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Chapter 14

JJ waits for Judge Lee Cooper to call them back in. He's currently speaking with Callie about her take on everything that's happened thus far. It's been ten days since they asked Callie, nine days since they received Robert's summons requesting a paternity test, one week since he declared his desire for custody, and after receiving a court date…and here they are. She glances at her former boyfriend and then at his wife. She's pretty, like a young Molly Ringwald but less innocent somehow, a bit more world-wise; JJ isn't sure if that's a good thing or what. She feels Will slip his hand into hers and gains some confidence.

"What are you hoping to get out of this?"

"I just want a chance to get to know her, JJ."

She squares her shoulders, defensive. "You didn't before."

"I was caught off guard. I'm not trying to be the bad guy here; in fact, I'm not the–" before Robert can get another word in, the bailiff calls them back into Judge Cooper's chambers. Callie grins as JJ goes over to the girl, carding a comforting hand through her wild curls. Robert watches jealously as Will takes Callie's hand in his own.

Judge Lee Cooper gazes at the family somberly before sucking his cheeks in. He has to deliver a verdict; one he may not necessarily agree with…the Bible even says something about threatening to cut an object into two but those who give up the object are the ones who should have it. But, that cannot apply here. Both families clearly want Callie who wants her mom but it would be unwise of Lee to ignore Robert Perry's request. "I didn't arrive at this decision lightly. I understand what you want Callie, but it would be remiss of me to ignore the law." Callie frowns feeling a knot tighten in her chest. "Therefore, I am granting Robert Perry weekly outings with Callie, I trust you can work out the times amongst yourselves." Twin gasps and the single utterance of a whispered 'no' fill the room making Leroy rub his brow. "In a month, we'll reconvene to determine physical and legal custody."

"Callie, come on baby…don't," JJ said trying to stop the girl who shrugs off her arm stomping away. Will takes JJ's hand giving it a squeeze. Their adoption pursuit has been halted pending the results of their current case with Robert and Lillian Perry. This is their second meeting with Judge Lee Cooper, but at least Lee doesn't seem to be under Robert's spell like most are. He actually seems ethical.

Judge Cooper feels JJ's eyes fall on him and he nods, letting her and Will go. Robert and Lillian share grins and start to file out behind them. "Mr. Perry, Mrs. Perry," Lee addresses the couple who pause. "I trust you seeking custody of Caroline, isn't for political gain, because if it is, then your power won't be able to help you. The Perry and Cohen influence only gets you so far." Lee is a father and grand-father himself. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I assure you Judge; this isn't for publicity. The press doesn't even know about Callie, we've decided to wait until the end of this trial." The CEO vowed stonily.

"Callie has been from home to home her entire life. I understand she's only been with her mother and stepfather for six months, but living there has given her a semblance of normalcy. It's what she's come to know and love. Now, I'm not dissuading you from having a relationship with her. In fact, I think she could benefit from having you in her life, but you seeking primary physical custody could be detrimental to her health especially with you living outside of Virginia." Robert sighs; he just wants to get to know her. "Think about it, Mr. Perry you'd be tearing this child away from everything she knows. Do you have any idea what that'll do to her?"

Robert tries not to react at the man's words. They sting though, so did Callie's reaction – he knew she wasn't going to be pleased, but she just took off. She didn't even look at him.

Meanwhile Lillian's gaze hardens. "Judge, Caroline is my husband's child. If you can't stay impartial then we'll find a judge who can." Lee leans back in his chair knowing a thinly veiled threat when he hears one. "Have a good day Judge." With that she and Robert leave. As they walk down the corridor, Lillian huffs. "I can't believe the guile of that man, lecturing us, like he's better." Her husband nods, distracted. "Robert? Robert, you look upset. We'll have Caroline home soon." Lillian hums to herself. "Although, I do think Cooper has some sort of grudge against us – that won't do. We're going to have to call Marvin about this."

One Week Later

Maybe if she stays in her room long enough, she won't have to go.

"Callie, honey, remember what Judge Cooper said?" JJ sits down beside the teen stroking her hair. "You're uh," she can't seem to say 'father' because well he isn't. Robert Perry is just a powerful guy who strong-armed his way into their life. "Robert's going to be here any minute. You have to get up sweets." If they cut into any of his time with Callie then it'll look like they're trying to turn her against him. "Come on; where's your jacket? How can you find anything in here? It's like a bomb went off." JJ shakes her head looking around at the chaotic bedroom.

"I can only find stuff when it's messy."

JJ rolls her eyes. "Of course you can, c'mon babe up we go." She pulls the kid into sitting position appraising her; she must've gotten up early this morning, put some clothes on, and then fallen back asleep. Because, JJ knows that when they said goodnight to Callie, she was sporting a tee shirt rather than a Georgetown long sleeve and jeans she has on right now. "Oh good, you're all dressed – Callie, shake a leg. He's going to be here any minute."

"No, I don't want to go. Please, don't make me." Callie pleaded. Her mother blinks painfully and steels herself as she gently guides the girl out of bed. At least her kid put her clothes on before crawling back into bed. Feeling guilty, Callie makes a disheartened face and leans against the headboard. "I want to stay with you."

JJ bites her lip. "What're you talking about?" She sits down on the bed, honestly worried. Well she's feeling a blend of worry and guilt churning in her gut. "You and Robert are hanging out today. You aren't going anywhere." Shit. JJ knows she shouldn't have said that, but in this moment; Callie looks so little and lost.

"You don't know that. He wants real custody of me. That's why I can't be yours." Callie takes the offered shoes.

The way Callie said that doesn't sit well with JJ. "Listen to me, Will and I don't need a piece of paper to tell us you're ours because you are. It would've been nice, but we know in here," she pats her chest. "You're ours, no matter what." She pauses to study the teen's wide eyes. "Do you understand?" Callie nods, she still doesn't want to go. "You two are just getting to know each other." In a month's time, custody is going to be decided and since Robert's domicile is in Pennsylvania…JJ sighs. He has a few branches in Virginia, but his home and HQ are in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. And that isn't even close to where her family lives.

"I don't care." She declared. "I don't want to go."

"I know you don't, but you have to." The mom ordered, if she doesn't get Callie to perk up then Robert might use it against her. But, she can't make Callie like someone, especially when JJ doesn't even like him. Things are pretty tense and JJ's vented to Will more than once about Robert. "Ben likes hanging out with his dad."

Callie squints looking to JJ's amazement, a bit like Rosaline. "That's cause he has a say and Robert's not my dad, not really." She has the Jareau glare down. "Will's my dad, Robert's just some jerk."

"Don't talk like that." JJ reprimanded firmly causing Callie's cheeks to flush. But, the thing is, if Callie's mean to Robert then he could say she and Will coached her. "Sweets, you have to be nice to Robert. You…just be nice to him, for me please." Callie sighs as the doorbell rings; JJ presses her lips against the girl's forehead. "Go, get your shoes on and wait in the living room. I need to talk to Robert before you go." After she turns, tears glaze in JJ's eyes but she holds them in – her crying would only scare Callie.

Callie somehow manages to sneak into the living room without Robert seeing her. Her mom and Will led him into the kitchen to talk some. Callie pulls on the laces tying her left sneaker. If I force myself even deeper into the couch cushion maybe Robert will think I've moved out. It's a childish thought on her end, but one that crosses Callie's mind nonetheless. Thankfully Uncle Danny pulled strings and Callie doesn't have to deal with Robert's wife. Callie saw how she was looking at Will, like she's better. Uncle Danny and Robert's lawyers made a deal that Callie has to meet Lillian either on the second or third visit – which is better than meeting her out the gate.

"I just wanted to tell you that Callie's a vegetarian so don't take her Outback or Arby's." JJ rattles off some more facts about her daughter. This way there won't be any confrontation at lunch. Her eating habits are better, but Callie can be annoyingly picky sometimes too. "She took her vitamins and heart pills this morning–"

Robert clears his throat. "Oh yeah about that, I can start covering payments for her heart medication. I know it must be a financial strain on you guys – with having government jobs." He flashes the infamous Perry grin, something JJ used to find sexy but now grates her nerves. She's suddenly grateful Callie never inherited that unnerving trait. "Or maybe I could pay for her schooling this semester; I uh mean that we don't know if she'll be going to Fortitude Grace next September, but still."

"We do just fine, thank you." Will is the first to answer thank God or else JJ would've lunged at him. "And ah why don't we just wait and see, play it by ear?" He said trying to stay diplomatic.

"Well, if you guys ever do need a loan just ask – I want to contribute in Caroline's life." The CEO responded feeling like his twenty three year old self would kick the shit out of him. But, he wants to be there. "I've set up a college fund for her, I'm sure you guys have one too…but I just want to help." His boys have theirs and Robert is already making adjustments to his Will and Testament to include Callie.

JJ nods. "We don't need your money, Robert." She forces a kinder tone. "Look, our lawyers can go over a joint account for Callie's college. The plan we have, well there's no way the money can be taken out for anything but her school." The profiler answered as a thought hits her. "I don't want there to be any paparazzi when you go out with Callie today. My daughter is not going to be your frontline news, if I hear there was–" JJ is cut off.

"There won't be. None of my children are ever subject to the press unless they chose to be." Robert sounds hurt with JJ's automatic assumption. Lillian is the one who wants this to be headline news whereas he just wants a relationship with his kid. "My people will make sure we aren't bothered." His first wife, Vanessa Kyle, absolutely hates it when Bash and Teddy are in the papers without her permission…but he does his best to keep them out of the spotlight. But, if they do have a family press event; he informs Vanessa beforehand.

Will asked. "Thank you, can yah have her home by three? She needs ta go to a friend's house for a project."

"Why's he involved?" Robert questioned huffily. If Lillian can't be part of matters about Callie, then why does JJ's spouse get to be? Callie frowns having half a mind to go in there and tell Robert off, but holds back. "He's nothing to Caroline." The teenager clenches her fists, standing up until she hears.

"She likes Callie and I'm her family." The Louisiana-born keeps his voice even solely because he doesn't want to frighten the kids he knows are listening, but it's plain as day Will is holding back. He thought they were going to be a family. Hell, Will knows in his heart they'll always be a family, but this would've made things official.

Robert's voice echoes. "You aren't her real family."

"That's enough!" JJ roared. She won't let anyone speak to her husband like that. For the last six months, he's been a really amazing father to Callie and she isn't going to let Robert ruin that. "Will has custody of Callie too; so he has the right to be part of decisions made regarding her life. He's also my husband and Callie's stepfather." The blonde woman has an urge to say he's Callie's father, but stops herself.

"Lillian's her stepmother and she wasn't allowed to be here! She's just as much her parent as he is."

That's when Callie zones out. She doesn't want to hear anymore. There's no way this Lillian bitch is anywhere near her parent. The girl shifts on the couch trying to keep from taking off. Because, at the moment, she's itching to run; it's chicken pocks kind of itchy. She can make out Will playing referee as JJ rips into Robert. This is new. No one has ever fought for her, now it seems like she's a new toy everyone wants to play with except JJ and Will are where she belongs. Robert and Lillian are the bratty neighbors who want to show her off to their friends.

To think just two weeks prior everything was gravy. Callie thought she was finally going to get all she wanted; the teen cringes realizing how stupid that was. Closing her eyes, Callie tries to hold the angry tears back. How can this be happening? He didn't want her before. Suddenly, she feels someone slip their hand into hers. She opens her eyes to see Henry beside her. He looks at her softly, in a solidarity kind of way.

"Why're you sad? Did someone make you sad?" Henry asked feeling a sense of fury build in his chest. He takes his job as Callie's protector very seriously; daddy says brothers take care of their sisters. And Henry plans on doing just that; if Fin's brother was mean to her…then Henry LaMontange will throw water balloons at him. He's seen Sean in Callie's room a few times. Henry guesses Callie's friends like her window is better than the front door. Callie gave him ten bucks not to tell mommy or daddy. But, wait, Sean's nice. He can pull funny faces.

"N-No, I'm fine."

"Mommy says you get a time-out if you lie." Henry puts on his stern face. "Who made you sad?" No one can ever make his sister sad or else they'll have him to deal with, he turns vaguely hearing his mom talk in her not-so-quiet angry voice. She's in the kitchen with daddy and some guy who came over for reasons he doesn't get. "No one can make you sad. I hafta protect you; it's my job."

"I think it's my job to protect you. I'm older." Callie chuckled sadly. She sees Henry squint in confusion and decides to change her tactics. Right now, the teenager wishes Will and JJ adopted her sooner so they wouldn't be in this mess. "How about we protect each other, okay? We'll be a team; Callie and Henry, against the world."

"When he's bigger, can Mikey be on the team?" The shorter blonde asked, forever thoughtful.

Callie agreed. "Hell yeah," she grins at him softly. "How about right now he's our mascot?" The little brother raises his eyebrows as though considering this. In this moment, he looks exactly like Will right now and when a nodding grin breaks onto his face, he looks even more so like his daddy. Callie ruffles his hair. She wishes he hadn't got it cut to look hipster little kid. "I need your help with something and it's really, hugely vital to our operation."

"What is it?!" Henry's practically bouncing up and down in excitement.

"While I'm out, I need you to think of our team name and what mascot Mikey should be." Callie sighs; this'll be less confusing for Henry if he doesn't see her go. JJ and Will plan on explaining it all to him once she and Robert are gone. For now, it'll be easier on Henry if he's not around. He thinks Robert is just a guy; actually, Callie isn't sure what he thinks about Robert. He has yet to ask about who he is, but Henry being Henry and he'll likely demand to know who the guy is moments after he leaves.

The boy's eyes widen. "Okay! I can do that." He replied scampering upstairs to sift through his animals' book. Oh and he needs poster paper to write their team name down, plus colored markers and glue and glitter.

Callie watches him go. This is all so fucked up. She feels the guilt resonate in her. If she hadn't gone to see Robert then none of this would've happened. But, if she tells JJ or Will about it – then they might not want her. For some reason, neither Robert nor Lillian has brought up her surprise visit. However, Callie has a feeling it's only a matter of time before they do…and JJ and Will are going to hate her. They will. They're gonna think she doesn't want them, but she does. Callie's never wanted anyone more than them.

"…you ready to go?" His voice brings Callie out of her thoughts and she huffs.

"That depends? You done fighting with my mom?"

Per their agreement, Alex has reluctantly agreed that instead of telling his father he poured milk on a federal agent he'll do some odd jobs around Mr. Rossi's place. From the way he speaks, Alex had thought the guy's place would be bigger. He rubs the back of his neck as a tall woman strides out of the house.

"Oh good, you brought reinforcements." Tara smiles as Garcia flounces out behind her.

"I definitely did, I have a strong worker here." David replied clapping Alex on the back causing the boy to have a slight micro-expression of pain. If they were anyone else, they wouldn't have seen it…but they aren't anyone else; the profilers and techie squint at Alex. "You all right there son?"

Alex nods. "Yes sir, I'm fine."

"If you say so, Cucciolo." Rossi pulls a face as though trying to read Alex whose eyes are downward.

"What does – what does that mean?" Alex asked frowning to himself before looking up and finding the spot in front of him vacant. He nods. "And he's gone," the boy runs a hand through his hair and glances at the tall African American lady. She's watching him with serious eyes. Like, she knows more than she lets on; it's a trait Alex knows Callie's parents have and even Callie herself seems to possess. "So what work can I do for you ma'am?"

"Oh he's so cute and polite." Garcia takes Alex's face giving his cheeks a squeeze. The boy's face turns pink and he glances desperately at the other woman for help. "Hmm…" Penelope tries to think of a possible nickname to give this clearly bemused young man. "Oh I've got it. I'll call you pumpkin, cause your cheeks are so squishy."

"Ah," Alex isn't quite sure how to respond to that. No one has ever given him a nickname like that. The only person who did was his mom. He was her 'Sweet Fella' and Soph was called 'Frog' on account of her being such a squirmy, fussy baby. "I…my name's Alex Karvelle, ma'am."

Penelope releases his face. "I know an Alex! See this is perfect, when she's around and you're here too; we'll know how to tell the difference between the two of you." The techie claps gleefully as she walks back into the house leaving a bewildered Alex in her wake.

"B-But, I'm a dude. Wouldn't that be difference enough?" The boy questioned softly.

"Seeing as to how no one else will, I'll call you Alex." Tara offered as the boy rubs the back of his neck. He looks a little overwhelmed. The psychologist studies him through her lens curiously. "You remember meeting us before, right?" Alex nods, he does indeed. But, that still doesn't make them any less weird. "So, since you're working for me today, you're going to be painting the quest room. Fair warning, it'll take you longer than a day to do it." Tara rubs her brow as she steers the boy up the porch steps feeling the need to ask. "What did you do that you're now Rossi's unofficial servant?"

Alex appears rightfully insulted. "I'm not his servant. I'm only working for him until I've got enough saved to pay for his dry cleaning bill." Not to mention the fact that this gives him the chance to get out of the house while Sophia's at ballet and Nicky and Jacob are at daycare.

He saunters inside allowing the torch of confusion has now passed on to Tara.

"I swear if that guy makes her so much as sigh, he'll have me to deal with."

"And me too." Reid added as Morgan glances at the skinny man with a cocked eyebrow. "I've taken down unsubs all the time, Morgan. I can handle my own against an insurance salesman. Anyway, based on Robert's BMI he falls within the range of healthy but he does have a history of heart issues in his family. Therefore, his heart could go into shock during our fight and I would win by default."

Derek closes his menu. "Yeah, that's what we're going for here." He commented watching as Callie fidgets for the millionth time in her seat. She doesn't look comfortable. However, the profiler flashes their waiter a curt grin as the nineteen year old takes his order. He's having a burger, something with protein.

"I think I'll tell JJ to have Callie tested for attention-deficit disorder." Spencer nods already making mental notes to look up more about the condition. "Either that or she's nervous…wait, based on her facial expressions; yes, Callie is distressed. You know, based on her past; I'm surprised she hasn't made an attempt to bolt."

"Don't count her out just yet." Morgan answered and then an idea hits him. "Bet you our bill, Callie will be climbing out the window before lunch."

Spencer questioned. "Her lunch or ours?"

"Hers," the man is smirking as his genius friend reaches over shaking his hand.

Callie folds a piece of her napkin. This is feeling really incredibly awkward. Robert is uncomfortably attempting to make small talk, but she's sort of zoning out. All of her thoughts are on, for once, the future. Everything's falling apart at the seams. It isn't fair. Why can't my life just be okay? She plays with a loose blonde curl before feeling Robert's eyes fall on her, expectantly. Shit. Did he just ask me something?? Callie swallows half-wishing her surrogate uncles' were closer so they could mouth out what he just said.

"I uh I like pie." Callie doesn't know where that came from, but there it is.

Much to her surprise, Robert laughs. "Yeah me too, but I was asking what your favorite subject was in school? Is it Math?"

"Oh, I don't like Math." The blonde teenager answered with a smile tug on her cheeks. She still doesn't like him, but at least he's not a total ass. Well, he isn't a dick about some things. Robert glances at her with warm gray-green eyes. He looks interested in her answer. Callie licks her lips. "I like art best…it's really cool; you make this thing that's all yours and no one can take it from you." A strange grimace dances across his eyes. "Did you mean like school-school? Then I like History best, I'm part of this group where we do projects throughout the year; it isn't as dumb as it sounds. It's cool cause they're my friends now and we're gonna be together until senior year." Her gaze suddenly fall to the empty appetizer plate as Callie realizes she might not be here for senior year.

"Uh," Robert seems to sense her unease. This is going awfully. He takes a sip of water before responding. "How do you like your burger?" Lillian doesn't usually let him have red meat like this. She also tries to cut the foods he eats high in cholesterol down to basically fish and grilled chicken. But, since she's not around, he's having a burger.

"It's good, but Conor's always makes the best food." There's a glint dancing in Callie's eyes, partially because she worded this at the exact right time and partially due to her honestly meaning every word. The food here is good and when Sean's working, he likes to make her interesting meatless foods.

"I think for that you earned yourself a free slice of pie." Annie Davis commented tickling the girl's side with an easy-going grin. Annie is the divorced matriarch of the Herron family that is, much to Sean's chagrin, mostly composed women. She's a fiercely independent, strong-willed businesswoman for someone who hadn't any prior experience until opening Conor's. "How're you doing today, Callie?"

Callie's answer is respectful. "Fine, ma'am…" she peers around. "Sean's not working today?" Usually, Sean works whenever he can. Because, he's relatively handsome he makes good money in tips. He refuses to accept wages. Anyway, over the past few weeks, she and Sean have become very good friends. They have on occasion kissed, but that's it; more often than not the pair talks about things neither feel comfortable speaking about with their friend groups.

"Sweetheart, for the hundredth time; call me Annie." The owner chided heartily. "No not today, Seanie's visiting Kendra at UVA. He'll be upset he missed you." In all seriousness, Annie hopes Sean has a good time. Since her other son's passing, Sean's been the only male and brothers…have such a strong bond. But, Kendra and Sean have each other to lean on. Maeve and Fin were a little too young to understand what was going on. Annie's eyes fall on the guest sitting across from Callie. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't even say hi to your friend. I'm Annie Davis."

"I'm Robert Perry," the man shakes Annie's hand politely. To Callie's relief, he doesn't mention anything about the custody or being her biological father.

"It's nice to meet you, Robert." The woman with graying black hair nods kindly. She then ruffles Callie's messy blonde curls. Her only daughter with curls is Finny and that girl is way too much of a tomboy to ever consider dressing up. "Well enjoy and tell Elena to give you each a free slice of pie. I'll see you later, Miss. Callie."

Robert responded. "You must go here a lot since your friend's mom owns it."

"Only sometimes; I'm gonna be working here this summer, I think. My buddies Alex and Isabelle want to work here too, but Belle…isn't the working type." Callie answered giggling. Robert grins, she laughs like JJ. He can't get over how much she looks like her mother; it's uncanny. Her curls are all Perry, especially Nana Perry who damn near had an afro.

"So you have a lot of friends at your school?" The man asked as Callie nods looking down. An awkward silence lurks resulting in the teenager to begin playing with her food. Robert glances down at his meaty burger. "Uh you aren't upset that I'm eating this are you?" He's gone out to dinner with snobby vegetarians before who have torn him apart for ordering salmon, a lesser of the meats.

Callie squints. "No, that'd be dumb. You can eat it all you want, but I don't. Mom and Will give me protein pills to make up for it and I love tofu." She glances at the half-eaten garden burger and grins at the sight of pecan pie being slide in her direction. Robert's having apple, at least he didn't choose cranberry. "I lived on a farm and…I quit eating meat after that." He nods, not quite sure what that means. "So, what do you do?" Whenever JJ isn't around, Callie refers to her as mom; the thing that gets to everyone is when she is…she doesn't. It's almost like Callie's afraid to. "Mom tried explaining it to me and I've looked you up, but I don't get it."

Robert is stunned and dismayed; he doesn't like hearing Caroline call him by his first name. But, they don't know each other. It would seem weird if he pushed the dad-title from the fences. "That's my advisor Nico's fault; he likes to complicate our website to make us seem better than our competition. My company manages insurances of people or businesses deciding which works best."

"So you tell people how to live?"

"In a way, yes, but we – Perry Insurance – provides insurance as well. More often than not, our customers come to us wanting to buy into one of our plans." Robert explained causing a silence to lurk only for him to end up adding. "And your stepmother Lillian is part of Cohen Group where she buys small businesses revamping them to sell them again." Callie nods politely, sipping on her water. "But, I guess we seem kind of boring compared to your mom and Will who chase bad guys all day." There's mild resentment in his tone, JJ's doing exactly what she wants to in life…and he isn't. He doesn't hate working at Perry Insurance; it just isn't what he thought he'd be doing.

Something flickers across Callie's eyes so quickly that Robert misses it. "She and Will do a lot of paperwork too, but they only tell me that. They say their work isn't for my ears, but what you do is nice too; if that's what you like."

"What do you like?" Robert asked.

"I like hanging out with my friends and family." Almost instantly after the words escape Callie's mouth, she feels like a complete dope for saying them. And Robert looks offended somehow. Like, she said the wrong thing; Callie inwardly cringes. She ought to write out a script of what to say when she's around him. "I like my art class too."

Her father swallows thickly. "What do you like about it?" His gaze is half on Callie and half on their bill.

"My teacher, Ms. Ryder, is really cool. She writes a word on the board and we have to draw a picture based on what we think the word means. I'm still working on my Compassion piece." The rest of the class has begun doing Honesty and since Callie is taking a while longer, she may need to stay after school sometime this coming week to finish it. Then there's their project on quotes that is due Monday. They have a poster with all their quotes on it along with their feelings about them, and they also had to interview several people about it too.

"Maybe when you finish it, I'll get to see it." The teenager shrugs, however, she doesn't show JJ or Will her work so the chances of Robert seeing them are even slimmer. Callie's private about that. She prefers keeping her pieces and photographs to herself, sometimes she shows Henry, but that's rare. Robert leads her outside and back to the car asking. "Have you ever been to an art museum before?" Callie shakes her head unsurely. "Maybe when you meet Lillian next week; we can all go to one together like a family." Robert knows this is of interest to Callie and adds. "I could even try to get your brothers' to come too."

The blonde buckles her seat-belt and questions. "But, Henry and Michael aren't your kids."

"No, I mean my sons, your other brothers; Sebastian and Edward." The CEO rubs his neck as he puts the car in Reverse . "We uh call them Bash and Teddy, though. Bash is ten and Teddy's eight."

"Oh yeah, I heard I had half-brothers." Callie responded without thinking. She's grown to consider Henry and Mike her actual brothers whereas Robert's children seem distant, like far away cousins.

Robert frowns, offended. "Callie…" he's sighing, aggravated. He and JJ are going to talk about the way Callie views her family members because this is bull. "Henry and Michael are your half-brothers just like Bash and Teddy." The young girl seems too find her plate interesting. "So what do you think? It'd be a real family day."

Callie tapes her fingers against the white box perched in her lap. "Yeah, sure that's fine." The teen lied with a swallow; she suddenly has an acidic taste in her mouth. Today wasn't bad. But, at the same time it wasn't what she wanted to do today either. It felt forced. Worse than when JJ encouraged her to move in, every interaction felt fake…whereas with JJ she tried but not like this; she was real from the beginning. And maybe Callie wasn't trying hard enough, but this isn't something she wants. She has no choice in this; fucking stupid laws. Her eyes light up as Robert pulls into their driveway. "Uh, I guess I'll see you later Robert."

"See you next week, Callie." Robert responded half-wondering if she's going to hug him goodbye like the boys do, but instead Callie nearly breaks the door as she bolts out of the car. Sighing, the CEO waits until his daughter is inside before pulling out and driving off. This wasn't necessarily the worst meeting he went to.

Callie wanders into the kitchen where JJ is feeding Michael his afternoon snack of cut up pineapples in a bowl. This happens to be the newest fruit he's into. Last week, he loved avocados. Callie has a strong feeling Mikey will grow up to be a hipster. Michael glances over at Callie, similar to a king acknowledging one of his subjects. Callie chuckles as she kisses her baby brother's head. JJ continues to feed Michael as she asks her daughter. "Hey sweets, how was lunch with Robert?" JJ hopes Callie had a good time.

"Okay, I guess. He wants to take me to an art museum next week." Callie shrugged rolling her eyes.

"Oh that sounds like fun." The stepfather said trying to sound enthusiastic, but Callie can tell he's putting too much effort in his excitement. He nudges his wife. "Don't it Cher?" Will gives her a knowing look. They have to be encouraging about this, even though it's killing him; it's what they gotta do.

JJ nods forcefully. "Yeah, you'll have a great time babe."

The teenager blinks glancing up at her mother in shock. She looks downright distraught. Will watches her with his arms folded across his chest as though trying to hold back his guilt. Hell, both parents feel guilty. But, what they don't know is that they aren't the only one. "I hafta go out with him again?" She asked doing her best to keep from letting the tears trickle down her cheeks. She thought, or rather, hoped this was a one-time thing.

After sharing a look with a reluctant JJ, Will answers for them. "Yeah, Trouble yah do."

"This sucks, why don't I get a say?" Callie reacts more out of anger than anything else and storms out of the kitchen, keeping her eyes firmly focused on the ground.

"Callie," the profiler called as she begins to go after her. After Callie left when she heard Judge Conrad's verdict, she ended up crying on their shoulders. The only thing that could get her to stop was ice-cream; Callie's actually a lot like Henry in the fact that once she starts crying she can't seem to stop until either being tickled or treats.

"Give her some time, Cher." Will stops his wife. He can gauge that Callie is likely to become angry at them by default if they try to talk to her. On the one hand, Callie lashing out at them is good because she feels comfortable enough to do so. But on the other hand, she gets a little too sassy for her own britches when she acts up. The way he sees it, Callie needs to come to them. She's got to start coming to them more anyway. This is good. He hopes. Honestly, Will is just trying to stay hopeful. "This ain't easy for any of us." Honestly, the Southerner is doing his best to conceal the pain burning in his chest. He would've loved having a little girl – hell Callie is his girl – no matter what, but it being official would've been nice.

"I know…I just hate to see our girl in pain." JJ said as her phone buzzes. She checks it and pulls a disappointed face at Garcia's message. "Oh crap, I have a case." Her husband looks crestfallen. Now he has to deal with a pissed off teenager and two rowdy little boys. "I'll say goodbye to the boys and tell Callie goodbye when I'm driving her to Belle's for her project." The blonde woman reads her husband. "Will, I'm sorry, but this is my job."

Will replied. "I know it is, Cher, but are yah sure this is the best time for you to be leavin?"

JJ sighs, she wants to be here but it wouldn't be fair. "I can't miss any more work, Will. Hotch is already giving me the court days off." Will sucks in his cheeks as his head bobs up and down. He wishes everything could've just worked out the way it was supposed to.