AN: Thanks for the reviews, here is the next chapter. Warning: Implied/Suggestive adult behavior and a few questionable words.

Chapter 38: Boy or Girl?

Late October

Sara and Grissom were sitting in one of the rooms at the doctor's office waiting for her doctor to walk in and start the check-up.
But this wasn't just any old routine check-up, this one was more special, it was going to be the one, if their little one wasn't shy that is, to see if they were having a boy or girl, and both parents were very excited to know what they were having, so when the doctor did come in the room and when it came to that time when she asked with a smile if they wanted to know the sex of their baby, neither one hesitated and said it at the same time.

"Yes, please."

She chuckled with a nod. "Eager little beavers I see." As they smiled shyly, she asked with curiosity. "Is there a preference?"

Grissom spoke first as Sara's doctor was setting up. "I just want him or her happy and heal..."

Sara cuts her husband off with a dreamy look. "I want all that too, but I'm hoping for a boy this time." She had eye contact with her husband with teary eyes. "I want to give my husband a son." He smiled as he took her hand while she continued looking at her doctor. "Of course, I'm going to love him or her no matter what, but I really do hope it's a boy this time around."

The doctor nodded her head in understanding with a smile as she continued her exam to see if she could tell them on this appointment if they were having a boy or a girl.

Later that evening, Grissom was in their home office, 'talking' to his mother while Sara was on speaker phone with Jo as Nick, Brad, Ashley, Quinn and Belle were in the living room with Sara.

Sara was talking about the appointment itself, delaying what they all wanted to hear, even though they were happy everything was progressing the way it should before Jo spoke, interrupting her. "Come on girl, so what is it, a boy or girl?"

They all chuckled and Sara nodded with a smile before she spoke while looking at Belle. "Ok, Ok, we are having." Sara paused for a second while Brad was doing a drumroll on his thighs with his hands, then Sara finally said it with a beaming smile. "A boy! We are having a boy!"

Everyone cheered and Belle gasped. "A brother, mommy."

Sara handed the phone to Ashley as Sara nodded with a smile while holding out her arms for her little girl. "Yes, a baby brother, sweetheart." Belle gave her a hug and Sara continued. "I hope that's ok."

Belle pulled back with a smile. "Yeah, I'm getting kind of use to boys anyways."

Ever since meeting Curtis he's been a part of her group, along with another other boy who had taken a liking to Curtis and wanted to be his friend, even though he had to be around girls most of the time because that's who Curtis wanted to hang out with.

Sara chuckled with a nod and gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, honey."

"Love you too, mommy."

After they pull back completely, the rest of Sara's friends were giving her hugs and kisses on her cheek, then a moment later, Grissom walks into the room with a smirk, knowing full well what the excitement was about. "What's going on here, what is all the fuss about?"

Belle ran to her father with a smile on her face. "Daddy, Mommy is having a boy!"

Grissom smiled wider as he picked up his daughter, savoring every second of doing that because he knows soon it won't be possible, then gave her a hug and replied. "I know, and are you ok with that?"

"Like I told mommy, I'm use to them anyways, so yeah, it's ok."

Grissom smiled again and kissed her cheek. "I love you so much, butterfly."

"I love you too, daddy."

He places her back down on the floor as the group walked over to him to give hugs and handshakes, everyone happy with the news.

Eventually the group left, Belle was in her room sleeping while Sara and Grissom were upstairs getting ready for bed, and once Grissom, wearing only his boxers, was in bed, he was sitting up with a sigh. "A boy, can you believe it?"

Sara, who was in one of his old shirts and panties, walked out of the bathroom and shut the light out with a smile while looking at her husband. "That's what I've been wishing for." She then continued while walking to his side of the bed. "Don't get me wrong, I love our daughter to the moon and back. But ever since I found out I was pregnant, I kept having visions of a son."

He takes her hand and helps her up so she was sitting at his waist facing him before he raised an eyebrow and asked. "Oh, and why's that?"

She smiled wider as she cupped his cheek. "So, he can look just like his daddy. I could look at that face all day."

He smirked shyly. "Then you wouldn't get any work done."

She chuckled. "Maybe not, but it would be so worth it."

He shook his head with a smile as her smile was still on her face, then he sighed in content just looking at all of her, before he spoke softly, lovingly. "You are so beautiful."

Sara shook her head, looking down as she whispered shyly. "Griss…."

He cuts her off as he cupped her cheek with one hand while placing the other one under the shirt she was wearing so he could touch her stomach. "You are, and you're only getting more beautiful each day. I can't believe how lucky I got. I'm so proud of you."

Still looking shy, she replied softly. "I'm only doing what most women have done since the dawn of time."

With his eyes bright, he replied. "Yeah, but you're the only one carrying my baby."

She chuckled but looked at him seriously. "Oh, I better be mister."

He smiled as he moved forward while running his thumb up and down her cheek, looking at her with love and desire in his eyes. "Believe me, only ever you, honey."

A second later his lips touched hers, and quickly, especially as of late, things took a very passionate turn, and when they pulled back a few moments later, the want, need and desire was in their eyes and they knew what was coming next and didn't hold back for second, in fact they didn't even move from the position they were in, building themselves up until they couldn't take it anymore.

They place their foreheads together while trying to calm themselves down, then Sara takes a deep breath before chuckling. "Damn Griss, how does it still feel like this between us?"

He moves his head down and turns it so he could give her neck a little peck, then he pulls back and smirk a little. "I think your pregnancy has something to do with that."

She chuckled again as she cupped his cheek. "Maybe, but I also believe it's more than that, yeah we've only been married for months, but we've been in a relationship for nine years and I still can't get enough of you."

He smiled. "And like I said earlier, I got lucky."

She smirked as she moved his face close to hers. "You sure did."

He chuckled this time. "Honey, I don't…"

She cuts him off with a loving smile. "I know how you meant that, babe." They kiss softly this time before she whispered while their foreheads were placed against one another again. "I don't want this feeling to ever end, whether I'm pregnant or not."

He pulls back and he cups her cheek with a loving smile of his own. "Then we don't let it, we take time for ourselves and work on us as husband and wife, no matter how big our family is going to get."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "Bigger family? As in more little ones?"

He chuckled again. "Well, let's deal with this one first, then if/when the time is right, we can…"

She cuts him off with a bright smile. "Yes, I do want more."

He almost had tears in his eyes as he asked. "Really?"

She ran a thumb up and down his cheek. "Really, babe. But you're right, let's deal with this one first, and maybe space out the ages a little."

"100% agreed."

They smiled brightly then kissed a few more times before she finally moved off of him to lay on her side so her back would be against his chest, which it was the moment after he pulled up his boxers.

He wrapped his arm around his wife and kissed her cheek before whispering. "I love you, sweet dreams, honey."

"I love you too, sweet dreams, babe."

It didn't take them long to fall asleep after that, both dreaming of this bigger family they now wished to have.

Thanksgiving, 2001

Unfortunately, it was all hands-on deck today, so any family gatherings the team had planned would have to be after shift was done. But luckily, towards the end of shift all they were doing was paperwork, so it didn't turn in a double where they might have missed their families' meals all together. Then the team got even luckier when Sara, who had actually got to work out in the field today, even though it was limited on what she could do, considering her stomach was getting rounder, was in the break room with the rest of the team and smiled. "You know what guys, get out of here. Just come in a little earlier than usual tomorrow and finish your reports then."

Latoya asked. "You sure?"

Sara nodded with a smile. "Yeah, go be with your families."

Finn and Jane were the first two to get up and say goodbye, next was Latoya, then Nick followed suit.

When it was just them in the room, Sara looked at Grissom, who was still sitting down across from her, with a raised eyebrow and smile. "That does mean you too, babe."

He shook his head with a smile. "Not without you, all major holidays are meant to be spent together, that was our rule, and for the most part we've managed to keep it intact all these years, so I think you should follow your own suggestion."

There was a slight pause, then she nodded with another smile. "Ok, let's get out of here."

Grissom nodded with his smile getting wider, then while they were both standing up, Grissom spoke. "I'll meet you in the parking lot."

Even though they both have their own vehicles.

After Sara nodded, Grissom started heading for the door, then she gasped while placing her hand on her stomach. "Oh my god."

Grissom immediately turns around and walks back towards her with concern on his face. "Honey, what is it."

Sara gets another smile on her face as she took his hand and placed it on her stomach, then a moment later she asked. "Did you feel..."

He cuts her off with a surprised look on his face. "Is that his first kick?"

Sara nodded with tears in her eyes. "That someone else could actually feel, yeah."

After a few more taps on the palm of Grissom's hand, he is chuckling. "Oh my god this is amazing."

"Yeah, it is, and it seems to be a little stronger when he hears his daddy's voice." Forgetting where they were at the moment, she cupped his cheek and just about gushed. "Aw, our baby loves his daddy's voice, like mother like son."

Grissom, also forgetting where they were at the moment, leaned forward with a smile. "That he is."

But before they could kiss, someone from swing shift came in the room, cleared his throat and said 'excuse me' before walking back out of the room.

Sara and Grissom pull back immediately, then he took his hand off her stomach, both missing the contact, before he spoke after clearing his throat. "That was a close one."

"Yeah, I'll meet you in the parking lot."

After Grissom nodded, he turned and left the room, Sara following a moment later so she could pack up and leave for the evening.

When they arrived at Ashley's and Nick's place, they noticed that Quinn's vehicle was there as well, so they had already decided that they might stay a little bit longer other than just picking up their daughter and leaving.

But what they didn't know was that when they stepped into the house, the air smelt like a Thanksgiving feast and the dining room table was set for guests, then Belle came rushing out of the kitchen and said with excitement. "Happy Thanksgiving, mommy and daddy!"

Then they saw Ashley, Nick, Quinn and Brad each carry a Thanksgiving dish to the table and Sara shook her head with a smile. "What is going on here?"

Ashley smirked. "You think we would let work screw with our Thanksgiving dinner? Hell no. I mean I know your place seems to be the main gathering spot for occasions like this, but …"

Sara cuts her friend off with tears. "No, this is amazing, thank you." She then looked at Nick with a scrutinizing look. "Did you know about this?"

But there was nothing to hide so she didn't have to scrutinize very hard when Nick nodded with a smile. "Of course. But I was told under no circumstances do I say anything, the girls wanted it to be a surprise."

Sara smiled. "Oh, I'm most definitely sur..." She stopped and gasped while placing her hand on her stomach. "Oh. Belle come here." They were looking worried at first then Sara took her daughter's hand and placed it on her stomach before asking a few seconds later. "Did you feel that?"

Belle removed her hand quickly in shock before looking up at her mother with curiosity. "What was that?"

Sara smiled again. "It's your brother kicking."

Sara's friends gasped and wanted to go feel but waited for Belle to decide if she wanted to feel again before they rushed to Sara's side, even though they knew there was chance he would stop kicking by then.

Now a little worried, Belle asked. "Does it hurt?"

Sara shook her head with another smile. "No, do you want to feel again?"

Belle held out her hand with a nod. "Ok." Sara placed her daughter's hand back on her stomach, and after a few taps, Belle removed her hand again, slowly this time, and chuckled. "It feels weird."

"I'm sure it does. It's just your brother being active right now."

Belle nodded then moved out of the way so Ashley and Quinn could have a feel, which they did get their chance but not so much the guys, and they didn't get a chance through the whole time they were there.

After dinner was done, they thanked them before the Grissom family left and headed home, and once they got home, while Belle and Sara were getting ready for bed, Grissom 'called' his mom so he could see how her holiday went.

When he was done, he disconnected with the relay service and left the home office, made sure the house was all locked up and the alarm set before he headed upstairs.

Once he made it into the master bedroom, Sara, who was sitting up reading a book, asked with a smile when she saw him walk in the room. "How's mom? Did she have a good holiday?"

Grissom nodded with a smile while he headed for the dresser to get his sleeping boxers. "Yeah, she accepted Jo's offer of her coming over to her house for Thanksgiving dinner, which Mike and MJ were both there, so she got to spend time with them as well, and while she said it wasn't our family, it was nice spending time with family. That was really nice of Jo to do that for my mom, knowing she'll miss us."

Sara nodded with a smile. "That's Jo for you, she just wants everyone that's in her circle to feel included, especially during the holidays." Sara then chuckled while Grissom slipped on his boxers and headed for the bed. "I remember the first holiday that came around when I was at Harvard. She found out I wasn't planning on going anywhere because really I had nowhere else to go, so she grabbed my bag and started packing it for me, insisting that I go with her, which she wouldn't leave until I did, so not wanting her to miss time with her family, I agreed to go."

He the smirked. "And I bet you had a great time."

Sara nodded with tears in her eyes. "I did, from the moment I walked into her parents' house, I was treated like family, I didn't feel like an outsider one bit. Those four years were some of the best years of my life, both during school and breaks."

He smiled with pride. "I'm glad you had that, a glimpse on what a true, loving family is."

"Me too, I'm just sorry that after I moved out here, and life got a little crazier for me, there were less gatherings with them, especially when Evelyn was still alive. But I still cherish every moment I had with them." After he nodded with another smile, Sara cleared her throat before changing the subject. "So, have you thought about that offer?"

Grissom was invited to do a three-day seminar at UCLA the second week of December, and if he decided to do it this would be the first long distance seminar he's done since he's moved here, all the others, which actually weren't very many, were local or a few hours away so he could still have the option of coming home during the evening and go back if there was any more days he had to conduct it.

He took a breath and shook his head. "I don't know."

Sara took his hand with a smile. "Come on Griss, I know we joke about not able to be away from one another for more than 24 hours, but this is a huge career opportunity for you, especially if teaching is something you're really serious about in the future. And I mean this is UCLA, your alma mater, and didn't the dean personally select you out of 14 other entomologists who do what you do, meaning you are his top choice, that's pretty amazing."

"It is, I'm not going to lie, and it's very flattering that I was chosen above any other top entomologists out there, and you're right, this is a huge career opportunity for my future if I go into teaching..."

She cuts him off. "Please, don't say 'but'."

Grissom then raised an eyebrow. "You really want me to go?"

"Yes, not that I won't miss you like crazy, I'm not saying that. But you have to have a better reason then missing me to turn this down." She then cupped her husband's cheek. "Plus, I saw your face when you got that letter, that was pure excitement. Deep down you want to do to this, and I know if I wasn't in the picture, you would have accepted in a heartbeat. So go, enjoy a nice little break from here, go visit your mom, have fun." She then smirked. "Well, hopefully not too much fun without me."

He shook his head with a chuckle. "Never going to happen."

They kiss softly then she looked at him with a hopeful look. "So?"

He took a breath before he nodded with a smile. "Ok, I'll go."

"Yeah!"

He raised an eyebrow again. "Should I be worried that you're happy you want me to go."

"I'm happy that you're doing something that will make you happy, which I know you missing us won't make you happy, but it's the reason you are away that will."

He took her hand and spoke softly. "And you know there was a huge reason why I haven't done many seminars, or why I've chosen ones that were more local."

"I know, after years of being apart, then finally living in the same place you didn't want to turn around and leave again for seminars, and I get that, I just don't want you to hold yourself back because of us, I always want you to do whatever makes you happy, that will never change."

"I've been doing that since I moved here, yeah I think about the future, and I can still see myself teaching one day, I'm not going to lie about that. But I still love being a CSI, and I'm not seeing myself walking away from that anytime soon."

"I don't either, but it doesn't hurt to start on your fallback plan for when you are ready."

He kissed her knuckles with a nod before pulling back and speaking again. "You're right, it doesn't, so I'll make the call on Monday and tell him I accept." She nodded with a smile, then after another kiss, he spoke again. "Thank you."

"I didn't do..."

He cuts her off. "You're supporting me, that means everything." He then smirked. "Even though we both know being apart, no matter how long it is, will drive us a little crazy."

She cupped his cheek again. "Then just means we have something to look forward to for when you get back." She then whispered as she moved closer to him. "And to make every moment before you leave, count."

When their lips touched, the pending distance was gone from their minds, and like Sara said, they made this moment, and many more before he left, count.

New Years, 2001

It was 20 minutes before the ball was going to drop to ring in the new year, and instead of being downstairs with their family/friends, Sara and Grissom were in their master bedroom, Grissom was standing in front of the window while Sara was standing behind him, pleading with him on why he's been so distant the last two weeks since he's been back from his seminar, the most distance in every way she's ever felt between them since they've been together.

"Griss, please tell me what's wrong? Did I do something?" Grissom shook his head, still not facing her with his eyes closed and tears almost in his eyes, hearing her sad tone. "Then, did you...I mean, I don't want to go there, but..."

He cuts her off immediately as he turned around. "Absolutely not! I could never...would never do that to you, to our family, you guys mean everything to me. I wouldn't risk something so important to me with something that would be meaningless, no matter how lonely I ever felt."

With tears in her eyes, she took a step to him and cupped his cheek. "Then what is it, what's keeping you away from me? What's scaring you?" He closed his eyes again, then when he opened them up a tear slipped out of the corner of it, letting her see all the emotions he kept hidden from her the past two weeks, and she continued, knowing it had to be something big if he was this emotional, while running her thumb up and down his cheek. "Oh babe, what is it?"

AN: Thanks for reading, please review. Find out what's wrong next chapter. I hope you are all having a safe/wonderful weekend. Until next time, always remember, GSR4ever!