Here we are with another chapter! Cal/Emily interaction in this one… hope it's true to character. Let me know if I didn't get it right (gently please ).

The rest of the weekend was uneventful for Gillian. She had slept fairly well after Noah left. Sunday she spent getting her stuff ready for her return to work on Monday. She had to get the final okay from the doctor Monday morning, but she was sure that wouldn't be a problem.

Cal had called late Sunday evening to check on her. The conversation had been strange. They only talked for a minute. Cal said he wanted to make sure she was okay. He asked if she needed him to go to her doctor's appointment with her Monday morning.

"No Cal. I'll be fine. I'm coming straight to work after. I should be in by 10:00." Gillian couldn't help but smile. He could really be quite sweet at times. She was grateful she was one of the few who got to see that side of him. He had been so good to her over the past few weeks.

"Okay love. If for some reason the doctor says you need more rest, please listen to him. I don't want you pushing yourself." Cal knew that was a waste of breath. She would be in tomorrow no matter what the exchange was at the doctor's office. He would know what happened by her reaction to him. If he had any indication she shouldn't be there he would drag her home kicking and screaming!

"I won't. I'm fine, really. I'm anxious to get back."

"Okay, well, I'll see you when you get in. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay. Thanks. Goodnight Cal."

"Goodnight Gill."

Gillian hung up the phone and thought about the conversation. He sounded funny, almost sad. 'At least I'm not Foster today. We're back to Gill.'

Cal hung up the phone. He had thought about not calling her but he couldn't stand not to hear her voice. He just needed to know she was okay. He wanted to ask how the date went. But he wasn't sure he really wanted to know. She sounded happy and relaxed. Good for her. Above anything else, he wanted her to be happy.

Cal made his way to the kitchen. He started cleaning up his weekend mess when he heard Emily come in the front door. "Dad! I'm home!"

Emily made her way to the kitchen. "Oh my gosh. What did you do this weekend? This place looks a mess." Cal turned to say hello to her but before he said a word out she blurted out "you look awful! What happened?"

"Well thanks Em. I'm fantastic. How are you?" He went back to his cleaning.

"Seriously Dad. What's going on? You haven't had a bad weekend like this in a while."

"I enjoyed a nice, quiet weekend with me, myself, and I." 'And a few bottles of whiskey.'

"By yourself? But, what about Gillian? I thought you guys would spend time together this weekend." Cal heard the disappointment in her voice. He didn't want to get into Gillian's weekend plans.

"Nope. I guess she needed a break from me." 'Stop asking Emily.'

"What? Why? What did she say? What did you do Dad?" Emily was looking at him skeptically.

"Why do you assume I did somethin' wrong?" Cheap deflection and he knew it. He also knew she would catch it.

"Because, you have a habit of doing stupid things that upset her." Emily came closer to him and stared at his face. "You're deflecting Dad! What's going on?"

"Gillian had plans this weekend. Those plans didn't involve me. She has a life Em. Separate and apart from me and her job." 'Good job Cal. You just shoved open the door you wanted to stay closed!'

"What plans? How could she have plans?" Emily was thinking hard. Cal swore he could see smoke coming out of her ears. "Oh, no. Detective Parker." She looked at Cal and saw him look away. "I'm right aren't I?"

"Yeah love. You're right. Not another word about it. Got it?" Cal turned back to the sink full of dishes.

Emily came and put her arms around her dad. "Don't give up Dad. Gillian has feelings for you. I just know it. She just doesn't see it yet. It took you a long time to figure out how you felt about her. She just needs time."

Cal turned to face Emily. "I realize that in your mind you think Gill and I should be together. I will even admit I feel that in some ways too. But there can be no interfering in this. Okay Em?" He looked at her with a stern face. She nodded her head. "If it's meant to be, it will happen. There will be no manipulating by anyone. Are we clear?"

"Yes, but-" Emily tried to protest.

"No 'buts' Em. Gill has to come to this on her own without your cosmic interference." Cal took hold of her arms as he said this. He was trying to make sure she understood how important it was that she not get involved.

"Okay. I won't interfere. But you should at least put up a fight Dad. How will she ever know if you don't give any indication?" Emily had a pleading expression on her face.

Cal turned back to the sink. "Now is not the time. I'll know if the time presents itself. But, I'm not gonna arrange it. We both want Gill to be happy. Right?"

Emily sighed. "Yes. I just want her to be happy here with us."

"I know love. But if that can't happen then we should be hoping that she can be happy wherever she chooses to be. If that ends up being with Noah Parker…then that's how it goes." Cal was staying pretty matter-of-fact. Emily wasn't happy about that.

"I understand what you're saying Dad. But you have to promise me that you won't shut her out. I know how you are. You'll push her away because she is currently unattainable. You are best friends. Best friends are there for each other. Please, be there for her?" Emily had a grip on her dad's arm.

He looked at her. "I am not gonna shut her out. I would be miserable without her in my life in some fashion." Cal paused for a second. "I can't believe I'm havin' this conversation with my 16 year old daughter."

"I'm glad we're having this conversation. I'm glad you trust me enough to talk to me about it." Emily planted a kiss on her dad's cheek. She turned to leave the room. At the doorway she paused and turned back around. "You know this could be a good thing. Noah Parker could be her 'rebound.' Trust me Dad; you never want to be the rebound!"

"The what?" Cal turned to her with an exasperated look on his face.

"The rebound! You know, the one you have in between the wrong one and the right one. Haven't you heard that you shouldn't jump out of the frying pan into the fire?" Emily was grinning. "So, this is perfect!"

"You been watchin' Oprah again?"

"Nope. Reading Cosmo. It's like the encyclopedia for women!" With that she turned and went up to her room.

Cal stared after her in bewilderment.

Gillian's doctor's appointment had gone well. She wasn't happy about having to continue wearing the soft cast for at least another week. But, it did hide the bruises on her arm. Which is good considering the bruises on her face were still visible. She had done an awesome make-up job, but even the best make-up can only do so much with the colors she had going on. The doctor had told her to do half days for this week. She planned on keeping that to herself. Hopefully Cal would only ask if she had been cleared to come back. She could answer that honestly.

Gillian walked into the building with her laptop over her right shoulder, her purse over her left arm, and a fresh cup of coffee in her left hand. She saw Heidi first. "Dr. Foster! It's so good to have you back!"

"Thank you Heidi. It's good to be back. You have anything for me?" Gillian smiled sweetly at the receptionist.

"Just a few letters that came this morning. I've been putting the rest of your mail in your in-box. I can bring these to you later if that would be easier."

"No. I can take them now." She reached and took the letters with her right arm. She saw Heidi's expression when she saw the soft cast. "It's okay Heidi. It feels fine. The cast is just precautionary."

"I'm so sorry. I don't mean to stare. We've all just been so concerned about you…" Heidi stammered a little knowing her boss didn't like to be pitied or coddled.

"Thank you. I appreciate your concern, really. But, I'm okay." Gillian smiled as she headed down the hallway to her office.

Loker came out of the lab just as she was passing by. "Dr. Foster? You're back." He turned to go in her direction.

Gillian smiled over her shoulder "Good Morning Eli."

Loker caught up with her. He took one look at her face and winced with sympathetic pain. "Wow. Torres wasn't kidding about the bruises. Those are bad."

Gillian chuckled. "You should have seen them this time last week. They're practically gone now."

"Do you need some help with that?" Eli motioned toward her arm with the laptop and the mail she was carrying.

"No Eli. I'm fine. But, thank you. Carry on with whatever you're doing."

Loker walked away shrugging his shoulders.

Gillian made it to her office. She put down everything she had been carrying. She froze when she saw the yellow envelope on her desk. No return address. Just her name on the front. She slowly picked up the envelope and felt it. It felt like papers. She opened it and pulled the papers out. Cal chose this moment to bust through the door startling her and causing her to jump.

"Oh sorry love! Just came to see how you were doin'. What's that?" He saw the look on Gillian's face and his heart dropped. He rushed toward her and took the papers from her hand. Gillian sat down in her chair and dropped her head. Cal saw the reason for her reaction. "Your divorce papers."

"Silly for me to react this way huh?" Gillian looked up at him with a sad face. "I knew they were coming."

"That doesn't make it any easier." He leaned up against her desk and took her hand.

Gillian stood and turned away from him. She felt empty on the one hand, but relieved on the other. "Well, now my failure is filed in the Court."

"No love. Not your failure. His failure." Cal put his arms around her in a comforting gesture. She patted his hand and then turned to face him.

"I'll get through it. It'll be fine." She took a deep breath and smiled and unconvincing smile.

"I'm here if you need me, love. Been there, done that. Even when you know it's comin' and it's for the best, it still feels like a sucker punch in the gut." He gave her a little grin.

She smiled. A genuine smile this time. "Thanks Cal. You're too good to me." She put her arms out to hug him and he obliged willingly.

Gillian backed away. "Well, on the bright side, I was scared to death when I saw the yellow envelope. I thought it might be…" She didn't finish her sentence.

"That was my first thought too. I have to admit I was glad to see divorce papers." They laughed together. "So, what did the doctor say? You all cleared?"

"Yes. I'm good. I just have to wear this soft cast for another week and he said to call if I had any problems." Gillian sat down in her chair and started for her mail pile.

"Something very suspect about that statement Gill. No outright lies but I sense some omission." Cal was staring at her face waiting to see how she reacted.

"You are over protective Cal. I am fine and very glad to be back here."

Not being able to discern anything from her now masked face, he got up and headed for the door. "Very well love. I'll check back in a while. Carry on."

Gillian finally got through her mail pile. It wouldn't have taken so long but every few minutes another staff person was coming in to welcome her back. It was nice to have been missed. But, she wasn't getting any work done.

Her door swung wide open and she knew who it was before she even looked up. "Hi Cal."

"Hey love. Come on. Lunchtime."

"Cal, I'm right in the middle of this account. I can't leave right now."

"Sure you can! We're the bosses. Remember? We can do whatever we want." Cal came around and took her by the arm. He pulled her gently from her chair.

"Well, that's an improvement. Usually you say you're the boss." She rose from the chair but a sudden wave of fear hit her and she couldn't move.

Cal felt the resistance. "What's wrong?"

Gillian couldn't make the words come out. She just kept picturing the last time she left her office for lunch. Her body wouldn't move.

"You're afraid." Cal turned so they were facing each other. "I'll go pick something up. You don't have to go."

"No. I need to go. Stay with me?" Gillian was ashamed to be feeling so afraid, but she couldn't help it.

"Absolutely. I'm here for you Gill. Just lean on me."

She grabbed her purse and they left for lunch together.

TBC