A/N: Big thank you to all of our faithful readers and were are sorry it has taken us so long to update! Rest assured this story has not been abandoned. The next few chapters will have our geeks exploring Vegas in ways they never got the chance to do in the past. We hope you enjoy! As always please drop us a line to let us know what you thought and to share any suggestions for future chapters :)
SARA's POV
I look over at the sleeping form next to me and smile. We're currently ensconced in ridiculously high thread count sheets in a bed the size of Lake Mead in a suite at the Bellagio.
I was happy to spend my return time in Vegas finishing my treatment and tying up loose ends at work. Working hard to get out of this city as fast as I could. Gil on the other hand had a different idea.
We'd been here for 2 weeks before he told me that he wanted to take a vacation. I laughed and said sure. In 3 weeks when my treatment was done we could go anywhere he wanted and I meant it. We had no schedules or deadlines. We're captains of our own ship of destiny (literally) and we could set course for any port.
Gil told me he didn't want to wait that long. He said he wanted to take a vacation now. I reminded him that as nice as that sounded, I still had 3 weeks left of treatment. He said not to worry he'd worked it out. He said we weren't going far at all and would be around for my daily treatments. If I'm being honest I was very curious. Where would we be going then?
Gil said being here again gave us an opportunity we never had. A chance to see Vegas with fresh eyes. To experience more than just the death and mayhem we were accustomed to seeing on a daily basis.
He told me that he'd dreamed about showing me this real Vegas even before I'd come for the Holly Gribs case. He'd planned out all the shows he wanted me to see, the restaurants he wanted to take me to.
On the one hand I wanted to get out of this city as fast as I could and not look back (I am however stuck here for at least the next month for my treatments and tying up loose ends). On the other hand I never really hated this city. Sure It wasn't San Francisco and there wasn't an ocean but it wasn't all that bad. After our divorce however I tried not to think about all this city had to offer. Things we never got the chance to experience. Things I know Gil had wanted us to do.
In the beginning our relationship was so new and such a secret that we didn't venture out much into the heart of the city. You wouldn't catch us on the strip or watching one of the million and one shows in the fancier casinos. Our outings were more nature based (red rocks, Lake Mead) or we stayed in. I don't regret any of it. I will always treasure the time we had. How sacred and private it was those first couple of years.
We needed that time. Time to grow as a couple without feeling like the world was watching our every move.
When I returned to Vegas from Paris I was so busy I didn't take time to enjoy the city beyond visiting some of Gil and I's favorite restaurants. After the divorce, galavanting around town was the last thing on my mind.
When Gil asked me to do a staycation right here in Vegas he gave me that look. The same look I'm sure he gave Betty a million times as a child. Those baby blues sparkling as he pleaded his case.
The truth is I could tell that Gil was still harboring tremendous guilt over the divorce even though I'd assured him the burden was not his alone to carry. I could tell that this was something he felt he needed to do for me so I'd acquiesced.
The look of pure joy that crossed his face was priceless. He pulled me into a bone crushing hug as he rushed me off to pack. Pack? I thought we were staying in Vegas? We were, he told me, just not at my place.
So one duffel bag and a limo ride later (an expense I assured him was over the top and completely unnecessary) I find myself in this luxuriously suite.
The suite has 2 bathrooms (one I swear is as large as the entire lab) two bedrooms, a living room and a dining room. The master bath has his and hers vanities, a spacious spa tub, and a shower with 4 shower heads, a large bench against one side and a wall of jets.
While I had told Gil all this was completely unnecessary, I wasn't about to snub my nose at that bathroom. I can just imagine many pleasurable times spent in that bathroom… anyway if I'm being truly honest this has to be one of the sweetest things he's done. It's not about the limo or the suite. It was the fact that over a decade before, before I'd even moved to Vegas,he'd thought about doing this with me.
Gil was, is, the only person in my life to ever make me feel like I was worth the effort. A feeling I can't even quantify. After the divorce I was sure I'd never feel that way again.
I feel Gil stir behind me in his sleep as he buries his nose in my hair pulling me closer. He sighs and mumbles something unintelligible but a small smile graces his lips.
I, Sara Sidle, AM worth it… I can't even tell you how happy I am that I was wrong.
