AN: Please do not worry -Callie will slowly grow closer to everyone in the house. I just don't think it is believable if she is suddenly friends with everyone. She has been there only few days after all and they are all still strangers to her. Give her a little bit more time :)
Stef POV
Next morning, I woke up first. Lena was still sound asleep next to me. I didn't want to wake her, because I knew she was struggling to fall asleep last night. She felt very guilty about how last night chat with Callie went down. I was pretty sure she was playing that conversation in her mind over and over again just analyzing it in her head, thus not getting a good night's sleep because of it.
I roll out of the bed as quietly as I can and tip toe out of the bedroom. All the doors to kids rooms were closed which means they are all still sound asleep just like Lena is. I made my way down the stairs. To my surprise, I was not the only one awake. I saw Callie standing by the kitchen counter, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"Morning, Callie!" I greet her, when I enter the kitchen
"Morning," Callie replied back and put the coffee pot back in it's place
"That's my cup!" I notice that she had poured her coffee in my light blue cup. That was my cup. Mariana got it for me some 6 years ago on Christmas.
"What?" Callie asks confused looking over her shoulder to me
"That's my cup!" I point to it and walk up to her and reach for it
"Seriously?" She asks when I pull the cup closer to me
"Yes, seriously. My cup!" I lift it to my lips with a smirk "You can ask anyone in this house. They will say the same thing" I take a sip
Callie reaches for another cup on the shelf, but stops before she takes it "Can I take this one?"
"Yes, you can take that," I answer her and walk over to the kitchen table to sit down. Meanwhile Callie pours herself another cup.
"So, Lena told me about yesterday-"
"I'm fine" Callie says instantly, stopping me from saying anything else. She takes the cup and walks towards the back doors
"Can you please sit with me?" I ask her before she leaves the room "I want to talk to you for a minute," Recurrently she walks over to the table to sit down as well
"Are you - fine? Lena mentioned you looked quite upset," I placed both my hands on the cup and watched the girl carefully
"Well, I had a right to be upset, didn't I?" Callie answers quite harshly, looking straight at me
"Of course" I nod back "I am not saying that you can't be upset"
"What are you saying then?"
"I wanted to ask, if you maybe want to talk about it?"
"No, I don't! Certainly not to you!" Callie snapped back at me harshly, with lots of attitude in her voice
Yesterday, I put up with her attitude. But today, today it just got to me. Maybe because it was still a very early morning and I didn't want her bad attitude to ruin my day.
"Callie, I know you don't exactly like me, but this attitude -it has to stop!" I said in the most serious tone of voice. I pressed my index finger to the table as I continued to speak to her in firm voice.
"I allowed you to speak to me like this for the last few days, but I won't anymore. This attitude will stop! We already told you, we respect one another in this house. And right now, you are not doing a good job about it!"
Callie stared back at me, not moving a muscle or blinking. I think she even held her breath for a moment. She clearly look taken aback by my sudden display of not liking her attitude.
There is only so much attitude I can take and Callie was slowly crossing the line. I would never allow one of my own kids to talk to me like that. This disrespect to other people had to stop. She was acting like we were the bad guys. Like we had hurt her somehow, when in fact we haven't. We have been nothing but nice to her.
"I simply asked you a questions, but you snapped at me for no real reason. That is no way to treat people, who are trying to help you or simply talk to you! You may have spoken to other people this way in other homes, but you won't do it in this house! We have treated you with respect and I expect you to treat me the same way back!"
Callie now looked like a little kid who was scolded. Her eyes filled with regret and fear as she dipped her head down to avoid my look. It felt like she was too ashamed to look back at me. Callie's shoulders moved upwards a little, while her hands gripped on her cup tighter as she pulled it closer to the edge of the table.
That moment, it accrued to me, that she looked like a kid who was expecting a punishment. The girl in front of me was struggling to keep her composure intact. But I saw right through her - Callie was now afraid of me. Just like she was when I went to her place in full uniform.
It wasn't like I had yelled or screamed at the girl. I didn't even raise my voice at her, I just changed my tone to more serious one, to make it absolutely clear to her that she needs to start to respect people in this house and that she is not allowed to constantly snap at people.
"Callie, sweetie, you can look at me," I say softly watching the scared girl in front of me. Callie did not budge. She sat as still as possible, gripping the cup, her eyes and head down. I was trying to catch her gaze, but that seemed almost impossible at this moment with her head down and some hair in front of her face.
"Sweetheart, please look at me," I said again in even more gentle voice. Warily, the girl slowly lifted her head up. Once our eyes met, I instantly explained to her "You are not in any trouble! I am not mad at you, okay."
The eye contact didn't last for too long, because Callie once again dipped her head down in regret, to avoid my look.
I sight deeply as I watch the girl. Maybe I was too harsh on her. It could be that Callie was way more sensitive than I thought she was. Underneath the thick skin, hide a little girl, who was scared, emotional and easily hurt.
We were both sitting at the kitchen table, not saying a word. To my surprise, Callie didn't even try to run out of the room. Honestly speaking, I had expected her to run out of this room. But she sat perfectly still, almost like waiting for something to happen.
My coffee cup was almost half empty when I decided to try and talk to the girl once again "Can I ask you something?"
I saw a barely visible head nod back, so I continued with the question that was on my mind "Did you know that Jude was gay, before yesterday? Before Lena accidentally mentioned it"
"Yes," Callie replied quietly, without looking up to me
"Are you okay with him being gay?" I tilt my head to one side as I continue to watch the girls features
"Yes," It sounded like she replied out of obligation, not because she wanted to. It almost seemed as if, she thought she owe me the answers. Like she was obligated to answer me. Even though in fact, she wasn't. I would not pressure her, if she had said (kindly, not harshly) she didn't want to talk about it.
Her answers settles it then. She wasn't upset that Jude had a boyfriend or that Lena accidentally told her about it. Callie was upset about the fact that Jude hadn't told her himself!
"May I go? I want to take a shower" She asks me a moment later, briefly looking up to me. Her eyes still told me that she was scared of me.
"Of course, Callie" I smiled at her. Callie stands up instantly, she holds the cup in her right hand and without looking back at me, she heads out of the kitchen to the garage.
Once I finish my coffee, Callie walks back in the house with her towel over her shoulder and shower bag in her hand. I still don't understand, why she doesn't leave all her stuff in the bathroom. Every time she carries it in and out.
Callie disappears up the stairs a moment later. While I wait for Lena to wake up, I head outside to grab the morning paper and return back to kitchen. I make myself a sandwich, pour myself a orange juice and sit down at the table with the paper in my hand.
It wasn't long after I had sat down, when I hear footsteps upstairs. I assume it was Lena, so I made her a cup of coffee. But once again, I assumed wrong. It was not Lena that came down. It was Jude.
"Morning, bud! I thought you were Lena, so I made you coffee" I smile at him and gesture to the cup on the counter
"Morning," He replies and then screws up his face "Yuck, you can keep it" He says with a smirk on his lips
"Why are you up so early?" I ask when he walks to the pantry to get cereal box
"Don't know...couldn't sleep" he shrugs back filling a bowl with the cereal. I head over to the fridge and get out milk for him
"Something on your mind?" I ask curious when I sit down next to him. There was a chance that he was thinking about the fact that he hasn't told Callie about Connor and he is coming over in few hours. If it was me, it would be bothering me.
He takes a spoonful of cereal and chews quietly, staring out the kitchen window. He sighs deeply when he looks back at the bowl. For a moment he stares down to it. I can see the wheels turning in his head. He was definitely deep in his thoughts.
"I haven't told Callie yet," He admits regretfully looking up to me and then explain in more detail "That I'm gay and that I have a boyfriend."
I tilt my head to the left side, press my left elbow on the table and place my right hand on his shoulder blade "Can I ask why?"
"I guess...I was worried about how she would react," Jude says sadly looking back down to the bowl
"She's your sister. I don't think you have anything to be worried about Jude," I tell him as I softly run my hand over his shoulder blade, to sooth him
"No, you don't understand"
"Can you help me understand?"
"Callie hasn't exactly…been supportive," Jude admits to me"I have never got the feeling from her, that she would be okay with me being gay. It always seemed like she wanted me to hide who I really was"
"Why do you say?" I was certainty curious why he felt like that. Callie didn't seem homophobic to me. At least she hasn't said anything mean to me or Lena.
He shifted on the stool and turned to face me "Like...I remember when I first got here and painted my nails blue for the first time. Lena saw me and she said that it's okay to be who I am and that I shouldn't hide it. But Callie, before we got separated, whenever I had painted my nails, she told me to take it off. Always. She insisted!"
"Do you think Callie would react the same way now?"
"I'm not sure..." Jude says after a while of thinking about it "She's different now"
"Mariana painted your nails after the Christmas dinner," I remind him about something, that I assume has totally slipped his mind "Did Callie told you to stop doing it? Did she tell you to take it off? Did she seem upset about it?"
The longer Jude thought about the, the more he realized that I was right
"Callie seemed okay with it, didn't she?" I say running my fingers through his brown locks. Jude's look changes as he starts to think about it some more. I smile at him as I stand up.
"You should talk to her Jude," I lean down to place a kiss on his temple. When he looks up to me, I sight – I knew I had to tell him about yesterday.
"There's something else you should know Jude" I tell him. Jude looks to me wondering what I will say to him.
Jude POV
I was washing the dirty bowl, when I heard footsteps coming in the kitchen. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Callie standing there with her hair still wet, towel over her arm and her shower bag in her left hand. Quickly I turn the tap close and turn to her. My back was pressed to the counter.
"Hey" I greeted her awkwardly. I wasn't sure how she would react.
"Morning" Callie replied. We stood staring at one another for a moment. But then Callie glanced down to the floor in front of her and asked quietly "So...a boyfriend, huh?"
"Yeah..." I drag slowly as I press my bent hands to the counter behind me "I meant to tell you, Callie" I said regretfully
Callie slowly nodded her head back, while still staring at the ground in front of her. The longer I looked at her, the more hurt she seemed to me. Once she raised her head up, she asked carefully "Can I ask – why didn't you?"
"I – I just...I-" I stuttered badly as I thought about what to tell her "I was worried how you would react about it."
"Why would you be worried?"
I shrugged back and now I was the one that averted the look away "I wasn't sure if you would support me."
"Jude, I will always support you! No matter what!" Callie said louder and more confident, she took few steps closer to her "I am always going to be behind you - 100%"
"It didn't seem that way, when we were living with Greg!" I reasoned back
"I was trying to protect you!" Callie said in a very emotionally. I think I saw tears appear in her eyes. When she placed her towel and her shower bag on the kitchen table and looked back at me, she had already fought back the tears in her eyes.
"Kids your age can be really mean. It was hard enough for you being bullied about being a foster kid, I just didn't want you to get bullied for being gay as well. It's hard enough you had to endure abuse at our foster home. Greg was a homophobic asshole! Abusive homophobic asshole!" Callie took two steps closer towards me
"I didn't mean to...oppress who you were or for you to be afraid who you really were, but...I didn't know how else to protect you!" Callie said sad frowned up face, she looked like she regretted what she did. Tears whelm up in my own eyes, as I see how bad Callie feels about it.
She did protect me. Maybe she did it the wrong way(by forcing me to hide who I was), but she did it for the right reason. She was just a kid herself. There wasn't really much she could do. She did everything she could and many times it meant doing selfless things. There were many times where Callie took the punishment for me, without thinking about it twice.
"You did protect me," I said reassuring her as I walked up to her
"Well, not enough...Greg still beat the crap out of you when you wore his wife dress," Callie said sadly
"And you smashed up his precious car. He was crying over the car for days after you were taken" I said trying to light up the mood a little. I knew Callie still blamed herself for everything that happened that day. To my surprise, Callie chuckle back to me "He literally cried for days!"
"Who cried for days?" Mariana walked in the kitchen
"No one!" We reply in unison, when we turn to face her. Callie walks to the table to get her shower stuff the next second, while I return to the sink to finish washing the glass and spoon I used. Mariana gave us both a suspicious look.
"I'm gonna go," Callie said and walked to the back doors. She stopped when she reached for the door nub. Callie turned back to me and said sincerely "Jude, I'm sorry...for what I did. It wasn't my intention to make you feel-"
"I know" I interject "I'm sorry too! For not telling you." I replied in the same manner. Callie smiles at me sadly, before she leaves the room. I felt Mariana watching me. When I turn around to head out of the kitchen, I saw Mariana standing by the kitchen table, watching me carefully.
"Everything okay with you two?"
"Yeah, it is now," I smile at her and then head out of the kitchen
On the stairs I met Stef. We both stooped briefly "Talked to Callie yet?"
"Yes" I smile at her "We are good!"
"Good, good" Stef smiled and patted my shoulder "I'm glad you two worked it out!"
"Me too," I returned the smile to Stef and then went upstairs to get ready. I can't wait to see Connor. It has only been few days, but I already miss him. The texts and calls don't seem enough. I can't wait to introduce him to Callie.
