AN: A little more interaction between Sara and Sam, some snooping, and an invitation… thanks to WalkerTRngr for the beta
Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to CSI
Chapter 10
Her phone pulls her out of sleep and Sara reaches for it blindly. "Sidle."
"Shit, you were asleep, I'm sorry."
"Grissom?"
"Yeah. I thought you'd be awake by now."
"Um, my shift ran late." She pushes herself up against the headboard and runs a hand over her face to wake up properly before glancing at the clock. Almost two o'clock. At least she got a few hours of sleep. "Did you need something?"
"I was going to ask if there's any way you can pick up Sam and Maddie after school. I'm not getting out of here until seven at the earliest, and Mom's still out of town." She already knew that, of course – after her stint in the hospital, Grissom suggested that Betty go stay with an old friend in Marina del Rey for a week or two, to really relax and get away from the college, and she won't be back until the weekend. It's been a bit of a hassle when he's been called into work, but so far, he's only been summoned twice, and Sam's been able to stay with a friend. "Maddie's parents are busy with something for work too, so they were both going home with Alex, but her dad called me and apparently his in-laws were just in an accident, so they're picking her up from school now and going out of town."
"Of course, no problem," she agrees immediately. "When's school out?"
"Are you sure? I can call someone else."
"Don't be ridiculous, you already called me."
Grissom's quiet for a moment. "You don't have to agree just because you feel obligated," he finally says. "I really can call someone else."
"Stop," she tells him as she pushes the covers aside and goes into the bathroom to get the shower started. "I don't feel obligated, I would love to hang out with Sam, and from what I've heard about Maddie, I doubt she'll cause any problems. It's Wednesday, so no activities, right?"
Again, the line goes quiet, and she wonders if he's surprised that she's as familiar with their schedule as she is. He shouldn't be, since he's the one who's told her everything she knows, but maybe he didn't think she'd actually remember it.
"No," he finally says. "No activities. I think Alex's mom was planning on taking them to the mall, but you do not have to do that. Just… take them to my place – Sam has a key – and let them entertain themselves. Just keep an eye on them if they want to go in the pool."
Sara has to laugh. "I think I can keep two eight-year-olds alive for a few hours," she teases. "Seriously, it's not a problem, just tell me when to pick them up and we'll be fine."
"And you're sure you wouldn't rather get some more sleep? I know you have work tonight."
"Come on, Gil, you know me," she replies, stumbling a little when she realizes she slipped back into using his first name. She's been very careful to stick to Grissom since he got back. "When I'm up, I'm up. Even if I went back to bed now, I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. Now, tell me when I need to pick the girls up, so I can take a shower and get ready!"
"OK, OK. Thank you, seriously. School's out at ten past three."
"OK, great. Do I need to do something, sign them out?" She pauses. "Are they going to let them go with me?"
"It should be fine," he assures her. "If you were going to take them out of class, you'd need to be on the approved list, but they don't tick off the kids at the end of the day. But I'll call the school and let them know, just to be on the safe side."
"Good, yeah. And let Sam know I'm picking them up?"
Grissom hesitates. "I'll text Alex's dad and ask him to tell her when he picks Alex up."
"Perfect. I have to get ready now, or I won't make it in time."
"OK, yeah. And don't worry about dinner, just order pizza or something, the girls will be thrilled. And…"
"Stop!" she interrupts him before he can get any further. "We'll be fine. But I have to go. If there's anything I absolutely have to know, text me."
"OK, sorry. Thanks, and I'll see you later, I'll try to get out of here as soon as I can."
"Don't worry about it, as long as you're back before I need to go in to work, it's fine."
"Yeah, I will be, no problem. OK, bye."
"Bye."
Despite Grissom's assurance that she shouldn't have any trouble picking Sam and Maddie up, Sara's still a little nervous as she leans against the trunk of her car, waiting for the kids to emerge from the school. She got here early, of course, and there's no pick-up lane or any obvious place to wait, so she decided to just park in the spot closest to the exit and get out so Sam will see her in case she doesn't recognize the car.
She forces herself to stay where she is when the first group of children comes through the doors – Sam should know Sara's the one picking her up and look for her, there's no need to go looking. It would just lead to some sitcom misunderstanding where they keep missing each other.
She doesn't have to wait long; only a few minutes later, she spots Sam a couple of feet from the curb and raises a hand to catch her attention. She knows the moment the girl spots her, because her face lights up, and she tugs on the arm of the girl next to her.
"Hi, Sara!"
"Hi, kiddo," Sara responds, accepting and returning Sam's hug – she hasn't been able to figure out a pattern to when Sam wants a hello hug and when she doesn't, but she's grateful for each one. When the girl steps back, she turns her attention to her friend. "And you must be Maddie?"
The girl smiles, revealing a few missing baby teeth. "Yeah. It's nice to meet you miss…" She hesitates.
"Just Sara is fine," Sara assures her. "Come on, let's go."
The girls chatter the whole ride to the house, and then rush inside as soon as she turns the car off.
"You didn't bring Hank?" Sam asks with a frown when she finds the house empty.
"Sorry," Sara says. "I worked late this morning, so he's staying with the dog sitter for the day. Plus, I didn't know I was picking you guys up until about an hour ago."
"You have a dog?" Maddie asks, eyes lighting up.
"Yeah, he's a boxer, and his name is Hank," Sam contributes. "He's really big but he's really sweet. Can we go get him?" The last part is directed at Sara, and she shakes her head.
"Not today, sorry. But maybe your dad can talk to Maddie's parents, and we can all meet at the dog park some day?" she suggests.
"OK," Sam half-grudgingly agrees.
"Now, do you have any homework?" She's pretty sure Sam has some homework, though she doesn't know if it's a daily thing or not.
"We have a math sheet, but it's for Friday," Maddie provides.
"Both of you have gymnastics tomorrow, though, right?" Sara asks, earning two nods. "So maybe it's better to just get the math done now? Then you don't have to think about it again."
Sam frowns at the suggestion. "Dad helps me with math."
Unsure of whether it's a ritual the two of them do together, Sara doesn't know quite how to proceed. "Well, if you want to, you can wait until he gets home tonight. But I'm pretty good at math too."
Sam seems to consider that for a moment but then shrugs. "OK."
So they spend the next forty-five minutes at the kitchen table, going over the girls' multiplication sheet.
"Good job," Sara says when Maddie has filled out the last number. "I assume you're not hungry yet, and you don't actually need me to entertain you, so just let me know if you want to go out to the pool, OK?"
Both girls glance out the window at the cloudy skies. "Can we play Wii?" Sam asks, turning back to Sara.
"You know the rules," she replies. "What game?"
"Sports Resorts," Sam immediately says.
Sara knows that Grissom is a bit more lenient with the more active Wii games, since Sam usually moves around as much as she would playing outside. "OK, that's fine. But make sure you play that and not something else, OK? I'm really stealthy, you won't even know I'm downstairs until I yell 'hey, that's Mario Kart' and make you jump four feet in the air."
Maddie laughs, but Sam just rolls her eyes and tugs her friend along towards the stairs down to the den.
Happy with her first hour of babysitting, Sara starts a pot of coffee and goes into Grissom's study to find something interesting to read. When the coffee's done, she pours herself a mug before making her way to the living room. She'll be able to hear if anything dramatic happens in the den, and she has a view of the backyard, in case the girls suddenly decide to sneak out to the pool. Not that she thinks they will, but still.
An hour or so later, she's just finished an article about using graphical probability models during the analysis of discharge residues on suspects, and decides to check in with the girls and see if they're ready for pizza.
She doesn't intentionally sneak – it was just a joke, which she's pretty sure Sam realized – but the girls must still not hear her, because they're talking about her when she's about to round the corner halfway down the stairs.
"Is Sara your dad's girlfriend?" Maddie asks.
"Nah," Sam replies.
"Then why did your dad ask her to pick us up from school?"
"He likes her."
She says it like it's a fact of life, and Sara feels her heart rate pick up. Not that she thinks Grissom would actually confide in Sam, especially not about any feelings he might or might not have for her, but the kid seems to have pretty good instincts.
"What if they get married?"
"So?" Sam sounds completely unconcerned, which makes Sara smile. "I like Sara, she's cool. And Hank's cool. It would be cool if they came to live with us."
They both go silent, signaling the end of the conversation, and Sara sneaks back up the stairs before going down again, making sure to make enough noise this time that the girls will hear her.
They don't look up when she enters the room, focused on their game of table tennis. "Who's winning?" she asks, perching on the arm of the huge, U-shaped sectional that takes up most of the room.
"Me," both girls reply at the same time.
"Cool. So, Maddie, I'm not actually sure when your parents are coming to pick you up?"
Sam wins the round and they both turn away from the TV. "Mom said around seven," Maddie replies.
"And are they expecting you to be fed at that point?"
The girl giggles. "I think so."
"OK, well…" Sara checks her watch. "For some reason, Sam's dad doesn't trust me not to set fire to his kitchen, which means pizza, unless someone has an objection to that?"
Both girls hurry to shake their heads.
"Great. Then we should probably order, if we want to eat before your parents show up, Maddie. What toppings do you guys want?"
Sam wants mushrooms and bell peppers, and Maddie just wants cheese. Not sure if Grissom will want food when he gets home, she orders an extra-large, half cheese, half mushrooms and bell peppers. If he's not hungry, he can just save the leftovers for tomorrow.
The girls come traipsing up the stairs half an hour later, and ten minutes after that, the doorbell rings.
"Can you set the table while I get the food, please?" Sara requests, and when she gets back, there are indeed plates and cutlery on the table.
She sets down the pizza box in the middle of the table and goes to the fridge to grab milk.
Sam looks at her like she just suggested they put chocolate sauce on the pizza. "What?"
"You can't have milk with pizza," the girl says, exasperated. "Dad always lets me have soda when we have pizza."
Sara highly doubts that. "Well, I'm not your dad, and he's not here to say either way, but I do know that he doesn't let you have soda on weekdays. So, it's milk or water, take your pick."
Sam looks like she's going to object, but Maddie holds out her glass. "I'd like some milk, please."
Sara pours milk for herself and Maddie, and when she raises an eyebrow at Sam, the girl sighs but holds out her glass too.
They finish about two thirds of the pizza, and then Sara puts it away, and the girls go back downstairs to watch TV until Maddie's parents arrive.
It doesn't occur to her to be nervous about meeting these strangers when the doorbell rings a few minutes after seven, but when she opens the door, she's met with a smile – Maddie's dad – and a scrutinizing look – Maddie's mom.
"Hi, you must be Sara," the man says, holding out his hand. "I'm Peter, Maddie's dad."
"I figured," she replies, shaking. "Nice to meet you."
"And this is my wife, Joanna."
Sara smiles at the woman, who is still studying her intently. Is she trying to figure out what kind of person has been watching her daughter? "It's nice to meet you too. And sorry about the last-minute change of plans, I understand Alex's grandparents were in an accident, and Grissom couldn't get out of whatever work thing he had."
"Oh, no worries," Joanna finally says, accepting Sara's outstretched hand. "How do you and… Gil know each other?"
"We work together," Sara replies.
"Oh, at the university?"
"Oh, no. I'm a CSI. I guess we're not technically colleagues these days, but he used to work at the lab before he moved east, and these days he's a consultant that gets called in on special cases," she explains.
"That's right, he does some work for the police force," Peter says with a nod.
"And have you known each other long?" Joanna asks.
If Sara didn't know better, she'd think the woman was scoping out her competition. But she's clearly married – though possibly not happily – and hopefully wouldn't be so obvious about it in front of her husband.
"About… eleven years," Sara says.
"Well, we should be getting home," Peter pipes in before his wife can ask anything else.
"Of course, I'll go get Maddie."
Both girls climb the stairs when she calls down to them, but Sam just gives Maddie a hug goodbye before disappearing up to the second floor and, Sara assumes, her bedroom.
Maddie says goodbye to her and follows her mom down the driveway to the car parked on the street, but Peter lingers for a moment.
"I'm sorry about Joanna's… inquisitiveness," he says with a sheepish smile. "One of her closest friends is the mom of another kid in the girls' class, and apparently, she's decided that poor Gil would make an excellent fourth husband. I guess she was trying to figure out if you were just a friend or… something more."
"Oh." She wasn't completely off, then. Good to know. Also… a little creepy.
"I've been trying to warn Gil, and get Anita to back off a little, but… it probably wouldn't hurt if I could just tell them he's already spoken for."
Sara has to laugh at the obvious attempt at extracting information. "Sorry, I don't discuss my personal life with strangers," she says amusedly, and he chuckles.
"Well, it was worth a try. Thanks again for watching Maddie."
"No problem, she's a great kid."
"Yeah, we like her." He gives her a mock-salute. "Night."
"Night."
She closes the door and heads upstairs to see what Sam's up to.
"Hey, going to bed already?" she asks, leaning against the door jamb.
Sam comes out of her small walk-in closet in a pair of purple shorts and a large Williams College t-shirt Sara's pretty sure she's stolen from her dad. "It's not even seven thirty," she points out unnecessarily.
"I know. Hence my surprise."
"I had to pee, and then I wanted to change," Sam explains with a shrug.
"Got it. Well, I'm not sure when your dad will be home exactly, but we have time for a movie before your bedtime…"
Which is how Grissom finds them when he gets home an hour later, laughing at Kung Fu Panda.
"I take it you two have had a good afternoon?"
Sam tears her eyes from the screen for a moment. "Hi, Dad."
"Hi, sweetheart." His gaze moves to Sara. "Hey."
"Hey. I wasn't sure if your work thing involved food, but there's pizza in the kitchen if you want."
"You are a lifesaver." He gives her a questioning look and nods at the stairs. Picking up the cue, she follows him upstairs into the kitchen. "So everything went OK?"
"Fine, yeah," she confirms, leaning against the counter while he puts two pizza slices on a plate and pops it in the microwave. "The girls did their math homework, then they played Wii – table tennis, I checked."
Grissom chuckles. "Great. And thanks again."
"Stop thanking me!" she exclaims. "Unless I'm working or busy, I'm always happy to hang out with Sam for a while, got it?"
"Got it," he repeats.
"So, what was the work thing?"
"Monthly departmental meeting," he explains. "Never fun, but usually mandatory."
"Less fun than your monthly meetings with Ecklie?" Sara smirks.
"Well, no. Thank you for that silver lining."
"Here to help."
The microwave beeps, and he leans against the counter next to her before taking a bite out of one of the slices.
"Eating at the kitchen counter?" she teases. "I never thought I'd see the day."
Grissom gives her a withering look. "I'm starving."
She can't help but laugh. "Sorry. Enjoy."
"Hey, Dad…" They both look up as Sam enters the room.
"Yeah, kiddo?"
"Is Sara coming for Thanksgiving?"
Grissom freezes, the pizza slice halfway to his mouth. He glances at Sara, who gives an almost unnoticeable shrug.
"Why don't you ask her?" he then says.
Sam turns to her. "Do you want to celebrate Thanksgiving with us?"
Sara glances at Grissom, hoping he'll give her some sort of sign as to what she should say. He shrugs, one corner of his mouth turning up, which she interprets as 'up to you'.
She's only celebrated Thanksgiving as an adult twice, both times with Grissom while they were together. Both times are leaps and bounds ahead of the Thanksgivings of her childhood, even though they didn't do anything special.
She turns back to Sam and smiles. "I'd like that very much. Thank you for inviting me."
"Sure. The movie's over so I'm going to brush my teeth and read in bed for a while, OK Dad?"
Grissom nods and swallows. "Sure, go ahead. I'll be up in a while to say goodnight."
"OK. Night, Sara."
"Night, Sammie."
The girl disappears up the stairs, and soon, a door closes above them.
"You didn't have to say yes," he tells her, turning away to put his empty plate in the dishwasher.
"I know," Sara assures him, waiting until he turns back to her before she continues. "I would have said no if I didn't want to come."
"OK. In that case, you're very welcome." He pauses. "Just FYI, though – my mother is going to be there."
OK, if she had known that, she might not have agreed… but she's pretty sure she can handle Betty Grissom. She's not sure if the woman ever approved of her as her son's girlfriend, but at least she can't blame Sara for the break-up.
"I assume she knows not to tell Sam about…" she trails off, hoping he'll pick up on her meaning.
"I'll make sure to mention it to her," he assures her. "So… you're not changing your mind?"
She puts on a smile that's a bit more confident than she really feels. OK, maybe a lot more confident. "I already promised Sam. Besides, I think it's probably about time I met her anyway."
"Probably," Grissom agrees with a smile of his own.
"Do you need me to bring anything?" she asks. "Sides, pie, wine?"
"I'm not baking a pie, so if you want, you can bring that," he replies. "But you don't have to, your company is more than enough."
Sara snorts. "That's flattering, but I do have some manners. I'll bring a pie – store bought," she hurries to assure him when he opens his mouth to, she assumes, object.
"OK, if you insist."
Over the next week, Sara tries not to think too much about the upcoming meeting. She knows she has no reason to be nervous – even if Betty Grissom didn't approve of her son's relationship back when the two of them were actually a couple, it's a moot point now.
But it's not like it could hurt to make a good impression. Just in case.