Cal answered the door. His daughter smiled at him. "Hi Dad."

"Darlin'," Cal embraced her. "Long time no see. How come you don't come to visit?"

"We've been busy, sorry," she apologised and let him go, moving into the house so her husband could follow her in.

"Otha half," Cal extended a hand.

"How's it?" Ajay asked.

"Owen threw his drink at me so I have to whip upstairs to change," Cal shut the front door.

"Ew Dad," Emily looked at the mess in his lap.

"It's milk," Cal told her dryly. "Won't be a minute. Gill's cleanin' up so..." Cal gestured they should go through. He raced upstairs and went for his drawers. Now that Owen had ruined his trousers he was going to have to resort to jeans. Because he'd been so cryptic about their date on Friday, Gillian refused to tell him much about their date this afternoon. Pay back was a bitch, she reminded him and Cal instantly feigned that he didn't care what she had planned. Their movie night had been pretty special.

When Cal got downstairs again Lewis was talking to Ajay about school and Emily and Gillian were talking about a woman Emily worked with, Amy, who had been having a lot of problems with a domineering boyfriend or something. Gillian had told Cal about it but he didn't really feel the need to know a stranger's personal issues and so he half listened out of politeness for the fact that his wife was talking to him. Owen was standing on his chair, trying to get Gillian to pick him up. He was four now and getting too big for that kind of thing. He was more solid than Lewis had been at that age, despite being born premature. He gave a disgruntled shout when it was clear his mother was not paying attention to him.

Cal approached and Gillian looked over at him. She smiled. "Ready?" She had warned him that even though they were heading out in the afternoon her plans would spill into the evening, so Cal was in a jersey in preparation for the cooler evening. He was going to take a jacket too, just in case. It was May and the nights still carried a chill. Cal nodded he was ready to go. He thanked Emily again for babysitting. Gillian promised she would text when they were going to head home.

"Oh please," Emily waved her hand. "Take your time. You hardly ever get out."

Which was true.

Cal put his arm around her shoulder. "Thanks luv."

"Just think of all the babysitting I can cash in on when I have kids."

Cal raised his eyes to Gillian who gave him a little pouting smile. He raised an eyebrow; did she know something he didn't? But she didn't answer. She turned to hug Owen.

"When you be home? He asked, standing on his tip toes to put his arms around his mother's shoulders even though she had bent to his level.

"Later," she told him pulling away again.

"Is that ages?"

"Yes, ages away."

Owen looked a little alarmed.

"You'll be asleep," Gillian went on. "So you'll have to be really helpful for Emily. Can you do that?"

Owen looked like he might refuse. Sometimes he had until they'd made a big deal out of 'poor Emily' and he'd cave. "You might have to help me make cookies," Emily jumped in. Cal wandered off to say goodbye to Lewis.

"All right," Owen reluctantly agreed.

There was a time when goodbyes were prolonged. Gillian was just as bad as the boys about not wanting to leave but today, she did very well. She said goodbye and they headed out the door and all in all it was over relatively quickly. Thank god, because Cal got bored sometimes waiting for her.

Cal turned to his wife as she pulled away from the house. "So, where are we headed?"

"Guess."

"Um. Sailin'," Cal grinned.

Gillian shot him an unimpressed expression.

"A helicopta ride. Horse back ridin'. Shakespeare."

Gillian laughed, looked over at him again.

"Stop me if I'm warm."

"Ok," Gillian was silence for a moment and then Cal said he'd keep going. "Good idea," Gillian agreed dryly.

"You look nice," Cal changed tact.

"Thank you," she smiled, shot him a warm expression. Cal wondered if he should drive. She kept wanting to look at him. "So do you."

"Thanks."

"You smell a bit like dairy though."

Cal smirked and looked out the window. It was a nice afternoon but the wind was cold. He was set on the idea they were doing some outside activity, because that would be something different for them. "Paint ballin'."

"I wouldn't be wearing this if I was going to let you pelt me with paint."

"Good point," Cal agreed. "I like how you said I was gonna pelt you with paint, not the otha way around."

Gillian kept her eyes on the road. "Which one of us has firearms training?"

"Right," Cal agreed and he was a little shocked to find she had just reminded him. He wondered if he still knew how to fire a gun. Maybe he should head to a firing range to double check. Surely his license would have expired by now? It had been years... "Is Em talkin' about havin' babies?"

"That was a random subject change."

"You guys get togetha and pass these knowin' looks back and forth."

"We also do that," Gillian pointed out. "But that doesn't mean we're having a baby."

"God I hope not," Cal muttered.

"Hey," Gillian protested.

"You know what I mean," Cal shot back. "You can't tell me you'd want to have anotha baby at this point?"

"No," Gillian quickly agreed. "But a little grand-baby?" She turned to him with an expression Cal hadn't seen in a while: gooey. "That would be nice don't you think?"

"Nope," Cal folded his arms over his chest defiantly. "I'm still too young and our kids are still too young."

"Owen's the age Lewis was when he was born."

"Exactly. They'll be like brutha's. It's weird Gill. It's weird."

"If Emily talks to me about having children I will give you a heads up," Gillian promised.

"Thank you," Cal grumped.

She didn't answer, just focussed on the intersection for a second and Cal kept quiet so she could concentrate. "I think it would be nice," she finally added softly. "By the time Lewis and Owen ever have kids I'll be too old to enjoy it."

"Hey come on," Cal moved his hand to her arm. She dropped it from the wheel and he let his fingers slide down to snag hers. "You're not old."

"I'll be sixty-nine when Owen turns twenty, Cal."

'Jesus,' Cal thought. 'Best to knock this on the head.' He didn't even want to work out how old he was going to be at the boys' milestones.

"Parachutin'," he threw out.

Gillian looked over at him briefly, her face a frown of confusion.

"Is it an extreme sport?"

"No," she answered shortly.

"Is it a sport?"

"No."

"What the hell else do you do outside?"

Gillian didn't answer him.

"Unless you're takin' me somewhere so we can have sex in a public place!" Cal purposefully let his voice go high in excitement. He wanted to see a smile back on her face.

"First of all," she started sternly. "We've already done that. I thought it was crossed off your bucket list. And secondly. We practically did that on Friday."

Cal laughed and Gillian smiled a little. She glanced over at him and smirked and Cal laughed again. That was better. "All right, so it's outdoors and in public. And it's not some extreme sport or sport of any kind. So I figa it doesn't require any physical activity, which is a little disappointin', I might add." Gillian's smile got deeper as she tried to hide it. "So that leaves..." He suddenly thought of the ice-sculpting they had gone to years and years ago. "Pottery in the park."

"Nope."

"Paintin' in the park."

"Nope."

"Am I close?"

"Yes."

"Oooh!" Cal enthused, sounding like Lewis. "All right. It's in a park?"

"Yep."

"Is it some form of art?"

Gillian thought for a moment. "Yes." But she sounded hesitant. So it must be an art form, that wasn't art art... but something artistic... like...

"Sculpture?"

"No."

"Magic!"

"No," she laughed.

"Music?"

"Damnit."

"Ha!" Cal raised his hand from hers in triumph. "Music. I like music."

"I know."

"Karaoke?"

"Nope."

"Um..." Cal thought. "Opera."

"God no," Gillian shivered and Cal watched amused. How was it he didn't know these things about her? How long had they been married? Unless he did know once upon a time and had forgotten after his brain injury. Not everything had come back. Little things were still lost in the recesses. "Give up?" Gillian prompted.

"Uh yeah," Cal backed down. Gillian looked over at him again but he looked away, outside the window. He didn't like to be reminded. Not one bit. It was bad enough when he went to wash his hair and discovered that scar. If he managed to forget about it, that was a victory. The reminders were rude and unwelcome. It wasn't just the injury, but everything that had also gone with it.

They drove for ages, all the way out to Wheaton and Cal clicked suddenly. "The Wheaton festival?"

Gillian cut the engine and turned to him. "Yeah well. I figured. They have the jazz band playing in an hour and we could walk around and try some of the food."

Cal gave her a smile. "I like jazz."

"I know."

He leaned towards her and she met him. He gave her a warm kiss on the mouth and she smiled beneath his lips. "I did good?" She asked.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Mostly cos I'm glad for the excuse to get away from our kids for a few hours."

"I'll pretend you didn't say that shall I?"

"All right," Cal agreed amiably.

They got out of the car and Gillian headed towards him quickly to take his hand. She linked their fingers together; a strong bond. The morning had been about mother's day. The boys had helped Cal make breakfast in bed and they gave her the cards they had made. This afternoon though was about their ten year wedding anniversary, seeing as it was actually today. This was date number two: Gillian's pick for Cal; the Wheaton festival.

"Actually," Gillian spoke again as they entered. "There is karaoke this year. They brought it back."

"All right!" Cal enthused, pulling her closer against him so they could move around a parent/stroller pair.

"But first, let's wander around."

"All right," Cal agreed. "What time's the jazz?"

"In an hour," she reminded him.

"Lead on then."

They started to walk around the stalls, checking out the food, sampling something when it took their fancy. The festival was popular and there were a lot of children. Cal might have suggested bringing the boys next year but to be honest, this wasn't really their thing. Lewis was getting old enough to know when something was not cool and most of the activities directed at children were directed at younger children; children Owen's age.

Gillian suggested they come back after the jazz band had finished playing. Then they would have more time to wander around. She pulled Cal along to find a seat on the grass and they sat and listened and talked. School would finish up in the next few months and they hatched out a few plans to keep the boys entertained over the summer break. They talked about a family holiday they had still not managed since Cal had had his accident. Gillian figured they could go camping but they couldn't decide where. She thought Owen might be just a little too young for a road trip, flights anywhere for the four of them were going to be expensive... and then there was the fact that Gillian didn't want to go too far out of town just in case; Dana had not been doing entirely well after the death of David last year.

Then they leaned back and listened and watched the clouds go by. Cal didn't really hear anyone else around them, even though he knew they weren't alone, and he realised, even after all this time, his world still boiled down to Gillian.

Over an hour later the jazz was replaced by funk and Gillian noted she was hungry. So they headed back to the food stalls, which were different local restaurants offering samples of their menus. Cal found a chilli con carne, made with chicken mince, not beef; it was spicey enough for him to thoroughly enjoy. Gillian complained he wouldn't be able to even feel his tongue anymore so he stuck it in her mouth to see if that were true.

"Well?" Gillian asked him, her cheeks a little red, her eyes bright.

"I can feel," Cal told her seriously. "But I couldn't taste a thing."

Gillian gave him a shove and an eye roll. The festival was starting to close down and soon they would have to get out. "I suppose we should head home," Gillian mused. Cal slipped a hand into her back pocket as they walked along.

"Em did say to take our time."

"Hm," Gillian mused. "Ice cream?"

"Sounds good."

"Or," she mused as they reached her car and she remote unlocked the doors. "We could go somewhere and have sex."

Cal opened the door into his hip and winced with surprise. He got in the car quickly and slammed the door. "Sorry? Did you just suggest we go somewhere and have sex?"

"I did," Gillian gave him a serious suggestion.

"Uh, uh," Cal thought rapidly. "Motel?"

"Hm," Gillian shrugged unimpressed. "Hotel?"

"Expensive," Cal pointed out. "There's the entire back seat."

"Are you kidding me?" Gillian turned to look in the back. A car seat, an assortment of toys, used juice boxes. Her car was a mess.

"Oh," Cal followed her gaze. "Maybe not."

"You know, it's Sunday. There's no one at the Group."

Cal was shocked again. "You mean the Lightman Group?"

"Do you know another group?"

"Uh," Cal started.

Gillian leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. "It's mother's day too you know. Double celebration. You always wanted to have sex in the office."

"Which we've done," Cal murmured back. In his office and in the men's bathrooms. "Not that I'm complainin'." He should shut up. Where was she going to suggest next? The kitchen? The cube? Eli's desk.

"Well there's always my office."

Cal bumped his head against hers as he moved forward rapidly to nip at her bottom lip. "Was that serious?" He growled.

"It was," Gillian whispered.

Cal kissed her hard. "All right then, let's go, before I insist doin' it right here."

PJ

ClearBear: heaps to go. Heaps. Thank you so much for reviewing! Wanna a chup bro? Sweat as ;)