HUZZAH!
It is 3am on Christmas morning, I've just finished work, back in again in like 6 hours, BUT... I wanted to post this like I said I would :)! hehe.
This one is Request #3: Gillian/Cal are moving into a new house together-painting, arranging furniture, domestic things, etc.

MERRY CHRISTMAS MY LOVELIES!

Thanking my wee 'PENGUIN' again! :)! :)!

Cal scuffed into the room, his arms full and his view obscured. He felt the soft brush of packing paper against his shins as he shuffled forward. "Well, that's the last of them." He sighed to himself, cracking his back after he set the cardboard box on the kitchen floor. He walked through to the living area, stepping over more boxes dumped in the middle of the room, and flopped down on the couch, which was still covered in an old sheet with assorted paint sample splatter patterns; most of which had occurred during an eight grade art project of Emily's. He had just gotten back from returning the U-haul truck and lugging the last of their heavy belongings into the house. Why had they decided to do this on their own instead of just paying a couple of guys?

Cal Lightman was tired!

"Oh no mister." Gillian warned from her perch on the step ladder, where she was busy unwrapping and putting away ornaments on the second to top shelf of a floor to ceiling bookshelf. She watched him settle and close his eyes, as if he were about to have a nap. She jumped down lithely and waded through another sea of old newspapers. "We still need to unpack all this stuff," she swung a hand vaguely around the room to indicate the entire mess of it.

"I think we can just live out of boxes for the rest of our lives," Cal responded without opening his eyes, thought he could hear her approaching like she was tracking across a box of spilt cornflakes. "Like hobos." He moved his hands behind his head, adding a little human softness to his make-shift pillow of the couch's armrest. He heard Gillian chuckle; he grinned. A few moments later, Cal felt two hands bury themselves in his hair and her breath tickling his ear as Gillian leaned over him from behind.

"You know, babe, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can break in our new bedroom."

Cal opened one eye quickly, taking in her serious face as it hovered above his. He sat up rapidly, turning slightly and looked deeply into Gillian's eyes; her hands fell to the armrest he had just vacated. He studied her for a moment. Her expression waivered. The corners of his mouth stretched into a confident smile. "Nice try." He kissed the back of her hand as he lowered himself to settle back down, snuggling into the cushions to get comfortable once more.

Gillian pursed her lips and looked around the room and its state of bombsite-ness with her hands on her hips. Boxes were stacked all around their new home, not just haphazardly in this room. Some had already been ripped open, others were still in the clutches of pounds of wrapping tape, a very small percentage were actually empty, even less had been flattened ready for recycling. Their new dining set was still covered in bubble wrap and upside down in the doorway, a reminder that it was in the wrong room and needed to be relocated. Cal's research papers, which Gillian was pretty sure was the first box he had dared to open, were strewn in a corner of the living room, next to piles of Gillian's books (not the first box she had gone for) and computer gadgets.

The challenge of unpacking it all was a little daunting, especially when faced with the house looking like it currently was. The windows were open to let in a mild winter breeze, which made the apartment wonderfully comfortable when they were warm from the exertion. "Well... I guess we can spare a little break." She yawned and that sealed it. "Scoot over." Gillian slipped next to Cal's sprawled form, half on the couch, mostly resting on his chest; he didn't move for her. Gillian settled her head against his shoulder, her arm over his abdomen and closed her eyes, taking a sighing content breath.

As they drifted off, Cal kissed the top of her head. "Welcome home, Mrs. Lightman."

"Merry Christmas Mr. Lightman," Gillian murmured back while in the background the CD silently skipped on to the next track.

"Away in a manger, no crib for a bed…"

A Very Very Merry Merry Christmas (ahh I love Glee! LOL)
Hope you liked this one...
No lumps of coal for anyone! Have a good one :)!
Honor x