A/N: Many apologies from myself and Jellybean, for the delay in posting. Also many many thanks for your patience during the long wait. We do plan on completing this story, and won't leave you all hanging. Heartfelt thanks for all your reviews, they mean so much. To the "Guest" review who asked if Jellybean was my alter ego, I can't answer you privately since your PM feature is blocked or you're not signed in. Jellybean is my beta and also a co-writer, who has written many great stories of her own. Check out her work, and i highly recommend, In the Dark.

This chapter is written by co-writer, JellybeanChiChi - another amazing writing my friend :)

Chapter 57

After they made love for the first time in some three months, Grissom and Sara sought sanctuary with one another under the covers of their bed.

They touched, stroked and kissed while cocooned in each other's arms. Sara fell asleep with Grissom gently stroking her arm. He had nodded off after a while but awoke from a nightmare reliving Rory's torture. Drifting off to slumber again, he awoke time and again. He relived his physical fight with Tait Darrow and his verbal fight with Catherine. It was the lifeless face of Jake Sullivan that burned in his brain when he became startled awake.

He extracted himself from Sara's loving arms to retreat to the bathroom. He returned to the bed to see Sara rolled over to her side of the bed. With a smile he gently placed a kiss on her shoulder then took residence on his side of the bed.

But his mind still wouldn't shut off. At one point he stared at the digital clock on his night stand. Trying to take his mind off the visceral images of his dreams, he spent a few minutes staring intently at the numbers and the constant blink of the colon that marked the seconds.

Bored with the clock, he slowly turned around. To his surprise, Sara was staring at him. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was," Sara said, leaning over to give him a kiss. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"Just thinking about things."

Knowing him as well as she did, she understood what he wasn't saying. He probably woke from a nightmare and now his mind was churning a mile a minute. "If you need to talk, I'm happy to listen."

Grissom smiled, somewhat sadly. "I know. But … it's late. You should be asleep."

"It's not late, Gil. We just went to bed pretty early," Sara said as she sidled closer to him and stroked parts of his body. "We had important matters to tend to."

Grissom chuckled. "Very important and pressing."

Sara moaned and initiated a kiss. She rolled on top of him, but stopped kissing when her stomach started grumbling. Instead of being disappointed, Grissom chucked again and looked at the clock. "10 o'clock on the dot. Second trimester hunger pains strike again."

"Shh," Sara said as she put her finger against his mouth. "Remember. We had pressing needs to deal with?"

"Uh huh," Grissom said. "Not that I am not enjoying this, but are you saying you wouldn't rather have peanut butter and strawberry preserves on toasted multi-grain bread cut in triangles?"

"Are you not getting that I'm hungry for something else?" Sara said.

Grissom stroked her arms and urged her to lean forward. They kissed again until she pulled back. "Do we have any cottage cheese?"

"Umm… I'm not sure…"

Sara sat up. "Peaches? Do we have any? Even canned peaches? You know what? Never mind. Who needs peaches, right?"

She leaned back down, but Grissom lovingly patted her legs that straddled his torso. "Let's go, mama. Find you some cream cheese."

"Not cream cheese, cottage cheese," Sara said as she extracted herself from her husband and then quickly retreated to the bathroom bringing back his and her bathrobes.

"I apologize. Cottage cheese," he replied as he put on his robe.

They left the room quietly to go downstairs to the kitchen. As Sara took a quick pace down the stairs she stopped half way and looked up at her husband. Looking at him, all she could think about was how fortunate he was around to join her in the kitchen for a late snack and how much she loved him.

That and, thanks to him, cottage cheese.

Although Sara was willing to make her own snack, Grissom had her sit down so he could make her sandwiches — triangle ones with peanut butter and preserves; square ones with cottage cheese and preserves.

Grissom noticed how Sara watched him intently. "Am I not applying enough ingredients?"

"You're doing fine," Sara said. "I just realized I didn't tell you why I was late this afternoon."

"You got the visit from Catherine," Grissom said.

"I did, but that was before shift ended," Sara said before recalling her coffee klatch with Greg. She noticed the change in her husband's demeanor as she spoke. "Gil? Are you OK with me talking with Greg?"

Grissom rounded the corner of the kitchen counter and put a plate of goodies in front of Sara. "Yes. Of course," he said. "Do you want something to drink?"

"I'll get it," Sara said as she stood up. "Sit down with me while I eat."

This time it was Grissom's turn to watch Sara, who took out the milk jug and water pitcher, along with chocolate syrup. She talked about her reunion with Greg as she poured a glass of water for herself and a glass of chocolate milk for Grissom. Before she sat down, she grabbed the jar of peanut butter and a spoon for him as well. There were times, he served himself a spoonful of the spread as she ate her sandwiches.

But he didn't this time. Instead he listened intently to her as she recalled the sadness she and Greg had suffered and how their friendship was easily renewed through their short meeting. She shared what Greg had said about the lab and how he felt regret for not working on Grissom's case from the beginning.

When she was done talking, Sara diverted her attention back to her snacks. Enjoying each sandwich she smiled when she caught Grissom's eye, but noticed he seemed to be sadly reflecting. "Gil, are you upset that I spoke with Greg?"

"No," Grissom said with a hint of surprise.

"You sure?"

"Sara, you need support, and while I wish Greg had said these things to you a couple of months ago, I'm glad you two reconnected. You needed that. You deserve that."

She reached across the table to grab his hand. "Thank you."

Grissom offered her a small, subdued smile. He looked down at her hand caressing his hand. "Do you think Greg was telling the truth when he said he didn't think I did it?" He pulled his head up to look her in the eye. "I mean, maybe he said that to make you feel better."

"Greg wouldn't do that," Sara said. "He looked sincere, Gil. He believed you were innocent, just like I did and Wilbur. Even Bowden realized after he investigated. I'm sure there were many people at the lab who believed in your innocence just like Greg. Didn't you say Brass said he didn't believe the charges either?"

"He could have said that to make me feel better."

Sara gave his hand a squeeze before letting go. Knowing the path her husband was travelling, she tried to change the subject. "Did I put too much chocolate syrup in your milk?"

"Oh, I haven't tried it," Grissom said before taking a sip. "No. It's good. Thank you. I haven't had chocolate milk in a while."

"Probably not since I was pregnant with Daniel," Sara said, finishing off her last sandwich. "It was your second trimester snack."

Grissom nodded with a smile but Sara could still tell his mind was miles away. She took her plate to the sink and returned to the table.

"I think I'll leave the cottage cheese for breakfast," Sara said. "I haven't checked if we have peaches, though…"

"I'm not so sure."

"That we have peaches?"

"That there were others who thought I was innocent," Grissom said catching the look of dissent on his wife's face. "Sara, you have to have thought of that. I know how hard it was for you. People weren't treating you like a pariah because they thought I didn't kill Jake."

"Gil, I'm not going to say that I wasn't treated differently, but there were people who witnessed how aggressive Jake was towards me."

"And I'm sure that's another reason that would lead people to think of my guilt," Grissom said. "I'm sure it was no secret how I felt about him. I'm sure that's one reason Nick was able to believe I killed him. When he saw us at the restaurant..."

Grissom paused his thought, and Sara wished he didn't. She knew at one point Jake had approached Grissom in the bathroom of a restaurant where they had lunch together. Nick told Sara that Grissom looked livid, like he could seriously hurt Jake. And Sara always wondered if that was true or an embellishment.

From the look on her husband's face and the timbre of his voice, she knew it was not an embellishment.

"What did he say to you, Gil? What did Jake say that angered you so much?"

"It was crude. You don't want to know."

"Actually I do," Sara said. "I know how crude Jake was. I witnessed it before. I dated him, remember?"

"I doubt he ever said the things to you that he said to me," Grissom said. "I know he was baiting me, and it just got more and more vulgar, and I should have just walked away from him before he escalated as much as he did. Every time I tried to push him out of the way..."

"He pushed back. Just because he was baiting you doesn't mean you were to blame for his behaviour," Sara said. "Honey, he didn't deserve to die, but don't think he was wholly innocent either."

"What do you mean?"

Sara took a deep breath and reached for Grissom's hand. "Do you know why they came to the conclusion that Jake was in the park that night?"

Grissom shook his head. "I think it was something about a phone call that he got."

Sara nodded. "From a burner phone. Something they assumed you purchased. The theory was Jake was going to meet you."

"Yeah. But, even so, how can you say he wasn't wholly innocent?"

"Greg told me something I didn't know. The morgue recorded Jake's possessions, and it included a large bowie knife that was in a sheaf around his ankle," Sara said. "I know Jake. He wouldn't have just worn that for show."

Grissom was left conflicted by the information. "But… you don't know that Sara."

"No, but I know that you were not the one who called him, you were never the one looking for a fight. He instigated everything. Please don't blame yourself for his death, Gil."

Grissom let go of Sara's hand and unconsciously took a sip of his chocolate milk. The taste caught him off guard. "I almost wish there was whiskey in this."

Sara offered a sad smile. "I can get you some."

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "Do you really want to know what he said?"

"It's weighing on you, Gil. I'll be OK. I can handle what he said. I want to help."

He took a long sigh and began to tap the fingers of his right hand on the tabletop. Sara was resigned to the fact he would stay silent, which was his prerogative. She couldn't blame him. She was sure it was painful to think about, despite it eating him up inside. But at the very least maybe it would be something he could talk about during a therapy session.

"You don't want to talk about it with me, do you?"

"No. I don't think I do, sweetheart."

"It's OK. I understand," Sara said as she stood up. "How about we go back to bed?"

A part of him didn't want to go back to bed. Maybe he should journal his thoughts, because there were just so many swirling in his head. But as he looked up at Sara, whose hand stretched out for his, he worked to quiet those thoughts.

He stood up and took her hand. He could always journal in the morning.