Part Five: Two Winters Later

The house was warm with the flickering of a false flame, scented candles lending to the atmosphere of the season. There had been cinnamon boiling, something Gillian insisted they do after her mother's tradition, make the house smell like Christmas. Gillian Foster stepped out of Cal's home office, where she had been checking and double checking her planning of these next few days. Cal was sprawled out on the couch, arms wide and eyes closed in comfortable silence. Gillian moved across the room and sat next to him. The couch shifted as he jolted, Gillian grabbing low on his shirt to keep herself upright.

"Alright love?"

Gillian leaned further into Cal's shoulder, pushing until he made more space for her beside him. She curled her feet up under her and settled in close, her head resting softly against his chest. He wrapped her up in his arms and kept his breaths slow, matching them with hers. Gillian smiled against his skin. "Can't cuddle?"

"Course you can. Always," he said.

"I'd've thunk," Gillian said, slowly spreading out her hand where it had clutched in his clothing. "You know, with the ring and all."

Cal smiled in response, rubbing his hand up Gill's back and they both sigh. "Yeah."

He'd offered her the ring in the weeks before Elena's birthday, just about a month ago. She had been caught up in the party planning, conspiring with Shazzer about how to get away with taking it beyond what Cal considered appropriate scope (a small party, he'd insisted. She's two. She won't remember it). Gillian was so busy she hadn't noticed his own conspiracy, which he'd had practically everyone in on. And he'd just sat her down in the living room, Emily and Sharon and Elena in the other room and asked her if she would have him. When she said yes, everyone had come out to congratulate them and take pictures and offer cake. And she'd been so happy since.

"When do they arrive?" Gillian said, turning to peer up at him.

"Any minute," he said. He leaned back further, careful not to displace her (she had such warmth and he felt so full of it). He let his eyes close and waited.

The knock interrupted the quiet moment and Gillian removed herself from his hold to answer the door. He trained his ears on the hallway, listening to Gillian's voice mingle with Sharon's and fill the space. Then, Gillian's voice growing quieter as she walked away, probably to the mudroom or the kitchen, chattering with Elena the whole way along.

Sharon came into the room to see him like that, eyes still shut and dreamy. She gave him a light kick in the shin and he dramaticized the response, jumping up and settling back down with an "Oy! Shazzer!"

Sharon smiled, long and slow. "Can't be dreaming. There are Christmas miracles to fulfill. Like, being both Santa and Dad. Knowing you, that'll be a real struggle."

"Oy! I'll have you know I've done the whole Santa shindig my fair share with Emily. Got this one, thank you very much."

"Whatever you say," Sharon said, lifting her hands in surrender.

"I'm a great Santa," he said, gesturing at himself. "Spitting image, yeah?"

"Something like that," Sharon smirked, hand on her hip.

Gillian returned to the room in that moment, looking at them both with a grin on her face. She held Elena on her hip, who wiggled to be put down. Gillian let the girl down and she walked over to her dad, saying hi. She climbed onto his lap for a cuddle. Gillian almost envied her, her cuddle having been cut short.

"So, I'm going now. I'll see you both tomorrow?"

"Not a minute after noon," Cal replied.

Cal would play Santa tonight at a small event at The Group, then they'd put Elena to bed and spend Christmas morning together. They'd have lunch with Sharon and hand off Elena, then go to their respective family homes for the holiday. This year, Cal and Emily both would come with Gillian to her family's dinner. They had already met her parents and her sister, but the rest of her family was anxious to meet them. Gillian was excited to show them off. This Christmas was going to be wonderful.

Gillian and Sharon headed to the door together, talking in brief about diaper rash and potty training. Cal looked at Elena and laughed, watching as she laughed too. Oh conformity was taught so young.

"Ready?" Gillian asked. She was pulling black boots up the length of her calves, smiling at him as he stared. "What?"

"You're just...I'm just lucky is all."

The smile on her was miraculous, a light that filled the room and him. He wanted to breathe it, let it be his only sustenance. He let Elena off his knee and encouraged her towards Gill for her boots.

"Hold on, I need my suit."

As Cal ducked away to retrieve his Santa costume, Gill had already begun to laugh. She'd tease him for days. It was worth it anyhow. When Cal returned, he snapped a picture on his phone camera, and when Gilliam looked up at the flash, her expression full of adorable awe, he couldn't help but take another. This Christmas, with everyone he loved, was bound to be a good one. Maybe even the best. And he kind of had a little years-ago mistake to thank for it all. It had all worked out more than perfect.