A/N: I honestly can't remember if I was able to reply to all of last chapter's reviews, if any. If I didn't, I am so sorry! It's been one heck of a week at work and I have a lot of catching up to do.

This chapter brings this story to an end! Thanks to everyone who has left a review, I really appreciate it. I'm currently in my local PD's Citizen's Police Academy, and have been covering a murder trial for the last few weeks, so I have lots of story ideas a'brewin' :)

Enjoy!

The day after their picnic, Grissom took Sara to a drive-in movie and they cuddled in the front seat under a few layers of blankets. The next day, they took a day trip to Primm to ride Grissom's favorite roller coaster half a dozen times before lunch. He took her on date after date, launched her with surprise after surprise, and every day, the knot in her stomach would feel just a little bit looser.

Sara began to feel like she had in the early days of their relationship – blissfully happy, anxiously excited to see what each day would bring and wondering if it was too good to be true. They were each slowly realizing that their big problems didn't seem so big if they both worked a little at it.

And they were. They talked – really talked – which Sara was willing to bet was a first in their relationship. Grissom kept his promise; even after Sara was cleared by her doctor and returned to work, he stayed. Sara fell asleep beside him each night, woke up next to him the following morning and his rapidly improving cooking skills provided her meals after work.

She kept waiting for something to happen; kept waiting for it all to fall apart. She wished she could revel in the happiness and let herself believe that, finally, everything was going to be okay, but that was who she was. There had been so much of the bad, she couldn't let herself trust the good.

But four months to the day after she'd been released from the hospital, her husband was still there.

She came home from a particularly grueling shift that night, looking forward to a blissful three days off. The house was eerily dark and quiet when she walked in. She absolutely loved the house she and Grissom had bought when she returned from Paris to work in Vegas, but though it allowed them to keep a number of beautiful plants, the amount of windows and glass walls did still unnerve her at night.

"Gil?" she called out.

"In here," she heard her husband call back.

She dropped her coat and keys in the kitchen and made her way to the bedroom, where she guessed Grissom was hiding. Her hunch was right – he was sitting on the bed, waiting for her. The lights were off in here too, but he had placed teacup candles on every inch of every flat surface available. Sara giggled softly.

"What's all this for?"

"You," Grissom replied.

He got up and retrieved two glasses of wine from the dresser.

"I figured since I missed our anniversary," he went on. "And… well, my last romantic gesture didn't go so well…"

"You mean the one where I almost shot you?"

"That's the one," Grissom said with a hint of a smile. "Well, I figured I owe you one."

Sara put her wine carefully back in its place, freeing her hands to slide across her husband's chest.

"You didn't," she said. "But thank you."

Grissom smiled wider and put his glass next to Sara's, putting his free hands on the small of her back and drawing her close. She leaned into him, kissing near his ear and holding her face close to his cheek. He kept one hand pressed firmly into her back, but the other was much more gentle, sliding up into her hair and trailing down her neck.

She kissed her way over to his lips, pulling him in for a kiss. It was deep and so gentle, she let the softest of moans escape from her throat. She wanted him to kiss her like this until the end of time.

"I want you to know," Grissom murmured against her lips.

"Later," Sara murmured back, desperate for him to keep kissing her.

Grissom chuckled.

"No," he whispered, giving her a few quick kisses before pulling away. "I have something to tell you."

Sara's heart skipped a beat.

"What?"

"I want you to know," he repeated, his hand still twirling her hair lightly. "That these last few weeks have been…"

He placed a kiss near the corner of her mouth.

"So," he continued quietly. "I've decided to take a position at UNLV."

Sara pulled back abruptly.

"Here? In Vegas?"

"That's where UNLV is, honey," he chuckled.

She grabbed his head with both hands and kissed him so hard, he stumbled back a little. She couldn't stop smiling.

"What will you be doing?" she asked, breathless.

"Consulting, at first," Grissom answered. "They're looking at adding a forensics branch to their science department. They're looking for advice, how to get started…"

"You'll be perfect for it," Sara grinned.

"I thought you might approve," Grissom said.

He trailed a finger along her jaw line, from her ear to her chin.

"Thank you," Sara wavered, going from ecstatic to emotional in two seconds flat.

"Thank you," Grissom said.

Sara dove at him, pushing him back the remaining couple of inches to the bed.

"Hey, hey," he murmured. "Slow it down."

But Sara didn't want to slow down. She knew what she wanted and she wanted it now. Despite all of their happiness in the last couple of months, they hadn't slept together since Grissom had promised to stay in Las Vegas. He had tried to initiate a few times, but once she put on the breaks, he has stopped, point blank, and didn't question why. She was glad for that, because she wasn't sure why herself. Maybe it was the tiny piece still nagging her that this wouldn't last; her lingering, cautious doubt. But tonight, he had proved that he loved her, and she wanted to do the same.

She pulled back suddenly, keeping him in place with a flat palm.

"Stay here."

"Wait – Sara – I didn't mean that slow!" Grissom half-laughed.

Sara tossed him a teasing look, grabbed something from the dresser drawer and sneaked away to the bathroom. Pressing the door shut behind her, she shed her clothes and wiggled into Grissom's surprise – the deep purple teddy he had left behind in her drawer so long ago. She hadn't got a chance to wear it, and thought tonight was perfect for a debut.

She was already looking a little tousled, due to their frolic in the bedroom, but she shook her curls loose with her fingers and dabbed just a touch of perfume on her collarbone. Leaving her clothes on the tiled floor, she slipped back into the bedroom. When her husband's blue eyes rested on her, his expression softened, smiling.

"You're forgiven," he said. "This is worth pausing for."

Sara giggled and went to him, settling him against the pillow and sitting astride his chest.

"Where were we?" she asked huskily.

Grissom grabbed her shoulders, and her knees gave out, pushing her full weight against him. They kissed as they tumbled around, flipping each other from top to bottom to top again. The purple satin lace made her feel beautiful, but under Grissom's touch, she felt loved.

She felt an overwhelming need to feel his skin against hers, and stripped him of his shirt and pants, pressing herself to his chest. The top of the lingerie was cut low, giving even her modest breasts some cleavage. Grissom's body was warm and the feel of his soft chest hair made her own chest flush with heat.

She trailed her hands down his sides and hooked her thumbs on the elastic band of his boxers. She pulled them down as far as she could, Grissom kicking them off with his feet when she could get no further. She flipped him to the bottom and kissed his chest, then above his naval.

"Hey," Grissom said lowly. "I think I'm at a slight disadvantage here."

He rolled her beneath him with a move reminiscent of a much-younger man, and pushed the hem of the purple teddy past her waist. She'd left her underwear discarded amongst her other clothes in the bathroom, and the discovery sparked a mischievous twinkle in Grissom's eye.

He pulled the teddy up further, up and over her head, leaving her sprawled naked below him.

"We're even now," Sara murmured.

Grissom dipped between her breasts, his beard scratching against the tender flesh, and kissed every inch of the area.

"It may be quite possible," he said. "That you've gotten even more beautiful, honey."

He planted another kiss on her neck, and finally, on her lips.

"Are you ready?" he asked gruffly.

She nodded against the pillows.

His gaze never leaving hers, he lifted her leg from the mattress, hooking it around his waist, leaving her ready to accept him. She felt him smile against her lips when he slipped inside her.

She closed her eyes and moaned again, feeling her body widen to fit around him.

"Oh, God," she murmured.

He smiled wider and pressed her even closer to him, and beginning to move inside her. In the dark, Sara could hardly tell where her limbs ended and Grissom's began.

They fell into a rhythm easily, their bodies instantly molding back into the matching puzzle piece they remembered. Sara lifted her hips with each thrust, and the moment his stubble-covered chin returned to nuzzle her breast, she felt the swell of her orgasm rise deep within her.

"Gil," she panted.

"Go," he urged, nipping at her lower lip. "Go."

Her thighs trembled, and she felt all remaining control of her body flow away. Inside her, she could feel the last twitching of Grissom's own orgasm, and as she regained her breath, he kissed her damp hair.

"You really are the most beautiful thing in my life," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you."

Both of them still flushed from sex, they gathered each other up in the other's arms, huddled close and reveling in the scent and feel of the other's body. Sara drifted off to sleep in a muddled, but happy state of mind, finally put at ease and comforted by thought of waking up beside her husband in just a few hours' time.

And then again the next day, and the next.