CHAPTER 2

Four years later, Zoe walked into the back door of her house loaded down with several bags of groceries. She cast a quick glance around for her husband and saw him sitting in a chair, leaning over an old typewriter. He was so deep in thought he hadn't heard her enter the room even when she slammed the bags down angrily on the counter.

"Daddy!" their four year old daughter Emily squealed as she dumped the bag of groceries she helped carry onto the floor. Her favorite stuffed pink bunny met the same fate as she ran full blast towards her dad.

Cal looked up with surprise at the interruption then down with delight as he held open his arms to welcome his daughter. "Hello, Darling."

Emily laughed when he scooped her up and nuzzled her neck and gave her kisses. "Ow, Daddy! Your face is hurting me…?"

Cal made a funny face as he tickled his daughter's belly. "Oi…that's because I didn't shave yet, I've been very busy!"

"Pushing on those key things that make letters?"

Cal looked down at the typewriter she was pointing to. "Yes, at's right love, but its not just letters, I'm making words."

"Why?"

"Cause I got these thoughts in my brain and they're all just scrambled up and I have to get them out so I'm writing them down as they fall out of my head."

"How do they fall out of your head?"

"Right now...through my fingertips…"

Emily frowned then looked at the white sheet of paper in the machine. He could see her little face scrunch up in concentration as she leaned over to look at the letters typed on the page in front of her, then she leaned back and looked up into her dad's eyes. "It looks like a book."

Cal's face brightened. "At's right, darling. Your Dad's writing a book!"

Zoe blinked in surprise as she started to put the groceries away. "You are?!"

Able to read the anger on her face, Cal looked up wearily at his wife. "Yeah."

"About what?"

"My research…"

"That explains why you weren't available to help me bring in the groceries like you promised!" Zoe snapped back sarcastically as she walked over to the other side of the kitchen to the pantry.

Cal realized she was pissed and hopped to his feet as he patted Emily's head and steered her towards the living room where she could go watch tv. "I'm sorry, Luv, I swear I didn't hear you come in."

"So that loud garage door squeaking on its hinges didn't interrupt your train of thoughts?"

Cal looked at her sheepishly and pointed towards the garage. "Is there more to carry in?"

"No! Emily drove me completely crazy, I got what I could then I gave up."

Cal frowned. "She acted up in the store, did she?" he wondered as he looked at his daughter, ready to reprimand her for not minding her mum.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "No! It's just that I have so much studying to do and I had a million things on my mind and I just didn't have the patience today for her endless questions."

Cal looked at her pointedly. "She's four, Zoe, she has a lot on her mind too and her asking stuff is how she learns."

Zoe shot him a look of complete exasperation. "Well, then right after the dinner that YOU make, you can tell her why the macaroni noodles are small and in tube shapes then tell her what temperature the water needs to be to make the noodles not hard anymore and after that explain to her how the cheese that used to be dry and powdery is now creamy and soft…I'll be in the bedroom, I'm studying for a test I have tomorrow."

Cal watched her walk away and frowned as he went about putting away the rest of the groceries. He startled when he closed the refrigerator door and Emily was standing there looking at him.

"I'm hungry, Daddy!"

Cal smiled then pushed her hair away from her face. "Yeah, what are you hungry for?"

Emily pretended to think. "Pop tarts!"

"Pop tarts?!" Cal scowled. "At's not dinner, Em."

"Mommy makes them for dinner when you're not here."

Cal frowned at this bit of news then sighed. "Well, how about you help your Dad make something good for dinner….like some grilled chicken, maybe some corn with butter?"

Emily's eyes lit up as she nodded. "I like corn."

"Good girl, me too, and you know who else likes corn?"

"Who?"

"Your Mum…"

"Yeah!" Emily giggled.

Cal picked Emily up and brought her over to the sink. He made a game of washing both of their hands then sat Emily on a tall chair next to the counter where he was working.

He quickly grabbed the items he needed from the refrigerator then grabbed a pot of water to boil the corn on the cob in. He filled it with water then set it on the stove and turned the burner on high.

He put a huge bowl as well as a head of lettuce in front of Emily. "Here you go, Luv, help Daddy by ripping leaves off and throwing them in the bowl.

Emily looked at him with confusion and Cal smiled as he grabbed her chin and gave her a kiss. "How about I show you how?"

Emily nodded eagerly as Cal grabbed the top leaves and showed her how to pull them off the head then make them into smaller pieces.

Emily watched and after a few sloppy attempts Cal smiled and left her alone.

He turned on the built in stove top grill to warm then quickly cut up the rest of the fixings for the salad and dumped them unceremoniously into the bowl Emily was filling."

"I'm a good helper, huh Daddy?"

"The best helper I've ever had, Darling."

Emily smiled as continued. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, Em?"

"Why does lettuce grow in a ball?"

Cal frowned in confusion at the unexpected question. "What?"

"The lettuce…how does it grow in layers like this? Does it roll around like a snowball and just keep getting bigger around like my snowman did?"

Cal looked like a deer in headlights at his lack of answers. "How should I know, Em?"

"I thought big people knew stuff."

Cal rolled his eyes with exasperation. "I know stuff, Em! Just different types of stuff."

"Like what?"

"Well, like how to tell if someone is lying…"

"What's lying?"

Cal sighed as he tried to come up with an example she would understand. "Well, remember a couple of days ago you told me you didn't eat any cookies and I knew you did?"

Emily nodded her head as she looked down with shame, worried she was going to reprimanded. "Yes…" she said quietly.

"Well, that was a lie. A lie is something you say that isn't true." Cal lifted her chin so she could see that he wasn't mad at her. "I could tell that you were lying to me."

Emily frowned as she looked at him seriously. "Then why didn't I get a time out?"

Cal looked at her pointedly. "Because you're getting to be a big girl now and I always want you to come to me and tell me the truth and know that you won't get into trouble for it."

Emily looked away for a few minutes and Cal could tell she was processing everything he had just said. He schooled his features as she looked back at him. "How did you know I was lying?"

Cal launched into an explanation where he told her about facial changes and body language. He stopped when Emily grew bored and turned away.

"Oh." Was her reply after a five minute lesson from Cal on the intricacies of micro expressions. "I thought maybe I had chocolate on my face."

Cal remembered her teeth being filled with black crumbs from the Oreos she snuck and he smiled at her. "No, that would be too obvious but not only did I see the crumbs, I saw all that other stuff too."

Dinner was almost ready and Cal lifted Emily from her chair. "Run and get your Mum, okay Luv?!"

"Okay, Daddy."

Emily took off up the steps while Cal filled three plates with the dinner he had cooked.

Emily came down disappointed. "Mom wants to know if I can bring her plate up to her?"

"Sit at the table Em, I'll be right back." Cal frowned as he turned and grabbed Zoe's plate and headed up the steps.

Cal stormed into their bedroom to find Zoe on the bed with open books surrounding her.

"Thanks, baby," she muttered distractedly while she continued to read.

"You're welcome."

Zoe looked up in surprise at Cal. "I didn't know it was you, thank you," she said as she reached for the plate.

"You couldn't take ten minutes to have a proper dinner with our daughter at the table?" he accused.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "You know I have to study!" She cut into her chicken and took a piece. "Oh this is really good!"

"Better than a bloody pop tart, eh?"

Zoe looked at him guiltily when she realized he knew what she gave to Emily for dinner two nights ago. "It's food!"

"A pastry that gets heated up in a toaster is not dinner!"

Zoe grew angry and threw her plate onto the mattress. The corn on the cob slide off and they watched as it rolled under the bed.

Cal waved his arms disgustedly. "That was something called a vegetable, some people eat them with their meat when they cook dinner."

"What are you saying, Cal? That I can't take care of our daughter!"

"I'm saying a bleeding pop tart is not the proper nutrition our daughter needs to grow!"

"Then maybe you should have been home to cook her something!"

"I was working!" Cal screamed out angrily.

Zoe started to pace the room. "I took three years off of school to raise Emily and you promised when I went back to get my law degree that you would help out around here! I assumed that meant shopping and cleaning and cooking!"

"I had to work late, Zoe, it's the reason we're able to afford to buy food in the first place."

Zoe started screaming. "I can't believe you're bitching because I quit my job!"

"Bloody hell!" Cal said as he rolled his eyes before he turned and walked out the door. "At's not what I said."

He walked downstairs and looked at his daughter who was quietly sitting at the table waiting for him.

"I should have taken Mommy her plate," she accused. "Then you wouldn't be fighting again."

Cal sat down with a sigh and poured dressing over her salad. "Your Mum and I weren't fighting, Luv."

Emily frowned as she watched him cut her chicken into smaller pieces. "It sounded like a fight."

"No…no…we were just talking really loud…come on now let's eat," he said as he pushed her plate in front of her.

Emily dutifully ate and Cal popped a piece of chicken in his mouth. Because of his fight with Zoe, the food was no longer hot and he sighed that he had failed at his attempt at making a decent meal for his daughter. "It's not very hot, is it?" he frowned.

Emily was happily chewing her chicken and shook her head. "It's not too hot like Daddy Bear's and its not too cold like Mommy Bear's…its just right!"

Cal nodded at the Goldilocks reference and he smiled at his daughter. "Did I ever tell you I think you're brilliant?"

"What's brilliant?"

"Brilliant is….well sometimes it can be sparkling and bright…which you are, but in this case it means smart…very very smart…which you also are."

Emily beamed as she took a bite of her corn on the cob. Cal watched as a stray kernel stuck to her face and butter dripped on her chin. "Thanks, Daddy!"

He reached up with his napkin and wiped her face. "You're welcome, darling."

Cal and Emily laughed and talked the whole time and Cal realized that the even though he ate a lukewarm dinner, the time spent with Emily was the best he'd had in a long time.

Zoe came down as they were finishing and stopped at his side as she looked at her daughter. "Daddy made a really good dinner didn't he, Em?"

Emily nodded as she looked smugly at her mother. "He made a brilliant dinner, Mommy!"

Zoe's eyes lit with humor as she looked at Cal lovingly. "Okay…it was a brilliant dinner."

Accepting her unspoken apology, Cal shrugged as he looked back at her lovingly.

Emily sat up straighter. "I helped make the salad, I tore apart the lettuce."

Zoe raised her hands in disbelief. "You did! Well, I would have never guessed because that was the best salad I've ever had. I can't tell you how many times I've had salad where the leaves were too big or too small…yours were perfect!"

"Thanks, Mommy!"

Zoe started to gather the dirty plates until Cal grabbed her wrist. "I've got this, Zoe. Go on and get your studying done."

Zoe wavered uncertainly. "Emily needs her bath…"

"Daddy can give me a bath, right Daddy?!"

Cal nodded. "I can! I can turn the water on and off even better than Mum because I'm much stronger."

Zoe sighed. "Last time you gave her a bath we had four inches of water on the floor!"

"At's because the whale came to eat Pinocchio and Giuseppe and we had to send in the Navy submarines to rescue them." Cal explained while Emily giggled aloud and nodded vigorously.

Zoe made a face while she debated. She looked at Cal as her eyes flashed a warning not to destroy the house then she leaned in and kissed him. "Thanks."

Cal deepened the kiss while Emily groaned "Ewww…" then squealed as she began to giggle.

Zoe shook her head with amusement then leaned over and kissed Emily's cheek. "Be good for Daddy."

After Zoe left the room, Cal shot to his feet. "All right then, let's clean up…chop chop!"

Emily bounced from her chair and began carrying the plates to the sink and handling them to Cal. Cal rinsed them and placed them in the dishwasher then added the pots and pans from the stove as well as some cups that were stacked in the sink. With a quick flip of the buttons, the dishwasher was started and he pointed up the steps.

"Naked in the tub, five minutes!"

Emily nodded and ran full speed towards the steps. She jumped onto the second one then her foot slipped and she fell on the third one.

"Owwwww….." she wailed dramatically as she bumped her shin.

Cal rolled his eyes then scooped her up and carried her up the steps. "You're okay, darling, let's get you into the bathroom and see if we're gonna have to amputate your leg…"

Emily sniffled and looked at him. "What's amputate mean?"

"Amputate is when you can't fix a boo boo and you have to cut off the person's arm or leg instead!"

Emily pushed away from him in horror. "I don't have a boo boo," she exclaimed. "See, I'm fine!" She slipped from his arms and danced on the supposedly hurt leg.

Cal pretended to study her to see if she was okay. "Yeah, it looks like your leg's sound, you're not lame at all."

Zoe had peeked out the bedroom door. "She's not a horse, Cal."

Cal looked at Emily and grinned as he looked back at his wife. "At's good, cause I was afraid we were gonna have to shoot her."

Zoe watched as Emily's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Cal!" she warned.

"What?!"

Emily put her hand on her hip then pointed at him angrily. "You were gonna shoot me?!"

Cal shrugged. "Well, not anymore cause your legs all better now, right?!"

"Rrrrrright!"

"Okay, then into the tubby with you!"

Cal started the water in the tub while Emily stripped her way across her bedroom leaving a trail of clothes in her wake. She ran back into the bathroom and hopped into the tub.

Cal gently pushed her head under the running water then lathered her hair with shampoo. He quickly rinsed it under the tap then lathered her hair with conditioner. The water was already too high for her to slip her head back under the tap so Cal grabbed the cup and started to fill it with water to dump over the top of her head.

"Eyes!" he warned as Emily grabbed for a washcloth to hold over her eyes as he unceremoniously dumped clean water over her head until her hair was completely rinsed.

"At's good, Em." Cal said as he turned off the water then stood and looked down at her. "Don't drown or your mom will kill me."

Knowing she had taken swimming lessons from the age of two and was actually a very good swimmer, Cal left the room while Emily giggled. He rolled his eyes at the trail of clothes she left across her bedroom and he kicked them towards the hamper as he made his way towards her dresser.

He grabbed a pair of underwear for her as well as a pair of pajamas then headed back into the bathroom. Emily looked at the choices he made for her clothing and frowned as she pointed back out the door. "I can't wear those."

Cal looked down at his hands with confusion. "What?"

"Those underwears…"

Cal looked at the tag on them. "Why not, they're your size…"

"Those say Friday on them."

"So?!"

"Tomorrow's Fursday!" Emily announced as if she was pointing out something he should already have known.

"And?"

Emily sighed. "I have to wear Fursday on Fursday or I'll get into trouble."

Cal's face scrunched up with confusion. "By who? Who the hell is reading your bloomers?!"

"Mommy cause then she knows I changed them."

Cal frowned at the news and realized it actually was a really good way to make sure Emily always had clean underwear on. "Oh, well that makes sense I guess."

"Go get me Fursday's."

"Why don't you just wear Friday's tomorrow then Thursday's on Friday?"

Emily looked at him pointedly as she crossed her arms across her chest and stuck out her bottom lip. Cal rolled his eyes as he turned to go and get the correct pair. "Your eyes are gonna stick like that, Em!"

He came back in as Emily stood and reached for him to lift her out of the tub.

Cal scooped her up and wrapped her in a warm towel then sat on the toilet and turned her around. Emily stood quietly while Cal gently combed her waist length hair.

The comb got caught on a tangle and he gently worked it out. "I'm sorry if it hurts, Em."

Emily shook her head. "It never hurts when you comb my hair, Daddy."

Cal sighed gratefully then realized what she just said. "Does it hurt when your Mum combs your hair?"

Emily shrugged. "Sometimes, if she's in a hurry."

Cal frowned as he decided to talk with Zoe about Emily's care. He was also going to make an honest attempt to be home more to help out.

"Daddy will you read to me?" Emily asked when he set down the comb.

Cal unwrapped her from the towel then held her underwear as she stepped into it. "Course, luv, go pick out your favorites."

He was holding her pajamas when she grabbed them from him. "I can do it myself."

"Oh, sorry." Cal stood up as Emily struggled to put the nightgown on over her head.

Satisfied, she looked up at him proudly. Cal reached forward and held out the neckline to show her the tag.

"What's this?"

"The tag." Emily replied as she looked down.

"Yeah…does it go in front or in back?"

"In back."

"Huh, so why's yours in the front?"

Emily frowned as she looked down in confusion. She stood for a few seconds while Cal waited to see if she could reason it out. Emily began to giggle. "Cause I put it on backwards…"

Cal chuckled proudly. "Yeah…you did…silly girl."

Cal helped her twist it around then Emily skipped to her bed as he hung up the damp towel.

"Oi!" He called out just as she was about to get in the bed. Cal pointed at the hamper. "When I came in here to get your pajamas and panties I had to kick your dirty clothes over to the hamper cause you left them laying all over the place."

Emily looked down. "I sorry, Daddy, but I was trying to hurry for you."

Cal nodded. "Yeah, and that's really nice that you were being so considerate of your old Dad's feelings there but the dirty clothes belong in the hamper."

"I frow them in there now?"

"Fabulous idea!" Cal grinned as she picked them up.

"Now bed?"

"Yep!" Cal grinned and picked her up then threw her down in the middle of the mattress while she giggled loudly. "Climb under the covers now, come on, hurry up."

Emily scrambled underneath and Cal plopped down next to her then opened the book. Emily snuggled up as Cal put his arm around her and held her to his chest. He only made it through half of the book before she was sound asleep.

He slipped from the bed and turned on her nightlight as he headed out the door.

He stripped on his way down the hall and headed straight to the shower where he quickly washed and brushed his teeth to get ready for bed. Zoe didn't look up from her book as he walked into their bedroom.

Cal bounced on the bed as Zoe scrambled for the books he was upsetting and she shot him a dirty look.

"God, I love that kid."

Zoe smiled distractedly at him. "Yeah, me too. We did good!"

Cal looked at her curiously as a thought formed in his mind. "Do you ever think about having another one…a little boy maybe?"

Zoe's head shot up. "What did you say?"

Cal looked at her. "I said maybe we should consider giving Em a brother or sister."

Zoe threw up her hands in exasperation. "You've got to be kidding me?!"

"It was just a thought, Zoe!" Cal backpedaled to try to avoid a fight.

"No! No, it wasn't! You're pissed cause I went back to school and now that I'm close to finishing and ready to take the bar exam, you want to saddle me with another kid?!"

"Saddle you?! Em's not a horse…" Cal insinuated just as she had earlier.

"Of course she's not but she's older now and I can take her places. In a few short months she'll be in school. So, I've finally got a little bit of independence and you don't like it!"

Cal shook his head with exasperation. "Forget I mentioned it," he said as he rolled over to face the wall.

"No!" Zoe screamed as she pulled him over to face her. "No, we're not finished with this. Why on earth do you think it's a good time to bring another kid into the picture?"

"Because Em's four and like you pointed out she's easier to take care of now. She's a great kid and I thought it would be nice if she had a sibling."

"I'm hoping to be a lawyer in less than a year…"

"I know that, Zoe, and I know you're under a lot of pressure and I promise you I'm gonna start getting home a lot earlier to help out with Em and the house."

"Because I'm not doing a good enough job?"

Cal finally had enough of her attack and sat up. "No! Not if our daughter's eating pop tarts for dinner and you're hurting her while combing her hair!"

"Fuck off, Cal…"

"Oi, that's not right."

"Emily had pop tarts one time for dinner and we ran out of conditioner last week and I had a horrible time combing through her hair." Zoe threw her book down on the floor and began to cry. "So I guess that makes me a horrible mother right…"

Cal felt like an ass and leaned over to take her in his arms. "I'm sorry, Luv," he whispered as he pulled her close. "I never meant for you to think that, I just thought that maybe we could put more effort into taking better care of her. I'm willing to do what I can."

Zoe took a deep breath as she took comfort in his arms. "Its just now getting easier, Cal, I don't think there's any way I could even consider going back to walking around with a baby latched onto my breast again…the diapers and the two o'clock in the morning feedings and…"

Cal sighed when he realized that as much as he tried to help, Zoe had done the majority of Emily's raising so far. "I know, darling, I'm really sorry I brought it up."

Zoe smiled into his chest. "There is the endless kisses and hugs too…and that sweet baby powder smell…the little sigh when they're content and they snuggle up to you…"

Cal leaned back and grinned at her. "And the puke dripping down your back from their burp or the mess dripping down your arm from the blown diaper…"

Zoe wrinkled her nose at him with a smile. "How about we talk about this again later?"

"Deal," Cal said as he leaned over and kissed her.

They made love that night and fell into a deep sleep.