-Chapter 25-

"This Woman's Work"

The total travel time from Louisiana to Cozumel, Mexico had been roughly six hours, even though Eric had already anticipated that. It was now a little after three o'clock in the afternoon and the family was at the hotel getting ready for lunch. Even though he was able to move their flight up, getting a room had been trickier. In the end, the family had to share a one room with double beds until they were able to move into their official rooms tomorrow. That left little room for them to talk so while the kids were currently out in the hotel's game room, Eric took the opportunity to make sure Calleigh was okay. "Are you going to be okay?"

Calleigh nodded her head. "I will be." She took a moment to think before she spoke again. "I'm sorry I put you all through it."

Eric frowned his face. "Calleigh, you don't ever have to apologize for that. Her actions were not your fault." He couldn't believe how rude and smug Calleigh's mother had been. He heard the comments she made about their kids. He was happy that Calleigh said what she said because he might not have been so nice. Another part of him was surprised at the way Calleigh had decided to end her relationship with her mother. Clearly, Calleigh's words didn't mean the same to her mother as it did to Calleigh; her mother had called twice before they left the country and another three times after they arrived. Calleigh eventually turned off her phone, stating she needed to change her number. Eric wanted to be sure that she was sure about this.

As if she could sense what Eric was thinking, Calleigh started talking. "I should have known it was going to end like this. She never even made me feel welcomed, despite what her words were. Everything just went downhill from the moment we stepped into the house. Right after hello, everything became bitter. Whenever she talked to me, it was 'it's this, Calleigh, it's that, Calleigh'… she is very condescending. I knew it wasn't going to end well."

Eric tightened his lips. At the moment, he felt the overwhelming need to console her. Even though Calleigh appeared fine, he knew she wasn't. He knew she was heartbroken because he was for her. Eric couldn't imagine what Calleigh was going through. He pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tightly, protectively. "I love you Calleigh and don't you ever forget that. You are a strong woman, one of the many attributes that attracted me to you in the first place. Your disposition is beautiful and admirable. I love you so much."

Calleigh dropped her head and searched the floor. It was the first time since she and Eric had been together that he'd ever said anything like that to her. She knew he loved her, he expressed how he loved everything about her, but breaking it down…it was the first time. Calleigh leaned in and kissed him. What she couldn't put into words, she expressed through the kiss. When they broke apart, she looked him in the eyes. "I love you and thank you for saying that. Just don't feel sorry for me." She bit her lip. "It's just one of those things in life that makes you stronger. I believe I am a better person and a great mother because of it."

Despite the words Calleigh was saying, they felt empty. Like she needed validation. Right then, he realized that she was broken. He rubbed her shoulders. "You are an amazing mother to our children. Don't ever feel like you're not."

Calleigh leaned into Eric's chest as she thought about how their children viewed her. She always tried to be fair. Her mind wandered as she remembered the first time she had to balance her time between Jayden and Landon.

Just as she'd done three years earlier, Calleigh gave birth to Landon Jacob Delko. It took her a little longer to recover than it did with Jayden, but after four days, she was discharged from the hospital, free to bring little Landon home too.

Despite Eric's protest, Calleigh had convinced Eric to continue to work his full time schedule. She would stay home and take care of the kids; she did it effortlessly three years earlier with Jayden so she didn't think it would be a problem. She quickly found out it wouldn't be as easy as she thought. Her two children. Jayden, who still hadn't returned to a day care center because the mere sight of anything close to it would frightened her to the point where she would scream and cry, had regressed to baby ways. Landon, who was only days old, went through a period where he cried all the time. This was way above Calleigh's head and despite her efforts, it felt like she could never have both children satisfied at the same time.

Landon had just turned two weeks old and on this particular day, Calleigh was tired and postpartum was getting the best of her. She was depressed and anxious. She couldn't work, Jayden had a problem and Landon wouldn't stop crying. On top of it all, since Eric was working full time, she felt like she was doing this all on her own.

Calleigh had fallen into a new default with Jayden which involved Jayden sitting on the couch, watching Sesame Street until Landon was sleep or he was calm. She didn't like it, but it was what worked for right now. On this day, it had taken a little longer than usual to get Landon to sleep. Calleigh laid him in the bassinet next to the couch and sat Jayden in her lap so they could talk and watch the show together.

Not even five minutes later did Landon wake up and start crying. Calleigh had sat Jayden on the couch to pick up Landon. Jayden, deciding she was tired of taking the back seat to the new baby, had folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

Calleigh thought Jayden's reaction was cute, but quickly found out how serious Jayden was. Jayden had stomped and screamed through the house. When she tried to calm Jayden down, she started pushing and throwing things, which in the process, Jayden ended up breaking her favorite crystal vase. Of course it did nothing for her mood and it aggravated Landon more. Once again, Calleigh tried to explain to Jayden that she needed to calm down, which only continued to fuel Jayden's tantrum. As a last resort, Calleigh spanked Jayden and gave her an early nap. Even when Jayden woke up, she remembered what happened and the tantrums started up again.

By the time Eric came home from work, the house was in chaos. Jayden was screaming, crying and stomping around the house, Landon was crying and Calleigh was crying right along with them. He immediately took charge of the situation by first assuring Calleigh that she was going to be okay. Once that was established, they got Landon together and sat down with Jayden and explained that her little brother needed a little more attention now, but they would set aside special mommy and daddy time for her. This seemed to work for her, and they hadn't had real problem with Jayden since.

Calleigh broke from her thoughts. Her mind immediately went to the situation with Jayden at the restaurant. Lately, Jayden had gotten really snappy with them. She wondered if that was the teenaged version of Jayden's tantrums. Jayden had been making progress with her emotions over the past few months, so they shifted some of their focus to make sure Landon was on track.

Now Calleigh was curious; even though they'd accepted Jayden's apologies, she wondered if they needed to intervene more. She didn't want Jayden's attitude to go further than it already had…

Attitude. A chill went through her veins as her mind jumbled. Right then, everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours had hit her and she literally felt like she couldn't breathe. She ended a relationship with the person who'd birthed her, the same person had belittled her in front of her children, made negative comments about how they dressed and personally attacked her parenting style. Calleigh was overwhelmed. Once again, the issue with Jayden was out of her mind. She already summed she wouldn't be able to be rational with her if she talked to her now. And that's what hurt her. She was in no position to even talk to her children. Her soul was hurting, she didn't know what she was going to do. Calleigh fell into Eric's arms and broke down.

Eric wrapped his arms around Calleigh and rocked her. He rubbed her back and talked to her. He wanted to let her know that it was going to be okay.

After about five minutes, Calleigh had pulled herself together. She looked at Eric. "Thank you." She threw her hands up and rubbed her lips together as the last few tears spilled onto her cheek. "I don't know what to do."

Eric ran his hand up Calleigh's arm. "We're going to work through it together."

Calleigh nodded her head as her mind thought. She knew it was going to take some time for her to come to terms with losing another parent. Losing her dad had hurt her deeply, even years later, her heart still ached as if it had just happened. It was one of the reasons she thought the trip to Louisiana was necessary. She'd last seen her mother at his funeral and talking to her on the phone, Calleigh thought that maybe it would reconcile their relationship. Seeing that it had the opposite effect, brought a new rush of tears to Calleigh's eyes.

Eric let Calleigh cry it out. He offered his words and soothed her through back rubs and hugs.

Calleigh sniffed. Her thoughts cleared a bit and she checked the hotel clock. The day was wasting away. She hated the way all of this unfolded on their anniversary trip, but was happy that at least they'd gotten the chance to spend their official anniversary together, happy. Calleigh swallowed. "I think I need to get ready. We should really be heading to lunch and I want to do something today."

"Cal, the kids are in the game room and I'm sure they are loving it," Eric started. "If you need time…"

Calleigh shook her head. "Eric, I'll be fine. I still want to make this a great trip for the kids." Sensing that Eric wasn't buying her reasoning, she started talking again. "I need to have fun."

"Okay," Eric said simply. Proof that the woman in his arms was a great mother; she always put their children feelings before her own. Even as she was breaking down, she always thought about the kids. He pulled Calleigh into a tight hug and kissed her cheek. "I'll go check on the kids and I'll be right back."

Calleigh smiled and squeezed his hand. "Stay with them. I'll meet you guys in thirty minutes."

Eric shook his head. Right now he just wanted to be by Calleigh's side. "Baby…"

"Baby," Calleigh said, repeating Eric's words. The little teasing brought a small smile to her face. "I'll be down when I finish getting dressed." Seeing Eric's face, she knew he wasn't going to leave her alone. She tried again. "As soon as I finish."

Eric pecked Calleigh's lips and cupped her face. He wanted to be there for her and understood if she needed some time alone. He let out a breath and nodded his head. "Okay." He placed another kiss on her lips before leaving the room to check on the kids.

…

"So tonight," the girl said, touching Landon's arm. She had a heavy accent that proved she was a native of the small island and although they shared some words in Spanish, her English was fluent enough for them to talk in English as well. She gave a warm smile to him, lighting up when he smiled back. She looked at Jayden before turning her attention back to Landon. "I hope to see you both there."

"Of course you will," Landon said, returning the smile that revealed the dimples in his cheeks. He was so happy that they'd found some people their age to hang out with. His eyes flashed brightly. "Nos vemos esta noche," he said in a smooth voice, flirting with her.

Jayden rolled her eyes. It wasn't like the girl didn't speak English. He could have just told her "see you tonight" in English, but seeing the effect it had on this girl that he'd spoken it in her native language, she saw why he did it.

And she couldn't believe it. Her twelve year old brother was doing this as if he had years of experience in flirting. How? Jayden still hadn't even gotten to the point where her palms didn't sweat when she was with a guy. Their stranger talking brought Jayden out of her thoughts.

"Si. Hasta luego," the girl said, instantly falling in love with Landon's charm.

Landon nodded his head as he watched the girl walk away. He turned and Jayden's eyes were on him. "What?"

"You're not going anywhere tonight," Jayden said. She watched as Landon frowned his face. She could tell he was about to throw out a retort and she spoke before he could. "We are sharing a room with our parents. I would love to see how you ask them to go out, unless you're planning to sneak out."

Landon cut his eyes to her. The last comment had hurt him. Over the past months, he worked hard to gain his parents trust and put what happened at the start of his school year behind him. Now, here was Jayden using it as ammunition against him. He shook his head to her. Just as he was about to say something to her, he saw his dad coming in the game room. Leaving Jayden standing in the middle of the room, Landon went to his dad. "Dad," Landon started. Seeing that he was alone, he spoke again. "Where's Mom?"

"She's going to meet us down here," Eric said. He beckoned Jayden over. Once she joined, he started talking again. "Today, we're going to have lunch and we're going to do an activity as a family." He watched as they nodded. "It's been a rough day for your mom…let's try to make this the best vacation for her."

"Of course," Landon said.

"Okay," Eric said, checking his watch. Calleigh said she would be down in thirty minutes. Watching as the kids ran off again, Eric tried to busy himself with some of the arcade games from his childhood.

A/N: I'm off vacation, so chapters may not be as frequent. :( Thanks to extreme temperatures, I'm off work and had the chance to update the story. :)

Next chapter soon!