A/N: Catherine's Chapter! Enjoy!
Out There Part Two
Chapter 4
"Sara, what happened to you?" Catherine asked as she moved forward, keeping her eyes on Sara who was in the middle of arranging bowls and plates on the table.
Later, Greg would insist one long minute passed before Catherine spoke; Jim said it was thirty seconds of total silence before Greg nearly choked as he swallowed a laugh.
Sara stepped away from the table and faced Catherine. A smile spread across her face as her hand flattened across her belly and said, "I'm learning to bake!"
Jim and Greg started laughing, not polite little chuckles but an explosion of laughter and snorts that caused both men to grab the table to remain upright. Grissom, standing behind Catherine, managed to suppress his laugh and give Sara a 'thumbs up' signal.
"Are you pregnant?" Catherine's face flashed several expressions from one of incredible uncertainty to astonishing surprise to amazement as Sara nodded her head. Catherine whispered, "Pregnant…" as she stretched her arms toward Sara. "When? How far along? Oh, my! You two have been busy!" She wrapped her arms around Sara, turned her face toward Grissom, laughing as she said, "After all this time! I'd given up on you ever being parents."
Continuing to laugh, Greg and Jim glanced at each other, waiting for another announcement.
Sliding his hands in his pockets, Grissom smiled, rocked back on his heels, almost puffing out his chest, and said, "We're having two, Catherine—a boy and a girl!"
Catherine stepped back, mouth open in astonishment as she grappled with what she'd heard. "Twins? Twins?" Her head snapped back and forth between Sara and Grissom, both nodding their heads. "Twins!" A moment passed before she said, "When? You will live here? Here in Vegas? Sara, how are you doing? You look great." Hugging Sara again, she continued, "Due date? With twins—don't you deliver earlier? Twins! Well, you got in a hurry, I'll say that!" She took a quick breathe. "You left in October—so—now," her forehead puckered for a few seconds. "How far along are you?"
"Five months," Grissom said, walking around Catherine to Sara where he put her in a two-arm hug. He made a teasing grin, saying, "She got pregnant on the deck of the Ishmael a week after she joined me." His voice changed to a loud whisper edged with laughter. "Sex was great—under a beautiful sky—we couldn't keep our hands off each other."
Sara poked him in his ribs, a rosy blush forming across her face.
Greg and Jim had turned to look out the window, both shaking with laughter.
Grissom continued, "I was loaded—had not had sex in—in a long while. And Sara—well, you can imagine. She was beautiful—sexy—I'd say it was the best sex we've ever had—my backside was blistered for days—we've always had great sex—if I remember correctly, we were so busy we forgot to eat."
He waved at the food on the table, saying, "And now all this food is getting cold! Let's eat."
"Dear God, Gil, that's the most I've ever heard you say about sex in all the years I've known you!" Catherine said as she turned and hugged Sara again. "I want all the answers, Sara! We've got plans to make—twins!" She shook her head, her long hair sweeping around her shoulders.
Greg and Jim managed to stifle their laughter as Jim moved a chair for Catherine.
Once seated, Catherine pointed at the two men. "You two knew this! And kept it secret!" She turned to Grissom, saying, "You set me up—and I already knew you and Sara had great sex!" She reached for a container of rice. "Pass the sweet and sour, will you?"
While the others ate, Catherine continued with a barrage of questions, seldom pausing for an answer. Finally, Sara held up her hand, palm toward Catherine.
"Take a minute to eat, Catherine. Here's the story—and you can forget what he said," she pointed at Grissom. "Yes, we have great sex and—surprise—I got pregnant but I thought I was seasick. We had gone through a rough patch before getting to Hawaii but everyone recovered and I was still sick." Sara shrugged and grinned. "One of the nurses got us an appointment in Hilo and—that's where we learned we'd have twins. And that's most of the story."
As usual, Catherine immediately picked up her questions. "Do you have a doctor here? When's your appointment?" She let her eyes move around the dining room. "There is a lot to do—of course, I'm here—ready to help! They can share a room for a while—and so many new gadgets and beds—I heard about a baby bed that moves—rocks the baby to sleep. Wish I'd had one with Lindsay—she would never sleep except while riding in the car! All I remember is sleepless nights and driving around Vegas trying to get her to sleep!"
Again, Sara held up her hand. "We're moving—Gil's mom had a house in LA that we like and we'll probably live there—at least for a while." She made a smile that caused all three men to fall in love again. "We love working on the ocean—there is so much to do and we hope we can make a small difference."
Obviously bothered by what Sara said, Catherine stared for a full minute before saying, "You are having twins—two babies! What do you think you'll do? Be CSI's of the ocean with each of you carrying a baby in a backpack? Babies need things—baby beds, rocking chairs, strollers, carriers, car seats—all kinds of things! And—and—I hate to bring this up—but you never know about babies. They are fine and healthy at bedtime and in the middle of the night—suddenly, a high fever or—or something else."
When Grissom cleared his throat, everyone turned to look at him. "Please pass the noodles and spring rolls." As the food was handed to him, Grissom said, "We've got a lot of decisions in front of us—Sara decided where we would live and, as much as we love all of you, both of us have found we love the ocean and any work we can do, we believe it will help the future of—of the world." Ignoring Catherine's questions and looking at Sara, he continued, "We have an appointment with Sara's physician here—she's known her for years—and we've got a new one in LA that specializes in," he grinned. "In pregnant women of a certain age."
"He means geriatric pregnancy," Sara said with a laugh. Turning to Catherine she added, "I have an entire folder on my laptop for all the tests results and scans—I'll show you when we've finished eating. It is amazing what's done now—genetic testing as early as ten weeks for—for nearly eighty conditions." She took a bite of spring roll, closing her eyes as she tasted it. "This is as delicious as I remember."
Jim Brass had been around long enough to know when a change of topic was needed. He said, "I want to hear about Hawaii—and living on a boat. Maybe I'll try that when I retire." "
Very quickly, Grissom quietly laughed and lifted his beer in a toast. "It's always good to enjoy good friends." Then he launched into a short monologue about the research ship, the whale project, some of the people on the ship.
"It was great," said Sara. "The cabin was original to the ship with these amazing panoramic windows—didn't have to cook and we got involved in a murder—two murders—which," she glanced at Grissom. He made a slight nod. "Has a connection to Vegas." At that, she had everyone's attention and went into details of finding the barrels and then discovering the bodies of two men.
Between them, they recalled most of the details, describing the smell of decomp, the dead dog, and by accident, finding the woman who killed both men. "And," Sara changed the tone of her voice to be overly dramatic, "Her name is Pauline Phillips—she's living in Vegas now. With her daughter."
Brass and Catherine responded with disbelief; one exclaimed "What?" and the other said "Here?"
Greg remained quiet. Sara had already asked him to check on the woman without much of an explanation. While she had been telling the story, he'd worked out who Pauline Phillips was.
"She has terminal cancer," said Sara. "The attorney, police, judge decided nothing would be served by putting her in prison for the short time she has left."
"Okay," Jim said, "Why did she kill them? Got to be a good reason."
Grissom and Sara exchanged glances, thinking the same thing. He said, "Not a word of this leaves the house—she killed the abusers of her granddaughter. Caught one of them in the act. And she knew people who helped her dispose of their bodies. The abuser served a very short sentence—and the grandmother decided to—not sure she made a conscious decision—but took matters into her own hands."
This time it was all three of their visitors who stared, silently, mouths open.
Sara said, "Her daughter and family had moved here a while back—and it seems to have worked out for her to move here."
"You've been in contact?" asked Catherine.
"No, no," Sara said, shaking her head. "I—I heard the move was good for everyone."
By the time the meal was finished, conversations had drifted in multiple directions and after clearing the table, Brass and Grissom moved to the covered porch along the back of the house talking about baseball.
Greg stayed with Sara and Catherine as Sara pulled out her laptop and showed scans and answered Catherine's questions until Catherine was relented, satisfied, or gave up. Then she asked questions about Betty's house in Los Angeles.
"Where is this house? Good neighborhood? I knew—I think Grissom said his mother had owned an art gallery in LA. Is that the house? Is it big enough—oh, Sara—do you know what having two babies means? I—I nearly went crazy when Lindsay was a baby. Of course, her father was no help—but there were times I seriously thought about running away!"
The only photo Sara had of the house was one she'd taken of Grissom on a footbridge with the house in the blurred background. Showing it to Catherine, Sara said, "It's a nice house, not far from where the boat is docked. We could never afford it now but Betty purchased the gallery and two houses back when the area was nearly demolished—years ago."
As Catherine squinted to look at the photo, Greg held his phone out, saying, "Google view—this looks like a great place! A short walk to the beach—a canal right in front of the place. How many rooms do you have?"
As Sara described the house, Grissom and Brass walked back into the dining room talking about a couple of baseball players who had recently changed teams.
Catherine stood, saying, "I hate to break up this party, but I do need to get to work—same as the supervisor I worked with—always something." She hugged Grissom then turned to Sara and hugged her. "I'm here—anything you need, tell me." Smiling gleefully, she said, "The combination of Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle should prove very interesting! What do you think, guys?"
Greg hugged Sara, whispered, "You are going to be a great mom, Sara."
Jim laughed, slapped Grissom on the back and said, "Very interesting bunch of DNA mixing up—I may have to retire to be a part of all this excitement."
The three friends left with laughter and promises on their lips as Sara and Grissom waved, giving similar assurances. Grissom's hand went to Sara's back, sliding to her shoulder, pulling her close.
"We're going to be fine, Sara."
Sara nodded, agreeing with a quiet laugh. "We will be—probably exhausted for fifteen or twenty years."
"Where's your list? What do we do next?"
They turned to enter the house with Sara saying, "This house—sell or rent—we need to decide. And what we'll do with all the stuff in here."
Grissom sighed, saying, "I'm exhausted now and we've had three adults visit for a few hours." He kissed his wife, laughed as he said, "I need a nap."
Sara patted his butt, laughing as she said, "No nap for you—if you go near a bed, I'll be ready for sex in eight seconds!"
Inside the foyer, they hugged, Sara's hands cupping his bottom as they kissed.
Meanwhile, Greg had backed from the driveway, headed in the wrong direction, and had to make a three-point turn when he realized his mistake. As they drove by the house, Catherine looked at the house and said:
"Look at that! They didn't even close the door before jumping each other! Good grief—the woman is preggers—can't he keep it in his pants for a while? I don't know how those two managed to work together and keep their hands off each other! And when did they get together? Or were they together when Sara moved to Vegas? Have either of you ever had an answer to that question? I know they were together for a lot longer than we knew."
When he heard Jim Brass chuckle, Greg grinned and kept his eyes on the street. Catherine kept talking as he made a left turn and headed to the lab.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! We'd love to hear from readers-and thank you for keeping GSR alive in fanfiction!