AN: Thanks for the continued support, here is the next chapter. Warning: A few questionable words, and Suggestive/Implied adult behavior.
Chapter 20: Acceptance
May 11, 2001
Eventually the love birds did make it up to their room during the night, so when Grissom woke up, he got out of bed in his boxers, pulled on a t-shirt and headed downstairs to see what he could make them for breakfast, considering they didn't get many groceries last night with their minds on other things.
Sara was just waking up when Grissom came back into the room carrying a food tray with an omelet on a plate with a glass of juice with a flower, she smiled as she sat up in bed, getting a sudden flashback.
"I don't think I have to tell you what this reminds me of."
He smirked as he placed the tray in her lap. "Our first morning after together. But you know there are a few differences." As he sits on the side of the bed, he continued. "The setting for one."
"True."
He then pointed to her tray. "And no pager."
She chuckled. "Which now would have been a cellphone, but I don't need it because I don't think I'll be needing to call off the search party."
He smiled. "At least not yet."
She then smirked. "Not until noon I suspect."
That's when she's supposed to be with the girls, which included their daughter.
He looked at the clock on the nightstand before looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "And we still have a few hours to ourselves before we even have to get our daughter from my mom's."
They were going to spend a little more time together just the three of them before they had to split up for the rest of the day and night.
"That we do."
They kiss softly before Grissom pulled back. "Now eat up, it's getting cold."
She smirked as he stood up from the bed. "I would, but you're distracting me, just like you did on that first morning after we shared."
He just chuckled as he walked out of the room so he could clean up the kitchen while she ate her breakfast with a happy smile and sigh, tomorrow is her wedding day, and she can't wait.
When Grissom got back into the bedroom, he got back into bed and they enjoyed some more alone time, and when they started cuddling, Sara chuckled in his arms, so Grissom asked. "What?"
"Did we just break tradition? Because it is technically the day before our wedding."
He chuckled in return. "Honestly, I'm not sure, but I'm not complaining."
She shook her head with a smile as she lifted his hand and played with his fingers. "I'm not either." She then slipped her fingers through his with a sigh and placed them on her stomach. "But I'm going to miss you tonight, and not just because of..."
He kissed her temple before whispering against it. "I know. You can always cuddle with our daughter. She's a very good cure for when not so good things are in our heads."
She smiled. "That she is, and I just might do that."
Silence came a moment later until Grissom asked. "Have you heard from Quinn recently?"
"Yeah, her arrival at the airport is supposed to be at 1."
While Quinn wasn't present during the whole planning, Sara made sure to include her through phone calls and emails.
"And how did she sound?"
"Positive, I think she just needed this break. But whether she's coming home for good after the wedding, I'm not sure. I just want her to do whatever makes her happy. I'll miss her of course if she does stay away, but it's her life and choice." Grissom nodded in agreement before he kissed her temple, then Sara asked. "So, speaking of friends, when is Catherine and Warrick getting in?"
"Around six."
"And did you talk to Nick about it?"
"Yes, and I got the feeling that he can finally support them."
Sara smiled as she snuggled further into his arms. "That's amazing."
He sighed before he kissed her temple again. "Yes, it is. I just want everyone to be as happy as we are."
She nodded with a smile. "Me too, and that would be great."
After a more minutes of silence, he sighed. "We should get up and get ready, we do have to go to the store before picking up Belle."
She nodded, but didn't move for several more minutes, then when she was finally sitting up, she turned to him and asked with a smile. "You up for one more adventurous moment?"
He raised an eyebrow as he saw her get out of bed, then watched her walk to the master bathroom while she unbuttoned her shirt, which was his from yesterday, then she stopped in the doorway so her back was to him, took her shirt off, tossed it backwards and walked into the bathroom without saying a word, leaving the door opened for him.
He smiled as he got out of bed, then walked towards the opened bathroom and shut the door behind him.
After getting their daughter they spent a few hours just the three of them, then when it was getting close to noon, Grissom drove them to Jo's place, where he stayed for about 20 minutes before saying his goodbyes.
He hugs his daughter at the front door, then kissed her cheek before speaking with a smile as he cupped her cheek. "I love you butterfly, you have a goodnight with the girls, and I'll see you in the morning."
"I'll see you in the morning, and I love you too daddy."
They share one more hug and kiss before he stands up, then his attention turned to Sara.
She spoke a second later with a smile. "I'll walk you out." As she heard Jo and Ashley groan, Sara looked at her friends with a smirk. "Oh, come on, you girls are getting me for the rest of the day and the whole night, I think I deserve just one more moment with my future husband."
Ashley smirked as she tapped her invisible watch on her wrist. "Ok, but we are keeping time."
Sara just shook her head and rolled her eyes as she took Grissom's hand and led him out the door and to the vehicle, stopping at the driver's side.
He slipped his hand out of hers only to wrap his arms around her waist and spoke softly. "What you said in there, sounded very nice."
She smiled as she cupped his cheek. "Yeah? Which part?"
His eyes get bright as he replied. "The future husband."
She nodded. "It felt nice to say too, but you know what sounds better on the lips than that?"
"What?"
She brings his face closer to her and whispered. "Husband."
He couldn't respond because his lips had connected with hers, and they kissed for several minutes, which wasn't too passionate, but something to hold them over until tomorrow afternoon when they'll finally say their I do's and become husband and wife.
Once they slowly pulled back, they place their foreheads together and closed their eyes, both taking a deep breath, then he pulls back first and spoke again with a smile. "This time tomorrow, we'll finally be husband and wife."
She nodded with a smile. "Yes, we will, and I can't wait." She cupped his cheek again before she sighed. "And as much as I don't want to see you leave right now, you better get out of here."
He smirked. "Or your girls will come drag you back inside the house." As she gave him a small smile, he cupped her cheek before speaking with love. "Honey, try and have fun tonight, I know we aren't used to sleeping apart since I moved here, but I want you to have a good time."
She asked with a glint in her eyes. "How much of a good time?"
Obviously with Belle with them their night will be pretty tamed compared to other bachelorette parties, but it was per Sara's request that her daughter be with them because she wanted her to feel included for as much as she could.
He chuckled. "Just make sure you make it to your own wedding in decent shape."
Afterall who knows what could happen after Belle gets tucked into bed, and with Quinn around, he knew anything could happen.
Jokingly, she said. "I'll try." He chuckled again before she asked. "So, what about you? Your last night as an unmarried man, I heard bachelor parties could get pretty wild themselves."
He raised an eyebrow. "And does that sound like anything I would be a part of?"
She shook her head with another chuckle while wrapping her arms around his neck. "Well, no." She then gets serious. "But I want you to try and have fun too, this is your night as well."
He nodded with a sigh. "I know, but I'm perfectly fine just going to a bar, having a couple of drinks, then going back to my mom's, and if the others want to come and join me for a game of poker than that's fine by me, and if not and they want to do the parting, they can have it. That's just not my scene."
She just nodded, knowing he already had his mind set on this, then she asked. "And you're sure you don't mind us having the house tonight?"
"Not at all."
A moment later they hear tapping on the glass window from inside the house, causing them to chuckle one more time before they share another kiss.
"I love you, honey."
"I love you too, babe. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
After one more kiss, they finally released one another so he could get into his vehicle while she walked back into the house.
When it got closer to six in the evening, Grissom headed for the airport, and while he was waiting at the gate, he actually got a surprise when he turned his head to the person who had sat down next to him in the waiting chairs.
"Nick? What are you doing here, I thought you were going to meet us at the bar?"
He had shown up in Los Angeles a few hours ago, but was spending time with Ashley, Sara and their friends until he decided to come to the airport.
Nick took a breath before asking. "Is it ok if I'm here?"
Grissom nodded. "Of course, I'm just surprised as all."
"I just want to get this interaction out of the way. It's been long enough, it's time I finally congratulate them on their relationship."
"That's a big step."
Nick nodded. "A step that needs to be made." He took a breath before he smiled. "I feel like a different person than I was when I first got to San Francisco."
Grissom chuckled. "That's what love will do to you, and I will admit that it had changed me too, that I felt like a different person before I had met her." He sighed as he continued, thinking of how he truly felt before he had met Sara. "I was only in my thirties, Nicky, but I felt older. I felt that my job was weighing me down. At times it felt hard to breath, and I didn't want to get out of bed." He then smiled as he finished. "Then I met Sara, and everything changed, she made me feel young again, the job felt like it did when I first started, it was easy to breathe again and I couldn't wait to get out of bed because I knew I would get to speak to her on the phone or I was going to visit her, she gave me a reason to continue living."
While a little shocked to hear Grissom be this open to him, Nick couldn't help but smile as he replied. "And I'm sure Belle helped with that as well."
Grissom lit up with a nod. "Absolutely, if Sara made me a better man, then Belle has made me a better father." He then sighed again. "I just hope I didn't screw up too much when it comes her first six years of life."
While he was trying to look forward and not backwards, he still has a little guilt for not being there more for his daughter as she was growing up.
Nick shook his head. "While I may have not been around from the start of your life with them, hell or even aware you were in fact going off to see them when I was around, I don't think you did, you did the best you could under the circumstances, and man, I'm sure Sara has told you this a lot of times but hear it from me, that little girl thinks you are a hero, you're a hero to her, and when she talks about you, her face beams all the time."
Hearing that from someone other than Sara, not that he didn't believe her, felt pretty good, so he smiled. "Really?"
Nick nodded with a smile. "Really, you are her world."
Grissom smirked as he stood up, hearing that the plane Warrick and Catherine should be on had landed. "I wonder how long that feeling will last, probably until her teenage years I suspect."
Nick also stood up with a smirk. "You're probably right." Then he gets a little more serious. "But don't worry that feeling will come back when she's older."
"You think?"
Nick chuckled with a nod. "Trust me, I have five older sisters, I've seen it all."
While Grissom watched the passengers coming in the airport from the plane that just landed, Grissom cleared his throat before asking. "So, on a scale one to ten, how fearful should I be?"
"You mean when Belle becomes a teenager?" After Grissom nodded, Nick smiled as he also turned his attention back to the passengers. "Oh, with Sara's temper, I would probably say a ten."
Grissom looked at Nick with a raised eyebrow. "Thanks for that."
"What you wanted me to be honest right? And if she's anything like her..."
He stopped speaking when he saw Catherine and Warrick holding hands.
Grissom turned his head to see the same scene, and while the couple was looking around, Nick cleared his throat before asking softly. "I know I moved on, and I'm truly happy for them, but is it alright if I still feel a little sting seeing that."
Grissom nodded as he patted the younger man's shoulder. "I think that feeling is natural, you're just not use to that sight, it will get easier to see."
As Nick took a breath and nod, they both hear then see a little nine-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed little girl come running up to Grissom. "Uncle Grissom!"
Grissom smiled as he hugged the little girl. "Lindsey Hi! How are you?"
With a smile on her face while in Grissom's embrace, she replied. "I'm really good."
"And that's good to hear."
Once they pulled back, Lindsey smiled at Nick. "Uncle Nick!"
Nick smiled in return and started greeting the little girl while Grissom turned his attention to Catherine and Warrick, who had now released hands by now.
Catherine initiated the hug with a smile. "Hi Gil."
While hugging her in return, Grissom spoke. "Hi Catherine, thanks for being here."
"Oh, we wouldn't have missed this for the world."
As they pulled back, Warrick had his hand out with a smile towards him. "No, we definitely wouldn't want to miss your big moment, Congratulations."
Grissom smiled bright as he shook the younger man's hand. "Thank you, Warrick, I'm glad you're here."
Warrick nodded with a smile, then their attention turned to Nick, and while there was an awkward pause, Grissom kneeled down to Lindsay's level. "Hey, why don't we head to the baggage claim and you can show me which bags are your mom's and Warrick's."
After Lindsey agreed to that, Grissom stood up, took Lindsey's hand and they started walking away, leaving Nick, Catherine and Warwick alone, which has been awhile since that's happened.
There was another awkward pause before Nick cleared his throat and looked at Catherine while speaking to her. "When I first met you, while I knew you were off limits because you were married, I couldn't help but be drawn to you, your dedication and passion not only as a CSI but a mother as well really blew me away. And when your marriage ended, and all that time we spent together I thought maybe you might start feeling how I had been feeling those last two years…."
Catherine tries to cut him off with tears in her eyes. "Nick, I….."
But he cuts her off. "Please let me get this out." Catherine just nodded as he continued. "But then when you were in that car accident, and I found out that the direction you were going was towards Warrick's place, I knew it wasn't me you were falling in love with." He then looked at Warrick and spoke softly. "You were falling in love with my best friend…. hell, my brother, and seeing you two at the hospital hurt more than anything I ever felt before."
When Nick stopped speaking, Warrick started. "Honestly man, I had no idea how you felt about her when we started seeing one another."
"And if you had known, would you have stepped aside?"
Warrick nodded. "If I knew that's what she truly wanted and would be happy, then yeah I would have."
When Nick turns his eyes to Catherine, she took a step towards him and took his hand, speaking with emotion. "Nick, I'm so sorry. I never knew how you felt about me, but know that I cared about you so much, and that your friendship, especially the first few months after my separation, meant a lot to me."
Nick nodded with a small smile. "It had meant a lot to me too." Then he cleared his throat and took his hands out of hers as he continued. "And as hurt as I felt finding out about you two, I can't help but feel joy for you two now and can say with happiness that I accept what you two have."
Warrick asked. "You really mean that?"
Nick nodded with a pure, genuine smile. "I do, now I'll admit I didn't expect to be ok with everything this quickly, but when I moved here my life went into an unexpected direction."
Catherine was the first responded to that with a smile. "You fell in love."
Nick nodded again, his smile getting brighter. "I have, and she's amazing. I can't believe how lucky I got."
Catherine wrapped her arms around him with a smile. "I'm so happy for you, congratulations."
Nick hugged her in return while thanking her, then as they pulled back, Warrick smiled with his hand out. "Yeah, congratulations man. I hope I can meet the woman who has lit your smile up like Christmas lights."
Nick smiled shyly as he shook the other man's hand. "Well, that can either be tonight or tomorrow at the wedding."
While they released hands, Warrick nodded with a smile. "We can play it by ear then."
"Sounds good." He then cleared his throat before finishing. "We should head to baggage claim."
After they nodded they started walking in that direction, and as they were, Nick asked how they were doing, which they answered truthfully, they couldn't be happier, and Nick saw the love in their eyes when they said that so he knew it was very true and wouldn't have been surprised if they announced their wedding in the next few months, and if that was the case he would have been OK with that.
When they got to the parking lot they decided, since they were going to the bar, that Lindsey will be with Grissom's mom for a few hours, so Catherine and Lindsey, after hugging Warrick goodbye, got into Grissom's vehicle while Warrick got into Nick's and the guys were going to meet Grissom and Catherine at the bar in a bit once they got Lindsey settled.
Once they got to his mother's and Lindsey was settled, Grissom and Catherine headed back out to the vehicle, then after they were in, he started the vehicle up, but before he started going, he asked. "Are you sure you don't want me to text Sara to see if Lindsey can stay with them so she could be with Belle tonight?"
Neither one anticipated that Lindsey would be showing up, and according to Catherine it was actually a last-minute decision because Lindsey really wanted to see Belle since they've became closer through the months with all the phone calls they have been sharing.
Catherine shook her head with a smile. "It's ok. This is Sara's night she shouldn't have to be saddled with 'babysitting', which I'm actually surprised she had Belle stay with her tonight."
"She wanted Belle involved with every aspect of this wedding. She had been a major help to her from the flowers to the dresses."
Catherine nodded in understanding, then she continued while Grissom was still hesitating on moving the vehicle. "Lindsey will be fine, she brought things to keep her occupied. Besides, they'll have all day tomorrow and tomorrow night to hang out."
Grissom nodded as he started to pull out of the driveway. "Ok."
It was a couple minutes of silence before he asked. "So, you and Warrick, you two ok? "
Much like she did when her and Warrick told Nick, she had a bright smile on her face. "We couldn't be happier. "
Whether it was the tone she used or that Grissom just knew her so well, probably a combination of both, he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why do I have a feeling there is more to that?"
She shook her head and looked out the window. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Catherine, what is it?"
"I can't talk about it, well really I shouldn't talk about it, this is your weekend, which is technically Sara's weekend, and I..."
Grissom cuts her off with a chuckle. "While you're not wrong about that." As Catherine smirked, Grissom continued with a smile as he turned a corner. "Sara's not here at the moment, and I'm getting more convinced by the second something is up, so what is it?"
Catherine looked at Grissom as she asked. "You really want to know?" After Grissom nodded, Catherine continued with another smile. "Warrick proposed to me."
AN: Thanks again for reading, please review. Wedding day is getting closer! I hope you all had a wonderful/safe weekend, and until next time, always remember GSR4ever!