A/N: Two or three more posts to finish this one by tomorrow! Thanks for reading.
Grissom had been truthful; he had ordered only desserts?two different cakes, a slice of apple pie, fruit and whipped cream, cheesecake with blueberries, and chocolate sauce as thick as pudding. He watched as she dipped a finger in cream, then chocolate. By then she was back in bed wearing his shirt, her hair curling naturally around her shoulders, laughing and teasing.
?I love you, Sara.?
Her face turned to his, a gentle, sweet smile on her face, her eyes dancing. ?Oh, Gil, I know?I love you so much.? Her head came to rest against his shoulder. ?Every day, I realize how good you?ve made my life, how much you love our children.?
He took a cherry from the tray and placed it in her mouth. Between her giggles and his laughter, she managed her mouth trick, tying a knot in the stem with her tongue before holding it between her teeth. She had done this same trick hundreds of times, always causing him to laugh.
Most of the food disappeared.
?I was hungry.? Sara?s spoon scraped the last of the whipped cream from its bowl.
?We can order more, Mrs. Grissom.?
She laughed and propped herself against pillows. Her hand rested on her belly. ?I?m full?cake, pie, all that fruit?I need to take a walk.?
Grissom collected plates and empty containers and cleared the bed. Sara watched as he maneuvered the cart to the hallway and snickered as he kept his naked body behind the door while pushing the cart through the doorway.
?I love your butt,? she said with a laugh as he turned around and before he reached the bed, she realized she loved other parts of his anatomy just as well.
The quietness of the night settled around them as the two wrapped warm arms together. ?Thank you for coming, Sara.?
She kissed his jaw, his chin, his lips as he smiled. She raised her head causing her hair to fall around their faces. He knew she was smiling and he knew there was a question coming.
?What?? He asked.
She cupped her chin and rested on his chest. ?One more, Gil. I want one more baby.? She knew his thoughts as well as he knew hers.
?Why am I not surprised?? His hands brought her face to rest against his. ?Annie and Ava are not walking yet and you want another one.? He chuckled a low laugh. ?I knew years ago you would make a wonderful mother?we should have married then.?
She snorted. ?It took years to get you to notice me! When did you think that??
?Years ago?you told me you left the little girl in the car with the windows cracked. If I remember correctly, Warrick and Nick nearly split a gut trying not to laugh. I knew then I wanted you?pure, unadulterated lust?as the mother of my children.?
She soft punched his ribs. ?You did not. You ignored me for years.?
?Five, Sara. Do you think we can handle five??
?It?s already a circus most of the time?what?s one more little monkey? And maybe, we would have a little boy?with your butt!? She giggled again as she turned and curled even closer. ?You know?we grew up with one parent. I know I would have been different?had a different life, different way of looking at things?if I had sisters and brothers. My mother was an only child?her life, what happened to her?I think things would have worked out so much better?she had no one but me, and most of the time I was not a good daughter.?
Grissom knew it was difficult for Sara to talk about her childhood and she did so in the vaguest of terms.
?We will probably have another girl.?
?Four girls?poor Eli. I?ll name her after my mom. But maybe I?ll get my little Gilbert.?
?Sara slipped into the back of the large conference room crowded with men in suits, young adults in jeans and tee shirts, women in business attire, and dozens dressed in casual working clothes of researchers. Gil Grissom had pulled a mixed, interesting group to listen to his presentation on bumblebees. He had taken the lead in this project by accident and now had a nationwide following of volunteers counting bumblebees.
She stood at the back, watching and listening, as he talked, showing photographs, charts and graphs from across the country, of areas where bumblebees had disappeared, and fields of flowers where the big bee had been reestablished. He smiled when he saw her leaning against the back wall.
The rest of the day, he spent with her, walking major streets filled with tourists and locals in the clatter and clash of dozens of different languages. They found side streets and narrow alleys with swirling, towering roof lines and flashing signs, small quiet plazas served as an oasis for cafes and coffee bars and games of chess and toddling babies. Sara found the hidden street of a mystery writer and pointed to iron balconies with Chinese cornices and pagodas and smiling Buddhas. They entered a tiny temple covered with red lanterns and statues and incense to see alters dedicated to long forgotten homes and events in the distant past. Grissom folded delicate rice paper around his donation as he passed bills to an elderly guardian.
Late in the afternoon, they returned to an area hidden from many?a cobblestone path through a garden that Sara had led him to when they met the first time. It had not changed in years. Trees, vines, and a riot of flowers made a green tunnel that opened onto a wooden staircase overlooking the bay. On his first visit, Grissom had been stunned into silence as the young girl he followed stopped and stepped aside.
Today, they walked together, linked arm-in-arm, noticing the fluttering birds and flower pots hanging from shingle houses. When they reached the top, they stood in silent awe as the city and the bay stretched below them as a magic carpet.
?It?s beautiful,? she whispered.
?Yes,? he said but he was no longer looking at the view, but the woman standing beside him.
