A/N Wow, thanks for the great reviews guys. I was a bit nervous about the last chapter, since finding what I think might be Cal's semi-professional voice in writing was quite hard. Thank God for computers or I'd have sacrificed a small rainforest in the process of rewriting that chapter again and again and again and - you get the point. I'm glad it was so well-received and people didn't think it was too much out of character, it was quite the balancing act packing Cal's utter adoration and love for Gillian into a professional tone and still sneaking in a secret love declaration until it sounded right - at least to me. LOL Of course, now the pressure's on me to keep up the standard and meet your guys' expectations.

Oh and P.S. I didn't see the footnote didn't carry over to ff net until now but the line "Let me clear, I know very little... etc." is of course from the show.

Cal had excused himself to grab a beer from the kitchen. He used the opportunity to text Gillian and when their exchange turned flirtatious he couldn't resist calling her to hear her voice. He'd just ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket when he heard footsteps approaching. He hoped it wasn't his ex-wife and that she hadn't overheard anything. The last thing he needed was to end Christmas with a fight of epic proportions. And he had no doubt that Zoë would blow a gasket when she learned who the new woman in her ex-husband's life was. Cal reached into the fridge to get the beer he had originally come in for.

When he rummaged through Zoë's drawers in search of the bottle opener, he felt a pair of arms snake around his body. Zoë pressed a kiss in the nape of his neck as she snuggled up to him, "You don't really have to leave tonight, you know?" She started to hum, "The weather outside is frightful", then cleared her throat and finished, "and the road conditions are getting worse."

"What would your parents think?" Cal replied and shut the drawer with a shove of his hip.

Zoë dismissed his concerns, "You can pretend you sleep on my couch and sneak into my bedroom afterwards." She let her arms wander lower and Cal sucked in a breath. Before he knew what was happening she'd seized the opportunity to slip her hands into the waistband of his jeans. Cal hissed and closed his eyes. She'd never played fair.

"And then what, Zoë?" Cal took her arms and freed himself from her embrace. He turned around to look at her, "I sneak downstairs in the morning so no one will know we hooked up?"

"You know you want it", she replied flirtatiously and pushed back against his body. Cal cursed his hormones. She'd never take him seriously while his hard on was poking her.

"We need to talk!" He explained and tried to put some distance between them.

"What's the matter with you?" Zoë looked at him concerned. He'd never been one to turn down a chance to sleep with her.

"No, Zoë, what's the matter with you? Is Roger fine with our little arrangement? Or did you never tell him that every once in a while we fuck for old time's sake?"

Zoë's smile fell and she looked offended by Cal's words. How dare he stand there with his self-righteousness, telling her what to do? "You've never complained before, what's changed?"

"We can't do this anymore," Cal didn't move a muscle in his face as he stared at his ex-wife.

"Oh my God, you met someone, didn't you?" She suddenly understood.

Cal's features softened. He could give away that much, couldn't he? She was his ex-wife after all; she deserved an explanation. And she did have a point; he used to have no problem with her cheating. As long as he wasn't the cuckolded, that is. He just shrugged his shoulders in a non-committing yes.

"Wow." Zoë took a step back and gave Cal the once over. "Who is she?" she asked which was code for 'Do I know her?' She took a seat at the kitchen table.

"I'd rather not say. It's still kinda fresh and I don't want to screw it up." Cal walked up behind her.

"But it's serious?" She looked up with wonder in her eyes.

Cal wiggled his head, "Yeah."

"Serious enough that you don't want to cheat on her." Zoë concluded.

"I never cheated on you, either." He countered. Zoë sent him a look that said he clearly didn't have a problem with sleeping her while she was engaged to someone else. Cal shrugged his shoulders in response as if to say that wasn't really his problem but hers. He sat down in the chair next to her, turning it a little so he was facing her. He took her hand in his.

"We need to move on, Zoë. This thing we have, it's not healthy."

"I know."

"This whole back and forth, it's not good for Emily, either." His earlier conversation had opened his eyes. They'd really not been very subtle around Emily. It must have been very confusing to her.

"I know."

"And most of all…it's not fair to us, either."

"I know."

"Since when am I the adult one in our marriage?" Cal mused.

"Since we got a divorce?" Zoë replied amused. Silence spread as she looked down at Cal's hand clasping hers, his thumb stroking the back of her hand softly. "Do you love her?"

"Don't do that, love. Don't go there." Cal smiled sympathetically at her, "She's got nothing to do with this, with us. We should've done this a long time ago, but I was too weak."

Zoë looked up at him sharply, he made it sound like she was taking advantage of him. "I didn't leave you because I didn't love you anymore." She confessed and Cal stopped his movements. He looked into her eyes deeply and it suddenly all made sense. "No, you didn't."

"It's not that I stopped loving you, Cal. I just didn't know how to love you anymore – or live with you for that matter."

"It just didn't work out." Cal concluded and Zoë nodded with relief. He understood. Thank God. He wasn't holding it against her anymore.

"I made a lot of mistakes", Cal explained and smiled when he saw Zoë's shocked reaction. That was a first. So far he'd been blaming everything on her. She left him. She doubted them. She didn't believe in their marriage. "I did", he nodded for emphasis, "and I'm sorry."

"Where's all this wisdom coming from?" Zoë frowned.

Cal shrugged his shoulders again. "I did some thinking. Had a bit of time on my hands to do some contemplating in the past months."

"You did…" She sounded skeptically.

"What I'm trying to say is… I forgive you, Zoë, for leaving me. I couldn't understand it at the time but we really were a bad match. And I didn't exactly make life easier for you. I know that now. That's not to say I didn't love you. I wasn't really ready for a relationship. I went into this marriage with expectations you simply couldn't meet. No one could ever meet. I'm sorry for what I put you through. I should've tried harder to understand you better."

Zoë was speechless. Did he just take the fall for the demise of their marriage? "It wasn't just you, Cal. I didn't go into this marriage without knowing who you were. I guess I was naïve thinking I could change you."

Cal flashed her a grin. "That might have been a bit unrealistic."

"Didn't we try hard enough?" Her voice was laced with regret.

Cal shook his head, "Maybe we tried too hard to make our relationship something it couldn't be."

"Do you regret marrying me?"

"No!" The response spewed forth so fast, Zoë didn't even have a chance to finish her sentence. His reaction made her smile.

"I didn't marry you just because I got you pregnant. I married you because I was in love with you." Cal felt the need to clarify, even though the topic's been discussed to death during the demise of their marriage. "Emily was just a very convenient way to make sure you'd stay with me." He confessed. She looked at him amazed. "I mean, look at me. What's a bloke like me doing with a girl like you? It was just a matter of time until you'd have found someone who'd really make you happy."

"You made me happy, Cal. For a while we were really happy."

"Yeah, we were, weren't we?" They shared a nostalgic moment and a goofy grin.

"It wasn't all bad", she continued, "and the make up sex has always been great!"

Cal laughed out loud and looked at her with a twinkle in his eye, "Can't complain about that one. Gave me a beautiful little girl."

"But we have to stop it", Zoë reminded them of why they were having this discussion in the first place. She got it now. They had to move on. They couldn't keep living in the past.

"I love you, Zoë. You know that, don't you? You'll always be Emily's mum." He ran his hand down her cheek.

"But you're not in love with me anymore." Zoë nodded understandingly. She cast her eyes down. She couldn't bear to actually see it in his eyes. It would hurt too much.

"No," Cal shook his head.

"You're in love with someone else."

"I'm sorry, Zoë."

"It's ok." She looked up and cupped his chin when she saw the miserable look on his face. He really hated hurting her like that. "Like you've said, we've gotta move on. I'm glad that one of us is finally really doing it. Makes it easier for me to do the same."

"So you're finally gonna set a date for your wedding?" Cal grinned.

Zoë shrugged her shoulders. Maybe. Probably. If only she knew whether Roger was the right guy. She'd been hiding behind her unresolved feelings for Cal, but now that he was out of the picture, she'd really have to face her demons.

0~0~0~0~0

Emily tiptoed back from the kitchen into the living room. She'd followed her mother convinced she'd do something stupid like trying to seduce her father. And knowing her dad she had a pretty good idea of how long his resolve around her mom would last. Someone had to keep tabs on them; she didn't want her father to ruin his relationship with Gillian before they'd even really started going out. But now she felt like an intruder after eavesdropping on her parents' conversation.

"Where are your parents?" Grandma asked.

"In the kitchen. They're talking." Emily explained. She stopped in the middle of the room. She felt funny. It felt strange knowing that her parents were in the other room officially breaking up for good. It felt especially strange considering they'd been divorced for over three years now.

"Well, tell them to move their butts back in here!" Her grandfather declared and was about to yell their names.

Grandma had watched Emily's uneasiness and cut him off, "No, Jerry, let them talk. It's been long overdue they had that talk." Jerry gave her a big frown but Peggy ignored him. Instead she reached out her arm, motioning for her granddaughter to join them on the couch. "You know, they'll always love you."

Emily nodded as she walked over to her grandparents. It still hurt, though. Why? Hadn't she been through that whole process five years ago? Hadn't she come to the conclusion it was better her parents separated than fighting constantly?

"You alright?" Grandma asked Emily who nodded still a bit in shock. She plopped down between her grandparents with a heavy sigh.

"They love you and nothing that's going on between them will ever change that."

"I know. It's just…" Emily drew out glumly. It's just what? Why was she even upset over all this? An hour ago she was thrilled her dad was finally together with Gillian, why did she all of a sudden have a problem with her parents not seeing each other anymore? She should've been proud of her father for not giving in to temptation. Why did she feel cheated out of a family instead? Her parents were divorced for crying out loud! And she loved Gillian! Hadn't she been secretly planning a relationship between her father and his best friend ever since the divorce practically came through?

"… confusing?" Grandma offered helpfully.

Emily looked at her as she was drawn out of her thoughts, "Yeah. I mean… they've been separated for five years now… I should've seen that one coming… I just… you know… until now… I suppose a part of me … deep down inside… some part of me had hoped they'd get back together again one day."

"You know, for two people with postgraduate degrees, your parents aren't really the brightest people on the planet." Peggy kissed her granddaughter on the head through her hair. "They haven't really been fair to you have they?"

Emily shook her head. No. They hadn't been. And suddenly she grew a bit angry. They'd been very selfish actually. They'd nurtured this part inside her she hadn't even really known was still holding out for a family that didn't exist in that form anymore. They were the adults. They should've known better. They'd given her false hope. And for what? Just a little bit of sex.

"They're just human, Em. They make mistakes just like you do." Grandma rubbed her back comfortingly. "They didn't realize how much they were actually hurting you."

"It's so funny, you know, because here I thought I left that all behind. It didn't hurt that much when they actually got divorced. I was the one telling them they had to move on and should date other people! I told them I'd have absolutely no problem. Why do I feel so wretched then?"

"Because things always look better on paper. It's when we're suddenly confronted with the reality we find that maybe we weren't really ready for the change yet." Her grandfather mused. "And really, we should be thankful, they're so civil tonight."

That elicited laughter from all of them.

"Well, maybe it would be easier if they'd been fighting and calling it quits. But they're actually talking. Like really talking in there. Why'd they never talk like that when they were still married? We might've had a fighting chance as a family. It's like they're saying good-bye to each other. For good." Emily sighed.

"Gee, if I'd known we would've come to show the pictures of Greece sooner." Grandma joked and they all chuckled.

"You know?" Emily wrinkled her nose. Her parents had been so busted.

"Your mom and dad fighting over loading the dishwasher? Honey, I wasn't born yesterday."

She'd barely finished when the voices in the kitchen rose. The three of them looked at each other and broke out into laughter again.

"Guess we jinxed that one!" Emily giggled. "I guess that's my cue that we'll be leaving soon." Emily rose from the couch. She'd better get her stuff ready. She gave each grandparent a tight squeeze and mumbled a heartfelt, "I love you. Thanks." into their ear.