Chapter 7

Callie walked into the pharmacy, her eyes scanning the store. She discreetly walked to the family planning aisle, picking up three different pregnancy tests. She kept her eyes downcast as she handed the tests to the cashier. She refused to meet the judgmental eyes of the woman working the register. She paid quickly and left with the bag.

She stopped in the supermarket on her walk home and went to the bathroom in the back. She let out a sigh of relief when she found it empty. She went into a stall and performed the steps for all three tests. Her stomach churned anxiously as she paced back in forth in the stall, waiting for the time to pass. Two minutes. It sounded like a short period of time, but in this moment it felt like a lifetime. She checked the clock on her phone every three seconds.

Callie took a deep breath when the two minutes finished. Her heart pounded in her chest. Trembling and clammy hands lifted the three tests. They all contained the same symbol- a small pink plus sign; a small pink plus sign that just changed her life completely.

Nausea swam in the pit of her stomach. The room began to spin. She leaned against the wall of the stall to stop herself from falling. She closed her eyes, trying to process this. She was pregnant; carrying the baby of Liam or Vico. How did this even happen? They had given her emergency contraception at the hospital, but she had gotten so sick after that. She probably never actually absorbed the medication. Once again, the world was fighting against her.

Callie let out a sob as tears erupted from her eyes. What was she supposed to do? She was sixteen and she was still technically a foster child. What would happen if Bill found out? Would he take her from the Fosters and throw her into a group home. This was too much. All of this was too much. She didn't know how much more she could take.

She jumped when she heard someone enter the bathroom. She threw the tests in the garbage and exited the stall. She washed her hands and wiped away her tears before leaving the bathroom.

Lena walked out of the bathroom to find her wife sitting on the bed with her eyes glued to the screen of her phone. "Stef, Callie went to see Daphne. She is going to be fine."

"I know, I know. I just worry about her. This is the first time she's been out alone since the…winter ball." Stef sighed, tossing her phone on the nightstand. "She acts so strong and tough, but she's hurting so much inside. I can tell and I just worry. She bottles everything inside."

"I know. Give her time. Everything is still so fresh and she's still learning that she doesn't have to bottle things in here. " Lena sat on the bed beside her wife. She paused for a moment. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course." Stef nodded. "Is everything okay?"

Lena took a deep breath. "Well the timing is horrible with everything going on, and honestly I forgot about it since everything happened with Callie, but…I realized my period is two weeks late. I stopped to get a blood test yesterday and they just called with the results."

Stef's eyes widened. She completely forgot about Lena trying to get pregnant.

"I'm pregnant." Lena whispered. Her eyes searched Stef's face for a reaction.

Stef let out a breath as tears welled in her eyes. "Wow I…you're right the timing is terrible…"

Lena looked away nervously.

"But I feel nothing but love for you and this baby right now." Stef cried. She threw her arms around her wife, enveloping her in her embrace. Her hands moved up to cup Lena's cheeks and she leaned forward to plant a kiss on her lips. Her hand then slid down to rest on Lena's still thin stomach. "We're going to have a baby. I think this is what we need right now."

Lena let out a joyous laugh. "We're going to have a baby."

Callie entered the house to find her family sitting on the couch. Stef turned at the sound of the door and patted the couch. "Come sit, love. Mama and I want to talk to everyone."

Callie hesitated before she limped to the couch, taking the empty spot next to Brandon. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. Did they finally become fed up with her? Were they going to give up with her adoption? "What's up?"

"Well…" Lena began.

"Mama's pregnant." Stef finished with a wide grin.

Callie felt the blood drain from her face. Her stomach lurched. Her body felt hot and cold at the same time.

"Are you serious? That's awesome! This is like a late Christmas present!" Mariana jumped up and threw her arms around both of her mothers.

"Wow, that's great." Brandon smiled. He glanced at Callie, observing her pale face and nervous expression.

"This is so cool! I'm going to be a big brother!" Jude's eyes were wide with excitement.

"Callie, you okay, sweets? You haven't said anything." Stef noted her foster daughter's distant look.

Callie's eyes darted to Stef and Lena, plastering a large smile across her lips. "Yeah, yeah. I'm really happy for you guys. I'm just not feeling too well."

Stef frowned. "How was your day with Daphne? You were only gone for an hour."

"Uh yeah, she had to go back to work. It was good though." Callie hated lying, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them what she really was doing. Especially now that Lena had just announced she was pregnant. "I still have a lot of school work to catch up on that I'm trying to finish before winter break ends, so I'm going to go work on that."

Stef's heart ached as she watched the brunette disappear up the stairs. She just wanted Callie to talk to her and express the way she was feeling. She knew it wasn't healthy for the young girl to keep everything inside. "I just wish she would talk to us."

"I don't think she knows how." Jude said sadly. "She thinks she has to be strong for everybody. She used to always take the beating for me when we were in our other homes and when it was over she would always make sure I was okay and tell me she was fine. She would pretend like she was, but I always knew that she was hurting. I think she's afraid too. She never talks to me because she thinks she has to be strong for me and she talked to Bill once and he didn't believe her. So she's never had anyone to talk to. Nobody's cared about us until you guys."

Stef couldn't believe what these kids had endured. "Callie took beatings for you? How often did this happen?"

"Well it depended what house we were in. Our last one was the worst. She got beat almost everyday unless he stayed out at the bars all night. It wasn't even usually her fault. He got mad at me a lot and she would talk back to him or take the blame so he wouldn't come after me." Jude hung his head shamefully.

Stef moved so she was kneeling in front of the couch before him. "Hey, listen to me. What your foster father- or any of your foster parents- did to you and Callie was not yours or Callie's fault. Nobody deserves to be beat. I don't care what you did. Okay?"

Jude nodded, pulling Stef into a hug. "Okay."

Callie closed the door behind her and tears began to stream down her face rapidly. Lena was pregnant and so was she. What did this mean? Lena was probably only a week or two further in her pregnancy than Callie. Two babies? What were Stef and Lena going to do when they found out she was pregnant too?

Callie knew there was no way she would get an abortion. She couldn't personally bring herself to do that. The baby was innocent in this situation and the baby was half of her. She also knew she would never be able to give the baby up for adoption. Not after everything she had gone through in foster care. How was she supposed to raise a baby though? She could barely take care of herself. A baby would be another person she would have to protect from this evil world.

Sweat beaded on Callie's forehead and she felt the bile rising in her throat. Her stomach twisted as nausea overwhelmed her. She darted to the bathroom, letting out a pained cry as her ankle protested the movement. She practically stumbled into the toilet, clutching her stomach as the contents of it spilled into the toilet.

"Callie?" Brandon called out as he peeked into the bathroom. He was coming up the stairs when he saw her run into the bathroom. He walked over to her and gathered her soft curls in his hand.

She vomited several more times before she stood up on her trembling legs.

Brandon watched as she flushed the toilet and rinsed her mouth before he spoke up. "Are you okay?"

Callie nodded, but her eyes said otherwise as they filled with tears.

"What's going on? You've been acting strange since you came home. Did something happen?" Brandon asked. He could see the thoughts running through Callie's mind.

"I'm pregnant." She blurted out before she had the chance to stop herself. She needed someone to know her secret. She had only known for an hour, but it was tearing her apart.

The room fell silent as Brandon tried to process the words that had just slipped from Callie's mouth. Callie was pregnant. "Are…are you sure?"

Callie nodded. "I took three tests and they were all positive."

"B-but you took…you took emergency contraception." Brandon felt like he was trapped in a nightmare.

"And I threw up a million times after that." Callie whispered, her lower lips trembling. "Why does everything go wrong for me? When do I get to catch a break? I can't do this."

"Shh, it's going to be okay." Brandon pulled her into his arms and sobs racked her trembling body. Brandon closed his eyes for a moment. He wanted to take her pain away. He wanted to go back in time and turn down Vico's offer.

Callie began to wheeze against Brandon and she tore away from his arms to clutch her chest. She crumpled to the floor, her eyes shutting tightly. "No! Get off!"

Vico's bare body crushed her trembling one. Callie jerked as his hand settled between her legs. She writhed beneath him, but his grip tightened on her wrists pinned above her head, sending shocks of pain through the wrist she knew was broken. She choked out a sob as she felt his nails dig into her thighs, pushing her legs apart. "No! Stop it!"

Brandon was frozen as he watched the scene unfold before him. He thought she was having a panic attack at first, but now he knew it was something worse. He knelt down beside her, gently touching her shoulder.

"No, don't touch me!" She shrieked hysterically. She pushed at his hand, shaking her head frantically.

Stef and Lena raced into the bathroom; Jude, Mariana, and Jesus waited outside the bathroom. Lena's eyes grew wide with horror as she took in the terrified girl on the floor. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. She was upset and all of a sudden she just freaked out."

"Please." Callie's voice grew desperate. "Please stop."

"I think she's having a flashback." Stef whispered nervously. She had learned how to get Callie through a panic attack, but she had no idea what to do when it came to a flashback. She didn't want to touch her because she knew she would only frighten her further. "Callie."

"Please." She begged. "Stop."

Brandon felt his eyes water as he listened to Callie's helpless pleads. He wanted to hurt Vico and Liam for ignoring her frantic cries. He crouched down before her, his voice soft. "Callie, it's Brandon. Open your eyes. It's not real."

"Brandon, help." She whimpered. "Make them stop."

"It's not real, Callie. It's just a flashback. You're safe. You're at home. Open your eyes." Brandon cautiously reached his arm out, but refrained from touching her. "Come on, open your eyes. I'm right here."

Callie's eyes shot open, wide with horror. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath and her lower lip trembled. She dove into Brandon's arms, soaking his shirt with her tears. He held her close, tracing calming circles on her back. He gently rocked her, letting her cry. There were so many thoughts running through his head, especially about the news she had just exposed to him, but he needed to focus on calming her down right now. "You're okay, Callie. You're safe."

"Cal, do you want to talk about what happened?" Stef asked softly. Tears stung her eyelids as she watched the young brunette tremble in her son's arms.

Callie pulled out of Brandon's arms and wiped at her face. She began to chew on her lower lip as she inhaled deeply in an attempt to compose herself. Her eyes darted around the room. She felt mentally scolded herself for falling apart in front of everyone. "I'm fine, I'm sorry."

Stef turned to face the three concerned children behind her. She could sense Callie's discomfort. "Why don't you guys go set the table for dinner?"

Callie watched the three teenagers reluctantly tread away. She looked between Stef and Lena. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Callie, it seems like you had a flashback, which must have been really scary." Lena took a step closer to Callie.

"I'm fine." Callie shook her head as she attempted to get up. She let out a cry of frustration when she realized she couldn't get up between her sprained ankle, broken wrist, and broken ribs.

"Callie." Stef began.

"No, I just need to finish my homework."

"Callie, you…"

"No, I don't want to talk about it! I don't want to talk about any of it! I just want to forget it ever happened!" Callie's voice cracked as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Lena frowned as she knelt down before Callie. She reached out to take Callie's uninjured hand in her own. "My love, I know you want to forget and I wish you could, but we all know that's not going to happen. I know that this is really hard to talk about, but it's the only way that it's not going to hurt so much. It's okay if you don't want to talk to us about it, but you haven't been to your therapist since this happened and I think…I think you need to start going back or seeing someone else."

Callie nodded her head as more tears shone in her eyes. "Okay."

Thanks for reading! Big reveal this chapter, but still a ton more twists and surprises to come. Hope you enjoyed! Review!