Disclaimer: I do not own Lie to Me or any of the characters in this story.

Thanks for the feedback! Here's a new chapter, and we'll see how it goes from there. I'm not into the idea of holding chapters for ransom and saying I need x number of reviews before I'll post another, but I would like to see that at least someone's interested in reading more before I take the time to write another.

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15 months earlier....

It was early evening when Gill arrived back at their hotel room. She and Cal had flown back to the West coast, where she was from, to get married with her family present. They'd chosen not to stay with her parents so that her brother, his wife and children could stay there, giving the kids more room to run around and play than they'd have had in a hotel room.

Preparations for the wedding were taking their toll on Gill. Yes, it was her second marriage, but that didn't change how much she loved Cal (or weddings, for that matter!) and how badly she wanted the day to go perfectly. When he'd woken up at 5am to go to the bathroom and Gill was awake and sitting at the small desk in the room stressing over the plan again he'd insisted she take a day for herself. He gave her his PIN and his credit card, then told her she wasn't to come back until she'd relaxed and enjoyed herself.

After some careful consideration, Gill had found herself at a day spa. She wondered if having a manicure, pedicure and facial so she'd look good for the wedding would count as going against Cal's wishes, but she'd decided to go ahead and do them anyway. Then, to be sure she was following orders, she'd thrown caution to the wind and had a full body massage. She never treated herself to things like that. By the time she was done she was looking and feeling incredible. On her way back to the hotel she'd stopped and spent some of her own money, picking up some shoes and then making a trip to an upscale lingerie shop to make some purchases for her to take on their honeymoon- after all, Cal deserved to be treated, too!

"Cal?" she called out softly as she stepped into the hotel room, juggling the bags of shopping she'd bought. No response. Strange. She frowned then shrugged it off, putting her things down and then settling down with a book to wait.

It was dark when Cal finally arrived and, truth be told, Gillian had been worried. "You're back!" she exclaimed as he walked in the door, wrapping both of her arms around him and holding him tightly.

"Hello, darling," he chuckled quietly, holding her close.

"I missed you," Gill murmured, kissing his neck softly. "I was worried."

"I'm sorry," Cal apologised, rubbing her back soothingly. "Did you have a nice day?" he asked. Just holding her he could feel the tension in her body had dissipated since she'd left that morning.

"Yes. Thank you," she replied, leaning back to give herself room to kiss him on the lips. "You know just what I need, Dr. Lightman," she smiled.

"I do pride myself on that," Cal grinned, returning the kiss. "Give me a minute to change, then we can go and grab some dinner?" he suggested, letting go of her and moving further into the room and over to his suitcase. He opened it and pulled out a shirt, taking his old one off and dropping it on the bed.

"Cal! What happened?!" Gill exclaimed, noticing a large white dressing on the inside of his left bicep.

"Ah," Cal said, glancing down at it. "S'why I was late," he said, picking up the clean shirt.

"Wait! What happened?" she asked, walking over to him with a concerned expression on her face and touching the dressing lightly. "Let me see, honey," she encouraged softly.

Cal smiled. Gill was so caring and attentive. He knew she was going to make a brilliant mother. "Careful!" he said, pulling his arm away. "It's your wedding present," he informed her.

Gill looked at him, clearly confused. "My what?" she asked. How could Cal being hurt be a present for her? That was the last thing she ever wanted to happen.

Cal's smile grew as he took in her expression. "Your wedding present," he repeated, reaching up and carefully removing the dressing to reveal a brand new tattoo. The ink was an intricate pattern in fine black lines, and Gillian's name was worked into it beautifully.

"Oh! Cal!" Gillian gasped softly, reaching out to touch it, then stopping herself before she made contact. "Honey, it's beautiful," she said, studying it closely. "I don't even know what to say... Thank you." Her eyes lingered on it a while longer before she raised her hand and pointed to a blank banner in the design. "What's this?" she asked curiously.

"A promise," Cal replied. "I know how much you've always wanted children of your own, and I wanted to show you I'm committed to that, too. I want to have a family with you, Gill, and I don't care if we adopt or if the baby is biologically ours or not. You're going to make an amazing mother and any child would be lucky to have you in their life."

Gill's facial expression changed a few times then. It went from confusion to surprise, then to sadness before she could keep it under control. She looked at Cal hesitantly then, unsure of how to proceed.

Cal's heart sank. That wasn't quite the reaction he'd been hoping for. "Gill?" he questioned gently.

The brunette shook her head. "I can't, Cal," she told him softly, her eyes filling with tears.

"Hey," Cal replied soothingly, wrapping the arm that didn't have the tattoo on it around her shoulders. "I didn't mean to upset you, love," he apologised. "It's not about that. You'd make beautiful babies, and I can't imagine anything more perfect than a little you walking around our house, but I don't need that to be happy. Another child will never replace Sophie, but we can adopt one together. You and me."

Gill shook her head as the tears began to fall. "I can't," she repeated. "I can't go through that again. I can't keep having my heart broken over this, it hurts too much, Cal," she said desperately. "I don't want to try to have a family with you."

Cal felt like Gill had picked up a knife and stabbed him right in the heart. He wanted a family with her more than anything else, and deep down he'd been sure that's what she wanted too. He stood in stunned silence, unable to move or speak for quite some time. When he was finally able to move he looked down at the ink on his arm and his eyes fell to the empty banner. Like the banner, he had no words.