sara. "Aunt Sara!" he exclaims, and Sara smiles and opens her arms, ruffling his hair when he hugs her.
"Hi, Evan. How are you? How's school?"
"I hope you don't mind some competition," Eric mumbles in Grissom's ear, an amused tone to his voice. "He's had a crush on her since they met, basically."
"A worthy adversary," he replies solemnly, earning a low chuckle.
"Hey, where are your manners?" Jill says, pulling her sons' attention. "We have a guest."
"It's fine," Grissom hurries to assure her before giving the two boys a smile. "You must be Evan and Aiden; my name is Grissom. It's nice to meet you."
Aiden peers up at him with a frown. "You just have one name, like Batman?"
Sara snorts. "No, it's his last name, but everyone calls him that."
"Then what's your first name?"
"Gilbert."
Shelby laughs. "That's a funny name, Daddy."
"Oh, you think so?" He picks her up with one arm, using the other hand to tickle her. "How about when I tickle you, is that funny?"
Judging by her shrieks of laughter, it seems to be. When she starts squirming, he lets up, leveling her with a serious look. "Do you still think my name is funny?"
She's barely containing her laughter but shakes her head. "Uh-uh."
"Good. Hungry?"
"Uh-huh."
"Then let's eat," Jill announces.
Dinner is a laid-back affair. Sara asks the boys about school and kindergarten, respectively, while Jill and Eric ask Shelby about Las Vegas. As soon as their plates are empty, though, both Evan and Aiden start fidgeting in their seats.
"May we be excused?" Evan asks after a moment, giving his mother a pleading look.
"To do what?" she replies.
"We're building a castle," Aiden supplies.
"With Legos," Shelby adds.
Sara and Jill exchange an amused look.
"Sure," Jill agrees. "But wait until Shelby's done."
They obediently stay where they are until Shelby finishes the last of her vegetables, and then all three of them scamper off.
"They seem to get along well," Grissom notes.
"They've always been close," Sara tells him with a smile.
"I was between jobs for a few months about two and a half years ago," Eric explains. "So I stayed home with the boys, and it just made sense for Shelby to hang out with us, save Sara a few bucks on daycare. They really bonded."
Grissom knows the flash of jealousy at the thought that the other man got to spend that kind of quality time with Shelby isn't reasonable, and luckily, it's gone in an instant. "That must have been nice for them."
"Why don't we move into the living room instead?" Jill suggests.
Sara pushes her chair back and stands. "Sounds good, I just need to use the bathroom first."
"Well, you know where it is." Jill waves her off before turning to Grissom. "Coffee?"
"That would be nice, thank you."
"I'll take care of it," Eric says, squeezing his wife's shoulder on his way into the kitchen. "You two go ahead and sit down."
Jill offers Grissom a smile and leads him down a couple of steps at the other end of the dining area into a comfortable looking living room. She takes a seat in an armchair, gesturing him towards a matching couch.
He sits down, turning to be able to give her a questioning look. "So, is this when you give me thethird degree?"
Jill snorts. "Do I need to?"
"No. Is that going to stop you?"
She just shakes her head, an amused look on her face. "Look, the Sara I knew way back, before you came into the picture, before Vegas even crossed her mind, she was… I probably would have said she was happy enough, even if there was always this… sadness to her, you know?"
He remembers that woman… girl, really, she had just turned twenty-seven when they met, so young. Trying to hide that darkness deep inside with a too-wide smile and too-bright personality so nobody would look deeper. It took him longer than it should, to realize it was mostly a façade. "I know."
"And then she met you, and you asked her to come down there, and the next thing I know, she's back. And the Sara that came back here… that wasn't the Sara I used to know."
He has to swallow down a lump at the thought of those days.
"I wouldn't say that she was broken, because she had the pregnancy to focus on, and then Shelby, and I think you know how much she loves that little girl. And I don't think she was miserable those years either, but the last few months, when we've talked, and now, seeing her, seeing all three of you together… she's happy. Really happy. Possibly for the first time since I've known her."
"I think she is, yes."
"So all I really want to say is this – don't mess it up."
"I have absolutely no intention of doing that."
"Good."