Callie felt the blood rushing through her ears. She could feel her feet pounding against the concrete of the sidewalk. Her brow was starting to sweat. Her hair was flying out of her ponytail. Her mind was a jumbled mess of questions.
Lena was her aunt?
How was that even possible?
Robert didn't have any siblings. She'd researched him more than once whenever she'd had access to a computer during her years in foster care, after she had met him and refused to "live" with him. Why would she want to live with a man who refused her baby brother?
"Sophia is your sister, Callie. Jude will forget all about you in a year. You will enjoy boarding school. You can have a horse. Anything you want," Robert said.
Like that made it okay? She didn't know Sophia. Sophia was a brat. Jude was only two then — he was still a baby now! He was only seven now. And anything she wanted? She wanted her mother. Even Robert Quinn couldn't make that happen because her mother was dead.
How was this possible that Lena was her aunt? In what world was this normal? Why couldn't she ever have normal? Why couldn't she be normal? How was it possible she had landed in Lena's lap on accident? It probably wasn't.
Callie kept running. Her heart was beating fast, and she was quickly starting to lose her breath. She wasn't sure how far she had run or how long she'd been running. She wasn't even really sure where she was at.
She slowed down and looked at her feet. She had socks on, but they were dirty now. She thought she'd had shoes on, but she didn't now. She looked around and noticed the street signs and houses.
She had no idea where she was at. But she was pretty sure no one would come looking for her. So she slowed down her pace from a run to a walk.
But, she continued walking aimlessly, her thoughts still running through her mind one right after another.
What about Jude? How did Jude fit in this picture? Did they still want Jude? Did they even want her?
She didn't know. But she sure did care. And that was something new to Callie. She hadn't cared whether she was wanted in a long time. But she definitely cared about Lena and Stef.
And she hated herself a little bit for it.
Seeing a park a bit in front of her, she walked toward it. Callie knew she'd at least sorta fit in there and would hopefully go unnoticed.
Once there Callie sat in a swing and gently pushed herself back and forth, letting the breeze cool her down.
As she began to swing back and forth, tears falling down her face, her thoughts flew far away, to years past …
"Callie, come here, baby girl," Colleen Jacob said with a laugh. They were at the park, Callie was running around the equipment, under the slides, around the monkey bars. It was a game of cat and mouse, but her mommy was not scary. Her mommy was funny and safe.
"No mommy! You have to catch me," the little girl squealed.
"I'm going to get you, CallieCat! Come here," Colleen laughed as she chased after her four year old.
Callie continued to giggle and look behind her to make sure her mommy wasn't close. This time, though, her mommy surprised her and went the other way, scooping up Callie quickly and tickling her belly.
The giggles coming from Callie made Colleen laugh even harder as she carried her daughter over to the swings and sat down, putting Callie's chest against her own.
Callie immediately put her head against her mommy's chest and listened to the soothing sound of her heart beat. It was a sound that always lulled the child into a secure place, one that could make her fall asleep in an instant.
"I love you so much, Callie Quinn. More than the moon and every single star."
Colleen wrapped her arms around her daughter tightly. She wanted this moment to last forever. The moment her four year old still craved her attention, still sought out her comfort.
"I love you, too, Mommy," Callie whispered as she started rubbing her nose with her finger, her thumb in her mouth.
Before long she was asleep, and Colleen kept swinging her, enjoying the sunshine and the pure joy of her child.
"Can I sit," a voice asked, bringing Callie out of her thoughts.
Lena. Callie sighed and tried to wipe her tears away. She didn't want to talk to Lena.
"Where is Stef?"
Lena moved to sit in the swing beside Callie and gently pushed herself back and forth.
"She's in the car. She said she would wait for us — as long as it takes," Lena said softly, staring over the playground, watching the children there play.
"I used to bring Mariana and Jesus to this playground."
Callie didn't say anything, so Lena continued to talk.
"I used to bring Brandon here, too. Before he was killed in the accident. Once Frankie was born I didn't even think about it. The twins were eleven then and I had a very hard pregnancy with Frankie, so I wasn't up to bringing them to the park for a while," Lena explained.
"I didn't know you were mine biologically until last night at dinner, Bug. I had no idea that you were related to me until last night at dinner when you said that Robert Quinn was your father."
"I don't understand. Robert doesn't have any siblings. I looked him up over and over again. He doesn't have your name. I looked him up," Callie whispered.
"Bug, my dad is Robert's father as well. My dad was married before he met my mother and had Robert. For a while, Robert came to visit my dad once he married my mom and they had me. But, Robert was a very angry teenager. He resented me for having our dad, he resented my mother because he felt she took his father away, and he resented our father for everything. So the day he turned eighteen, he changed his last name to his mother's maiden name. You didn't find anything about him because you were looking for Robert Quinn, not Robert Adams.
"Callie, had I or Stef had any idea you were out there, you and Jude, we would have taken you immediately. We would have left no stone left unturned."
Tears were streaming down Callie's face now, harder than they had been when Lena had sat down beside her.
"Do you still want us," Callie whispered.
Lena sighed sadly and turned to look at Callie.
"More than anything. I told you last night, you are mine. Mine and Stef's. I promised you that. I promise you that now the adoption process will go much more quickly."
Callie started to sob — because deep down she did believe Lena.
"Come here, Bug," Lena said gently, holding her arms open.
Callie didn't need to be asked twice, and quickly made her way over to Lena.
Lena immediately pulled Callie sideways onto her lap and held her head against her chest.
And Callie closed her eyes, listening to the comforting sound of her Mama's beating heart.
