A/N: Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays! A totally unexpected treat, with another chapter by co-author, JellybeanChiChi. Again, we apologise for the long delay between chapters. Jelly is extremely busy at present, but has somehow fit in time to write an awesome chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 75

Sara's cell phone buzzed in her pocket while she was taking notes and cataloguing some evidence to take back to the lab. It wasn't yet 9:30 and she had already been working for three hours. Once finished with her task, she picked up the call. "Hey. How's your morning?"

There was a pause on the other line. "Gil? You OK?"

She could hear him let out a long breath. "I don't know why I called you. You're at a scene, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but it's OK you called. I'm finishing up stuff and loading the truck to go back to the lab," she said taking a seat on the back of the open SUV. "What's up?"

"I got a couple of calls this morning," Grissom said in a terse voice. "You know… this can wait till you get home…"

"Gil, what's going on?" Sara asked, her mind calculating all kinds of scenarios. "Danny's OK, right? And your mom?"

"No, they're fine. The calls… Nothing to be concerned about them..."

His voice drifted off until there was silence on the other end. Sara knew if she didn't say something, he would hang up. Despite that, she really hated asking the next question. "Were the calls job related?"

Grissom sighed. No matter what plan Dana Osorio had in mind, Grissom knew Ladd Sayers' commercial would do damage. It just caught Grissom by surprise the damage would be almost immediate.

By 9:20 the morning after the commercial aired, two local job opportunities fell through, including a promising third interview with UNLV, was a crippling blow for Grissom. You didn't need to be a seasoned CSI to figure out the abrupt timing of canceled interviews connected to the commercial.

While he tried to sound nonchalant about the cancellations, Sara knew better. "I'm so sorry, honey."

"It happens." The two words had enormous meaning beyond their nine letters. "Listen, I've got to get Daniel changed. I'll talk to you later."

He hung up before she could say another word. The reaction didn't upset Sara so much as make her think more about what had just happened to him. She knew the cancellation of UNLV interview was an especially crippling blow for Grissom who had believed he had a real shot at the position. She looked at her phone and thought about calling back, but decided against it. He was right; this was a conversation that could wait until she got home.

Daniel heard the garage door open and made a beeline to the kitchen knowing mommy would be in the house soon. When he arrived in the kitchen he didn't see anyone, until…

"BOO!" Sara exclaimed as she popped up from behind a counter.

The feeling of surprise fled quickly and morphed into giggles as Daniel turned to run off, knowing mama would catch him and scoop him up. Which she did, as she does most days.

Usually daddy joins in the fun, but he didn't come into the kitchen, and Sara didn't see him in the living room where a Nickelodeon show were playing. "So, Daniel. Where's daddy?"

Surprisingly, he started squirming in her arms in an effort to get on the floor. She put him down, he took her hand and started walking to the office. It was a moment of cognition that made Sara proud.

They peeked around the corner towards the office and eventually found him in that room. In recent weeks, Sara got a smile when she got home. Today was not the case. Grissom was stoic, but, Sara could recognize a powerkeg of emotions behind that blank face.

"Hi," she said softly.

"How was work?"

"It was fine," Sara said. "You want to talk about your day?'

Grissom let out a sigh, but couldn't hold a gaze. In the silence between them he bit his lip before a clipped, "no" escaped his mouth.

Sara knew that look her husband possessed. Hell, that was the look she kept a lot at work. In her case, it was her "This is life and I've got a handle on it" look. And if Sara was honest with herself, in the last couple of years that look tried the mask her feelings of "Holy shit, what's next?"

And not just in recent years. Sara could recognize that feeling throughout her lifetime. Shit, perhaps that's where her fight or flight reflex comes from.

Despite understanding the look on her husband face, it pained her to know he was hurting and thought he could swallow that emotion and move on. But that is toxic. Grissom knew fight or flight, too. Lord knows they have had their fights. And sometimes his "flight" was retreating inwardly, emotionally.

So Sara offered a more literal avenue of flight. She reached into her pocket and took out the keys to his car. "Take these."

Looking utterly confused, Grissom didn't reach for the keys. "I was going to cook dinner. Why are you giving me keys now?"

"So you can take a drive," she answered as Grissom turned away from her and started fiddling with papers on his desk. "Decompress from today. You're under a lot of stress. You can just get away for a little bit, like you used to do. It let you take a breath and…."

Grissom pounded the desk hard with his hands and raised his voice. "I don't need to take a drive. I don't want to take a drive. Just…" Grissom shook his head and stopped for a beat. "Just leave it Sara. Just… just leave it alone. There's nothing to escape from. Nothing to talk about. Nothing to think about."

Sara sternly put the keys on his desk. "Today is the second Thursday of the month."

"What the hell does that mean?" Grissom's voice sounded more angry and annoyed.

"Doesn't Oscar have open group therapies every second Thursday?" Sara said knowing the answer was true because she checked herself when she called Grissom's therapist, Oscar Jimenez, earlier in the day. "We don't have to talk about anything. But you do need to talk."

Grissom rolled his eyes and let out a sarcastic laugh. "Talking about how screwed up everything is, how my professional life is ruined will not change a damned thing, no matter what you think. And I'm not going to embarrass myself and sound like a broken goddamn record."

"Jesus, Gil, it helped you before. It helped us before…"

"No!" he screamed. "OK? I don't want to fucking talk."

While the two adults could volley the angry voice, the littlest in the room couldn't handle it. Daniel started crying. Sara picked him up, but didn't leave the room. "I'd like you to go to a session. But I can't make you. But take the keys."

She turned to leave and walked out of the office with Daniel in her arms. She didn't turn around to face him when she said, "I'll see you in a few hours."

Despite having a fight with her husband, Sara and Daniel enjoyed their time together. She laid out a mini feast of mommy and son comfort foods — cereal, cut up melon and apples, mashed potatoes and cheese toast. Was it gourmet? No. Was it delicious? Yes.

The duo took a walk as the sun went down, making it a lot less hot and a lot more enjoyable. By the time they got home it was time for Daniel's bath and then winding down for bed. Both of them were tired, so Sara let Daniel cuddle in bed with her while he watched a video. He was out in 10 minutes.

With him asleep, Sara thought about taking a quick shower. She slid one leg on the ground. OK, first hurdle — rise from bed — done. Well, not quite. But give a pregnant woman a break. Getting out of bed is an art form not to be judged nor timed.

Now in the bathroom, Sara looked in the mirror and sighed at her reflection. How could a small creature inside of her change her body so much? Her thoughts started to churn about how her body would change even more, and how her family would change even more with another little one. Another mouth to feed and care for. She continued her thoughts as she stepped in the shower and let the water spray.

Bundled in her robe, she exited the bathroom but stopped to take in the view on the bed. A small smile tugged the corners of Sara's mouth, as she watched fondly as Grissom stroked Daniel's hair and softly sang a lullaby. Daniel must have awoken when Grissom came into the room and fought his eyes closing as he looked up at his daddy and listened to his soothing voice. A warm feeling enveloped Sara as she watched father and son interact knowing that despite challenges life brings, their bond strengthened with each passing day.

Finally, Daniel couldn't fight sleep. Grissom stroked the boys hair again before looking up to acknowledge Sara. The two shared a soft smile.

"Hi," Sara said as she walked up to Grissom.

Grissom stood seeming less burdened, but also anxious. "Hi."

Not at all bothered by his lack of conversation, Sara held her soft smile, and gestured for him to pick up Daniel so they could put him in his crib. Grissom picked up on the silent request and carefully picked up the boy without waking him. He rocked him for a moment before leaving his bedroom as Sara went to get her night clothes.

After putting Daniel down, it was Grissom's turn to watch a loved one from a doorway into the bedroom. Sara was applying some cream under her nightshirt.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier."

"Apology accepted," Sara said softly. "Will you put some cream on my shoulders?"

He came into the bedroom and sat next to her on the bed. He applied the rub on her shoulders. While Sara didn't want to press about where he was, she could tell something shifted in his attitude. So she waited to see if he might share.

After a couple of minutes he did.

"You were right. There was a group session," Grissom said.

"Did you go?"

"I was late."

That comment garnered a snort. Grissom was not the type of person to arrive late to anything. But Sara theorized why that might have happened. "Were you debating whether to go just to shut me up?"

This time Grissom snorted. He stood up to put the lotion away. "Perhaps just a bit. But I honestly didn't know if it was worth the time and emotional effort."

"I hope it was," Sara said empathetically. She knew that he had a few concerns about his therapy, and whether it would help. But despite his reservations and after only a few sessions, Sara recognized he was benefiting from it. Little by little, she could see the confidence that had been fractured by Rory's attacks, and with the challenges he has faced lately, she despaired his confidence would wain again.

"It was worth the time," Grissom replied. "With everything happening at once I think I should start thinking outside the box."

"What do you mean?"

Grissom uttered a heavy sigh. "You know, the idea of you working solely to support the family still doesn't sit well with me. But I understand your point about taking less leave after the baby is born. Since I'm not working there's no reason to spend money on daycare."

"Gil, honey, I do believe that you will eventually find work. Today was just another bump in the road."

"While I don't share that optimism, it's not fair for me to be in an emotional hole and drag you down with me," Grissom said. "I need to use my time being creative, and find different avenues for a revenue stream."

Sara stood and approached him. She grasped his hands in her own. "You have every right to feel anger or sadness when you have … well, shit thrown your way. And I'm here for you when that happens."

Grissom pursed his lips. "I know you are. You've shown me that time and again, Sara."

"I'm so sorry you got those phone calls about the jobs. But this unemployment won't last forever."

"Those calls this morning weren't the only lousy calls I got today," Grissom said as he reached for the cordless phone and dialed the number for voicemail. "I answered about too many of these calls before I just let them go to voicemail."

"Who were the callers?"

"I am not sure who they were but they knew me."

Before Sara could ask "What did they say?" Grissom played one of ten messages, starting with the ones earlier from the day.

"I saw your commercial, you fucking ass bastard. You should've rotted in hell with a broomstick up your ass for helping send me to lock-up. I hope you fucking..."

Grissom skipped to the next call.

"That's a sweet ass mug shot you got, Grissom. Now I kind of wish I was still in that hellhole when you were there. I would have shoved my dick so far up your…"

And another… "CSI investigator my ass. You are nothing but a murderer that got caught, mother fucker…"

Sara pushed the stop button. "How did they get our number?" Sara asked, shooing her own question. "Doesn't matter. The number is going to get changed. I'm so sorry, honey. I never even thought about this happening."

"Neither did I. It scared me, angered me… why I kept answering, I don't know."

As he spoke Sara scrolled through the recent call list to jot down received call numbers from the day. "A lot of these say unlisted or unknown or private," she said. "But here's a name number from a call two hours ago. Must have been when I was on a walk with Daniel." She showed Grissom the number and time stamp.

"I don't recognize the name or number. But seeing the time stamp, if the person left a message it would be the last one."

Scrolling past potential hate messages, he played the last one, which had the same time stamp as the last call.

"I … ah… I'm Donna Simmons. I don't know if this is the right number but if … I was trying to talk to the guy in the commercial… the one that aired about that politician… you… I think my brother was on the bus with you… I just wanna find out … um… if this is the right number, call back. … Yeah… Bye."

"The bus with me? What is she talking about?"

But to Sara… that name in the context of the bus rang a bell. "The accident, Gil. The one Rory orchestrated. There was a guard on the bus named Simmons."

Grissom turned toward her. "What? How do you know? Are you sure?"

"Once I got a hold of that file, I read it a dozens of times, Gil. One of the guards on there had the last name of Simmons."

The two stood in silence. It was Sara who broke it. "Come on. Why don't we go to bed?"

"OK," Grissom said. Then he grabbed the handset. "I'll be right up."

"Wait," Sara said. "Gil, you're not going to call her, are you? You have no idea why she was calling. For all you know, she could start spewing vile things at you. You don't need to hear any of that."

"Yeah, you're right," Grissom said. But he still held the phone in his hand.

"You're still going to call, aren't you?"

"I know it might be a mistake."

"Then let's do this together," Sara said.

Hitting the speaker button, Grissom hit the redial button. They both felt pins and needles with each passing ring. After five years, the call connected.

"Hello?"

"Is this Donna Simmons?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah, and if this is who I think it is, I can't believe you returned my call."