Once again, this little one shot (I think) takes place within my 'Journey's End' world. Just throwing that out

there. Hope you enjoy!

Cal slowly lowered the phone to his desk as Gillian entered his office in a rush. He didn't looked up.

"Cal, I need to borrow your keys. I think I left mine on the counter at home – I have to pick James up." She stopped, studied him briefly, puzzled. "Is something wrong?"

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his keys out. "Um, no luv. Don't think so."

She moved behind the desk, leaning against it. "Are you sure? Who was on the phone?"

"Oh, it was Em."

Concern flashed through her eyes. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I think so. She and Eric want to take us out to dinner tonight."

"And that's cause for concern?"

"Her voice sounded different."

With a sigh, she touched the side of his face. He immediately looked up at her. "You need to stop this. Stop making assumptions. She has a million things on her mind."

"Um, darlin', don't you need to go retrieve our son?"

Jumping up, she grabbed his keys. "I'll be right back!"

Cal watched as she quickly crossed the room, always wondering how she could move so fast in those heels. His eyes dropped to her backside as usual and a grin cracked his face. She turned, narrowed her eyes at him in a way that still belied her amusement and then disappeared out the door.

"Hey dad."

"Hi darlin'. What's up?"

"Eric and I were, uh, wondering if you and Gillian were free tonight."

He had paused, frowning suspiciously. She sounded…off.

"Is everything okay?" Cal's voice had risen slightly in worry.

"Sure dad, why wouldn't it be?"

"You tell me."

"Stop that already. I hate when you start reading me over the phone. That's not even your specialty."
"Sorry luv." He paused to take a peek at his schedule. "Yeah, um, I have a meeting at quarter to five, but we could meet, say, 6:30? That work?"

"Awesome. Copelands okay?"

"If they have chicken strips, James will be in."

"Uh, not sure if they do or not…"

"Kidding luv."

"Okay dad, we'll see you then!"

Gillian was right. Emily had so much going on these days. Between her doctoral studies and married life, her plate was quite full.

He had been less than thrilled when she'd decided to marry so young, but he had to admit, even grudgingly, that she and Eric were a good team. The kid, from what he could read, was Em's version of Gill. Her leo. He was happy for them, even if he sometimes had a hard time showing it.

Pushing back from his desk, he let his worries about his daughter shift to the back of his mind for the time being. Cal headed to the lab.

(BREAK)

Cal, Gillian and James arrived a few minutes early but Emily and Eric were already there, sipping on their drinks. They immediately got to their feet, Em giving her dad a big hug and kiss before doing likewise for her stepmom and brother. Cal shook Eric's hand, looking up at him. His son-in-law was easily 6 inches taller but Cal relished the fact that he could still stare him down. The younger man moved to kiss Gill on the cheek and playfully give James a light cuff on the side of the head. "Hey troublemaker." It was their usual greeting.

"Okay, so what's going on?" The words were out of his mouth before he was even settled in his chair.

Gillian gave Cal a disapproving sideways look. Leave it to him to cut to the chase. Proverbial bull in a china shop.

"Dinner first dad." As usual, she was unfazed.

Cal stared at her. Whatever it was, it was big.

"Stop it dad." She smiled at him despite the reprimand. "Is he starting to do that to you too?" Emily looked at her little brother.

"Been doing it for years." He was all of seven.

"Okay, okay. No ganging up on dad." Cal protested, amused. "I got it, I got it already." His hands went up in defeat as Emily and James grinned at one another.

The waitress came around and took their orders. They did indeed have chicken strips for James courtesy of the kid's menu.

Conversation was relaxed, topics all over the board. Emily was up to her elbows in her dissertation, Eric was aiming for a junior partnership at his firm, Gill gave an abbreviated version of a couple of cases that she and Cal had been working on, and James told them about Stephanie, the girl he planned on marrying when he was tall enough. Throughout it all, Cal said very little. He enjoyed the interplay between his family members, but primarily he watched his daughter.

Dessert was naturally a necessity for at least most of them. Cheesecake for Gill ('Killed by Chocolate of course), Emily (White Chocolate Strawberry) and her husband (the purist). James had his brownie a la mode ($7 for a bloody brownie?). Cal just sipped his coffee, thinking that a little whiskey in it might have been a good thing.

Feeling her father's eyes burning into her, Emily wiped her mouth delicately and placed the napkin on the table. She reached for her husband's hand and received a reassuring squeeze in response.

"I think dad might be trying to stare a hole in me, so I guess I'd better get on with it."

Cal raised an eyebrow in innocence. He felt Gillian take his hand under the table and vaguely wondered if she knew something that he didn't.

"Um, well, it appears that Eric and I are going to have a baby."

Gillian took her hand from Cal's, immediately moving to take the younger woman in her arms. "Oh my God Emily! That's wonderful! Congratulations!" She pulled Eric into a hug as well.

James stared with wide eyes. "A baby? Wow. That's so cool! Does that mean I'm gonna be an uncle?"

Emily smiled through bright eyes rimmed with happy tears. "Yup."

Cal sat quietly, eyes on his coffee. He motioned to the waitress as she wandered by. "Think you could grab me an Irish coffee darlin'?"

"Of course! Be right back!"

"Thanks."

Gillian gave Em another hug and kiss before sitting back down. Her hand rested gently on Cal's knee.

"So, what are you going to name it?" James demanded, a bit of brownie clinging to his lips.

"We haven't thought that far ahead." Eric nervously cast a glance at his father-in-law. With the exception of a drink order, the man hadn't said a word.

James aside, Cal could feel all eyes on him. He had schooled his expression into a blank mask as he rolled his thoughts around. Baby. His daughter was going to have a baby. She was 26. Pretty young to be starting a family. Hardly a teenager though. Holy shit. He was going to be a grandfather. How could that be? He was only…57. Okay, it could very well be.

The waitress swooped by with his spiked coffee. He nodded in acknowledgement before his eyes shifted to his son-in-law. The kid was nervous. Scratch that. Hardly a kid. He was almost…30? Nah, still a kid. They were both still kids. Why so early? An oops? Well, technically Emily had been an oops…the best one he ever made. For some reason he thought the announcement would be "We're moving to California" or something. A baby hadn't crossed his mind. Gillian had suspected though. She had radar for this kind of thing.

He sipped his coffee. Baby. His baby girl was going to have a baby. He wondered if Zoë knew yet. The idea of her being a grandmother tickled him for some reason. Actually, for good reason. Zoë was not very accepting of the fact that she was getting older – she was only 1 year behind him. Growing old gracefully was not in her repertoire. Smiling, he finally met his daughter's eyes. They were worried about his reaction. Cal was sorry for that. He shouldn't have let her stew so long.

Without any more hesitation, he was on his feet and swooping his firstborn into a warm embrace. He could feel her relax in his arms as he kissed the top of her head. "Congratulations luv. That's wonderful."

"Thanks dad. I wasn't really sure how you were going to take the news."

"I know." He released Emily from the hug but kept one arm around her waist. He stared down at Eric, who returned his gaze, albeit uncomfortably. "Relax son. Not planning your premature demise or anything."

Gill watched, gently smiling. Cal turned, caught her eye and gave a tiny shrug and a wink.