AN: Time for a (kind of) Christmas celebration, hope you like. This one's a little on the short side, but the last three chapters should make up for that – in more ways than one ;) Thanks to WalkerTRngr for the beta!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to CSI
Chapter 13
The rest of the holidays are, unfortunately, not as quiet as Sara's Christmas Day shift – on December 28, there's a shooting at a wedding chapel along The Strip that ends in a hostage situation, and on the 30th, they get an attempted robbery at one of the casinos leaving eight dead.
'Tis the season, or something.
She doesn't get called in on New Year's Eve, though, which is nice. Not that she has any plans apart from indulging in peanut noodles and her favorite cheesecake from Chin Chin. She does get a text message a little after nine from Grissom and Sam, wishing her a happy new year and saying that they tried to call but the network was apparently strained. It makes her smile.
A few minutes before midnight, just after she's gotten Hank set up in the guest bath, which doesn't have any windows – he's scared of the fireworks – Greg manages to get a call through. He and Riley are working, and apparently between cases, because they're in the break room watching the ball drop from New York that they taped earlier. She does the countdown with them and exchanges 'happy new years', but to her relief, they're called to a scene a few minutes later, and she settles in on the couch with some rom-com on the TV.
It's basically the same way she celebrated New Years last year, right down to the countdown call from Greg, but this year, there's a sense of… anticipation somewhere in the back of her mind.
She might not have gotten to spend the holidays with the people she wanted to, but they're coming back tomorrow – or, technically, later today – and she's getting a kind of Christmas on Sunday.
On New Year's Day, she wakes up to a text message from Grissom, telling her how good it is to be home again, and though she's almost afraid to admit it even to herself, she has a good feeling about the new year.
Unfortunately, a new year does not mean a clean slate when it comes to work. The attempted robbery has not been closed yet – two of the perps were shot dead by casino guards at the scene, but three got away, and Sara and Nick are wading through the huge amount of evidence gathered to try to find the identities while the rest of the night shift works on new cases coming in.
Finally, early on Sunday morning, they connect the dots and get arrest warrants sent out. It's not the end of the case, of course, but it's as far as they can take it. Now it's up to PD to interrogate the suspects and slot in the final puzzle pieces.
But it still feels like a good way to start her night off.
She goes home and gets some sleep, and then starts fidgeting. They agreed on her coming over around six, so they can do the presents before dinner, and then some holiday movie before Sam's bedtime, but when Sara wakes up, it's only two thirty. More than three hours to go.
She wraps the Christmas presents – an early edition of An Introduction to Entomology, or elements of the natural history of insects: Comprising an account of noxious and useful insects by William Kirby and William Spence for Grissom and a couple of Wii games for Sam along with a charm bracelet that caught her eye at the store as well as a few knick-knacks. That only eats up fifteen minutes, though.
She takes Hank for a long run, hoping to get some of his energy out so he'll behave during dinner, and when she gets back, she figures she might as well take a shower and start getting ready.
By the time she loops a pair of gold hoops through her ears, it's at least a quarter past five, and she figures it's OK to arrive a little early.
Still, she sends a text to Grissom, just to make sure, and smiles when she sees his response – I was expecting you to be here already.
She whistles for Hank, who excitedly meets her at the door, and clips the leash to his collar. She ended up just picking up a new bag of dogfood, so Grissom still has the one she left there at Thanksgiving and she doesn't need to bring anything for him.
The drive doesn't take long, as usual, and soon she's on the doorstep, Hank's leash in one hand and the bag with presents in the other.
Grissom opens the door a few moments after she rings the doorbell, and Hank barks in greeting. "Hi, bud," he crouches down to greet the excited pup and then takes the leash out of her hand as he stands. "And hello to you too."
"Hi," she replies with a smile that matches his. She holds up the bag. "Merry late Christmas."
He chuckles and steps back, waiting until she's closed the door before releasing Hank, who immediately barges into the house in search of Sam. "Merry late Christmas. What's all this?"
"Christmas presents," she says with a frown.
"That's a lot of presents," he notes, guiding her into the seldom used formal living room, a hand lightly against the small of her back. There's a huge Christmas tree in one corner, clearly decorated by Sam, with three gifts underneath – one roughly the size and shape of a book, one that looks an awful lot like a jewelry box, and one about eight by six inches and about two inches thick. There's also a huge chew bone, tied in a red bow.
"OK, I might have gone a little overboard," she admits. "Most of them are little things for Sam, though, nothing big."
He shakes his head, but there's a smile on his face. "I didn't realize I needed to tell you not to spoil her."
Sara shrugs. "Considering the mountain of presents she got from her grandparents, I don't think I'm the biggest problem here."
That draws a chuckle from him. "True. Well, you can put them under the tree, it might make your presents look a little less lonely."
She kneels down in front of the tree and gets her presents arranged. It looks pretty nice, she has to say.
Grissom wandered back out into the hallway while she was busy, and she hears him call down to Sam. A moment later, both of them appear in the doorway, Hank hot on Sam's heels.
"Hi, Sara, Merry Christmas!" Sam exclaims, and Sara returns the girl's hug tightly for a moment.
"Merry Christmas." She spots an adorable Santa hat perched on Hank's head and bursts out laughing. "Did you put that hat on him?"
Sam nods, scratching the dog behind the ears when he nudges her with his nose. "Yeah, I found it when Nana and I went to Walmart, and it was sooo cute. I think he likes it."
Sara's not sure she would go that far, but he's not trying to get it off, at least. "I'm sure he does."
"I got him a bone too," Sam continues, picking up the chew bone from under the tree and removing the bow. "Here you go, Hank."
The dog carefully takes the bone out of her hand and trots over to the opposite corner, where there is, to Sara's surprise, a large dog bed of the same type he has at home. "And did you get him a bed too?" she asks, raising an eyebrow at Sam.
"That was me," Grissom steps in, offering a sheepish smile. "I just… I figured if you bring him over now and then, it would be nice if he had a bed. I was going to move it down into the den."
Does he have to be so cute? Really, it's not good for her sanity.
"Yeah, that makes sense," she agrees.
"Can we open presents now?" Sam asks, getting impatient.
"I think you're forgetting something," he tells her pointedly.
Sam sighs but amends. "Can we please open presents now?"
"That's better. And yes, we can. Do you want to distribute them?"
The girl nods and sits down on the floor cross-legged and reaches for the first present while Grissom and Sara take one of the couches. "This one's for me… and this one too… this one's for you, Dad… and this one's for Sara… this one too… and one more for me… and another one… and one for Sara… and two for me!"
With the presents distributed, Sam immediately tears into her haul. Sara turns her book-shaped present over in her hands, running her finger along the spine. A small card is hanging from the ribbon, and she turns it to be able to read.
I hope the story will bring you as much joy as it did years ago – G
She looks up, meeting his eyes as he raises them from his own book-shaped present. He's removed the ribbon and loosened the tape from one of the flaps. With a smile, she returns to the task at hand, though she's pretty sure she knows what the parcel in her lap contains.
She removes the ribbon and carefully runs a nail under the tape, folding back the paper, running her fingers over the title. "You remembered…"
"Of course." His low voice is like honey trickling through her mind, and she doesn't dare look up for a moment, because she knows the look that will be in his eyes, and there's no way she can meet it without some serious consequences.
Which would be fine in different circumstances, but with Sam in the room…
The girl in question makes her presence known by leaning against Sara's leg. "What is it?"
"It's a book called A Little Princess," she replies, holding up the book. "I, uh… read it when I was little, it was one of my favorites."
"Why?" Sam asks, looking up at her.
There are a lot of answers to that question, but most of them aren't really appropriate for a joyful Christmas celebration, so Sara goes with the most obvious one. "It's about a girl called Sara, and it's the only book I've read where the protagonist spells her name the same way I do."
"Cool."
Sam seems happy with the explanation, because she goes back to her own presents.
"It's not…" Sara starts, finally looking up at Grissom.
"Not a first edition, no. I couldn't find one." He holds up his own book. "How did you find this?"
She shrugs. "I have some connections too."
"Well, I love it," he says, voice low.
"And I love mine."
Their eyes lock for a long moment, which is interrupted by Sam's excited exclamation of 'Super Mario Galaxy'.
"You have two more to open," he then notes, nodding at the remaining presents in Sara's lap.
She picks up the larger of the two, turning it over in her hands.
"That one's from me," Sam tells her.
"Thanks, sweetie." Sara opens the parcel as carefully as the first one, flattening the paper and putting it to the side. In her hands is now a photo frame, judging by the stand attached to the back. She turns it over and finds a photo of her and Sam from Halloween, the frame surrounding it obviously the girl's work – the wood has been painted a bright purple and adorned with a couple of pink flowers made from what looks like pipe cleaners and some butterfly shaped stickers. "Did you make this? I love it."
Sam smiles proudly. "I did. Nana helped me with the glue gun, but I made the flowers."
"They're beautiful."
"Oh, it's so pretty!" Sam's words are directed at the bracelet she just unwrapped. "Isn't it pretty, Dad?"
"It is," Grissom agrees. "Do you want to thank Sara?"
Obediently, Sam rises to her feet and wraps her arms around Sara's neck. "Thank you so much for my presents, I love them."
Sara hugs her back, squeezing probably a little too tight for a moment. "I'm glad you like them. And thank you for my present, it's wonderful."
"You still have one left from Dad, though," the girl says as she pulls back. "Aren't you going to open it?"
"Of course I am," she says, reaching for the final present. The paper is slippery under her fingers, and when she removes it, the box underneath is black velvet. She glances up at Grissom, but he just nods at her to open it, so she does.
On the white satin inside the box is a silver chain with a pendant, a dark blue stone encased in silver colored wire, with the same wire twisted into a tree design over the stone.
"It's gorgeous…" she breathes, holding the pendant up and watching as it catches the light.
"It's, uh… the birthstone for September is sapphire, and the design is called the tree of life," he half-stumbles through the explanation. "It was… I saw it in this artisan shop in Boston, and it just… it felt like you."
She didn't realize it was an actual sapphire. "It's too much," she argues feebly, but he just shakes his head.
"No."
"Put it on!" Sam urges, and Sara fumbles with the clasp, her hands shaking slightly.
"Let me," Grissom says, gently taking the necklace from her. He moves behind her slightly, and she lifts her hair out of the way so he can hook the clasp. Before moving back, his thumb rubs lightly against the base of her neck, making shivers run down her spine.
"Perfect," Sam declares. "Do you like it?"
Sara covers the pendant with her hand, the stone cool against her palm, and feels her heart beat wildly against her ribs. She smiles at the girl but looks at Grissom as she responds. "I love it."
Dinner is wonderful as usual – rigatoni with grilled peppers, onions and mushrooms with a mouth-watering s'mores mousse cake for dessert – and after, Sam wants to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol. Grissom grumbles a little, but Sara's never seen the movie before even though she's always liked the Muppets, so it's two against one.
When the movie is over, Sam tries to convince Grissom to let her play one of her new games for 'just a little while', but he doesn't budge.
"It's already nine thirty, you have school in the morning," he tells her. "Time for bed. If you're under the covers with the lights out before ten, you can play when you get home from school tomorrow."
The girl continues pouting, but does trudge off up the stairs, Hank loping after her.
"Night, kiddo," Sara calls after her, with no response.
He sighs. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it," she assures him. To be honest, it's kind of nice that Sam doesn't feel the need to always be polite around her anymore. It makes her feel less like a guest and more like… someone who belongs here. With them. "So, do you need to get a good night's sleep before going back to school too, or are you up for another movie?"
"I don't actually have class tomorrow," he admits. "I have to get up to make sure Sam gets off to school, but I can go back to bed after if I need to."
"Slacker," she teases.
Grissom just rolls his eyes as he gets up from the couch. "What are you in the mood for?"
"Well, it is sort of Christmas…"
"It's a Wonderful Life?"
"Perfect."
He finds the movie and inserts the disc before returning to the couch. If he hesitates before claiming the spot next to her, she doesn't notice, and when he immediately extends his arm along the couch, she pulls her legs up under her and leans against him.
He goes upstairs to make sure Sam's actually gone to sleep after about forty-five minutes, returning with a couple of sodas and a bowl of Cheetos. "I got a craving."
"As long as you're sharing," she replies with a shrug, accepting one of the sodas.
He puts the other can and the bowl down on the end table next to the couch before reclaiming his spot, sliding down far enough to be able to lean his head against the back of the couch and stretching his legs out along the chaise before pulling her closer. When he's apparently happy with their position, he places the bowl in his lap and opens his own soda.
Sara pops a few Cheetos in her mouth and un-pauses the movie, freezing briefly when he slides a finger through a belt loop on her jeans, relaxing again when his thumb slips under the hem of her shirt to rub against her skin. His eyes are firmly fixed on the TV, though, and she doesn't comment, afraid that acknowledging what's happening might make him retreat. Which is the last thing she wants.
They watch the movie mostly in silence, and when the credits start rolling, she reluctantly straightens up and stretches a little. Her spine pops, making Grissom wince, and she throws him a smile over her shoulder. "I've been in the same position too long," she says, downing the last of her soda before getting to her feet. "I should get going. Any idea where my wayward dog's gotten to?"
He follows her lead, standing and stretching. "He was asleep at Sam's feet when I went to check on her earlier, so maybe check there?"
She nods and climbs the stairs to the second floor, passing the open door to the master bedroom and guest room before peeking in through the door to the room at the end of the hall.
Hank is curled into a ball at the foot of the bed, Sam stretched out with one leg flung over him, the covers over both of them so the only thing she can see of the boxer is his nose sticking out. The dog doesn't even lift his head at her footsteps, which he usually does, and Sara sighs as she considers the situation. Waking Hank up would surely wake Sam as well, and she doesn't want to do that. On the other hand, she can't expect Grissom to watch her dog whenever he falls asleep here. Granted, Hank was his dog too at one point, but still.
Deciding to leave it up to him, she goes back downstairs, finding him in the kitchen.
"I think your kid's attempting a dognapping," she jokes. "They're both asleep, and Sam's got a leg thrown over him, so if I wake him up, he'll definitely wake her up. I figured I'd check what you preferred – an unexpected house guest for the night, or a cranky kid in the morning."
He chuckles as she finishes. "While Sam doesn't usually have trouble going back to sleep if she's woken up in the middle of the night, I don't mind if Hank stays until tomorrow." He pauses as he opens the dishwasher to put the bowl they used for their Cheetos inside and then straightens up. "Like I said, I don't have class tomorrow. I could bring him back early afternoon, and we could go grab some lunch?"
She considers for a moment, not because she doesn't want to, but… "When does Sam get out of school?"
"Just after three, like always, but she's going home with Alex until swimming practice, and then I'm picking both of them up after and taking Alex home," he explains.
"In that case, that sounds great."