The smell of homemade chicken soup wafted throughout Cal's kitchen and into his living room as he and Gillian waited for Emily to cook dinner. Emily had insisted on being the one to prepare their meals and had asked for them to wait in the other room while she did this.
Cal suspected it had a lot to do with him professing his love for Gillian to his daughter because ever since that night Emily seemed to constantly try and tie them to some sort of 'date-like' plans. But of course, it was nothing more then suspicion.
"It's really nice of Emily to do this," Gillian said, resting back on the couch a bit more comfortably.
"Yes, nice," Cal replied but he was staring off toward his kitchen, lost in thought.
"What's wrong?" Gillian asked, trying to see what Lightman was staring at, but all she saw was the living room wall.
"These last few weeks she has been very distant with me, alright," Cal began. "She won't look me in the eyes these days and you know that thing she always does when she's hiding something from me?"
"Yes, she turns her back on you as she answers your questions-,"
"Right, well she's been doing a lot of that too." He stared at his living room wall more intently as if he could see right through those walls and see Emily. "She's keeping something big from me."
"Cal," Gillian gently placed her hand over his, "Remember, you have to let her have her own secrets."
"No," Cal began to shake his head, "No there's something different about this one—"
"Different about what?" Emily's voice broke into Cal's and he looked away from the living room walland over to his beautiful daughter.
"Nothing ,love, is dinner ready yet?"
Emily didn't buy it, he could see it on her face. "Yeah, I was just coming to let you guys know," her words were uncertain and he could tell she was trying to decipher what she had just overheard him say.
"Alright, sounds good," looking over at Gillian, he nodded toward the kitchen, "Shall we then?"
The two of them followed Emily into the kitchen where she had arranged the table for two, complete with lit candles in the center. "Now wait a minute," Cal said, turning to Emily, "There are only two seats here."
Emily tucked a strand of hair behind her ears and gave her father a mischievous smile in response.
"Oh right, so it's just to be Jillian and me tonight is it?"
"Well," Emily grabbed her purse and cell phone which was strategically placed on their kitchen counter, "It just so happens Malcolm asked me out to dinner tonight, so I thought you two can have a lovely time—while I do."
"Aye, who's Malcolm?" Cal's eyes darkened and his posture became somewhat hawk like as he pointed at his daughter. "I haven't met a Malcolm yet."
Emily sent her father that same mischievous smile, "He's a male stripper who is dying to show me a good time."
"That's not funny-,"
"Come on, Dad, I'm joking." Kissing her father on the cheek she added, "He's just a guy I'm seeing. No need to worry about me."
"I want to meet him Emily; I want to meet him soon!"
"Fine, Dad," Emily rolled her eyes and smiled, "You will meet him soon."
And then she was gone and Cal was left looking like a father in total dismay. "Cal," Gillian squeezed his shoulder, "She's not a little girl anymore."
As if she had burned him with her words Cal jerked away from her and sent Gillian a chilling look, "Yeah, well, she's still my little girl, alright?" And then looking at the table he gestured toward it, "Shall we then?"
She passed him a knowing look and then took her seat at the table. It took a good few minutes for their conversation to become more neutral and for Cal to calm down enough to enjoy the red wine and Gillian's company.
"You remember that night don't you?" Gillian laughed and lightly smacked Cal in the arm, "I was so furious with you!"
"Yeah and when aren't you, love?" Cal shot back, "I said it once and I'll say it again, I knew were partners but I didn't remember marrying you."
Gillian wasn't sure if it was the wine, the warmth in her chest or just plain curiosity that lead her to her next question but she eventually decided it was probably all three. "Would you ever, Cal?"
His eyes momentarily flitted from her eyes to her lips and then back again. The question had caught him off guard and the underlying emotions he had kept bottled up for years was beginning to surface. Tenderly, he brought his hand up to her chin and cupped it. "Would you be as controlling at home as you are in the office?"
"It's a trait you'd have to get used to, yes," Gillian replied back, unashamed, her voice barely above a whisper; it was these moments with Cal that had always mattered most to her.
He wanted to kiss her and he knew that she wanted him to kiss her. But he just couldn't do it. He was too afraid to ruin a good thing. "I suspect," he breathed out, "We would drive one another mad."
Oh, that saying had so many different meanings behind it. It could be an innuendo or it could be a rejection. And deep down Gillian knew it was a combination of both and as much as the two of them wanted to kiss one another, it wasn't going to happen. Breaking eye contact, Gillian pulled her face out of his hands and looked away a moment to compose the disappointment settling in her chest and then turned back to him with an entirely different composure.
"So tell me more about your concern with Emily?"
The moment had shattered Cal realized and also while feeling a sense of disappointment, shook it off and began to answer her question. "She's been out a lot more lately without telling me where she is or who she's with."
"Cal, that's not very uncommon in a girl Emily's age and she's an adult now."
"No!" Cal snapped, "This is different. She's deliberately hiding it from me because she's scared. And I think she wants me to know."
"She seems like the same Emily to me…"
"That's the problem," he whispered, his thoughts swirling around, "She's gotten better at concealing it. The fear is only leaked at certain points in her lie because she is really afraid that I will find out."
"You don't know that… maybe she's just having some boy trouble."
Cal's eyes immediately hardened and shifted up toward Emily's room. "Oh, Bloody hell! " Before she knew what to expect Cal pushed himself out of his chair and stormed up the stairs and into Emily's room, with Gillian right in toe.
"Cal, you have to respect her privacy—Cal!" She tried to stop him, but he was hooked and wasn't stopping. He went through her top drawer where he had found incriminating evidence in the past and found nothing, he checked under her mattress and nothing, and then he went through her jewelry box and dropped it back onto the dresser.
If he thought his body was shaking with fear before, it was nothing compared to how it was now. He couldn't even breathe straight. Stumbling backwards, Cal collapsed on Emily's bed and began to shake his head in denial. "I can't believe this," he murmured and looked up at Gillian who was now staring at the cause of Cal's distress.
"Sometimes, things happen," Gillian said as comfortingly as possible and then placed the positive pregnancy test back onto the dresser. "This explains why she has been acting so strangely around you, but you can't lay in on her for this." She took a seat beside him and once again placed her hand over his, "She needs your support, Cal. Right now more than ever."
The anger across his face was dark and fierce as he replied, "I'm going to give the sonofabitch hell for this and then I'll be supportive."