Title: The Rainbow Smile
Author: IrishDachsie
Pairing: Grissom/Sara
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Again…I own nothing. No money is being made from this story. This
is a slightly sad story…and there will be no follow-up to it.
He sat on the bench, the warmth of the spring
sun reddening his forearms. He watched the children playing on the playground,
his sunglasses hiding his eyes. He smiled at one particular child as the boy
waved before running up to him. Grissom placed his bottle of water on the
ground just as the boy leapt onto the bench beside of him, his bright blue eyes
holding the excitement he could no longer contain.
"Daddy!" The boy jumped into Grissom’s lap and wrapped his
thin arms around his neck.
Grissom’s smile grew as his arms pulled the
child closer to him in a warm embrace. "Hi, Caleb…how was your day?"
Four-year-old Caleb Grissom leaned back in his
father’s arms and giggled. "I played with Teddy today. And then his sister
got mad at us. And then I found some more bugs. And…I’m thirsty,
can I have some of your water, Daddy?"
Grissom chuckled, picked up his bottle of
water and handed it to Caleb. "Why did Teddy’s sister get mad at
you?"
Caleb pulled the bottle away from his mouth,
spilling some of the cool liquid down the front of his shirt. He shrugged his
small shoulders. "She don’t like bugs."
Grissom tried to hide his smile as the simple
statement said more than the four words that has spilled out of his son’s
mouth. "She doesn’t like bugs…not ‘don’t’…"
He squinted his eyes
from the bright sun as two small hands pulled the sunglasses from his face. "Daddy?"
He saw his reflection in the glasses that his
son now wore. He shook his head lightly, not really realizing until that moment
that he looked as bad as he did. "Yes, Caleb?"
"Can we get ice cream?"
He stood up, holding the young boy in his
arms. "Maybe after dinner…"
Caleb pulled the glasses off and shoved them
into his father’s shirt pocket with the care that only a four-year-old boy
possesses. "What’s for dinner?"
He placed Caleb on the ground and slipped his
sunglasses back on. "What do you want?"
"Mickdonnall’s?"
Grissom always smiled at Caleb’s pronunciation
of ‘McDonald’s’. This time was no exception. His hand ruffled Caleb’s hair as
they walked towards the car. "You want McDonald’s?"
"Yeah! Cheeburger an’ fries!" Caleb jumped up and down excitedly.
"Is Mommy comin’ too?"
Grissom dug his hands into his pockets as he
looked into the blue eyes staring up at him. He knew this question was bound to
come up. They rarely had dinner separately. He gently fingered the rings in his
pocket as he pulled the car keys out of the opposite pocket.
"Well…not tonight, buddy. Mommy had to go
to the doctor. So…it’s just us guys and McDonald’s, okay?"
Caleb nodded, his
smile widening as he grabbed Grissom’s hand. "Okay, Daddy!"
He watched his son climb into the car and
fasten the seatbelt. His smile faded somewhat as he walked around the car to
slide into the driver’s seat.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Grissom grinned as Caleb chattered quickly, pausing
only to shove a small handful of fries into his mouth.
"An’ then…we went…"
"Caleb, don’t talk with your mouth
full…"
The boy swallowed his food and took a drink of
his Sprite. "We went outside an’ I seed this big bug…"
"Saw…not ‘seed’…" Grissom gently
corrected the boy.
"Yeah, I saw this bug an’ it was big an’
green…an’ Teddy throwed it…"
"Threw…not ‘throwed’…"
Grissom smiled.
"Yeah, Teddy threw it at Hannah…an’ she
screamed…" Caleb finished his story with a typical boyish giggle.
Grissom succeeded in controlling his own
laughter. "Caleb…you know, it’s really not nice to throw bugs at little
girls…"
Caleb’s eyes turned serious. "I didn’t,
Daddy…I just laughed…"
Grissom couldn’t stop the chuckle that time.
They laughed together as they finished their dinner. A baby’s cry diverted
Grissom’s attention for a moment.
"Hey, Daddy…that little boy has a sister!
Just like me, one day!"
"Yeah…one day, Caleb…" Though his
tone was filled with sadness, he still offered his son a smile.
As his cell phone began to ring, Caleb turned
his attention back to his half-eaten cheeseburger.
He sighed and flipped the phone open. "Grissom."
"Hey, how are you?"
He took a deep breath. "I’m okay,
Catherine. Just having dinner with Caleb."
After a brief moment of silence, Catherine
sighed. "I was going to take Sara home, but…she really wants you and
Caleb…"
Grissom glanced at his watch. "Is she
already ready to be discharged?"
"She has been for a while, but she
figured Caleb would rope you into going to McDonald’s…"
Grissom chuckled softly. "Yeah…"
"Gil, have you said anything to
him?"
Grissom’s eyes focused on his son happily
chewing the rest of his burger. "No…Sara and I wanted to do that
together…uh…tell her that we’ll be there in about fifteen minutes, okay?"
"Sure, Gil…"
"And, Catherine?"
"Yeah?"
He inhaled deeply, exhaling softly. "Tell
her…tell her that I love her…"
He hung up the phone before she had a chance
to answer him. Gathering the trash from the table, he smiled at Caleb.
"Okay, Trigger…you
ready to go get Mommy from the doctor?"
Caleb jumped up and clapped his hands
together. "Yeah!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They walked into the hospital room, Grissom
holding Caleb’s hand tightly. He fought back his tears as he saw Sara sitting
on the bed, her puffy eyes staring out the window. Catherine lightly tapped her
knee as she rose from the chair.
Caleb squeezed Grissom’s hand, prompting him
to look down at the boy. "What’s wrong with Mommy?"
Grissom sighed as Catherine knelt in front of
Caleb. "Hey there, Caleb…"
"Hi, Rat…"
Catherine laughed softly. The name he had called
her when he was first learning to talk had stuck, even though he could easily
say ‘Cath’ or ‘Catherine’ now.
Caleb let go of his father’s hand and ran to
the bed. "Mommy!"
Sara ruffled her son’s hair and smiled.
"Hey, Trigger…did you have a good day today?"
"Yep!" He reached his arms up to her. "Want a hug,
Mommy!"
Grissom quickly made his way to the bed and
lifted their son onto the mattress. Sara looked at him through sad eyes as she
wrapped her arms around the boy. As a tear escaped her eye, Grissom leaned over
and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
As Caleb released his hold on his mother, Sara
looked down at her left hand. "Rings…I need my rings. I can’t believe they
made me take them off…"
"Shh…"
Grissom stroked her hair gently as he pulled the diamond engagement ring and
wedding band from his pocket. After he slipped them back onto her finger, he
lifted Caleb from the bed.
Reaching out and taking his wife’s hand, his
own tear trickled down his face. "Let’s go home, honey."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Catherine watched the family of now three as
they pulled out of the parking lot. She looked up at the sky and smiled as she
saw the rainbow peeking out from behind the clouds. Turning, she made her way
to her own car…her own home…her own daughter…
~ End