Remember, I own nothing and reviews are love...
A year passed and Emily and Brad grew ever closer. So close, that Gillian and Cal knew that it was only a matter of time before they decided to get married.
That day happened on Christmas morning. It was Arianna's tenth birthday and everyone was getting ready for her party. Brad and Emily arrived early so that they kids could open all of their gifts. Gillian noticed that Brad was extremely nervous about something. She thought it was strange because he'd become very comfortable at their house. The guys would disappear into Cal's office while Emily and Gillian would sit and talk.
Gillian noticed that Brad kept wiping his hands on his pants and kept looking at Cal. He had the look of a man that wanted to bolt. Gillian pulled Emily aside and asked, "Is Brad okay?"
Emily shrugged her shoulders and said, "I have no idea. He's acting strange and I can't get him to tell me why."
Gillian looked at her and said, "I wonder what he's up to."
Emily looked at her and said, "I have no idea."
They watched as the men disappeared into Cal's office.
Cal knew that Brad was nervous. He'd been eyeing him all day. Finally, he motioned for him to follow him into his office. Once inside, he said, "Okay, what's wrong?"
Brad looked at him nervously and said, "There's nothing wrong. Not really. I just have something I want to ask you and I'm not sure how to."
"Well, it usually helps to start with, I have a question for you."
Brad laughed and said, "Okay. I know that you know how much I love Emily. I can see myself growing old with her. She's the most important person in my life. I love her more than I've ever loved anyone before. I know that you're very protective of her. I'm glad that she had you for a father and her mother is a wonderful woman."
Cal had to keep from smiling. He knew that Brad was nervous. He smiled and said, "I suggest you spit it out. The women are probably going to come looking for us in a few minutes. Then you will have to wait until we can get away again."
Brad swallowed hard and finally said, "Well, Mister Lightman, I wanted to ask you for Emily's hand in marriage."
Cal was stunned. He'd never thought that Brad would ask him for his permission to marry his daughter. It was at that moment that his respect for the young man grew tenfold. Cal smiled and said, "It would be an honor to have you in our family. You have my blessing."
Cal watched as the younger man let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you."
Cal smiled again and said, "Now, are you wanting to ask her today or did you want to wait until you're alone? Because that might take awhile, you should know that Emily and her mom love Christmas."
Brad smiled and said, "I know that. Trust me she's dragged me to every store in the mall. She's looking for the perfect gift for her mom."
Cal smiled and said, "What did she get her?"
Brad shook his head and said, "I'm not telling. I've been threatened with death if I let it slip before the big reveal."
Cal laughed and said, "Trust me, she will do it too. She's just like her mom. They both take their Christmas shopping seriously. Always have."
Brad smiled and said, "It must be a girl thing. I picked out some things here and there, but I spent the most time picking out her ring."
Cal smiled and said, "You were sure that I'd say yes?"
"I'm relatively sure yes. Should we go out there now?"
Cal smiled and said, "Yeah, but when we do, we should pretend like I've been yelling at you. Make them wonder what's going on. It's always good to keep the Lightman women guessing."
Brad laughed and said, "I'm starting to learn that."
"Are ready to go?"
Brad nodded and said, "Sure am."
Cal opened the door and said, "The next time you want to tell me that kind of rubbish think about who you're talking to!"
Brad looked at Cal and said, "Well excuse me for trying to be original for a change! It won't happen again!"
"Damn right it won't! Because you aren't to set foot in this house ever again!"
Cal noticed that Gillian and Emily had come running into the living room. Gillian looked at Cal and asked, "What are you doing?"
Cal looked at her and said, "Getting rid of this piece of rubbish!"
Brad looked at Cal and said, "Well excuse me for thinking that I could talk to you about anything! I guess I'll try someone more civilized next time!"
Cal looked back and Emily and said, "Why don't you try her then? She seems to have a thing for you!"
Brad looked at her and said, "Maybe I will."
Then Brad turned around, got down on one knee and reached into his pocket. He looked up at Emily and said, "Emily, I love you more than I've ever loved anyone else. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You make me incredibly happy. When I'm away from you I can't wait to be with you again."
Cal looked at Gillian and said, "I wish he would just get on with it."
Gillian was slowly starting to understand what was going on. She looked at her husband and said, "Shush!"
Brad smiled and said, "I want the kind of love that your parents have, a forever kind of love. Emily Lightman, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
Cal and Gillian watched as their daughter's eyes filled with tears. She looked down at him and said, "Yes! Yes I will!"
Brad looked at her and said, "Really?"
Cal laughed and said, "She said yes man! Put the ring on her bloody finger already!"
Gillian hit him in the ribs with her elbow and said, "Cal, would you let him do it on his own."
Cal looked at her and whispered, "What? He's not doing it right!"
Gillian looked at him and said, "I'm going to wring your neck if you don't stop it!"
Cal smiled and said, "That sounds like it could be fun."
Gillian rolled her eyes and said, "Would you just watch your daughter's big moment please?"
Cal smiled and said, "I'd rather watch you."
"Please!"
Cal smiled and said, "Is that a challenge?"
Gillian smiled and said, "If you want to ever sleep with me again you need to watch this. Then we'll talk about sex."
Cal rubbed his hands together and said, "Good!"
They turned back to Emily and Brad and watched as he slipped the ring onto her hand. She smiled and stood up and kissed him. She was extremely happy as they stood in the middle of her parent's living room.
Gillian had tears in her eyes as Emily came over to show her the ring! She looked at her and asked, "Are you happy sweetheart?"
Emily nodded and said, "I've never been happier mom!"
Gillian hugged her tightly as they sat to open the rest of their presents! Emily swallowed hard and said, "Mom, I have a special present for you."
Emily walked over to the tree and picked up a medium sized box sitting under the tree. She carried it over to Gillian and handed it to her. She smiled and said, "This is just a little something for you. I've sort of been making this for the past few years. I just had to find the perfect thing to put it in."
Gillian smiled as she opened the box and saw something sitting inside of the box. Inside sat a engraved silver photo album. The inscription read, "Thanks For All The Wonderful Memories Mom. I Love You, Emily."
Gillian eyes filled with tears as she opened the photo album. It was filled with pictures from their life together. Pictures of them before Zoe passed away, photos of a young Emily and Gillian at the Lightman group. Gillian looked at Cal and asked, "Did you know about this?"
Cal simply smiled and said, "I might have known a bit about it, the pictures at least."
Gillian flipped through it more and saw that it was filled with more pictures. Most were candid shots of the two of them together. By the time Gillian reached the end, she was a blubbering mass of tears. She looked at Emily and said, "This is the best gift I've ever gotten. I love you so much!"
The girls stood up and hugged. Cal and Brad smiled at the women they loved.
Then Emily said, "I couldn't have asked for a better mom. Thank you for stepping up and being a mom to me. I will always look to you as the type of wife and mother I want to be. You're a sensitive and remarkable woman. Another woman might not have been so accepting of the daughter of a woman that broke her and her soul mate apart all those years ago. You never thought about that. You never hated me. You never..."
That was the point that Emily broke into tears. Great gulping sobs. She knew that this was just a small token of her love for her mom. They hugged again and then Gillian said, "I love you Em. You're your father's daughter. I've loved your father for years. Besides, you made it easy to love you. I love you because of your spunk."
Cal watched two of the important women in his life had a heart to heart talk with each other. He knew that they'd always loved each other. Something about the gift had touched him to. Even he felt his eyes water as he watched the exchange. He even noticed Brad wiping his eyes a time or two.
Finally the women separated and the rest of the day went on without incident. They had a wonderful dinner and then celebrated Arianna's birthday later in the day.
That night after everyone had left and the kids were in bed, Gillian sat on the couch looking at the Christmas tree. The rest of the lights were turned out and she stared at one of the ornaments. It was one of the first ones that Emily had given her after she and Cal had gotten married. It was before Arianna had been born.
She'd always loved Emily. She was like the daughter that she'd never had. While she was never jealous of Zoe, she did hate her for what she'd taken away from her all those years ago. Although, she knew that somehow everything she'd went through back then had brought her to this point.
Cal came into the living room and slipped beside her and smiled as he kissed her neck. She looked back at him and smiled. She loved him just as much today as she did all those years ago. It was something that she never failed to remember each time they kissed and especially whenever they made love.
Gillian smiled when Cal whispered, "I want to make love to you. Right here in the living room."
Gillian smiled and ran her hands through his hair. She wanted that too, more than ever. She smiled when she felt him hands run up and down her thigh. She shivered a bit when his hand pushed her thighs apart. She felt his hand rub against her panties. He looked her in the eyes and whispered, 'God Gilly, you're so damn wet."
She nodded and smiled softly. Then she whispered, 'I've wanted you to touch me like this all night."
Cal's eyebrows rose up and he smiled when he said, "Really? How very naughty Gilly."
She giggled and said, "Oh yes, you make me very naughty Cal."
She moaned softly as he lightly traced a trail up and down the lips to her opening. Then, she felt one finger enter her. She threw her head back and whisper, "Oh Cal."
Smiling, Cal found her clit and stroked it softly. She felt as if her body was on fire. A slow molten fire that settled down in her stomach and spread like wildfire down to her very center. Then Cal whispered, "I want to taste you Gilly."
She nodded and whispered, "I want you to Cal. Please?"
Cal kissed her way down her body. He pushed up her skirt and gently pushed her legs apart. He pulled her to closer to him. He breathed in the scent that made up her. Then he whispered, "God, you're so beautiful sweetheart."
Gillian could only moan and run her hands through his hair. Then, she felt Cal's lip dart out to taste her. She moaned at the sudden contact. She whispered, "Oh Cal."
Cal smiled as he moved forward and licked her softly. Using his tongue, he searched out her clit. Finding it, he flicked it softly at first. Then, spurred on by her moans, he licked a bit faster. Then, he captured the little nub between his teeth and sucked a bit harder. She moaned loudly as he pushed two fingers inside her. He knew that she was close to cumming and he couldn't wait to help her. So, he pushed his fingers in deeper and sucked her harder. She moaned loudly and her muscles clamped down on his fingers. She lifted off the couch and said, "Ohhhhhhhhh! God Cal!"
He hummed on her clit and drove her further over the edge. Once she finally came down from the buzz, she looked down at him and said, "I love you."
He climbed back up to her and kissed her deeply. He knew that she loved the taste of herself on his tongue. She pulled back and said, "God! I love you. You make me feel so wonderful."
Cal looked at her and said, "You make me feel alive again."
Gillian looked at her and said, "Take me upstairs and make love to me."
Cal smiled and said, "With pleasure. I'll make love to you again and again."
Gillian smiled and got up and ran up the stairs. Cal smiled at her energy, followed her up the stairs and whispered, "I love that woman."