A/N: Sorry for the delay-real life gets in the way!

Out There Part Two

Chapter 12

August-October 2021

The previous evening had been long and late; enjoyable, a dream of an evening. Grissom and Sara had been very late to bed. Nick Stokes had brought his latest lady-friend to dinner which they had eaten outside and as the night had gotten cooler, the kids had taken over entertaining until the five year olds were passed out across their parents' laps.

Then the four adults had talked, laughed, and stared at the amazing sky for another hour. After Nick and Emma left, the twins had been put to bed, Sara and Grissom returned to the deck, drank more wine, breathed in the fresh, salty air, and finally gotten to bed around three.

Yet Sara woke, felt rested at eight the next morning and managed to untangle from sheets and three warm bodies in the bed. She smiled as she noticed cookie crumbs on Elizabeth's face and tucked the sheet around the bare legs of her son. She had not woken when they had crawled into bed with them; from the looks of her husband, he'd slept as soundly as she had.

She walked outside, retrieved the local paper in the driveway, made coffee and toast before settling into a chair to look at local headlines in the newspaper. A few minutes later, she turned to her phone for messages and more headlines on the state of the world. After replying to several messages, she knew she'd need to take care of a few things at the oceanography lab before the end of the day but for a few minutes, she remained quiet, sipping coffee, thinking about life.

Months before, they had finally returned to LA and their home and the continuing reality of a worldwide pandemic. Even though the worst had passed, there were new variants of the virus and promising vaccines and treatments. It was a different way of life for her family after leaving the remote island in the Pacific Ocean.

Soon after their return, they faced a couple of unexpected decisions—an offer made on their house that was beyond their wildest dreams and an extensive grant for ongoing research based at one of the premier institutes in the world. One situation seemed to fold into the other—find a home near the research institute which is how the Grissom family had ended up living a few miles from their old friend Nick Stokes.

Sara made a circle around the kitchen and dining room, into the space they used as a home office; stopping to let her fingers play on a colorful stack of school supplies. Kindergarten would begin soon for Anthony and Elizabeth; Sara was proud beyond words of her children and their excitement for 'real school' had brought on a whirlwind of good-natured competitive readiness.

Moving to Grissom's workspace, she noticed the stack of papers related to the boat. A growing stack, she thought. His dear boat had been moored, berthed, in a Peruvian port for fifteen months. And the boat had problems—engine had been repaired but there remained some deterioration of the hull—and Grissom was on the phone at least once a week. He wanted—and needed—an on-site visit but a pandemic and life had stalled any work in progress.

Sighing, she continued her slow stroll around the room, stopping at her desk to pick up a drawing placed prominently in its center. The colored pencil drawing was of a dog which was the current priority of her son, Anthony. Softly, she laughed. Printed across the bottom of the drawing was "Scruffy"—the current name for the future dog.

At that moment, her husband appeared at the door. "There you are," he said as he walked to her. "You found the newest version, I see." His arms wrapped around Sara and he kissed her neck before reaching for her coffee cup. "I'll refill this—have you had breakfast?"

"Good morning, dear—yes, toast—I can eat another piece." She turned and kissed him. "It's a beautiful morning."

And life went on in predictable ways with few surprises as research work continued for the parents and school started for the kids. In a few weeks, a schedule had been established for uniforms, book bags, drop-off and pick-up and regular bedtimes. It had not been easy in a textbook method but things were falling into place for a different phase for the family.

For the first time in their short lives, Anthony and Elizabeth were introduced to the much-discussed fall break. Having no real idea of what it meant, they made daily reports to their parents about what other children were saying and planning.

"Jessie says he is going to Disneyland during fall break," Anthony announced one morning at breakfast.

Toast stopped in mid-air, halfway to his dad's mouth which hung open for a moment. "Is that so?" Toast made it to Grissom's mouth.

The little boy's head nodded, his curls bouncing as his bright blue eyes met his father's. "I told him we might go or we might not—but we could go if we wanted to."

Behind him, Sara's eyes stretched wide with humor as she pulled a face before she sat beside her son. "You know, Anthony, we wouldn't want to go to Disneyland without Dad and he's going to find some jellyfish for our research. Maybe he'll get back in time for all of us to go to Disneyland." It was the closest she'd ever come to making a promise to her children—a promise she hoped to postpone for a while.

A week later, Sara and the twins watched as a plane lifted into the air, made a long curve into the clear blue sky, and headed south.

"Wish we could go with Dad," said Elizabeth, her voice wavered with emotion. "He won't know what to do without us."

Sara hugged her daughter, saying, "He's gone for a few days and we're having dinner with Nick tonight—pizza!"

The invitation to Nick's wiped away any unhappiness and when Nick called extending an earlier time to arrive, the twins were ready with a moment's notice. Sara suspected her long-time friend had worked up a surprise; she was unprepared.

Puppies. Six of them. Six fluffy black and white puppies with bright eyes and big feet of undetermined mix with a calm mom sprawled, probably exhausted, Sara thought, on a faded quilt on Nick's deck. The puppies seemed to recognize kindred spirits in two young children who were speechless for thirty seconds before breaking into squeals of laughter when three of the puppies rushed toward them, ran in idiotic circles before running off and coming toward the kids again.

Sara was wordless as Nick picked up two small puppies and gave one to each of her children.

Picking up a third puppy, he said, "Hold them like this—they are still little baby puppies!"

Sara watched as her kids giggled and cuddled the puppies as the other three gathered around their feet scrambling for attention. Nick was explaining how he was 'puppy-sitting' for his neighbors. Sara walked over and stroked the head of the mom dog who tail thumped and wagged, pleased to be appreciated.

After dinner, as they cleaned up remnants of pizza crusts, Nick chuckled, saying, "See, I knew puppies would get their mind off Grissom being gone."

The kids had collapsed on the deck watching with amazement as the puppies nursed and grizzled, groaned and nudged into a warm pile.

Nick continued, "He told me this was the first time you two—and the kids—had been separated since—he couldn't remember but thought it was since you left Vegas."

After a moment of thinking, she said, "We have not been apart—even when I had the twins—he stayed with me." She made a soft laugh, "Isn't that amazing—after we got back together," she shrugged her shoulders. "We decided we'd had enough time apart."

"Y'all always belonged together," said Nick. Then with a laugh, added, "Grissom just didn't know it!"

Much later, after both children were asleep, Sara sat outside her home watching the same stars in the sky as her husband was seeing from a research ship in the eastern Pacific Ocean. They had talked for nearly an hour, both agreeing a black and white puppy was in their future and laughing at Nick's participation in making this happen.

The night was quiet, peaceful; for a moment, she thought of all the times in her life when she'd had the quietness but not the peace. After a while, she got ready for bed, checked on her children who continued to share a room. By morning, she knew they would be sharing her bed, snuggled up and tucked around her body.

As she settled into bed, she punched her pillow and scooted to the center of the bed. The pillow gave no semblance to the warmth of her husband but she slept quickly.

Miles away, Jim Brass held his hand above his skillet, checking the heat, before he placed his cheese sandwich into the pan. A moment later, he heard an unfamiliar noise.

A/N: We know what happens next-as we've written a fanfic about Sara and Grissom returning to Vegas with their kid that story will have to be the follow-up to this one. We close this one with this chapter-let us hear from you as your comments are often inspiration for another GSR fanfic. We are also watching the series from season one for ideas for new stories.

Thanks to all of you for staying with us, thank you for your encouragement and kind words in comments and reviews. The support of this GSR fanfic community has been loyal and faithful for many years! Again, thank you.

Peace, much love, and sunny days to all.

The End/ February 1, 2025