Cal Lightman was sitting in his home office late on a Saturday night, twiddling a pen between his fingers while staring absentmindedly at the journal he was supposed to be reading. The house always seemed so eerily quiet without his daughter's presence. He had never gotten used to living alone again after fourteen years of marriage. That's why he spent so much time at the office during the week. Weekends were great because he usually had Emily. The weekends Emily spent at her mum's were dreadful, though. He hated those weekends because he was forced to mope around alone in the big house all by himself. Frequently he ended up at the office anyway because he couldn't stand the silence and loneliness of his own four walls. Lonely weekends always reminded him of the life he'd had. He still missed their family banter, Emily's laughter while she watched cartoons, Zoë's tirades coming from the kitchen, the dog barking at the neighbour's cat. Cal closed his eyes, revelling in the memories of his once picture perfect life. Only it turned out to be not so perfect after all.

He thought about the last week Emily had spent with him and could not help but think he'd made a mistake in letting her shadow him at work. She shouldn't be exposed to the dark side of humanity at her young age. Gillian would correct him that Emily was getting ready to go off to college and discover the dark side of the world all on her own in a year, but Cal thought it better to not dwell about that time yet. He had no idea what he would do if Emily chose a college far away from home. It was no coincidence he still had not rescheduled their college trip to California to visit the Berkley campus. He could open an office on the West Coast, surely there had to be just as many liars in L.A. as there were in D.C. Maybe he could covertly bug her entire dorm with a live feed to make sure she was safe? He sighed. He sounded like a pervert. But show him a father who does not turn into an overprotective lunatic the minute he held his newborn daughter for the first time in his arms. He remembered that moment as if it were yesterday.

She'd opened her big eyes – which were still blue at that time – and stared at him with probably just as much curiosity as he displayed studying the tiny little body in his arms. Ten toes. Ten fingers. She was perfect. His heart swelled and felt as if someone squeezed the life out of it at the same time. He was a father. She was his Achilles' heel. He had a little baby girl, who looked up at him, her eyes wide with wonder, as if he held all the answers to the universe. And right that very moment Cal realised he would kill for her, lie his ass off to protect her and give his own life for her happiness. Her arms flailed and she geared up for a disgruntled scream.

"She's got your lungs", Cal quipped as he glanced at Zoë, who was leaning back exhausted in bed.

"Give her to me", she sighed.

Cal pressed the little bundle closer to his chest, declaring a hearty, "No!"

Zoë raised her eyebrow.

"She's not hungry yet." He countered, reading her expression.

"Don't read me. And you can't read her. She's a baby, Cal."

"She's bonding with her father." He clarified, "You've had her for nine months. It's time you shared."

"She's not a toy."

"She's beautiful and amazing and adorable and so precious." Cal swooned as he rocked his baby girl in his arms for the first time. He felt ten feet tall, when the baby's scream quieted down. "She loves me. She knows I'm her daddy. She feels safe in my arms." He beamed at his wife.

"She needs a name", Zoë smiled and motioned for Cal to come over. He sat down on the bed next to her, cradling the baby safely in his arms. He leaned over and the new parents gazed intently at the life they had created together.

"Remind me of our girlie shortlist."

"Well there is Julia, Sarah, Emily, Jillian and Michelle." Zoë recalled at the top of her head the five names they had both agreed on they liked the most. They all had a nice ring with Lightman but they had decided to wait until they saw the face to go with a name.

"She doesn't really look like a Julia or Sarah to me." Cal held the pink bundle in front of his face and studied her features closely. "There, see, I think she scrunched her nose."

Zoë rolled her eyes and shook her head at her husband, "What about the others?"

"Jillian."

"I liked that one but I don't know. She's…" Zoë gesticulated wildly and trailed off.

Cal supplied, "Not really a Jillian. I agree."

She leaned over her baby girl, "I like Michelle. Would you like to be a Michelle?"

"Nah, I think she looks more like an Emily. Don't you think?"

Zoë took the baby from Cal and cradled her in her arms, "Emily Michelle Lightman. What do you think?" She looked up from her baby to her husband and smiled.

"I think it's perfect. Just like you." He leaned in and kissed her deeply. "Thank you for making me the happiest man on earth." He looked down at his daughter and whispered her name softly, as he ran a finger gently down her cheek.