A/N: I feel the need to tell you before you read this, that the tone of this chapter is different than the rest. That being said...read away!


After watching Cal drive away, Gillian went back to her kitchen yet again. This time she was determined to get her tea. She got out her favorite mug, put in some honey and lemon tea, and poured the water in.

Finally having her drink in hand, she slowly walked to the big comfy chair in her living room. She really loved that oversized chair. You could fit someone else in there if you really wanted, but it was great for one person. Sometimes she felt like the couch was going to swallow her up with how big it was. The chair really was her preference on most days.

As she sunk in and settled back into the cushions, she waited for her tea to steep and let her mind go back to Cal's 'see you tomorrow' comment.

"See you tomorrow, Foster," she repeated aloud.

Gil, Gillian, and Foster. Then there's love and darling. He changes what he calls me more often than what I can keep up with. I wonder if any of those hold any meaning to him. Foster seems so impersonal, or professional. But then he calls a lot of women love or darling. It seems like my first name is the most personal. He started calling me by my first name a lot more when he knew he was in trouble. And now that he's getting out of trouble, he's calling me Foster again. It's almost like he knows how I love hearing him say my name, so he uses it to get out of trouble. Sneaky Cal…

Feeling that her hands had become very warm from holding her mug, she raised and lowered the tea bag several times and took a sip. She sighed deeply, feeling the liquid warm her from the inside out. She set her mug on the table next to her and picked up her latest romance novel. Tucking her feet under her, she sat sideways in the chair and set out to read for a couple hours before she finished the work she'd brought home with her.

###############

Driving in his car, Cal's mind lit up like the midnight sky full of lightening.

She definitely reacted to me saying I wanted her. It was a small reaction, but it was definitely there. She could've been surprised, or maybe she liked hearing it… Not wanting to dwell on that possibility too long, his mind took a turn. And what was with that look right when I left? That had nothing to do with tea. What did I even say? I said I had to go to the office, then home or Em would ground me. Then I said, See you tomorrow. Foster. See you tomorrow, Foster. Does she not like when I call her by her last name?

Feeling like he was once again treading in dangerous waters, he turned the radio on and started surfing stations.

He stopped on a song that sounded tense and had an organ in the back ground:

"Please tell me baby it's not a mistake. Please tell me baby it's not a mistake. I'm an honest man, I know how to wait. So please tell me baby it's not a mistake. There is no language for how I feel. There is no language for how I feel. When I look at you standing there, none of this seems real. There is no language for how I feel. Cause we're looking for a way to make it better, looking for a way to change the weather. Whether you or I survive tonight I promise you that I will love you like we're gonna live forever."

As the drums kicked in, he gave the radio a disgusted look and changed the station feeling that it wasn't as good of a song as he'd thought it was going to be. Could it get any sappier?

The next station he stopped on was starting a much more energetic song.

"Here we go again. I kinda wanna be more than friends–"

What the hell is going on with music these days? He changed that song even faster. Deciding the radio was a bad choice, he turned it off. He was close to home anyway.

Wait a minute. Home? I was supposed to be headed back to the office…

He realized he'd been so swept up in his thoughts that he was on auto-pilot, and his auto-pilot hadn't taken him to his target destination.

"Oh well." he said to himself as he pulled in the driveway. "I didn't want to finish that bloody paperwork anyway."

He walked in his house, happy to be home. Emily came down the stairs and gave him a huge smile.

"Hi, Dad! You're home early," she said as she crossed the floor to the fridge in her pajama bottoms and long-sleeved t-shirt.

"I was headed back to the office, but I decided I wanted to come home and see my beautiful daughter instead," he said while taking off his jacket and putting it over the back of a chair.

She pulled her head back out of the fridge to look at him. "Mmm. I'm not buying it. You weren't paying attention while driving again, were you?"

Knowing he was caught, he just looked at her and slightly scrunched up his face while rocking his head back and forth as if to say, 'You could put it that way…'

"So what were you thinking about?" she inquired as she looked back in the fridge for dinner.

"Nunya," he stated with a blank face.

She looked at him quizzically and closed the door. She crossed her arms in front of her and walked up to him. "Nunya?"

"Yeah," he stated with a grin. As he leaned his face close toward hers, he finished, "Nunya business."

"Mature, Dad. What is wrong with you?" she said as she put her hands on her hips and tried to keep a straight face but failed.

"Too many things to count, love," he responded as he tipped his head to the side and raised his eyebrows for a second.

"Well that's true," she said while lightly shoving his shoulder.

"Oiy! You be nice to your old man!" he playfully warned as he put his arm around her neck and messed up her hair.

Knowing she'd never get out of his fake choke hold, she went to her only sure-fire defense: the ticklish spot on his side. She tickled him until he cried out in laughter and let her go.

"Enough! Enough!" he laughed. "Truce!" he said as he held out his hand.

She shook his hand with a smile and echoed him, "Truce." A moment later she not-so-innocently added, "Know what I was thinking earlier?"

"What's that?" he asked oblivious to what she was going to say.

"Let's have Gillian over for Thanksgiving again. Remember when we did that last year? That was nice," she said while looking at her dad, hoping that it wouldn't take too much convincing. She loved spending time with her dad, but she also loved spending time with him when he was on cloud nine; and only one person did that for him.

Cal smiled warmly at the memory of having Gillian in his home on such a family-oriented holiday. He looked at Emily lovingly, thankful to have a daughter who so often thought of others before herself. "Yeah it was nice, and that's a good idea," he said with a smile. "I'll ask her about it tomorrow."

Emily flashed him her thousand-watt smile and kissed him on the cheek. "Good," she said. "And I want to put up the tree after we eat this year like we always used to." And with that she ran back up the stairs.

Cal suddenly felt like he'd been had. "Bloody hell," he mumbled. "She had that whole thing planned out."


Please be honest with me - did you hate this? I'm in a place where I'm so close to this fic that it kind of doesn't make sense anymore. Know what I mean? I really like the next couple chapters I have written, but they are along the lines of the tone in this chapter, and I'm just not sure it fits the rest of the fic... Anyway, sound off in the reviews if you have any strong feelings about it.

P.S. - the first song was Live Forever by Matt Morris and the second was Animal by Neon Trees. Both are good songs, but I really love Live Forever.