DISCLAIMER : Sara Sidle and Gilbert Grissom are two TV show characters that sadly belong to CBS and its associates. I merely adore the amazing characters by using them in my writing, no profit but fun attained, promise!

A/N : Part 5. This one is dedicated to Sylvie. For all I know she is an amazing mother herself, working and taking care of her family while maintaining time to write, read and help me correcting this fic. Thank you Sensei.

WATERMELON

-Part 5-

She took her time in the bath, way much longer than necessary, alternating between scrubbing, soaping, shampooing, and drowning herself in bitterness. The water got cold and she still stayed for a couple of minutes, coming out only when she was sure she would not cry in front of him.

This was to be expected, Sara. Be strong, she reprimanded herself. He'll come round.

When, toweling her hair, she came out of the bathroom she found him sitting up in the bed, leaning against the headboard, fully engrossed in the bundle of papers in his hands.

Great. Here comes the shut-out-the-world-with-work Gil Grissom.

"You took a long time in there," he said, looking up.

"Uh… I shampooed." She shrugged and tossed the towel on the bed before walking to the closet and putting on a pair of pajamas, slowly of course. She turned.

"Listen," they said in unison, both gazes meeting in a nervous glance.

"I'm…" she said.

"My…" he reciprocated.

They both fell silent, and Grissom pinched his lips nervously, his eyes flitting down to his reading.

"I'm tired…," she said quickly, yet again giving him a way out. "I just want to go to sleep."

"Are you okay?" His eyes showed concern, but he made no move except to tighten his hold on the papers in his hand.

She forced a small smile as she reached her side of the bed. "I'm good. Tired but good. Let's wait until tomorrow to talk about… this." Wasting no time she pulled the covers off and slipped in beside him, her face burrowing into the pillow as she closed her eyes to hide the tears that felt like needles pricking the back of her eyelids.

After a while, she could pretend no more and she rolled to her side, facing away from him. Her tears felt warm against her cold cheeks. Her hand went to her stomach, and she clenched her eyes tighter at the overwhelming surge of love for the life growing in her yet to be born. She sighed in sadness, hoping that her baby didn't feel her sorrow.

Succumbing to a mixture of jetlag and exhaustion, she finally drifted off to sleep, only to feel some time later Grissom's arm drape over her side and his hand move on top of hers. His warmth a blanket she could not resist, she relaxed and settled deeper into him, somehow managing to fall into a troubled sleep.

X – x –/ O /– x – X

Sara awoke to an empty bed. No companion in the room but Hank on the floor, snoring lightly.

She sat up, smiling and gently nudged the canine with her barefoot. The dog shifted, opening one eye to show his disagreement, only to fall asleep again.

The fun was over quickly as Sara recalled what happened the previous night. She tilted her head, trying to hear if Grissom was in the bathroom. But the room was quiet.

She glanced at the clock; it was almost three in the morning.

"Let's go have a talk with your daddy," she whispered as her hand went to caress her stomach.

He was of course to be found in the study; the corner near the kitchenette they had dedicated to a table and bookshelves. His eyes moved with intent as they read the papers, his glasses almost slid all the way down the bridge of his nose.

Her heart clenched at the sight, a wistful smile forming on her lips.Cute. I hope you're as cute as your daddy, she thought as without thinking she rubbed her hand over her stomach. Just less reading and more talking, huh, baby?

"Hi," She nervously greeted the father of her baby.

He looked up with a start, removed his glasses and lowered the paper to his lap. "Come sit with me," he said after a moment, rising to his feet and flashing her an uncertain smile, the papers still clutched in his hand.

Sara nodded and let him guide her to the couch in front of the TV, in the process catching a good look at the article he had been reading.

Otosclerosis. I should have known, she thought with a sigh.

"Gil… I'm sorry," she blurted out quickly. It pained her to know what he was really worried about. She never even considered that Grissom's hereditary hearing problem could be a concern to him.

"Sara… honey...I'm sorry about earlier." He raised his shoulder. "I was… in shock."

She could only nod, inching closer to him on the couch.

"I'm new to this." He sighed, and reached for her hand. "And there is this issue." He held up the papers. "We have to prepare ourselves and our…child for this possibility."

"Isn't it too early to think about that?"

"Sara, there's a big chance that our baby might inherit Otosclerosis from me. It's never too early too recognize any abnormality that can affect our baby's future." His look was so filled with anxiety it almost hurt Sara. "My mom lost her hearing ability Sara. I don't want our child to use sign language because she or he has to."

Even though Sara understood his fear, she could not formulate any reply to his words but a weak. "I'm sorry."

"No." He sighed, rubbing his temple. "It's nobody's fault. I just…," he stopped mid-sentence, looking down at her, and sighed.

She averted her gaze, another minute of looking into his eyes would tear down the wall that contained her tears.

"God. I'm sorry. It's happening again isn't it?" He wrapped her in an embrace, the warmest she ever felt in days. His hand went around her like a cocoon, like a safety net that kept her from disintegrating into sobs. "Me and my unreasonable fear of the future."

She would like to answer him with a thundering yes, saying that she also felt the fear, probably greater than he did. She wanted to slap him, tell him that this was happening, that it would be happening whether he was ready or not, that she was already pregnant. That there was no way to undo it.

But she knew that Gil Grissom was a man who often lived in his very own safe shelter. And she had learned that it took extra patience and time to lure him out into the sun.

"Gil, whatever happens in the future we can deal with as a family."

His brow furrowed and he thought about her words for a moment before finally giving her a small accepting nod of the head.

"There are a lot of possibilities out there," she continued quietly. She cupped his chin and made him look straight at her. "But I got you and you got me." She took the papers from his hand and set the offending item on the table. "We'll research the topic properly, we'll meet with doctors and experts, and we'll make sure that everything ends well. We'll do it together, but we'll do it later. First we need to accept this whole situation, right?"

As easy it was to say it now, Sara couldn't help but recalling her own panic at finding out she was pregnant only a couple days previously. "I know you are afraid. I am too. But I truly believe we can do this. One step at a time, but we'll do it. What choice do we have?"

"You're afraid?" he asked with disbelief.

"Of course I am." She let out a disbelieving giggle. "I am petrified, Gil." He pulled her to him and she rested her head against his shoulder as he sank deeper into the cushions. "I know nothing about motherhood," she said. "I was kind of hoping that you, -it-all, would be the one who will be all smart-ass and calm about this."

"I'm as clueless as a first-grader here." He smiled down at her. "I went online and downloaded pregnancy info last night, ordered books too. There are so many things to cover. I have a lot of catching up to do."

"We both have a lot of catching up to do."

"Yeah." His embrace loosened as he gave her temple a kiss. "Are you okay? Have you got yourself checked out? We should make an appointment. An ob-gyn, here? Or Vegas?" He continued animatedly.

"Gil… are you really okay with this?" She finally found the courage to ask. "Are you happy?"

He gave her another sweet kiss before hugging her tighter. "To be honest, I don't know."

"Are you mad?"

"No. Of course not." He quickly leveled their gaze. "I'm just…"

"Being you."She continued his sentence, with much less bitterness this time.

He nodded. "Listen. I might not look like an elated father-to-be, but I love you. I love our life together. Therefore I love this child."

The sincerity in his eyes convinced her like it always did, she felt relieved and oh so in love again. The way he put his hand gently against her abdomen erased most of her fears. "But you and our little one might have to be patient with this rather incompatible Dad."

"Our baby is the one who will have to be patient with us, his or her unconventional mom and dad. I'm as little prepared for this as you are."

"Yeah." He grinned down at her. "We need to sleep on this for a few days, you know? Talk further when we're up to it. You need some rest and I think I might have worked up my BP a few notches too high."

"Yeah."

Together they sunk into the cushions, both letting out a deep breaths, only to have Grissom shoot up straight again. "You've been on a long flight."

"Huh?"

"Pregnant women need to be hydrated. Do you want water, fruit? I have some watermelon."

The image of a watermelon slamming onto the floor and breaking into juicy pieces came into Sara's mind. "Let's just sleep," she said chuckling to herself softly. She brought her husband down by the hand, cuddling up to the father of her child, the man she was sure she could always count on. "I don't think our baby and I should come close to watermelon for a while."

EnD

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