The Other Daughter- part 44

Rating: teen

Disclaimers: see part 1

CJ spent the night in Leo's arms. The pair got over their initial reservations about CJ spending the night while the girls were in the house which made for much more enjoyable nights for all parties. Leo found himself falling more and more in love with CJ and he was going to soon ask her to move in and become his wife.

CJ was draped over Leo's chest when the alarm clock off at 5:30. Her thigh accidently nudged his groin and he smiled, his eyes still shut.

"Morning," she yawned. "The girls and I are leaving in 30 minutes; I'll reset the alarm, ok?" She gently kissed him before exiting the bed.

"Mal has my credit car; use it," he instructed as he rolled back into her pillow, pulling the blankets a bit higher on his shoulder.

"Will do; have a good day."

CJ quickly pulled on jeans and a sweater before heading down to the kitchen. Mary, Molly and Mallory were already eating breakfast. The youngest was tucking into a bowl of Fruit Loops, her favourite treat, Mary was making eggs and toast and Mallory, looking a bit green, sipped dome mint tea with her dry toast on a plate in front of her.

"Here," Mary said as she handed CJ the plate.

"Thanks Sweetness. We ready to shop?"

"Dad gave me the platinum," Mallory said between bites.

"Most excellent!" Molly beamed.


They finished breakfast and piled into Leo's SUV, or, the McGarry Mobile as Josh had nicknamed it. They made their way into Virginia and to Tyson Corner. CJ found a parking spot but they had a bit of a hike to get into the mall.

"Molly, the list if you please," Mary asked as she extended her hand to her sister. Molly had planned this trip and had an extensive list so nothing would be missed.

"Christmas list or just the regular one?" the little girl asked.

"You made more than one?" Mallory asked, eyebrows arching up.

"Yup. Stuff we need versus stuff we'd like as well and sales we need to check out."

"You may look like your father but you shop like me," CJ teased. "Let's go."

They did Christmas gifts first. They finished Leo's family, CJ's family and Mallory got a few Sam. They then hit the clothing stores for the girls and by 10 am, they were ready for a break.

"Not bad," Mallory nodded as she surveyed the numerous bags.

"We still need to get a bunch of stuff for Daddy," Molly informed as she looked over the list.

"What does he need?" Mallory questioned.

"A few sweaters, some jeans, running gear and a winter jacket that isn't dry clean only," CJ listed.

"Mallory?" The young woman heard her name and turned. "Mom; how are you?" she replied tersely.

"I'm alright. Hello CJ."

"Hello Jenny. How are you?" she asked, trying to hide her outward cringe.

"I'm well. Are these…?" she asked, indicting to the girls.

"Yeah. Mary, Molly, this is my mom, Jenny O'Brien. Mom, Mary and Molly."

Both girls smiled at Jenny but didn't say anything; they could both sense the tension. Jenny's eyes fixed on Molly, who for once in all the time CJ knew her didn't say anything.

"I'll leave you to your shopping. Good bye." Jenny turned and left as quickly as she had appeared.

"Why did she stare at me like that?" Molly questioned.

"Because we're her ex-husbands bastard daughters that were born while she was married to him. That, and you look just like him. Mal, why don't you have any other brothers or sisters?" Mary questioned.

"They couldn't have any more," she explained. "That's another part of it too," she said as she lifted her youngest sister onto her lap.


The incident with Jenny was set aside and the women went back to their shopping. Five hours and three thousand dollars later, they group returned home. Leo was already there, making pizza for dinner. He helped unload the car and the spoils of war were set in the den.

"What did you get me?" he asked excitedly.

"A lot," Mallory confessed. "Sneakers, running pants, a winter jacket, snow pants, boots, jeans, a great sweater, two new ties, two new shirts, some boxer shorts…"

"A book, a new picture frame and some Christmas stuff," Molly finished.

"I got lucky," he smiled.

"If you only knew," CJ teased. "Wait till later."


The girls opted to go take a nap; shopping was hard work. CJ took Mary and Molly's stuff and started to take off tags so it could go in the laundry.

"Now, Ms. Cregg, what is in this bag?" he asked as he appeared in the laundry room with a tell tale pink striped bag dangling from his hand. She looked over and saw that Mary had deposited her bag of underwear in the laundry room already and she knew that Mallory put hers in her car already.

"A few things you might like Captain McGarry," she smiled coyly.

"Really?" he replied. He poked through the tissue paper and saw something which was a deep burgundy. He groaned as he made contact with the silky fabric. "I think I'm gonna need a personal viewing."

"Meet me upstairs in 5. Finish putting that in," she nodded to the stack of Molly's clothes. She took the bag and disappeared upstairs.

"Who's a lucky a guy," he grinned.