Disclaimer: I do not own The Fosters, or any of the characters. Rachel Foster is an original character.
To my readers: I loved writing The Beginning of Forever so much that I decided I just have to continue Callie and Brandon's story as they raise their family. Enjoy!
Chapter 1. Memory Lane
Callie didn't know why she found herself on that familiar street. Sure, it was on the way home from the pediatrician, but it wasn't necessary to take that left turn up the tree-lined lane. And yet, there she was, driving casually down the street she grew up on.
"Where are we going, Mommy?" Rachel asked from the backseat.
Callie looked at her five-year-old daughter in the mirror. "I want to show you the house I lived in when I was little." She drove a little further, until she saw the small white house with green shutters. "There it is, baby. That house right there," she said, pointing. "I lived there when I was your age."
Rachel pressed her face to the window of the car in fascination. "Is that your swing set?" She asked, noticing a wooden play structure in the side yard. "I want to swing on it."
Callie laughed. "No, that's not my swing set, Pumpkin. I never had one. It must belong to the kids who live here now." She unbuckled her seat belt. "Maybe if we ask really nice, the new people will let us in, and I can show you the doorway where me and Uncle Jude's heights are marked. We can see if you're taller than I was when I was five."
"Can Barbie come too?" Rachel asked, clutching her doll.
"Of course," Callie laughed. She helped Rachel out of the car, and took her by the hand. She never thought she'd walk up the front walk, to the stone steps of that house again. She rang the doorbell, her hands shaking, as her senses were overwhelmed with bittersweet memories. She heard someone approach the door, and turn the knob. A preteen girl with brown hair greeted them. Wow, Callie thought. The girl that lives here now even kind of looks like me. Behind the girl, a younger child, presumably her sister, peek curiously at them through the doorway.
"Hello," Callie said politely. "Are your parents home?"
The older girl nodded. "I'll get them." She turned around and went back through the house. "Daddy!" She called. "Someone's at the door!"
Callie heard a man's voice call out; "I'll be right there!" Finally, she saw a man's form coming from what she remembered to be the kitchen. As he got closer, the more familiar he looked. Callie's heart dropped to her feet when the man, the girls' father, stepped into the light coming from the open door. For several moments, they stared at each other, neither saying a word. Finally, the man's eyes lit up with recognition. "Callie?"
Callie swallowed back the bile that rose up in her throat, as nausea overcame her. She never wanted to see that face again, and there it was in front of her, in that house. It was like a slap in the face. She picked up Rachel, and hurried back down the sidewalk to the car.
"Mommy, what about the tall marks?" Rachel cried.
"I don't want to see them anymore," Callie whispered, buckling her daughter into her seat belt. As she pulled away from the curb, she glanced back at the doorway of the house. A pretty woman with red hair was now standing next to the man, looking at her car questioningly.
It was only when Callie pulled into her own driveway that she broke down in tears, resting her forehead on the steering wheel.
"Why are you crying, Mommy?" Rachel asked, petting her shoulder.
Callie wiped her eyes in an attempt to pull herself together. "I'm just sad right now, Pumpkin. Come on. Let's go inside."
Once in the house, Rachel ran off to play in her room. Callie slumped down at the kitchen table, and let her tears fall. Her shoulders shook as she cried. She wished she could go back and stop herself from going to that house, but she couldn't. The damage had already been done.
To Be Continued