Here you go Lightwoman! Part 2; Christmas day. Hope you enjoy it!

Christmas morning found Gillian at the local shelter handing out gifts to the children and helping with breakfast. This was the second year she had helped out here. Since her divorce from Alec, she had been alone for the Holidays. She did speak to her mother on Christmas, but visiting her was out of the question. Old wounds still festered.

She left the shelter just before 10 am. She went home, changed her clothes, and gathered everything she was supposed to take to Cal's. They had discussed dinner earlier in the week. He was going to make the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. It would just be easier since they were going to be eating at his house. She had offered to have dinner at her place but he had insisted they eat at his. She was going to bring wine, vegetables, rolls and dessert. She couldn't decide which kind of pie to bring so she had made both pumpkin and pecan. Gillian loaded everything in her car and then went back in to retrieve the gift she'd gotten for Cal. She had actually put a lot of thought and effort into it and couldn't wait to give it to him.

Cal had woken early that morning. He was excited to have Gillian coming over to celebrate Christmas with him. He got up and showered quickly before heading downstairs to pull the turkey from its overnight brine. He stuffed it with the cornbread stuffing he'd made the night before, put it on the rack in the roaster, added the fresh carrots, celery, and onion to the pan, and then shoved it in the oven. He had a few hours before he needed to start the potatoes. He took this opportunity to prepare Gillian's gift. He hoped she would be okay with it. If he had read her face correctly, she would be surprised and likely a bit taken aback, but would love it.

Once he had everything in place with her gift, he got to work on the potatoes. Just as he had finished mashing them, the timer had gone off for the turkey. He removed it from the oven and then pulled the rack from the roaster. He then set about making the gravy. He was pretty proud of himself. He had googled "turkey gravy" and found this recipe. It seemed simple enough and he knew Gillian would appreciate it being that she was raised in North Carolina where they ate gravy with every meal. He had just added his rue to the blended mix of the roasted vegetables and chicken broth when she rang the door bell.

"It's open!" Cal couldn't leave the gravy at the moment. If he stopped stirring it would separate and stick to the pan.

He heard her come through the door. She made her way around the corner to him. "It smells wonderful in here!" She put her bags on the kitchen island.

"Why, thank you!" He continued stirring. "Merry Christmas love."

She walked over to him. "Merry Christmas Cal." She looked over his shoulder. "Are you making gravy? Oh my goodness. That looks fantastic!"

"Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks." Cal continued stirring.

Gillian walked back to the door. "I'll be right back."

Cal felt bad that she had to make two trips to the car. "You wanna stir and I can go get the rest?"

"No, I'm fine. Just didn't want to carry the wine in with everything else." Gillian headed back to her car. She grabbed the wine and his present and headed back in. She went straight to the living room and put his present under the tree before making her way to the kitchen.

She went to the cabinet where he kept the wine glasses and the corkscrew. She pulled down the glasses and set to opening the bottle. Cal watched her as she went about and felt happy that she seemed to fit so well in his kitchen. She knew where everything was and was comfortable enough to go and do whatever she needed without looking for permission. That would come in handy later. He smiled to himself.

Dinner was fabulous. Gillian was very impressed with his gravy. They ate and then cleaned up the kitchen together. When all was done, it was going on 4:30.

"You want dessert now love?"

"This might shock you, but no. I'm so completely full right now. I need to wait a bit." She picked up her glass and headed to the living room.

Cal walked behind her with his own wine glass. He watched her set her glass on the coffee table and go over to the tree. She picked up a rather large, thin looking package. "Sit down. I want you to open your present."

Cal set down his glass and took a spot on the couch. Gillian put the present in his lap and then sat down beside him with a huge smile on her face. Cal couldn't help but be amused by her. "Well, you seem very excited by this gift." He chuckled.

"I am!" Gillian giggled. "Open it!"

Cal tore away the wrapping paper. He was surprised by what he saw. It was a handmade, carved, double picture frame. In it, there were two 8x10 pictures side by side. The first was of him and Emily in the hallway of the Lightman Group. Gillian had taken it at the first Christmas party in the new office. Emily had been 12 years old at the time. The two of them were walking hand in hand. He was looking down at her and she was looking up at him and they were both smiling brightly. Cal then looked at the second picture. It was he and Emily walking together in the same hallway only it was just this year. He had his arm around her shoulders and her arm was around his waist. Their heads were leaned in together and they were both smiling. Cal stared at the pictures. He absolutely loved it. She couldn't have given him a better gift.

Gillian nudged him with her elbow. "Do you like it?"

Cal looked over at her. She was smiling. He knew she could see how much he liked it, but he also knew words were important to her. "I absolutely love it. It's the most perfect Christmas gift ever." He set the frame down next to him and turned back toward her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and she wrapped her arms around his middle. He gave her a tight hug. They pulled back at the same time. Cal was smiling brightly. "I don't remember either of those pictures being taken. I know the second one you could have pulled off the video feed, but we didn't have that system when that first picture would have been taken, so how did you get that one?"

Gillian looked so sweet when she explained it. "I took that picture somewhat by accident. I was trying to get the focus on my camera to key in on the tree that was behind the two of you when you walked in to my shot. It focused on you right then and I snapped the picture. No flash went off and I figured it wouldn't turn out. But, when I checked my camera a few hours later…"

"I can't believe you never showed it to me. It really is a beautiful picture." Cal was speaking honestly and Gillian could see in his face how much he really appreciated her gesture.

"Something told me to wait. When I came around the corner last week and saw the two you walking together in front of the tree, it just reminded me of this first picture. So, I pulled the video feed and grabbed you in the same spot."

Cal leaned toward her and kissed her on the corner of her mouth. It caught her off guard, but not in an unpleasant way. "Thank you, Gill. It's perfect."

She felt herself blush. "You're very welcome Cal."

Cal jumped up quickly and went to the tree. He picked up a tiny box with a little sticky bow on top and brought it over to her. Gillian eyed the box suspiciously. He handed it to her. It was very light, almost as if it were empty. She gave him a sideways glance.

"Go on, open it. It won't bite or explode or anything!" Cal was amused at her expression. He was still a little worried about the gift but he made sure to appear confident to Gillian. He didn't want her to feel uneasy before she even opened it.

Gillian pulled off the bow and stuck it to Cal's shirt. She giggled at the expression on his face. She ripped off the paper and opened the tiny box. In it she found a note written on a 3x5 index card: 'Don't be a weenie. Go to the place where you can make a Panini.' Gillian shook her head. "What?"

"It's a clue love. Follow it." Cal stood up and took her by the arm and pulled her up with him. "Go on!"

Gillian thought for a second. 'Ah. The Panini maker. In the kitchen.' She went into the kitchen and opened the sandwich maker. There she found another index card. 'Bah Humbug.' Gillian read it aloud. "Bah Humbug?" She looked up at Cal with questioning eyes.

"Think about it love." He smiled at her. This was more fun than he had thought it would be. He just hoped the gift went over this well.

"The only thing that comes to mind when I think of Bah Humbug is you in your scrooge moments." She was laughing now.

Cal put his hand over his chest and feigned discomfort. "Oh, now, that hurts."

Gillian's mind was in overdrive. She was thinking so hard and then it hit her. Her eyes got wide and she turned and went toward the powder room. There was a hand towel he always put in there at Christmas time. It was ivory colored and had 'Bah Humbug' written on it in burgundy, stitched, cursive writing. She found the next clue tucked into the fold of the towel. 'This is where you go for cold temperatures.' She thought for a second. 'It's cold outside.' She headed for the front door.

"Nope, not outside love." Cal was smiling. He loved every minute of this. Gillian was like a kid at Christmas. He was happy to be able to put that twinkle in her eye. He could see how much she was enjoying the wild goose chase.

Gillian stopped and thought. 'The thermostat.' She made her way into the other room where the thermostat was on the wall. Nothing there. She thought again. 'Ah! The refrigerator!' "Duh Gillian." She chastised herself.

Cal was laughing out loud now. He was enjoying himself completely.

Gillian went to the refrigerator. She had been in there all ready today and didn't see anything. She hadn't been in the freezer. She pulled open the freezer door and saw the index card propped in front of Haagen-Dazs, Chocolate Chocolate Chip ice cream. "Yummy!" She ignored the index card for the ice cream.

"I knew I should have put it in front of something else! That is not your present! It is for you, but that's not your present." Cal took the ice cream out of her hand and tapped on the index card. "Keep going!" He stuck the ice cream back in the freezer and shut the door.

The card said 'The old vinyl plays on me.' Gillian went directly to the old record player her had in his study. She opened the lid expecting to see her gift, an old album of some kind. But instead, she found another index card. 'I'm hiding with Old Glory.'

"Old Glory?" Gillian said out loud. She thought for a second. 'Old Glory is what we call the American Flag. Emily puts the flag out every memorial day and 4th of July. Where do they keep it?' She knew she had seen it before; she just needed to think where… 'Ah! The hall closet!'

Gillian made her way to the closet. When she opened the door she saw the flag on its pole propped in the corner. It was draped slightly over a case that had a big bow tied around it. Gillian gasped and felt tears begin to pool in her eyes when she realized what it was. She stood, frozen, staring at it.

Cal winced. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "You okay love?" He walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

Gillian brought her hand to her mouth as she drew in a shaky breath. "Oh, Cal. How did-, what did-, why-" She felt a tear slide down her cheek.

"I'm sorry love, if this was a bad idea. I just thought I saw… on your face… I'm sorry." Cal put his arm around her and tried to pull her to him for a hug.

"No, Cal. Don't be sorry. I'm just… at a loss for words." She kept him at arm's length. She reached in to the closet and pulled out the guitar case. "I can't believe you did this. How did you know?" She picked it up and headed to the living room.

Cal tried to explain as he walked behind her. "I saw your face. And while I recognized some sadness there, I saw more longing than anything. It was like you wanted to play, but, I don't know. I thought maybe if you had your own you could fill whatever that void was I could see." Cal was still unsure if this was a good idea. He couldn't see her face and it was obvious sadness had come over her. "I'll understand if you don't want to keep it."

"Not keep it? Are you kidding me?" She opened the case and took out the guitar. "Oh Cal. It's beautiful." She sat down and ran her hands over it. "How did you know I didn't have one?"

"I helped you move, remember?" He sat down next to her. "I would have noticed something like this."

Gillian nodded her head. "I guess you would have."

"It's obvious you play, and that you play very well. What happened?" Cal was speaking softly, still unsure if he was opening too many old wounds.

Gillian was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why don't you have one? I mean, you had to have had one at some point, right? Where is it?"

She looked down at the guitar on her lap. It was a Martin HD-28 and had to cost him at least $3,000.00. "I can't believe you bought me this Cal. This is an expensive guitar."

"Well, I asked the man at the store what I should get. I told him you were obviously not a beginner and I wanted something nice for you. He showed me this one and said it was one of the best." Cal was watching her closely. She had dodged his question.

"Oh, Cal. It is one of the best. You really shouldn't have, it's too much-"

Cal cut her off. "Nonsense Gill. I can see you're happy with it. I'm not sure you're happy with me for opening up the can of worms that goes with it though." He leaned down trying to catch her eye. "Answer my question love." He put his hand on hers where it held the neck of the guitar.

"Cal…" Gillian looked at him and then, realizing he wasn't going to let it go, offered up her answer. "I don't know what ever happened to the one I had as a child. I had gotten myself a used one during college, but when I got engaged to Alec… I took it to the Salvation Army and donated it."

"Why would you do that love? Did Alec ever hear you play?"

"No. I'm not sure he even knew I could." She took a deep breath. "It just seemed like something that would be better left in my past." She pulled her hand away from his. She positioned the guitar and strummed a few chords. "It's been tuned."

"Of course! I wanted you to be able to play it right away without having to do that." Honestly, Cal was hoping she would play for him and he didn't want the fact that the guitar wasn't tuned to be her excuse. "Why would the guitar be better left in your past Gill?"

"It seemed like the right place to leave it at the time. But since I played Loker's, all I could think about was how much I really missed it." She could feel herself getting emotional. She played some scales to distract her.

He scooted closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "I would love to hear about your guitar playing days." She started to protest but he interrupted "I'm not asking for full disclosure right this minute, Gill. Relax. I just care about you and I love to see you happy."

Gillian felt a warmth inside her that she hadn't felt in a long while. She blinked to hold back the tears that were threatening. "Someday, Cal. Someday I'll tell you about it, okay? Just not today. I want to enjoy this today. I want to keep this happy, warm feeling I have right at this moment for as long as I can." She looked at him and waited for his response.

"Ok love. I can wait as long as you need me to. Today, we'll be happy." He kissed her cheek and hugged her again.

"Thank you Cal."

"You're very welcome Gill."

Thanks for reading! This will be continued at some point in another fic I'm working on. It's called 'House that Built Me.' but I make no promises as to when that will be posted.

Happy New Year!