"Anyway, I'm ramblin'. Just wanted to say that it's great to celebrate an important day with friends and family," Cal raised his wine glass. "So thank you and cheers."

There was an echo of 'cheers' around the table and then the gathered group fell back into pockets of conversation. Cal sat again and Gillian was immediately on his arm, leaning in with a warm smile to give him a kiss. She tasted like red wine and he could tell from the way her eyes swam slightly that she was a little bit tipsy. Cal gave her a grin as she pulled away again. "See I played nicely?"

Gillian gave him a nod, her blue eyes flashing in amusement, except in this light they seemed very dark. "I saw. I'm quite impressed."

"Quite?" Cal repeated.

"Yes," Gillian nodded. "Quite."

Cal broke into another grin. Gillian's fingers found their way into his hand and squeezed twice, a silent signal that asked if he was all right. Although probably on this occasion, it would be safe to assume she was telling him she was proud of him. The big birthday celebration had been her idea, of course, and she had had to talk Cal into it, of course, but he hadn't resisted too hard. They needed a celebration. Since Brandon Bloody Mitchell two years ago, things had been tough. All the trouble with Lewis's birth, the trouble with his hearing, the trouble with Gillian wanting more kids. Cal was amazed that through all of that he would be the solid rock, the stable one. And now that all those troubles were over with, Lewis was used to his hearing aids and doing well in pre-school and with his speech therapy, and Gillian had officially reached the point of no return for fertility and the subject had firmly been dropped once and for all; life was good. Cal didn't feel so tired and old and beaten down. This was celebrating his fiftieth birthday, even though he was actually turning fifty-one this year, but he felt at least ten years younger. At least. More like twelve.

Gillian was on his left and Lewis was supposed to be sitting next to her, but he was moving around the table, unassumingly charming the pants off everyone who was gathered; Ria and her husband Karl, Eli and a date, Zoe and her date, Kate and Matthew, Emily and AJ. A small group, but people Cal would consider good friends. Yeah, even Zoe. He'd known her for the better part of how long? Wait, how old was Emily? Twenty-four? Twenty-five? Or was he getting ahead of himself by a few years? He'd have to ask Gillian later. Maybe she was twenty-three. Now he was sure she was only twenty-three.

Now that dessert was over and a few speeches had been made people started to move around the table. Kate and Matthew excused themselves to get back to a baby sitter. Emily took AJ and moved into the vacated seats to talk to her mother. Gillian leaned in to Cal again. "Guess what?" She whispered.

"What's that?" Cal studied her eyes.

"Emily's wearing an engagement ring."

"She what?!" Cal blanched loudly, and almost choked on the spit in his mouth. He turned his head to his daughter.

"Don't be obvious!" Gillian admonished quietly, giving his arm a squeeze.

Cal felt a cold sweat break out between his shoulder blades. "What do you mean she's wearin' an engagement ring? Did she say somethin' to you?" His eyes studied his wife's face in a frenzy.

"Relax," Gillian told him pointedly and suddenly she seemed completely sober. "I just noticed she was wearing a diamond ring."

"On her right hand?"

Gillian shook her head amused. "No Cal, left hand, appropriate finger."

"So she didn't say anythin' to you?"

"No, I'm just guessing."

"Women's intuition?" Cal winced, hoping she was wrong. He had just gotten used to the idea that his little girl was grown up, a graduate, working and living with her boyfriend. And yeah, it had taken him years to get his head around the concept.

Gillian nodded. "This sage old woman's intuition."

Cal sighed heavily and finally relaxed. She could be wrong. She could be. She probably wasn't.

"And you better act surprised and happy for her when she tells you," Gillian warned.

"Do you think Zoe knows?"

Gillian looked down the table and let her eyes roam over all those gathered, under the pretence of searching for Lewis. "No," she turned back to Cal. "I don't think so. See how Emily's holding her hand under the table so her mother won't notice?"

Cal looked. Sure enough, Emily had her left hand in her lap, under the table cloth. "I thought I was meant to be the observant one."

"So did I," Gillian teased.

"Momma," Lewis inserted himself between them. He barely came up to the height of the table. His little hands pushed his parent's apart so he could climb into his mother's lap.

"Hi Lewis," Gillian greeted, always delighted to see him. Lewis rested his head on her chest and closed his eyes.

"I think that's our cue," Cal told Gillian.

"Yeah," she nodded stroking the back of Lewis's short hair. The curls were mostly gone and the fine hair was starting to thicken and darken slightly too. Lewis was growing up and showing a personality Cal hadn't encountered before in a two year old. Lewis was sweet and unassuming and didn't crave attention. He was happy to play by himself and wasn't prone to temper tantrums (except when he was tired and if they didn't take him home soon then he would quite happily put one on display) and if Cal was stupid enough to have another kid late in life he had struck gold with the mild mannered Lewis.

They got up and said their farewells, but invited the rest of them to stay and finish the wine on the table; everything was already paid for. "I'll walk you out," Emily got to her feet too. AJ followed dutifully. "Why don't you come out with us Mom?" She suggested and Cal felt fear grip his heart. Zoe shot Cal a 'look' but he gave a slight shrug; no, he didn't know what it was about.

PJ

They made small talk while Gillian put Lewis in his car seat. Cal could hear him resisting her, which he always found ironic seeing as he was the one who wanted to go home to sleep. It was his bed time after all and also a work night. Cal could do with going home to sleep too. How convenient to have the excuse of a grumpy two year old.

"So what's this all about then?" Cal prompted his daughter as Gillian approached them again, Lewis now screaming his head off in the car. She linked her arm into the crook of his elbow and gave it a squeeze. She was telling him to behave.

"We didn't want to rain on your parade Dad," Emily started. "But seeing as we're leaving tomorrow and we're on a tight schedule." They had only come down to DC for the birthday party. "We're going to do this now."

"Do what now?" Zoe asked.

Emily reached out for AJ's hand and an excited light fell into her eyes. She watched her father's face while AJ made the announcement that they were going to get married.

"Oh my god!" Zoe burst out.

Cal broke into a smile. Ten points to Gillian, she was right. "Congratulations!" He offered stepping forward to embrace them both while Zoe did the same thing. They ended up in a group hug. Then Cal stepped away to shake AJ's hand while Zoe hugged Emily and examined the ring and then Cal hugged Emily while Zoe hugged AJ. Then Cal realised Gillian was standing on the cusp of their group and pulled her against his side. She offered Emily a hug and her congratulations too. And in the meantime, Lewis decided he needed to yell louder because he was clearly forgotten.

"We should really go," Cal pointed out reluctantly. "What time are you flyin' again?"

"Dad," Emily complained. "For the fifth time, our flight is at six thirty."

"Right," Cal remembered again for the fifth time. Too early to have breakfast and polite farewells. He pulled her into another tight hug. He kissed her forehead. "Talk to you soon."

Emily beamed, "Sure."

Cal shook AJ's hand again as Emily said goodbyes to Gillian and then Cal turned to Zoe, mother of his daughter, who was now engaged to get married. He gave her a light hug. "She's growin' up."

"I know," Zoe sighed.

"Talk to you late-a too."

Zoe nodded. Gillian was waiting for Cal by the car and as he approached she slipped into the passenger's seat. Cal slammed his car door shut and turned to her as he twisted the key in the ignition. "You were right."

She gave him a slightly smug smile. "I know."

Cal turned away to pull on his seatbelt. "Hey Lewis!" He raised his voice to be heard over the unsettled toddler. "Home time buddy." Lewis ignored him. "Wave to your sista." He demonstrated and Lewis copied, waving a hand pitifully while tears streaked down his cheeks and he looked as though he almost regretted having a fit when he could have had extended hugs with someone he wouldn't see for a while.

PJ

"Uh huh," Gillian acknowledged. Cal turned his body towards her. "And then I'm meeting Paul at three so we can go over contracts et cetera."

"Paul?" Cal murmured his question. "We on first name basis with him then?"

"He said I could call him Paul," Gillian pouted through her tone.

Cal shifted a hand down her rib cage and felt Gillian shiver underneath him. He kissed a trail down her neck, over the material covering her chest to her navel. He kept going, shifting the blankets up over his head as he went. "Cal," he heard her warn.

"Can't hear you," he responded as he reached the elastic of her underwear. Once upon a time they used to wear pyjamas to bed but as the years went by they tended to ditch more and more clothing as they got used to sleeping closer and closer together. Cal found it far too hot to sleep in anything but his boxer briefs and Gillian slept in underwear or a tank top, or one of his t-shirts, depending on how cold she was.

Cal heard Gillian moan softly as he used his fingers to pull the elastic away from her skin so he could tease his tongue along her skin. She squirmed slightly and then gave a huff. "Cal," she said a little firmer this time. Her fingers found their way into his hair. Cal shifted lower. "We don't have time for that."

"There's always time," Cal returned.

"Huh?" Gillian lifted the blankets.

"Don't watch me. You know I'm shy."

"We have to get up Cal and get ready for work. And Lewis will be awake any minute."

"I'll be quick."

"Just what every girl wants to hear," she retorted with an eye roll.

Cal grinned at her and then her cell phone started ringing. "You get that, I'll get this."

"No, Cal!" Gillian exclaimed his name as he burrowed his face into her underwear. She flinched as she reached for the phone. Cal knew for a fact she couldn't not answer a call when it came in; aside from when she'd gone to New York and blanked him for several days, she always obsessively reached for her phone. She liked being contactable, available, dependable, reachable.

The covers dropped back over his head and Cal used his hands again to peel down her underwear. She attempted to squeeze her legs shut as she answered the phone but Cal was already in there and his shoulders blocked her off easily. He could hear her talking quietly and then all of a sudden she sat up, her body scooting away from him towards the head of the bed so he was left with her shins. He shifted so he was in fresh air again and sighed.

"Ok thank you," Gillian hung up the phone.

Cal turned his head to look at her. "What was that?"

"Day care. Apparently there's a bug going around. They said to keep Lewis home today."

"Thought you had a meetin' with your new boyfriend?"

Gillian gave an embarrassed kind of smile. She threw her phone onto the bed covers and slipped out off the bed. "Hey!" Cal complained. "We were in the middle of somethin'."

"No you were trying to start something," Gillian threw the covers back into place and straightened them on her side. "I'm trying to get ready for the day."

"What are you gonna do about Lewis?"

"Bring him to work for a bit. See if he's content. And you can take him at three?"

"I'll think about it."

"Funny," Gillian shot over her shoulder as she headed into the bathroom.

Cal stretched his arms above his head and startled as her phone started ringing again. He reached for it, checking the caller. It came up as a series of numbers, so her directory didn't recognise it. "Gill, your phone!"

"Can you answer it please?"

"Hello?" Cal picked up the call.

"I'm looking for Doctor Foster," a polite female voice requested.

"Docta Fosta?" Cal repeated. It had been a long time since he'd heard that name. "Um, yeah, all right, hang on a minute." Cal put his hand over the phone. "Hey Docta Fosta!"

Cal heard the toilet flush and then the sink. "Phone for you!"

"Who is it?"

"I don't know," Cal responded indignantly. "Do I look like your secretary?"

"A little bit. But she wears tighter clothes," Gillian gave him a bright smile as she came back into the room. She took the phone from him and walked to her dresser to pick out clothes to wear under her clothes. Light layers was Gillian's number one dressing rule. She wanted to look good but she hated to be cold and with the weather starting to turn it was better to be prepared.

Cal watched her move around the room. At first, her movements were confident. She picked out a bra and clean underwear, and a light tank top to wear underneath her shirt. And then all of a sudden she seemed caught off guard by whatever the person on the phone was saying to her and she came to sit on the end of the bed. She hadn't said much but Cal felt like he was intruding on her conversation. He looked away and studied the curtains while he listened in.

"I, uh, wow, that was a long time ago." A small pause. "I'm very flattered," and Cal was suddenly aware that her eyes were on him. He turned his head slightly to see her. She looked a little worried. "I'd have to discuss it with my husband." A longer pause while she listened. "Yes. I can call you back in the next few days. And thank you."

"What was that about?" Cal invited her to share once she had hung up.

"Uh. That was the adoption agency."

Cal's first thought was 'what have you done?' He sat up and shifted so he could see her face. She looked surprised. "What did they want?" He tried to ask without accusing.

"My profile is still on their books. From years ago. With Alec."

Cal filled in the blanks. "And someone wants you to adopt their baby?"

"Someone wants to meet me." She paused. "Or us?" She frowned. "I don't know."

Their bedroom door pushed open and a sleepy Lewis wandered in. His blue eyes squinted against the morning light like he had literally rolled out of his bed before opening them. Gillian's face immediately lit up. "Good morning Lewis," she greeted while signing the phrase at the same time, by bringing her hand firmly away from her chin, stopping it and then moving it to her outstretched arm.

"Mum, mum, mum," Lewis responded which is what he often said in place of words he didn't know. He signed the greeting in return even if it was lazy. Cal signed 'good morning' to him too. He asked how he slept. Lewis buried his face into his mother's chest and ignored his father.

"I love it when he does that," Cal muttered.

"I said I'd call them back in a few days."

Cal had to do a mental double take to keep up. "Well, what's the, who, what? I mean, what? Tell me more. I need more information. Why do they want to meet you? Cos they want you to adopt their kid? What? And who?"

Gillian shifted Lewis to the mattress next to her. He crawled over the bed to scoot under the covers on his mother's side, where it was still warm and smelt like her. Gillian turned so she was facing where Cal sat. "A young woman saw the profile Alec and I had with the agency. I don't know why it was still on their books. But there's a young woman who is interested in meeting me, or us I guess. She's having a baby girl."

Cal felt his heart suddenly still and his skin temperature drop a million degrees.

"A baby girl Cal."

"Aw sweetheart," Cal sighed. "Can I think about it?"