Right on schedule (well, my schedule).

Tori: ahah ok, maybe this one will get more emojis

Fridmame: that is why I try to give notice when I post with a different pace, always best to get your notifications sorted. That was cute indeed, I always like to write this kind of sweet moments: I think they needed it more than anything else ad this point.

Well, you like the previous one, guess this will fall ok with you too

The two hours turned out to be more than that, but thanks to the new developments the wait wasn't so bad. Gillian was mobile and, much to Cal's satisfaction, with Emily no longer in the dark they didn't have to watch their every move anymore. They talked, mostly Emily and Gillian ganging up on him on pretty much everything, and then lunch time came with still no discharge papers.

Gillian was getting restless cooked up in that room, having always thought that being in the hospital while feeling well was atrociously boring. She wanted to get out of there, go back to the cabin and take a long shower to feel even better than what she was feeling then, and perhaps finally test the full capacity of the bed back there. Despite his previous claims, Cal was growing annoyed too with the delay and was just about to cave and see what the hold up was when Dr Milton and Sheriff Talbot showed up. The physician was there to set Foster free, and the sheriff to express the huge gratitude the entire city of Sedley had for the three of them and the Lightman Group.

"I spoke with Mr Connor and gave him the latest, but I'm sure he'll want to hear from you as well," Sheriff Talbot explained. "He mentioned something about coming over to your office when you get back."

"We'll be there," Gillian reassured her, ignoring Cal's stern look. "It's been a pleasure Sheriff."

Cal smirked, admiring how she could be so polite while practically pushing everybody out of the room to finally leave. No matter how eager she was to leave, Gillian still made sure that the Sheriff would promise to keep them informed on Toby Reed and all the children, but eventually the trio left the hospital and the first thing she did once outside was to take in a deep and long breath of fresh air. It might have even been a little too much however, because she smirked with a touch of pain when the action pulled at the injury on her side.

"I'm ok, Cal." She beat him to it before he could voice any concern. "Just a touch sore."

"Let's get you home, ok?" He said softly, taking the bag for her hand.

"DC?" She asked, manoeuvring slowly to get in the front seat.

"It's past 3 already." He mumbled, he seemed absent but in reality he was thinking that with a sore back and side spending hours sitting upright in the car could hardly be comfortable. "How about we take it easy and stay the night? Get some good rest in, pack up our stuff with no rush."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea. Emily, what do you think?"

"Sure, we had the cabin for the week so it shouldn't be a problem." She shrugged then blushed slightly. "I guess you two could use some down time."

Cal smirked and readied his mouth to say something, but Gillian quickly stopped him with a hand on his lips and shook her head no. No more teasing his daughter about them, they had come in the clear and that childish behaviour of him would only make things complicated. And she didn't want complicated, not anymore: she wanted quiet, silence, time with him and cuddles. Lots of cuddles.

Cal probably didn't catch all of that but still enough to understand he'd better keep his mouth shut, then nodded and smiled when she set his lips free and closed the door for her.

"So," Emily asked the moment Cal started the engine. "How did it happen?"

Cal and Gillian glanced at each other sideways, surprised that she could be so forward in asking something like that even more shocked they had not accounted for that happening at all.

"What do you mean?" Cal asked, earning himself an eye roll from Gillian.

Seriously?! She seemed to ask, but he could only shrug in response.

"You two, silly!" Emily leaned forward and stuck her head in between the two front seats. "How did you two finally get together? And please don't tell me you did something stupid and pissed her off so badly that you actually had a fight about it."

Bingo! Gillian thought, hearing the moan Cal suffocated in his own mouth as he stayed focused on the road ahead. She did enjoy seeing him squirm, after all that was pretty much how things had gone down and Emily would have been pleased; but she didn't come out of the truth well either, they had both gone the wrong way about it and perhaps the last thing Emily needed to hear was that their relationship had come from a fight so big that it nearly destroyed them.

"I asked him out," Foster blurted then, praying Cal wouldn't swerve abruptly for the surprise. "He had been in a terrible mood all day because you were about to leave for college and I figured he could use a distraction-"

"Hold on, you mean it started before I left?!"

What now, genius? Cal smirked at Gillian then, but wisely wiped the grin off his face when he remembered she was bailing him out big time.

"Not really," he offered instead, returning the favour. "Nothing really happened that evening but it sort of…kicked things into motion."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That we felt that for some reason it wasn't like any other time we went out for dinner, but didn't quite know what to make of it. Not yet."

"And I didn't want you to get your hopes up or to rush things with Gillian," Cal was shamelessly riding the wave of lies they had created knowing Gillian would play along.

"Rush? Dad, you said you-"

"I mean rush when there might have actually been something to rush," he shot her off quickly before she could say anything else, throwing panicked glances at Gillian who was grinning next to him. "Once there was something clear to explore we just wanted to make sure we were ready to venture into that new territory before saying anything to you."

"Why?"

She meant well, they could tell. Emily honestly couldn't see how they might have had any doubts about themselves or her reception of the news, but Cal was right. Even though they've had feelings for each other for a long time, to address them and deal with them out in the open had been a big change and their first days as a couple had been way too shaky.

"Because," Cal sighed then, glad he had the easy excuse of driving not to look at either of them, "we weren't sure it would stick."

That seemed to end the conversation, at least for a while. Emily stared at him and then at Gillian, for the first time in years wishing she could really read them as easily as they could read her, but eventually sighed and nodded, thinking it was a stupid concern but nevertheless appreciating the fact that they had shared it with her. Then she leaned back on the seat, seemingly quiet, giving Cal and Gillian a bit of space. Only just, because soon she was back at it with more questions. Who else knew? Did they tell people at work? Were they going to? How had people failed to notice? Was GilliaN sleeping over sometimes?

A bit cowardly, Cal let Gillian take care of most of it. Some of those things, they had actually talked about but mostly she just had to wing it to put some answers together. Cal was more than happy to let her deal with it, not only it gave him a pass but also provided him with a lot of useful insights on how Gillian felt about a few things. No surprises, nothing he didn't expect, but it was nice to see how she defended their choice to keep it under wraps at work, along with that sweet shyness she flashed when talking about spending a fair amount of time at their house.

Eventually Emily ran out of questions, somehow put off by the fact that they were actually answering her instead of deflecting, and soon they arrived at the cabin. Cal gallantly helped Gillian out of the car while Emily took her bag, then he guided her inside holding her gently, following her every step ready to support but not forcing her to look for it. Emily watched them from behind with a beaming smile, thinking that they looked sweet and proud of her father for being so protective without being overbearing. Gillian must have felt the same, she thought, because while Cal fumbled with the keys to open the door she leaned on him a little more and let him keep her steady.

"Do you want to lay down for a bit, love?"

"I think I'll take a shower first," Gillian said, already making her slow way to the bathroom. "It might take me a while, might as well rest after that."

"Ok. Do you need a hand?"

"Dad, ew!" Emily gasped, failing to notice that despite everything he was not being malicious at all.

"Look at her Em, she can barely move!" He grumbled back, honestly offended by the insinuation.

"I'm not an invalid Cal, just a bit sore," Gillian protested, then bit at her bottom lip. "But if you can just help me out getting my stuff ready that would be appreciated."

"Ah!"

Cal stuck his tongue out to Emily, then quickly caught up with Gillian who had moved on, not interested in that childish exchange between father and daughter. The girl watched them, once again leaning on each other gently, and couldn't hold back another smile. Meanwhile, Gillian made it to the bathroom while Cal took a detour to her room before joining her with her toiletry bag and beauty essentials. When he joined she was standing outside the shower, her shoes already kicked off on the tiled floor, now fumbling with the buttons of her blouse. Cal waited to see if she did indeed need help, but she seemed to be managing on her own and he simply handed her the bathrobe, wrapping her in the soft garment before gently spinning her around and holding her in his arms.

"That went well," he whispered then, bringing her closer.

"Yes, all considered," Gillian replied, giving him a soft kiss on his lips. "Not how we planned it but I guess we can't complain about the result."

"No, nothing to complain about." Cal agreed, his hands ever so gently smoothing the fabric on her back. "Thank you for bailing me out."

"I did it for the both of us," she clarified. "But yeah, I did save your ass there."

"Why not go all the way and make me the one who asked you out then?"

Gillian chuckled and buried herself in his embrace, holding on to his shoulders.

"I had to keep believable, didn't I?" Cal rolled her eyes and grunted softly. "I don't think she needed to hear the actual story."

"No, most definitely not."

Then he picked her chin with his hand and pulled it up, looking at her before leaning in for another kiss. This one was a bit more urgent, freeing really, the first one in days they could share without fear of being caught red handed, and they got easily lost in it for a while. Cal's hand tangled in her soft hair, the pressure and depth of his tongue increasing when Gillian's finger gripped the fabric of his shirt. Their bodies were begging to take it further, to shed the layers of clothing and just get on with it, but their minds were savouring the moment like a well deserved reward they had all the rights to enjoy. When they broke apart Gillian took a deep breath and nuzzled his neck with her nose, just melting away and not thinking about anything for a while.

Eventually she stepped back, apologies in her eyes when she started the water running in the shower and communicated to him she really wanted to get on with it. Cal nodded, understanding all too well. He knew better than to comment in any way but she did need a shower, and he could tell that she was getting a bit tired. She would definitely rest better after cleaning up, and having decided to stay another night there was no rush at all. So he stepped back and gave her the toiletry bag, making his way to the door but stopping just shy of exiting the room. He lost of track of what he was about to say when he noticed she was about to take off the robe, what a sweet torture that would have been! But she stopped, probably sensing his eyes glued to her, and turned around with a sly smile.

"You can go now," she instructed, her voice and body language saying the exact opposite of her words.

"You know," Cal offered as he stepped towards the door, "if you do need a hand- Ouch!"

The travel-size bottle of conditioner nearly hit him in the head but he managed to duck at the last minute, smirking at her with a glare that promised revenge, one Gillian was looking forward to. Then he left the bathroom and closed the door, going back to the living room where Emily was standing by the table, staring at him with her arms folded and a strange expression.

"What?"

"You two are adorable!" She burst out then, unable to contain what she had been thinking about pretty much since the moment the initial surprise for the revelation had been absorbed.

Cal felt himself blush furiously, maybe because he didn't think that word could be attributed to him in any way or because he had just fought the desire to jump into the shower with Gillian with his clothes still on. Nothing was going as planned with that; he had imagined a quiet sit down at the kitchen table in their house, a familiar place for all, the topic being brought up casually and then leaving space for exploring it…really, the only thing that matched his predictions had been Emily's unconditional approval. But then again, he hadn't planned for the crazy things happening, for Gillian to get hurt first and then nearly killed so all things considered it could have been a lot worse.

"Come here Em," he called her then as he sat down at the table, waiting for her to join him. "First of all, thank you..I guess?"

"It's a good thing, Dad," she reassured him. "You two really look great together, and happy. Did you really think it wasn't going to work?"

"Em, darling…we were both married once," he hinted. "We wanted-we want to be careful. We've known each for years, we're friends and we work together…there's a lot on the line, and this is a big change." Emily opened her mouth to say something but Cal shushed gently, holding his finger as if asking for more time to speak. "Which is why I need you to tell me if there is anything that makes you uncomfortable about this."

"Why would it? Dad, it's Gillian-"

"I know, and that's why I am telling you this." He was serious, sweet but serious, doing his best to get his point across. "You know Gillian, she's been in your life for years but never like this. When we got together things changed, now you know and they will change some more and then again when we tell people at work. It's a lot of changes, with you going to college on top of everything, and I want you to know that if any of that is too much for you, or there's anything you want to talk about anytime…well, that will never change love, I will always listen to you."

"Ok, I do have a question then."

"Fire away."

"Are you happy, Dad?"

"Yes, Emily." He responded with no hesitation, noticing how ecstatic his answer made her and almost wishing Gillian wouldn't be in the shower but close enough to eavesdrop on that conversation instead. "I'm happy with Gillian, I'm happy that we are not keeping it a secret from you anymore. And I'm happy that you are happy about it. Uff!" He moaned when she suddenly hugged him, then he pulled her away gently and smiled. "So, how about I take you two out for dinner tonight?"

"That'd be great! There's so much to celebrate."

"Right, so why don't you put your planning skills to the test and find us a nice place around here while I finish packing the equipment?"

He didn't need to ask twice, even before the end of the sentence Emily had taken out her phone to look up places and maps, asking questions as to what kind of food he had in mind and if they were ready for restaurants with a particular dress code.