A/N: Last chapter! I broke away from the e-mail style for this part, I think you'll see why. Thanks to everyone that's read, and especially to those who have reviewed. I really appreciate it! Enjoy :)

Ding.

Rushing to his computer, like it seemed he'd been doing for weeks, Nick's heart was nearly pounding out of his chest with anticipation. It had to be… this time…

Mr. Stokes,

Congratulations! You have been selected for a free trip to Cancun! We would like-

Nick clicked out of the e-mail, punching the mouse entirely too hard, in disappointment. It had now been over a month since he had last heard from Sara. He checked with Greg and Catherine, too. Nothing.

He knew she was tough. He knew she was probably okay. But that didn't stop him from worrying…

Did she know Grissom left? Did she know where he was going? He sure didn't. Greg had no clue. Catherine said she didn't know, but had been a weird quirk to her mouth when she had said it…

Riiing!

Still at the desk chair, Nick's eyes darted automatically towards his inbox. Nothing. Then what…?

Riiing!

"Damnit," Nick swore under his breath, rushing into his bedroom to fetch his buzzing phone and flipping it open. "Stokes."

"Nick."

"Sara?"

Nick's eyebrows were halfway up his forehead, his mouth opened slightly in awe.

"Hi," came the soft, almost timid response.

"Hi," he breathed. "Thank God, Sara, are you okay? Is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine, Nick, I promise," Sara responded. "I'm so sorry."

"You had me worried sick, woman!" Nick said, partly upset, partly relieved.

"I know, I'm so, so sorry," she repeated. "Nick, I… I couldn't… it was stupid, but I tried cutting myself off… it just made it worse…"

"Sara, Grissom left."

"I know."

Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

"You… you do?"

Nick's brows had now furrowed down on his forehead. He hadn't expected that.

"Yeah," Sara said. "He… he's here."

"He… what?"

"He's here," Sara repeated softly. "In Costa Rica. I… had no idea. He got here yesterday."

Nick fell onto his living room couch in amazement.

"So… you two…"

"Yeah."

Nick closed his eyes in relief.

"About time."

He heard Sara's soft laugh on the other line, and he realized how happy he was that she, too, was finally happy.

"Sara, tell him if he ever does something like that to you again, I'll personally punch him in the face," Nick said, a smile creeping on his face. "He's my boss no longer, I'm not holding anything back."

Sara laughed again.

"Will do, Nick," she said. "Hey, I… I wanted to tell you something."

"Shoot."

"We're, uh… we're getting married," Sara stuttered.

"You're… married? Are you kidding me?"

"No," Sara giggled. "We're going to have it here… something really small. But I… I wanted to tell you first."

"Congratulations, Sara," Nick breathed, hoping she was done with surprises for today. He couldn't handle many more. "I am so happy for you. Both of you. Tell the big man congrats for me."

"Hey, Nick?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"For what, darlin'?"

"For everything," Sara said, her voice soft again. "I couldn't have gotten through… anything… without you."

Nick smiled into the receiver.

"You're welcome, darlin'," he said.

"We'll visit soon, I promise."

"I'm holding you to that," Nick responded. "And no more disappearing acts, okay?"

"Cross my heart. Bye, Nick."

"Bye, Sara."

Nick disconnected and sat in silence for over an hour, smiling, and staring at his phone.

Finally.