A/N: Finally I managed to update! It's not brilliant, but it's an update! Hope it was worth the wait…
Chapter Six
Sara sat on her sofa staring at the clock. It was one minute to ten in the morning, which meant one minute until the time she had told Greg and Noelle to arrive for dinner; or the night shifts version of dinner, which most would call breakfast. Everything would be fine except for the fact Grissom had no idea to expect dinner guests, especially not Greg and his new girlfriend. Sara had tried to call Grissom at work, but he had been stuck in an interrogation all shift and only had enough time to text her to say he'd be home by 10.30.
The doorbell chime stopped Sara worrying about Grissom's reaction further, and she got up to answer the door to a smartly dressed Greggo and his beautiful date.
"Hey guys, come on in. Dinner shouldn't be long, we just have to wait for Gris, he got a little held up I'm afraid." Sara greeted the couple.
"Thank you Sara." Answered Noelle politely, "And these are for you as a thank you for having us over."
Sara was presented with a beautiful bouquet of mixed flowers. "Wow thanks Noelle, they're lovely. Please take a seat in the living room while I put these in some water."
Once Sara had gone into the kitchen Greg spoke for the first time since the couple had arrived. "This is weird."
Noelle tried to imagine just how weird the situation must be for her poor Greggo, but it was difficult. "You'll get used to it Honey, don't worry." This was the best she could manage, and chose to take Greg's hand instead of trying further.
Twenty minutes later Greg had relaxed a great deal, and the three were talking freely and comfortably about work as well as other topics. Having had time to look around the living room, Greg noted how warm it felt and how it was very much a home. He'd heard rumours of the 'cave' Grissom used to live in, and this was as far from that as you could get. But, he realised, it wasn't just Sara who had created this home, there were clearly Grissom's touches everywhere; like the framed butterfly collections and the large amount of crossword puzzle books stacked under the coffee table.
"So Noelle, how did you two become a two exactly?" Sara asked the redheaded Lab Tech.
"Well, it all started when Greg had to pull a double a couple months back. I'd been called in to help out, and rather than face an agitated David Hodges with his trace sample, Greg asked if I'd mind running it for him. We got talking while the sample ran and realised we shared a common interest in Vegas history."
"A topic Noelle is greatly knowledgeable on." Interrupted a smiling Greg.
"Thank you Honey," Noelle responded whilst giving Greg's hand a squeeze, "Though I'd say you know an awful lot about it yourself. Anyway, the topic of Greg's book came up and we arranged to meet later for coffee to talk about it further."
"And now, three months later, the books almost finished and I have an official co-author as well as a beautiful woman to share my life with." Greg finished for her, the two smiling at each other continuously.
Sara was about to comment on how happy the two seemed to be together, when the doorbell rang for a second time. Having been able to sense that his master was home even before hearing the doorbell, the Grissom's boxer Bruno came bounding down the stairs from his hiding place in the bedroom to great him.
Sara excused herself and greeted Grissom in the hallway, closing the living-room door as she went. "Hi Honey, you must be tired. Tough shift?"
"Very, but at least now I'm home with you and I can have a nice quiet evening." Grissom answered, sounded very exhausted. The look on his wife's face as he spoke made him nervous, "Okay, what's up?"
"We have company for dinner." Sara decided to be honest and to the point, the famous Sara Sidle-Grissom smile keeping Grissom from questioning her until she was finished. "Remember how we were joking about no one at the lab finding out about us? Well someone has and I invited them to dinner as a kind of peace offering for not telling them sooner. I tried to warn you but you were stuck in interrogation all shift."
Grissom couldn't resist that smile, and he certainly couldn't blame his wife for wanting to invite whomever it was over to their home now they'd figured out the secret. He just couldn't for the life of him think who it could be. "Okay."
Sara knew the tone of that 'Okay'. Coming from Grissom it meant he really was okay with the situation but exhaustion kept him from being enthusiastic. It also meant he wanted some more details before opening their living room door to a mystery guest.
"It's Greg."
"Okay"
That second okay was harder to read, so was the smile on Grissom's face. He didn't seem shocked at all that Greg was the one to figure things out, he almost seemed amused.
"What's so funny?" Asked a confused Sara.
"I was just thinking how weird it is that Greg should work things out before anyone else. And also if he'll be expecting us to name the baby after him if it's a boy." Grissom added, recalling a conversation the couple had had two months previous, and showing he really was okay with the impromptu dinner party. "Shall we?" Grissom placed a hand on the small of his wife's back and led them into the living room.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Huge apologies that this took me so long to write and post. I had a presentation plus my dissertation and other work. I also got a huge mental block every time I tried to write it! Like I said before, it isn't brilliant, but hopefully the next chapter will be an improvement. Then be prepared for a Christmas filled chapter nine! (Which I promise to post before Christmas!
Also, a massive thank you to everyone who has stuck with me on this story, and thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! They really do mean a lot. And apologies to anyone whose review I haven't replied to. Anyway, Happy Holidays! and I'll get on with chapter eight ASAP!