Thanks for the reviews everyone, it's still very snowy here so inspiration remains abundant to finish this story! :-] Also, I know we saw Gillian's place in Honey and she doesn't have a front garden, but for the purposes of this story, she does ;-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Lie to Me or anything to do with it at all

Chapter Two

Cal watched Gillian run down her front path, giggling like a small child. He rubbed his hands together in an attempt to stave off the cold that threatened to seep into his bones, but found that watching Gillian was actually a more effective way of keeping warm. She lay down in her front garden and started moving her arms, making the wings of the angel. Cal shook his head in amusement as he watched her. "Going to join me?" she asked, ceasing the movement of her arms and just lying still.

"Not a chance, love," he said with a grin.

She smiled and sat up. Stepping forwards, Cal extended an arm to her and helped her up. "So, what's next?"

"A snowman, of course," she said, heading to the other side of the path where the snow lay perfect and untouched. She hesitated for a moment.

"You start by making a ball…" Cal said, and she laughed.

"Yes, I know how to make a snowman, thanks. It's just that the snow always looks so beautiful when no one's touched it yet."

"So don't touch it – appreciate its pure and untainted beauty from the comfort and warmth of your living room."

"I could. Or…" She bent down and scooped up a handful of snow. "I could just get on with it." She continued to smile as she started pressing the snow together, and Cal wandered over to join her.

Ten minutes later, they had a decent sized snowman's body and head, and Gillian sat back on her heels looking at it appreciatively. "Just the details to do now," she said, standing up and brushing the snow off her gloves.

"Not going to get your icing are you?"

"I think I'll stick to the more traditional methods this year," she chuckled, heading towards the front door. "You look for a mouth."

She headed inside, and Cal waited patiently for her to retrieve the items needed to complete their snowman. He remembered making a snowman as a child with his mother; the snow had fallen on one of her good days, the kind of day where she was able to get out of bed and try and fulfil her role as a mother with some enthusiasm. They'd built a snowman in their back garden, giving him a carrot nose and a woolly hat and Cal's dad's old scarf. Afterwards, they'd sat inside, cuddled up under a blanket as the happiness of the day wore off and her mood sank as low as the sinking sun. Cal, who had been eight or nine at the time, remembered falling asleep against her on the sofa, waking up in the morning to find that much of the snow had melted, and Clyde the snowman was now nothing more than a big ball of snow with a scarf and carrot on the ground next to it.

He hadn't made a snowman since that day until he became a father; having a child of his own, it seemed almost a necessity to be able to make a snowman, and, seeing his daughter's face light up with pleasure at the sight of snow for the first time, he was damned if he was going to pass up the opportunity to spend some quality time with her. Zoe hadn't been interested in the snow; she'd stayed in her office to do work while Cal and Emily played outside, staying until Cal's limbs were aching from the cold, but not leaving until little Emily decided she was ready to go indoors.

Now as an adult, and with Emily a teenager, he hadn't imagined he'd ever have another day of playing in the snow. Yet here he was, making a snowman and actually enjoying it – and it was all because of one woman. He reached down and picked up a small twig that looked about right for a mouth, thinking as he did so about the three women who'd actually managed to make being in the freezing cold a pleasurable experience. His mother. His daughter. The woman he loved. The three most important people in his life.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden smack on his shoulder, and he emitted a small yelp as the snowball made contact. "Hey!"

She giggled, a bag swinging lightly in one hand. "Sorry. Couldn't resist. You just looked so deep in thought…"

"So you just had to throw a snowball at me?"

"Something like that." She smiled as she placed the bag next to the snowman and started pulling out its contents. "What were you thinking about anyway?"

Cal watched as she lovingly draped the scarf around the snowman, deposited a hat on his head and pressed two buttons in perfect position for the eyes before reaching for the carrot at the bottom of the bag.

"Nothing much." His hand closed over hers, and they pulled out the carrot together and placed it in position, his smile matching her own.

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A/N Still a bit more to come… there's just a lot of potential for fun in the snow! I might even update again today… depends how much I find myself procrastinating!