Catherine laid quietly, mesmerized by the rise and fall of Gil's chest. She liked hairy chests, but his was the most perfect chest she'd ever seen- even though it was covered lightly with soft grey curls. His lovely blue eyes were hidden behind his eyelids. His beard had grown on her as it had grown on him. No one else in the whole world was allowed to see him so vulnerable, so unguarded, and that was a privilege she was honored to have. She was the only person he confided in, the only woman who knew him physically, and that was more than fine with the both of them.

SOMETIMES I WATCH YOU WHILE YOU'RE SLEEPING
I SEE YOU'RE HAVING DREAMS TONIGHT
AND I KNOW JUST BY THE WAY YOU'RE BREATHING
THAT I'M THE VISION IN YOUR MIND
WHEREVER YOU MAY GO, MY LOVE, WHEREVER YOU MAY BE
ALL THAT MATTERS IN THIS WORLD IS LYING NEXT TO ME
SO SLEEP TIGHT, SWEETHEART
YOU'RE FREE
SO BEAUTIFUL
YOU MAKE ME SMILE
SO WONDERFUL YOU'RE IN MY LIFE
INCREDIBLE THAT YOU ARE MINE
SO BEAUTIFUL
YOU GIVE ME LIGHT
YOU BRING ME JOY
YOU BRING ME SIGHT
I WATCH THE WAY YOUR LOVE YOUR FAMILY
AND HOW EVERYONE LOOKS TO YOU
AND I WOULDN'T BE HERE STANDIN' IF YOU DIDN'T HOLD ME, BABY
HOLD ME UP LIKE YOU DO
WHEREVER I MAY GO, MY LOVE, WHEREVER I MAY BE
KNOW MY DREAMS WILL FIND YOU LYING NEXT TO ME
SO SLEEP TIGHT, SWEETHEART
WE'RE FREE
(CHORUS)
YOU HELP ME SEE THE WOMAN THAT I KNOW I AM BUT ALWAYS WAS AFRAID TO BE
YOU SHOWED ME HOW TO LIVE EVERY MOMENT LIKE IT'S THE LAST
AND TO BE ALL THAT I AM
YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL
YOU'RE SO WONDERFUL
INCREDIBLE
SO BEAUTIFUL

He stirred at her warm touch and smiled sleepily.

"Cath, you OK?" he asked, opening his eyes and turning his head on the pillow.

"Eddie knew," Catherine said matter-of-factly and out of the blue. She raised her head of reddish-blond hair from her lover's chest. Her blue-green eyes began to sparkle. She perched herself up on her elbows and gazed down into Gil Grissom's blue eyes. He took her exquisite face in his gentle, loving hands and stroked her high cheekbones with his thumbs. "He called you my boyfriend a couple of times," she concluded.

"The day he showed up at the lab, the day I had to tell you about the mortgage business. He told me he 'always knew we had a thing'," he said.

She widened her eyes. "Maybe Ed wasn't such a bastard after all," Catherine smirked. Gil chuckled. So he had told them BOTH to their faces that he knew of their love.

"I think that young Greg knows as well," Gil offered. "He was quite concerned about my reaction to Sam's case and the trouble he has caused as your father."

Catherine smiled. "He said to me one time 'I thought you and Grissom were tight?' I answered 'We are.' And Jacqui knows, too. She'd never say anything, but she knows." Gil seemed surprised at that. "We gab over beers," she smirked.

"Jim's a given," said Gil proudly. "He's seen us and been close to us almost as long as we've . well. been together. And Albert knows, too. Once, while we were examining a body, he pulled off a ring and handed it to me, saying "'Something for Catherine.'"

She began to glow. Their marriage of the minds clicked in. "Rory!" they said in unison. They giggled.

"He watched you save my life and protect me with your own that night at the casino," she said gently.

"And he saw you play Florence Nightingale after that suspect practically strangled me to death," he added, perhaps a bit of fear creeping over his handsome features. She smiled and touched his face and neck as tenderly and with as much care as she had that day.

"HMMM," she purred, allowing an air of playful thoughtfulness to settle upon her.

"What?"

"Your hickey is gone," she stated. "We're gonna have to find it," she smirked. He sighed dreamily and closed his eyes as her soft, sweet lips latched onto the left side of his neck.

... They lay snuggled as close as humanly possible as their pleasantly aching bodies calmed down. He was stroking her arm and she was nuzzling his neck.

"I have one that trumps them all, my dear," Gil said softly into her ear.

"Oh?" she asked, intrigued and excited. She raised up and their eyes met.

"Remember when I went off to Jackpot?"

"I remember how much I missed you and that was when I got the check from Sam..."

Gil chuckled. "Well, the entire town believed we were married."

For a moment, she seemed frightened. Then she seemed confused. When a tear trickled down her right cheek, then another down her left, he became worried.

"Cath?"

She wiggled free of his embrace and hopped out of the bed. She grabbed her robe, threw open the bedroom door and ran down the hallway. He laid in astonishment for a few minutes, then went after her, tugging on his striped boxers and plain white tee shirt. He found her on the tiny front porch, curled up on the swing, her shapely legs tucked up under her. He smirked and settled beside her. The night was actually bearable- for Las Vegas in early July that is. There were hundreds of stars shining above them and a rather useless breeze tickled their cheeks. He turned to gaze loving at her.

"That wasn't how I wanted you to take that,"he whispered in her ear.

"They thought you and I were married?"

Gil nodded, "Mhm."

"Why? How did they get that idea? I mean I wasn't even there..."

"Oh, you were there... In spirit... You were with me in my heart and soul... I was simply talking to you on the phone. The sheriff overheard me. When we hung up, he asked 'Trouble with the wife?' and I answered 'Yeah, she hates it when we're apart.' He caught onto our relationship immediately just by hearing us talk to each other over the phone..."

"You said I hate it when we're apart?"

"You do, don't you?"

"... yeah..." she whispered. He moved to take her in his arms. He gasped when she backed away and stood up. That hurt him deeply.

He watched her intently. He stood and walked to her. "What is it, Cath?"

"I'm not good enough for you... I don't deserve you... You'd be better off without me... I only bring you down."

"Nonsense. You are strong, beautiful and intelligent. You lift me up, inspire me... And what's my yin without your yang? Who would find my stamps? Who would tend my wounds and worry about my knees and migraines? And who would I cook for?"

She smirked as he nudged her from behind and wrapped his arms around her. "Gil... I love you."

"I love you, too..."

She turned in his arms to face him and their lips met in a passionate kiss. When they pulled apart, Gil smirked and Catherine sighed.

"I have a question to ask you, Cath," he confessed after a few quiet moments.

"Ask away!" she chirped.

She watched as his eyes began to sparkle. "Just don't make me get down on my knees..."

A question. Down on his knees. It took her a moment, but she got it. She smiled her glorious smile, her tears drying up forever.

"You'd never get up... And the answer is yes."

"I know, my dear."

She smirked at his confidence. They kissed again and the world went away.

Later, as they calmed from yet another passionate and loving joining, he looked deep into her soul.

"Good night, butterfly," he said softly.

She smiled. "I thought I was your grasshopper?"

"You're my everything," he said warmly.