AN: Thanks for the continued support, here is the next chapter, and another case (which is only described after the fact) was inspired by Season 1 Episode 19: Gentle, Gentle. Warning: Sad case details and Implied/Suggestive adult content.

Chapter 18: There for him

April, 2001

Normally, while a case will bother Grissom, more than others, he usually keeps how he feels to himself, outside of showing Sara when they were alone in their home, causing the other co-workers to give him the nickname Gruesome Grissom because nothing seemed to faze him, or at least his reaction wasn't like other CSI's when he was around them.

But by the end of the case they had just finished, which involved a baby dying accidently by the hands of a young middle child then the family tried to cover it up by staging it as a kidnap and ransom, everyone got to see a frustrated, upset Grissom that changed everyone's perspective of him.

Now, sitting on the bed reading to his daughter that night, Grissom couldn't help but look at her, which he did it so much that Belle asked with worry. "You ok, daddy?"

He sighed as he moved one of his hands from the book and ran his thumb over her cheek. "I just had a rough case, nothing for you to worry about."

Knowing she was too young to know anything about what goes on with her parents' work, only that she knew they helped catch bad guys, she asked. "Do you need another hug?"

Grissom smiled, the first real smile since he started working the case. "I would really love that."

Belle nodded with a smile as she moved in bed so she could sit up and hug her father, which he wrapped his arms around her as tight as she could stand, then after they pulled back, he kissed her forehead and whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, daddy."

When she pulled fully back from her dad's embrace, she asked again. "You don't have to read to me tonight if you don't want to."

He shook his head with a smile. "I do, this is my favorite part of our nightly routine. Now let's get you back under the covers, so you can go to sleep."

After she nodded, Grissom tucked his daughter back in, and after another kiss on her forehead, he pulled back, took a breath and continued to read to his daughter until she fell asleep.

Once he noticed she had fallen asleep, he watched for a few minutes, soaking in his daughter's presence before placing the book on the nightstand, then he got up from the bed and walked to the door, turning around to look at her for another moment before he turned the light off and walked out of the room, closing the door until there was a crack, then he headed down the hall to the master bedroom.

When he made it into the room the light was on, but there was no Sara, however, the bathroom door was shut with the light on, so he spoke as he headed for the end of the bed. "Honey, thanks for dinner tonight."

While she didn't cook the gourmet meals like Grissom, he had taught her a few things in the kitchen through the years so they can have decent meals when Grissom wasn't his usual self, like tonight, which was bound to happen every now and then, especially after a horrible case, and it could have been prevented all together if the oldest child, who had been babysitting at the time, had a more watchful eye.

He sighed and closed his eyes as he ran a hand over his eyes, hearing the bathroom door open and Sara's voice as she walked into the room. "Of course, babe. I know how much you needed the night off from cooking."

He was about to speak while he moved his hand from his eyes, which they were now opened, but closed his mouth when he saw Sara standing there in a red nighty that went slightly above her knees, and smiled.

She smiled in return, liking his reaction while she walked up to him. "I was hoping I could help clear your mind tonight."

He raised an eyebrow as he asked. "And how exactly would you do that?"

She smiled as she got in his lap, facing him while wrapping her legs around his waist and her mouth went to his left ear. "Oh, I can think of a few ways."

While she could feel him responding to her, she could also sense his hesitation, so she pulled back slightly a few minutes later and spoke softly as she cupped his cheek. "Unless you don't want to tonight."

He took a breath and shook his head as he ran a hand up down her back. "It isn't that I don't want to, it just might be different tonight. I have a little more frustration running through me than usual."

She smirked. "Well, you can always take it out on me."

He shook his head with a slight frown. "I don't want to hurt you."

She ran her thumb up and down his cheek while speaking soothingly. "And I know you never will, I trust you wholeheartedly. Plus, I know you would stop if I asked you to."

Sincerely, he replied as he moved his hand to cup her cheek. "In a heartbeat."

She smiled again. "Good, now that we got that out of the way. Let's see what you got, bugman."

He raised another eyebrow, but she could tell his eyes were getting darker with passion. "Bugman?" He actually hadn't heard her use that nickname in a while, and as she nodded with a wider smile, he asked. "And is that a challenge?"

She just shrugged as she was moving her mouth back to his ear, but her action was stopped abruptly when he surprised her by moving them quickly so she was now laying on her back in bed and he was above her, then as she was catching her breath from the sudden movement, he took his shirt and pants off, leaving on the boxers before he was back down to her level and they started kissing, which started out light, then it got more passionate as each second went by as their hands roamed each other's bodies.

By the time they finished, it had been one of the most passionate/intense times of their lives, he pulled back from her and laid down behind her with a sigh, then with whatever strength he had left, he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer to him and kissed her bare shoulder before whispering breathlessly. "You ok?"

Sara, who was still catching her breath, smiled as she slipped her fingers through his, before she finally spoke. "I'm better than ok."

He smiled after another kiss on her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Oh yeah." She sighed in content before she continued. "And you know as intense/passionate as that was, we've had more before. Like, our first time."

He shook his head with a chuckle. "You sure about that? Because I remember I kept asking if you were ok."

She smiled as she moved her free hand up and down his arm. "It still didn't ruin the moment for me, it had been the best night of my life at that point. Besides, it wasn't the whole time." She indicated to him that she wanted to move, so he moved his hand from her waist so she could turn around and face him, then his arm moved back around her waist, and she continued as she cupped his cheek. "And by the end of that night, lying in your arms, feeling as safe as I ever been in my whole life, even without hardly knowing you, I knew I already found the one. Sure, I may have been 21 and I hadn't been with that many guys before you, but deep down I knew that you would be 'it' for me. And now nine years later, lying in your arms, still feeling as safe as I ever been, I was right. I don't care how many years we are together, you're still my 'one', you still make me feel so much."

He moved his hand to cup her cheek and wiped them away with his thumb before speaking softly. "And you're mine, always. I love you so much and thank you for tonight."

"I love you too." She then smirked. "So, better than your roller-coaster riding?"

He chuckled as he brings her closer to her so he could kiss her forehead, then he sighed as he closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against hers. "A lot better."

They just continued to lay there in silence until they fell asleep.

Next Morning

Sara was at the coffee pot in the kitchen, when Grissom came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Morning, honey."

She smiled brightly as she replied. "Morning, babe. You ready for your coffee?"

"Yes please."

He released her so she could reach for the coffee mugs, then as she was pouring him a cup, she asked softly. "You ok from yesterday?"

He took a breath with a nod and replied while taking the cup from her. "Yeah, it was just one of those cases that you'll never forget, but won't..."

She cuts him off. "Dwell on it 24/7. I know."

He nodded, then after taking a sip of his coffee, he spoke again. "And I apologize if I..."

She cuts him off again, knowing why he would try to apologize. "Hey, I'm not the head you were trying to bite off, it was everybody else's. They saw a whole new side of you yesterday."

He was a little harsh with his team members yesterday, including the DNA specialist who had orders to finish another case first, but Grissom wasn't having it, he wanted his case on top of the pile, letting his frustration take over.

Grissom took a breath with a nod. "I know, and I'll find some way to apologize to them." As Sara took a sip of her coffee, he then asked. "Which now that we are talking about this, it has gotten me thinking why you didn't take me off the case, when you probably would have done it to anybody else who was too emotionally involved."

She took a breath and cupped his cheek. "You're right, I probably should have, but I know you, you needed to work through it."

He brings her closer with his hand with a smirk. "Ok, but you know they'll start questioning whether I get special treatment."

She 'hummed' with a nod, then smirked. "You're probably right. So, I guess I'll have to find a way to show them you don't special treatment."

He raised an eyebrow. "You mean at the lab." He then smiled wider as he leans towards her. "Because I get plenty of special treatment at home."

She chuckled as their lips met, which was meant to be a quick one on his side, but she had other ideas and deepened it.

However, the moment ended when they heard clearing of a throat and an apology. "Sorry."

They pull back and looked to see Nick standing in the doorway looking a little embarrassed to catch them in one of their moments.

They smiled in return while they stepped back from one another, then Sara asked. "You want some coffee?"

"Sure, and thank you."

While Sara was going through that task, Grissom asked the young man. "Did you just get in?"

Nick nodded. "Yes, and actually I need to talk to you two about something."

Sara hands Nick the coffee mug as she asked. "Sure, what's up?"

Nick takes a sip of his coffee before he spoke again. "I can't thank you both enough for letting me stay here, I know we were all probably thinking it would be a few weeks, maybe a month tops, that turned into..."

Grissom cuts Nick off with a smile. "You have a point to this?"

Nick took a breath before he continued. "The thing is my life took a very unexpected turn when I got here. I didn't expect to fall for anybody, at least as quickly as I have, and while our relationship is still in the early stages, we talked about living together."

In the next moment Nick thought he was going to see a blowup from Sara and would start grilling him with questions, but instead he got a teary-eyed Sara and a hug from her. "Congratulations."

Nick hugged her back half-heartedly, mostly from shock for not seeing what he was expecting from her, then after she pulled back, he asked. "You're really ok with this?"

Sara smirked. "What, did you expect a blowup or something?"

He shyly smiled. "Well yeah, kind of."

Sara then chuckled and shook her head. "Hey, this is your guy's relationship and if this is something you two decided then I'm not getting in the way of either of your happiness because I know I've never seen her as happy as she is with you." As Nick smiled, happy he has Sara's full support, Sara smirked. "Besides, I have no room to judge on how early it is in a relationship to move in together, when I got pregnant before we even had our third date, let alone kissed him before I even knew his name."

As everyone was chuckling, Belle came rushing in the room.

"What's so funny?"

Sara shook her head with a smile. "Nothing baby."

Belle just shrugged while she shared a hug with her mother. "Morning, mommy."

"Morning."

After Sara kissed the top of her daughter's head, Belle hugged her father. "Good morning, daddy."

"Morning, butterfly."

She pulled back slightly. "Are you feeling better?"

He nodded with a smile as he cupped her cheek. "A lot better."

Belle nodded with a smile. "I'm glad."

She then turned her attention to Nick. "Hi Uncle Nick."

She had been calling Nick 'Uncle' for the past few months, and Nick had been enjoying it since he doesn't get to be called 'Uncle Nick' everyday, at least not until Belle started calling him that.

Nick smiled with pride, hearing that new title, as he hugged the little girl. "Hi sweetheart."

After they pulled back, Belle asked with excitement. "Can you read to me tonight?"

While she was a very good reader, even at her age, she still loved it when her parents read to her, especially when she felt they had a bad day/case because she knew it made them a little happy. And just a few months ago, when he was here of course, she had asked Nick if he could read to her, so he was part of the 'rotation'.

Sara was about to speak, but Nick did as he kneeled down in front of the little girl. "You know what, I would love too. But it might also be my last time in a while."

She gets a little sad as she asked. "Why?"

"Because I'm moving out. But that doesn't mean I won't come visit you and read to you at times, ok?"

Belle nodded. "Does that mean you'll be with Aunt Ashley?"

Nick nods with a smile. "Yes, it does."

Belle smiled. "That makes me happy. Are you going to marry her?"

Sara started to speak. "Baby..."

But Nick cuts her off. "It's ok." He then looked at Belle with another smile and answered as honestly as he could right now. "Honestly, I don't know at this moment, we are just taking things day by day, but know that I care about her a lot, and she makes me very happy."

Belle nodded again while wrapping her arms around his neck. "Ok. But please don't hurt her."

Nick shook his head with another smile. "I'll never intentionally hurt your Aunt Ashley, I promise." She nodded one more time, and as they pulled back, he finished with one more smile. "I'll see you later tonight."

"Ok."

After Nick stood up, he held out his hand to Grissom. "And truly thanks again for letting me stay here."

Grissom shook the younger man's hand with a smile. "You are very welcome, and anytime."

Once they released hands, Nick took a breath before speaking again. "I'll see you two very soon at the lab."

They nodded before Nick walked out of the room and headed upstairs to get his stuff from the room he had been staying in, and while there was a little sadness he would be leaving them, he was excited for the next step in his life.

After Nick left the room, Grissom took a breath before asking his girls. "Ok ladies, ready for breakfast?"

They nodded with smiles before Grissom started his prepping for breakfast.

Once they made it to the lab, and made a stop in the locker room, Sara headed to her office and Grissom went to the break room, which when he got there the room felt awkward, so Grissom immediately addressed it after cleaning his throat, apologizing for his unexpected behavior yesterday.

When he was done, Luke, the level III CSI who has worked with Sara the longest outside of Peter, smiled slightly as he replied. "Well, no offense Grissom, but we finally got to see that you are actually human, and that these cases really do effect you."

They all slowly nodded in agreement, but Nick was ready to defend him, before Grissom spoke after cleaning his throat again, getting more personal with his team than he's ever had. "None taken, but of course these cases affect me, I just choose not to show it because that's how I have to deal with working them."

Then Nick chimes. "Plus, we all have different ways of dealing with our cases, the important thing is to not let it cloud our judgement."

As they all nodded in agreement again, Sara walked into the room holding assignment sheets, then she cleared her throat. "I guess I'm supervisor for a few hours until Peter comes in after his wife's doctor's appointment for the baby's checkup."

There was a slight pause before Sara started passing out the assignments, and to everyone's surprise, Sara hands Grissom a decomp.

Once everyone left the room, except Sara and Grissom, kind of awkwardly after those turn of events, Grissom looks over at Sara, who was walking to the coffee pot. "A decomp, really?"

She turned around with a smirk. "Hey, you wanted me to show the team you don't get special treatment from me at the lab. Besides, you've told me time and time again, no matter the seniority, no one is above a case, whatever it may be."

Grissom gets up from the seat and walks over to her with a smirk. "What do you do, tape everything I say?" She just smiled before he continued with a small sigh. "And you're right, on both accounts." He then smirked again. "But remember we do sleep in the same bed."

Indicating he might not smell all that good with the case he was now assigned.

As he turned back to the table, she smirked again. "Well, technically you do have three other rooms you could sleep in, and the living room."

He then smirked one more time as he grabbed his assignment from the table. "Yeah, and good luck with sleeping without me."

While he left the room, she did wince at that a little because sleeping without him was not an easy sleep. In fact, it was downright terrible, being in his arms kept her nightmares at bay, at least most of the time. There are a few that come through every once in a while.

She mentally shook her head, finished getting her coffee before heading back to her office.

Once shift had ended, Grissom had walked into the locker room, opened his locker and smiled when he saw a bag of lemons on the top shelf.

Sara must have bought some and put it in his locker sometime during shift.

He then takes the bag of sliced lemons, a change of clothes and towel out of his to go bag and headed for the men's shower room.

Sara was in her office when there was a knock on the door, so she looked up and spoke. "Come in."

A second later the door opened, and Sara saw a wet haired Grissom walk in the room.

They smiled at one another as he walked fully in, then once he closed the door, he spoke. "Thanks for the lemons."

Grissom told Sara a trick to help with the smell after dealing with a decomp case was to squeeze lemon juice on you as you shower.

She smiled. "Well, I think we both would have been tortured had you slept in another room, and I don't think any of us wants that."

He shook his head. "No, that wouldn't have been ideal."

They stared at one another for moment in silence, then he cleared his throat before speaking. "So, was there a reason you wanted me to come in here after my shower?"

As much as Sara loved looking at Grissom in any state, dry, wet, undressed, dressed, and could just stare at him for any reason, there was a reason she did want him to come in here, she wanted to show him something she had ordered and had received earlier that day.

She nodded with a smile and opened her desk drawer, then pulled out a new name plate for her desk and showed it to him.

"It came today, and I know it's early, but I wanted it on my desk the moment it becomes official."

Grissom took a shuttering breath while seeing 'Sara Grissom Assistant Supervisor' on her name plate.

The wedding, which is in fact going to be in May, is less than a month away, and while they almost decided to just have it at home since it was a special and beautiful place to them, they ultimately decided to have it at another special place to them, the beach house in LA.

It was the place Grissom really got to know Sara, plus there were other reasons they choose LA.

Jo and Josh had officially moved there and was settled enough for visitors, so they thought it was a good chance for them to see the house.

And another reason was for Grissom's mother, while they both knew she would have gone to San Francisco without any complaints, considering it was for her only son's wedding, she's actually not big on traveling, at least nowadays, so they thought they would take their weeding to her.

Sara smiled wider as Grissom walked closer to the desk and took her name plate in his hand and ran his thumb over the last name, his last name that will eventually be given to the woman he loved, the only woman he ever loved romantically.

"Less than a month babe, and part of our dream will finally come true."

He spoke softly as he looked into her eyes. "I can't wait."

"Me neither."

If they were anywhere else other than the lab, nothing would have stopped them from kissing in that moment, but they held strong, even with the door shut, they didn't want to risk it, and he handed the name plate back to her while cleaning his throat.

"I'll, uh, I'll see you at home."

She nodded with a smile as she took the nameplate from his hands, then asked. "Can we have Chinese tonight? Ashely is coming over to help Nick get the rest of his things."

He nodded. "Sure. Call ahead and I'll get it after getting our daughter."

"Alright, thank you."

"You're welcome. Love you."

"Love you too."

After he left the room and shut the door behind him, she looked at the name plate in her hand with a smile, only a few more weeks and she'll finally become Mrs. Sara Grissom.

AN: Thanks for reading, and please review. Their wedding day is getting close, yeah! I want to once again thank everyone for the support, I really appreciate it, and I hope you are all had/are having a safe/wonderful weekend. Until next time always remember, GSR4ever!