Cal woke up with Gillian in his arms. It was always a nice feeling. He smiled, as the memories from the night before filled his head. She stirred and snuggled close to him. "What time is it?"

"Seven."

"Ugh. I need to get up." She started to move, but Cal held her tighter, and she laughed. "Seriously, Cal! We both need showers, breakfast, coffee, and I need to get dressed and do my hair and makeup. Let's move!"

She struggled to get free of his grasp as he pulled her in a little tighter. He gently kissed her neck, and finally released her. She headed toward the bathroom. She was wearing one of Cal's t-shirts that barely covered her butt. He smiled, and got up as well, and headed toward the kitchen.

He went over to the coffee pot and started brewing coffee. Next, he got out a frying pan. He cracked two eggs and let them fry. While waiting on the eggs to cook, he toasted some bread, and got the cheese out of the fridge. He was all out of meats, so they would have to live with just egg and cheese sandwiches. He needed to go shopping.

Gillian came downstairs in her bathrobe. She had taken to leaving it at Cal's, that's where they spent most of their time together. She was pleased to see a sandwich that had already been made for her, and a cup of coffee made to perfection. She smiled, as she took a bite of her sandwich. The yolk popped open, and the juices soaked through her bread. Perfect! It had taken Cal some time to get used to her preferences with egg sandwiches. She liked the yolk runny; he liked his cooked all the way through. She usually ended up remaking her sandwiches. "Thank you Cal, it's delicious!"

"Maybe to you!" They laughed, and Cal finished his sandwich. He left his dishes in the sink and ran upstairs to take his own shower. Gillian finished her breakfast and washed all of the dishes. It was funny to her how easy it was for them to do this domesticity stuff. They hadn't even talked about it, but had just picked up doing different duties. Cal usually cooked, Gillian cleaned, Cal did laundry, and Gillian made sure the house didn't look like a train went through it. It was just easy, and she loved it.

When Cal got out of the shower, Gillian had already changed into her outfit of the day. She had a light blue shirt, and white pants. Her hair was curled, and landed right on her shoulders. She was putting on her makeup in the mirror. He hugged her quickly.

"Am I shattering the illusion?"

"The only way to do that would be to tell me you don't exist!"

She kissed him. "I love you, Cal"

They walked into the Lightman Group together, his arm around her shoulder, and her arm around his waist. Now that everyone knew they were dating, they didn't have to hide it anymore. And it was the most freeing feeling Gillian had ever felt. When they got to Cal's office, they were surprised to see that they weren't alone. Zoe was sitting on the couch. "Well, I was waiting for Cal, but I guess you are both here."

"Hello, Zoe." Cal shivered. When Gillian used that tone of voice, he knew it was bad news.

"So, how long has this been going on?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but about four months. I'd have thought our daughter would've told you everything. It's because of her master plan that Gill and I ended up together."

"Well, just don't pull her into this too much. When this relationship goes down in flames, I don't want her to be pulled in with it."

Gillian spoke up, "What makes you think that this relationship will go down in flames?"

"Oh, Cal has his ways. He can see every little lie, and they all just eat away at him. Plus, there is the added fact that he can see your lies, but you can't see him. It all leads to a very messed up and toxic dynamic."

"Maybe I should let the two of you talk. I'm going to my office." With an uncomfortable look on her face, Gillian left.

"For your information, I can't read her! She is too close to me. It's why Emily can sometimes lie to me too, especially when I'm not trying to read her! I am trying my hardest to make sure this doesn't go down in flames."

"Let's face it, Cal. You and Gillian can't work because you and I have too much history. You always come back to me."

"Not anymore. I think it's best that the Lightman Group cuts any and all ties with your office. Goodbye, Zoe." He walked over to his desk and sat down.

Zoe got up and walked toward him. "You can't get me out of your life that easily, we have a daughter together, Cal."

"You're right, and for her sake, I will be civil with you. But I don't want to see you unless it has something to do with her. No more personal visits. Goodbye, Zoe."

"Whatever, Cal." With that, she turned on her heels and left.

"Cal! We are going to be late! Hurry!" Gillian yelled toward his bedroom. They were headed for a Fourth of July cookout at her brother's house. She was wearing a red, short sleeved shirt, white pants, and a blue bandana in her hair, as was her family tradition. They completely decked themselves out in red, white, and blue.

"I'm having some trouble, luv." Ugh, sometimes he was so irritating! She went to his room and found him in a red polo shirt, jean shorts, and bare feet. "I don't want to count socks as my white thing, but I don't think I have anything else! Why couldn't you have reminded me?" It was true. Cal wasn't used to the American holiday, and he definitely hadn't heard of Gillian's family tradition.

"Cal, I have an idea. Take off your shirt."

He grinned. "I thought we were going to be late?"

She laughed. "No! Not now, maybe tonight. But just trust me, take off your shirt." She rifled around in his drawers and pulled out a white shirt.

"Gillian! I can't wear just white and blue; I figured red and blue would be good enough!"

"Hold on, I'm not finished!" She searched in the closet; she knew it was in there somewhere. "Yes!" she exclaimed, triumphantly. She came out with a red cap held above her head. A West Ham United cap. "I knew I had seen that in here! But I'll make sure you're better prepared next year!"

They got to Nick's house just in time to get attacked by the two little girls. Sadie and Sarah came flying at Gillian, practically knocking her off of her feet. "Hey, guys! What's up?"

"Daddy's cooking chicken on the grill, come see!" Sadie pulled her aunt toward the backyard. Cal looked down at Sarah. "Shall we go see?" She grinned. He picked her up and went running after Gillian and Sadie. The twins looked adorable, in sundresses that had fireworks on them (red, white, and blue fireworks, of course). Much like their aunt, they each had a different color bandana in their brown hair. Sadie's was blue, and Sarah's was red. Cal shook Nick's hand, and set the girl down.

"How are you doing, Cal?"

"Great, thanks for inviting me!"

"Where is your daughter? It's, Emily, right?"

"Yes, her name is Emily. She likes to spend her Fourth of July with her American parent. I don't usually do much." In fact, Cal usually worked. This was different for him.

"Well, she should come next year. It would be nice to have her!"

Gillian was completely engaged in everything her nieces were telling her. Boy, could they talk, especially Sadie. They usually stayed pretty busy; Nancy would take them to do gymnastics, even when the school year was over, so they always had a story to tell. Cal listened in as Sarah told Gillian yet another story. "We were swimming at the beach, and there was a very mean older boy. He kept yelling 'SHARK' because he liked to laugh when me and Sadie got scared."

"You know how to tell if he is lying? If there really had been a shark, when he yelled 'shark', his voice would get so high, he would have squeaked. Then, he would have run toward the shore screaming. He wouldn't have stayed out in the water with the shark. So if you ever hear a little boy screaming like a girl, then you know it's real!" Cal then yelled "SHARK!" over and over, cracking his voice like a pubescent boy every time. The girls were rolling in the grass, laughing so hard, and Gillian was grinning from ear to ear.

"Girls, it's time to eat!" They ran toward their dad to get food. Cal ran after them. He was starved. When Gillian got up to her brother, she gave him a proper hug. "It's so nice to see you again, Nick. Thanks for the delicious food!"

"You know, you are welcome anytime, Gill. The girls would love it if you would spend more time with them!"

"I really should take you up on that! By the way, where is Mom?"

"Oh. She couldn't make it because she made plans with her boyfriend's family."

Gillian was a little hurt by this. Her mother had missed every major holiday to spend time with her boyfriend's family, including Gillian's surprise party a month and a half ago. "Well, I hope he's good to her." Was all that she said.

Cal was sitting with the girls, and talking to them. So Gillian decided to spend some time with Nancy. She sat down across from her at the table. "How are you doing, Nancy?"

"Okay. The summers are the hardest, the girls tire me out, and I don't get the break that the school day usually brings."

Gillian nodded. "Well, maybe I can help with that. Nick said I should come over more, play with the girls. I think that would be fun, and it would give you guys a break. Or, we could choose two days a month, and that would be date night, and I could watch them! Whatever I can do to make this easier. You know, I love those girls."

"That would be fun! We would owe you big time! Maybe we could repay the favor. Have you and Cal talked about kids at all?"

"We haven't, and I am content with Emily. She has always held a very special place in my heart. Without her, I wouldn't be as happy as I am today!"

"But look at how he is with them!" Gillian looked over. Seeing Cal gush over her nieces made her heart melt. "He would be such a great Dad."

"That's the thing. He already is. Emily is 17, it's not fair for me to ask him to start over. So I will spoil Sadie and Sarah rotten and drive you nuts. But that's it for me, and I am okay with that." And she was. She told the exact same thing to Erin almost two months prior, and nothing had changed. She just wanted people to stop asking her that question.

"Just as long as you're sure. And I will let you take these girls whenever you want."

"Cal, why do you talk funny?" Sarah gazed up at him, and Sadie followed suit, intrigued by the question.

"I don't talk funny, you guys talk funny!" The girls laughed.

"No, for real! You talk funny!"

"It's because I come from another country, across the ocean." They looked at him blankly, so he pulled out his phone, and looked up a map. "See, we are here." He pointed to D.C. "And I grew up way over here." He dragged his finger across the ocean and pointed to England. "Everyone there talks like me, and not like you. So I think you girls talk funny, and you girls think I talk funny!"

"That's weird." Nick came over to pack them into the car. They were headed to the Washington monument, to watch the fireworks. It was crowded, as usual, but amazing. Fireworks were always spectacular to watch. Sarah sat in her dad's lap, and Sadie sat in Cal's. The both fell asleep getting carried back to the car. Nancy offered to take Sadie multiple times, but Cal didn't mind, even if it meant taking longer to get back to their car.

Back in the car, they had a decision to make. "Your place or mine?" Cal asked.

"Yours. It's closer." So they drove off to Cal's house, laughing about the girls and all the crazy stories they told.

"You know what I was thinking? Maybe you, me, and Emily should take a weekend and go to the beach. It would be fun!" He meant it. It would be nice to take a holiday with his two favorite girls.

"That would be fun. Under one condition." Cal looked at her, eyebrows raised, anticipating her condition. "You can't yell 'shark' in the water." They both laughed.

"Shark!" Cal said. His voice cracked, and Gillian laughed, in spite of herself.