Protecting Your Own Part 4 - The Next Day
Summary - Brandon and Callie struggle to deal with the aftermath of their altercation with Liam.
Disclaimer - I didn`t create any of the characters in this story. They are the property of Bradley Bredeweg, Peter Paige and ABC Family. All infringement are unintentional.
Lena tossed and turned in the bed for a few minutes before she got up and went downstairs to the kitchen. She wasn`t able to sleep due to the anxiety of not knowing what was happening with Brandon and Callie. As Lena fixed poured herself a glass of orange juice and then sat at the kitchen table, she looked outside the window. She felt so helpless in that moment and wanted nothing more than for Stef to come back home with Brandon and Callie. A few minutes later, Lena heard her cell phone buzzing. She picked it up off the counter and saw on the I.D. that it was Stef.
"Hey, how are Brandon and Callie?" Lena asked.
"They`re both pretty shaken up," Stef replied. "but otherwise they`re safe. Brandon went back with Mike to stay with him tonight."
Lena breathed out a sigh of relief immediately when Stef updated her on Brandon and Callie. "Do you know anything about Liam?"
"Well the detectives that questioned Brandon and Callie told me that Liam is in critical condition, which is all that we know."
"Please come back home to us."
"Don`t worry honey. We`re on our way."
"Be safe." Lena said as she ended the call. She felt a huge weight lifed off of her after learning that Brandon and Callie were safe, but at the same time, couldn`t help but wonder what kind of consequences were awaiting them, especially if Liam didn`t make it.
Mariana lied in her bedroom and tried to listen to some music on her iPod to help her fall asleep, but she kept looking over at Callie`s empty bed. Mariana was beside herself with worry about Brandon and Callie and felt overwhelmed by her helplessness. After a few minutes, she got up and went over to Jesus` room.
"Jesus." Mariana whispered as she entered the room. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah." Jesus replied as he rolled over to see Mariana.
"I`m sorry that i woke you up."
"Don`t worry about it. I couldn`t sleep at all either."
Mariana sat down on Jude`s bed. She and Jesus sat silently in the dark for a few minutes. The twins always kept each other company whenever either one of them wasn`t able to sleep for long as they could remember and tonight was one of those nights.
"I feel so helpless not knowing what happened with Brandon and Callie." Mariana said with a somber look on her face.
"I know how ya feel," Jesus said. "but Mom`s out there right now and she`s going to bring them back home."
"If Liam hurt either of them, his ass is so dead." Mariana growled with a burning anger.
"I feel ya on that." Jesus said. "I wouldn`t hesitate to beat his ass if i had the chance."
Jesus and Mariana heard Lena talking to Stef on the phone downstairs and sneaked over by the stairs to listen to what Lena was saying. The twins got a view of Lena in the living room and felt relived when they learned that Brandon and Callie were alright and on their way home with Stef. After seeing Lena finishing her call, they went back to Jesus and Jude`s bedroom.
"You don`t mind if i stayed with you at least until Callie gets home?" Mariana asked.
"No you can stay." Jesus replied. "I didn`t feel like being alone right anyway."
Jesus and Mariana then sat down in the beds to patiently wait for Stef and Callie to return home.
Stef slowly made her way through the night, driving in the SUV. The ride was very silent with neither her or Callie saying a word. Stef took a look over at Callie and saw how distressed and weary she looked. She felt so much sympathy for Callie and hated that she had to experience yet another terrible moment in her young life. After a few minutes, Stef made her way to the neighborhood and slowly pulled into the driveway at the house.
"Hey you wanna talk?" Stef asked as she turned off the engine.
"I feel so awlful right now." Callie said. "I just feel like all of what happened tonight is my fault."
Stef immediately felt very distressed hearing Callie say those words and then seeing her drop her head in shame.
"Hey look at me." Stef said as she put the palm of her hand on top of Callie`s hand. "None of this is your fault. You and Brandon didn`t intent for any of this to happen and only wanted a good night out. I`m very proud of you both for having each other`s back."
"Thank you." Callie said while smiling back at Stef.
The ladies got out of the SUV and made their way to the house.
"I`m sorry about what happened with the ice cream." Callie said as she and Stef made their way to the porch.
"It`s alright sweetie." Stef said. "What matters is that you and Brandon are safe. By the way did you get cookies and cream?"
"Yes we did."
"Well it`s nice to see that you and Brandon were so thoughtful on not forgetting about that."
Stef and Callie shared a brief laugh as they entered the house where they were immediately greeted by Lena.
"I`m so glad to see you two." Lena said as she gave Stef and Callie big hugs. "How are you doing callie?"
"I`m starting to feel better." Callie replied as she saw Jesus and Mariana make their way downstairs. Mariana ran over to Callie and embraced in her a hug, which Callie hugged her back. Then she went to hug Jesus.
"We`re so glad to see you." Mariana said. "We couldn`t sleep, thinking about you and Brandon."
"Where is Brandon?" Jesus asked.
"He`s staying with Mike tonight." Stef replied. "Look it`s been a long night. I think that we could all use some sleep."
Everyone silently went upstairs and headed to their rooms to bring an end to what had been one of their longest nights.
On a partly cloudy Sunday morning, Brandon begin to stir in the bed in the spare bedroom that Mike had kept for him. As Brandon started to get up, he immediately felt the lingering soreness in his ribs and grimaced when he stood up. Then he went in the bathroom to brush his teeth and take a shower, which took 15 minutes. After drying himself off and getting dressed, Brandon sat at the piano that Mike had rented for him and started playing a few notes. Lately he had been getting more about what his piano teacher said about using pain to play much better.
"That was pretty good." Mike said as he entered the kitchen.
"Thanks." Brandon replied as he stopped playing.
"You can keep on playing."
"I don`t feel like it."
Mike immediately saw on the sad look on Brandon`s face that the altercation from the previous night was still bothering him and sat down next to him. "You wanna talk about what happened?"
"I can't stop thinking about i did to Liam." Brandon said. "It was eerie seeing him lying on the ground."
"Don`t beat yourself over it B. You did what you had to do to protect yourself and Callie."
"I know Dad, but what makes it so bad is that i lost myself in that moment. After i hit Liam with the pipe the first time, i looked at him right in the eyes and all i could think about was what he did to Callie and then getting her and Jude kicked out. I never felt so angry before and it just overwhelmed me."
Mike listened intently and gave Brandon his undivided attention.
"And you wanna know what the worse part is?" Brandon said with his green eyes starting to water. "I wanted to hurt Liam. I felt so enraged about what he did to Callie that all i wanted to do in that moment was to inflict as much pain on him as possible. If Callie wasn`t there, i would`ve hit him again. That`s how bad it was."
Mike felt very saddened hearing Brandon`s confession and seeing him wiping away a tear from his face. He always felt a strong sense of duty as a father to protect Brandon and feared that something like this would happen. Mike knew how bad the world could be sometimes and always did what he could to protect Brandon. He knew that Brandon would have to face it more on his own as he got older and felt sad and somewhat helpless seeing Brandon so torn up emotionally by his ordeal. "Listen to me Brandon," Mike said as he put his hand on Brandon`s right shoulder. "What you just said doesn`t make you a bad person. It`s a natural for anyone to let their emotions get the best of them sometimes, especially when a person does something terrible to someone else and gets away with it. I felt that way myself."
Brandon silently looked back at his father with a more stoic look on his face.
"I remember this one domestic disturbance call i went to a while back." Mike said recalling an old case. "Me and my old partner went to a house in a rough neighborhood and saw that it was a mess inside from when this couple had a really bad fight. As we went to go break up the fight, i saw this little boy, who was around the same age as you at that time, hiding in a closet. I went to get him to come out there and saw him crying with a black eye. I felt so angry that this guy would hurt a little kid like that. I kept it together until this guy said a smartass remark about the kid being too stupid to move out of the way. I couldn`t take it anymore and told him that only punks hit kids and women. He told me to go screw myself and that was the final straw there. As we were about to put the guy in the car, i slammed the guy`s head on top of the car and started punching in the face a few times. My partner got me off of him before i did any more damage."
"Did anything happen to you?" Brandon asked.
"Well my partner covered it up and said that he resisted arrest," Mike replied. "but the captain knew the real story and let it slide. There`s an unwritten rule that cops some times tend to rough up abusive guys and get a pass on it as long as they didn`t seriously injure them."
"How did you feel afterwards?"
"I didn`t feel good about it at all. I had a lot of the other cops patting me on the back and telling me that i gave that guy what he deserved, but i didn`t feel like much of a hero at all. So yeah i get how you`re feeling right now. What you said about wanting to hurt Liam for what he did to Callie doesn`t make you a monster at all. It makes you as human as anyone else."
Brandon quietly contemplated the story Mike had just told him. "What if he doesn`t make it?" He asked. "I can`t help but worry about a member of his family pressing charges."
"Hey you don`t worry about that." Mike replied. "Whatever happens, you know that me, your mom, Lena and everyone else won`t let anything happen to you."
Brandon felt more at ease after opening up to Mike.
"You want any scrabbled eggs?" Mike asked as he turned on the stove.
"Yeah sure." Brandon replied as he resumed playing the piano.
Mike looked on as Brandon played the piano and felt not only a sense of relief in that he helped Brandon out by opening up about a past experience, but also a new found resolve to do whatever it took to help Brandon out with whatever could come his way.
The Foster household begin to come to life at around 10:00 am. Lena was fixing some bacon and eggs for breakfast, while Stef did some laundry. Jesus and Mariana came after they had showers and slipped on their pajamas, while Callie was still asleep. This morning was very different in how subdued everyone was after a long night, which they spent worrying about Brandon and Callie.
"So you guys got any plans today?" Lena asked as she gave Jesus and Mariana their breakfast.
"I don`t have anything planned." Mariana replied. "I probably might go to the park later."
"Yeah i`m going to the park too to do some skating." Jesus said as he got himself a fork.
A car horn was heard being blown a couple of times outside. "I`ll go get it." Jesus said as he stood up from the kitchen table. "It`s probably Connor`s dad dropping Jude off."
Stef came in the kitchen after finishing her tasks with the laundry and was more subdued, not saying any of her usual jokes. Then Jesus came back in the kitchen with Jude in tow.
"Hey there buddy." Stef said. "How was the fishing trip?"
"It was fine." Jude said. "We didn`t catch that many fish, but Connor`s dad told me about the different kind of baits to use."
"It`s nice that you learned something." Lena said. "You want anything?"
"Just some orange juice. I had already had breakfast."
As Jude poured himself a glass of orange juice, he immediately picked up on the subdued atmosphere in the house. "Why is everyone so quiet and where is Callie?" he asked.
Stef, Lena, Jesus and Mariana looked at each other for a moment. They all knew how observant Jude could be and didn`t feel like that they would be able to hide what happened in the previous night from him.
"Jude we want to talk you about something serious." Stef said as she sat down next to Jude at the kitchen table.
"Did something happen with our adoptation?" Jude asked with a worried look on his face.
"No it`s not that." Lena replied. "Something happened with Callie and Brandon last night."
"What happened?"
"They ran into Liam last night." Stef said. "Liam confronted Callie about pressing charges against him, which caused a fight."
Jude immediately felt a lot more uneasy when Stef mentioned the fight. "Did he hurt them" He asked in a quiet, shaky tone.
"Liam came out of it the worse. Brandon hit him in the head with a pipe a couple of times and he`s in the hospital right now. The only thing i`ve heard from the hospital is that he`s in criticial condition.
Jude felt a mixture of relief and uncertainty after hearing what Stef said.
"We want you guys to know that what Brandon and Callie did was to defend themselves." Lena said. "They found themselves in a situation where they wasn`t able to walk away and had to do what was necessary to get themselves out of it."
"Right now i think that it`s very important for you guys to be there for Brandon and Callie." Stef said.
Jesus, Jude and Mariana silently nodded in agreement and got to eating their breakfast.
"Can i say something mom?" Mariana asked.
"Sure." Stef said.
"I think that Brandon and Callie did the right thing, but i also think that Liam got what he deserved."
Stef immediately felt very uncomfortable when Mariana mentioned Liam, while everyone else listened on stoically.
"I know that it sounds bad, but Liam went after Brandon and Callie and we can`t forget what he did to Callie. As far as i`m concerned, Brandon did everyone a service and i hope that bastard is suffering. I like to be excused please. I lost my appetite."
Stef, Lena, Jesus and Jude were left speechless by Mariana`s strong words and said little for the rest of breakfast.
Callie finally got out of bed at around 11:30 AM. She stretched some to loosen up and then headed to the bathroom. As Callie was brushing her teeth, she overheard Mariana talking about Liam in a very firm manner. She wasn`t surprised by Mariana expressing her strong sentiment. Callie knew how much Mariana strongly disliked Liam and in a way felt a lot more comfortable having Mariana in her corner after hearing her strong opinion about Liam downstairs.
The sun shined brightly in the afternoon and warmed up the day. Callie played some notes on her guitar while sitting in the backyard. She felt a sense of tranquillity being back outside the house and playing her guitar after enduring a turblent night. As Callie begin playing at a faster pace, Jesus, Mariana and Jude came from inside the house.
"Hey buddy." Callie said as she embraced Jude in a tight hug. "How was the fishing trip? Did you catch a big one."
"Just a couple of small fishes." Jude replied. "Stef and Lena told me what happened. How are you doing?"
"I`m feeling a little better now. Thanks for saving breakfast for me."
"No problem." Jesus said. "You needed those last pancakes a lot more than we did."
"Mariana i heard what you said about Liam this morning." Callie said.
"I meant every word of it." Mariana said in a firm tone. "I still think that he got what he deserved."
"I do too." Jesus said. "I wish that i had been there to help you and Brandon out."
Callie begin to feel very uncomfortable at that moment. "I still can`t forget about seeing Brandon when he hit Liam with that pipe the second time." She said. "It was like he was in a very angry and scary trance in that moment. I shutter to think what Brandon could`ve done if i hadn`t been there to stop him and now i can`t help but wonder what could happen next, especially if Liam dies."
Everyone fell silent for a minute after listening to Callie`s statement before Mariana broke the silence by sitting next to Callie.
"Callie don`t beat yourself up about this." Mariana said as she put her arm around Callie. "You and Brandon had to do what you had to. Besides that pig isn`t worrying about."
"Yeah you guys had each other`s back." Jesus said. "Whatever happens next, you know that we got you and will fight for you."
Callie felt very reassured by Jesus and Mariana`s words. "Thanks a lot." She said with a slight smile.
"Listen we`re about to head to the park." Mariana said. "If you feel like it, you`re welcome to come with us."
"Sure. I need to get out of here."
"That`s great." Mariana said happily.
"I hope that you`ll bring your camera with ya," Jesus said. "because i really would love for you to get some great shots of me doing some tricks."
"Don`t worry i`ll be sure to make you look cool."
"I would watch out for Jesus." Jude said. "You never know when he`ll moon ya."
Jesus immediately ran over to Jude and gave him a playful bear hug, which got a laugh from Callie and Mariana. As she went back inside the house, Callie begin to feel that day was finally getting brighter after Jesus, Mariana and Jude showed their support to her.
The kitchen in the Foster-Adams house was much more livelier later that evening as Stef, Callie and Jude prepared dinner, while Jesus, Lena and Mariana looked at the pictures Callie took from their day at the park.
"That`s a great shot there of you doing that trick." Lena said in amazement while looking at a picture of Jesus riding the rail on his skateboard.
"I had a hard time staying on the rail," Jesus said. "but i finally got it on the fifth try."
"It`s nice to see that your perseverance paid off. Mariana can i talk to you for a moment."
Mariana immediately felt a sense of dread of what Lena was about to say to her about her rant about Liam earlier in the day as she and Lena walked out of the kitchen and sat down on the stairs. "If this is about what i said about Liam earlier this morning," Mariana said. "i understand if you`re mad about it, but-"
"No Mariana." Lena said. "I`m not mad at you for what you said." Mariana was stunned by what Lena just said to her.
"You have every right to be entitled to your opinion. In fact i kinda feel the same way you do. I`m very proud of you for expressing yourself and showing your support to Callie and your brother."
"Thanks mom." Mariana said as Lena hugged her. Just as their hug ended, the doorbell rang. "I`ll get it." Mariana went to open the door and saw that it was Mike and Brandon.
"Hey Mariana." Mike said as he and Brandon entered the house.
"Hey Mike." Mariana replied as she walked over to hug Brandon. "Brandon i`m so glad that you`re back home."
"I`m glad to see you too." Brandon said as he hugged Mariana back.
Almost immediately everyone else came out of the kitchen.
"Hey man." Jesus said as he and Jude went to greet Brandon. "How ya feeling?"
"I`m feeling better." Brandon replied. "Me and Dad had a nice day out at Dave & Buster`s."
"Yeah you and Jude oughta come next time. We need to have a guys` day out."
"We`ll be sure to keep that in mind." Stef said, winking at Lena, who smiled back at her.
As Stef was talking, Brandon turned his attention over to Callie, who was standing over by the kitchen. She decided to stay back and let everyone else be with Brandon. Brandon and Callie smiled and nodded at each other to silently say hello and reassure each other that they were doing fine.
"Hey Brandon." Jude interrupted. "You wanna see the pictures Callie took of us at the park?"
"Oh yeah." Brandon replied while getting his train of thought to Jude at the last moment.
As the kids went to sit down at the kitchen table to look at the pictures, Stef and Lena looked on at them, happy to see them back together.
"Excuse me ladies," Mike said, interrupting Stef and Lena watching over the kids. "but i need to talk you both out here."
Stef and Lena immediately went outside on the porch to talk with Mike.
"What do you want to tell us out here?" Stef asked.
"I wanted to keep this between us." Mike said. "It`s about Liam."
Lena felt uneasy when Liam was mentioned. "What about him?" She asked.
"I found out from one of the cops at the hospital that Liam is still in criticial condition with a skull fracture and now is in a coma."
Stef and Lena both felt their stomach churning when Mike gave them the update on Liam`s condition.
"Liam's parents are not surprisingly very upset about what happened to him. They think that he was deliberatively attacked and are likely to press charges."
Stef and Lena immediately felt even more uneasy at the mention of charges being brought up. "Do they know about Brandon hitting him in self defense?" Stef asked.
"No not yet." Mike replied.
"I see where this is going." Lena said. "The moment they find out that Callie was involved, they`re going to think that she and Brandon went to get payback on Liam for the case not going her way."
Mike and Stef quickly contemplated what Lena just said. "Great observation on your part." Mike said. "All the more reason why we need to prepare ourselves to protect Brandon and Callie."
"I`ll look around for a lawyer to at least get some legal advice. I`m going to go check on the kids. I`ll see you later Mike."
Stef and Mike watched Lena head back into the house and then quickly pondered the possibility of charges being brought against Brandon.
"I think that the Olmsteads are going to bring charges against Brandon." Stef said. "Just a feeling that i have."
"I feel the same way," Mike said. "but i`m willing do whatever it takes to protect Brandon."
"I know Mike." Stef said as she looked on at Brandon with everyone else inside the house. Now she felt a growing resolve to protect Brandon for what might lay ahead. "There`s no way i`m going to let anything happen to our son."
To be continued.