Chapter 227

"Here!" Greg shouted at the elevator doors as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of latex gloves. "Use these!"

"Greg!" Grissom half-shouted as the other man pushed his way past him.

Greg thrust the gloves through the crack and dropped them as Jim knelt on the floor next to where he had lowered Sara. She looked at the gloves and grimaced before her eyes grew huge.

"He is NOT going to need gloves!" Sara insisted as she held onto her hardening stomach then hissed through the contraction.

"I'd want him to wear gloves if he was gonna touch ME there!" Greg snorted.

"Shut up, Greg," Grissom mumbled as he pulled him away from the door and knelt down to look at his wife. "Sara! Honey! Are you alright?"

"Gil! Get these doors open!"

"We're working on it," Nick called from behind Grissom. "Don't worry, they're going to be here any minute."

Sara moaned loudly as another contraction seemed to begin before the last one even ended.

"God! Honey! You're going to be fine!" Grissom said as he began to futilely yank at the doors.

"Sara?" Jim put his hand on Sara's stomach and felt the intensity of her contraction.

She looked up at him with worry written plainly on her face and grabbed his hand then squeezed it. "These are coming on too fast, Jim."

"Sara!" Grissom called to her again.

"It's okay," Jim told her. "They're going to have us out of here in no time."

"Shouldn't you take her pants off or something?" Greg called as he peered over Grissom's body.

"Move, ya pervert!" Nick pushed past him and looked at the two in the elevator just as Abby began whimpering as she tried to look out the back of the stroller at her father who was still kneeling on the floor.

"I'm not a pervert!" Greg told him. "Ya can't have a baby if you're wearing pants!"

"Da-da-da-da-DAD!" Abby yelled then started whimpering again.

"It's okay, honey," Catherine said as she picked up the little girl and started to soothe her. "Daddy's a little busy right now."

"Sara," Jim said as he kept his hand on her stomach and looked at his watch. "I'll do whatever you want—but Cookie—if they don't get these doors open for us, we aren't going to have any choice."

"Jim!" Nick called to him and pushed some crumbled sheets and a pillow through the crack to the older man. "I grabbed these of one of the cots in the break room. If you "do" have to do anything—at least you can cover her."

"I want someone down here right now!" Grissom said into his cell. "What do you mean they're on lunch break? All your goddamned maintenance leave for break at the same time?"

"Gil?" Sara called to him with worry upon hearing his conversation and he quickly flipped the cell closed.

"It's going to be alright, darling. I'll have you out of there in no time." He turned and looked at Greg and Nick. "What about the floor below us? Can we access it from there? Maybe if we can get those doors open we can lower Sara out of the car."

"It isn't low enough. There's only about three inches clearing the ceiling below," Nick explained.

"It's letting up, isn't it?" Jim asked Sara and she gave him a weak nod. "Here, lie back on this pillow. It will be more comfortable than leaning against the wall."

Jim spread one of the sheets on the floor so it wasn't lying on the puddle of amniotic fluid that had escaped earlier, then he maneuvered Sara until she was lying with her knees bent. He covered her with the other sheet when he noticed her begin to shiver.

"I'm cold, Jim."

"It's going to be okay." He looked back up toward the men at the opening of the elevator. "Nick—go get a blanket. We want to keep her warm."

"It isn't cold in here," Greg said as he watched Nick rush back toward the break room again.

"She might be going into shock," Catherine said as she continued to rock Abby in her arms.

"Don't say that!" Grissom hissed as he stared helplessly at his wife. "How does she feel, Jim?"

"She seems okay."

"I'm still capable of answering for myself," Sara told them. "Why would you ask Jim how "I" feel? He isn't quite "that" intuitive!"

"I think he means, how do you feel to the touch," Jim gave her a reassuring smile. "He wants to know if your clammy, sweaty, stuff like that."

"Oh," she said quietly then looked back up at Grissom. "I'd feel a whole lot better if you'd get me out of here!"

"I know. I'm working on it, dear."

"Can't we just get a hydraulic jack and force the doors open?" Greg asked as he pulled out his cell phone and speed dialed a number.

"They're computerized. There's no telling what might happen if you force them open. We don't want to risk it dropping." Grissom looked down at Sara as she moaned again and Greg turned and disappeared in a closet across the hall.

"Another contraction?" Jim asked.

"My leg," she told him. "Cramp."

Jim immediately began massaging the tense muscle. "Just breathe slowly. I know it's hard, but try to relax as much as you can."

"Grissom!" Conrad Ecklie approached the team. "I heard what happened. I called the company who installed the elevators and they're sending someone over immediately"

Grissom nodded as he looked at the other man then glanced back at Jim and Sara who were both breathing a little more rapidly than usual.

"Gil," Catherine interrupted. "Is there anything in your bag to feed Abby? I think she needs to be taken down to my office or the break room."

"Yes. Yes, here. Take the stroller—and thank you, Catherine."

"Oh, man," Nick said in a low voice as he watched the interactions between Jim and Sara below them. "She don't look too good right now."

"She's having a baby, Nick," Catherine said sternly as she strapped Abby in the stroller and began pushing her down the hallway to try to keep her calm. "She isn't in there having a facial!"

"Man!" Nick turns and looks at Grissom who isn't paying any particular attention to him. "How could you do something like that to her? Jesus!"

"I don't think "what" I do to Sara—in this regard—is any of your business, Nick."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't have gotten her pregnant—but so soon? Jesus! She didn't even have a chance to heal from Abby and now she's down there going into premature labor for the second time."

"It isn't considered premature after thirty-six weeks—and she's thirty-eight. So if you don't mind. . .," Grissom turned his attention to Nick but quickly looked back into the elevator as Sara released a long growl.

"You guys keep discussing the hazards of having a baby and I'll just stay down here delivering one!" Jim said sarcastically. "Don't worry, Sara. Everything's going to be alright."

"Jim," she panted. "I feel like I—have to go to the bathroom!"

"Oh, God!" Grissom breathed as he attempted again to separate the doors farther.

This time Nick grabbed one door as Grissom grabbed the other and they both pulled, releasing the doors another inch, but still not far enough to get through.

"Here!" Greg moved back to the group with a hand full of packages. "I called Caitlin. She said to make sure Jim has this stuff down with him in case the paramedics don't make it in time."

"He is NOT going to deliver my baby!" Sara yelled up at Greg through a huge grimace, then grabbed onto Jim's hand and squeezed it so hard it brought a moan from the man. "Jim! I have to go to the bathroom! NOW!"

Jim took a deep breath then quickly reached for the things Greg was handing down to him. He knelt next to Sara again. "Okay, little girl. I know you don't want to hear this—but that baby's coming out right now. I'm the only one down here and I don't think you're up to delivering this by yourself. Are you ready?"

Sara stared at him through apprehensive eyes for a moment then silently nodded her head once. Jim pulled off Sara's shoes then reached for her pants and pulled them down.

"Jim, how close is she?" Gil called as he pressed himself against the opening to the elevator, whether in an attempt to get as close to his new family member and wife as possible or to block the other's view, no one was quite sure.

Jim hesitated a moment, took a deep breath, another look at Sara's concerned face and after receiving another affirmative nod, reached down to touch the area in question. He gave a shocked whistle before recovering with a reassuring smile and looking back at Sara.

"I think your little Mr. Grissom is going to be here any minute. Are you ready?"

He immediately began opening the packages that Greg had lowered and lay them within reach.

"What's going on?" Greg asked frantically as he tried to look past Grissom.

"She's having baby, nitwit," Nick said as he began pacing the floor behind them. "What do ya think's going on?"

"I know she's having the baby!" Greg looked back at Nick then tried to look past Grissom again to no avail.

"Well, if you knew, then why'd you ask?"

"I meant—what's she doing—I mean—what's Jim doing—I mean—oh just forget it!"

Nick stopped pacing and Greg stopped his attempts to look past Grissom as they listened to a long, loud sound that was a combination of a yell and growl escaping from the confines of the elevator, then the distinct sound of something wet and gushy hitting the floor. Nick's eyes widened as he watched Greg take a step toward him then sink to the floor in a dead faint.

"Jesus, Greg!" Nick ran to his friend's assistance and moved him to the side of the hallway as Grissom began yanking at the doors again.

"Sara!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Bouquets of roses and carnations adorned the hospital room as the sounds of anger came from the bassinet next to the bed. The child's father stood over him, holding the little girl who was openly inspecting the "crying machine" next to her mother. Grissom reached into the bassinet and tried to quiet the red-faced cherub but only seemed to irritate him farther until Sara moved to the edge of her bed and picked him up. Immediately he turned his blond curls toward his mother's face and opened his mouth in an attempt to find anything he could latch onto as a source of nourishment. She moved back to her place on the bed and picked up a bottle which he anxiously took to.

"Oh, my God!" Catherine entered the room with two boxes that were wrapped in blue and white paper with bows on them. "Look at those blue eyes! And that hair! There's no denying who this baby belongs to!"

Her comment brought an added spark of pride to Grissom as he watched Sara feeding their son. He held onto Abby as she leaned back in his arms and watched the new sibling getting all of her mother's attention, then gave a sudden jerk in an attempt to move to bed with them.

"I think it's becoming rather obvious that he belongs to his big sister," Sara remarked as, with Grissom's assistance, Abby crawled over until she was getting a much closer inspection of her baby brother.

"I bet you're thanking your lucky stars that Abby tossed her keys out of the stroller yesterday. If she hadn't, Jim wouldn't have stayed behind to pick them up and you would've been stuck in that elevator all by yourself," Catherine told them.

"I was the first one to hold the little biscuit," Jim said as he entered the room with Nick and Greg following behind him, each holding a token of their affection for the newest member of the Grissom family.

"I was next—well, after Sara and Grissom, that is," Nick told them.

"I would've held him—if I would've been conscious!" Greg moped. "But that's okay, we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other. I picked up a few more Clint Eastwood DVDs and we can all have a movie night with popcorn and beer—just me, Abby and. . .uh. . .uh. . ."

Sara smiled up at him. "We've decided to name him in the order that he was introduced. Jim, I couldn't have gone through it without your help. So—meet James Nicholas Gregory Grissom."

"That's not fair!" Greg whined. "I get last billing simply because I—wasn't available to grab him from Grissom when the elevator doors opened and he jumped in to help get you out."

"You weren't available?" Nick chuckled. "You went out like a light as soon as the little guy plopped out into Jim's hands!"

"I don't want to talk about it," Greg said sheepishly.

"So—Mr. and Mrs. Grissom," Catherine watched as Grissom moved to sit on the other side of the bed and put his arm around his wife as he watched his children. "Any plans on another one before the year's out? You seem to be making up for lost time."

"No more," Grissom gruffed. "Sara likes to take the dramatic route to her deliveries. At my age, I can't take any more sudden appearances of my offspring. These two are quite enough."

"Mmm-hmm," Catherine mocked. "That's what they say for the first two or so years—then the bad seems to magically be forgotten and only the good is there. You'll be having your third before you know it."

"No, I don't think so," Sara agreed as Grissom took her hand and watched Abby crawl over until she was snuggled between her parents.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sara strolled down the beach in her bare feet with her khaki's rolled up to her calves. She wore a tank top with an opened denim shirt that hung down around her hips as she shoved her hands into her pockets and mozied along. The beach was the one she and Grissom had walked along during one of their first "dates," if you could actually call it that. She was merely one of his students showing him the city as the heat of that day had them remove their shoes so they could casually wander along its waterfront. If she hadn't already fallen in love with him by then, it certainly was a turning point for her as she watched and listened to him that day. She remembered becoming completely absorbed in his eyes; eyes as blue as the ocean that had been lapping at their toes and when he would bestow her with one of his smiles, her heart seemed to skip a beat.

She looked at the two children ahead of her; the dark-haired little girl ahead of the little boy whose hair was the color of sand, but both had curls that bounced as they ran and when they looked back at her; both had eyes so blue there was no denying who their father was.

"Abs! Wait for me," yelled the boy.

"Jamie, you're so slow," the girl criticized as she stopped and looked at him with her arms crossed over her chest in vexation but when he smiled at her, her demeanor changed and she rolled her eyes at her brother. "Oh, just come on. They're waiting for us."

"Abs" waited until "Jamie" caught up with her then put her hand on his shoulder as she encouraged him to move a bit faster as they started down the beach again.

"Abby! Don't be in such a rush!" Sara called after the little girl, making her turn again to look at her impatiently.

"But, Mom!"

"I said—not too fast." After another roll of the girl's eyes, Sara couldn't help adding with an indulgent smile. "Okay. Fine! Run like the wind! But if I have to put another bandage on those knees of yours. . ."

She could hear her children's giggles as they ran off ahead of her. She walked along the beach and felt a weightlessness as a cool breeze flowed over her. She inhaled deeply and smelled the scent of something fresh and sweet, something familiar that she just couldn't put her finger on. She could see the area that the children were running toward. She could see the two chairs, one with a body lounging on it, the other empty; two smaller chairs were empty next to them; a boxlike structure that she recognized as a common cooler, some beach paraphernalia and a tiny tent that she knew, held her and Gil's latest treasure. She heard the cooing coming from within the small structure then watched as Grissom reached inside and pulled out their three-month-old baby.

"Jamie, get a diaper for your brother," Grissom instructed his oldest son and the little boy brought back the whole diaper bag before scurrying back to help Abby construct a mountain of sand. Grissom looked up at the tall woman who was standing over him. "How was your walk?"

"Nice, until Jamie decided it was appropriate for him to try to climb out on the rocks and nearly give me heart failure. I just hope I worked off a few of those extra pounds I put on with this pregnancy."

Grissom looked at her and she felt her heart flutter. Oh, when he looked at her like that he could do the strangest things to her. He always could and she doubted it would ever end. Suddenly she wasn't quite so concerned about those extra few pounds as he made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. She watched as he changed their son's diaper with efficiency then allowed her to hold him after she sat next to them. She looked down at his face which was a replica of his father's but there was definitely something there that screamed he was Sara Sidle's son as well.

She felt a peacefulness within her as déjà vu struck her, just the same as it did the day Grissom brought Abby and Jamie to the hospital to see their new little brother and they insisted they name the baby Christopher. When asked where they came up with such a name, they gave one another impish smiles and shrugged their shoulders before saying they must have heard it on television—maybe it was Winnie the Pooh—maybe not. Either way, the addition of Christopher Warrick Grissom to their family made Sara and Grissom feel as if everything had finally fallen into place for them—they felt complete.

THE END

I hope you all have enjoyed our journey through what could have been and then the little detour as the children were added. It certainly has taken a long time to get this perspective to you but I hope it was worth it. Love to you all and many thanks for all your wonderful comments and reviews. I have gained several wonderful friends through this story that I will be forever grateful for. Thank you all for reading!