Right, so…

Tori: thank you, I guess this is more about the characters, or at least in a different way because of the case. It wasn't a personal one like in Ghost, so there was more space for them.

Now: I know some of you probably don't want to hear it (looking at you Just!) but something somewhat remarkable happened a couple of days ago and if I don't share it with you guys here, who else am I going to share it with? It's done: I recently wrote the dreaded two words and wrapped up writing this story. After nearly one year of writing and posting basically non stop, it's a rather strange feeling!

Anyway, I guess the good news for you is that no matter what you can be sure this story will be complete. And sorry, but don't ask how many chapters left 'cause I ain't telling.

Now, pay attention: I am posting today, tomorrow and Sunday. Three days in a row! I will be travelling next week and I am going to be all over the place so enjoy this now, but I do expect reviews on every chapter separately or I will be far less generous in the future! I AM NOT KIDDING!

The morning after they were up and running early, or at least Emily was.

Cal was woken up by her not to graciously move about the kitchen and make all the noise she possibly could to force him to get up, and she even had the courage to look at him faking innocence when he peeked from behind the couch asking what was all that raucous. Then she told him it was already nearly 8, and that piece of information woke him up quickly as the maths completed in his head: visitations at the hospital started at 7, which meant he had already lost one hour of time with Gillian. He got ready quickly, shoving in his mouth what Emily had put together and seriously burning his throat with steaming hot tea chugged down carelessly.

Before they headed out he checked if Gillian had messaged about needing anything else, then they were on their way to the hospital. Once there, Cal didn't fail to notice that they were attracting less attention than the night before and he didn't mind, but he did catch a smile and nod from Dr Milton as they passed by.

"Look who's up and running!"

The words left his mouth with an enthusiastic voice when he stepped on the door, immediately spotting Gillian standing on her own two feet by the window, wearing the clothes he had packed up for her the night before. She turned around when she heard him and smiled, thinking the whole floor probably got that too, then had to brace herself for impact when Emily ran towards her for a hug.

"Oh my God, you're up!"

"Easy Em," Cal warned gently, catching the little smirk of discomfort from Foster.

"Oh yes, sorry Gillian!"

"Don't worry Emily," she reassured while pulling back slowly. "I think the bed did most of the damage already."

"So you're all good to go?" The girl asked.

"Kind of, just waiting for the paperwork."

"And when would that be?" Cal enquired.

"Not sure, they said it could take a couple of hours."

Cal grumbled something but they ignored him; it wouldn't be him without complaining about bureaucracy after all.

"Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Yes, and you know what? It's definitely their forte!" Gillian confessed with a chuckle. "Although I suspect they might have served me some sort of special out of the menu."

Of course they did, Cal thought with a smug grin to himself. You're the biggest thing that has ever happened to this town!

"How about some coffee then?" Emily suggested, noticing that there was no sign of it in the leftover of her breakfast tray.

"That would be a wonderful idea, thank you Emily."

"How do you take it?"

Cal had to bite his tongue not to blurt out Gillian's very peculiar and complicated coffee order he knew by heart, and he wasn't even mad when Emily approached with the all too familiar face of someone needing cash. He still sighed and rolled his eyes but it was just for show, giving Emily some money and watching as she waltzed out of the room without a care in the word. A part of him, a little tini-tiny part, felt bad for being happy to get rid of his daughter, but then he turned around and saw Gillian's silhouette wrapped in the morning sun coming through the window and for a brief moment he nearly forgot he even had a daughter.

Gillian looked at him, immediately feeling the power of his gaze all over her. It was magnetic, that intensity she had felt since the first day she had met him, much stronger than the way he had looked at her the day before in that very same room. The other times it had been a look filled with fear, a touch of guilt, relief he was desperately trying to push to the surface, and that unique way of caring about her he had always had. The day before it had always been a sweet way of looking at her, communicating all the love he had for her: that morning she could feel his eyes digging inside her as if he was looking at her from within.

Gillian shivered, shaken by the power of that gaze and when she felt her legs go a little weak she knew it had nothing to do with her sore back or her bum head. Cal, ever the predator in his own way, seemed to understand and took it as his cue to come closer. If they had been at home, or anywhere private really, that walk of his would have probably led to something steamy and passionate, and Gillian felt her body temperature ramp up all of a sudden. But once he was closer he stopped shy of an inch, his hands loose down his body, his eyes steady on her but suddenly melting in a much softer and sweeter stance.

Truth was, Cal was overwhelmed in his own right. He had been ready to find her still in bed, but to see her standing, moving about, wearing clothes he had picked out for her knowing exactly what he was doing… It wasn't so much that she looked stunning to him, even without makeup and in need of a shower, but his mind was taking leap after leap tracing a path. She was up and moving, she was just waiting to be discharged; the next step would have been to go back to the cabin where they could spend some time together, and after that it would have been going back to Washington, tell Emily and finally get back to normal.

Sometimes, he thought as he stood in front of her closing his eyes for a moment, it's the little things that make the world go around.

"Did you get some sleep?" He whispered in her face, a silly question to buy time as he worked up his courage to less talking and more action.

"Yes. You?"

Cal closed his eyes again, taking in her scent and breath as his hands blindly found hers.

"Yes." He shook his head and smirked. "Kinda feel guilty about it."

"Why? It's over, Cal."

"I know, love. It's just-" Cal took a deep breath and leaned even closer, his hands leaving hers and slipping around her waist before his lips absently brushed her cheek. "I think I might need some convincing."

Gillian positively shivered at that small touch, like him finding a whole new level of difficulty in resisting what had become natural instincts when being so close to him now that they could stand in front of each other. And then there was what he said, the way he said it, his husky and hoarse voice warm on her skin. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment and went to the open door for a quick check, then she somewhat let go a little and her body relaxed in his gentle hold, her chest pressing on his.

"Cal," Gillian still moaned softly when he pulled her closer, his mouth slowly travelling toward hers. "We can't-"

"I nearly lost you Gill, twice in the same day." His words were full of pain and fear, but his voice didn't waver as he shared his feelings with her. "Quite frankly I don't care anymore. Besides," he brought one hand up to her face, the other resting on the small of her back as he pulled her closer, "we're on the fourth floor, cafeteria is on the ground floor." His lips brushed hers as he whispered. "Early morning, there must be a queue down there." He pushed gently, trapping her body against the wall and tracing the side of her neck with a finger. "And it takes about 5 minute to prepare that concoction you call coffee, so-"

Gillian didn't let him finish. By the time she had realised he was calculating how big of a window they had she had already lost any sense of caution, and before he could add anything else she snapped her head forward and captured his evasive lips with hers, her hands wrapped around his neck for a much needed kiss. It was silent, slow, gentle, not the outburst of pent up passion and desire they would have expected. They were happy about it, it said so much about them that they preferred that kind of connection after days of nothing rather than something else, and frankly that way it felt like it could last forever.

When they finally pulled apart Gillian motioned to move but Cal held her in place with a soft moan, his face buried in the side of her neck. She chuckled and caressed the back of his head, trying to communicate to him that she just wanted to keep an eye on the door just in case, glad to realise she could do so while letting his lips wander on her skin. The problem with that was that it wouldn't take much after that to escalate, and Cal must have known it too because he slowly pulled away after a few seconds.

The look they gave each other afterwards was so charged with love that they both felt the need to take a breather. Holding hands, they smiled at each other shyly as if either of them was apologising for something, then Gillian turned around to look outside the window and Cal wrapped her in his arms resting his chin on her shoulder. They stayed like for a couple of minutes, Gillian leaning with her face on his and absently caressing his hands joint around her waist, comforting each other to the point they almost started swinging softly in unison as if they were engaged in some kind of dance.

"I want to get out of here Cal," she said after a while, absently stroking his cheek with the back of her hand. "I wanna go home."

"Me too, love."

"We can talk to Dr Milton, I'm sure she can work something out."

"You wanna go AMA? Bloody hell love, I'm really rubbing off on ya!" She chuckled, curling up into his arms even more. "Bear with me Gill, if you leave this place without a clean bill of health and you get so much of a headache I'm gonna lose my mind."

"Is that your way of telling me you love me?" She teased.

"I think I'm getting really good at using my words for that," he hummed in her ear.

"Yeah, you are. So much so that I think I might have to work on my own communication skills now."

"Besting the master, now that's something to be proud of!"

They let the exchange terminate there, with soft chuckles and absent whispers dying down on each other's lips. That felt good, way too good. It was a warm day outside and they were soaking up in the sun coming through the window, the warmth lulling them peacefully as they abandoned each other in that embrace. That was nice, somehow even better than the kiss they had just shared and standing there with their eyes closed they could easily forget about everything else.

"Oh. My. God!"

Oh shit! Cal froze, so quickly and tight that when Gillian tried to extricate herself from his arms she wasn't able to. She turned her head awkwardly instead, looking at Cal who had a pained expression on his face but didn't seem to be willing to let go. And after all, why bother? They were oh so busted clearly, and there wasn't any amount of lies big enough that could convince Emily what she had just seen was not what she thought. Gillian kept her eyes on Cal, who smirked and sighed then slowly let go, being the first one to turn around and face his daughter.

"Hei Em," he quipped, then walked over to her and took the coffee from her hand before handing it to Gillian. "Got any spare change for that?"

"Dad!"

"Cal!"

"What?" He rebuked the women's outrageous reaction to his attempt to play it cool, then he shrugged and hopped on the empty bed with a smirk as he opened up his arms to Gillian in a defensive gesture. "I really don't think she would buy whatever we might try to tell her."

"Yeah but-"

"Hold on!" Emily cut her off with shriek, still shocked by what she had seen and baffled by her father's seemingly careless behaviour. "Are you guys for real? I mean, together, for real?"

"If you hear hooves…" Cal mumbled, and again Gillian shot him a glare. He rolled his eyes and sighed, really not seeing the point in denying or trying to get the animals back in the barn, then he sat up a bit more straight and looked at his daughter with a shrug. "Alright Em, let's have it. What do you think that was?"

She was speechless, for many reasons. Because she had just walked in on her father and Gillian holding each other in the sweetest possible way, because he seemed absolutely unbothered by the fact that what clearly had been a big secret had been uncovered, and because Gillian herself looked like she wanted to strangle him. Then she stopped at the first one, on the way she had found them, gently lulling each other and whispering and being so at ease and carefree and…

"I knew it!" She shouted out then. "I knew there was something different!"

"Yeah right!" Cal scoffed. "Nice try love, but you were absolutely clueless."

"I didn't say I knew you two were together, I said I knew there was something different."

"Like what?"

Gillian kept watching from the sideline, the coffee going cold in her hand as she watched father and daughter sparring over that topic as if they were deciding whose turn was it to wash the dishes. Then Emily blushed slightly and looked down for a second, feeling more comfortable in looking at Gillian rather than her father when she spoke again.

"You two are always so close and touchy, and with all that's been happening it looked to me like you were going out of your way not to behave like you normally do." Cal shot Gillian a glance, the two of them wondering what she would have picked up about them if they hadn't held back at all. "And with Gillian being hurt it was shocking that you didn't punch Deputy Larry in the face at least once."

Much to Emily's surprise and Gillian's dismay, Cal smiled all proudly and puffed up his chest.

"That's my girl!" He cheered, then looked over at Gillian. "Brilliant, don't you think, love?"

"Alright Cal, enough."

Gillian finally managed to intervene, taking advantage of the fact that she had been called to contribute. She sighed and put down the coffee, then carefully walked over to Emily with her hand stretched out as to show her she intended to touch her, but ready to pull back if she showed any sign or resistance. Emily didn't, to her relief, then Gillian gently touched her shoulder and smiled shyly at Emily.

"To answer your question-"

"Really, couldn't have been more clear."

Gillian shot him a glare as he interrupted her attempt to bring the conversation to some level of normality, then softened her expression as she looked back at Emily.

"Yes Emily, we are."

"As in?"

"I believe it's called a relationship," Cal quipped, and once again Gillian felt the urge to strangle him. "You know, going out on dates, kissing and the lot."

"Not while on the case," Gillian urged to clarify when she saw the embarrassment and slight horror on the girl's face as a certain thought made her way to her mind. "We were her to work, all of us."

"But wait, this didn't happen now, in the past few days?" Cal shook his head no. "Well then, when? How long has it been?"

Cal shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs back and forth like a child.

"Three months, give or take."

"Th-" In a flash, Emily walked across the room and slapped him on his shoulder. "Three months? Dad, are you out of your mind?"

"I think we all know the answer to that, Em," he chuckled, but neither Emily nor Gillian seemed to be fond of his approach. Then he sobered up quickly, all he had really wanted was to avoid the embarrassment of the revelation and being caught, and once they were past that he could carry on properly. "I wanted to tell you in person, so we put it off and waited for you to come home."

"Yeah but…oh my God!" There it was, the realisation she might have been a serious obstacle for them over the past days. "This case, I insisted that you'd come and then I insinuated myself in it! You two could have come on your own-"

"Emily, we had a job to do and nothing would have changed that," Gillian rushed to reassure her, although thinking that they might not have gotten much sleep at night. "You being here with us didn't change any of that."

"Gillian is right, love." Cal supported, now serious about the matter and pullign Emily closer. "It was just bad timing and we tried to make the most out of it. You were right, this case needed both of us and you being here with us was not a problem at all."

"But without me around you could have-"

"We could have, but were not going to. We had those kids to find, remember?" Emily nodded, somewhat still unconvinced. "And by the way, do you really think we can't keep our hands off each other for a few days?"

No we can't, obviously, Gillian thought, warming up a little as she remembered what a comfortable and intimate cocoon he had created for her just a few minutes before.

"Duh!" Emily mumbled, absently pointing at the spot where they had been standing earlier. "What was that about then?"

"Come now Em, with all that happened yesterday?!" Cal whined in response, and Gilian could hear from his voice that the frustration was 100% genuine. Then Foster stood in front of them, a little shy but not at all ashamed, then he smirked teasingly. "And for the record, Gillian is the handsy one!"

"Yeah right!" Emily scoffed, rolling her eyes so much that her whole head went with the motion.

They all got a good laugh out of that, which was much needed in order to move forward, and exactly what Cal had wanted. It hadn't happened how he would have wanted, not even in the slightest, but the truth was out and there were about a million reasons not to look back.

Except, maybe, just making one last check.

"Now Em, the real question is," he stretched out his free hand to Gillian and gently pulled her a little closer when she took it, all the while keeping his eyes on his daughter, "are you ok with this?"

"Do you even have to ask?!"

"I do love, yeah." He looked up at Gillian, who nodded. "We care about that, you know?"

"And we didn't want you to find out this way."

"Well," the girl sighed and shrugged, as if weighing options, "I guess it could have been worse." She gave Cal a stern look, watching the way his arm was now around Gillian's waist and his hand on her hip. "Much worse."

Cal sighed and gave an eyeroll of his own, then let go of Gillian and used both of his hands to cup his daughter's face and make sure she looked at him with no distraction.

"Em, you didn't answer my question."

Emily was too focused and surprised by her father's gaze, serious and intense, to notice Gillian's expression. She was surprised too, to say the least, completely taken aback. Every time they had talked about sharing the news with Emily, Cal had always made light of the situation as if her approval was not in question. He'd even made fun of her a couple of times whenever she gave it too much thought, and yet there he was, desperate for his daughter to be on board with their relationship.

"Of course I'm ok with this, Dad!" Emily cheered eventually, launching forward to hug him. "I mean, haven't I been telling you to do something about it for months?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cal denied shamelessly as he stood up, quickly moving away from the women's inquisitorial gazes. Then he sunk his hands in his pockets and absently looked around the room, so obviously uneasy that it was hard for them not to laugh at him. "Right, I'm gonna go get more coffee 'cause that thing over there is probably gone cold already, and see if I can find myself a proper cuppa."

Then he left, biting at his lip on the way out as Emily and Gillian finally let go and laughed out loud behind him.

So...happy now?

And remember: new chapter tomorrow and then Sunday too!