Family - by kyrdwyn

Gil Grissom stood next to the glass window and stared into the room beyond. Out of the dozen or so cradles in the room, he only saw two. The handwritten signs on the cradles reflected how little time had passed since their occupants had arrived. 'Baby Boy Grissom' and 'Baby Girl Grissom' were barely three hours old, asleep under the watchful eyes of the nurses. Their mother was asleep in her room down the hall, exhausted from the lengthy delivery. His daughter had waited until sixteen hours after labor began to make her entry into the world. His son had waited a full twenty minutes before deciding to follow his sister.

His son. His daughter. He watched them as they slept. He remembered how it felt when he had first held each of them. A sudden, humbling, realization that these tiny human beings were new lives he had helped create. A strong mixture of love and protectiveness rushed through him.

Two nurses moved into his line of sight, blocking his children from view. Gil moved away from the window, a bit reluctantly. He could spend hours watching them, if he were able. But there was someone else who needed his attention as well. Someone just as special to him.

Jana was still asleep when he entered the room. He sat down in the chair next to her bed and took her hand in his. Her blonde hair was tangled, her face still a little creased from the effort of producing two children. She had never looked more beautiful to him. He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. She stirred a little, but didn't wake up.

A soft noise from the doorway made him turn his head. Sara and Warrick stood there, both looking uncertain. He smiled at them and put Jana's hand back on the bed before he got up to join them in the hallway.

"How is she?" Warrick asked.

Gil smiled. "Tired, as expected, but otherwise fine."

"You never called," Sara said with a smile. "We figured you'd forgotten, so we dropped by to check on our way back to the lab."

Another smile, this one sheepish. "Yeah, I forgot. I guess I was a little distracted."

"A little?" Warrick said with a laugh. "Your wife in labor with twins is more than just a little, Gris. Speaking of which…"

Gil heard the unspoken question. "A baby girl at 2:38 a.m. and a baby boy at 2:58 a.m. Both are just under six pounds, and perfectly healthy, according to the doctors."

Sara smiled and hugged her boss. "Congratulations!"

Warrick clapped Gil on the back. "That's great, Gil." He looked like he wanted to say more, but his pager went off. He frowned, showing it to Sara.

"Aw, man. I wanted to stay and congratulate Jana," she complained.

"I'll tell her you stopped by," Gil said. "You need to get back to the lab."

"Sure you don't want to come with us?" Warrick teased. "I bet we got some good cases for you."

Gil shook his head. "No, but thanks. I'm staying right here."

His two colleagues smiled in understanding and left. Gil watched them walk down the hall. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

"Brass."

"It's Grissom."

"Gil! We've been waiting to hear from you. Is everyone okay?"

"Jana and the twins are fine."

He heard a click, then the echo that meant Jim had put the call on the speaker. "Well?" Jim asked. "We’re waiting."

"We?"

"Catherine and Nick are here too. Warrick and Sara are out."

"Actually, they were just here." Gil told the others what he had told Sara and Warrick about the twins. "Jana's still asleep, or I'd let her say something, though it might not be nice."

He heard a sympathetic chuckle from Catherine. "She's got to be exhausted. Let her sleep, or she'll be even crankier than she has been."

"I don't think that's possible," Gil said with a smile. "And I'm not going to test it."

He accepted the congratulations of the three and promised to bring in pictures when he returned to work. They hung up and he went back into Jana's room. She was awake, but just barely.

"Thank you," Gil said quietly as he sat down next to her, taking her hand in his again.

Jana looked at him with a puzzled expression on her sleep-lined face. He kissed her hand. "For our children."

Jana smiled. "Thank you," she said softly, squeezing his hand. She closed her blue eyes again. "Have you told anyone?" she asked sleepily.

"Sara and Warrick were here, and I called Brass. Nick and Catherine were with him. Catherine says I need to let you sleep or you'll be more cranky than before," he added with a smile.

"She's a wuss," Jana said with small laugh. "She only had one kid. When she's had twins, she can talk about cranky."

Gil was about to reply when two of the maternity ward nurses came in, each carrying a baby. One of them handed a baby, the girl to judge by the pink blanket, to Gil and then helped Jana sit up. The other nurse put Jana's son into her arms. Both twins were making fussing sounds, not quite working up to a full out cry. The nurses handed each parent a bottle and quietly left the room. Jana had argued with her doctor over the twins remaining in the nursery for feedings. She managed to win, Gil still wasn't sure how. But sitting with his daughter in his arms, he was happy she did.

The baby's eyes were closed, but he knew they were and would remain blue. As would her brother's eyes. Her hair was dark right now, but Gil knew that could change. Jana was blonde, and his hair was a blondish-brown, though the silver in it had lightened the color over the years. Looking down at his daughter as she ate, her tiny fists waving in the air, she reminded him of someone. He tried to recall who, and then he realized. Holly.

"What?" Jana asked.

Gil realized he'd said the name aloud. He looked over at his wife, who was watching him.

"I was just thinking that she sort of looks like Holly Gribbs," he said quietly, knowing Jana would understand. The rookie CSI had been killed her first night on the job, a death that had shaken him deeply and still haunted him whenever another CSI was put into a dangerous position.

Jana smiled. "I think Holly is an excellent name. Goes well with your mother's name. Holly Marie," she said quietly, trying the name out.

Gil looked into his wife's eyes and saw that she was serious. She wanted to name their daughter Holly, even though she'd never known the first Holly. "I thought you wanted to name her after your friend, Lexi."

Jana shrugged carefully, so as not to disturb their son's meal. "I think Holly is better. I think she would like it." She looked down as the baby in her arms fussed at losing the bottle. She carefully guided it back to his mouth. "He looks like my father," she observed, a catch in her voice.

Gil knew Jana still missed her parents, especially over the past few months. She had lost them in a way no child should lose their parents. He silently prayed that neither of his children would ever have to go through what Jana had. He prayed they would both be there for their children.

"Maybe we should name him Alexander James," he suggested. Jana looked up, her eyes searching his face.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm sure," he replied. "Alexander for Lexi and James for your father."

Jana smiled. "Holly Marie Grissom and Alexander James Grissom. Perfect."

"Holly and Alex," Gil said quietly.

The twins went back to sleep when they finished eating, Jana soon following, little Alex lying on her chest. Gil held little Holly against his, marveling at the way she nestled trustingly against him, secure in his arms. Eventually, the events of the past day caught up to him as well.

Brass stopped on the threshold of the door, smiling at the sight that greeted him. All four Grissoms were asleep. He backed out, shutting the door and waving off the others who had come to congratulate Gil and Jana. They didn't need outside visitors right now. They only needed each other, complete in the circle of their new family.