Disclaimer: I don't own the main characters.

Summary: Is a third child really in the cards for Sara and Grissom? Also, others are making life changing decisions, the biggest involves an older 'Child' from a member of the team, find out how it will work out. 7th in Starting Over series.

AN: Hope you are looking forward to the next chapter in their lives as much as I am. Once again I want to remind everybody, the newbies, that this is part of a series, so if you are a little confused on what's going on, you might want to read the other's first.
The list to the series, which is in order, is right before the start of the first chapter.

Title: Working out in the end?
Genre: Romance, Family, Friendship, Hurt/comfort, Drama
Rating: T
Spoilers: None
Time-line: A little over a month from when last story ended
Warnings: Implied/suggestive adult behavior, a few questionable words
Main Paring(s): GSR
Minor Paring(s): Multiple
Other Character(s): Multiple
Series Order: Starting Over, Going to Miami, Where to go from here?, More than meets the eye, When you least expect it, An Enemy Within

Chapter 1: 8th Wedding Anniversary

November 23, 2015

After Sara placed her pen down on the opened file she was working on, she grabbed her coffee mug, which had tea in it at the moment and took a sip while looking at a picture frame that had her husband and two beautiful children in it. She smiled as she placed her free hand on her stomach. There was no baby yet, but the want and hope was still there.

As she was placing her mug back down, her office phone rang, so she picked it up. "Grissom." A second later, she responded. "That's ok...let him through...Thanks."

Once she hung up she waited a few moments before there was a knock on her closed office door. "Come in."

A second later the door opened and Sara smiled at the 21 year old flower delivery man. "Well, look who is back in town for this years Thanksgiving, I missed you last year, Joey. Or do you go by Joe now?"

With Grissom sending flowers to his wife every anniversary, and other special occasions, they have really gotten to know the West family, who owns one of the flower shops in town, and while they knew there were five 'kids' in that family, they've only met Joey in person since he was the youngest. In fact, sending flowers to Sara on hers and Grissom's anniversary was Joey's first solo delivery since he got his first car.

The young man, who was close to 6 feet tall with an average build, curly brown hair and hazel eyes smiled with a chuckle as he hands her the flowers that was in a clear, glass vase. "I guess it all depends on who you ask, Mrs. Grissom."

Sara chuckled with a nod. "I get it, and until you tell me otherwise, I'm going to stick with Joey."

The young man smiled with a nod before continuing. "And I did wish I could have been here last year, but you know how school can get."

"I do very much." After pulling out money from the top drawer of her desk, she handed it to him. "Thanks, and it was nice to see you again."

When he noticed the big tip she was giving him, he shook his head. "Mrs. Grissom, I..."

But she cuts him off with a smile. "Take it, maybe buy something for that girl of yours, you're still dating Stacy, right?"

And as Joey was getting older, he started dating this girl named Stacy, and she even joined him on some of his deliveries, so they met her a few times.

Joey nodded with another smile. "Yes ma'am, and still going strong at Harvard."

"And like I've said before, she's a keeper, so get her something nice."

When they found out Joey was going to Yale, Sara made a joke that they couldn't be friends because she had went to Harvard, seeing as they were rival schools. Then when Joey said that's where his girlfriend was going, she happily started that Stacy was a keeper, which Joey had very much agreed with that statement.

There was another pause, realizing that she wasn't going to back down on giving him the money, Joey took it from her and continued. "Thank you, Mrs. Grissom."

"You're welcome, enjoy your holiday."

"You too." Then he smiled a little wider. "I'll see you next year."

Sara nodded with a smile, knowing his meaning. "You better believe it, tell your parents I said hi."

"I will. Bye, Mrs. Grissom."

"Bye, Joey."

With that, Joey turned around and left the office, shutting the door behind him, and as the door clicked shut, she turned her attention to the 8 roses before pulling out the card that came with it and read the sweet note her husband wrote to her.

Once she got done, she started placing it on her desk when there was another knock on the door, so she looked at and said. "Come in."

When the door opened this time, it was Carly who stepped in the room, and they smiled at one another before Sara asked. "Hey, what can I do for you?"

Carly walked into the room as she replied. "It's not really for me per se, but with our parents, Robin and her boys going to France to visit some friends, Ryan and Andrea decided to stay in town for Thanksgiving..."

Sara cuts her off, knowing where she was going with this. "Yes, they can come over. Besides I'm sure William would love to hang out with Elizabeth more since Rick won't be here."

With Catherine and Warrick taking their family to Miami to be with Lindsey for Thanksgiving, they did have a little more room at the table. Not that it would have mattered if they hadn't left town, they would have still made room for them anyways.

Carly smiled with a nod. "Thank you, I'll let them know."

"No problem." She then smirked. "And you can tell your brother he didn't have to send his sister to ask."

Carly chuckled with a nod. "Don't worry, I already gave him some flack for that. I think you kind of intimidate him."

Sara pointed to herself as asked in an almost shocking tone. "Me, I can be intimidating?"

Carly then smirked with a nod. "When you want to be, yes. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be on the other side of the interrogation table." After another round of chuckling, Carly continued. "And the fact he'll be with Andrea."

Sara shook her head and held up her hands. "Hey, I got no problem with Andrea." Then she raises an eyebrow as she continued. "Besides, I'm not the one that needs to approve that relationship or not?"

Carly getting meaning, nodded with a sigh. "I approve of him and Elizabeth being happy, and if she makes them happy, then I'm happy. I don't want him to get hurt again. What he went through after...well let's just say that if he didn't have Elizabeth, I would have been even more concerned about his health than I already was."

Sara nodded in understanding. "I'm glad he's getting better, and that he found happiness again."

Carly nodded in return. "Me too." A seconds pauses later, she continued. "Thanks again, and I'll talk to you later."

"You're welcome."

When Carly gets to the office door, she turns around and said. "And Sara?" Sara looked her before the other woman spoke again with a smile. "Happy Anniversary."

Sara nodded with a smile. "Thank you."

After one more nod, Carly left the office, shutting the door behind her, and after one more look at her beautiful flowers, Sara started back on her paperwork with a smile.

After the paperwork was done, or at least what she wanted to get done for the night, she left the lab and headed home, where she spent time with the children before they all sat down to eat dinner together, and once dinner was done, Sara smiled at her son. "Alright little man, why don't you pack your bag so I can take you and your sister across the street."

While husband and wife were going to spend the rest of the evening to themselves, the Grissom kids, and Max, were going over to Catherine and Warrick's for the night.

William, who only ended up moving one grade, but the more advanced group, smiled with his blue eyes sparkling. "Ok mommy." Before getting out of his chair and running out of the room with Max following him with a few barks.

Once Sara made sure her daughter was good in the highchair, she picked up her plate and started walking towards the kitchen sink while Grissom, who was standing in front of it doing the other dishes, asked. "So, do we have an official head count for Thanksgiving?"

Sara sets the plates down on the counter and spoke. "Let's see, not including us, there will be Malcolm, Harry, Luke, who's bringing Olivia." When Grissom looked at her with a raised eyebrow, Sara smiled. "You know the Audio/Visual specialist on swing shift?" He nodded in understanding with a smile before she continued. "I was informed today that Ryan, Elizabeth and Andrea wanted to join us, then there is Carly, Brett, Andrew, and Courtney. BJ and Martin will be in Texas visiting their mother for the holiday."

"Alright, we should have a enough food for everyone, but I'll make sure and go shopping tomorrow if I need to. Thank you for finding out."

She cupped his cheek with a smile. "You're welcome."

While they were happy with who was coming over, there was no doubt they were a little sadden on who wouldn't be here, and not just the Browns, which they understood, especially since Catherine wanted to be with her oldest for the holiday this year.

She sighed a little as she placed her other hand on her stomach, and he placed his hand over hers a second later while speaking softly. "This time next year, honey. It will happen."

She shook her head. "You don't know that for sure, Griss."

He smiled with his eyes twinkling, filling her heart up with his love and hope. "Well, I'm certainly not ready to give up hope, are you?"

She shook her head again with a smile this time as she ran her thumb up and down his cheek. "Nope, I still have it."

"Good, we can use all the good vibes for later."

She bit her lip before she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Later, huh? You got something planned for us, bug man?"

He smirked with his eyes filling up with passion. "I guess you'll have to find out, now won't you?"

Her eyes started to fill with passion, and she was about to speak, but was interrupted when they heard Isabella speaking while trying to push out of her highchair. "Out pease, momma, daddy, out."

A slight pause before Sara finally cleared her throat and turned around to walk towards her daughter so she could get her ready to go next door, while her heart raced in anticipation for what was about to come later.

She loved their children more than anything, but she still loved her alone time with her husband, and she wasn't ashamed, or felt guilty about it.

After she got her daughter ready, and made sure they each had everything they needed for the night, the kids kissed their father goodbye/goodnight before they, and Max, walked out the door, and when they got across the street, Sara did go in the house for a few moments to chat.

When she made it back home and stepped inside the house, the lights were dim, making her smile as she closed and locked the door, then setting the alarm before heading upstairs, which when she got to the second floor she noticed rose petals were guiding her way to their bedroom, and once she got to the doorway, she gasped slightly when she saw, not only more rose petals on the floor and bed, but there were a few candles lit around the room, soft music playing and her husband in a tux with two champagne glasses in his hand with a smile and sparkling blue eyes looking at her.

She placed her hand up to her mouth and whispered. "How long was I gone?"

He smirked as she came into the room. "Let's just say I had a lot of motivation."

She looked around the room then at her husband in awe before stopping in front of him. "It's beautiful."

He shook his head and replied softly while holding out one of the champagne glasses. "No, you're beautiful."

As she took it from him, she cleared her throat and started to speak again. "Maybe I should chan..."

But he cuts her off with a loving tone while cupping her cheek. "Please don't, I love the way that you are, no changing necessary."

She raised an eyebrow as she smirked. "Aren't you saying the right words tonight."

He smirked again, but with full of confidence, in return. "Don't I always?"

As much as she loved her shy bug man, there were moments when his more confident side shows up that makes her love/want him even more, and in this moment there was no exception.

She moved her free hand up his chest until she would wrap it around his shoulders. "So, that mood tonight, huh?"

He wrapped his arm around her waist and brings her little closer to him, whispering. "You got a problem with that?"

She closed her eyes as she felt him kiss her neck, her heart racing just a little more while she whispered a little shaky, but in a good way. "Not one bit."

He smiled against her skin before pulling back and looking into her eyes once she opened them back up, both seeing the desire, but before they went there, the song changed to their wedding song, and almost like automatic, their feet started moving in sync and they began to dance while he spoke with emotion. "Eight years ago today, while standing on the beach in Miami, I was making a vow to this beautiful, amazing woman, and it was the third best day of my life."
As Sara raised an eyebrow at that, he smiled while explaining. "Only being trumped by the days our kids were born on." She smiled and nodded in understanding, feeling the same way as he continued. "We were on a bit of a crossroads back then, not sure where to go next with our lives, expect that I knew that no matter where we went or ended up at, I wanted to be with you, which honestly I've always known that. I was just too afraid to admit it for the longest time." Sara was about to speak, but he finished before she could. "So, really all I want to say now is thank you for being patient with me until I figured out what do about 'this', for loving me these last 11 years, for being my wife for 8 of those, and for being the mother of my children. The life that we've shared has felt like a dream, a dream I don't ever want to wake up from."

Sara started to sniffle with a few tears going down her cheeks, so he moved his hand from her waist to cup her cheek and wipe her tears away as she spoke with a small smirk. "Damn Griss, you always do say the right things." He chuckled before she continued after clearing her throat and looking into his beautiful blue eyes. "But that's you, you know. When you speak, especially to me and when we are alone like this, you speak the truth. Since we've been together I never once second guessed anything you said to me because I can see it in your eyes." She smirked again while finishing.
"Now, I'll admit you may have hidden how you felt from me for a few years." Then her voice went soft/loving towards the end. "But once you let that fear go, and really let me in, you let me see it all, and now it's my turn to thank you. Thank you for letting me in, for showing me the man that I always hoped you were, for loving me just the way that I am, for putting up with me for 11 years (She smirked again while he chuckled at that), for being my husband for 8 of those, and last but certainly not least, for being the father of my children. I love you, and I always will."

He moved his glass towards her and whispered with emotion again. "To Eight more years?"

She smiled while she softly clinked her glass with his. "To Eight more years, and beyond. Don't think you're getting rid of me now."

After taking a sip of their champagne, he moved his hand so his arms was wrapped around her waist again while he spoke softly. "Never, I would say you're pretty much stuck with me."

She smiled before moving her other arm around his shoulders, bringing her even closer to him. "Good, just what I've always wanted."

They spent the rest of their song, and one more after that, dancing while taking sips of their drink as they were looking into each others eyes.

Once their glasses were empty, Grissom took his and hers over to the dresser to sat them on top of it before moving back to his wife, and after stopping in front of her, he cupped her cheek, ran his thumb up and down it before bringing her closer so they could share a deep, passionate kiss, which turned into more than one.

When they finally pulled back, they looked into each other's eyes for a long moment before they slowly started taking each other's clothes off, leaving them only in their undergarments before he took her hand and walked them towards the bed, and after she was laying down with him above her, she cupped his cheek with desire in her eyes, his showing the same while he leaned down and captured his lips with hers, kissing one another for several minutes before he moved his lips down to her neck, then her shoulders, down the rest of her body until he reached her stomach.
He then gets into a position so he could touch it and run his thumb up and down it a few times before he leaned down and kissed it, thankful for what it had done for them in the past, and very hopeful for what it can do for them one last time, while Sara stared to have tears in eyes, knowing what her husband was doing, as she ran her fingers through his hair.

After a few more kisses, he moved back up her body and cupped her cheek with concern, seeing the tears on her cheeks and eyes. "Honey?"

She shook her head with a smile as she placed her hand on top of his that was still on her cheek. "I'm ok, just give me a moment."

He nodded with a smile. "Gladly, you take all the time that you need, I'm not going anywhere."

She took a breath and nodded as she ran her thumb up and down his hand while they just looked at one another.

A few minutes later, Sara was starting to have that desire feeling again as she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck while speaking softly. "Now, where were we?"

He lowers his head down to kiss her as he whispered. "I believe right about..."

But before his lips could touch hers though, he gets surprised when she moved them quickly so he was on his back and she was now on top of him with a smirk. "Here."

He chuckled as he ran his hand up her body before cupping her cheek and bringing her back down as he whispered with confidence. "OK, you win...for now."

They kissed softly and slowly before she pulled back and whispered. "I like that sound of that, I..."

She was cut off when his lips touched hers again, not able to hold back anymore, which she wasn't complaining one bit as they were slowly giving and receiving a passionate love that hasn't died down an ounce since they said their I do's, even more than when they first got together.

AN: Hope you are interested in more, thanks for reading and please review.