Chapter 15
Callie walked to the end of the block and dropped down to the bench. A sob ripped through her throat as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. Through blurred eyes she found Brandon's name and pressed the call button. Her trembling hands brought the phone to her ear. She swallowed back another sob as she heard his voice through the line. "Brandon."
"Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"I'm…I'm fine." She choked out. "I'm just upset. I…I had a fight with Robert. C-can you pick me up?"
"I'm on my way."
Callie stared at paved ground as thoughts swarmed her mind. She flashed back to Sophia's wide grin as she revealed that she had ripped up the abandonment papers. She remembered Robert's relieved face upon hearing the news. She had been betrayed again; by someone she trusted again. She wondered why she trusted anything anymore because it always seemed to blow up in her face.
Brandon's car rolled to a stop by the curb. He jumped out of the car and took a seat on the bench beside Callie. He frowned when he saw her tear stained face. "Hey, what happened?"
"I um…found out that Sophia ripped up the abandonment papers and Robert won't sign them again." She met Brandon's eyes as a new batch of tears shone in her own.
"Won't sign them?" Brandon asked.
"He's going to fight for custody." She croaked. "I should have known. I should have known it's wasn't true. Nothing ever goes right and…"
"Hey, take some deep breaths." Brandon interjected. He shifted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. "Moms aren't going to give up that easy."
She shook her head, sniffling. "It's over, Brandon. Once the judge finds out about us and the pregnancy, it's over. Robert would win the case."
Brandon closed his eyes for a moment as guilt swam in his stomach. "Callie, if you need to end us to stay in the family then I'll deal with it because I just want you to be happy."
Callie smiled through her tears as she met his eyes. Brandon was the one constant in her life; the one person she could trust with absolutely everything."You're sweet. I'm not letting you go again though because you are my happiness, Brandon."
Brandon let out a sigh of relief. He brushed her curls behind her ear and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "You're my happiness too."
"I'm not really sure what I expected. I mean I'm prepared that once I tell Stef and Lena about us I may have to live with Robert and I'm okay with that if it means being with you. I'd rather stay with you guys and I was hoping that with Robert signing the papers, Stef and Lena could just foster me until I'm eighteen, but if they didn't I'd be okay living with Robert. I don't know…I guess just not having the option. It just feels like it was another thing I trusted that blew up in my face."
Brandon waited for Callie's rant to finish before he spoke up. "You're allowed to be upset. I think…I think you've had so many choices taken away from you and so this is just another thing being forced on you and it isn't right. It's another thing that makes you feel like you have no control over your life."
Callie laughed humorlessly. "Because I don't have any control over my life."
Brandon took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers. "You have control over this and I can promise you I'm not going anywhere unless you want me to."
A smile stretched Callie's lips and she leaned in to kiss him. "I love you."
"I love you too." He grinned. "Should we get going?"
Callie nodded and placed a hand over her stomach. "Can we stop for ice cream before going home and telling Stef and Lena about the papers?"
"Ice cream?" Brandon chuckled.
A giggle escaped Callie's lips. "The baby wants chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream."
An ear to ear grin spread across Brandon's lips. Every time he hears her laugh, his heart skips a beat. He placed a hand over her growing bump, hidden beneath her loose shirt. "Well whatever the baby wants, the baby gets."
"Don't let the baby hear that." Callie laughed. "He or she already wants to take over my body. I have to buy new pants and bras again because nothing fits. I guess add tops to that since this bump is getting hard to hide and eventually won't fit in anything."
"I'll take you shopping." Brandon laughed. He stood and held his hand out to Callie to help her up. "Come on, let's go get you your ice cream."
Stef sat at the kitchen table, glasses resting on her nose and papers sprawled out on the table before her. Lena strolled into the kitchen, holding her own piece of paper. She sat down in the chair by her wife and slid it in front of her. Stef lifted her head to meet Lena's eyes. "What's this?"
"Timothy signed the contract papers."
Stef's eyes returned to the paper, quickly scanning the words. At the bottom was a signature. "What? You're kidding."
"He handed it to me Friday after the principal interview. I thought it had something to do with lawyers and I was so happy about getting principal that I didn't want to ruin it. I just opened it." Lena explained with a smile.
"Wow." Stef grinned with wide eyes. She reached out a placed a hand on Lena's leg. "Some good news for once."
Lena nodded with a smile. She watched as Stef opened an envelope and read the paper inside. Stef closed her eyes for a moment as a frustrated sigh escaped her lips. Lena burrowed her eyebrows. "What's wrong? What is it?"
"They're delaying the trial again."
"What? Why?" Lena asked. This was the second time they delayed the trial.
"I don't know. Things are still under investigation. I don't know what there is to investigate. They brutally raped her and nearly beat her to death." Stef fumed, waving the paper angrily.
Lena's eyes widened at her wife's choice of words. Her face contorted into concern. "Does it mean something that they're delaying? Are they trying to come up with some sort of loophole?"
Stef threw the paper on the table and pulled her glasses off her face. "They're probably trying to find a defense because there is none. All the evidence is there. They're just buying themselves more time."
"This is just more time Callie has to be anxious. This trial is hanging over her head and she's terrified with Vico not behind bars." Lena said. The front door clicked open. Stef and Lena turned their heads towards the sound. "Callie, is that you?"
"Yes." Callie replied as she stepped into the kitchen, Brandon behind her.
"Were you with Brandon? I thought you were at Robert's after school?" Stef asked as her eyes glanced back and forth between the two teenagers. They had been spending a lot of time lately and Stef wasn't sure if she should be concerned.
"He um picked me up. I had a…fight with Robert." Callie started as she fiddled with her fingers.
Stef shifted forward in her chair. "A fight?"
"Uh…the papers never got signed. I mean they did, but Sophia ripped them up and Robert won't…he won't sign them again. He wants custody." Callie spit out, watching as Stef and Lena's faces both dropped.
Stef opened her mouth, but no word came out. Callie's words were still processing in her mind. Robert wanted custody. "Okay. Okay. We're…we're going to fight this."
Overwhelming guilt suddenly erupted inside of Callie. Guilt for all she had put them through and guilt that she was hiding this secret with Brandon. She swallowed thickly, turning her head to look at Brandon. Their eyes exchanged a silent conversation and Brandon nodded his head. "You can tell them."
Callie turned back to face her foster mothers. Her heart hurdled wildly in her chest. She watched as their eyes turned from shock and disappointment to confusion. Stef leaned forward on the table. "Tell us what?"
"I…I don't know if we can fight this." Callie started hesitantly. "Because Brandon and I…we're together."
The room fell eerily silent. Stef and Lena sat frozen in their chairs, unreadable expressions painted across their faces. Stef's eyebrows shot up to her hairline as she shifted in her chair once again. "Wh-what? What do you mean you're together?"
Brandon took a step closer to Callie and reached out for her hand. He intertwined their fingers and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He could practically feel the anxiety radiating off the brunette. He met his mother's eyes. "We're dating, we've been seeing each other."
Stef let out a humorless laugh. "Behind everyone's backs?"
Callie felt her heart twinge at Stef's disapproving tone. "I know we went about this in a terrible way and I'm sorry for that."
"How long has this been going on?" Stef crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes flickering back and forth between the two.
"Three months yesterday. Officially anyways." Brandon said.
"Three months?" Stef shouted with wide eyes. "You've been sneaking around behind our backs after we clearly forbid you for three months?"
"Stef." Lena started, but her wife interjected.
"I can't even. I thought this was over!" her voice boomed throughout the kitchen as she threw her hands in the air angrily. Callie flinched and was grateful that Brandon spoke up.
"It wasn't!" Brandon raised his voice. "We never stopped loving each other. This wasn't just a kiss at your wedding. It was feelings the developed the day Callie came to live with us and it quickly progressed into love. We saw each other the whole time Callie was at Girls United. We stopped because Callie needed a family, but we never stopped loving each other and we never will no matter how hard you try. The only reason we hid this from you is because we were scared to tell you how we were feeling because you didn't want to hear about it the first time. You just forced us to break up and didn't consider our feelings for a second."
Stef's jaw dropped incredulously as anger coursed through her veins. "Are you kidding me?"
"Stef." Lena repeated, but it fell on deaf ears.
"We forced you to break up? You were about to become brother and sister!"
"Stef!" Lena yelled firmly, finally catching the blonde's attentions. She was shocked at the confession the two teenagers had just revealed, but part of her expected it. She saw the way they looked at each other and she knew they had become especially close after the events of the winter ball, but she had ignored it. "Yelling is not going to change anything. Can you just take a minute to relax and process things before you react?"
Callie blinked back the tears that had welled in her eyes. "Look, I know it was wrong of us to hide it from you and I felt horrible for doing that to you when you have been so wonderful to me and I'm grateful, I am. I couldn't be more grateful for you guys. You welcomed me and Jude with open arms when nobody else wanted us and you were the first people to show us love since my mother was alive. I tried to push my feelings for Brandon aside, but he's been there for me through all of this and I feel comfortable around him and he…he makes me feel safe. I just…I really needed him and still do to help me get through this. We've tried to stop loving each other, but we couldn't. I've never felt like this about anyone. I truly love your son so much that it hurts sometimes and when he's not around, even if it's just for an hour, I miss him. Before Robert was fighting for custody, I was okay with sacrificing the piece of paper to be with him because even though I've dreamed of being adopted for so long, being with him is what truly makes me happy. I know this situation is complicated, but I think you guys would understand after everything you've been through to be together."
Stef felt some of her anger dissipate at Callie's sincere words. Callie had just spoken more about her feelings in the past minute than she had since she arrived in their home nearly a year ago. The young brunette was right too. Stef did understand what it was like to love someone that was seen as forbidden in everyone else's eyes. If she had listened to her father, she wouldn't have been involved with Lena and her life would have been miserable.
Stef watched Callie and Brandon's eyes meet momentarily. In that moment, she knew the two truly loved one another. "I'm sorry, but this is a huge shock. I just…you hid this from us for so long."
"You kind of forced us to hide it. When we tried to tell you guys we loved each other after Callie ran away you shut it down. You literally forbid us from seeing each other. We had to deal with everything on our own." Brandon reminded.
"Don't blame Brandon. He was only doing what I asked. I didn't want to hide it from you, but I was terrified to tell you guys. I felt awful hiding it from you, I really did. I felt like being with Brandon was this awful forbidden thing at first, but then I thought about it and being part of this family and ending things with Brandon, pretending to love him as a brother when we both know we love each other as so much more, felt even more wrong. We can't be brother and sister."
"After…after what happened at the winter ball and not knowing if she was going to be okay, made us both realized how much we truly loved each other." Brandon gave her hand another squeeze and she turned her head to look at him, a small smile finding her lips. "I love Callie with all my heart and that's never going to change."
Callie looked back at her foster mothers. "Stef, you said once that choosing Lena was choosing happiness. Me choosing Brandon is choosing happiness. For once in my life, I'm doing something for myself, something that makes me happy. I love you guys and this family so much and I want to stay in this house so badly, but if that means I can't be with Brandon, then I choose Brandon. When I think about sacrificing this home and this family to be with Brandon, it hurts, but when I think about sacrificing my relationship with Brandon to be in this home and family, I feel like I can't breathe. I know that this means I may have to live with Robert, but I can accept that as long as I'm with Brandon."
Brandon smiled at Callie. He was so tempted to lean down and press a kiss to her cheek, but he didn't want to make the situation worse.
Lena glanced at her wife. Both women didn't know how to go about this complicated situation. "Callie, I love you like a daughter and I want you to stay in this house, but more than that I just want you to be happy. If you have to live with Robert, we'll get through it, but you are always welcome here any time of day, and you will always be a daughter to me."
Callie felt a tear escape her eye. The amount of love she found in this family was overwhelming.
"We'll find a way to keep you in this house." Stef announced as she looked into Callie's relieved eyes. She knew it wasn't okay for foster siblings to date and that she should be obligated to create separate living arrangements for the two teenagers, but she didn't care. She was tired of playing by the rules knew that Callie was safest and happiness in this home. She wanted Callie to have the love of a family and a boy; it wasn't fair for her to have to choose just one when she should be able to have both.
"Once the judge finds out about me and Brandon he'll award Robert custody. Me and Brandon can't keep this relationship a secret forever."
"Emancipation." Stef announced. "We get you emancipated so you're no longer a ward of the state and then no one decides where you live besides you."
Callie's shoulder dropped slightly. She wanted to tell Stef that the plan was never going to work. She knew the terms that needed to be met in order to get emancipated; she needed to earn enough money to support herself. Except, it wasn't just her. Once they found out she was pregnant, she would have to earn enough money to support herself and the baby.
"That's a lot of stress and she's already dealing with enough." Lena spoke up.
"I don't want you guys to spend all this money on lawyers and stuff." Callie added.
"Callie, don't worry about the money. Just give me time. Emancipation is just one option. I will figure something out. But we are not giving up, I can promise you that. We will fight for you to stay in this house."
Callie nodded, but didn't believe her words.
"We will accept this relationship between you two. You may have to give us some time to get used to it, but we'll accept it." Stef glanced at her wife who nodded in agreement. "But until we figure out a plan, I need you two to keep this under wraps."
Brandon gawked at his mother for a moment before nodding. To say he was shocked was an understatement. He had expected the furious screaming that Stef had begun with, but he never would have predicted the quick turnaround. He was almost certain that if his moms ever accepted this relationship it would have taken weeks, months, maybe even years.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Callie let out a sigh of relief. She felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders; one huge secret down, one more to go. "I can't tell you how much this means to me that you guys are accepting this."
"I'm a little surprised myself. In all honesty, there were signs you two still had feelings for each other and I think both Mama and I ignored them. And I don't know…I guess hearing you Callie opening up so much about your feelings and talking about how much you trust Brandon and feel safe…well who am I to deny you of that after everything you've been through." Stef smiled sincerely. She thought back to the sleepless nights she had spent in the hospital with Callie. More than once she had stared at the battered girl wondering how she would ever trust someone in a relationship; how she would ever feel safe around a man. And yet, the same girl was standing before her, holding hands with her son who she claimed she trusted more than anything and that he made her feel safe. She had seen Callie let her walls down around Brandon more than anyone else and she knew how hard it was for her to do that. The young girl had been through so much trauma and heartbreak in her short life and they couldn't deny her of the happiness that she found with Brandon.
Callie released her grip on Brandon's hand and walked over to the kitchen chairs her foster mothers occupied. She wrapped her arms around Stef tightly before doing the same to Lena. Both women smiled and accepted the hug. "I love you guys."
"We love you too." Lena smiled. She met her wife's hand before glancing at the paper on the table. "Why don't you take a seat? We have to tell you something."
Callie's stomach dropped as she turned her head back to glance at Brandon. She took a seat across from the women and Brandon sat beside her. He reached into her lap and took her hand again. Callie looked back and forth between Stef and Lena. "What is it?"
"They're delaying the trial again."
Callie's shoulders dropped and disappointment swam in her eyes. "Is…is there a reason?"
"Things are still under investigation." Stef frowned as she watched Callie nibble on her bottom lip.
"This is ridiculous." Brandon huffed with frustration. "What is there to investigate?"
"They're just buying more time because they don't have a defense. All the evidence is there." Stef kept her eyes remained on Callie. She could practically see her putting her walls back up. "Callie, this doesn't mean anything. There is nothing they can say or do that is going to erase the evidence we have."
Callie nodded slowly, but her eyes said otherwise. She just wanted it to be over. This has been looming over her since December and she didn't want to deal with anymore. Countless hours were spent worrying about the outcome, dreading standing in front of everyone while rehashing the details of that awful night; the details she refused to tell anyone but the police right now. And she was terrified that Vico was currently free, leaving her constantly on edge that he would return for revenge. He had promised he would come after her if she had said anything other than that she enjoyed it and his threats hadn't left her mind.
Thanks for reading! Another long chapter (the next few are pretty lengthy). So one of the big secrets is out and the next one will be out next chapter. Review!