So...I usually don't do super silly stuff but this idea just had something about it and I couldn't let it go!
This will be a four parter and be advised, I am posting 4 days in a row!
As usual, hope to see some feedback from all the long-timers and new readers. I know that after Ghosts is hard to believe, but I can do light fluffy stuff too!
"Em, come here."
"I didn't do it."
"What?"
"Nothing."
The exchange was quick, ending with a shrug from Emily who rushed to brush off his immediate suspicious expression. Cal held it for a moment, scrutinising her with attention, then decided to let it go. He really did try not to read her unless it was necessary, and doing it then wouldn't go down well considering what he wanted to talk about.
"So, your birthday is coming up," he said instead, and her face immediately lit up with happiness.
"Glad to see you remember," she commented, joining him at the dinner table.
"Smartass you are!" He mumbled, then leaned forward on the table. "Listen, I know you're gonna have your big party with friends and the rest at your mom's house." Thank God for that! He thought, knowing he had dodged a major bullet there. "And I know that I will pay my dues as well, as always."
"Pay your dues, really Dad?"
"I also know," he glided over, knowing his choice of words had been poor, "that my last two attempts at organising something special fell a bit off the mark, age wise."
"A bit?" She chuckled. "You mean the puppet show or the bouncy castle?"
Cal clenched his jaw, knowing he was never going to live that one down.
"And that's why I was thinking this year you should decide what to do," he explained then, knowing it was a lame way out but hoping to be able to dress it up enough. "You're 18, that's a big one…but we both know you'll always be my little girl to me." There, smile at daddy! He cheered silently when Emily's stance melted away. "I just want to make sure you have fun darling, it's your day after all. And by the way, I'm giving you free reins…almost."
"Really?"
"Well yeah, just…within reason, ok love?" Emily rolled her eyes, but it was clear that the prospect was enticing. "And, is it too much to ask that whatever it is that you want to do will include your old man?"
That was the last straw, and Emily smiled happily before going over to him to give him a tight hug. Cal chuckled and hugged back, holding onto her a little longer than necessary as he had started to do more and more since the leaving for college date had been fast approaching.
"Thanks Dad, that's a nice thought," she sighed when she was finally free.
"I'll do my best," he quipped, then sighed. "So, what will it be?"
"I don't know yet. I will have to think about it."
"Alright, but you let me know as soon as you can so I can arrange things."
"Oh, I'll take care of it, don't worry."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, like you said it's my day," she grinned at him in a way he didn't like all that much. "I'll let you know if I need you for anything."
"Em, hold on-"
"Thank you Dad!" She said cheerfully again, then stamped a kiss on his cheek and ran up the stairs. "This is going to be great!"
She was gone before he could even try to say something else, leaving him alone in the kitchen with the clear and distinct feeling that he was about to be massively screwed.
He was feeling better a couple of days later, mostly because Emily had been asking questions which showed him that she had indeed caught on the 'within reasons' part of his speech. First she asked if it could be on a weekend rather than the actual day of her birthday, then if she could invite who she wanted and what was the budget. Cal particularly liked that last question, honestly reassured she had brought it up because he had been looking for a way to do so himself without sounding cheap, but after that the questions had stopped. That also meant that the inputs he was gathering went dry, and even though it was against his nature he had decided to let it go. He couldn't tell Emily she could do what she wanted and then pester her with questions and limitations, and he had enough confidence that she wouldn't come up with anything outrageous. That, and she was so caught up in organising her own birthday surprise that she just might forget to ask him to buy her a car.
Cal was in his office, those thoughts running through his head rather than focusing on the report he was supposed to check, when he heard a knock on the door. The door was actually open and when he looked up he knew he'd see Foster there, wondering why she bothered knocking when she knew that open door meant to come in no matter what.
"Hei Cal, do you have a minute?"
"Sure." He immediately dropped the pen and glasses and leaned back on the chair, watching as she walked towards his desk. "What is it?"
"I was just on the phone with Emily. No, nothing wrong, don't worry." She added quickly, smiling at the way his whole body had already tensed. But then she looked away for a brief moment, somewhat unease as she had to go on. "She uh…she invited me to her birthday, this weekend?"
"Did she now?" He queried, intrigued by the news and by her reaction to it.
"Yes," Foster sighed and slowly sat down on the other side of the desk. "Did you know about it?"
Cal smirked and joined his hands on his lap, propping his feet on the desk and slowly shaking his head no.
"No idea, love." He confessed. "Tell you the truth Gill, I don't even know what it is that she's planning to do."
"What?"
"I told her I didn't want to blow her birthday again by treating her like a child-"
"Too bad, I liked the bouncy castle."
Cal bit at his bottom lip, not sure if he was insulted, amused or something else he'd better not think about too much. Then he went on, doing a terrible job not to show her how much she got him with that remark.
"-and I told her that I'd rather make sure she had a good time, so she gets to decide what to do."
"Seems like a bit of a cop out," Foster called him out with no mercy.
"Guilty as charged!" He quipped, strangely proud. "But she didn't catch on to it and now she's running away with the idea. Case in point," he said then, leaving the last words hanging while pointing at her. "What did you tell her?"
"I stalled."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to talk to you first?"
"I don't really fancy repeating myself love, but why?"
Gillian stared at him for a moment, leaning forward as if that could help her to find signs of something that she should be wary of. But there was nothing, Cal was honestly and genuinely puzzled by the fact that she had felt the need to check with him on taking part in his own daughter's birthday.
"I figured you'd want to spend it with her."
"I was assured I will get an invitation," he chuckled.
"I mean just the two of you." Gillian glared at him, then sighed. "She'll be off to college soon."
"It's her birthday love, I told her she gets to do whatever she wants and that includes inviting whoever she wants." His grin faded when she noticed how unease she seemed to be, so he pulled his legs down and leaned forward on the desk. "What's the matter, love? You've been to her birthdays before, and you can't be that surprised that Em would like you to be there."
"No, I- I don't know, I guess I wasn't expecting it."
Cal watched her fumble with the watch around her wrist, wondering really where all that shyness came from. He had one thought but he pushed it aside, he had promised himself to stop thinking about Claire every time there was something wrong with her, and really he struggled to see a connection between that and Emily's birthday anyway.
"If she asked, it means she wants you there Gill," he said then. "And as far as I'm concerned I've got no problem with that. Actually, now that you told me she asked, you've put me in quite the predicament." Gillian frowned and raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Did you tell her you were going to talk to me about it?" She shook her head, at least there was that. "Good. Now, how would you think she'd take it if she finds out the reason why you're thinking about it was to ask for my opinion?"
Gillian bit at her bottom lip, imagining what kind of hell Emily would unleash on him if she thought he was getting in the way. That seemed to relax her a little, much to Cal's relief, then she finally nodded and stood up.
"I guess I'll see you there then," she said, to which Cal replied with a moan.
"Any clue as to where that might be?" He asked, then opened up his arms when she looked at him puzzled. "Told ya, I have no idea what it is."
"Well, she said to keep this weekend free and that I would need an overnight bag."
"There, you already know more about it than I do!"
"Wow, how is that not driving you crazy?" She laughed at him softly.
"Trust, my dear," he replied, all serious, then bit at his bottom lip. "And that muppet show…I really need to up my cool dad game before she goes to college."
Gillian rolled her eyes but kept laughing, shaking her head as she stood up and started to walk away.
"Ok then, I am in."
"Good," he huffed, picking up his glasses again ready to go back to his report. "Maybe with you around I will avoid embarrassing myself too much."
When he got home that evening Emily was busy with her laptop at the kitchen table, every now and then leaving that to stir the vegetables on the stove. Cal greeted her and asked what was for dinner, then took off his jacket and threw it across the living room, watching as it landed on the floor instead of the couch.
"I'm not picking up that for you, just so you know," Emily declared absently, and Cal smirked.
"That's the beauty of being the parent," he quipped as he went over to kiss her cheek. "You can reprimand me all you want but nothing much you can do about it."
"Well, I could threaten you with the pending invitation to my birthday."
"Pending?" Cal wiggled his eyebrow at her, then exaggerated his actions as he went to pick up the jacket and put it nicely on the back of a chair. "Better?"
"Much better."
Emily was pleased, and after all so was he, at least until he remembered that those silly exchanges were one of the things he was going to miss the most. But he shrugged himself out of the saddening thought and instead poured himself a glass of wine, unable to resist the temptation to eye the open laptop still on the table. Until then he had been only mildly curious about Emily's birthday plan, going with the motion and waiting to find out, but after his conversation with Gillian his curiosity had escalated and Emily's laptop in full view was too good of a chance to pass on with regards to catching some clues. But as he tried to get near the device to take a peak he already knew there was nothing for him there, because Emily saw him and didn't seem bothered in the least.
Abort, abort! Cal told himself, then swiftly moved away and fetched the bread to start slicing some for dinner.
"I guess Gillian told you that I invited her," Emily said after a while, tasting the food and nodding pleased to herself.
"She kind of freaked out about it, Em. I know, right?" He quickly added when she looked at him with honest surprise. "That's what I told her! Of course you would want to invite her."
"Yeah, right?!" Emily piled on his stupor, putting a plate filled to brim in front of him. "I mean, she's been to my birthdays before!"
"That's what I said!" Cal went on, matching her high pitch without even noticing, then showed a forkful in his mouth and chewed most of it before speaking again. "But she did say yes in the end, didn't she?"
"Yes, she called back earlier."
"That's good, Em. That, and the food," he looked down at his plate lickign his lips. "Delicious!"
"Yeah, I'm happy she agreed to come."
She really was, Cal could see that, yet that seemed to bring about additional thoughts and considerations that made her poke about her food instead of eating it.
"If you're worried about me- Come now Em!" Cal protested when she gave him her best 'you promised not to read me' look. "You invite Gillian without telling me and when she says yes you seem to have doubts about it. Pardon me if I want to make sure this isn't about me."
"It's so not about you Dad, not even close." Emily huffed and pushed her plate away, then folded her arms and looked down. "She's been different since her friend died. Not too much, not with me because I know…I think she was making an effort. But I heard you on the phone with her when it happened and after, I know it was really hard on her. I thought maybe she could use a distraction."
Cal looked at her, his hand freezing on the way to bring the fork to his mouth, taking shameless advantage of the fact that he could study her without restraints because she wasn't looking at him. There wasn't much to see really, her words had said it all, but it was mostly about what he was showing: pride, love, admiration. He dropped the fork and stood up, quickly walking around the table to come over and hug her, softly at first and then tighter when he wondered how he got so blessed with her.
"You know Em, sometimes I wonder why you even bother going to college," he mumbled then, kissing her forehead before pulling away. "When you do things like this I think you're already way more mature than school could ever make you."
"You won't tell her, right Dad?"
"Of course not Em," he promptly promised, then smirked. "Now, do I get to know what it is that we're all gonna be doing?"
He had been hopeful, he had played his cards perfectly and really hoped Emily would put him out of his misery. But when she grinned at him before resuming with her dinner, obnoxiously holding back on any kind of comment or answer, Cal knew he was in for three more days of guessing and suffering.
What do you think? What could Emily have planned for her birthday?
