About Time

Chapter Twenty Four - Christmas

All four of them were up bright and early the next morning.
They went downstairs and Sophie ran to her presents.
"Ahhhh!"
Gillian laughed.
"Look at all your presents, baby girl!"
"Yay! Thank you, Santa! Thank you, Mama! Thank you, Daddy!"
Gillian froze at the little girl's words but Cal seemed unfazed.
"You're welcome, princess."
"Cal..."
"What? It's fine."
She didn't bring it up again. If Cal didn't have a problem with Sophie calling him Daddy then Gillian didn't either.
Sophie ripped wrapping paper off of her presents and Emily was doing the same, her inner child coming out in the spirit of Christmas.
Cal pulled a present out from under the tree and handed it Gillian.
She unwrapped it and inside was a beautiful aquamarine necklace with a matching bracelet and earrings. Her birthstone. The chains were gold and Gillian knew the jewelry she held was very expensive.
"Cal, they're gorgeous."
"I got you something else. Something to store them in."
He gave her another present. It was an antique jewelry box.
"It's a good thing because I wouldn't have room to store all this jewelry I'm getting otherwise."
Gillian gave Cal his present. It was antique typewriter, the one he'd always wanted but never gotten.
"Maybe that will inspire you to finish writing your book."
"Maybe."

When all the presents had been opened, Cal made hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. After they'd eaten, Cal started cooking again.
Around 11:30, the doorbell rang.
Gillian opened the door and took a step back in surprise. It was Zoe.
"What are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same about you. But I'm not really one for spending Christmas alone."
Cal came to the door.
"Gill's here because she lives here." He told her.
"So are you two together now or what?"
"We've practically always been together."
Zoe rolled her eyes at his response even though it was true.
"You're welcome to stay for lunch if you and Gillian promise to play nice."
"Hey! It's her, not me!" Gillian defended herself.
Zoe just kind of shrugged, not even bothering to deny it. She knew it was usually herself that started the arguments between them.

Cal had cooked turkey, ham, dirty rice, potato casserole, corn, green beans, rolls, everything he could possibly think of that anybody would want to eat. It was currently 1:00. In that time, Zoe had managed make Sophie completely hate her and in her defense, even Gillian didn't think the woman had done anything.
They ate and laughed and talked and just enjoyed each other's company. When she wasn't trying to insult Gillian, Zoe wasn't such a bad guest.
Sophie was mashing corn all over the table. She'd eaten everything else Gillian had put on her plate but refused to eat the corn.
"Sophie, stop playing with your food." Gillian chastised her daughter.
"But it gwoss."
"Then don't eat it. But stop making a mess."
"Okay."
Sophie sat in silence for a few seconds then turned to Cal.
"Daddy, can I get cake?"
"Wait until Mama finishes eating."
"It's fine. I'm done." Gillian said and got up from the table. She went into the kitchen to get the cake and cut it into slices.
Meanwhile, Zoe stared at Cal.
"She calls you Daddy?"
"Sophie, go help Mama."
"Okay!"
Sophie ran into the kitchen after Gillian and Cal turned to Zoe. Emily pretended to be focused on cleaning her plate.
"Yes. She does. Do you have a problem with that?"
"She's not your child."
"Well, she is Gillian's and that makes her just as much mine as Emily."
"No, it doesn't."
"And why not?"
"Just because she's your business partner doesn't mean you have kids together. Gillian doesn't consider Emily her daughter."
Emily cleared her throat and Zoe and Cal saw Gillian standing behind them.
She put the now cut cake in the table and put a stack of saucers and forks beside it before sitting back down.
"Actually, Zoe, yes I do."
"Gillian, stay out of this." Zoe warned.
"Or what? You'll make me go home?"
"Make you? No. But I can make you want to."
"Too bad. Because she is at home." Cal interrupted.
Emily had seen something change in her dad's face the second her mother went after Gillian.
"Maybe that's why she's been gaining weight then. Because she has to eat her sadness away with chocolate ice cream."
Emily watched as Gillian's face became decidedly less friendly and lot angrier.
"I think you have me confused with yourself."
Cal nearly choked on his food as he tried not to laugh. Zoe got offended.
"Well, at least I'm skinnier than you are!"
Emily realized that none of them had ever told her mother that Gillian was pregnant.
"Maybe Gill doesn't want to be Twiggy." Cal told his ex-wife.
"She shouldn't want to look like a pregnant woman."
Zoe had taken it too far.
"Well, you know, considering the fact that I'm pregnant, I don't see why the hell I shouldn't look like it! Why do you always have to treat me like shit?"
Everyone stared at Gillian. She rarely cursed. She never yelled. Ever. But she had just screamed at Zoe.
Cal could see that Gillian was about to cry as she pushed her chair back and left the table. She disappeared from sight and Cal heard the front door slam.
"I didn't mean-" Zoe began but Cal cut her off.
"Like hell you didn't."
"Mom, I think it would be a good idea for you to leave." Emily said quietly.
Zoe got up from the table.
"Yeah, probably so."
"Zoe?"
She turned to look at Cal.
"I don't care what you say to me, about me, whatever. But if you can't leave Gillian out of this, you're not welcome back in this house."
Zoe didn't say another word. She just left. She knew she'd crossed a line, saying that about Gillian not wanting to look pregnant. She didn't know the backstory, but she could tell that she'd taken it too far when she saw identical looks of anger on Cal and Emily's faces and for one second, she was pretty sure Gillian had looked at her with nothing but pure hatred. She knew she was being a selfish bitch. She had to go find Gillian and tell her sorry.

Cal knew Gillian had left so he told Emily to stay with Sophie. He drove to her house but she wasn't there. He drove to her favorite park but she want there either. There was only one other place that Cal could think to look.

Zoe opened the door and stepped into the lobby. She hadn't been here in the nearly two years since she'd worked with Cal on the case with the Pied Piper. Or rather, his brother. Nothing had changed. There were still the pictures with different facial expressions, the reception desk, the waiting area.
She made her way down the hallway to Gillian's office. She knew she was here, the door would have been locked otherwise.
Zoe felt even more guilty than she already do when she saw Gillian sobbing on her couch. Her slippers were by the door, her bare feet visible as she sat with her head on her knees.
She opened the door.
"Cal, pl-"
Gillian stopped when she looked up.
"Oh, it's you."
Even through the tears, Gillian's voice was like ice.
"It's me."
"What the bloody hell do you want?"
Zoe gave a half smile at the use of the English adjective. Cal's vocabulary tended rub off on those closest to him. She spoke from personal experience. She'd nearly been kicked off a case when she called the opposing lawyer a wanker in the court room.
"I came to apologize. I shouldn't have said those things. I just-"
"It's fine, Zoe. Just forget about." Her voice wasn't even angry anymore, it was just hurt.
"No, you deserve an explanation. The truth is seeing Cal with you hurts. Because you've always looked better beside him than I ever did. You understand him better, you make him happier, you can calm him down faster, you keep him from going insane."
At that Gillian gave a very un-Gillian-like snort.
"He already is insane."
"Probably. But the thing is, I left. I left because I was tired of him reading me. I couldn't so much as glance at another man without Cal getting jealous. I-"
"But why," Gillian interrupted, "would you even want to glance at another man when you had Cal?"
The question made Zoe realize just how much Gill loved her ex-husband. Zoe had loved Cal, she still loved Cal more than anyone else, but she knew then and there that there was no way she could ever love him as much as Gillian Foster did.
So she answered with the truth.
"Because I'm not you. Maybe that's why I still get jealous every time I see you two together, even though I don't have the right to be anymore. Because you've always been perfect for each other. And I never was."
"He loved you. You know he loved you."
"But now he loves you. And I'm not going to be the one to screw it up."
"Yeah, well, I don't see Cal coming after me. He probably just thinks it's better to let me cool off." Gillian said, the hurt tone returning to her voice.
"He'll be here."
"Perhaps. But if he does show up, you might not want to be here."
"You're probably right."
Zoe turned to go.
"I really am sorry for being such an ass to you the last two times I've seen you."
"Apology accepted."
Zoe walked out of the office and ran into Cal in the lobby.
"What are you doing here, Zoe?"
"Making things right. She really does love you, Cal, don't chew her up and spit her back out."
"I'm not planning on it."
Zoe left without another word and Cal went to Gillian's office. She was sitting on her couch in the pajama bottoms and t-shirt she'd worn to bed last night. Cal was still wearing his too.
He could see that she'd been crying.
"What did Zoe say?"
Gillian looked up and Cal was confused by the relief that flooded her features.
"She came to apologize. Among other things."
"So I don't need to get a restraining order?"
He was trying to lighten the mood and Gillian appreciated it.
"No, there's no need for a restraining order."
He crossed the room and sat beside her.
She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. She suddenly wished she'd thrown her pity party on Cal's couch rather than her own. His was a lot more comfortable.
"When Zoe showed up before you did, I thought that maybe you weren't going to come after me."
"Gillian, I would follow you to the ends of the earth. You should know that I'm always going to come after you."
"Yeah, I should. But sometimes I forget just how much you care about me."
"Then I guess I'm going to have to start doing a better job of reminding you."
"I guess so."
They stayed there for a while and finally got up from their position on the couch.
"So are you going to drive your car back or is it just going to stay here for a little while longer?"
Gillian had forgotten that her car was still here, she'd taken a taxi. Her keys were in the top drawer of her desk. But she decided she'd rather go home with Cal. Her car would still be here later.
"It can stay."