AN: Thanks again for the support on this one. Enjoy! Warning: one questionable word & Implied adult behavior.
Chapter 8: Starting a new chapter
Jan. 1999
Not that he expected it to be fast, because it wasn't like the graveyard shift was a dream position to have, but it did take longer than he thought for them to finally have a new, consistent member on the team.
But now that the day had come and he had turned in his last case file, it was time to pack up the rest of his office, which wasn't much since he started clearing it out the 'day' he told the team he was leaving.
Coming to the last item moments later, which was a picture of him, his daughter and Sara, in fact it was the first picture of Belle when she was first born, Grissom smiled while picking it up as he thought back to the best day of his life as a parent.
Flashback
Late June, 1993
Catherine handed Grissom the piece of paper that had the test results she had processed, causing him to smile, so Catherine asked. "Exactly what you thought?"
Before Grissom could respond, his cellphone goes off, so he unclips it and looks at it with wide eyes, seeing who was calling before he answered. "Hello Jo, is everything ok?"
With no hesitation, she responded. "Your baby is coming."
He mentally cursed before asking. "How is Sara?"
"Oh, I would say a little freaked out, and when I say a little, I mean a lot."
"Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can."
"One of us will be at the airport waiting for you, just let us know the details."
"Alright, I will, and Jo, thank you."
"You're welcome."
After ending the phone call, Grissom shook his head with a smile and spoke out loud, forgetting for a moment that Catherine was standing right there. "Of course, my daughter would be a week early."
Which he did have plans to go to San Francisco on Friday, but it looked like his trip will be starting a few days earlier than that.
Catherine looked at Grissom in shock, taking him out of his thoughts. "Your what now is a week early?"
He just shook his head again as he dialed Brass's number and placed up to his ear as he walked out of the room so he could get to his office.
By the time he was off the phone, had gathered everything and had turned around to step out of the room, Catherine was standing in the doorway with her purse and keys, so Grissom asked. "What's up?"
"Well, it sounds like you need a ride to the airport, and you've got some explaining to do."
Grissom raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you still on shift?"
She waved it off. "That's what assistants are for, and I'll work a double to make up for the time I'll miss tonight."
He nodded, not wanting to delay any longer than he had to, and the two of them headed out to Catherine's vehicle.
Once they were in her vehicle, she started driving and speaking. "I knew something was up with you, all those trips out of town the last six months. I mean I may have only known you for two years, but I heard around the lab when I first got here that you hardly take time off, so how long has this really been going on?"
Grissom, who was known to be completely private about his personal life, could have told Catherine he didn't want to talk about it, or politely tell her to mind her own business.
But honestly, he didn't want to keep quiet anymore, meeting Sara was the best moment of his life, and to finally tell someone other than Brass, made him feel a little giddy, like he was a teenager ready to talk about his first crush to anyone who was willing to listen, so he took a breath before he told her everything, well obviously not every detail, but enough to actually satisfy the blond.
When he was done, she took a breath, soaking all that she had learned, as she pulled into the parking lot of the airport. "So, now what's going to happen, are you leaving us?"
Grissom took a breath before he replied. "As of right now, I don't see anything changing, only that I'll try and get a few more visits in during each month."
Catherine frowned as she spoke again, hearing his sad tone. "But that's not what you want, is it? You really do want to live with her?"
"I also don't want her to feel trapped with me, just in case I'm not really who she wants."
"You're giving her time to change her mind, or is it for you to change your mind?"
Grissom shook his head with a smile. "I'll never change my mind about her, I was a goner the moment our eyes met. She has my heart for the rest of our lives, no matter what happens in the future."
As he opened the vehicle door, Catherine spoke one more time. "While I don't see you as anything more than a colleague and friend, I do know what an amazing man you are, quirky as hell of course, but an amazing, loyal man, and I hope this Sara realizes that and how lucky she truly is to have one of the great ones. Now have a good trip and enjoy/savor every moment with your baby because when they say time flies, it certainly does."
Grissom turned to look at her with a smile. "Thank you Catherine, for everything."
Catherine just nodded before Grissom gets out of the vehicle and heads towards the entrance.
After what felt longer than usual, for multiple reasons, the plane Grissom was on landed in San Francisco, and the minute he could he was up out of his seat, grabbed his carry-on and followed the group of people in front of him until he reached inside the airport before he was looking around for one of the girls.
A moment later after spotting one of them, he smiled as he headed towards Ashley.
She smiled in return when she saw him then they shared a friendly hug.
After they pulled back, they started walking towards the exit and Grissom asked. "How are they doing?"
Ashley smiled again as they headed towards her vehicle. "I say good, but I know she's trying really hard to keep her in there for as long as possible so you can be there for your baby's first cry."
He took breath. "I guess that's why it's you that is picking me up, then."
Ashley was known to be the one to thread the needle a little more behind the wheel.
Ashley just chuckled while they get into her vehicle.
Once again, even with Ashley's driving, it felt like it took forever, and the minute she stopped her vehicle at the front entrance, he opened the door and Ashley spoke before he got out. "I'll be in there in a few minutes."
Grissom nodded with a thanks before getting out and headed to the door of the hospital, then once he was in, he saw Jo and Quinn pacing back and forth, so he rushed up to them and asked. "Jo, Quinn what's wrong?"
They stopped pacing and looked at Grissom with worry in their eyes, but Jo was the one that spoke. "Machines started beeping and they told me to get out, I don't…"
Grissom gasped as he moved towards the receptionist desk. "Excuse me I'm Gilbert Grissom, my girl…."
The receptionist cuts him off, since she was already informed to tell him what room Sara Sidle would be in the moment he got there, so that's exactly what she did.
When he looked back at Jo, she tells him. "Give both of those girls our love."
Grissom nodded. "I will." Then rushed to the elevator so he could go to the correct floor.
Once the elevator stopped, Grissom gets out and rushed to the room Sara was supposed to be in, which just as he got there, a nurse came out and looked at him. "Dr. Grissom come in."
Grissom nodded and followed the nurse in the room, causing Sara, who was in position to deliver their daughter. "Gil!"
Grissom smiled and he walked towards her bed, then took her hand and kissed it before speaking. "I'm here. I made it."
She nodded with tears in her eyes then replied. "I knew you would, but she's ready to come out and I can't wait any longer."
He squeezed her hand lightly as he responded. "Then let's get her out, because I'm ready to see her just as much as she's ready to see us."
Sara nodded while holding his hand tighter right before the doctor told her to start pushing.
Finally, after multiple pushes, they hear the doctor say she was here right before the crying started. Then her doctor looked at Grissom and asked with a smile from behind his mask. "You want to cut the cord?"
Not able to speak at the moment, he just nodded with a smile before grabbing the instrument to cut the cord, and once he was done, he was back at Sara's side as the nurses checked over the baby while the doctor finishes checking on Sara.
Sara and Grissom were completely emotional as they looked at one another, and he kept speaking in a comforting tone while he ran his thumb up and down her cheek.
After what felt like forever again, the head nurse brought the baby over to the bed and asked. "Does mommy want to hold her little one?"
Sara immediately nodded with a sniffle. "Yes, please."
Once the baby was in her arms another wave of emotion came bubbling through. "Aww, look at her, she's so beautiful."
Grissom smiled as he reached to touch her little fingers. "Yes, she is. Just like her mother."
They both sighed in content, soaking up this moment to the fullest as their hearts filled up with more love than they thought possible.
A few hours later, once Sara and the baby were settled in the recovery room, Grissom was filling out the information for the birth certificate, and when he got to the name of their little one, Sara spoke. "Is Belle still ok with you?"
Grissom nodded and wrote that down, and right as he stopped at the last name, she spoke again "And make sure you write down her last name as just Grissom."
He looked a little surprised because he just assumed since they weren't married she would want to add her last name as well, but he did ask. "Are you sure?"
No hesitation on her part, she nodded her head. "Yes, if your ok with it."
"I'm more than ok with it, if you are."
"I am."
Seeing that's what she truly wanted he did as she asked, then after he was done writing, he set the paperwork aside before Sara asked. "Alright daddy, you ready to hold your little one?"
He took a breath with a nod. "More than ready, but I am a little scared."
She gave him a soft smile. "This isn't your first time holding a baby."
True, he's held Catherine's daughter, Lindsey, multiple times since she was born last October.
"Yes, but it's the first time holding our baby, I don't want to do anything that will hurt her."
"You won't." She then smirked. "And hey, if I can do it, you can too, babies and I don't really mix."
With loving eyes, he replied softly. "You're already wonderful with her, she hasn't made a peep since she's been in your arms."
She smiled softly while turning her attention to their daughter, saying comforting words while moving her arms towards Grissom so he could hold her.
Once the little one was transferred into Grissom's arms, there was a little fussiness, but Grissom had no problem calming her down, and as Sara watched them for several minutes in silence, she fell even more in love with them.
Finally, she spoke after clearing her throat a few minutes later. "So, I uh, I made a decision after I graduate next spring."
With his attention still on their daughter, he asked with a smile. "Yeah? What's that?"
"I'm going to train to become a CSI."
That got his attention instantly, looking at her in surprise. "Really?"
Sara nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I find what you do really fascinating, and I want to be a part of families getting their justice."
He cleared his throat before replying softly. "You know at times it can take a long time, and other times, no matter how hard we try, we don't always get them."
"I know but that just makes the ones we do get more satisfying." There was a slight pause before she asked. "You don't seem that excited for me, is this something you don't want me to do?"
He shook his head with a smile. "Honey, I want you to do whatever makes you happy and I would never discourage you on anything that you want to do with your life. I'm just a little worried is all, what we see on daily basis is..."
She cuts him off with a determined voice. "I know it's not pretty, and other times will be worse, but this is something I really want to do. I've been thinking about it for months, this is not something I decided on a whim."
Seeing she was serious about her career choice, he nodded with another smile. "Then the CSI world will be lucky to have you."
Seeing the supportive look in his eyes, she smiled, then asked. "So, you really think I could do this and you're not just saying that?"
"Honey, not only do I think you can be a CSI, but an exceptional one at that."
She took a breath as she replied. "Thank you, I really need your support on this."
"And you have it, always."
They smiled lovingly at one another in silence when they heard a knock on the door, so Sara cleared her throat and spoke. "Come in."
The door opened a moment later, and in came the girls, the women smiled at one another as Jo asked Sara how she was doing.
Sara waved off the other woman's concern and replied with a beaming smile. "Other than tired, I'm doing amazing. Now will you guys come look at your goddaughter."
Sara couldn't decided which one of her friends she wanted to be her daughter's godmother so she just asked all three of them, and of course they had no problem sharing the title.
Their eyes lit up as Grissom moved to stand up and turn to the women, Ashley was the first one to speak with tears in her eyes. "Oh my god, she's so beautiful."
Grissom smiled with a nod. "Yes, she is, gets that all from her mother."
They all smiled with nods of agreement before
Jo gets out her camera. "Ok, before we hog all the time with her, let's get a picture of the family, shall we?"
Grissom looked at Sara, and she nodded with a smile, so he moved to sit on the bed next to her, giving baby Belle to Sara, and once they were fully settled, he spoke to her. "Alright Jo, let's have it."
Jo nodded with a smile. "Ok, smile on three."
After Jo counted down, she took the picture, then Ashely walked up to the bed and Grissom handed his daughter off to her.
Once Ashely was away from the bed and more in the middle of the room so the other girls could get a good look at the new beauty, Grissom wrapped his arm around Sara and kissed her temple before asking softly. "You good?"
Sara nodded with a smile and tears in her eyes as she watched her best friends with the new love of her life while she was wrapped in the arms of her always love of her life.
"I'm better than good. I have my little girl, my other girls, who was there for me from the start, and I'm with the man I love, how can that not make me be good?"
He smiled against her temple. "I would say completely fantastic then."
She pulls back so they could look into each other's eyes, and she whispered. "I love you, and thank you for being here for me."
He nodded with a smile, tears in his eyes. "And I always will be, I'm only a phone call away. I love you too, and this is possibly the best day of my life, the only day to rival it is the night I met you."
"Mine too."
They looked at one another as they leaned toward the other to share a sweet kiss, then after they pulled back, they continued to watch the girls get acquainted with their beautiful little one.
End of Flashback
Grissom smiled as he came back to the present, then he sighed as he placed the picture in the box, and after closing it, he picked it up and headed for the door to the office that was now empty except for the desk and the chairs, and headed towards the entrance of the building, but he did stop to peak in the break room, where the team was working on their reports.
Now Grissom didn't want a goodbye party, but they weren't going to let him leave the lab without some type of 'last gathering', so last weekend they had a 'packing' party at his townhouse where they helped him pack up the items he was going to take with him, while other stuff he was just going to donate.
So, while standing in the doorway, he silently said his goodbyes to the team before he walked away, making one more stop at the receptionist to turn in his badge, then walked out of the building for the last time, at least as an employee.
He took a few steps outside before he stopped and smiled, seeing his girls standing next to his vehicle.
"Hi."
Sara nodded her 'hi' as Belle started rushing to him.
"Hi, daddy."
Grissom kneels down and puts his box down so he could wrap his arms around his daughter. "Hi butterfly."
While in his embrace, she asked. "Can we go home now?"
They chuckled as Grissom pulled back, then he smiled while cupping her cheek. "Just about, we have to go to the townhouse, load up my vehicle, then we can go home "
She then asked in a hopeful tone. "And you're never leaving again?"
Grissom ran his thumb up and down her cheek. "Outside of temporary teaching opportunities, no I'm never leaving again, and sometimes I might even take you and mommy with me, providing work/school will allow it. How is that."
Belle nodded with a smile as she wrapped her arms around her father again. "That sounds amazing."
Sara, who was now closer to them, replied. "Yes it does."
A moment later, Grissom stood up and cupped Sara's cheek as he replied softly. "It sure does. Are you ready?"
Sara nodded with tears in her eyes. "Yes."
She was so ready to spend the rest of her life with this man, not caring at the moment if they were married or not. She's been waiting for this moment for six years, it almost felt like her life was now just starting.
"Are you?"
He nodded with tears in his eyes. "More than ready."
"Then let's get out of here."
"Yeah, in a second, there is something I always wanted to do."
She looked at him with curiosity until she felt him bringing her close to him and kissed her right there in front of anybody who could see, and while it surprised her at first since he wasn't known to be a kisser in public, except for a few occasions, she didn't hold back.
A moment later their moment was interrupted when they heard cheering coming from the entrance of the building, so they pulled back and saw the nightshift team clapping with smiles.
Grissom nods with a smile, they nodded and waved in return while Catherine wiped a few tears off her cheeks, then Grissom turned around and was about to pick up the box he had set down, but Belle had it with a smile since it wasn't that heavy.
"I got it daddy."
"You sure?"
After she nodded, her father nodded in return and wrapped his arm around Sara's shoulders before the three of them headed to his vehicle so they could leave and head to the townhouse, both very ready for the next phase of their lives together.
Flashback
September 16, 1998
"Happy Birthday, mommy."
Sara, Grissom and Belle just had dinner and dessert for Sara's birthday.
Sara smiled brightly. "Thank you sweetheart."
The little girl nodded with a smile before she looked at her father. "Can you come play with me daddy?"
Grissom nodded with a smile. "Yes, I'll be there in a moment."
"Ok."
After Belle got out of her seat, she ran to her room, and Sara spoke as she stood up with some empty dishes.
"You should go spend time with our daughter. She really missed you this time. I got the dishes."
Always wanted to be helpful, especially for making up the time he's not here.
He asked. "You sure you don't need my help?"
She gives him a loving smile and kiss on the cheek. "I'm good. Go."
He nodded as he stood up then he headed for his daughter's room, where he played with her until bedtime, then read to her until she fell asleep.
He closed the book and watched his little girl with a sigh, she was growing up before his eyes.
It felt like one minute she was small enough to fit in his arms and the next she's walking, talking and going to school. He was missing so much of her life and it was breaking his heart.
He mentally shook his head, not wanting to dwell on this right now. He was only here for three days and he wanted to spend it with his two girls without all of this sadness.
After Grissom placed the book on her nightstand, he gets off the chair and learns down to kiss her temple before whispering. "I love you butterfly, always and forever."
Once he covered her up, he turned and walked out of the room before he started searching for Sara, which her apartment wasn't that big so it didn't take very long, or her location where he found her wasn't that surprising since her favorite spot was the window seat in the living room.
He stopped in the doorway of the living room just watching the woman he loved more than anything, the woman who changed his life in the best possible way, in a way he never imagined.
Feeling a presence close by, Sara turned her head and smiled. "Hi."
He smiled in return as he headed in her direction. "Hi."
When he stopped next to her, he cupped her cheek and asked softly. "Did you have a good birthday?"
She looked up at him, her smile a little brighter. "I was with the man I love, our daughter, and I got to spend time with my girls (Friends) earlier today, so yes, I would say I had a very good birthday."
He cleared his throat before asking. "So, is there anyway I could make it an even better birthday?"
She knew what he was talking about, and as much as she enjoys that part of their relationship, she just wanted one thing at the moment, so she stood up, slipping her fingers through his and whispered. "Can you just hold me right now?"
He cupped her cheek with a smile and love in his eyes as he replied. "Always." Then he asked with a slight concern. "But is everything ok?"
"Yeah, I just want to be held by you, this last between visit was hard on us both."
He knows that feeling because it's been getting to him as well.
He mentally shook his head, squeezed her hand before leading her to her bedroom, where they crawled into bed and she laid on his chest while he ran his hand up and down her arm.
After a few minutes of silence, he spoke. "I do have some interesting/good news."
Being surrounded by his warmth, she had her eyes closed as she asked. "Yeah, what's that?"
"I got a call to do a seminar for five days."
"Oh really, teaching is something you've been interested in for a while. So, when is this happening?"
"Next month."
Now she was truly happy for this opportunity for him, but that would mean the teaching job would more than likely take the place of him seeing them for that month, and that does make her sad because that would mean it might be two months before they saw him again.
So, trying to not sound disappointed, she asked. "I'm assuming you took it?"
He nodded with a beaming smile as he replied in a whisper. "And you want to know why I took it? Knowing that it could change my plans for coming to see you and Belle for next month?"
She cleared her throat before asking. "Why?"
"It will be here, in San Francisco."
Her eyes get wide as she leaned back so she could look into his eyes. "What! For real?"
He nodded with another smile. "For real." Then he continues with love in his eyes as he cupped her cheek. "Do you really think I would accept a job opportunity when I know it could take away our time together. Our time together is really precious to me, you know."
She nodded, feeling the sincerity in his voice and eyes, so it was making her a little more emotional. "I know it is, it is for me too. I just don't want you to feel held back if another opportunity shows up and it doesn't work in our favor."
"If and when that happens, I say we cross that bridge when we get there, but this time it is in our favor, and the seminar is for five days, so I was thinking that Friday after the seminar we can go to my mom's and spend the day/night with her, if you don't mind?"
Sara shook her head with a smile. "Not at all." She then placed her hand on his. "I love you, I love you so much."
He smiled brightly. "I love you too, always."
They lean towards one another and started kissing, but before it got too passionate, she pulled back and spoke with passion in her voice. "You still up to making it an even better birthday than it already has been."
He smiled as he moved them so she was now laying on her back and he was above her, then replied with passion in his eyes. "Your wish is my command, dear."
They kissed again for several minutes before they took things further, sharing the passionate love they have for one, that they've had since the night they met on this day six years ago, the night that changed everything.
End of Flashback
AN: Thanks for reading, and please review. Sorry for the delay. I would also like to mention that my updates will be a little slower now, but rest assured, I will get this story completed. You all have a good week/weekend, and until next time, GSR4ever!
