Author's Note: A major mistake was brought to my attention from the first two chapters (Foster being Alec's last name and not Gillian's maiden name). I apologize for it. :S I clearly have not paid as much attention as I should be! Thanks to everyone who pointed the mistake out to me. It's a little late to correct it now so I'm gonna try to work it into my story. I'm taking a lot of liberties with this fic so please PLEASE bare with me! I'll try my best to make this as believable as possible. As for the reason behind Gillian taking her mother's last name instead of her father's, that was actually something I had planned on having be part of the story. Again, please bare with me. I appreciate your patience and, of course, your continued feedback! Thanks!

*****

She emerged from the house and took in the warm summer air. It was only 9:00 in the morning, much earlier than she usually would wake on a weekend, but today was unlike any other Sunday. Today was her birthday. She was finally ten! She was so old now! Stretching her arms up, she let her head fall back and closed her eyes, allowing the sun to drape over her face. She would've stayed outside in the garden a lot longer if her stomach wasn't begging for food. Her mother was out, dealing with last-minute arrangements for her birthday party.

Her party! She grinned, skipping around the corner of the building and up the steps towards the kitchen. In a couple of hours, her friends would be here and she would get to open up all her gifts but, more importantly, she would finally get to see the birthday cake her father had promised would be custom-made just for her! Her heart raced with excitement as she threw open the double doors that led into the kitchen. She was disappointed to find that their cook, Ms. Helen, was nowhere to be found. It was Sunday. She forgot Ms. Helen was off on Sundays.

Maybe Daddy could make her something to eat! She remembered the door to her parents' room was opened when she had come out of her bedroom earlier. He must be in his study. Without giving it another thought, she bounced down the corridor towards her father's home office. As she neared, she could hear whispering on the other side of the closed oak door. Daddy was inside! She reached for the doorknob and pushed with all her might. She had always hated that door. It was so heavy.

"Daddy, I'm hungry, can you…" She stopped in her tracks, her mouth open in shock as she discovered the scene inside.

"Jilly!" Her father's voice was a mixture of surprise and panic. He grabbed the jacket that had been thrown haphazardly on the floor to cover himself.

But she didn't notice. All she was focusing on was the woman her father had just pushed out of his embrace. She recognized her. It was Susan, her father's new secretary.

"Jilly, don't…"

Before her father could finish his sentence, she was out of the room, slamming the heavy oak door behind her. The 'thud' it made echoed down the corridor as she ran through it, crying and desperately searching for somewhere to hide. Suddenly, she no longer wanted to eat or to celebrate her birthday. All she wanted to do was hide.

*****

Cal rapped Gillian's desk with his knuckles. "Foster?"

She startled and seemed surprised to find that he was in her office. It took a moment for her to gather herself. "Hi…um…they left?"

He could tell she was trying very hard to sound casual but the harder she tried, the less convincing it was to him. "Yes, just saw them out." He paused, tilting his head to look at her. "You alright?"

"Of course." When he gave her a dissatisfied look, she sighed, "What do you want me to say, Cal? I haven't spoken to my parents in almost 10 years and, suddenly, they show up here asking for our help?"

"I know this is hard for you."

His sincerity was obvious but it still irked her. "Then you should've never even considered helping them."

"You could've said no."

"Oh, now you're gonna put this on me?"

He paused. She was angry. He couldn't and shouldn't hold anything she said against her. "We all have skeletons in our closet, Foster. It's how we deal with them that matters."

"That's rich, coming from the man who chooses to lock his skeletons in and then throws away the key just for safe measure."

"I know your father isn't your favourite person in the world but…"

"But what? As long as he loves me, I should ignore everything that's ever happened?"

"But at least you had a father who bothered to try."

Unlike me. She thought about Cal's unsaid words. She knew that was what he had meant. "Bothered to try? Do you know what it's like to catch your father in a compromising position with his secretary on your tenth birthday?" Her eyebrows furrowed at the memory. "Yeah, he sure bothered to try after that. He tried to bribe me with my own horse. I got a bunny, a puppy, a shopping trip in Paris, a safari trip in Africa, and two cars…all before I was seventeen. We never talked about what the gifts represented but I knew. Each gift was his way of reminding me that no mater how many women he slept with, it was never my place to reveal. All the while, he ran for office and charmed the public into believing he was this upstanding citizen who loved his wife and provided for his children." She was stopped by the sensation of water on her cheeks. She reached up and wiped away the tears she hadn't noticed had begun to roll down her face.

Cal listened intently. Though he had picked up bits and pieces of the story over the years, she had never given him the whole story. He handed her the box of tissues that sat on the corner of her desk. She thanked him quietly. When she said nothing else, he decided to continue for her, "That's when you began to…"

She nodded. "I know it's naïve to think that rebelling against him would somehow make him stop cheating. I knew it wouldn't but I guess a part of me hoped that if he had his hands full dealing with me, he wouldn't have time to…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "It was stupid."

"You wanted your father to stop making his mistake. It's understandable."

"Except nothing worked. He would get mad but then, he would only blame my mom for not watching me close enough. Then she would cry even more. I only made things worse." She looked down, a clear sign of guilt.

Cal wished there was a magic word he could say to make her feel better but he knew there was no such word. She would have to deal with this without his help, not because he didn't want to but because there were some things that only she could do on her own. If anyone understood that, it was him. Then he suddenly remembered something. He dug his hand into his pocket and fished out a business card. He handed it to her.

She took it and frowned in confusion. "This is your business card, Cal."

He smiled and made a swirling motion with his finger. "Other side."

She flipped the card over. There was a phone number written on the other side. "What is this?"

"Your mother gave it to me before she left. Says you can reach her at that number…" He paused before adding, "only if you want to, of course."

"I have nothing to say to her." She threw the card onto her desk, though her eyes said otherwise. They stayed trained on the card.

"Now, you know that's not true, love." He wagged his finger at her before gesturing at the door. "I should get going. Have a long-lost daughter to investigate. Call me if you need anything?"

The familiarity of how they always ended their conversations finally managed to bring a smile to her face. When Cal was gone, she picked up the card and looked hard at the number. She knew she would eventually have to deal with this problem. She just didn't think the problem would find her before she was ready.