Hello, I dont know why but chapter 26 is not coming up, i just posted it on that archive website, it shows up there if you want to read it, or you can wait for it to appear on fanfiction, dont matter.
Another Guest: I stuck with rollercoaster182
Gail's waiting patiently for Holly to appear on her screen, the blonde is sitting in her room in her warm cozy clothes, she's starting to find the Toronto air a little chilly. Gail pulled on her nice and warm sweater and woolen socks after she got home, trying to get that chill feeling away. Holly finally shows up on her screen, well, not really finally, Gail's only been waiting two minutes. "Hey," says a smiling Holly.
"Hey," says Gail.
"How was your day?"
Gail kind of shrugs her shoulders, "s'okay. Yours?"
"Boring, they keep handing me more and more paper work, it's like they're punishing me for not renewing my contract with them," pouts Holly.
"Are you regretting it?" wonders Gail, curious to see where Holly's head is at, whether she wishes to stay in San Francisco and what Gail has learned was Holly's dream job, working on different theories instead of coming back to Toronto and taking her old job.
Without missing a beat, "no. I'm happy to be going home to Toronto, getting to spend more time with you."
Gail feels all warm and fuzzy inside, Holly makes her feel all warm and fuzzy. Gail decides this is the perfect time to bring up Dov's concern, well…her concern too, where will the doctor be staying when she comes home? "You're not moving in with me….are you?"
"What?"
"When you move back to Toronto," Charlie scampers across Gail's keyboard.
"What was that?" questions Holly, frown on her face, "was that a cat?"
A 'duh' look on Gail's face, "yeah."
"Are you watching a cat?"
Gail turns around to look at Charlie, "I am now…"
"Okay, well that's nice of you." Holly changes topics back to what they were talking about, not going to question why Gail has a cat in her room, "no, I don't plan on living with you and the boys at your so called 'frat house.'" Holly laughs at the idea.
Gail somewhat defensive, "what's so bad about the frat house?" The frat house has become Gail's home, she thought it was only going to be temporary, not wanting to live with her ex and his best friend forever, but it has turned out to be not as bad as she thought it was going to be.
"Nothing," Holly says soothingly, "my parents said I could stay with them until I find someplace else to live, they usually leave for Florida after Christmas anyways, so I will essentially have the house to myself for a few months. In all honesty I will be doing them a favour, keeping an eye on the house and whatnot," Holly tries to put a positive spin on living with her parents at the age of 36, feeling slightly weird about it, maybe just the negative connotations North American society has put on living with your parents after a certain age.
"Okay," says Gail.
"Why?" asks Holly, not wanting to hurt the blonde's feelings, "were you hoping we would move in together?"
"Maybe eventually, but not right away," says Gail honestly.
"I agree, we're so used to our own space," Holly starts to wave her hands around, "and we never really had to spend too long together, I mean you did just spend two weeks with me, but, and-"
Gail cuts Holly off, "relax nerd, no one's feelings are hurt, we both don't want to live together…yet, it's not off the table, but for now we will continue to live separately and spend time together."
Holly smiles, "good." A slight pause from both ladies, changing the subject, "You going trick-or-treating with Cindy and the kids tonight?"
"I was thinking about it, is that okay if I do?" Gail feels the need to get permission from Holly to hang out with the brunette's family; otherwise Gail would feel out of place.
"Of course," says Holly, "it would mean a lot to the kids if their Aunt Gail showed up," Holly smiles.
Gail blushes slightly, still somewhat embarrassed at that title, not used to it yet. Gail didn't know how Holly would feel with her spending time with the brunette's family, but clearly Holly doesn't mind one bit.
"You're beautiful," says Holly.
"Keep it in your pants Stewart," Gail jokes, "just shy of two more months and we will be a ten minute car ride away."
Holly continues to smile, "I love you."
Gail smiles, "I bet you say that to all the ladies."
"Nope," Holly pops the 'p', "just you."
A couple of weeks have gone by, and Toronto's weather has gotten colder. "You doing anything after work?" Steve asks Gail, who has been keeping an eye out for her all day, but she keeps going in and out of the station on numerous calls, and has yet to have a chance to talk to her.
"No," she says cautiously, afraid what he may or may not rope her into.
"Want to go to the Penny, I'll buy you a beer," Steve offers.
"Uh-sure," Gail feels like something else is coming, 'I'll buy you a beer if…', but nothing. Maybe Steve just wants to spend some time with his little sister.
Gail and Steve go to the Penny after work. He's buying her a birthday beer. Gail completely forgot it was her birthday, she doesn't really celebrate it, it's just a day on the calendar. They're sitting at the bar, sitting in silence, they've run through all their various usual topics, and Steve is trying to figure out a new one. Gail doesn't mind the silence, but she knows her brother will try to fill it. In all honesty, she's just happy to be getting a free beer.
Traci sits next to her. "Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl!"
Gail rolls her eyes.
Traci smiles, throwing her arm around Gail and giving her a mini sideways hug. She gets the attention of the bar tender, "one pint for me, and one for the birthday girl."
Another pint gets placed in front of Gail. Gail makes an 'I'm not going to turn away another free beer' face. She finishes the rest of her pint from her brother and takes the fresh cold one in her hand.
Steve's happy to have someone new to talk to, he leans over Gail to talk to Traci, "how's Leo?"
"He's good," responds Traci and starts talking about something interesting her and Leo did the other day, Gail's tuning out the conversation, she's already heard Traci talking to Andy about it in the locker room yesterday, something to do with the boy's hockey team and an apple orchard, corn maze thing.
Dov and Chris show up, "should we get a table?" asks Dov.
Traci picks up her beer to follow after the boys, she pushes Gail in the shoulder with her free hand, "you have to come too, birthday girl," she grins, knowing her friend will begrudgingly follow.
Gail slowly gets up off the bar stool, she looks at Steve, who hasn't budged, "you coming?"
"Sit with your friends?" he questions.
Gail kind of shrugs her shoulders, "it's my birthday," she reminds him.
He smiles at his little sister, "okay." He gets up and slings his arm around her shoulders. Gail tries to shake it off, but decides to let his arm rest there for the five steps it takes to get over to the table.
Two more birthday pints later (one from both Dov and Chris) and Gail is in a pretty mellow mood. Steve appears to be matching his sister's beer intake and is also on his fourth pint and feeling pretty happy and talkative, he's always talkative, but more talkative than normal. Gail's phone rings. "Who calls anyone now a days?" asks Steve, laughing at his own joke.
Gail picks up the phone, "hello?"
"Hi honey," says Holly.
Big smile crosses Gail's face, "hey," she whispers.
"Who are you talking to?" Steve asks loud enough for Holly to hear on her side of the phone.
Gail's about to say Holly, when Steve plucks the phone from her hand, "hello?" Quizzical look on his face since he doesn't recognize the voice. "Oh, it's Holly." He addresses the table of Gail's rookie class, "say 'hello Holly'" The table obliges with a group, 'hello Holly!' Gail tries to grab her phone back, but no success. "I'm Steve, Gail's cool older brother; it is nice to meet me." Steve smiles at his joke. "What are we doing?" Steve repeats Holly's question to him, "why we are celebrating Gail's birthday," he helpfully informs her.
"Shit," says Gail, she quickly feels the mellow feeling leave her, she grabs the phone from her brother and is just in time to hear Holly say, "it's Gail's birthday?"
"Hi Holly."
"Um…" Holly goes for it, can't pretend like she didn't hear it, not like she would, it's Gail's birthday, "Happy Birthday Gail."
"Thanks Holly."
The line is quiet, Gail takes her phone and walks towards the mop closet, she opens the door, turns on the light, and sits on an empty milk crate. She hears Holly sigh, "how come you didn't tell me it was your birthday?" Gail can picture the look of frustration on Holly's face, the brunette rubbing her nose where her glasses sit.
"Uh…I kind of forgot, I don't really celebrate it."
"It sure sounds like you're celebrating it," informs Holly, slightly annoyed.
"Oh…that. I wasn't going to, but then Steve said he would buy me a pint after work, then everyone else started showing up buying me pints… and… well…" Gail trails off, she had no real intention of celebrating her birthday, it kind of just happened.
"I see," says Holly, feeling that she shouldn't really be upset, it's Gail's birthday, she can do with it what she wants. Holly has now noticed that Gail's end of the line doesn't have as much background noise, "where are you?"
Gail smiles, "in the mop closet."
"Fitting," Holly laughs, "talking to me in the place we met."
Gail quietly says, "sorry."
"No, don't say 'sorry', I wish you would have told me it was your birthday, but that's okay, it's your birthday. You can celebrate it how you want to."
Gail exhales a long steady breath, "I love how understanding you are."
Holly sighs, relieving any tension, the long distance is tough, but getting upset over something like this doesn't seem worth the bother, she lets it go. Holly smiles into the phone, Gail loves her, she loves Gail, "I won't keep you, you can go back and join your friends, call me tomorrow or something."
"No," says Gail, "I have time to talk, it's my birthday, I want to celebrate it how I want to… with you."
"Well, I wont be able to buy you a pint," jokes Holly.
"That's fine, I think I've had enough," Gail says truthfully.
"Happy Birthday Gail," Holly says again.
"Thanks Holly," she whispers. Gail's birthday turned out to be a 'happy birthday.'
Hello, I dont know why but chapter 26 is not coming up, i just posted it on that archive website, it shows up there if you want to read it, or you can wait for it to appear on fanfiction, dont matter.