"Oi, Gill, come here, Gillian!"
Gillian came running into the living room to see Emily holding onto the couch, keeping herself upright; she didn't want to tell him Emily had started this Tuesday. Today was Sunday and Emily was taking her sweet time doing it again so daddy could see too.
Standing was the first milestone Cal missed and it made Gillian feel so emotional because she was beyond proud of Emily and devastated for Cal at the same time.
Playing along, Gillian gasped and then clapped her hands when Emily looked towards her. "You're standing baby girl, look at you!"
Cal continued to look at Emily taking a mental picture to always remember the moment, still holding out his hands just in case she fell and then looked at his wife. "This isn't her first time, is it?"
Knowing she couldn't lie, Gillian answered honestly. "I'm so sorry honey."
"When?"
"Tuesday, after we got home from mommy and me class. We were sitting in here playing and, the next thing I new she was in the same exact position she's in now."
"How many times, love?"
"Just on Tuesday, this is the first time since then."
Gillian was now sitting on the floor next to Cal with Emily in between them. Cal saw the honesty in her eyes and then looked back at Emily who was bouncing a little causing them to laugh. "Are you dancing?"
Emily looked up at her daddy and smiled. When she reached out to grab his face, she lost her balance, but it was okay because her parents were right there to catch her. Cal was upset however, not at Gillian or Emily. He knew Gillian was way too sweet, not telling him because she wanted him to experience it for himself and he was so proud of Emily.
Still, he was upset because this truly was the first milestone he had missed. It's bound to happen, he works during the week and even though Emily is with him and Gillian often while at work, he isn't with her Tuesday or Thursday when she's home with Gillian.
He was starting to reconsider working all week, it would be easy enough to meet Gillian at one of Emily's classes—even if they are mommy and me classes, he knows from Gillian there are other dads there and he always has been curious to see how his daughter interacts with others.
More than anything though, he was truly upset Emily was growing up so quickly. It really wasn't okay with either of them that she was already 9 months old.
"You okay?"
Cal looked up at his wife and responded honestly, "No, I'm not. We just bloody brought her home, didn't we?"
Emily crashed into Gillian who held her close as they reminisced about the last nine months with their little girl. It was a catch 22 really—it was easy to feel as if they just brought her home yet, they've made so many memories together in 9 short months it almost felt like it had been longer.
Emily was still a bit closer to Gillian, but she believed it had a lot to do with the fact she was still breastfeeding, which was a natural comfort. Cal agreed, having his face in Gillian's chest so often would make him feel better too however, he wasn't as lucky as Emily was in that department.
Emily did prefer to be in Cal's arms rather than Anna, Ria, Eli or Ben's as she was still at the stage of seeking comfort in the well known. One could argue she should recognize them as well as her parents because she sees them everyday, but they all understood once Gillian explained the psychology behind it.
The baby was now bouncing in Gillian's lap and she repositioned her so Emily could stand facing Cal.
"Think we can make her stop growing up?"
"I bloody wish."
"Oi, what time is everyone getting here love?" Cal called out from the kitchen where he had spent most of the morning. Gillian did a lot of preparing last night and Cal was making everything come together today.
"Gill?" Cal called again, not hearing anything. "Em?" he said as a joke knowing she couldn't answer.
Emily's babbling gave them away though which was just as good as Gillian responding, causing Cal to whip around and see the cutest site. Gillian had just finished getting ready and Cal would appreciate how amazing she looked later because Emily was in her first Christmas dress and looked too cute for words.
Gillian only let Cal get so close before protesting, "Uh-uh, wash those hands first. I refuse to let her dress get ruined before we've taken any pictures."
Cal rushed to the sink, he understood how important the pictures were to his wife and to him once they were hung up, but he was impatient and thought it was cruel to not be able to hold Emily.
"Look at daddy, Em; it's like he forgot how to wash his hands."
"Oi, hush up you." Cal dried his hands and then walked over to his girls, lifting Emily up over his head as she laughed. "You look so beautiful princess and look at your mummy Em." Gillian was in a stunning red dress, matching the little velvet dress Emily was wearing but didn't look cute like the baby, she looked so sexy.
"You look gorgeous, love."
"Thank you," Gillian responded, kissing her husband.
An hour later Christmas music was playing, hors d'oeuvres were being served, and everyone was having a good time. They had decided to do a white elephant as opposed to shopping for everyone, but to make things good they got one gag gift and one good gift. Mind you, when you swapped you had to take both.
Gillian made sure Ria brought Ava because it was the holidays, and the girl deserved some fun too. She also bought some gifts for Ava as well; most were clothes seeing as she's a growing girl but there were a few fun things too.
Everyone brought Emily gifts and really wanted to be the one who gave the baby her next 'it' toy. For the longest time Emily has obsessed over her giraffe, a particular plush book, and a particular-colored ball that was easy to hold with the larger holes, fun to throw once she figured out how, and great to teach her hold to properly hold things. Tonight, they were looking to add another toy to the mix.
Cal was a little upset that white elephant meant he didn't necessarily get to give his gag gift to Loker like he was hoping when they went shopping; first, he had to go shopping, something he can't stand, and then he found out when they got home, he didn't shop just for Loker.
"Can I get you another drink love?" Cal asked, seeing Gillian's grape juice was almost gone. Yes, she was drinking grape juice just like Ava was because she's still breastfeeding—she didn't mind though, it's better for Emily and worth the glass of wine she'd have.
She handed Cal her glass and thanked him, repositioning Emily who always tried so hard to crawl under the Christmas tree because she loved the lights. Emily started to cry, not liking that she wasn't allowed to play where she wanted to, and Gillian picked her up. "I know baby, I know. It's okay," the mother soothed, patting her diapered bottom.
"What happened?" Cal asked as he walked back into the living room.
"Em wanted to play under the Christmas tree," Loker responded, finding it a bit amusing how magical Christmas trees were to the baby.
Ava looked at the floor next to her where some of the gifts extended out to and saw there were lots with her name on them. She didn't understand why because this was her sister's bosses home; sure, she had been there once, but that was months ago.
She looked over at her sister while everyone else was distracted by Emily who was still hiccupping with tears and the conversation they were having about tree lights and tried telling her sister about the gifts by mouthing it however, Ria couldn't make out what she was saying.
Ria squatted down next to her sister so she could whisper to her, and Ria looked shocked because she didn't know Gillian was going to do that. She quickly told Ava to be patient, something Gillian noticed as Emily was finally calm.
"She can open her gifts," Gillian said to Ria.
"No, she can wait like everyone else."
Gillian gave Ria a stern look and she didn't really know how to feel. Gillian has always been good at giving great motherly looks before she was even a mother and Ria suddenly felt like she was in trouble.
"Go ahead honey," she said to Ava, reaching behind her and moving more of the ones with Ava's name on them towards her. "Cal, can you go get a trash bag for the wrapping paper please?"
Anna beat him to it and ran into the kitchen grabbing a trash bag and refilling her glass while she was in there. Heidi joined her to get a refill as well, holding out Ben's glass next. While they were in there, Ava put all the white elephant gifts in the middle of the room because she was too embarrassed to open gifts alone.
Ria was still shocked Gillian got her sister so much and said thank you about six different ways already. "Alright Torres, that's enough outta you," Cal said, effectively cutting off her seventh thank you.
When the girls got back from the kitchen, it was time to start opening the white elephant gifts once numbers where chosen. Gillian was a little shocked when she had to literally explain what a white elephant was to everyone when she invited them to the party almost a month ago and laughed when she had to explain a number was needed for them to start.
"How else did you think this would work, Eli?"
"I guess I didn't really know," he responded, scratching his head.
Once numbers were chosen, they started opening the gifts, laughing at the gag gifts and fighting over the good ones. It was the best part of a white elephant—seeing the gift you most want or becomes most popular among the group and stealing it right from under the other person.
Gillian's good gift became the group favorite, Cal wanting it too even though he was there when Gillian bought it. "Wait, who gets the final pick? Number ten or one?"
"Dude, Foster just told us how to play; one gets the final pick and there are twelve of us, only eleven playing though because Em is too little," Torres responded to Eli.
Loker counted everyone again and realized Torres was right and shook his head at himself. While doing so, he missed the next gift that was opened but heard commentary from everyone making it known there was another great gift in the mix.
"I'm stealing that one for sure," Ava said, looking at what Ben had just opened, and Gillian nodded, agreeing with Ava.
Currently Ben and Heidi's boyfriend had what everyone deemed the best gifts so far and it was Ava's turn as she had picked number 9. Ava opened Anna's gift and as much as she loved it, she really wanted the two best gifts so far. Seeing as she's been on the straight and narrow since she was sent to juvie, making it almost a year of hard work, she stole Ben's because he's a federal agent.
This was the seventh steal of the game making it much more interesting to everyone. The second anything was stolen, the whole room made noise either cheering about the steal or booing just for the heck of it, followed by Emily's giggles because she liked this game even though she was too little to play.
With Emily's giggles the room laughed even more because it was too cute not to laugh with her. "Who's next?" Cal asked, very invested in the game he wanted nothing to do with at first because he was still mad Eli wasn't getting his gag gift.
He laughed though the second Eli, number 10, started to open his gift, almost giving it away—that was the rules: the second you started to open the gift, it was yours…at least until you stole someone else's or kept the one you opened.
Gillian just shook her head; her husband's wish was coming true. To be honest, they both had really great good gifts so it's possible Eli might keep Cal's—if not, Eli was stealing Gillian's from Heidi's boyfriend.
"Oh god, I think I should be worried about this one. Lightman looks way too happy right now," he said, opening the gift painfully slow. Everyone looked at Cal and realized this must be his gift.
"Bloody open it already, come on!"
Loker laughed at the gag gift, he might keep them both because he'd most likely be the only one in the room to use it. He held up the fake beer belly fanny pack that was insulated which got very mixed reviews and then opened a breakfast sandwich maker.
"Oh I am so not giving this up! There's no way you picked this out," Loker said, looking at Cal.
"Oi, what makes you say that?"
Everyone gave him the same look and Gillian laughed. "Em, can you believe how mean everyone is to your dad?"
Emily was still playing with the countless bows in front of and babbled in response to her daddy then laughed as Gillian tickled her. Because Eli was keeping his gift, Ava was safe for another round which meant she only had to make it two more rounds before knowing if she keep her gift or not.
Ava felt the tiniest bit safer because she didn't think anyone besides her sister would steal her girl and if Ria did steal it, Ava knows she would get it anyways. She will never know though because Ria already went.
Gillian was number eleven and Ava knew she would most likely be the last one to steal the gift from her, she had her eye on the gift Ben's girlfriend brought who was currently in the hands of Anna.
As Gillian tried to open her gift, she realized she had to enlist Ava to help her as the teen was sitting next to her and Emily was too invested in throwing her bows up in the air almost whacking Gillian in the face.
She stole from Anna's boyfriend and everyone held their breath to see what gift Heidi was going to choose because she picked number 1. By the end, Gillian, Ava and her Heidi's own boyfriend had the best gifts by consensus but she had her eye on a different gift, stealing Cal's making the whole room go crazy.
Who would have thought white elephant would be such a hit with everyone. It was really nice to have such a great time with their friends seeing as their work is pretty serious, dealing with liars, assholes, and difficult situations all the time.
This game was filled with so many laughs, it was very nice for everyone. Truthfully, they all received amazing gifts, but with all white elephants, there are always those gifts that everyone wants and goes crazy about.
While Cal went to check on dinner, Ben and his girlfriend helped get refills for everyone, and Gillian tried again to see if Ava wanted to open her gifts. She suggested Emily, with the help of her mother or anyone else, opened her gifts at the same time.
Ava wasn't sure how she felt about being looped in with a baby, but she did feel better not being the only one opening something and agreed knowing the attention wouldn't just be on her.
Ria said she would come sit on the floor and help Emily, Loker wanting to help too because they were both invested in seeing which gift Emily liked most as they of course had another bet going.
"Lightman said these are the last of them, who's gonna eat the rest?" Ben said, holding a plate with a mixed amount of the appetizers.
Within minutes they were gone and he brought the tray back into the kitchen. "That was bloody fast."
Ava was speechless as she looked at everything in front of her. She had what she believed to be the best white elephant gift, practically a new wardrobe, an iTunes gift card, what seemed like all of bath and body works and a few pairs of new shoes because Gillian can't help herself in a shoe store.
Ria's eyes went wide when she looked over at everything in front of Ava, a part of her wonders if Cal knew about everything his wife bought for her sister. Now she's really happy she convinced everyone to think big when deciding on a gift for Cal and Gillian because they were the ones hosting.
Gillian being Gillian made sure Ava had all the gift receipts just in case, she remembers being a teenager too and it's common to not really love all the gifts people give you. What she somewhat gathered though was the fact that this was Ava's first real Christmas where she was truly thought about.
Ria always thought about her sister but she herself is still young, so she hasn't always had the money to get Ava everything she wanted the way she has for the past five or so years. Ria really thought Gillian had gone completely overboard though, wow, just wow.
Ava was beyond grateful and felt really embarrassed about being so rude when she first met the 'old white guy', super 'overbearing' woman and baby. She made up for it in their eyes, but she still felt bad about it.
"HA! Em likes mine most," Loker said, bringing Ava and Ria out of their thoughts.
Emily quickly picked up the toy Ben gave her, dropping Eli's in the process just in time for him to walk back into the room. "That's the gift I got her, Loker."
"She was just holding mine though," Loker argued.
"Dinner is ready," Cal announced, walking into the living room, ending the argument before it could truly start.
They had put the leaves in the table meaning there was room for everyone, the table was already set beautifully by Gillian and it's fair to say they were all very impressed. Dinner looked amazing and the table looked like it should be in a magazine.
As everyone was eating, Gillian was giving Emily her first bit of mashed potatoes. Most of what she ate was pureed and thinner than the potatoes were, which is why Gillian put a bit on her finger and let the baby try it.
Her highchair was in between the parents however, Emily was in Gillian's lap giving Cal the perfect view to see just how much their daughter enjoyed her first bite. Emily threw her head back against Gillian and they all laughed, "Is that so yummy, baby?"
Gillian put a little more on her finger and Emily couldn't open her mouth fast enough. After her third bite, Emily started clapping her hands and babbling, "Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba."
"Those must be some really good potatoes to cause a happy dance like that," Ria commented watching like everyone else as Emily wiggled in her mothers' arms.
She continued to babble, and Cal stood up to lift Emily into her highchair so his wife could enjoy the food too. Eating with a baby on your lap doesn't make the food less enjoyable but when that baby gets a bit older and as mobile as Emily, it makes it harder.
Cal scooped out a bit more mashed potatoes and let Emily eat it with her hands, something Gillian was trying to avoid by keeping the baby in her lap. "There goes her dress," Gillian whispered to Cal.
"She has a bib on," he argued.
"Yes, because that's stopped her in the past. You realize I'm the one that washes her clothes and can tell when you've let her eat with her hands, right?"
"Called out," Loker chimed in.
"Oi, buzz off."
"You're cleaning her up," Gillian said, ignoring Loker, looking at Cal.
"Deal."
An hour and a half later, Cal walked back downstairs with a pj clad Emily, who was screaming because as Cal always told her, he didn't have the right parts for what the baby wanted.
Ben and Anna had ignored Gillian and Cal, starting the dishes they were told to leave, which meant Gillian was entertaining in the living room again. She turned her head and opened her arms when Cal walked in with the screaming baby, Emily reaching for her already from daddy's arms. "Oh baby, you're okay sweetie."
She quieted right down the second she was in Gillian's arms, and nobody missed the face Cal was sporting. They knew he was a great dad; Emily was so attached to Gillian though it was almost funny because, duh, it's Cal.
Gillian looked at her watch and was a little shocked, she had no idea it had gotten so late—it wasn't late to the adults, but to Emily it was because it's bedtime. She stood up and turned her body so the little head against her chest could be seen by everyone, "Can you say bye-bye, baby girl?"
After rubbing her eyes, she waved her hand backwards at everyone, a typical Emily wave. "Beddy-bye time for Emmers," Loker waved back.
"Night pretty girl," Ria smiled.
A round of goodnights followed as Gillian brought Emily upstairs after Cal gave her a kiss goodnight. She sat down in the rocking chair and nursed Emily to sleep, thinking about how magical their Christmas Eve was. "Have sweet dreams baby, I love you."
Around 9:30pm everyone left, Ria and Ava being the last ones there with Loker thanking the Lightman's again for all the gifts. Gillian waved it off, "It was our pleasure, Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas."
On the first case back from the holidays, Cal and Gillian received a late Christmas present in the form of a beautiful woman, something that hasn't happened since they were in Hawaii.
Gillian was walking down the hallway with Emily when Heidi called out her name. When she turned her head, she saw Heidi standing there with a woman and walked over. "Can I help you?"
The woman smiled at Emily and somewhat wondered what the baby was doing here however, knew she needed the help. Gillian sensed the woman was uncomfortable and offered they go to her office to talk.
Knowing Anna went home sick, and Cal was out on another case, she was kind of stuck when it came to Emily because she was still in her extra clingy stage meaning she wouldn't go with anyone else; not to mention Loker was the only one in the office besides Heidi that Emily was somewhat familiar with.
"I was looking for help with a case I have," the woman started to say, taking the file out of her bag. "I am a friend of Katherine's…my name is Zoe Landau."
Gillian and Cal were very close friends with Katherine who Gillian met while in school; Cal became friends with her because one of his friends from school coincidently married one of his wife's best friends. Gillian could see Zoe was struggling however, not knowing much besides the fact she needed their help, didn't know what else to say yet.
"I'm sorry, I thought she may have told you I was stopping by."
"To be completely honest, she may have however, I've been a bit busy today I'm so sorry—my nanny went home sick."
"No worries, what's the little one's name?" Zoe smiled.
"Emily," Gillian smiled and then focused back on why the woman was here to try and keep things professional even though she had her daughter here in their meeting. "What is this case regarding?"
"I am representing this woman," Zoe started, handing Gillian the file. "I was hoping you could help me with some of the family members because I cannot put them on the stand unless I know for certain I can actually use them, and nothing will come back to bite me."
Gillian was nodding along and then Zoe bit her lip to prevent the laugh from escaping when she opened the file and Emily grabbed at it, then threw her arms in the air almost whacking her mother in the face. "I remember when my little girl was that age."
"How old is she now?" Gillian asked, looking up from the file she was reading.
"Seven, and no longer scribbling on my files anymore," she laughed.
Gillian laughed as well. "9 months," she said, answering the unasked question. "Sometimes I feel as though she's just figured out how to use her arms."
"My daughter was the same way at her age, I promise the random whacks to the face stop soon," Zoe smiled.
"Noted." She continued to read the rest of the file and nodded her answer. "I'm sure we can help, my…" Gillian paused for a split second realizing this woman said she was friends with Katherine so it's probable she already knew. "…husband is out on another case right now; we can start tomorrow though."
"Just like that?"
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
"No," Zoe exclaimed. "No, I assumed, I thought you'd need more from me."
"Not necessary; the file is detailed enough along with the information you've provided," Gillian smiled.
"Katherine said you and your husband were the best, and that's what I need."
"Is there something else?"
"This is a really big case, one that can make or break my career in many ways…"
"We will help you, Zoe. And we will get you that promotion too."
Zoe looked completely shocked; their shared friend made it seem like this woman's husband was the only one who could read faces however, Gillian just nailed it because, she's damn great at what she does too.
Zoe stood up causing Gillian too as well, "Thank you so much, I am excited to work together; nice meeting you, and you too, Emily."
"We will chat tomorrow."
Once she was gone, Gillian sat back down with the baby and said, "What are we going to do about tomorrow, huh baby girl?"
