Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving found Mark and Callie frantically running around the house trying to make sure everything was ready for when her family arrived. After Halloween, both of them agreed to find a house, and move in together. The two-story creme colored house, was the one for them. With 5 bedrooms and 3 and half baths, an outdoor deck that looked over the oval turquoise pool that came equipped with it's own heating system. Not to mention the kitchen that held brand new stainless steal appliances that Callie couldn't wait to use to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. But now, she finally settled with the look of the house, she check the clock that hung above the stairs and called to Mark.

"Mark! Hurry up my family is gonna be hear any minute!" Callie yelled up the stairs, where Mark was getting ready.

"Hold your horses, woman!" Mark said from the top of the stairs. He came down with two ties, one in either hand, he looked between them and held them out to Callie.

"Which one?" he asked. Callie rolled her eyes and grabbed the plain dark blue tie and wrapped it around his neck. She tied it with precision, her tongue poking out the side of her mouth in concentration. Pulling the tie through the loop she made, she tightened it and stepped back with a smile.

"Perfect" she commented. Mark returned her smile and leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips. They were pulled out of their reverie by the doorbell.

"They're here!" Callie said excitingly. She grabbed Mark's hand and raced to the front door and swung it open.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed and jumped to hug her father. Carlos caught his daughter and hugged her tight.

"Hello, mija" he said with a smile, he let her go and held her at arm's length, "How are you sweetheart?"

"I'm good," she looked behind her father and smiled at her mother and brothers. "You just gonna stand there, or are you gonna say 'hi'?" she asked sarcastically. She pushed past her father and hugged her mom.

"Hi momma, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm glad to see you, sweetheart" Alejandra said sweetly, she smiled past Callie towards Mark. She pulled him into her arms and hugged him.

"And how are you, Mark?"

Mark smiled down at the elder woman, "I'm great, excited to have you guys here with us"

Callie hugged both of her brothers, Mark shook hands with all the men and led them all into the house. Mark and Callie led them up the stairs to the 3 guest rooms that they would be staying in for the weekend.

"So, do you guys want to get settle, freshen up a bit, and then maybe we'll go out to dinner later?" Callie asked her mother and father.

They both nodded, "Sounds good, sweetie" her mother agreed.

"Okay, so maybe" Callie looked down at her watch, "About an hour and a half?"

"That's perfect" he father said and kissed her forehead, then walked into the bedroom. Callie and Mark continued down the hall toward their bedroom.

Mark pushed the door open and released a exhausted sigh. He flopped down on the bed and let his eyes slip close. Callie walked to her closet where she picked out an outfit for dinner, she stepped out and smiled at the sleeping man. Dropping her clothes on the dresser she walked toward him and climbed us his body, straddling his hips. Leaning down, she placed a soft kiss to his lips causing him to stir and slowly open his eyes.

"Do you want to stay in tonight?" she asked, "I can pick you up something on the way home" she offered. Mark moved placed his hands on her hips and gently rubbed her tender flesh.

He smiled up at her and brushed the hair out of her face, "No, I'm fine, babe" he paused, and took a deep breath, "I just had a long day." He reached up and brought Callie's head down to place a few more kisses on her plump lips.

"Are you sure?" she asked, "It's fine if you stay in, my parents understand our careers, they wouldn't mind."

Mark silenced her with a long, lingering kiss on her lips that sent shivers down her spine. He sat up and wrapped Callie's legs around his waist and wrapped his arms around her. Callie moaned as Mark pushed his tongue into her mouth and began exploring it. His hands moved to the creamy flesh of her thighs and began massaging the muscles there. Callie trailed her arms up his chest and wrapped them around his neck. She playfully tugged at his lower lip and sucked it between her teeth, erupting a hiss from Mark. He pulled away, leaving them both breathless and gasping for air.

"I'm fine," he reassured her, "Let's go take a shower" he whispered in her ear. Callie smiled and nodded. She then gasped as Mark stood from the bed, her cradled in his arms and pushed his way to the bathroom where he completely forgot about his exhaustion.

2 hours later, the Torres clan plus Mark were seated at one of the finest restaurants in all of Seattle. The conversation was light and fun, they spent the evening catching up on each of their lives. Carlos talked about how his business was going. Cameron and Caleb both talked about new ladies in their lives. Callie caught her family up with what was going on at the hospital and her latest cases. Both she and Mark told them about the weirdest cases that they both had seen over the holiday season.

After dinner, Carlos offered to pay for dinner, the rest of the family headed out, but Mark lagged behind, hoping to catch Carlos alone.

He walked up to the older man, his hands in his pockets, trying to mask how clammy they were. Mark cleared his throat and caught Mr. Torres' attention. "Ah, Mark, what can I do for you?"

"Actually I would like to ask you something"

Carlos nodded led Mark to a quiet part of the restaurant.

"Go ahead"

Mark took a deep breath, "I want to ask Callie to marry me."

Her father simply nodded and motioned for Mark to continue, "And, I was wondering..." he trailed off and ran a hand through his hair, "I was wondering if that would be okay with you" he blurted out.

Carlos stood before him with his arms crossed firmly over his chest. "She's my only little girl, you understand that right?"

Mark nodded.

"And if you hurt her I personally make you eunuch"

Mark gulped and nodded once more. "I understand, sir, I love your daughter, and I plan to treat like the goddess she is."

A smile broke out on Carlos' face, "Then you have my blessing"

Mark perked up and brought the older man into a hug. "Thank you so much!"

Mr. Torres stood with his arms at his side, he then cleared his throat, "Get off me, Mark" he commanded. Mark jumped away from the man and coughed to cover himself up.

"Sorry"

Carlos put a hand on his shoulder, "No, problem, just take care of my little girl"

"I will" he said proudly.

Later at home, Callie was changing out of her dress and turned to Mark who had slipped out of suit and climbed into bed.

"What did you talk to my dad about?" she asked and pulled an old t-shirt over her head.

Mark froze and hurried to find an answer, "Oh, he was just asking me about business stuff"

Callie tilted her head questioningly, "Business stuff?" she asked, clearly knowing he was lying, "And what pray tell is 'business stuff'" she used air quotations to make emphasis.

Waving his hand, Mark dismissed the subject, "It's nothing, Cal," he insisted, "don't worry about it."

Pursing her lips, Callie crossed her arms over her chest and continued dressing in her sleep clothes wordlessly. She then climbed into bed without a word to Mark and turned her back to him. Mark sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. He placed a gentle kiss to her shoulder and nuzzled his nose to her neck.

"Come on, baby" he cooed, "It was nothing, we were just talking" he paused, then continued, "man to man"

Callie stayed silent and pushed his arm off her waist, she then moved further away from him and went to sleep without another word. Mark flopped onto his back and let out a loud sigh. He turned the other way, away from her and angrily fell sleep.

The next morning, Mark rolled over hoping to find Callie's warm body in the spot next to him. His goals of making up after their little disagreement last night were shattered when he realized she wasn't there. He sat up and scanned the room to see if she was there, but flopped back onto his back when he saw no sign of her.

Mark pulled himself out of bed, threw on a t-shirt and padded out of the room. He walked down the stairs and stopped when he heard a pots clattering in the kitchen. Making his way there, he leaned against the doorjamb and watched as Callie worked around the kitchen. He stood there for a while just watching her prepare breakfast and tinker around the kitchen. Realizing that he couldn't stand watching her all day, even if he wanted to, he cleared his throat, causing Callie to jump in surprise.

She looked up and gave him a small smile, "Hey"

"Hi" Mark replied stepping into the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, "I could make something else if you want" she offered.

Mark shook his head and came to stop right in front of her, "I'm fine," he reassured her, "but I do want to apologize."

Callie lowered her gaze, "You don't have to" she said, and played with the hem of his shirt, "I should be the one apologizing, I shouldn't have gotten so worked up -" she was cut off by Mark's finger on her lips.

"No, you don't apologize, Callie," he said firmly, "I should've told you the truth, and I'm sorry I lied to you"

Callie shook her head, "Whatever it was, it doesn't matter, it was between you and dad, and that's fine" she said with a smile. She wrapped an arm around his neck and brought his lips down to hers. She teased him with, light, barely there kisses and giggled when Mark groaned and lowered his forehead against hers.

"I love you" he said softly.

"I love you, too" she replied.

Later that night, the entire family was gathered around the dining table, enjoying the feast that Callie and her mother had prepared. Each shared their favorite memories about Thanksgiving, and what they were thankful for. It didn't come as a shock when Mark announced that he was thankful to have Callie in his life. He looked around the table at each person of the Torres clan and finally felt apart of something. Apart of a family. When all was said and done, they migrated to the living room where they enjoyed each other's company, complete with lots of laughs and memories. At around midnight, Carlos and Alejandra bid their goodnights and the boys followed shortly after.

Mark and Callie walked up to their bedroom, and both flopped onto the bed, each letting out an exhausted sigh. Callie rolled to her side and snuggled into the warmth of Mark's chest.

"We made it through Thanksgiving" Mark chuckled and wrapped his arm around her.

"That we did" he replied. He placed a soft kiss to Callie's head and brought her closer to him. Callie yawned and pulled the cover up over both of them and rest her head on Mark's chest. Letting her eyes drift shut, she placed a tender kiss to his chest.

"Good night, babe" she said softly. Quickly, her eyes drifted shut and she soon found sleep.

"Good night, my love" he said and soon fell asleep with a huge grin plastered on his face.