Merriam-Webster Definition
Happenstance (noun): a circumstance especially that is due to chance.
Sara found herself answering her phone as it rang while in the process of making dinner. Grissom was in the living room still reading his book on Thoreau, having met her outside in the parking lot. She'd left him to read and wanted to get started on a meal for them. Seeing the number as being from her doctor, it surprised her so she shut off the stove and answered the phone.
"Hello? Yes, this is her." Sara picked herself up from where she was leaning against the counter. "I'm sorry, can you repeat what you just said." Putting a hand to her head, Sara continued to listen. "No, see that's impossible because I have an IUD." Sighing, she pinched her nose before putting her hand out against the counter. "When? Yeah, no that's fine. Better safe than sorry. Do I go to the ER or the local overnight clinic? The one near Westfall is likely to know me by name, work injuries go there. Yeah. Thanks for letting me know." She hung up and pinched her nose again before speaking. "Gil?"
"Yes Dear?" He was still on the couch reading. She knew he had his head in the book because gave her an automatic response for when she called his name.
"Grab the keys, you're driving me to the clinic by the lab." She lowered her hand from her face and turned her head to see him standing looking at her. "I have to go for an emergency ultrasound."
Grissom seemed concerned as she headed upstairs. "What's going on?"
"A very big misunderstanding that is going to cost someone their job, I just don't know who yet." She grabbed her jacket from the closet. "Dr. Walter's called me, not the office, but her. She said my job physical results are in except both my urine and blood work came back positive for pregnancy." She chuckled nervously, "which shouldn't happen with an IUD and if it does, it could be ectopic or end in miscarriage."
She knew it would take him a moment to process what she was saying. "Wouldn't it be better to go to the ER?" He asked hesitantly. "In case it's ectopic?"
"I asked and she said the clinic is where she can send orders to. If I have to go to the ER, I guess they'll send me."
Sara found herself bouncing her knee as she waited with Grissom beside her. He held her hand, or she held his if her grip was anything to go by. The orders had cut half the wait time in half because she didn't have to fill out paperwork. Most of the patients waiting were from the university or parents with sick kids. A tug on her sleeve made her turn her head and saw a little girl sitting right next to her.
"Hello."
"Are you a police officer?" She pointed to the badge at Sara's hip, still there from her day of court. She'd immediately gotten to work on dinner without undressing.
Sara chuckled, "no, I'm a scientist, but I help the police."
"How does a scientist help the police?" The girl asked while moving around in her chair.
"Well, when bad people do bad things, we help the police know who did them. Everyone can say someone else did the crime but only invisible clues let us tell them the truth. Do you know the board game Clue?"
"Yeah." A head bobbed up and down. "It tells who did what in what room with what weapon."
Sara leaned in slightly. "Like that. I can tell the cops who did the crime and how they did it and where."
Apparently, her mom finally realized what was going on. "Amelia! I'm so sorry."
"She's a police scientist." Amelia told her mother.
"She's fine." Sara told her mother. "She's a good distraction for everything going on in my mind."
Amelia asked another question. "Do you have a police dog to help you search for clues?"
"No, but I have dog at home. His name is Hank and he's pretty's big and he drools a lot." Sara grinned.
"How do you become a police scientist?" Amelia stood up and then sat back down, almost like she was jumping in place.
Sara grinned. "Well you have to go to school for a long time to learn how to read invisible clues."
"I like school. Mom and I made a volcano for science last week. I'm home-schooled, that means I do school at home."
Sara grabbed her bag and opened it, Grissom watching the exchange so he let her hand go. Reaching into her wallet, she pulled out a card they usually gave victims or to victim families to contact the lab. Writing on the back, she held it out to Amelia's mother. "If you ever want to bring her by one morning, we'd be more than willing to show her what we do. Improvised field trip for her science lesson. My name and number are on there so if you call ahead, I can probably do the tour myself."
"Thank you, you're so sweet." The woman nodded as she excepted the card. "I'm Yelena."
Sara shook her hand. "Sara, this is my husband, Gil."
"Ma'am." He waved a hand her and then looked at Amelia. "Amelia."
"What do you do?" Amelia asked him.
"I work with Sara. We're both scientists."
Amelia grinned at him. "That's cool."
Yelena looked up as a man walked over with a boy who had his wrist in a cast. "Broken, oh what am I going to do with you Jose?" She stood up and took Amelia's hand. "Say goodbye Amelia."
"Goodbye Sara, goodbye Gil." Amelia waved as the four left.
"That was very sweet of you." Grissom told her as he put his arm around her and kissed her head.
Sara nodded. "She was a sweet kid."
Ten minutes later Sara found herself laying on a bed starring up at the ceiling as she was given an ultrasound. Grissom stood beside the bed watching the nurse as she made small sounds or expressions while looking at the turned away screen. The nurse referred to the orders from Sara's doctor once before going back to the screen. Eventually she looked at Sara after putting the ultrasound Doppler away and cleaned Sara's belly of ultrasound jelly. "The doctor will be in shortly."
There was another ten minute wait of which was spent with the couple going over worst case scenarios. Grissom listened to Sara talk despite his mind trying to work through all the situations that could arise. Eventually the doctor walked in and held out her hand for them to shake.
"H Sara, I'm Dr. Rice and I've been looking over everything. Reviewing your doctor's orders, it's safe to rule out ectopic pregnancy."
Both seemed to take a breath. "So, is it just abnormal hormonal reading?"
The doctor smiled at her. "We looked to see if your IUD was still in place and unfortunately it isn't. It's rare but sometimes expulsion happens. If it does, it's common for it to happen in the first three months and you had yours replaced four months ago. I suspect it probably happened during your period. Your gynecologist will be able to explain the issue more in-depth." She looked down at the notes in her hand.
"So, I'm pregnant?"
Rice looked up. "I would estimate about six weeks. I encourage you see an OB." Watching Sara's face, she asked the next question. "I need to know, are you going to be seeking an abortion?"
"NO." Both said immediately before Sara spoke again. "No, I'm just shocked is all. Unplanned, definitely unplanned, but it's ours. It's ours."
The doctor nodded. "I'll leave you guys to talk while I get your discharge documents."
Once the woman was gone, Sara sat up and ran a hand through her hair. "You know when I joked about getting pregnant to avoid the relay, I wasn't being serious."
"I can call Williams…"
Sara looked straight at him. "No, you're going. I have a bit before you go and by that point, I'll probably be pulled from the field anyways. I'll be in the lab and around a dozen people and let's be honest, I'll be puking my guts up whether you're here or there. I got the team and Casey and Wendy."
"Sara…"
"Hey." She caught his hand. "I need your mind present for the later part and the birth. Besides, things have changed. I eat more, I sleep more, I don't work crazy hours like I used to."
Grissom nodded. "You have to tell Catherine tomorrow."
"Oh I will. After I spend all night thinking of what to say." She turned her head to look at him for a moment. "Have you gotten her and Ecklie's approval for the sabbatical yet?"
"I keep forgetting."
"You should do that before I say anything to her. That way she doesn't think you're abandoning me." Sara sighed as she shook her head. "I will be pregnant for one of our heatwaves."
The door to Catherine's office was open when Sara knocked on it two days later. She waved her in and Sara sat down in the chair across from the redhead as she sat filling out paperwork. The woman put up a finger as she worked on signing one of the many folders that she was required to. Sara smiled as she always could appreciate that Catherine got her paperwork done, unlike the constant comments then texts from Ecklie about reminding Grissom to do his. At least she'd have a month break on those texts.
"Okay." Catherine closed the file and threw it to the side. "Your husband tell you about this jaunt into the New England states he's planning?"
Sara chuckled, "more like I'm forcing him to take the sabbatical due to his burnout."
"Really? Well that is something you'd do."
"Especially since I need him in working order and of sound mind come next summer."
Catherine nodded. "Brass mentioned something about baby planning."
"More like my IUD fell out and I'm six weeks pregnant." Catherine just stared at her. "Catherine?"
"And he's still going on this sabbatical?"
Sara nodded, "as I said, I need him present and of sound mind. Better when I'm in the early stages and puking my guts up than potentially going into labor."
The redhead nodded. "Look, either way I can tell you he'll be there for you more than Eddie was ever there for me. Wasn't until Lindsey was potty-trained that he became father material."
"I got something that will shock you."
"It's not his?" Sara glared at her. "What? That would shock me."
Sara smirked, "he wants a girl. Mentioned it way back when and despite recent baby talk before finding out about this bun in the oven, I know it's still a small hope."
"A girl? Gil Grissom wants a daughter?" Sara nodded, "okay, yeah that does shock me. I thought he'd want a boy to go dig in the ground with and do experiments."
Motioning to her, Sara nodded. "Thank you. I said the same thing. His response was that I'm female and I like doing those things so why can't he do it with a daughter."
"Well, boy or girl, he's going to be one hell of a father. Sofia mentioned he managed to get Greg to go to a counselor. I thought it was you who did that."
Sara shrugged. "If he can get me in counseling, he can get anyone in counseling."
"True that. I mean, Greg does take after you a bit much in some areas. All mama's boy there with the work instead of deal with trauma mentality." She chuckled, "oh man, can you imagine Greg babysitting?"
Sara shook her head. "Not happening. I'd be given back a child full of caffeine and a love for hard rock. Gil would kill him and then I'd kill Gil."
"Sofia can monitor." Catherine waved her off. "So, this going to be an only child?"
Pointing over her shoulder, Sara looked confused. "As opposed to that man child in the break room?"
"You know what I mean. I put my foot down and had my tubes tied after Lindsey was born. One was enough."
"We want two and I'm willing to endure labor for two. I just pray one of them is a girl."
Catherine chuckled, "don't pray too much, then shit doesn't happen."
"I don't know. I may not believe in God but Gil does and he's had a pretty good track record with the guy."
"Grissom doesn't believe in religion."
"I know. He doesn't believe in religion, but he does believe in God."
The woman shook her head. "Here I am learning shit about the guy after almost sixteen years."
"Never ending story of my life." Sara sobered before asking. "When do I get pulled from the field?"
"Well, considering the last one pregnant around here was me, crime lab pregnancy policies haven't changed. Go figure that. Twenty-five weeks is the max. Or until you can't work in the field due to health. From today on, no solos, and I'd prefer non-street locations. Locked down scenes, hotels, restaurants, homes, etc. Also, eight hours max. That's my rule, not the lab's. Vitamins, sleep, food, appointments, etc. Got it?" Catherine pointed her pen at Sara. "I want a letter in writing when you will be hitting twenty-five weeks. Make it round about, I don't need to know when you guys made this kid. I do not need that in my brain. I also need in the same letter what day you'll hit full term, again round about."
Sara nodded. "I can do that."
"Oh, and you get the happy task of telling Ecklie."
"Catherine, I'm pregnant. Why do I have to do it?"
"Because he's less likely to lose his shit when you tell him." Catherine winced. "Oh, now that I think of it, better let me do it. He's losing his Mass Casualty person in a few weeks. He is not going to like that."
Sara shrugged. "So if Gil is gone, does that mean I'm in charge of the boys and you?"
"I also need to run that by him. However, if one of you is gone then technically that takes the issue off the table. I mean, it'd probably be me."
"Good. Because if I had to go to that damn supervisor meeting pregnant and deal with Daryll and his attitude, it wouldn't have been a good day."
"I heard what you threatened to do to Carla James. Greg let it slip that threatening him equals Sara going a bit nuts."
Sara waved her off. "You guys can do whatever the hell you want. I just know that this baby, it gets me out of the relay and I'm happy about that."
"Dammit Sara, you're our best runner." Catherine shook head. "Guess that means Sofia has to take over. Also, why does Greg think he's going to die before the relay?"
"Sofia and I are going to be training him. I may not be able to run the relay but I can still run."
"Poor Greg." Catherine looked at her watch, "time to start the night."
Sara and Catherine found the boys throwing the rubber ball around and Grissom sat doing the crossword. It was Catherine's night for assignments. She grinned as she got their attention. She motioned to Grissom and he sighed knowing he had to tell the team he was going on sabbatical. Standing, he got the boys' attention.
"I wanted to let you know that I'll be gone for the month of January." Grissom told them, "Catherine and Ecklie are already aware. I'm going on sabbatical, so I'll be in New England teaching a seminar on entomology."
Nick pointed to Sara. "You going too?"
"Unfortunately, I have to save all my vacation time." Sara told them, "so not this time."
"Okay, I'm just confused." Nick told her, "if you want to go, go. We can survive without you."
Sara chuckled, "unless they started paid maternity leave, I have to save all my days."
Warrick grinned. "No? Really?"
"Yeah?" Sara smiled. "Six weeks."
"What? Really?" Nick asked despite it being confirmed. "Congrats guys." He hugged Sara and then shook Grissom's hand.
Warrick hugged Sara and smiled. "I'm so happy for you two."
Sara punched Greg's arm. "Ready to be a big brother?"
"Yeah, yeah." He hugged her and then turned to point to Grissom. "Wait, you're still going on sabbatical with Sara pregnant?"
"More like she's making me." Grissom nodded to Sara. "I tried not to."
"You know why you're going." Sara told him, "stop trying to get out of it."
Catherine chuckled. "Okay, so policies regarding pregnant lab employees haven't changed since I was pregnant, a whole fifteen years ago. Sara can go out in the field until twenty-five weeks but no solos. I'd prefer if it be locked down scenes, restaurants, homes, or hotels only, no streets. Also, despite her utter protests, she's not doing more than eight hours a shift. That's a Catherine rule, not a lab rule. Vitamins, doctors, food, sleep, etc. I've already told her but I'm tell you guys since Grissom will be gone and I need you three to help me keep her in check."
"I'm responsible, thank you."
"Yeah, Sara I'm with Catherine on this one." Nick told her. "I remember when my sister was pregnant and trust me, I'm sure Grissom will feel better knowing we're on top of you. That said, Greg, you're on Sara duty."
Greg pointed to himself. "Why me?"
"Because she's less likely to kill you, mama's boy." Warrick told him. "Nick and me, we'd be the murder of the week if we said anything. You'd get told off or she'd call Sofia to come deal with your ass."
Sara shook her head. "Unbelievable. All three of you."
"I haven't done anything." Greg told her.
"Not you, them two and Catherine."
Warrick smacked Nick's arm with the back of his hand and the Texan pointed to Greg. "See that, exactly that."
"Oh and Sara isn't competing in the Desert Relay."
Nick pointed to Grissom as the boys gave way to exclaiming the injustice of the last fact. "This is all because of you."
"Me, I didn't do anything." He motioned to Sara, "it's her doctor's fault."
"Oh like we believe that."
Sara chuckled, "it was actually. Baby plans were for next year not this year."
It is rare that IUDs fall out but it does happen and it is happenstance it happens (tying into the episode's name). This is one of the ways I prevent Sara's kidnapping. She'll be out of the field long before Natalie or Ernie Dell (suicide won't happen - not the way it did on tv at least) could interfere. Also, we see Natalie captured in what should have been a realistic method.
Let me know what you think of this chapter.
