Grissom opened the cell phone and glanced briefly at the display. It was a habit relatively newly acquired that had him checking for new voicemails. Unfortunately, there were none tonight. He closed the cell phone and made to tuck it into his pocket when he stopped.

He turned and levered himself into the SUV and put the phone into the car's specially designed holster. Then, he pushed the hands-free plug into it and placed the ear piece comfortably over his right ear. He preferred to use his left ear, but the wire was an issue. He made a mental note to ask Lindsey about a wireless hands-free device.

This time, he glanced at the clock display on the SUV's dashboard. It remained blank until Grissom tiredly reminded himself that he had yet to start the car. A seed of doubt crept into his mind as he turned the key in the ignition and wondered why he had not taken Catherine's offer to come on this last trip with him. At the very least, she could have driven home while he slept.

However, this would be the final trip for the last of his mother's possessions rested in boxes and at odd angles in the backseat and in the trunk. The passenger seat contained a few fragile glass items that had come only after Grissom saw there was room to bring them.

Finally, on the road headed north, he pushed 'play' on the cd player and winced; he had forgotten Catherine and Lindsey had been on one of their heinous shopping trips with the SUV. His fingers hovered over the 'stop/eject' button but a rare show of loneliness stopped him; instead, he turned the volume dial until the noise became a quiet background murmur.

He fell, mile by mile, into a thoughtless drive mode until he realized the gas tank needed to be filled soon. He also noted that he had neglected, yet again, to reset the trip meter so Catherine could analyze their miles per gallon. A glaring round one-thousand miles reflected two of these round trips or nearly so. The six-hundred mile round trip from Las Vegas to Santa Monica and back began to press down uncharacteristically upon him. Maybe he had been away from home too long.

He pulled into a familiar gas station and bought a drink and a snack while the gas tank filled. Then, when he had returned to driving for about half an hour, his cell phone rang.

"Hi, Gil," breathed an enthusiastic, adolescent voice.

His face broke into a smirk that translated itself into his voice. "Hi, Lindsey," he answered, diligently following their usual pattern for phone calls.

"So...where're you?" she asked.

"Wondering why you aren't asleep."

"It's only ten o'clock, Gil." He visualized the dramatic eye rolling that certainly must have accompanied her answer.

Then, she laughed as though the thought just occurred to her. "Except, it's twenty-hundred hours for you."

Gil smiled. That was true. It had happened one too many times during trips for seminars that he had called at the wrong ten o'clock and had woken Catherine. It was notoriously difficult for her to return to sleep once jarred awake. Though she always tried not to be irritated with Lindsey because of his mistake, Lindsey had taken pity on them both and had bought him a watch with its digital output set to military time.

"I'll answer you if you answer me," came Lindsey's segue once her laughter stopped.

"I'm still about two hours away," he answered.

"Oh, good!" she exclaimed brightly.

Wariness immediately woke Grissom into full alertness. However before he could insist that Catherine come to the phone and inform him of their lovely daughter's plans, Lindsey sang a cheerful farewell and ended the call.

Catherine knew he hated surprises so she always gave him enough of a warning when it came to Lindsey's stunts; no warning from Catherine normally meant two things. One, whatever was going to happen was actually Catherine's idea and, two, he probably would not be at risk for an early heart attack because of it.

Two hours later, he pulled into the parking lot of an often frequented diner to stretch his legs and to indulge in a restroom break. Home was still a half-hour away but Catherine always instead on two hour stretches followed by rest whenever they traveled by car.

So, he walked about gingerly before entering the diner to use their restroom and to order a cup of coffee. He had finished making an awkward turn when he spotted a car, which he knew very well. It was a convertible that he normally hated to drive; nowadays, they kept it in good condition because Lindsey loved it. The bargain was, if her grades were good and she drove responsibly, the convertible would be hers at graduation.

A series of odd taps called his attention to the diner's window closest to the car. Beyond the glass were two cherished faces smiling at him: Lindsey and Catherine.

He gave a brief wave, entered the diner, used the restroom, and finally joined them at their booth.

"Surprise!" Lindsey cried as her greeting.

Grissom teased her with the usual nonsense while Catherine looked for the waitress. It was for moments like this that Grissom thanked God every night and cherished the events that had led the three of them to now. If asked whether the changes he had made to his life and eventually his personality had been worth it, he could answer with complete honesty that he did not regret any of it.

He caught Catherine's eyes and smiled for her.

She said, albeit sheepishly, "I couldn't sleep."

Her inflection upon the admission told him to hear between the words and, to show he understood, answered by replying, "I'm glad you couldn't."

Lindsey piped in with a random observation, "Isn't it funny that, for once, we're meeting Gil someplace instead of Gil meeting us?"

It was Catherine who said, on a laugh, "Well, this is a day for milestones, isn't it?"

Their food arrived, but Grissom was too curious to eat. He wanted to know what had occurred during his absence; he fixed a look on them.

Catherine, of course, was impervious to his looks so she ignored him. On the other hand, Lindsey shifted, not with nervousness, but with excitement.

"You know already that Mom wanted to go to Santa Monica with you so me and Grandma could have time together," she stated.

It was not news to him that his mother had been having a little difficulty in living with Catherine and Lindsey, the latter in particular. Catherine, strangely enough, knew some sign language, but communication was both frustrating and difficult between Lindsey and his mother.

"What you don't know," she continued, "is that I've been trying to learn sign language." She grinned proudly. "Today, I managed to say 'Can I call you Grandma?' to Grandma. She burst out crying."

Catherine laughed hard, shaking the table with her mirth. "She says that like crying is a good thing."

Set on the defensive, Lindsey said, "At least she was happy!" She turned to Grissom to say, "And, so you know, she said yes."

Lindsey and Catherine continued a mildly heated discussion on the merits of crying and of crying happily, in particular, which sounded as though they had been having it the entire day. Meanwhile, Grissom silently contemplated his family. While he was happy that the apparent breach between Lindsey and his mother had been sealed, he was happier that, when the opportunity had risen for him and Catherine to take that step into a relationship, they had not shied away. Everything he had, right now, in his life--even the superficial animosity between his daughter and his mother--came from that single moment and decision.

He took a moment to pray that their lives would hold many more milestones for all four of them.

FIN