“Is this alright?”

Gil rolled over onto his back, pulling Catherine next to him. “Is what alright?”

“This?”

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”

Catherine sighed, running her hand up to Gil’s shoulder. “This.” She asked again, gesturing between the two of them. “We haven’t done this before.”

“This isn’t the first time that we’ve…”

“It’s the first time we’ve slept together. The first time we’ve both been off together since we were split up, since we started…”

“Sleeping together?” Gil grinned.

“Stop giving me a hard time.”

“I’m sorry. I just don’t understand what the problem is.”

“It’s not really a problem. I just realized I don’t know what you like.”

He pulled her closer, slipping his arm around her. “Trust me. You definitely know what I like.”

“I didn’t mean that.”

“I’m not going to get any sleep tonight, am I?”

“Gil…”

“Go on.” He said, turning his head slightly to give her his full attention.

“Do you like that side of the bed? I never even asked. Do you want to lay over here? I don’t mind switching sides.”

“I’m fine where I’m at, Cath. What’s this all about?”

“You’re sure?”

“Catherine…”

She nodded. “Is it silly that I’m nervous?”

“You’re nervous about this?”

“Gil, we’ve never done this before. We cuddle after we make love and then one of us has to leave. I have to go to work, you have to go to work, I need to pick up Lindsey, you have to…”

“Go back to work.”

Catherine smiled. “It’s just… I don’t know. I’m just being weird. I just don’t know what to expect.”

“You’re not being weird.” He replied automatically, pulling her onto his chest, brushing her hair out of her face before pulling her into a kiss. “Tell me what you are worried about.”

“Do you talk in your sleep? Or snore? Or kick a lot? Or…”

“Catherine…. I know that isn’t…”

She sighed. “I guess I just started thinking. There’s so much we don’t know about each other.”

“What do you want to know?”

She looked at him, thinking carefully. “Anything?”

He nodded, watching the sparkle in her eyes.

“Tell me a story.”

“A story? Aren’t you a little old for bedtime stories?”

“Not that kind of story. Tell me something about your life. I want a story about you, something I don’t know.”

“There isn’t really anything you don’t know.” He put his finger to Catherine’s mouth as she started to protest. “Let me think of something interesting. I could tell you I had a dog as a kid, but that isn’t really much of a story.”

“What kind?”

“Of dog? It was just a little mutt. He showed up in our backyard one day and I convinced my dad to let me keep him.”

“What did you name him?”

“Scruffy.”

She smiled. “That’s adorable. How old were you?”

“Four.”

Catherine’s smile grew as the image of a four-year old Grissom came to mind. “I bet you were just unbelievably cute. I can picture it now. You, running around in your back yard with a stick. Bare-feet. Shorts. Your hair an unruly little mop. I bet those curls of yours were a little wild back then.” She stopped, seeing the slight blush rise to his cheeks. “Don’t be embarrassed.” She leaned down, kissing him soundly on the lips. “I love you. So… what happened to the dog?”

“My, um, father left a year later. He took Scruffy with him.”

“Gil! I’m so sorry.” She ran her hand up to his face, gently rubbing her thumb back and forth across his cheek.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know. But I’m the one that forced you to tell me that story.”

“You didn’t force me to tell you anything. I could have told you anything. That just happened to be what tumbled out.”

“Want to tell me something different?”

“Like what?” Gil asked.

“Tell me a happy story.”

Gil looked at her and brought his hand up to cover the one on his cheek. “You are my happy story.”

~finis~