A/N: This chapter written by co-writer JellybeanChiChi is just PERFECTION. Just pure unadulterated PERFECTION. :D

CHAPTER 56

After meeting with Greg, Sara arrived to an eerily quiet home. Coming inside from parking her car in the garage, she put down her keys and handbag and called out, "Gil?"

When she didn't hear anything, she made her way to the living room and found no trace of anyone. Thinking maybe Gil and Daniel might be napping, she was ready to head upstairs when she heard a distant, muted yelp from Hank.

Standing inside the sliding glass door to the garden, the dog's excited yelping was more audible. Sara watched as Hank playfully bounded just inside the kiddie pool where Daniel was playing. Every time Hank got near Daniel, the boy would break out in uncontrollable giggles. Dressed in a t-shirt, a floppy hat, sunglasses and a swimming diaper, Daniel looked like he was having the time of his young life splashing the water and teasing Hank, his more-than-enthusiastic playmate.

The whole scenario was under the watchful eye of Grissom. With his back to the sliding glass, he sat just at the edge of the pool with his leg stretched out and touching the water. He too wore a floppy hat and t-shirt, along with his pair of shorts.

Sara privately enjoyed the scene laid out in front of her for a couple of minutes until the siren song of her giggling baby made her want to take a closer look.

Once she opened the sliding glass, Grissom immediately turned around and greeted his wife with a genuine smile. "You're home."

For some reason the combination of his smile and his greeting created happy butterflies in her stomach. Which after the afternoon she had, was a feeling most welcome.

She bent down and gave Grissom a kiss before pulling up a chair next to him. "So it looks like these guys are having fun," Sara said, taking out her cellphone and recording Hank and Daniel's antics.

"It's been a lot of fun watching them," Grissom said as he witnessed Daniel touch Hank's tail, who in retaliation licked Daniel's face causing the boy to fall flat on his butt. Once back in the water, Daniel flapped his arms and legs and laughed hysterically.

"I could listen to that laugh all day," Sara said. "You think falling down like that hurts his butt?"

"Honey, he's got so much cushion with that water-filled diaper I really don't think he feels a thing," Grissom said.

The parents sat and watched the playmates for another 15 minutes before taking Daniel out of the water. "I'll handle Hank and clean out the pool if you take Daniel upstairs for a shower," Sara said after bending down to pick up Daniel and hand him to daddy. "Strip him down out here before you wrap him in the towel."

"Yes, dear."

Naked, but still wearing his hat, Daniel felt a little chill and welcomed wearing his fluffy towel robe.

"OK, buddy," Grissom said, carrying Daniel in his arms. "Let's head upstairs."

But before they went back inside, Sara stopped them. "Wait. Let me get a photo of you two."

She smiled at the photo of daddy and son wearing matching hats that would now be her new home screen background.

Dinner was a quiet, but quaint affair. After a big afternoon, Daniel couldn't muster a protest to go down for the evening. After he fell asleep, Grissom took the slow sojourn up the stairs to Daniel's room.

Sara had stayed downstairs and flipped through the TV channels. After 15 minutes Grissom still hadn't headed back downstairs, making Sara wonder whether Daniel had woken up and was giving Grissom fits. She turned off the television and went upstairs.

When she got to the door of the room, she saw Grissom hunched over the crib tenderly stroking Daniel's hair. She entered and came behind him, stroking Grissom's arm in an equally tender fashion. "Did he wake up?"

"No," he replied in a whisper. "He hasn't stirred at all."

Sara moved away and sat on the twin bed in the room and continued to watch her husband. He was so focused on Daniel, she wondered if he even knew she was in the room. "Hon?"

"Yeah?"

She chuckled because while he quickly answered the question, he was still so engrossed, he never turned around. "So, I had quite the day at work."

"I figured that's why you had to come home later. I hope it wasn't too stressful."

Sara let out a sigh. "I'm not sure if stressful is the right word."

The sigh and the sound of her voice caused Grissom to break away from the crib. He came to sit by Sara. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Catherine came to visit me this afternoon. She came by the lab to see me because of a visit you had with her." Sara could feel Grissom tense up at the comment.

"Did she upset you?" His voice held an air of both concern and protection. "Because you don't deserve to have any anger directed towards you."

Sara sat closer to Grissom so that their thighs were touching. "Actually, she was anything but upset. She was contrite. She apologized to me."

Grissom let out a breath and looked down to see Sara opening her hand so that he would hold it. He did and squeezed it lovingly. "Well, good," he said in a soft voice that understated his wealth of emotions. "It was the least she could do."

"She didn't tell me everything you talked about, but said the crux of it was you wanted to know why the team abandoned me."

"Yeah." Again his voice was soft but clearly laced with sadness.

"She told the guys to stay away."

"Yeah. To save their reputations," Grissom said. "But I was the poison, not you. They shouldn't have stayed away from you."

Hearing him call himself poison angered and saddened Sara. "You're not poison, Gil. Please don't think that."

"That's how they viewed me."

"Well, they were wrong." Sara said, squeezing his hand again for support. "The conversation with Catherine must have been awful," Sara garnered nothing but a noncommittal shrug from her husband. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was… difficult… she said things … I asked her questions and pushed. She gave me answers … that were difficult to hear," Grissom said, letting go of her hand and pressing his own palm against his forehead. "It's … I guess I don't want to rehash it right now."

"OK, I understand," Sara said.

They sat quietly next to one another. Grissom's attention returned to his hands set upon his lap. He fiddled with the ring upon his finger until he felt her her lips plant chaste kisses upon his nape. He brought his head up to face her.

"You really went to bat for me," Sara said. "I can only imagine the things she said to you, but you still … went there. For me. Thank you, Gil."

Drawing her hand up to caress his cheek, she pulled closer to kiss his lips. She silently urged him to deepen the kiss, which he did until he heard the sounds of a fidgeting baby.

He pulled back and she smiled before the two of them slowly stood up from the bed. Daniel's groggy eyes were beginning to open, but the lull of his father's humming and gentle touch put him right back to sleep.

"Catherine mentioned she saw Daniel," Sara said in a soft voice, her arms caressing Grissom's arm as she did when she first entered the room. "She was surprised you offered the invitation for her to see him. I'm not so sure I would have been that kind if I was in your place, Gil."

"It wasn't completely altruistic on my part," he said in a whisper. Satisfied Daniel was again asleep, he stood up straight and faced his wife. "The first thing she assumed was that I wanted my job back — any job back — at the lab. Not that I would be welcomed back. She said I tarnished the lab, not just during the murder but when everything came out about the two of us."

Sara closed her eyes, willing herself not to interject angry emotion in her voice. "She was wrong. You never tarnished anything. Did she really say that to you? That you tarnished the lab?"

"Yes, she did," Grissom said. "Catherine thought I regretted leaving. I told her that wasn't the case, and I think I wanted to prove that to her. Show her how Daniel was never and could never be a mistake or a regret. And neither is the home I have built with you. I think that's why I invited her to see Daniel. To give her indisputable evidence of that fact."

They looked in each other's eyes and Sara hoped Grissom would see the love and pride she had for him. He stood toe-to-toe with a peer of two decades to say she was wrong. And he did it for his family.

While Grissom bathed in the love of Sara's gaze, he returned his attention to Daniel for a moment. He bent down to place a kiss on the boy's mop of hair. "He looks so sweet…"

Sara smiled and kissed the top of Grissom's shoulder. "Yeah, he can have his moments."

"I'm glad I can witness those moments again," he said, never taking his eyes off his son. "There was a moment… in that… warehouse… I told Rory… I told him to go ahead and kill me."

The unexpected turn of conversation created anxiety and sadness within Sara's soul. But the fact that he brought it up let her know he needed to give voice to his thoughts. She wrapped her arms around his waist from the side and kissed his shoulder again.

Grissom's hands never left the top of the crib, but he didn't tense in her embrace. "He almost beat me and choked me to death… I was scared… But I guess I owe him … something… for not doing as I said. … I would have missed … all of this." After a moment he turned to face her and caressed the swell of her belly. "And what's to come."

"You owe Rory nothing. You survived because you're a strong, noble man." Feeling her own tears stream down her face, Sara reached up to wipe a stray tear from Grissom's eye. "Sometimes I think it's hard to believe we are where we are after all we've been through, but our life together is something I will always fight for and treasure, and you've shown you will too. I've loved you for a long time, Gil Grissom. But, somehow, you make me love you more and more."

There was no urging for Grissom to deepen the kiss Sara instigated, as he was just as much in the moment as she was. They had not shared such passion since that short moment in his rehab room, and while Sara was a willing participant, she pulled away.

"I did it again, didn't I?" Grissom said. "I'm sorry…"

"Shut up, you dork," Sara said with a wide and ferally passionate smile. "Let's move to the bedroom. I don't want to wake the 'bingmeister.'"

She kissed him decisively before grasping his hand and ushering him out of Daniel's room. She knew despite the heat of his stare, the feel of his hardness, he still felt unsure about making love. So, once inside the bedroom, she began to unbutton Grissom's short-sleeved shirt. "This is about us. I want to be with you."

"Sara, I do too, but… how can you say that? When I've been to prison, ruined your career?"

His shirt spread open, Sara laid her hands upon his chest. She closed her eyes feeling his chest move with every breath he took. She then lifted her blouse from over her head. Standing in her bra, she leaned into him kissing each pec before placing her ear flush against his breast. "I miss your heartbeat. I miss the feel of you." She brought her head up, swiped the shirt away from his shoulders so that it fell to the floor and then removed her bra.

They stood before each other flushed, glowing and topless.

"I want to be with you because I'm proud of who you are," she said taking a step towards him so their naked chests touched. "I cherish you. And I need you."

"Oh Sara." Desperately trying to capture every ounce of love and devotion he had for the woman in front of him, Grissom cradled Sara's face before devouring her, showering her with physical love. He removed her remaining article of clothing, each time giving voice to his thoughts of great emotion: "You amaze me," he said as he removed her shoes. "You inspire me," he said as he slid off her slacks. Guiding her to lift each leg to remove her underwear, he said, "I desire you. My wife. My love. My heart. My soul," in a voice deeper than she had heard in far too long.

Staring at his wife naked and wanton, Grissom asked, "May I touch you?" After receiving a firm "yes," he allowed his hands and mouth to touch and caress her. A gift he felt he had no right to receive thanks to his failings, yet a gift she offered without hesitation. He began with her nape, kissing the spot just below her ear that he knew made her heart race.

Hearing her moan set his own heart racing. He quickly moved down her body gently kneading her breast before taking one nipple into his mouth. The scream from Sara's mouth surprised even her. But how could she not scream in desire from his touch after being apart from the man she loved for so long. As he continued to lavish attention upon one breast then the other, Sara reached down and quickly undid the button and zipper on his cargo shorts. As she pushed down both his shorts and his boxers she could feel one of his hands slide down her stomach to her apex. Her body quickly responded to his fingers as they massaged her. "Oh God, Gil," she screamed. "Let me touch you."

Grissom stepped out of his pants and embraced Sara again. His lips found hers while his hands cupped her ass. Sara snaked her hand between their bodies so that she could grab his engorged member. Once she did, it was Grissom who let out a long moan. "Sara, I … Oh, it's been so long."

To hear him so aroused, so needy made Sara even more brazen and wanton. "God I miss your cock," she said as she pumped him the way he loved it. Just as the combination of his voice and touch affected her, Sara knew the effect of her voice and touch had on him. He loved being asked sensual questions. "I love how your cock feels in my hands. I missed it so much. Did you miss, it baby?"

"Oh God, yes," he said, his eyes darkened.

She pushed him forward to sit on the edge of the bed. She stood in front of him and used her hands to tease her breasts. She saw how Grissom's eyes followed whatever path her hands traced, so she dipped them lower until she could touch herself between her legs. "What about my lips, Gil?"

"I love your lips."

"I love putting my lips on your cock, smelling you, tasting you." She took a step forward, causing him to spread his legs so she could stand between them. "Did you miss my lips?"

"God yes."

He knew she would drop to her knees, but before she could, he put his hands firmly on her ass and pressed her to his mouth. It wasn't just the lips on her face he missed. He suckled her, drinking the juices that flowed effortlessly from her. He dragged his tongue along her clit making her scream in ecstasy.

She pulled away from him and quickly dropped to her knees. She engulfed him deep into her mouth, and after sucking him and stroking him for a short time, she could tell he was close. And while she could enjoy having him cum in her mouth, she knew they both needed to be joined intimately through penetration.

When Sara stood back up and realized she was breathing as hard as Grissom was. They offered each other wobbly smiles. It would seem even as she pleasured him, he was holding back for the same reason she drew away.

"I want to be inside you, Sara."

"I want that too, Gil."

Although normally they would have drew back the covers and gotten into bed, Grissom's knee injury was still an unspoken issue. Taking Sara's hand into his own, he guided her slowly towards him. She lowered herself onto his lap and working together, they guided him inside her. He slipped easily into her and the moment it happened, they both clutched at each other and savored the feeling of being of one body once more.

Then Sara took the lead bucking up and down upon him. Grissom matched her rhythm as he thrusted in time with her. Her breasts bounced with every movement until Grissom pushed her closer and closer against his chest. She had already blanketed and enveloped him emotionally and spiritually with her undying love, and now all Grissom wanted to do was be cocooned physically by Sara.

For Sara, the feeling of her husband deeply and fully sheathed inside her slowly erased the sadness that consumed her while they were apart. While she feared for his health and his life.

Despite wanting to stay as they were, neither Sara nor Grissom could hold off the climax that awaited them. The room filled with their moaning, their words of devotion, and the sounds of skin against skin.

"Honey… I!"

"Yes, baby, yes!"

Grissom burst inside Sara. The warmth of the physical manifestation of his love caused Sara to continue to buck wildly until she arched her back and screamed Gil's name as he held on to her for dear life.

Working to catch her breath, Sara could feel moisture upon her skin. From her sex, from the sweat dripping down her back and from the tears sliding down her cheeks. The last three months of her life have been a marathon of hurdles, but now she was in the strong, loving arms of the man she loved.