The shrill ring of Catherine Willow's cell phone brought her head up from the massive amounts of paperwork in front of her. Despite the rumor that the holiday season was a cause for more violence and death, the CSI lab had not had to make one call that night. That left them all with loads of paperwork, her and the grave shift supervisor, Gil Grissom, getting the brunt of the work. The phone continued to incessantly ring and Catherine looked at the caller ID. Noticing her daughter's name on the screen, Catherine's emotions split into three neat categories.

The first was panic, a natural instinct when a child calls their parent at 9PM, even if said parent works the night shift. The second was reluctance because if it wasn't an emergency the next option down the line was one of their world class arguments that had been happening more and more frequently since Lindsey's 12th birthday. Okay, if she was being honest it was since her ex-husband and Lindsey's father, Eddie, had died. She had lost a fragile piece of the relationship she had with her child that day and had yet to figure out how to get it back. The third emotion was resignation and it was that emotion that made her pick up the phone.

"Hey Baby," Catherine said into the phone, tucking a piece of her long strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear. She leaned back and rocked slightly on the bouncy springs of her plush black office chair. It was the one thing she had demanded she keep from her short stay as swing-shift supervisor. Well, that and the stapler. Don't ask her why, but it was what she had wanted and since Conrad Ecklie hadn't wanted to incur her wrath he agreed on both objects without comment.

"Mom, I know you said not to call you at work after 9 unless it's an emergency, but technically I started calling you at 8:59. It just took you forever to answer the phone. Geez, what were you doing? Sleeping?" Lindsey's voice chattered over the line and Catherine couldn't help the small smile that spread across her lips at her daughter's exuberance.

"No, I was doing paperwork and I guess I kind of spaced out." Catherine answered.

"Oh," Lindsey said and in Catherine's mind's eye she could almost see her daughter nodding in understanding. "I do that with algebra. I mean, who cares what `x' equals unless it's an amount I can spend at the mall."

Catherine let out a bark of laughter and shook her head. Lindsey reminded her so much of herself at times it was scary. "So what's up, baby? You just call to chat?"

Silence was at the other end of the line and Catherine's smile vanished. "Linds, is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah, Mom. Everything's fine. It's just..." Lindsey said slowly and Catherine felt a headache coming on.

"Just spit it out, Lindsey." Catherine said and she heard Lindsey draw a breath in.

"Okay, well...Tracey just called me..." Lindsey started.

"I thought you were doing your homework?" Catherine interjected.

"Mom! It's holiday break! Homework is soooooooo the last thing on my mind!" Lindsey exclaimed and Catherine apologized, biting back a laugh. "Anyway, she just called me and told me that Katie is having a holiday sleep-over party at her house. It just started and goes into tomorrow afternoon. There's gonna be pizza and ice cream sundaes and then we're going midnight bowling. Tomorrow there's gonna be a DJ starting at noon and she has a heated indoor pool and a game room and a home theater and then we're gonna decorate our own tree. Don't worry cause her mom and aunt are gonna be there too. Probably her dad, older sister, and uncle, but I don't really know yet. Tracey said that only like, 5 girls in the whole grade are invited and Tracey said that since Katie didn't have my number she asked Tracey to call me for her. That's why she called so late. Tracey's mom said she'd swing by and pick me up, as long as you said it was okay. But I need to call her back in like 5 minutes. So can I go, Mom? Please?"

Catherine's head was swimming with all the details her daughter had just thrown at her in such rapid speech and pinched the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes. "Okay, Linds, let's take this one thing at a time. Who's party is this?"

"Katie. Katie Young. She was in my home economics class last semester and in my French class this semester. She's the most popular girl in school!"

"Well, whoo hoo for Katie Young. When is this party again and who is chaperoning?" Catherine said, her voice soft.

"It's tonight and it is a sleep over, so you can pick me up tomorrow at like four. Her mom, dad, sister, and aunt and uncle are gonna be there. Come on, Mom. I told you all this!" Lindsey's voice started to slip into a whine and Catherine felt the pressure of the headache getting closer.

"Lindsey Elizabeth Willows, don't you dare start to whine." Catherine said sternly and Lindsey slipped out an indignant "sorry" over the phone. "Baby, do you realize that tonight is the eve before Christmas Eve? I get off in about an hour. What about our tradition of baking cookies and making popcorn to watch all those Christmas movies until we fall asleep?"

"Mom, you've got to be kidding me? It's one night. We can do that tomorrow. You know, like actually on Christmas Eve. Please? I've never wanted anything so bad in my life!" Lindsey said, her voice pleading.

Catherine thought about the cell phone that her daughter had wanted "so bad" and the $48 wristlet from COACH that she wanted "so bad" and the tropical fish that she killed in a week that she wanted "so bad".

Even so, Catherine remembered what it was like to be that young and wanting to be accepted so much that it hurt. She remembered this Katie girl and she had met her parents more than once at school functions. They were very well off, but they hadn't had any smugness or snobbery to them. In fact, Katie's mother had invited Catherine to join her book club when she learned that they had the same authors in common. She kept meaning to, but never had the time. She trusted Lindsey to them and knew that her daughter would have the time of her life. Still, it hurt to know that Lindsey was prepared to desert the traditions that they had built up over a party.

"Mom?" Lindsey's voice came again, softer this time and less jubilant. Catherine felt a tear slide down her cheek and quickly wiped it away.

"Okay, Linds. You can go. Call me when Tracey's mom drops you off at Katie's house so I can talk to her mother." Catherine said and held the phone away from her ear as her pre-teen daughter screeched louder than a banshee. Catherine said her goodbyes to Lindsey amid the "I love you"s and the "you're the best"s and hung up the phone. She looked at it for a moment and then thunked her head down on her arms across her desk.. Several papers floated from the top of her pile onto the floor and Catherine watched them with a raised eyebrow giving a rueful laugh.

"Ho, ho, ho!" A voice from the door of her office caught her attention and looking up she couldn't help but let out a chuckle. The youngest member of the CSI team, Greg Sanders stood leaning against the doorframe, his ankles crossed and a smirk on his face. He wore black dress pants and a red silk shirt with the collar popped up and his hair spiked as usual. He wore a Santa hat, complete with a jingle bell on the end, cocked to one side of his head and a fake beard. Draped over his shoulder like a jacket would be in a magazine shoot was a medium sized red velour bag.

"Greg, I don't think Santa wears Hugo Boss dress shirts and poses like he's gonna be in GQ magazine." Catherine said, raising her head and looking at him fully.

"Yeah, Santa wishes he looked this good " Greg said and with his free hand popped the collar more causing Catherine to laugh. He grinned and held out the bag. "Time to put your gift in for the secret Santa and then you get yours."

Catherine reached into her desk drawer and pulled out the gift she had gotten for Warrick, who had been the name she pulled. It was a very nice silk tie for him to wear with his dress suits when they went to court or when he took his wife out someplace nice. She had noticed that the colors would bring out those eyes of his that made women everywhere do a double take and drool like puppies. She dropped it gently into the bag and Greg made a low bow, making Catherine roll her eyes in return. He turned his back to her and bent over the bag, his hand rummaging around trying to find her gift.

Catherine felt like bouncing in her seat as she waited, rather impatiently for Greg to pull out her present. She usually managed to squeeze a clue or two out of Greg as to who her secret santa was, but he had caught on rather quickly to her ploys and had even gone as far as to avoid her this year. Just when she was bout to snap, he whirled around and handed her a black shiny wrapped box about the size of his fist tied with red, gold, and silver ribbon.

She looked at it for a moment, blinking in surprise. She knew that wrapping paper. Then again, most women in Las Vegas during Christmas time knew that wrapping paper. The question was who had gone way beyond the $30 limit to get her something from Neiman Marcus. She looked up and blinked again, noticing that Greg had disappeared. Her lips twitched upwards as she heard the faint jingle of his little hat heading towards the lab and Jacqui and Mia.

Her eyes fell upon the little black box now sitting on her desk, the beautiful ribbon glowing brightly under her desk lamp. It sat, mocking her, until she couldn't hold it in any more and slid the ribbon off the box and set it aside. Slipping a manicured nail under the first flap, she felt it give and then she did the same to the other side. She carefully peeled away the wrapping paper and re- folded it, placing it next to the ribbon. Normally she would have just ripped it off in a frenzy, but something about this gift made her feel different. Almost frightened. She sat staring at the box and took a deep breath. Turning the box upside down into her palm, the soft velvet box hit her fingers and she automatically reflexed around it. Turning it right-side up, she took a another breath before cracking open the lid. It was a good thing she had taken a breath before hand because all air left her lungs at the sight of the gorgeous drop earrings nestled inside. She lifted them to the light and could see that depending on what she wore, the ruby drops would either look pink or red. The diamonds sparkled around them and the white gold shone as if it had just been polished.

She looked frantically around the desk, thinking maybe she had missed a card or a note, but there was nothing. Nothing to calm her heart from trying to break its way out of her chest or calm her desire to hit someone. A sudden thought occurred to her and she glared at nothing in particular. Only one person in the lab could have gotten her something this expensive and thought nothing about it.

"Gil Grissom, I'm going to kick your ass." Catherine grabbed the gift and stormed out of her office. She made it to Grissom's office in record time, only to find it was already locked down for the night. "What the hell?"

Catherine turned and ended up bumping into Warrick and Nick, who were coming down the hallway. "Hey Cath!"

"Hey Warrick. Hey Nicky." She said, nodding to them distractedly.

"You looking for Griss?" Nick asked and Catherine nodded again.

"Yeah, he left about a half hour ago. Said something about a date." Warrick said and that caught Catherine's attention. Warrick chuckled and it was his turn to nod. "Yeah, I know. Nick and I nearly passed out when we heard him."

"Do you..." Catherine began to ask, but her voice cracked in the middle. She cleared her throat and tried again, ignoring the looks that both men were giving her. "Do you know who it was with?"

"I don't actually. Greg said something about Lady Heather being back in town. Then again Sofia has been strangely absent. And we all know Sara has been acting rather cheerful for the past couple weeks." Warrick said, trying not to smile as Catherine's face grew paler and paler at each name.

"Yeah, well...I gotta go. Paperwork to finish then home." Catherine said and turned away from Warrick and Nick before they could see the confusion and pain in her eyes.

"Night, Catherine." Nick said, looking at her closely.

"Happy holidays, Cath." Warrick said and they watched their friend and co-worker turn the corner.

Suddenly Nick punched Warrick on the shoulder. The handsome African American turned a surprised look on his friend.

"Sara? What the hell, dude?" Nick asked, his Texan accent coming on thickly.

"Sorry man, just kinda slipped out." Warrick said, trying not to laugh at Nick's unamused face. "It did get her moving pretty rapidly though."

It turned out that maybe it was a little too rapidly, for turning the other corner to her office Catherine went crashing into Sara Sidle who was rounding the corner a file in her hand.

"Whoa " Sara exclaimed, her eyes widening at the turmoil in Catherine's own gaze. "You okay, Cath?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" Catherine snapped, then sighed. "Sorry, I didn't meant o bite your head off."

"Cheer up, Cath. Only 36 minutes before we are all free " Sara said and Catherine tried to give a small smile. "Of course, Grissom bailed out earlier then any of us."

Catherine's eyes grew thoughtful and searching. "What do you know about it?"

Sara gave her a look of innocence mixed with surprise. "Nothing, nothing at all."

Catherine just looked into Sara's face some more before noticing a glint around Sara's neck. A necklace rested where Catherine hadn't noticed one before. It was a strange looking charm, an envelope with a very small diamond tiara at the bottom of the flap.

"Nice necklace." Catherine said, raising an eyebrow. Her prior confidence of who gave Catherine her own gift was slipping.

"Thank you. Yeah, it is really special. The flap opens and there was a engraved note in it. It said three little words I have been waiting to hear for a very long time." Sara said and then slid by a frowning Catherine. She watched Sara turn away then turn back again.

"Hey Cath, did you know the name Sara means princess?" Sara asked and Catherine shook her head, slightly confused as to why it mattered. Sara smiled lightly and touched the necklace resting at her collarbone. "Me either. Nick told me when he personally handed me my secret santa gift. Happy holidays, Cath. I'll see you on Sunday morning for the Christmas brunch at Warrick and Tina's place."

Catherine waved slightly and felt some of the pressure lift off her heart. At least she knew it wasn't Sara who Gil was with tonight. Then the images of either Sofia or Lady Heather being with him entered her mind, making her stomach flip over. She slipped into her office and sat back down at her seat, dropping the box on her desk gently. She leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers, not realzing how much she looked like Grissom when he was in thought.

Why did this bother her so much? It wasn't the gift...okay, not all the gift. She shouldn't care who Grissom went out with, he was just her friend. Okay, best friend. But still that wouldn't explain the nausea she felt or the pounding headache that began the moment she heard the word 'date'. Nor did it explain the irrational urge to rip apart the little Barbie doll wanna-be with the funky accent that he was probably out with. She didn't know why she had decided on Sofia being the person he had made a date. Probably because thinking about him being with Lady Heather was too painful. Truth was, she liked Lady Heather. If things were different, Catherine was pretty sure that they would have been great friends.

Catherine's phone chirped causing her to jump and look at the screen. It said she had a voicemail and with a grimace she remembered her daughter was supposed to phone back. She listened to Lindsey call her out on being spacey tonight and then as Katie's mother explained all the details of tomorrow. After saving the message, Catherine glanced at the pile of paperwork she had left to do and then the clock. Seeing that she had another twenty minutes to go, she practically growled.

"Forget this." She muttered and grabbed the files, leaving the ones on the floor where they were. She'd deal with it on Monday. Grabbing her coat and gloves from the small peg by the door she almost forgot the small gift on her desk, until she was halfway out of the room. With a heavy sigh, she turned back and quickly grabbed the gift, putting it gently into her jacket pocket where it practically burned a whole the entire trip home.

She pulled up into her driveway and parked her black Denali. She looked at her house a moment and sighed. Lindsey was gone and her mother was probably asleep, not that she wanted to talk to her anyway. All they did was fight and she was pretty sure that it was part of the problem between her and Lindsey. Some great role models her and her mother were, bickering at every turn. When she finally managed to drag herself to the door she turned the key in the lock and frowned. She swore she could hear the faint sounds of the Trans- Siberian Orchestra playing and sure enough when she pushed open the door, the music grew louder. A glow emanated from the living room and the music could be heard from that direction. She dropped the paperwork on the foyer table and when to reach for her gun, only to realize since she wasn't working a case it wasn't on her. She looked around for some type of weapon and grabbed the first blunt object she could find. It ended up being a heavy porcelain statue of Santa Claus that was sitting on the same foyer table. Gripping it like a baseball bat, Catherine tip-toed into the living room and stopped dead at the sight before her.

The glow that she had seen was caused by dozens of candles lit around the room, a fire blazing in the fireplace and the twinkle of her large Christmas tree. No other lights were on and it looked like a scene from one of the sappy holiday movies that her and Lindsey sighed over every year. On the coffee table was a bucket of champagne and two flutes already filled. A throat cleared behind her and Catherine whirled around, the porcelain Santa raised and ready. A throaty laugh met her angry gaze and she slowly lowered the figurine.

"What were you going to do, Cath? Beat some holiday spirit into the intruder?" Gil Grissom asked before laughing again. She merely raised an eyebrow and slumped down to sit on the arm of the couch.

"Gil, what the hell are you doing here? How did you get in? Did you do all this?" Catherine asked when she was able to talk without yelling at him.

Gil raised his hands then slowly walked towards her. "I was let in by your daughter, who was chattering a million miles a minutes about some party before she left with a girl named Tracey and her mother. Your mother, however, is at Nancy's tonight babysitting for Jeremy and is staying the night there. Yes, I did all this and we'll get to the why in a second. As soon as I relieve you of your...uh...weapon."

Taking the statue from her hands he placed the poor thing out of harm's way and bit back another chuckle. He slipped her jacket off, murmuring a comment of appreciation for her low cut red blouse and velour slacks. Despite her annoyance with him at the moment, she felt a smile creep onto her lips.

"What? This old thing?" Catherine asked and it was his turn to raise an eyebrow. They both knew that this was the same outfit she had bitched and moaned about costing one third of her paycheck, but she had bought it because it had looked terrific on her. She grinned at him and moved to sit on the actual couch, lifting one of the champagne flutes to her lips. To her surprise it was still chilled. Gil was watching her and she shifted uncomfortably for a moment before steeling her nerves. If he was gonna play this game, so would she. After all, she was better at than he was.

Leaning back against the sofa, she placed her now shoeless feet on top of the coffee table. She crossed her ankles and settled into the deep cushions, knowing that by doing so her blouse moved up to show the slightest hint of her stomach. She sipped her champagne again and nodded to him.

"Sit with me. The champagne is amazing." Catherine said, making her voice two octaves lower on purpose. She watched Gil's jaw tick slightly as he backed up a step.

"Give me one second." He said and disappeared into the kitchen. Catherine smirked in victory and leaned her head back, resting her eyes. They popped open seconds later when she felt the sofa shift and a presence next to her. Gil was sitting next to and holding out a strawberry.

"Here, they bring out the flavor of the champagne." He said and without a word she leaned forward and took a bite out of the sweet fruit. She swallowed the strawberry and the sipped her flute again. Then she nearly choked on the alcohol when Gil reached up with his thumb and gently swiped away some that had been left on her lower lip. Her eyes met his and she was nearly blown over by the dark pools of blue that had become his gaze.

Taking a chance she leaned forward and brushed her lips across his. The kiss grew from a butterfly touch into a deeper yearning. They began teasing, tasting, each other's mouths until finally they broke apart. Pulling back she saw his eyes open and a look of pure joy flit across his face.

"Gil, what is all this? Why...?" Catherine asked, trying to search for a reason while her brain and heart tried to catch up to her libido.

"Catherine, I've wanted to do this for a long time. I've loved you ever since I can remember." Gil said, leaning back against the couch as well.

Catherine's breath caught in her throat and she turned a stunned and glistening gaze on him. "You what?"

"I love you, Catherine. I love everything about you. Some people said that I should find someone more like me. Someone else who takes science as cold hard facts and doesn't socialize as much. Someone quieter and more down to earth. But Catherine, that's not what I want and it's definitely not what I need. I need you. You, who makes me realize that emotions come into play in every situation and who makes me reach out to people to show that I care. You, who instead of grounding me to earth, shows me that I can touch even heaven if you are by my side."

"Gil, I..." Catherine said, her voice cracking as tears of the same pure joy that was in his gaze trailed down her cheeks. "I never knew. I never even suspected. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I never had the courage to tell you or to do anything about it until this year. And then I had to wait for the right time." Gil said, knowing that while she still hadn't said the words, all he needed to know was in her eyes.

"What made this year different?"

Gil sighed and shrugged slightly. "A couple things actually. I don't know how to explain it. After what happened with Nick, I was like Warrick. I realized life can be so short. Of course I didn't marry the woman I was seeing at the time, but still..."

"You were seeing someone? Why didn't I know? Do I know her?" Catherine interrupted causing him to raise an eyebrow. "Sorry, you're right. Doesn't matter. Please continue."

Gil sighed again and lay his head back against the sofa. He was quiet for a moment and then he spoke, with guilt and pain in his voice. "Do you know I have never told Nick that I was proud of him? Not once. I don't think I've ever said that to one of our guys."

Catherine looked at the guilt written across his face and she felt her heart break for him. She placed a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "Oh Gil, he knows. They all know."

Gil just nodded and reaching up, he took her hand and kissed the palm of it gently. Her eyes widened and she cleared her throat before speaking again. "What else? You said a couple things."

"Well the fact that I had permission to finally date you." Gil chuckled and Catherine turned a stun look on him.

"From who?" She asked, her face angry at the thought of someone giving out permission to date her.

"Your daughter." Gil said and laughed when all Catherine could do was open and close her mouth a couple times. She glared and regained speech.

"When did you talk to Lindsey?"

"Um, well, actually she went with me to pick out your Christmas gift. We had to have a long talk after that." Gil said, rubbing the back of his neck gently. Catherine nodded and smiled, thinking of her earrings and all the questions that her pre-teen daughter would have asked at the sight of them.

"I'm surprised that you managed to take my daughter shopping and not be wheedled into buying her something." Catherine said moving to pick up her champagne flute again. Seeing Gil's face she stopped and frowned. "What?"

"Actually, I did buy her something. They are just at my place until Christmas" Gil said and looked at her sheepishly. "Something called oogs or..."

"Uggs?" Catherine exclaimed, sitting straight up and looking at him in shock. "You bought my twelve and a half year old daughter $80 boots?"

"Um...well...if you want the truth. She couldn't decide between the black ones and the tan ones. She wanted each of them so bad that I sort of bought her both pairs." Gil trailed off and Catherine slumped down into the couch, her face expressionless for a moment. Gil watched her, worriedly.

Catherine placed her face in her hands and her long hair covered her, so Gil couldn't see what was happening. Her shoulders began to shake and Gil panicked.

"Cath? Catherine, are you ok?" Gil asked and pulled back in surprise as Catherine let her head fall back as laughter sounded out in the room. Gil watched her laugh until tears streamed down her face and it was all he could not to call Al Robbins and ask for the beginning signs of hysteria.

Catherine finally calmed down and patted her cheeks dry, grinning at Gil. "I can't believe she pulled the `so bad' routine on you. Oh, Gil, I already bought her the pink ones for Christmas and she knows it. She played you like a fine violin."

Gil looked at her a moment before bursting into laughter himself. He maneuvered himself so that he was lying down with her snuggled up into his side closest to the back of the sofa.

"Gil," Catherine said her eyes staring at the flickering flames before her. "I'm glad you got permission even if it did cost you $160. Because...I love you too. I'm sorry I didn't say it earlier."

He smiled at her words and kissed the top of her head. "Cath, I just count myself lucky that you love me at all. When you actually said the words is irrelevant."

Grabbing the CD player remote, he turned the music up slightly. She sighed and closed her eyes, placing her right hand over his heart and smiling when his hand closed over top hers.

"Why don't you take a small nap? I have plans for you later." Gil said, his voice husky and full of love. It actually sounded no different than his normal voice when talking to her alone and it shook Catherine to the core to realize that. He really had truly loved her for the longest time. She snuggled closer and grinned.

"Promises, promises." She muttered, causing him to chuckle lightly. Soon she had drifted off into a comfortable sleep and Gil took this opportunity to study her in the firelight.

He knew that the gift she thought he had gotten her for Christmas was the same thing she got for secret santa. Little did she know that a diamond promise ring awaited her Christmas morning under her tree. They weren't ready for an engagement ring yet, they knew so little about each other really. They had to take things slowly, for all their sakes but especially Lindsey. She was okay with everything so far, but it had been a long time since she had a steady man in her mother's life. He also wanted to make sure she knew he wasn't trying to take Eddie's place. While he despised the man as a human being and husband, he had been a caring father. He had wonderful memories of his own father and he wouldn't mess up Lindsey's of her own for all the world. Gil wasn't worried though. The holidays weren't a time to worry. They were a time for things like joy, and love, and hope. And for the first time, in a long time those were things that Gil Grissom knew he had plenty of in his life.

THE END