TITLE: Family (Chapter 4)
AUTHOR: rcruz

Disclaimer: If I owned them, things would look a lot different. The characters, settings, established histories, and general Grey's Anatomy universe referenced in this work are properties of their respective owners. This is a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended.

The day after the party Callie was exhausted. Despite the presence of both Addison and Diego helping with the clean-up she felt completely drained. A long shift at the hospital was not helping matters nor was the fact that Erica had been moving from surgery to surgery with only a sliver of a break which had not overlapped with Callie's. She was tried and missing Erica. It was not a good combination but it might have explained why she didn't hear the deep "Mija" that had the heads of both patients and doctors in the clinic turning.

She heard the word, recognized it as a term of endearment her father liked to use, and she might have even considered for a split second how like her father the voice sounded. But neither the the second "Mija?" uttered more like a question nor the approach of the distinguished man in the tailored suit woke her from her exhausted stupor until he was right next to her and touching her arm.

"Calliope? Are you okay?"

"DAD!" she exclaimed when everything finally clicked. "Oh my God, what are you doing here?" She hugged him hard, an action he mirrored. She loved that about him. He was a passionate man and while she didn't always agree with most of the things he got passionate about, he had never been one of those macho men afraid of expressing strong feelings - even clumsy lovey-dovey ones. He stepped back to examine her.

"Maravillosa, mija! You look great. Have you been exercising?"

"Not especially. Where's Mom?"

"I came this way, she went the other way looking for you. She should be coming around any moment now. We thought we'd stop by and see if you had time for us before we went to see Allie. We have a whole day planned for her."

She was happy to see him, but their presence here was a complication she hadn't wanted today.

"Ay, mi hija!"

That voice could wake the dead with its cheerfulness, thought Callie as she turned to meet her mother. Hugs and kisses and fast words spoken in a combination of English and Spanish phrases preceded a quick walk to the cafeteria during which Callie was figuring options. She couldn't have them just take Allie and not Lucas. Besides five minutes in Allie's presence and they would know. They entered the cafeteria and headed for an empty table, but before reaching it Callie stopped. Somehow she knew if she sat down she would lose her nerve.

"Mom, Dad I need to say something."

"Of course, baby, you can tell us anything," said her mother walking the last few paces to the table and sitting. "I don't know how you walk up and down these halls all day without getting sore feet."

"I don't wear heels," answered Callie instinctively. "Seriously, I need to say something and I don't want you to freak out."

"What is it?" asked her father in a serious tone. He had clearly picked up on her nervousness. "Come sit," he said as he joined his wife at the table.

Callie squirmed a little looking around the area. Was her father always barking out commands like that?

"I'll sit in a second, I need to say this."

"Okay," said her mother also picking up on the fact that something was different.

"I'm...I'm gay. Well I mean, I'm with a woman, so I guess that makes me gay. I wasn't always. Obviously, you know that, but I'm in love…with a woman. Her name is Erica and she's great. She has a son and I've adopted him and she's adopting Allie so..."

She looked from one to the other.

"Wait mija slow down. What are you saying?" asked her mother.

"I'm gay and I'm with a woman," she said quickly. Now that it was out she felt like she could sit, so she pulled out a chair and did just that.

"No!" said her father in a stern tone.

"You don't want me to sit here?" asked Callie confused.

"My daughter is not gay."

Callie looked at her mother, but she looked too stunned to actually mouth words, so she turned to answer her father. "Yeah Dad, I am. I'm in love with a woman. She's wonderful and I want you to meet her and Lucas."

"NO!" he said more loudly, slapping his hand on the table so hard both Callie and her mother practically jumped out of their seats.

"Carlos calmate!" said Carmen giving her husband a stern look. "Callie, are you sure? I don't...I don't think I understand any of this."

"Mom, I love her. I'm sure of that and that's all that matters."

"That's all that matters?" bellowed her father drawing both of their attention. "What about God? What about everything we've taught you? What about Allie?"

"What about Allie?" asked Callie getting defensive. "Allie loves Erica."

"So Allie has two Mommies? That's ridiculous Calliope. She's done something to you, brainwashed you."

"Dad, look at me. No one has brainwashed me. She loves me. I love her. It's...I can't explain it, but its good. I'm happy. We're happy."

"No, she's done something to you. Who is she? I'll talk to her and settle this whole thing."

"She's a doctor and this is not something you need to settle Dad."

"See, I knew it was a bad idea to let her come here with no family," he said to his wife who was still sporting a stunned expression.

"Dad," said Callie finding the comment almost comical. "It's not Seattle, it's not the water, I haven't been brainwashed. I fell in love. I'm in love and happy... very happy. Please just be happy for me."

"How can we be happy for you? This is crazy Calliope. You are not gay. My daughter is not gay and that is final!"

Not waiting to hear another word from either his wife or Callie he left the table.

Callie went to stand up, but her mother's restraining arm kept her in place.

"Let him rant and rave for awhile. I'll talk to him."

"Thanks Mom," said Callie. She hesitated uncertain of where her mother stood with all of this. "Do you think I'm brainwashed?"

"Honey, no. You don't have the personality for that nonsense." Carmen stopped and examined Callie closely lingering on Callie's face for long moments.

"You are in love," she finally said with wonder in her voice.

Callie blushed. "I am. I'd like you to meet her. She's wonderful Mom."

"She must be if she makes you light up like that."

"She is."

Carmen put a gentle hand on her daughter's arm. "I do want to meet her and this child you've adopted? I can't believe we are only finding out about this now! But give us some time Calliope. I don't understand any of this, but if you're happy...well that's all I've ever wanted for either of you kids. Now let me go find your father. I'll give you a call tonight, but...don't expect too much on this trip Callie. Your father...he...this is going to be hard for him."

"Why? Why does it have to be hard?" protested Callie.

But Carmen had no answer to that. With a final squeeze she rose from the table and went in search of her husband.

That had been bad, although Erica had deemed it downright civil compared to her own experience when Callie had shared the story with her. The next day Callie would understand exactly what Erica meant. She was surprised by her father again as he sat patiently waiting for her in the waiting area. This time he was prepared.

He begged her to talk to a priest or a counselor. He had bought strange books with scary covers like What the Bible Really says about Homosexuality,Healing Homosexuality, and A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality.

It was creepy and she told him so. She tried reasoning with him and because she did not not want to have this out at the hospital, she asked him if he could come by the house so they could talk rationally. He refused saying he would never step foot in the house she was sharing with that woman because it would be a sin to do so. She walked away then, but he continued the harassing, chasing after her until she disappeared into a restricted area. She sought out Erica who tried to be patient about it all, but the whole situation was irking her. Erica thought they should be facing this or rather facing her father together, something Callie could not imagine at this point. She didn't like the idea of her father saying nasty things to Erica. He was barely holding back with her and she was his daughter. That had made Erica upset. She could tell Erica was upset because when Erica was upset, she went into silent mode. She wasn't a naturally chatty person, so if you noticed she was being especially not chatty, you knew something was very wrong. She knew Erica was struggling with wanting very much to protect Callie from something terrible and letting Callie work it out on her own terms. But the worse was yet to come.

He accosted her in the hall a short while later and although she wanted to walk away, she thought if she let him have his say, perhaps he would calm down and listen to her as well. It was the one constant about their relationship. He had always listened. Even when he was disappointed in her or was unsure of the choices she was making, he always listened. Maybe she owed him the same thing. So she turned and let him have his say.

She regretted her actions a minute into his diatribe about abominations and sin and hell.

She tried to diffuse anger with humor telling him that at least she couldn't get knocked up, wanting to prevent a complete knock down drag out fight at the hospital, where a lot of her private business had been laid bare in the last year. He did not find it funny, raising his voice in anger, something he had never done with her. He had raised his voice before, but always in that stern slightly condescending way of his, never in anger, never with the frenzied manner in which he was attacking her and her "lifestyle". It was unexpected and a little frightening and she didn't know what to do but yell back.

"Dad, stop!"

"Mija, it's in the bible."

"What about loving one another? That's in the bible too."

He barely acknowledged her. "How do you answer Leviticus? Thou shalt not lie with a man as one lies with a female. It is an abomination."

Today however, he was seeing the results of the Catholic school he had paid for. "How about Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy or blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God or blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," she answered him.

He stared at her in surprise, but fired back nevertheless.

"Romans: The men abandoned the natural use of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error."

"STOP! I love her. I'm in love with her. We're a family. I know you don't understand..."

"I understand perfectly. It's an abomination and my daughter is not an abomination."

"That's right, I am not an abomination," there were tears threatening, but the anger was winning this battle. "I am your daughter. I am strong and loving and everything you raised me to be and I am not an abomination."

She saw his face soften just a fraction. "Come back to Florida with me, mija. There are plenty of hospitals. You and Allie can come back and live with us."

She rolled her eyes and softened her own tone. "Dad, my family is here. It's Erica and Lu..."

The moment was over. All softness left his voice.

"I won't here of it! Do you understand me? That is not a family. That is not my daughter."

She was struggling with what to say, how to get him to understand. She knew he loved her and that he thought he was doing the right thing. She was convinced that it was just a matter of finding that thing that would make it all clear to him, but she didn't have it yet.

"She's done something to you," he said almost frantically.

She continued staring at him, conscious of the fact that they were attracting attention. "Yes, she has done something to me. She loves me," said Callie trying to salvage something, still trying to get him to understand.

"That is not love!"

She flinched at the anger, but did not back down from him. "Please, just stop Dad. I know this hard for you to understand right now, but I need you to be okay with this. I need you to see beyond..."

"Beyond what, Callie? Beyond the sin? How can I? Callie this is not you. This is not my little girl."

"It is Dad. I love her and she loves me and you can't change that."

"I refuse to accept that. I didn't raise my daughter to be...that way."

"I'm still me, Dad. I'm the same."

"No, this is not my Callie. My Callie is a good Catholic girl. She does not defy her father or go against God and the bible."

She gave a nervous laugh at that. "I haven't gone to church in years."

"That must be the problem. Come back home. Father Tito will straighten this out."

She almost laughed again at his choice of words, but his next sentence stopped her.

"I can't accept this, mija. I can't. You do this, you continue with this and you will not be welcome in my house."

She flinched as if she'd been slapped. The surprise at his declaration showed on her face as she continued to stare open-mouthed.

"What do you mean?"

"You heard me. You continue on this path and you can no longer count on me. No trust fund, no monthly stipend. Nothing. You'll be dead to us."

She felt tears burning the back of her eyes and tried hard not to blink. "Us? I don't think you speak for everyone. Diego, Mom, I don't think you speak for them."

"I'm the head of this family, Calliope. Me. Not Diego, not your mother and not you."

"Dad, this is ridiculous."

"It is the way it is. I can't accept this, so make your choice Calliope. It's that woman or your family."

"Her," she said finally giving in to the mad urge to blink rapidly. She felt wetness on her face at the actions and wiped at her face.

"Are you sure?" he asked sounding surprised. "Calliope we are your family. She is not your family."

"You are so wrong. She would never make me make a choice like this. She is my family. Her and Lucas and Allie and me we are a family. You can't make this go away, Dad. You'll have to accept it or you lose me and Allie."

"You'll lose more."

"I don't think so, Dad. I'll lose more if I let her go and I won't do that."

He let out a breath and stared at her with sad eyes. "I'll pray for you then," he said calmly.

"You can't pray away the gay! Be prepared to lose me and your granddaughter, because you can't make this go away. You can't will this to go away, you can't pay money to make it go away and you can't pray it away," she shouted letting her voice rise like his had right in the middle of the hospital, in front of friends, colleagues, and patients.

It was horrible. It was humiliating and hurtful and made her question everything for a second. What was she losing here? Her Mother? Her father? Was it worth it? And then she remembered the last year, the wonderful months of finding Erica and somehow building a life and forming a family before she had even realized it. She had to get away from him.

She walked away before he could continue and found an empty on-call room where she let the tears that had been threatening fall unbidden. She cried fearful that she would never make him understand how happy she was. She cried for the grandchild he wouldn't know. She cried for the arrogance that kept families apart. Still she was finding it hard to accept that he couldn't see it. More likely he refused to see it, which in her book was worse. Nevertheless it amounted to the same thing. He wouldn't see it and for that she wept.

That was where Erica found her .She knew it was Erica from the moment the door opened, letting in the artificial light from the hallway. Erica sat next to her on the battered bed and leaned her head against Callie's, rubbing her back and whispering an apology that was not hers to make.

"Callie, I'm sorry."

"I can't get him to understand. I'm happy and he can't see it. Why can't he see it, Erica?"

"He doesn't want to see it yet, sweetheart. Maybe it's too soon."

Callie raised her head and shook it vigorously. "No, he just can't see it. He sees something else, some perfect little girl that never existed."

"He's used to people doing what he says."

Callie laughed. "Yeah, just ask Diego. Up until now, I haven't really done anything to provoke him. He's supported me in everything. School, medical school, even when I got pregnant he was there for me. Why can't he just be there for me one more time?"

"I don't know sweetheart. I don't know." Erica brought her closer, kissing the top of her head. "Do you want me to try and talk to him?"

Callie squeezed her hard. "No, honey. He said some pretty awful things to me. I don't know what he'd say to you and I'm not anxious to find out."

"There is nothing that he could say to me that would hurt me. I'm more concerned about what he's saying to you and how he's making you feel right now."

"He's cut me off."

There was silence as Erica worked out how to respond to that statement.

"What does that mean?"

Callie cringed. She hadn't wanted to tell Erica about this. "I told you I have a trust fund and so does Allie."

"He's taking away your trust fund?" asked Erica.

"There are some things I didn't...He's also...ever since Allie was born, he's... God, so sorry. He's made money available to me, no questions asked. I used part of the trust fund to buy the house and pay for Medical school, but he...didn't want me to use it for living expenses, so he's been providing money. Its allowed me to not have to dip into my trust fund so much, still have the house and live somewhat more comfortably than most residents."

Erica was shocked. Callie saw it descend on her face like a shadow. She closed her eyes and felt her heart rate pick up. They had talked about their finances and she had told Erica about her trust fund, but she had not told her this. Callie had not mentioned the monthly stipend her father provided. She hated talking about her family's wealth and reasoned that since she had been offered an attending position, she wouldn't need the stipend anymore and so she didn't need to mention it. She had been meaning to talk to her father about stopping it entirely since she had not dipped into it since she started her new position and moved in with Erica. It wasn't a matter of trust. It was really one of denial, but she wasn't sure if she could explain that to Erica in this moment. She wasn't sure she could explain her need to feel independent of the money, her desire to not want that to be part of a life she didn't have anymore because she was building this new one.

"He's been providing money in addition to your trust fund?"

"He won't be anymore. It doesn't matter. I haven't used it since... well since we've... since..." She closed her eyes again. "I'm sorry. I should have told you, but it's... it's complicated. I don't like to talk about it. Besides it wasn't mine exactly and I'd stopped using it precisely because of this, because of the control it gave my father. I don't need it. We don't need it."

Erica got up and paced the floor saying nothing. After a few trips up and down the length of the room Callie could contain herself no longer.

"Erica, please talk to me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It wasn't that I was trying to hide something from you, it's just not...it's not a part of us, of me, of who I am now...with you.'

Erica continued pacing and saying nothing. Callie was contemplating what she should do. She was getting dizzy letting her eyes follow Erica around back and forth and up and down the room. Just as she had resolved to get up and stop Erica's frantic walking, Erica stopped in front of her.

"Callie, I can't do this."

Callie felt her heart start a panicky pace as it beat even more rapidly then it had during her confrontation with her father. She'd already felt like she lost a father today and now Erica was saying that she didn't want to do this.

"Can't do what?" Her voice was shaky, lips trembling involuntarily as she thought back to those months with David when he had been attentive and loving and she thought they could conquer the world, before the pregnancy had happened and her little dream crumbled around her. She had flashes of her time with George and the hope she'd held out that finally, with him she had a companion she could trust and count on and how that had also dissolved like a sandcastle in the wake of strong waves. Erica. Lucas. Was it disappearing again like everything good she had ever known?

Erica bent down, one knee on the ground, her hands reaching for Callie's cold ones, her eyes searching Callie's.

"I can't have secrets between us. Secrets destroy people. I don't need or want access to your money, but I can't feel like there are things you can't say to me. And right now I'm feeling like there was something you couldn't say. "

Callie met her eyes. She was on the verge of tears, but she wanted to hold out a bit longer. "Erica it wasn't about that. It was just me trying to deny that part of my life to myself, not you. You just got caught in the middle. I'm sorry."

Erica gave her hand a squeeze and then got up to continue her pacing. "I know we're two people. I know we can't be everything to each other, but I thought we could at least tell each other things." She sighed and looked at the ceiling as she crossed her arms. "I'm trying to not be upset by this. I'm trying to remember that you have a right to keep your stuff private."

"Yes, I do, but I should not have kept this from you Erica, it was not about me needing to keep a secret from you. It was about this - my father - the conditions he places on that money. I didn't want that to be a part of us and so I just...skipped it, I guess. I just didn't want to deal with it. I should have told you."

Erica sat heavily next to her. "Okay," she said finally.

"What does that mean?" asked Callie genuinely confused.

"It means, I understand. I don't like it and it still makes me feel... not great, but I understand it."

Callie gave her a crooked smile. "I know it's hard, but thank you. I'll um... we can talk about the specifics..."

"No, I don't need the specifics. You only have to tell me what you want to tell me. I don't need to know the rest."

"Well right now there isn't much to tell, since he claims he's cutting me off."

"How...How will that affect you financially? If you don't mind me asking."

"Erica, whatever affects me affects you, so of course I don't mind. It doesn't really affect me much right now. I'm making a much better salary as an attending and I'm renting the house to Diego, so I'm... no, WE are fine. That threat would have meant something a few years ago, but not now."

Erica reached for her hand rubbing it lightly. She didn't speak for a long time, just stared at the hand in hers, watching her movements intently. "I love you," she said.

"And I love you," said Callie reaching for the lovely woman's whose bent head was just inches from her own.

"For richer or poorer," Erica chuckled out.

"In sickness and in health," Callie finished and then they both laughed.

Continued in Chapter 5