Cal woke up and he was sixty. Sixty. The number made him feel old and yet if he was going to base it on how he actually felt... he'd probably say he was closer to fifty. Gillian liked it when he said that because that meant she was still in her mid forties, not her mid fifties. He looked like he was still around the age of fifty and he didn't even have to colour his hair or cheat. Although his beard was practically white now so he hardly ever let it grow out. He was still in relatively good shape. That was probably because he was running after young children. Cal had a twelve year old and a seven year old and a one year old grandson. Gillian told him he was as young as he felt. And he felt pretty good.

"Good morning," Gillian stirred and shifted closer to him. He felt her hand beneath the covers, sliding over his chest, then the edge of her thigh against his hip. Her head came to sleepily rest against his cheek.

"Mornin'," Cal murmured.

"Happy birthday."

"Thank you luv."

Gillian gave him a squeeze. The house was quiet and Cal wondered what time it was. He didn't want to open his eyes and ruin it. When it was warm in bed like this, cuddle up with his wife, he wanted to believe he could stay that way forever. He wanted to pretend it was the weekend and he could take as long as he liked to get out of bed. Then there was a thudding and voices of their son's heading downstairs; the high pitched of seven year old Owen and the starting to get deeper of twelve year old Lewis.

"Design flaw this house," Cal murmured.

"Hm?"

"The masta bedroom should be at the otha end of the hall, so we don't hear them escapin' in the mornin's."

Gillian gave a short laugh.

"Not too late to move," Cal muttered.

"Was that serious?"

"Lew's gonna be a teenage-a soon," Cal countered.

There was a pause and Cal could feel Gillian's fingers against his pectoral muscle, absently scratching. She was probably trying to figure out what he meant by that. In the end she just asked. "So?"

"There's five years between them," Cal pointed out.

"Wait what?" She pulled back and Cal pried his eyes open reluctantly. She looked confused, giving him a frown, but also incredibly cute, cheeks red and her hair mussed up, the cover to her shoulder even though she was propped up on an elbow now.

Cal reached up to brush the strands back from her face. "You don't think about that? When Lew's fifteen Owen's gonna be ten."

"And that means?" Gillian invited him to clarify, bringing a hand up to pick the sleep from her eyes.

"Well..." Cal wasn't sure what he meant. Usually she just got it. He didn't have to explain. "I mean, when you're a teenage-a you kind of want your own space. Don't want your little brutha in your space. Specially when he's so little." Cal should know. His big brother periodically banned him from their room. And there was only two and a half years between them.

"Oh I see." Gillian watched him for a moment. "To that I say, at least with Owen there Lewis can't fool around with his girlfriend."

"Lewis has a girlfriend?"

"Not that I know of," Gillian shifted to lie against his shoulder again. "He's twelve."

Cal snickered. Like that age had held him back from anything. Gillian gave his chest a light slap. "Not everyone is you, Mr Early Developer."

Cal chuckled this time.

"Do you think he does have a girlfriend?" Gillian mused.

"I don't know. But I don't think Lewis is, uh, entirely mature in that department."

"Thank god."

"Yet."

Gillian gave a whimper.

"Or you know, boyfriend," Cal mused.

"Yes," Gillian agreed. Maybe. Only Lewis would know.

"Owen will be the heart breaka," Cal went on.

"Oh yeah," Gillian agreed heavily. "Not looking forward to that."

They lay together for a moment. Cal shifted his hand to her arm, tracing a pattern against her skin with the tip of his finger. "Do we have to get up today?"

"Eventually yes," Gillian sounded apologetic.

"But it's my birthday," Cal whined.

Gillian gave a soft laugh. Her hand slid down suddenly to the waist band of his boxers. "Could give you your present now."

Cal laughed and grabbed for her hand, pulling it back to where it was before, but closer against his heart this time. "Late-a. I wanna run somethin' by you. See what you think."

"Ok but if it's dirty you know the rules."

Cal chuckled. "No. Not that. Would you get your mind out the gutta? Geeze."

"Hurry up then."

"That's what she said," Cal laughed. Gillian jabbed a finger into his rib and he jumped away from her, turning his hips. "Ow. Son of a bitch!" It continued to ache and he squirmed.

Gillian laughed and when he complained again she pinched at his other side lightly to make him shift from that direction back towards her again. "Tell me!"

"I was thinkin' of maybe... partly retirin'."

"Geeze Cal, you're sixty not..."

"Not cos of that," Cal interrupted. "Well maybe a little part of that but... I'm bored."

Gillian sat up again and looked alarmed for a second.

"No, wait, that came out wrong," he quickly went on, wrapping an arm around her back and turning towards her so he was practically embracing her. "I just mean. You get to go out and do otha things and I've been doin' the same thing for twenty-three years."

Gillian watched him passively, waiting.

"I just thought about maybe doin' somethin' else."

"What something else?" She asked carefully. "What will happen to the Group?"

"Well Eli and Ria do just fine lookin' afta the Group."

"But they don't do all of it."

"Perhaps we should appoint a CEO?"

"So you're talking about quitting the Group altogether?" Her eyes were concerned and her voice had a strange tone, or apprehension, or... Cal didn't really know. He just knew she was worrying.

"I don't know?" Cal gave a slight wince. "I've not thought it through entirely. Just wanted to talk to you."

Gillian blinked at him, her head on the edge of his pillow, close and she was soft and warm and he loved that after fourteen years of marriage, this was still his favourite way to be with her. He was expecting the alarm any second. If the boys were up it had to be close to wake up time.

"So what were you thinking?" Gillian asked softly.

"Don't laugh," Cal started and she looked a little surprised, mostly interested. "But I was thinkin' about maybe teachin'."

Gillian did laugh, rolling on to her back while she giggled. Cal grinned despite himself and leaned over to press a kiss against the edge of her jaw. Her hand went to the hair at the back of his head. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "But all those years..."

"I know," Cal responded amicably. "It is funny right? I was thinkin' bout lots of otha things I could do, consult for the FBI or local police and seminars and all that but the truth is, I do that kind of thing anyway. I don't really wanna go live in anotha country and study yet anotha culture." Gillian looked up at him, blue eyes serious and attentive. "Or spend years reserachin' and conductin' experiments and... even if we franchised one of us would more than likely have to go to anotha city to at least launch it. Or we all go."

"And move the boys from their school and friends?" Gillian finished his thought with a frown that said she did not like that idea. At least initially.

"Exactly," Cal agreed.

"You want to wind it down."

"A bit yeah."

"So... teaching. Have you... applied for anything?"

"Thought I might put out some feela's."

"Talk to Eli and Ria first. Eli just got married. He and Faye might start a family; they might want their time for themselves."

Cal nodded. He understood. Although he had worked his ass off during his first family and mostly through his second. Gillian wouldn't allow him to be completely selfish though.

"We could job share," Gillian offered. "The days you're not there I can be there."

"That could work," Cal considered. "Not that we feel they need supavision ova there right?"

"Absolutely not," Gillian agreed. "But it is our business. I wouldn't want to just walk away."

Cal nodded to that too. "Fair enough luv."

Gillian gave him a slight smile. "This could be good." She tugged on his head to pull him down for a kiss. Cal slid a hand to her slim waist, squeezing slightly. That went well. Really well. He loved that they were on the same age so often too. That made things a lot easier. Cal kissed her back warmly, feeling her smile slightly beneath his lips. She shifted against him so their bodies were more in line. Twenty three years. It was incredible really. There had been some seriously tough times in the beginning and then again after the recession... But they had made it through, more than made it through; that was probably because of Gillian's impeccable business sense.

The alarm started to sound and Cal quickly leaned over to turn it off. Then he went back to kissing his wife, pressing closer against her so he could feel her body. She gave a little delighted hum. Then there was a knock at their door. "Are you awake?" Owen called loudly. Cal heard the door open and pushed away from his wife to look over his shoulder. The boys entered, Lewis first, a plate in his hand and coffee cup in the other. He was dressed and watching the liquid and food carefully as he headed across the room. Owen was right behind him, another cup in his other hand and a box, wrapped in toy trucks.

"Good morning," Lewis greeted, looking up to meet their eyes, to make sure they were listening to him because he wasn't signing. He headed around to Cal's side of the bed. Cal turned over and sat up.

"Happy birthday Dad!" Owen headed for Gillian and she did the same; she sat up to meet him.

"Yeah happy birthday," Lewis echoed. They boys handed over their presents triumphantly; no coffee spilt, then climbed onto the bed together, jostling and kneeling on their parent's legs.

"Wow thank you," Cal said of his marmite on toast and coffee while Gillian murmured her thanks as well.

"Open your present we got you," Owen instructed.

Cal put the coffee on his bedside table, then handed his breakfast to his wife and took the box Owen had dumped in his lap. "I love the wrappin' pape-a," he noted, finding an edge and tearing it back to reveal a new phone. "That's amazin'. How'd you know I needed a new phone?"

Owen grinned pleased and leaned forward to take the present back, pulling away the rest of the wrapping paper. Lewis got closer to him and they fought over taking the device out of the box, telling each other about the features and games, as if they didn't already know and play with a model in the store.

"Thank you," Cal leaned towards his wife and gave her a kiss.

She picked up a piece of his toast and put it in his mouth, then got one for herself. "My present will have to wait for the shower."

Cal grinned and gave a slight laugh. He reached for his coffee while Lewis, who now had control of his father's new phone, powered it up. "You've trained them well," Cal noted, sipping his drink. Perfectly made. The toast wasn't even burnt.

"Hm," Gillian noted. "I have a gap at one. We could have lunch together."

"If by lunch togetha, you mean a shag, then absolutely," Cal responded softly.

"Cal," Gillian complained. But the boys weren't listening.