A/N: I'm back! I know you all were spoiled with updates nearly every day for a while there, but then Thanksgiving hit and my whole family got sick! Yuck. Anyway, I'm all better now and my muse finally kicked back in. I had a heck of a time getting my brain back into gear for this. But here it is! As always, enjoy!

Over the next several hours, Cal busied himself in the kitchen. It was true he never really cared to put up a tree and decorate and 'all that bollocks,' but he was enjoying listening to his two favorite girls laughing with one another. He would stop what he was doing now and then to look in and see what they were up to. He found it amusing to watch them try to untangle lights together. At one point they were laughing uncontrollably as Emily fell over backwards to the floor while being half-saved only by the strand of lights Gillian was holding. Gillian was laughing so hard she had to sit down, and Emily was curled into a ball because her stomach hurt from laughing so much. As he stood there watching he thought, If this is what decorating is all about, I could get used to that.

Around 4, Cal walked into the living room to see both women standing shoulder to shoulder a little ways back from the tree with both their heads tilted to the right, just taking in the site. The lights in the room were off, the curtains were drawn so it was dark, and the lights on the tree were lit. He walked up behind them and stopped in the middle of them, one step back.

"That's a beautiful tree," he said while wrapping an arm around Emily from behind and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, Dad," she said with a smile.

Gillian had an awe-inspired look on her face as she turned to Cal. Upon seeing him, her smile changed to pure amusement.

"Yeah, I know," he stated flatly. "I'm odd."

Gillian looked down at the same frilly apron he'd worn last year and said with a shrug, "It suits you. What can we help you with in here?" she asked as she walked away from the pair and entered the kitchen.

Emily gave Cal a look that said, 'What? No kiss for Gillian?'

"Don't start," Cal said, leaving Emily alone with the tree as he also headed for the kitchen and stopped just inside.

For the first time that day, Cal took notice of the jeans that hugged Gillian's legs perfectly, and were only more perfect as she leaned over to look through the window of the oven. As she stood back up toward him, he noticed her light blue sweater was also quite flattering. It wasn't a deep-v neckline, but it was dangerously low by Gillian's standards, and it hugged her quite tightly.

Seeing an odd look on Cal's face that she couldn't quite name, Gillian inquired, "What?" She was very confused. Usually when he looked her up and down it bordered on predatory. This was…different.

Cal quickly came to and said, "Thanks for helping with the tree. You know how I hate all that." He walked toward her and decided on pure deflection. "You wanna make the chocolate pie?"

"You know you don't have to ask twice!" she said excitedly. Cal smiled at the way her eyes lit up at the mention of chocolate and handed over the ingredients he already had sitting on the counter. "No pumpkin pie?" she asked, having realized there was an alarming lack of desserts.

"Over there," Cal said while pointing behind her and taking a step forward, leaving only a couple feet between them. "You didn't think I'd invite you to Thanksgiving and only have one kind of dessert, did you?" he teased.

"I was a little worried," she joked back with a smile that soon faded to a look of interest. As she looked up from the packages she was opening, she saw Cal looking at her more affectionately than he had in a long time. She suddenly didn't feel like a nuisance to him, like she had so often lately. She felt in the way when he was dealing with Wallowski, like he was trying everything he could to get around her and keep her out of the way. But that look on his face… She felt like maybe he did think she was beautiful. And maybe he did want her…

Her spell was broken by Cal giving her a small, sincere smile and quietly asking, "Did you have fun with Em?"

She smiled back and said, "Yes. I really did." She paused a moment, considering the comfortable feeling she had while standing in Cal's kitchen with a mixing bowl in hand, and him so close. She also took a moment to consider the softness of his voice. She missed these moments with him. Moments that felt like they stole away from the world, moments that were only for them and made her heart beat a little faster. Moments that made her wonder 'what if?'

"The tree looks amazing, Gillian," Emily said brightly as she entered the kitchen.

Gillian kept her eyes on Cal for the duration of Emily's comment, noticing he wasn't looking away and feeling sorry their moment was over. She finally tore her gaze away from him, then looked at Emily and responded, "I think it looks great too."

Cal kept his eyes on Gillian, studying her as she interacted with his daughter. He always loved how easily they got along. Granted, Gillian got along well with most people if given the opportunity, but it was obvious to him simply by the way she looked at his daughter that she held a special place in Gillian's heart. He wondered if Emily had any idea about that, and then his train of thought was interrupted.

"It's a lot more fun to put up when someone is helping too. Dad." Emily said while looking at Cal. He simply looked at her indifferently.

"Well I was happy to help," Gillian intervened. "We haven't had a chance to talk in a while anyway, so it was nice to catch up with you. Which reminds me, Cal," she said while turning to him, "Stop scaring away boys! She's a good judge of character. You need to learn to trust her instincts." She raised her eyebrows at him as a punctuation to the end of her statement and focused her sights back on her pie.

"See! It's not just me. Other people think this way too," Emily said wide-eyed as she looked at Cal and motioned toward Gillian with one hand.

Cal looked from Emily to Gillian and back again. "Now I know why I stayed in the kitchen while you two were decorating. I'm outnumbered!"

"You could have invited Liam over for dinner," Gillian casually threw out without taking her eyes off the bowl of chocolate filling that she was mixing and putting in the pie crust.

"Right. Because he would side with me over Emily. That'd be three on one then. And that might be the worst idea you've ever had, love," he said seriously.

Gillian smirked and glanced up from her finished pie at Emily who was smiling back at her.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Emily said. "I'm sure his family wanted him home, and he's picking me up tomorrow to do some Christmas shopping."

"Oh yeah? Since when?" Cal asked with his brow furrowed.

"Since yesterday," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Ah. Well then, you get dishes today!" Cal stated joyfully with a wide smile.

"What? That's so unfair!" Emily complained.

"That's what you get for making plans and not telling me," Cal countered. He knew this was a ridiculous argument. He just didn't like that…boy.

"I won't be gone all day, Dad. I'll just be gone for a few hours. I didn't think it was a big deal," Emily stated annoyed.

Knowing full well what was going through Cal's mind, Gillian offered, "I'll help with the dishes."

"'Course you will. You bloody women always stick together," Cal said, half-annoyed. "I'm going to the living room to enjoy your tree. Mashed potatoes still need to be done, green bean casserole needs to be made, and the turkey needs to come out in twenty." And with that, Cal sauntered off to the living room where he promptly plopped himself on the couch and turned on the tv.

Gillian looked at the stovetop to see a pot full of water waiting to boil. She turned the heat up, looked at Emily and asked, "Which do you want – peeling potatoes or making casserole?"

"Casserole," Emily stated walking over to the cupboards to gather everything she'd need.

Gillian found a bag of potatoes on the counter and took them to the island. She looked up to see Cal settling back in the couch and looking at the tree. She knew it was silly, but she actually missed him from when he was next to her thirty seconds ago. It seemed like from the moment she'd gotten there he was always in a different room. Not that she minded the time with Emily. She really did love it; but when their relationship was still slightly hanging in the balance, she could really use some quality time with Cal.

Having gathered what she needed for the casserole, Emily looked over at Gillian in time to see her let out a sizable sigh. She walked over next to her and said, "You miss him, don't you?"

Understanding that she must have heard her sigh, Gillian responded, "I was just looking at all these potatoes that need to be peeled. That's a lot of potatoes!"

Emily rolled her eyes and responded, "He misses you too. He'd never say that, but he does." Standing next to her for a moment and then realizing that Gillian was just as good at hiding things when she wanted to as her dad was, she walked back over to the counter and started mixing things together.

As if right on cue, Gillian looked up to see Cal looking back at her. He gave her a wide smile, then turned back toward the tv. Gillian felt a familiar warmth stir in her chest, and she re-focused on her task, eager to get to dinner.

Not so sure about this ending, but it is what it is. I have a few ideas floating around in my head, so as long as there's still interest I think I'll keep it going for a while. And I'll do my best to start updating more frequently again!