Callie and Max sat at the dinner table for what seemed like years, both of them lost in thought and neither of them saying a word. Max felt stupid and rude for blurting out Stewart's business like that in front of Lena and Callie. He hadn't really thought about it from their point of view - to him it had just been a job at the time and he did it with more determination because it was Stef that he was fighting for. Ironically it's the one thing that Stef had been trying to teach him from the time they worked on their first case together back in law school - that Max often forgot that they were dealing with real people with real feelings and real high stakes at risk.
Callie didn't know what to really think. She was angry with Max, that was for certain; and possibly angry with Stef as well for it was clear that the woman had known the truth and kept it from Lena. How dare they investigate them like they were criminals. Things like this were private within the family and for Max and Stef to believe they had a right to stick their noses where they weren't wanted insulted her more than she imagined. But apart from that she wasn't sure what to think of her own family. She had an image of Lena and her parents that never once included something like this. In her mind none of them could ever do any wrong and anyone accusing them of such a thing was either lying or wrong but clearly that wasn't the case and Callie wasn't so young that she could naively believe it so.
"I'm sorry." Max finally said, breaking Callie of her thoughts. "I didn't mean…"
"You didn't mean to blurt it out like that in front of my mother but you did mean to pry into our lives to dig up whatever dirt you could find." Callie finished bitterly.
"I didn't realize that your mother didn't know." Max tried to explain. "I know that either way it was not my place to bring up the subject but it just slipped. I wasn't thinking."
"Is this what being a lawyer means?" Callie questioned accusingly. "Digging up every mistake that someone has ever made; ruining them and their lives? How do you even live with yourself?" She spat angrily.
"It was a case; I was doing a job to win for my client." He felt the need to explain.
"It's not just a case." Callie replied. "Not to me, not to my mom and certainly not to by grandpa who isn't even here to explain anymore."
"I never meant to hurt you Calle." Max said sincerely. "I love Stef and I would never intentionally do anything to hurt any of you."
"Well then take her and go." Callie said through gritted teeth. "Just get out and don't ever come back. You do nothing but destroy things. YOU ALWAYS RUIN EVERYTHING!"
"I'm not trying to destroy your family." Max said just as Stef and Lena made their way downstairs when they heard Callie yell.
"Honey." Lena rushed to Callie's side before the girl could say anything further.
"No, why is he here?" Callie asked her mother though she never once took her eyes off the man, afraid that if she so much as blinked again he would create another explosion. "He's not part of this family and if it's Stef he wants then he can have her." She spat, still glaring at the man.
"Callie STOP." Lena ordered, forcing the girl to look at her. She didn't have to turn around to see the hurt on Stef's face. After all this time; after all they'd been through, Callie still seemed so willing to just toss Stef aside. "Think about your words before you say them." She warned, reminding Callie that her words can hurt others just as much.
"But he's always destroying things." Callie said, her voice practically begging Lena to believe her, to see for herself and agree with her. "Every time he shows up, things go wrong."
"It's not true." Lena denied.
"Yes, it is." Callie argued back. "He ruined my adoption, he was there when Stef fought for custody and now he's out to ruin us again?"
"It wasn't his fault." Lena began to explain. "He put a stop to your adoption because your birthmother had been looking for you for two years. He was there when Stef filed for custody because he was being a good friend to her and as for today, he isn't responsible for grandpa's mistakes."
"He didn't have to tell us." Callie stated. The two of them were arguing as though there was no one else in the room. "Why did he have to ruin it? Why now when it doesn't even matter anymore. Is he just jealous?"
"No, we would have found out eventually." Lena said. "These things have a way for coming out of the woodwork no matter how hard you try to hide it. Just like you found out about the custody battle, remember. I tried to keep it from you but eventually you found out."
"I'm not jealous Callie." Max finally interrupted, speaking for himself for the first time since the two women came back downstairs. "I am so happy for you; for all three of you. It worked out so perfectly." This time Max kept his mouth shut about Stef and Lena as a couple for he definitely did not want to overstep twice at one dinner.
"Sweetheart, from the time that Stef found us he has been nothing but supportive of her." Lena explained. "He's covered for her at work when she spent months and months down here; her fought with her when she wanted you; he cried with her when she lost you and now he's expanding his company for her because she wasn't to be with you. Max wasn't trying to hurt us, he was just being there for his friend and that's not a bad thing."
"So he can just ruin our lives just because he's not our friend?" Callie questioned in confusion. Fine, he was an awesome friend to Stef but what about her and Lena, what were they, chopped liver?"
"He made a mistake by sharing that information." Lena answered. "But that doesn't make him a bad person just like having an affair is a mistake that doesn't make grandpa a bad person either." She said though she glanced to Stef, grateful for the change of heart.
"So you're just okay with this?" Callie asked Lena with a shrug.
"Baby, my dad has been there for me through everything from the time I was born. He has done so much for me through the years and he's done so much for you ever since you came into our lives, do you really think that this mistake that he made so many years ago changes who he truly is?"
"I guess not." Callie said reluctantly. "I mean, I never imagined he would do something like that but…"
"We're disappointed." Lena agreed. "We're hurt and sad and upset but we still love him, don't we? I know I do."
"So do I." Callie replied. "I mean, if he were here right now I don't think I'd be mad at him. I was just mad at Max told us about it. He ruined my image of grandpa."
"You know, sometimes we put the people we love on such a high pedestal that it hurts a lot when we see them fall but the truth is that they are humans too, they make mistakes too and it's not their fault we hold them to such a high standing." Lena told her daughter.
"I"m sorry." Callie finally said to Max. She still believed that the man was a ticking time bomb but like Lena said, it wasn't his fault that her grandpa cheated.
"Me too." Max replied, his hands up in surrender. "I didn't meant to hurt you."
"I know." Callie replied, figuring it was all over. But to her surprise Lena had more to say.
"I think you owe Stef an apology too." Lena said when Callie accepted Max's apology.
"Why?" Callie frowned as she looked from Lena to Stef and back again.
"Do you really want Max to just take her from us and never come back?" Lena asked her daughter with her eyebrow raised.
"No." Callie answered with a frown, wondering why Lena would even ask that.
"So you let something slip even though you didn't actually mean to hurt anyone by it." Lena asked rhetorically making Callie think back to her argument.
"I'm sorry." Callie said to Stef. "I didn't even realize I said that."
"I love you Callie and I hope you know that none of us; not Lena, not I and not even Max, would ever intentionally hurt you."
"I know." Callie replied. "I love you too." She said with a smile and walked over to give the older woman a hug.
Max and Lena smiled as Stef held her daughter tight planting kiss after kiss on the top of her head.
"You know, Stef always says I have foot in mouth disease." Max said once they were all sitting back down to dinner. He still felt awkward for the mess he'd created but at both Stef and Lena's insistence, he stayed to finish dinner. "It's not that I don't realize that the opposing party are people too, it's just that I want my client to get what they came to me for."
"Makes sense." Callie said with a nod. "I'm sure they dig up all the dirt they can find on your client too right?"
"They do." Max nodded. "Admittedly most of us lawyers are in it to win it. We try to keep it clean but we will use whatever we have to win."
"But Stef said you couldn't." Callie confirmed, remembering his statement that started this whole mess.
"Yes she did." Max answered. "Your mother is truly one of the best lawyers I have ever met and not just because her win rate is very high but because she does it with the minimum damage."
Callie smiled proudly at Stef as Max continued.
"She puts her heart and soul into it and doesn't stop until she truly finds the best outcome." Max finished.
"So what happens if you disagree with your own client?" Callie asked curiously.
"Well, you have the right to deny representation." Max answered. "We aren't court appointed attorneys so we are under no obligation to take on a case when they bring it to us but once we do we are honor-bound to follow our clients wishes and a loss for our clients is a loss for us."
"So you fight hard." Callie finished, finally understanding Max's point of view. Back when he was investigating them Stef was his client and Callie and her family were standing in the way of their big win.
"We all do." Max replied. "You fought against Stef too but you just didn't realize it because you were fighting for what you wanted. She was also a person with feelings that were hurt but you don't see it that way."
Through this entire conversation Lena and Stef had remained quiet listening. Callie was asking interesting questions and it was the longest conversation that the girl had ever had with the man so they just sat back an listened but suddenly it was getting personal again and Stef didn't want it to go down that road.
"Alright, that's enough." Stef interrupted before Callie even had a chance to answer. "All this is in the past and we aren't digging it up again. We all hurt each other, we all fought for what we wanted but can well all be grateful that it concluded without anyone's lives truly being destroyed?"
All three of them watched as Stef's face was filled with stress. She hated everything that they had all done wrong right from the moment that she agreed to give up her baby to the day she turned in the custody papers but there was nothing she could do about it so rehashing the whole thing wasn't helping.
"You know what? Why don't we wrap up here and get some drinks and go out back." Lena suggested. They were all wound tight after the events of the night and she hoped that a change of scenery and a little fresh air would do them all some good.
"I'll grab the wine and glasses." Stef stated as she got up and headed towards the formal dining room where the wine was kept, needing a moment to compose herself.
"I'll clear the plates." Max offered as he took his own and Lena's to the sink before heading back for the last two.
"I'm going to grab a blanket, anyone else want one?" Callie said. The young girl tended to feel cold easily and the cool night breeze was bound to make her shiver.
"No thanks honey." Lena answered. "I'll be right back." She said and headed to the bathroom for a moment.
By the time Lena was back the other three were out back and Max was uncorking the wine and Stef was walking out back with a mug of hot cocoa for Callie.
"Here you go love." Stef said, handing the young girl the mug and it was only then that Lena realized that Callie was sitting in the beanbag chair that Lena loved.
"Thanks." Callie said to Stef before turning to her mom. "You're right mom, this chair is good enough to sleep in." She said emphatically, not realizing just how uncomfortable Lena felt about using Stef's chair.
