Six months later:

Sara had a smile on her face that she didn't think even the most gruesome crime scene could erase from it as she walked into the lab that night for work. She made her way to the locker room to hang up her coat and collect her gear before the briefing for the evening's shift would begin.

Sophia glanced up as Sara walked in. "You look like you had a good night off." She was standing in front of her own locker stowing some personal items before shift.

There was no way that Sara was going to deny it. "As a matter of fact I did." She'd had the previous evening off and it had been memorable to say the least.

Sophia's interest was piqued. "Do tell." The two women had been getting to know each other better as they had the occasion to work cases together and the older CSI had observed a remarkable change in Sara ever since she'd told her exactly how she thought Gil Grissom viewed her. Not only had she started dating Nick Stokes, she'd become a much more confident woman who wasn't afraid to tell him exactly what she was thinking. The result had been a very strong and solid relationship; it was evident that Nick adored her.

Sara's smile softened as she closed her locker and she held out her left hand for Sophia to inspect. "Nick proposed."

Sophia let out a soft laugh as she looked closely at the diamond engagement ring on Sara's hand. "He's a lucky guy."

"I think I'm pretty lucky too." Sara remarked looking down at the ring that Nick had picked out himself. The thought occurred to her that the woman standing next to her was partially responsible for the circumstance that she was in and she felt a surge of gratefulness as she looked up at Sophia. "Thank you."

Sophia was taken a little aback. "Why thank me?" She had only told Sara the truth; she hadn't been responsible for setting her up with Nick.

Sara smirked a little. "Because you told me what I needed to hear, not necessarily what I wanted to hear and it moved me in a direction to move on. I want to thank you for that." Sara let out a laugh. "If I hadn't been so irritated by what you'd said, I wouldn't have ended up in that bookstore and I wouldn't have found that book."

Sophia smiled. "I'm glad."

The moment was interrupted as Greg burst into the locker room, cheesy grin adorning his face, and then walked over to Sara and swept her into a hug, picking her up off of her feet in the process. "I hear that congratulations are in order."

Sara laughed. "Yes, thank you." She and Greg had become good friends and she'd developed a deep respect for him as she'd seen him grow not only as a CSI, but as a man. He and Tiffany were still dating, and the way he put it, they were on the slow steady track; he wanted to do things right because he was convinced that she was 'it'.

As Greg put her down he spoke to her conspiratorially. "I'm so glad he finally proposed to you, do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a secret like that from you?"

Sara looked at him wide-eyed and her jaw dropped a little. "You knew?"

Greg grinned. "Yes I knew. I actually went with him when he picked out your ring because I was picking out something myself; only I haven't had the nerve to ask her yet."

"Greg!" Sara was excited and shocked all at the same time and she couldn't help but stand there with her mouth hanging open.

Sophia smirked. "I'm starting to feel a little left out." There was a teasing tone in her voice; she'd been seeing a professor of English Literature over at Western LVU for a while and neither one of them seemed to be in a hurry to make the situation permanent.

"Ok, let's have a group hug." Greg slung an arm over each of their shoulders and gave them each a squeeze.

Just then, Grissom walked into the locker room in search of his nightshift crew; he quirked an eyebrow at the trio wondering exactly what they were doing.

"Uh, we're just having a little team bonding, Grissom." Greg offered by way of explanation.

"Well why don't you bond yourselves down to the briefing room?" Grissom had a boyish smirk on his face as he regarded them over the rim of his glasses.

"Grissom." Sara interjected with a smile. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" She really didn't want him to hear through the grapevine that Nick had proposed to her and they had agreed that she would be the one to tell him since it was likely that she would be the first one to see him.

There was something about the look on her face that gave Grissom both a sinking feeling and a surge of pride. He'd had a feeling that this day was coming, and he was happy for her, he really was; but he was also sad for himself that he couldn't get past his own fears to enjoy what she'd ultimately found with Nick. He'd spied the ring on her finger almost as soon as he'd walked into the room. He quirked an eyebrow at her as Greg and Sophia filed out of the locker room. "When did he propose?"

A smile pulled at the corners of Sara's mouth; of course he would have seen the ring; how could someone not notice it? "Last night."

"Congratulations, Sara. I'm sure you two will be very happy." The sincerity in his voice shocked him a little and a half smile tugged at his lips. He knew that Nick really would make her happy and as long as she was happy, he could be happy for her.

"I'm sure we will too." Sara glanced down at her ring before looking up at Grissom again. "I was hoping that you might give me away...since I don't really have any family." She was thankful that the friendship she'd once had with Grissom when she first came to Vegas had survived her fixation on him and that they had finally recovered some of what had been lost for a time.

Grissom smiled at her. "Sara, this is your family." He knew he'd told her many times that the lab needed her, but in reality, she needed the lab because it wasn't just a lab, it was filled with people that had formed a family of sorts, and for some of them it was the only real family they had.

"You're right." She agreed and then smiled wider as she noticed that Nick had stopped just outside the doorway to the locker room with a look of anticipation on his face. "You can come in, Nick."

"Did you ask him?" Nick couldn't help but smile as he looked at her, still trying to fathom that she'd actually said that she wanted to marry him and feeling like the luckiest man on the planet because of it.

"Yes." Sara nodded as Nick walked towards her, leaning up to place a quick kiss on his lips in greeting.

Nick was grinning from ear to ear, slinging an arm across Sara's shoulders as he looked over to Grissom. "So you'll give her away then?" He knew that this was probably more difficult for his mentor that he'd ever admit, but he hoped for Sara's sake that Grissom would agree to walk her down the aisle.

Grissom's smile was genuine and he could see how excited both Nick and Sara were at the prospect of marrying each other. "It would be my pleasure."

The End

Author's Note: Thank you to all of my readers. I'm glad that you took the time to read my story. Perhaps one day I'll feel ready to write a real novel after practicing on all of you. Special thanks to Laura Katharine for sailing her ship with pride while at the same time offering kind words as I sail mine. Thanks to Mel for making me laugh...you never know when something that glows in the dark just might show up.