I am sorry for the delay...especially after all the AMAZING reviews I received from the last chapter...I just didn't know what I wanted to happen with this...I wrote 3 totally different versions before settling on this one. Read Review and Enjoy!
She didn't know why, she didn't know where they had come from but tears rolled down her cheeks and once they started she couldn't get them to stop. She was angry at herself for letting these tears fall….he was not worth a second thought let alone tears. Brandon's heart broke seeing Callie so distraught…he didn't know how to make the situation better. He held her as she sunk back into his arms for a few minutes and just cried. Stef, Lena and Brandon all froze when Callie jumped off the bed and stomped into the master bathroom and shut the door with a thud.
"Brandon wait," Stef said stopping her son from going to the bathroom door. "Give her a few minutes….it is late try and get some sleep please. Mama and I will help Callie through tonight."
"I am not leaving her like this mom."
"Brandon we are not asking you to abandon her and she knows you're not abandoning her. Sometimes in some situation you just need a parents love and I think this is one of those times….if she needs you I promise I will come get you….but please trust us to care for her."
Brandon didn't want to leave…he wanted to make everything better even though he had no idea how to. Maybe the best thing for her right now was to let his mom and Lena step in….maybe this is one of those adult decisions he had to make that even though he didn't like it he just wanted what was best for Callie.
"Can you tell her I love her….and I don't care what time it is if she needs me I will be here in a heartbeat."
"I promise love…now go get some sleep we will make sure Callie is ok."
Brandon kissed his moms goodnight before he headed out of the room.
"So how do you want to play this," Stef asked her partner?
"I think we should give her a little more time to compose herself….see if she comes to us."
"And if she doesn't?"
"The power tools are charged up in the garage right….wouldn't take much to pop the door off," Lena playfully sassed.
"Careful dear I think I am rubbing off on you," Stef smirked. "Ok so why don't you go make some tea while we give her a little more time and if she is not out by the time you get back we will check on her."
"Sounds good love," Lena said giving her a kiss before leaving the room.
Lena left the room and Stef moved to sit on the edge of her bed. She loved all her kids and wouldn't change a thing but sometimes she wished she could abolish the people responsible for giving her beautiful children life….between Anna and now Donald….if the twins father suddenly showed up she was moving the family into witness protection.
Stef stood up when she heard the bathroom door open again and her sniffling girl make an appearance back in the room.
"Where did everyone go," Callie asked with a shaky voice?
"I forced Brandon to try and get some sleep….but he says he loves you and if you need him you know where he is….and mama is…
"Back with some tea," Lena said walking into the room carefully carrying three cups in her hands.
Stef walked over to her helping her settle the cups on the nightstand. After, she turned to Callie and held her arms out which Callie melted into. A new wave a tears cascaded down her cheeks which Callie didn't fight.
"I'm sorry," Callie mumbled.
"Sweetie you have nothing to be sorry for," Lena said rubbing her back.
"I'm crying…over something stupid."
"This is not something stupid love…this is something pretty major."
"But it shouldn't be," Callie almost yelled abruptly turning out of Stef's arms. "He did some awful things and he left….he left and cut off all communication when I tried to reach out to him. Everything was fine….I have a boyfriend….I have a family and a great life….why is he showing up now," Callie demanded a new wave of tears threatening her eyes.
Stef and Lena looked at each other both realizing, maybe for the first time, just how much hurt still existed in this part of Callie's life.
"Sometimes life throws some very unexpected curve balls at you and there may not be any good reason it just happens. It can suck but you don't have to take it on alone. Mom and I will be there with you every step of the way….Brandon well I don't think you could keep him away if you tried," Lena offered a small smile.
Callie turned her back to the moms embarrassed by the tears that wouldn't stop. She harshly wiped at them wishing they would just stop.
"He doesn't deserve this."
"What sweets," Stef asked almost not hearing Callie's admission?
"These tears…this reaction….any of my thoughts or time. He doesn't deserve it."
"But you deserve it Callie," Stef said taking her hand and turning her back to them. "You deserve to get so angry you can't stop the tears, you deserve to yell at the top of your lungs how unfair this is, you deserve to be able to vent in whatever way you need to….mama is right this sucks….we certainly aren't ready to roll out the red carpet for him. You are not alone," Stef emphasized. "There is nothing wrong with how you're feeling because it's what you are feeling…..don't ever bottle that up….trust me the end result is never good."
"Why can't he just stay the hell away? I thought…..I honestly thought he had died in prison when I stopped getting letters….I guess it was easier to think he died then he was just ignoring his daughter."
Stef and Lena wanted to cry at the heartbreak their girl went through in her young life, but knew they needed to hold it together. No child should ever have to wonder if a parent was alive or dead no matter the situation.
"I am not defending him love but there might be a reason for it….maybe he thought you were better off without him."
"I would have been better off if he didn't kill my mom….if he didn't pick drinking over his family….if he wasn't a total screw up who time and time again messes up my life. How can he still mess up my life when he is not even in it?"
"Even though people sometimes have the best intentions the results don't always match them."
"Parenting is hard babe….you kids don't come with owner's manuals and not everyone is good at it. Some people….try as they might just don't know how to be a parent and the harder they try the worse they make it. I always knew I wanted to be a mom….but when I had Brandon I felt like I was dropped in a foreign country where I couldn't understand anyone or anything."
"But you're a great mom," Callie said wiping the tears off her cheeks.
"Thanks…I am going to tell you something but if you repeat it to anyone I will deny it to my death."
"What," Callie asked interested?
"I wasn't always this amazing mom."
Lena couldn't help but chuckle.
"When we took Brandon home the first three nights he would wake up multiple times screaming bloody murder I would pick him up and he would be soaking wet. I thought he was too hot and then I thought he was sick and way calling the doctor at all hours of the night."
"What was it?"
"I apparently wasn't putting his diaper on properly and he was peeing on himself."
Callie took a second to process what she just heard and couldn't help but laugh.
"I almost made some pretty big mistakes like when he was 1 I accidently let him fall off the couch and he had to get stitches in his lip, I gave him medicine he was allergic too and broke out in hives and there was a trip to the ER with a marble crammed up his nose."
Callie was glad for the brief distraction and funny memories Stef had, but her situation was different.
"Not knowing how to change a diaper or letting a toddler be a toddler is different than picking up a 6 pack over medicine for your kid or drinking and driving or ignoring your daughter."
"I know it is not love….like I said some people are just bad at parenting and they can't get over their own vices. Honestly some people should never have kids but they do and most figure it out….I wish like hell we had gotten you sooner and you didn't have to suffer so much. However, just like I will be forever grateful to Anna I will be grateful to Donald because he might have done a million things in his life wrong but he got two things right."
"What's that?"
"You and Jude….you are the loves of our lives and we couldn't imagine this family without you."
"I'm sorry….I'm sorry for bringing this into your life," Callie mumbled now leaning into Lena.
"Ohh love we would deal with him every day for the rest of our lives if it meant having you and Jude in our life. You're worth anything and everything," Lena said kissing her forehead.
"This is not the end of the world…we are going to figure this out together," Lena said hugging her.
"Jude," Callie gasped out. "Please….please protect him," Callie nearly begged in a panic.
"Sweetie we will not let anything happen to Jude….you thought you saw Mama Tiger before you haven't seen anything yet," Lena smiled getting a slight smile out of Callie.
"If it was just me I am not sure I would want to see my father right now….but I want answers especially about what he wants with Jude. I want to see him…before Jude does."
"Ok…we understand that but Callie if you don't want to see him you don't have to….mama and I will meet with Donald before we will figure out what he wants before we let him anywhere near Jude."
"I need to do this."
"Ok, it is late. How about we all try and get some sleep…tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We will let this all settle and then after the holidays we can revisit this and set up a game plan ok."
"Yeah that sounds good."
"All right sweets go get some sleep," Stef said kissing her forehead.
"Night mom….night mama," Callie said hugging them both.
Stef and Lean watched their daughter leave. She didn't often call them mom or mama but when she did it was always special. The girl had been through a lot in her life and this way just another layer they needed to peel back and deal with….only this time she wouldn't have to deal with it alone.
Callie headed into the hallway and was about to head to her room when she turned and quietly opened the door to Jude's room. She stood in the door for a moment with a smile seeing her brother sound asleep, resting peacefully without a care in the world. She closed the door and headed to the room across the hall.
"Have room for one more," Callie asked after she kissed Brandon softly causing his eyes to flutter open?
"Hmm for another kiss I just might," Brandon mumbled in his sleep.
Callie giggled before giving him another kiss and sliding into bed next to him.
"You ok," he asked wrapping his arms around her?
"I am now," she snuggled into his embrace.
The two settle into bed and surprisingly Callie felt better after talking to the moms. She was about to drift off to sleep herself when she felt Brandon shifting behind her.
"Merry Christmas Eve," he whispered in her ear.
Callie looked over to the clock and saw it was 12:01am.
"Merry Christmas Eve."
Callie placed one more soft kiss against his lips before the two settled into bed. She sighed happy to be where she belongs, where she felt most loved….in this house with this family in her loves arms. For the first time in a few days she didn't feel like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Today was Christmas Eve and tomorrow was Christmas and she would be damned if she was going to let anything mess up her holidays with her family.
