“An Opposite of Echoes” Chapter 26
That was so beautifully written - such a great way to end this installment while also leaving me wanting to read what happens next, but not in a cliffhanger way.
The way Sara almost doesn’t want to tell Grissom it feels good when he touches her belly out of fear he’ll stop and once she tells him, he doesn’t stop. I do think she was still tip toeing the line of asking him if he loves the baby too - if the “love you b” meant “love you both” & that she almost said “like you’ve got us” instead of settling on “like you’ve got me.” It’s still so new to her while also juggling a million other emotions that it may be hard for her to admit - even to Grissom - that she does love the baby already. So ending this installment with her whispering it to herself and the baby and the universe that she loves the baby was just such a sweet way to end.
Also - I realize I referenced “baby” instead of “babies” but no worries - I’m still strongly in “babies” camp…can’t wait for the next installment to find out!
Until then - I’ll be over here reading your other stories as time allows & likely rereading this a bunch.
Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. Truly one of the best stories about Sara & Grissom I’ve ever read. I can picture it so clearly & it’s so true to who they are. Wonderfully done. Thank you!
“I do have you,” he whispers, low and fervent, as if in oath, inflecting the final word in such a way that despite the fact English knows no grammatical differentiation, she can be sure he has chosen the braver pronoun.
“An Opposite of Echoes” Chapter 26
He chose the braver pronoun. You = both Sara & the baby. Sara knows Grissom loves the baby too.
Tell me I’m not reading too much into that?
She waits until his breathing slows, evens, until she knows he has slipped away, before she again whispers, sweet, her secret, “I love you.”
She means the brave way.
Chapter 26
“She means the brave way.”
Yup - I stand by it - Sara literally just told us she loves the baby & she knows Grissom does too.
Too perfect. Too sweet. I just can’t with these two 🥺
You and that epilogue…
Okay I screamed when he said “You can’t stop looking at them, either, huh?” because I thought them = babies but then they kept referring to “baby” as in one & that them = sonogram. But I think that’s just you trying to throw us off & maybe Sara & Grissom haven’t wrapped their heads around there being two babies on the sonogram after weeks of just saying “baby” so it make take a second to switch to “babies” in their vocabulary.
But Sara telling Grissom that she loves their baby & him telling her that he loves their baby too. Of course as Grissom points out, he’s known all along that Sara loves their baby - from before the decision was made to keep their baby - since she asked if she should take her medicine - she asked because she loves their baby.
And it was likely so good for Sara to hear that Grissom feels the same way. Poor girl has spent most of her list feeling unloved by everyone around her & now she has Grissom & their friends & soon their baby (babies…) whom she loves probably more than everyone else - this little piece of her & Grissom - her favorite person on the planet created another person with her who’s also already one of her favorite people on the planet.
Last one I swear…I saw the comment about no twins which is fine…although now I’m very curious which you decide for them to have - boy or girl. Twins would have been easy - one of each : )
Watch Sara & Grissom decide to wait until the baby is born to find out…
Which I’m not against - although they don’t want to name their kid until it’s born, it could lead to a very interesting scene about what kinds of names they both like & you write Sara & Grissom so well (seriously - some of the most spot on characterization I’ve ever read for them) that I’m excited again…not that I’m ever not excited for your writing : )
how genuinely spoiled am i as an author to open up my inbox to all of this wonderful feedback from you?
i'm so glad to know you enjoyed the end of the story.
you definitely weren't reading too much into those lines that you referenced! that sara already loves the baby and knows that grissom does, too, is absolutely the implication there—as is confirmed in the epilogue.
when i first set out to write this this installment of the accidentsverse, i realized what i was working on was something already very familiar to me: a story about falling in love. i knew there would be those traditional beats: the moment of realization ("oh"), the ache of mutual pining, the slow burn and tugged heartstrings and intense yearning, the cathartic confession scene, etc.—the only difference would be that instead of focusing on a couple falling in love with each other and getting together for the first time, this fic would be about that couple (at this point, already established and married) falling in love with their unborn baby and reckoning with what that means.
i'm so happy to know that those emotional tones came through for you as you read. 💙
as for the other stuff: i was a little worried i went overboard on the teasing about the possibility for twins, so it's a relief to know you're still excited about the continuing story, even with the confirmation that this pregnancy is a singleton.
and never fear: sara has already mentioned she and grissom want to know as much about their kid as possible before it's born, so they're going to find out the gender as soon as they can—as scientists, they're all about having all the information available!—meaning, in theory, you won't have to wait too long to have that mystery solved, at least*.
* i mean, once i write the next installments of this series, that is.
as for the name, there will indeed be some interesting conversations about that issue to come.
thank you so much for reading and for all of your support throughout the posting of this story. your thoughtful comments about and enthusiastic engagement with this fic have been such a pleasure!
i look forward to sharing the next installment of the accidentsverse with you hopefully not too long from now, friend!
