I must say I am a bit disappointed…all that screaming and fussing for some Callian moments and with 3 chapters in a row about them it's only the aficionados leaving reviews? Not happy…I guess I will just have to keep them apart some more.

Guest: Cal is just getting in touch with how deep his feeling for Gillian are, I think it's very healthy for both of them

"Where are you going?"

Gillian asked with a dreamy voice, still coming down from the high of her climax, and Cal smirked as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Bathroom, love," he whispered. "Be back in a minute."

She hummed something in reply but still held his hand a little longer, eventually letting go and rolling on his side of the bed that was still warm and soaked with the smells of their lovemaking. Cal smiled to himself and shook his head, then grabbed the bathrobe she had been wearing the day before and put it on before opening the door and checking if the coast was clear. Not that they needed to hide from Emily anymore, but he looked positively ridiculous with the bathrobe too short on his arms and legs and didn't fancy the inevitable mockery that would have come if she had seen him. Quick and silent, he took care of business then went back into the room just as he heard the alarm going off in Emily's room. Gillian hadn't moved an inch, too cosy and peaceful in her spot, and when Cal sat next to her and gently moved a flock of hair away from her face she looked up at him.

"'Morning," he mumbled.

"I think I already had my good morning," she sighed, rolling on her back, alluding at the way she had woken up, engulfed in his body and with his mouth and hands all over her, quickly leading to a new round of ecstasy.

"This one's for real. Emily is already up and running."

"Is she always like this in the morning?"

"Pretty much."

Gillian sighed then sat up in the bed, accompanying the movement with a moan that revealed how little she wanted to get out of bed and bringing her legs up to her chest. Knowing he shouldn't, Cal quickly scanned her face for something but there was no discomfort whatsoever on her face, only some thoughtful expression perhaps wondering how it will be now, waking up at his place with Emily around.

"Pretty much the same I reckon," he chuckled, smirking when she gave him a glare knowing what he had just done. "Oops!"

"Is she going to prepare breakfast for us?"

"Very likely."

"Then get ready and get out of here, Cal." Gillian instructed firmly, her hands on his chest to push him away when he started to lean in. "You can't let her do that."

"Why not, she wants to! And why can't you do it?"

"'Cause I need time to get ready, while you just throw on anything you can get your hands on."

"That hurts…but it's also true." Cal caved and stood up, ridding himself of the robe and making sure he gave her a good show of what she was turning down, then got dressed and chunked the rest of his stuff in his duffel bag. "There, all packed up."

Gillian rolled her eyes at him but didn't comment any further, then waited for him to leave the room. She'd had to gather all her strength not to jump him as he stood naked right before her, and she knew that if she was to get out of bed as she was neither of them would have been able to resist.

While they were having breakfast, prepared in collaboration between Lightman father and daughter, Sheriff Talbot stopped by with her wife for a last farewell. There was some shop talk but not too much, there was nothing left to uncover about the case after all, and mostly their last conversation was about gratitude and good wishes for the future. Then, after locking up the lodge and leaving and before hitting the road, Gillian rang Torres with the latest updates and the information that they were going to drive back to Washington and be in the office the day after. Throughout the case they had kept the team up to speed with all developments, and of course Cal had made sure to let them know she was ok, but being the bosses they also wanted to make sure the staff had a fair heads up on their return.

Gillian drove all the way back, daring Cal to say anything about it with a warning look. It was a quiet journey, and they even managed not to talk about their relationship besides discussing with Emily that she might have to keep it to herself for a bit, at least until they shared the news with the team. She wasn't happy about it, but somehow negotiated with them to be present when they would do so to see people's reactions.

Cal thought that his daughter had already had enough of things going her way and that he didn't like how that kept happening, but she was having fun and after all she was supposed to be on vacation to begin with. He brought it up with her as they neared home, asking what else she wanted to do with the rest of her time off school, but Emily seemed hesitant to respond. It was Gillian who had to step in, reassuring her that she didn't have to worry about disrupting anything between herself and Cal and that he had already planned to spend time with his daughter no matter what. It was one of those things that Cal had tried to explain to her, that some things would inevitably change: in this case, Emily had to accept that no matter how head over heels he was for Gillian she would always come first, and that Gillian would never get in the middle of that.

Still, even with all that squared off just as Gillian stopped the car in front of her own home, Emily couldn't help but ask.

"Why don't you come home with us?"

"Em," Cal tried to warn her softly, but she shrugged.

"What? I mean, why not? She can come for dinner, take it easy."

"That's very nice of you Emily, but I haven't been home in days and I need to sort out a few things before I go back to the office tomorrow."

"But-"

"Em," Cal said again, this time more decisive and giving Gillian an apologetic smile.

Emily knew better and stopped, still pouting and huffing as she leaned back on the seat with her arms folded, the closest thing to throwing a tantrum a young woman her age could. Cal rolled his eyes then he and Gillian got out of the car, taking her bags from the trunk before walking up the door together.

"It goes without saying," he mumbled softly in her ear as she unlocked the door, "you're welcome at our place any time, Gill."

"I know Cal." Gillian placed her hand on his chest, smoothing it gently. "But you need your time with Emily. Quality time, without having to deal with trauma and big revelations."

"You do know she likely has about another million questions about us and I'm going to be on the receiving end of it."

"Yes, and that's the other reason why I'm staying at my place tonight." She gave him a grin. "She can be pretty relentless."

Cal nodded, not entirely sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

"That she can." Then he stepped closer and kissed her cheek. "So, see you tomorrow?"

"Why don't you take the day off? You were supposed to anyway."

"I'd like to see this case through first." He smiled at the way she welcomed his declaration of commitment. "And Emily's got all the receipts and expenses, we're gonna have to file those through to Connor, won't we?"

"Wow, Cal Lightman thinking about paperwork!" She joked, but in reality she was glad he would keep that in mind.

"And," he took in a deep breath, leaning closer and holding her by her waist, "we might as well tell people at work."

"You really want to?"

"Yes, love. I was only waiting for Emily to know." He tilted his head on one side. "You want to wait?"

"No, absolutely not." Cal felt his heart swell, then she blushed slightly and put her hands behind his neck. "I don't think I'd be able to hide it anymore."

"That's settled then. But now I better go before that one starts yelling at us that we should get a room."

Gillian laughed softly and nodded in agreement, then kissed him briefly and they let go of each other. Cal dutifully waited for her to go safely inside and lock the door, then sighed and put his hands in his pockets while walking back to the car. There, he found Emily staring at him with a Cheshire cat smile, all smug and pleased.

"As I said," she sighed as she moved from the back seat to the front, "adorable."

"Well keep it in your pants Em!" Cal protested, wondering why he felt so uncomfortable with being branded as adorable. "And that was not cool by the way, insisting with Gillian like that."

"But you said you spent a lot of time together so far!"

"Yes, we did and we did it on our time and accord."

Emily started to say something else but then stopped, seeing in her father's face the expression of someone who considered the matter closed. However, once he started the car and drove off, after a quick look in the rearview mirror at Gillian's house, he bit at his bottom lip and mumbled absently.

"For the record, I wanted Gillian to come too."

"Then why didn't you say something?!" Emily slapped his shoulder as she yelled. "Dad, please don't tell me it's because I'm around."

"Absolutely not love, don't you worry about something like this ok? Never." Cal seriously talked her down, not wanting to give that kind of reasoning any room to grow further. "She's been away for a few days, she was injured and lots of stuff happened. It's absolutely normal that she would want some time to herself."

"Do you want time for yourself?" Emily enquired, her eyes digging holes in the side of his head.

"I got you, don't I?"

"You're deflecting Dad," she objected. "You should have asked her, that's all I'm saying. It was only dinner."

"Then it would have been staying the night and then something else. C'mon now Em, people need their own space."

"So what? It's not like you'd trick her into moving in together or- Oh my God!" Shit! Cal thought biting at his bottom lip, Emily's surprised shriek nearly drilling a hole in his left ear. "You've been thinking about asking her, haven't you?"

How she caught that, Cal didn't know. Then again, he hadn't been entirely aware of the dreamy smile coming to his lips at the very idea of Gillian moving in with them, which apparently had been a dead giveaway.

"About what?"

"Oh please Dad, don't even try!" Emily was squirming in her seat with delight and excitement, which was precisely why he was acting dumb and trying to kill that line of questioning. "You want her to move in with you, don't you?" Cal kept driving and didn't respond, but he knew his silence was not helping. "Oh my God, that would be so cool! Why haven't you?"

"We've only been together a few months Em, this isn't the kind of thing you can rush."

"But you've known each other for years, she came over all the time even before you two got together."

"As a friend, yes. And always going to her place at the end of the day."

"Yeah but now it's different, right? I mean, she must have spent the night at our place sometimes since you two started dating."

"That's different Em," Cal huffed, feeling physically exhausted by the confrontation.

"Only if you are afraid to take that step and commit." Emily pointed out, then became suddenly thoughtful and sad. "But if you both keep your places you'll always have a place to go if things go wrong…is that what it is?"

Cal was about to answer but opted to wait, they were nearly home and he thought that conversation deserved all of his attention. Emily sulked on the passenger seat for a while, pouting away in silence until she seemed to realise that her father wasn't going to leave her hanging, and when they arrived home Cal switched off the engine and turned on the seat to face her properly.

"I'm not gonna say that's not true love, about keeping your own place, because it makes sense. Relationships, Em…things can always go wrong and you know that, but that's not the point here." He reached out and touched her face, wanting her to look at him. "I love Gillian, and I would love for her to move in but you have to think about the bigger picture. I've been on my own for a while but she's been divorced for only about a year. Your Mom and I, we were no longer good for each other, maybe never really had been and divorce was the best option, maybe even for you. But Gillian fought to keep her marriage going, she wanted to make it work." He let her go and leaned back on the seat, smiling fondly. "You know her, she's an independent woman and I respect that about her. But just so we're clear," he opened the door and got out of the car, looking at her with a smug grin, "when I know she's ready, that's on my priority list."

Then he closed the door and Emily got out of the car too, still thoughtful and watching him closely as he got their bags out of the trunk.

"Wow!" She said then as they finally made it to the door. "You really did think about it uh?" Cal smirked, and Emily nearly choked when she saw him blush a little. "Alright Dad, I guess you know what you're doing."

"Why, thank you for the vote of confidence!" He grumbled as they entered the kitchen, then he looked at her with a serious expression. "Don't worry love, I have no intention to screw this up."

"You better!" She admonished him, then went up to him and hugged him tight. "It's Gillian, Dad."

"I know Em," he kissed the top of her head. "I'm lucky, aren't I?"

"Very lucky!" Emily agreed, then pulled back and looked around. "Now, dinner?"

"Thai?" He offered.

"How about Mexican?" She countered.

"Deal! Call up, get me something spicy. I'm going to take a shower."

Then Cal left the kitchen, neither of them even thinking about unpacking for the time being, heading for the bathroom already with his hand in his pocket to get the phone and drop a goodnight message to Gillian.