Grissom drove the second half of the trip, knowing the quirky neighborhood streets well enough to navigate through. He began to traverse the quiet costal village turn by turn, passing white picket fences and small cottages. Sara gazed out the window at the picturesque, serene homes. As they stoped at a stop sign, two children could be seen running through sprinklers of a corner home's front yard.
"This is the neighborhood you grew up in?" She spoke a bit absently, taking in the sights. She'd never quite imagined his childhood to take place in such a beautiful setting.
"It is. My mother still lives in the house she raised me in." He spoke as he turned another corner.
"That must be nice. To have your childhood home to go back to."
"I suppose." He paused briefly, "I was never one to get too sentimental on those things." He glanced her way, knowing full well that she had no childhood home to speak of. "I actually haven' even been upstairs to my bedroom in decades."
She just nodded silently, continuing to look out the window. Large sailboats littered the horizon to the left followed by the beach shores.
"I really can't imagine you living near a beach." She mused aloud. "Laying out in a swim suit as a kid."
"I loved living near the ocean actually. When I was young I would walk up and down the shore to find dead segues and other wild life. Then I would bring them home and perform necropsies."
Sara let out a throaty laugh, "Now that's more of an image I can obtain." She smiled widely, glancing his way as he pulled into the driveway.
"Here we are."
Sara took in the sight of the cottage fitted with it's own white picket fence and wild garden. They made their way to the front door where Grissom pressed a doorbell-like button.
"The bell creates a vibration along the floorboards, letting her know someone is at the door." He explained. Just a few moments later the door opened and Betty emerged. Her face glowed at the sight of her son as she moved to wrap him in a big hug.
"Hi, Sara." She signed once she let go of Grissom, "Please come in."
The two entered the home. Sara glanced around as he and his mother signed to each other faster than she could comprehend. She could feel her heart smile as she imagined Grissom as a young child growing up in this house. Adorned with wooden antique pieces, photographs covering every inch of a side table in the foyer. Large landscape paintings hung on the walls. She leaned in to look at the framed photos a bit better, immediately catching sight of Grissom as a young boy, holding up a fish with who she'd assumed was his father, making him about seven or eight in the picture.
Her heart skipped a beat seeing him that young, and realized she'd never seen him as a child before. In fact, the youngest photo she could recall having seen of him was perhaps from his PHD graduation.
She followed the pair through the living room, and noticed the arrangement of the sofa and television. She wondered if it was still the same as the day his father had passed. If Betty had ever redecorated.
"Sara." She was pulled out of her musings at the sound of her name to see Grissom motioning to the dining room table where Betty had set out lunch for them.
"This looks lovely, thank you." Sara spoke and signed. She watched as Betty's face lit up.
"You learned to sign?"
"Learning… I'm a work in progress." She spoke, needing Grissom to translate the last bit for her.
Betty nodded, "I want to hear all about Paris."
"It's been wonderful." Grissom began, "I understand why dad had such a passion for teaching. It's been nice to have students."
"That's wonderful. And Sara, you're still consulting?"
"Oh no, No. I'm actually in Vegas right now filling in with the team while they're short staffed."
Betty grimaced at the admission.
"It's just until they can find a suitable replacement." Grissom added, "Only a few months."
"An interesting way to start a marriage."
"Mom…"
Betty threw up her hands in a symbol of conceding the point causing Grissom to attempt to redirect their conversation. He began to tell his mother about the grant proposal they were working on, about trying to live in California moving forward. The idea of which seemed to set Betty's mood back in a positive realm.
After the meal was finished Sara helped Betty clear the table. They moved in silence except for the clanking of dishes and cutlery. And when they were finished she searched for Grissom to find that he wasn't in sight.
"Gil?" She called softly but didn't hear a response. She tentatively walked up the stairs and said his name again, "Gil?"
"In here." He spoke softly. Sara followed his voice to a room just to the left of the staircase.
She peaked in, "Hey."
"Hey." He didn't look up. Sara walked in to realize that this was his childhood bedroom and from the looks of it, it was in the same condition it must have been the day he left it. Betty obviously hadn't touched a thing. Sara looked around for a moment seeing a twin sized bed with a blue and gray comforter, a desk covered in textbooks adjacent to it. The wall were adorned with shelves that held even more books, various rocks and science projects and kits. She smiled and picked up a kid's chem set.
"Didn't you get one of these of Lindsay's birthday one year?"
He looked up now to see what she was holding and smiled, "Yeah. Nick got her the same one." He laughed softly.
Sara moved to sit on the edge of the bed next to Grissom, peering over his shoulder to see what he was reading.
"After my father died, everyone who came by to check on us would give me presents as if it would make me feel better—mostly books. This one was from his Teachers Assistant at the university. She'd come by every once in a while to check in on us, also wielding another book for me." He shrugged, "I haven't thought about this book in a long time."
Grissom closed the book and wiped off some dust from its cover to reveal an original copy of Sherlock Holmes. Sara smiled, knowing that as a young boy Grissom was infatuated with the stories.
"I like seeing all of this." She spoke softly, placing a hand on his knee, "Artifacts of your upbringing. It's like a glimpse into a world I otherwise wasn't privy to."
He nodded, "We should get back downstairs."
The trio spent the rest of the day taking a walk along the shoreline until they decided it was best to head back out. As they said their goodbyes, Sara caught Betty signing something very quickly to Grissom. Purposefully so that Sara wasn't a part of the conversation. That much wasn't lost on her.
She caught some of it though. Certain keywords were dead giveaways for the tone and the sentiment Betty was relaying to her son; marriage, together, distance, children, lonely, stubborn. And then, she saw Betty sign at her age which prompted Grissom to cut the conversation off completely.
"Not up for discussion." Was his sign back to her. "Please respect that."
Betty shook her head and touched his cheek, "Drive safely."
At first the drive back was silent except for the classical music Grissom had settled on softly playing through the speakers. Eventually, Sara pipped up.
"I'm not sure your mother ever really came around to me."
His lack of response made her squirm a bit, but eventually, after several beats he spoke, "It's not you. Really."
"Hard not to take it personally." She responded truthfully.
He glanced over at her from behind the wheel and saw the concern on and disappointment on her face.
"Maybe I just don't know how to behave with a parent, because I never really had one."
This admission broke his heart and for the first time, he realized how meaningful a real relationship with his mother would have meant for her. But he knew Betty all too well. Knew that she would never let Sara get that close. In fact, it was the very trait that he had inherited from his mother until Sara had broken down his walls. A steadfastness for independence, hyper focus and protective nature.
"She has a very narrow view of how she would like things to be. And our lifestyle go against that. It's really nothing you've done." He offered but he could tell his words were not proving the comfort that she needed.
"She wants us to have children."
He simply shrugged, "It's not her call." He glanced at her again, "Whatever happens with that… it will be because of what we want. Right?"
"Right…"
He tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel a bit, trying to ground himself. The air between them was thick with tension and he didn't care for it. Especially with such little time left together before he would fly out the next day.
"I can come back in September for your Birthday. No candles required." She smiled at his statement. He remembered the first time they celebrated her birthday together after becoming a couple. It was 2007 and he had greeters her at home afterwork with a homemade meal finished off with a small cake he baked himself. A single candle perched atop. But he had sensed the mood shift immediately when she saw it.
"What's wrong?"
"No—nothing. This was very thoughtful. Thank you."
"Sara…. You can tell me."
He remember how sad he felt when she told him why she never really celebrated her birthday. How just a month after blowing out the candles on her 13th birthday her father died. And as a child, she had attributed this to the birthday wish she had made… for the fighting to stop. As an adult, a scientist, an atheist, she knew this was not a logical thought. But the memory still prickled the hairs on the back of her neck.
He did not make that mistake twice.
"And then…" He continued, "There's a fundraiser at Gilbert College in November my Mother just asked if we could attend. So I'll come back in for that too. Though…" He paused briefly to shoot another glance her way, "Maybe we'll travel in together for that. I would hate to think you're still in Vegas then."
She nodded a bit absently, "That sounds nice."
The next day came quickly and before they knew it, Grissom was departing Vegas for Paris, alone.
Days passed, and then months. Grissom longed for Sara. He longed for her weighty presence on her side of the bed. Longed for her scent. To hear her laugh in person, not just through the phone. He looked at his phone to see he'd missed a call from her while he was asleep.
"Sorry I missed you. Call me when you wake. I love you. —SG" A text read.
He smiled at the initials she used to sign off. SG. While she'd legally kept Sidle, they often considered her surname to be Grissom socially. And when she signed off a text like this, he knew she was really missing him. His fingers quickly moved to dial her back.
"Sidle."
"You mean to answer as Grissom, no?" He spoke in loose French causing her chest to fill with warmth.
"Hello, Gilbert." Her playful voice rang through his ears.
"Good morning, Dear." For while Grissom knew it was actually night by Sara, she was likely getting up and ready for work around this time too. "You sound like you've been up for a while?"
"Just coming off a double actually."
"I should have known." He sat up a bit and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I have something to talk to you about…"
"Okay…" She replied apprehensively. Bracing herself for something she assumed she wasn't going to want to hear.
"There's a research opportunity in Peru."
"Oh!?" Her voice rang through with interest to his surprise, "Tell me."
"There's a team of consultants being assembled to help the Peruvian government explore these ancient sights. Lots of field work and excavations. There's potential for fossilized insects and carbon dating of casings which is where I fit into the puzzle."
"That sounds incredibly exciting. When do you go?"
"Well…" He paused briefly, "I uh, I haven't accepted yet. I wanted to check with you first."
This earned him a sidle-famous smile, thought he wasn't privy to see it.
"As long as it doesn't interfere with the potential for our grant. You should do it."
"Yeah?"
"Of course."
"Would you come with me?"
"It sounds incredible but—" He could hear some commotion going on in the background and realized that she was still in the lab. Was that Ecklie's furry he was hearing in the background?
"I'm sorry Gil, I've got to go. We'll discuss this more later?"
"Okay, dear. Bye."
"Bye, Gil."
The silence on the other end of the line became deafening. He closed is phone and replaced it on the nightstand before standing and stretching the day hello.