Chapter 11

Callie slipped into the chair across from Daphne. She pushed her hair out of her face and took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm late. I got stuck at the stupid DNA test."

"That's okay. I had to take care of vanilla milkshake." Daphne nodded her head towards the well-dressed man a few tables down. He slurped on his vanilla milkshake while his eyes scanned the newspaper before him. "I think he likes you. He's here every time you are and he's always looking at you."

Callie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah okay."

"How'd the test go? Did you see your dad?"

Callie shook her head. "No, he didn't show."

"He didn't?"

Callie shook her head again. She didn't want to see him at first; she didn't want anything to do with him. But curiosity had gotten the best of her. She just wanted to see who he was, what he looked like. He was her father. He was her blood. He had forced her to come - to even think about this- and then he didn't even show; it felt demoralizing. "Nope. They said he'd just have to deal with the tests being done separately.

"That sucks." Daphne frowned. She noted the exhaustion on her friend's face. "So how come you look like you haven't slept in weeks?"

"Because I haven't for two months." Callie sighed. "Nightmares, pain, and stress don't make a good sleep medicine."

"You need sleep and you need to keep your stress levels low for the baby." Daphne whispered. "Have you told anyone else yet?"

Callie shook her head. "Nope. I can't bring myself to do it."

"Cal, you have to let them know."

"I know, I know. I just, every time I try the words don't come out." Callie had made the attempt to tell Stef and Lena multiple times, but failed. Her anxiety usually won the battle or she was reminded that Lena was pregnant too. Everyone was so excited for Lena to have the baby and she felt like she was going to ruin that. She feared their feelings towards the baby; feared that they wouldn't get passed the fact that the baby was conceived from something so awful.

"You're eventually going to be too big to be able to hide it under baggy clothes." Daphne said. She glanced at the man who was slurping his practically empty shake. "Would you like another milkshake, sir?"

"Uh…yes, I will. To go, please. Thank you." He smiled. Daphne stood, took his cup, and moved to the back.

"You know, the place down the street has the best milkshakes; the one in the strip mall." Callie said to the man.

He chuckled and nodded his head. "Are you trying to take business away from your friend?"

"I'm just being honest." Callie laughed with a shrug.

"So how come you don't work here? You seem to be here pretty often?"

Callie's face faltered for a moment, but it went unnoticed by the man. She wanted to work here, especially now that she was pregnant and would need to support a baby, but Stef and Lena would not allow her to get a job. They said she needed to heal and focus on getting better. "Uh…my moms just want me to focus on school right now."

"Moms?" He asked curiously.

"Yup." Callie nodded firmly.

"Cool."

"Yeah, it is." She said as Daphne returned to the register with a vanilla milkshake.

Robert smiled at Callie and stood. He walked to the register and pulled out his wallet to pay Daphne. He took the change from Daphne, slipped it in his wallet, and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. He dropped it in the cup full of tips and quickly left, glancing at Callie on his way out.

Daphne's eyes widened as she pulled out the hundred-dollar bill. She held the bill on display for her friend. "You better be here every time he is if he's giving these kinds of tips."

Callie rolled her eyes at her friend. She glanced at the time on her phone, letting out a groan. "Ugh Stef and Lena want me home. They probably want to talk about what happened."

Daphne smiled sympathetically. "Good luck. Keep me posted."

Callie sat on her bed with her laptop before her. He stared at the word document with only one sentence written on the screen. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she inhaled deeply. She couldn't focus on writing her paper. She had too many other thoughts and worries bouncing around her mind. She bit down on her lower lip as she minimized the document and opened Google. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. She hesitated, but typed in Robert Quinn, San Diego in the search engine. She froze when her eyes landed on the familiar face on her screen. Robert Quinn was the man that had been at Daphne's job; the man that had been hanging around every time she was there, watching her, and leaving huge tips.

She felt her chest tightening. Another bombshell; another thing she didn't see coming. She stared at the picture, trying to process it. What did he want? Why was he watching her? He talked to her at the restaurant and yet didn't show up to the DNA test. She slammed her laptop shut. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples. Her head pounded. She just wanted the thoughts to stop.

"Are you okay?"

Callie shot her eyes open to find Mariana entering the room. She nodded her head. "I just have a headache."

"So is it true? Did he really not show up to the test?"

Callie nodded. "Yeah, he never showed up."

"I'm sorry." Mariana frowned as she grabbed her laptop. She plopped down on her bed. "Birth parents suck."

Callie chuckled softly. "Yeah they really do."

"Well it's his loss."

Callie forced a smile at her foster sister. She didn't find truth in her words. Her father was probably better off not knowing her. She had too much baggage; baggage that would only bring him problems.

Callie walked towards the entrance of the Burger Stand. She froze in her tracks when she spotted the familiar face of the man slurping a vanilla milkshake; the face that showed up on her computer screen last night. She stormed over to his table.

"What do you think hanging around here is going to do?" She asked furiously. "I know who you are you're Robert Quinn."

Robert looked up at the young brunette.

"I Googled you, when you didn't show." Callie spat bitterly.

Robert stood, raising his hand in defense. "Okay look, I'm sorry."

"No, I took your DNA test. Alright, what else do you want from me?" She looked at him with a clenched jaw.

Robert paused for a moment. "Five minutes."

Callie hesitated. She was furious and she didn't feel comfortable around him, but part of her wanted to hear what he had to say. So she took a seat in the chair across from him. He sat back down in his seat as well.

"So what, you've been stalking me?" Callie asked angrily.

"I just wanted to see you." He explained. "I mean if I wanted the best vanilla shakes I would have went down the street, right?"

Callie stared at him coldly, unamused by his joke. Did he seriously think he could crack a joke right now?

Robert's smile fell. "Sorry. Look, you should know I didn't want to put you through that test, okay? It's my family's lawyers, they insisted on it…"

"I don't want your money." Callie shook her head. "I want your signature on a piece of paper."

"As soon as I saw you, I knew there was no need for a DNA test. You're my daughter." Robert said. "I know this is really, really confusing, okay, I get it. But you need to understand that before I was served those papers I had no idea you even existed."

"No." Callie shook her head in disagreement. "No, my dad, Donald, he told me that you left after you found out that Mom was pregnant."

"No. Look I never should have left your mom. That's the worst mistake of my life. But I swear, I did not know she was pregnant. I loved your mom a lot."

Callie stared at the man before her trying to figure out if she believed him or not. This was too much to process right now.

Robert pulled out an envelope. "Look I brought you something."

Callie watched him slide it across the table towards her.

"Just read it when you have the time."

Callie glanced at the envelope before returning her eyes to Robert. She grabbed the envelope and stood abruptly. "I have to go."

Callie walked into the Burger Stand with tears welled in her eyes. She saw her friend at the counter and walked over to her. "He's my father."

Daphne looked up from the register to find her friend with a distressed look across her face. She swung around the counter and sat down at the empty table nearby, gesturing for Callie to do the same. "Who is your father?"

"The milkshake guy. I googled him when he didn't show to the DNA test." Callie explained. "I just confronted him. He apparently didn't know my mom was pregnant."

Daphne's eyes widened slightly. It made sense; the man had seemed fascinated with Callie. "Wow."

"I don't…I don't even know what to think right now." Callie whispered as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm so tired of all these bombs being dropped."

"What does he want?"

Callie shook her head as she blinked back tears. She placed her hand over her stomach as a wave of nausea hit her. "I don't know. I don't think I want to know."

"I'm sure it'll all work out." Daphne smiled sadly.

Callie remained silent. She didn't believe it would all work out; it never did.

Thanks for reading! Not a fan of this chapter either, but just some things that needed to be covered. Better chapters coming-I promise! Hope you enjoyed anyway.

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! Review!