It's the moon floating free

as the curve of a slope

it's an ant it's a bee

it's a reason for hope

And the riverbank sings of the waters of march

it's the promise of spring

it's the joy in your heart

Waters of march

Veronica

"You like your phone, do you?

Uh, yeah. Why?

What about this car? You like this car?

Sure.

Which one do you like best?

It's not really a matter of liking, dad. It's a matter of necessity.

It's a necessity, is it?

Yeah.

Yeah? That makes me the plonker, then, does it?

You're acting weird, dad. Are you ok? Is this about Veronica?

Nice try.

Well, I mean, did you ever hold mom's hands that way? I miss her too, dad.

Pick one. For the next month.

One what?

The phone or the car. Pick one.

-Hey, Liam.

Liam?

-Would you mind picking me up at my house?

Liam?

-Ok. Sorry, that's my dad. Um, yeah, ok, see you soon.

New chauffeur.

You think this is funny, do you?

Uh, thanks for helping Veronica. It-it really meant a lot to me.

Don't do that.

Do what?

That. 'Cause I'm angry with you.

I know. And-and I'm sorry. Really.

Come on."

He walked back to his kitchen only to find Gillian there doing the dishes after joining him and Emily for dinner. He walked up to her invading her personal space.

"Aye Aye."

She almost bumped into him as she turned around.

"Hey," she said smiling at him.

"You were right," he smirked.

"Told you she'd pick the phone." a huge smile playing on her lips.

"And…" he pointed his finger at her. "Right away she called that Willy of hers to drive her around…" he gestured making horrified expressions as he spoke.

"Well a girl's gotta know her way around." she pointed out. Amused by the look on his face.

"Oi! That's my teenage daughter we're talking about." his face inches away from hers.

"She's a good girl, Cal." her hands on his chest.

"Yeah…when she's not running people over in my car." he breathed out shifting away from her.

She laughed shaking her head.

"If she didn't then we would never be able to help Veronica…"

"Oh, oh so it's a good thing, right? Is that one of your optimistic-everything-happens-for-a-reason theories, Foster?" he cut her off walking into her space again. Dancing the waltz, they've become so comfortable dancing.

"Mhm." she nodded innocently. His face so close to hers she could feel his breath on her lips.

"Yeah?" he asked grinning.

He put his arms around her waist pulling her to him. She knew he wanted to tell her something, so she pushed herself back enough to be able to look at him. He's been clinging on to her since they started working on the case but neither decided to address it. It was comforting for him to have her by his side, so they've been spending more time together than they would between some other cases.

"You know what else she said, love?" he asked. His voice calmer this time and quieter.

"Hmm?" her eyebrows up questioningly.

"She said…I've never held Zoe's hands the way I held Veronica's." he looked her straight into the eyes.

She looked surprised her mouth slightly opened.

"She thinks…"

"Yeah..." he nodded. "Can't blame her for getting it wrong though.".

"Of course not." she agreed. "What did you tell her?" she asked her hand on his shoulders and his still on her waist.

"I didn't want to…" he shook his head his eyes hazy. "Nothing…I didn't say anything." he looked down.

She didn't know why but she felt a sudden urge to hug him. He hugged her back smiling softly.

"Are you okay?" she asked with her face buried in his shoulder.

He sighed in pretense annoyance. "Yes, doctor."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she finally asked pulling away from him and he immediately missed having her so close.

"There's not much to say, love. I feel like you know what I'm going to say anyway," he smirked.

"Let's test your theory." she clapped her hands together.

He chuckled softly and pointed his head towards the kitchen table. She nodded and they both sat down.

"My mother killed herself." he pointed out the obvious.

"She had to carry around this burden, right? No one saw it…no one helped her…" he looked as if he was staring right through her.

"You helped Veronica a great deal today, Cal…" she put her hand over his. "Not only her but everyone else going into that facility. You saved them." her voice quiet. He nodded.

"We have, love." he squeezed her hand and she smiled in return.

"You know I'll outlive her soon…" he said after a while.

"She would've wanted you to. Every parent would want that for their child." she tried to remain collected.

The look in his eyes pained her. There was a part of him that never fully healed since his mother took her own life. She's encouraged him before, to talk to someone about it. He only ever felt comfortable talking to her, but she can't talk to him as a therapist anymore - they got too close.

He nodded again.

"Do you think I should...visit her, you know…just to see how she's doing if she's alright?" he was trying to regain control pulling his hand away from hers. He wanted the focus back on Veronica not himself.

She smiled softly but he was sure he saw a hint of sadness behind her practiced smile.

"You remember the night we met Veronica…and she had Charlie written on her palm?" she asked quietly.

"You said it was tormenting her…" he understood what she meant.

"Yeah." she nodded looking at him. "So, you know what I'm talking about?"

"Yeah…yeah, it's one of the perks of having a shrink handy, you know…" he teased. "You come to terms with pychobabbling."

She shook her head but wasn't able to contain a smile. It was his way of telling her that they were done with this conversation. For now.

She got up and walked back to the sink.

"Oi!" he jumped to his feet and ran after her. "What are you doing?" he was eyeing her up and down suspiciously.

She giggled and pointed at the dishes. "I was going to finish…"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." he breathed out guiding her to the barstool.

"I made Em run to the store and buy some desserts…" he wiggled his eyebrows. "Here's a proposition for you, Doctor Foster." he walked towards her putting a hand on the back of her chair.

"I'm dying to hear it." she grinned.

"You do your little shrink magic…" he pointed his finger at her in a circular motion. "And I feed you chocolaty sugary…" he was trying to think of another word, but she beat him up to it.

"I can live with that," she exclaimed.

"Oh, so that works for you?" he was inching closer to her face like he did earlier. Except this time the air in the room felt lighter. "You okay with that, love?" his head tilted.

"Hmm." she nodded.

"Good!" he jumped up. "Let's see what that little brat bought with my money."

She just shook her head smiling.