Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Lie to Me, sadly.

Chapter Three

With the carrot nose firmly in place, Gillian looked at Cal expectantly, and he responded by holding up the twig he'd found for the mouth. She gestured towards the snowman's face, indicating he should put it on. He did so, deliberately placing it so it was down turned, giving the snowman a sad expression, and he glanced at Gillian sideways. She just looked at him, a slight smile tugging at her lips, until he sighed and turned the mouth upside down. "Satisfied?"

"Much better."

"Or we could do it like this…" He moved the twig so one corner was raised. "Contempt, see?"

She giggled. "I see."

"But you're probably right, happiness is better for a snowman." He tried to reposition the stick where it had been moments earlier, but it kept slipping. Swearing softly under his breath he tried again, cursing more loudly when the twig snapped.

Gillian watched him battle with the twig in amusement. "Need any help there?" she asked innocently, and he frowned.

"I need a better stick." She laughed as she watched him start hunting around the garden again, returning at last with a small twig which he pushed into place. "There."

Gillian scrutinised the snowman's face. The twig was straighter than the last one, losing the effect of a smile the previous one had given. "He looks a bit…"

"Grumpy," Cal finished. "Yeah."

"He looks like you," Gillian couldn't help saying, and collapsed into giggles at the look on Cal's face. "Here." She reached forwards and started fiddling with it.

"You can't bend it, it'll break," Cal told her knowledgably, then looked on in confusion as Gillian stepped back with a satisfied smile.

"There." The snowman now looked the definition of happiness, smiling up at Cal with an unbroken twig for a mouth.

"How did you…?"

"I can make anyone smile," she joked, but Cal was inclined to agree.

"You probably can, love."

Silence fell between them as they stood admiring their handiwork, then a voice broke the stillness. "Hey! Cool snowman!"

They both turned towards the sound of the voice, and Gillian recognised one of the children who lived down the street. "Hi… Danny isn't it?"

The boy nodded. "Where's your kid?" he asked, looking from Gillian to Cal and back again.

Cal felt Gillian tense slightly next to him, and he instinctively reached out and draped his arm around her shoulder. "I don't have a kid," she told Danny, managing to smile at him, although Cal saw the sadness hidden beneath it.

"Oh." He looked confused. "So… you're grown ups, but you're making a snowman?"

"I know, I can't believe it either," Cal told him, and Gillian pulled away from him slightly to hit him playfully on the arm.

"Yes, Danny," she told the boy. "We're grown ups, but that doesn't mean we can't still have fun. Remember that when you get older."

"Okay." The boy looked like he was torn between being confused and impressed. "Well… I'm off on my sledge. See ya!" and he ran off.

"Giving life lessons to eight year olds now, are we?" Cal tried to break the ice and steer Gillian away from any morose thoughts she might have been having at that moment.

"Guess so." She smiled at him, although it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"So… is it time to go in yet?"

"Certainly not! First of all, we need to give our new friend a name…"

"Of course. Silly me. Okay, how about… Douglas."

"Douglas?"

"It's a good name for a snowman," he said defensively. "Or Herbert. Or Jasper. Or… I've got it. Edmund."

She giggled, and he was pleased to see the sparkle back in her eyes. "You're a very strange man, Dr Lightman."

"That I am, love. Surely you haven't only just figured that out?"

"I've had my suspicions for a while now."

They were interrupted by the sound of Cal's cell phone, and he snatched it out of his pocket, answering it on the third ring. Gillian rolled her eyes at him, and he gave her an apologetic grin. "Lightman."

"Hey boss, just wanted to check you got the email I sent you with the Phillips footage?"

"Er, no, not yet," Cal said, mouthing 'Loker' at Gillian.

"Oh, right. Well, it's not urgent; I just thought I'd check you'd got it. I know you're not at the office today, but I figured you'd still be by your computer."

"I'm making a snowman, actually," Cal informed him, and he heard Gillian laugh. She was now squatting down in the corner of the garden, busily doing something in the snow. Suddenly realising what she was doing, Cal propped the receiver under one ear and bent down behind their as-yet-unnamed snowman and started gathering up snow himself.

"Er, okay," Loker was saying, probably assuming his boss was joking. "Well, if you need me to look over anything today…"

"Yeah, I'll call you if I need you," Cal said, then abruptly hung up the phone and slipped it quickly back into his pocket. He peeked out from behind the snowman just as Gillian's well-aimed snowball made contact with his chest. Seconds later, his own snowball hurtled through the air, catching her on the arm.

He grinned at her started expression. "Game on, Dr Foster. Game on."