Chapter 9- Chipping Away

Hey guys! This will be the next to last chapter. I hope you enjoy! Placing the last line form the last chapter to help you catch up: Callie looked between the both of them and took a deep breath. She knew it was time to share what was on her heart…

Callie cleared her throat to speak for the first time. All that she managed to say was "I…I'm sorry"

"Sorry for what doll?" Stef asked, slowly repositioning the ice pack on Callie's knee.

"For being so hard to deal with…" she explained, not being able to get out everything she wanted to say. This was hard for her, and both Stef and Lena knew it.

"You aren't hard to deal with Callie. Today you may not have been the safest, but that's why we're here to help guide you, and we wouldn't have it any other way" Lena admitted, with Stef nodding her head as well. They could both see that Callie was trying her best to say something, but she was struggling.

"What is it sweetheart?" Stef asked patiently.

Callie shook her head and admitted, "I don't know how to start…"

"Well that's okay, we can try and help. Let's take it one thing at a time" Lena stated. Callie nodded and took a deep breath. "Why did you leave school today?" Lena asked.

Callie didn't know how to answer, but she tried her best. "Well I saw the beach and I didn't feel like going to class I guess…"

"Why didn't you feel like going to class?" Stef asked, trying to break down the complicated day.

Callie sat and thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, I know you didn't eat breakfast, so I know your concentration wasn't all there" Lena added, trying to help.

Callie nodded and hung her head, feeling ashamed of her actions at breakfast. "Yeah… I'm sorry for throwing away your food this morning"

Lena patted Callie on the back. "I'm not mad at you Callie. I wish you were a little more respectful about it if you weren't hungry. It's not like you to skip breakfast though".

"I know, I just…" Callie was at a loss for words. She stayed quiet as she tried to find a way to say that she really did want to eat, but pride and her belief that her mother would be mad at her for accepting other people's food were not easy to explain.

"Great job trying Callie" Stef encouraged as she placed the ice pack to the side. "Let's talk about some definites though, those are easier to address. Earlier today when I brought you in here to talk with you, you mentioned something about me bringing you up here to hit you…"

Callie kept her head hung low, not wanting to hear her words from earlier. Stef gently placed her hand under Callie's chin, raising her head to look in her daughter's eyes. At this point Stef could see that Callie was trying her best to hold back tears.

"I'm so so sorry that you had to endure things like that in the past. It's so unfair and I wish would never happen to anyone. I know I told you this earlier, but me and mama want to remind you again that we would never intentionally hurt you like that"

"Never ever" Lena added.

They both knew that sometimes when kids were hurt so often in the past, it was hard for them to determine the difference between accidental injuries and intentional ones. Stef wanted to be sure that Callie knew the difference.

"You know that earlier when I put the ice bag on your knee that I wasn't intentionally trying to hurt you, yes?" Stef asked. Callie nodded with tears now flowing freely.

Stef placed her arm around Callie and pulled her in for a side hug. "Did you really believe that I was going to hurt you earlier? she whispered.

Callie wiped some tears away as she shook her head no. "Okay, good" Stef responded relieved.

"And don't think for a second that we ever will" Lena confirmed.

They both gave Callie a moment to wipe the rest of her tears before Lena broke the silence, now holding Callie like Stef was a moment ago. "Do you think whatever you're dealing with has to do with something from the past?" Lena asked, addressing the elephant in the room.

Callie began to get fidgety. Lena released Callie from the hug, giving her some space. They sat there for a solid two minutes, and the moms were very patient, knowing that this was most likely the root of everything Callie had done the past two days.

"I didn't…. I just didn't want to make her mad anymore" Callie admitted, messing the hem of her shirt.

Lena and Stef looked at each other, trying to see if the other knew what Callie was referring to. With both receiving a puzzling look from the other in return, Stef decided to ask.

"Didn't want to make who mad anymore love?"

"M… My mom". Callie stiffened up at the memory of her mom's angry response in her dream.

"Oh sweetheart, I don't think your mom is mad at you. I know she loved you" Lena tried to comfort Callie.

"Yes she is" Callie admitted standing up. "She told me how could I forget about her, and that I used to need her, and now I don't. She is so disappointed in me…" Callie stated, breaking down.

Stef knew that Callie couldn't stand much longer, and she got up to catch her. "Your knee love. Don't drop to the floor" She pulled Callie into her, leading her back a couple steps over to the edge of the bed. Both Lena and Stef held Callie, allowing her to get it all out. After a moment Lena let go and moved over to get some tissue for Callie, who accepted some and wiped her nose.

"When did this happen?" Stef asked, trying to figure out if this was another part of Callie's past they didn't know about.

"…The night when we got back from the park" Callie admitted, realizing the statement didn't make sense. With tears still rolling, she decided to explain

"I had a dream that Jude and I were younger again, and that we were living with you two. We came back from eating ice cream, and all of a sudden I was stuck on the roof on the house about to fall off. I called you, and you guys stepped in and caught me, and said that you would always be there for me".

Callie paused for a moment, continuing to wipe tears away. Lena rubbed her back for support.

"Then once you put me down, you guys and Jude were gone, and my mom was standing in the front yard… She was upset that I didn't ask for her help, that I had forgotten about her, and that I had abandoned her. She started screaming at me when I tried to apologize… she was mad that I couldn't even say goodbye to her" Callie broke down again, with Stef and Lena putting the pieces together.

They laid Callie back on the bed, lying down on both sides of her. Callie was embraced by the both of them. "I just didn't want her to be mad anymore." She repeated.

"You felt like you needed to show her that you didn't need anyone else" Stef added. Callie nodded her head, wiping the tear that fell towards her ear since she was lying down.

"I'm sorry I said I didn't need you back in the parking lot. That's not what I meant…" Callie apologized.

"No worries sweets, I knew that you didn't mean it. You did give me a quite a workout though with me chasing you and trying to hold onto you. All I'm saying is I better have some killer calves and biceps when I wake up" Stef stated trying to lighten the mood a bit, but Callie didn't smile.

"You know Callie" Lena began, "I know that your mom wouldn't be mad or disappointed at you for needing someone else, or for identifying someone else as family too". Callie sniffled as she tried to understand what Lena meant.

"Yeah love, that's the thing about life; you start out with a definition of 'family' as just your parents and siblings, and then it expands and grows to make more room for the people you meet in life. You hang out with aunts, uncles and cousins and make even more room. Then you find a spouse and have kids and it grows and grows" Stef helped explain.

"Yup. And then those siblings have kids too, and you make more room for your nieces and nephews and all your in-laws" Lena added.

"Then grandkids come and you grow even more room! That's not even including all the people in your life that aren't related to you, but feel like family!"

Callie had stopped crying by now and was starting to think about her circle of "family" and how it's grown greatly. "It even grows for pets too?" Callie asked.

"Of course!" Stef and Lena replied, thinking about their family circles as well. "You have this family that gets bigger and bigger, and you can show love for all of them" Lena mentioned.

"If you think about it, all you kids technically have more than the standard 'two parents'. Brandon has three, Jesus and Mariana have four, and you have… like five or so" Stef explained with a chuckle at the end. Callie smirked, almost laughing at the thought of her and Jude having five parents.

Lena jumped in again. "The good part is, you can love all of them, and that's perfectly okay. It's worse when you try and shut others out. No one is going to be mad that you are loving and depending on another one."

Callie smiled and nodded, understanding. She placed her hand on her forehead and winced.

"You okay Callie? Does something else hurt?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, I got a headache earlier today… plus my chest has been hurting since yesterday. My shoulder also started hurting today" she explained.

"When did all of this start? Lena asked. "You didn't seem to be hurting on Sunday.

"No, it didn't start until yesterday… although my shoulder isn't hurting, and my chest just stopped hurting a couple of minutes ago maybe" Callie recognized.

"Hmm… I used to experience this as well" Stef admitted. "Those are some physical side effects of stress love" Stef informed. "When you try to deal with everything all by yourself and carry it around, your body takes a beating. Building up your walls instead of letting someone in doesn't help you; walls only hurt"

Callie looked to Stef, taking what she said as true. She did feel worse these past couple days since trying to handle everything by herself.

"Do you understand what we mean Bug?" Lena asked. Callie nodded, feeling relieved she let out what was bothering her. She wasn't experiencing any internal conflicts or feeling like she wasn't being strong enough.

Stef leaned in and kissed Callie on the temple. "We love you so much Callie". Lena joined, kissing Callie on the other temple. "Yes, so so so much, and that will never change".

"I love you guys too. Thank you mama, and thank you mom for always helping me" Callie shared.

"Oh, it's so nice to hear those words again" Stef said.

Lena leaned in and snuggled Callie, whispering "I love it when you call us mama and mom" with a smile.

"Me too" Stef admitted, running her fingers through Callie's hair.

Callie smiled wide "I love it when you guys do stuff like snuggle me and play with me hair".

"Noted" Stef answered, both her and Stef enjoying having their daughter back.