Chapter 20
A/N: OK all this chapter will be a turning point in this story. Sorry I haven't post in a while, life kind of got in the way. I will try to post more often but it maybe December before you start seeing regular post again. Sorry again for the long delay. This is just a quick peek at the next part of the story. A part where old things will be put to rest and new things will come to the forefront. Oh yeah if you expect another break up, well as I said I do like angst! So guess you will have to read and find out what happens in later chapters!
"You do realize that today is Saturday, right." Lena asks Stef.
"Of course I do. Oh that was sneaky young lady." Stef smiles at Callie as they wait for the others to come down.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Callie smiles back at Stef.
"Of course you don't. No way you would have realized that last night was Friday and that today was Saturday. Which means you get to spend two nights in a row together." Lena smiles.
"Wait that is right, now how did that happen?" Callie chuckles at them.
"Oh I think it is due to the brilliant mind of a young lady who shall remain nameless. Well played Callie, well played indeed." Stef says.
"Thank you, but I maintain my innocence." Callie tells them.
"What was well played, and why do you want to maintain your innocence?" Brandon asks as he comes back into the kitchen.
"Nothing for you to worry about, lets just say you should be careful when dealing with this one." Stef says with a smile pointing at Callie.
"Yeah she is good at getting around the rules." Lena smiles.
"Ok?" Brandon says looking at Callie for an explanation.
"Don't worry Brandon it isn't anything big, she just got you two the ability to spend back to back night together," Stef says.
"Oh wow she did didn't she." Brandon laughs.
"She did." Lena says.
"Hey do you think we could maybe go to the mall later. Jude's birthday is next weekend and I haven't gotten him anything yet." Callie asks changing the subject.
"Sure sounds like a great idea." Brandon says.
"That means we need to find him something as well." Stef says.
"We can wait to see what Callie and Brandon come up with and then we can decide from there. That way we don't buy the same thing." Lena says.
"Good idea. Have fun you two." Stef says as her and Lena head upstairs.
############## ################ ############# ##########
Brandon and Callie are walking through the mall holding hands, as they are looking for a present for Jude's birth day. His birthday will be next Saturday and neither had gotten him anything yet.
"What do you get a kid who is about to turn 12?" Brandon asks.
"Well what did you want when you turned 12?" Callie asks.
"Yeah don't think you want to go by me. I wanted a keyboard." Brandon laughs.
"Yeah ok maybe not. What about Jesus? What did he want for his 12th birthday?" Callie asks.
"A soccer ball. Still don't think that fits Jude though. Maybe a game system?" Brandon asks.
"Brandon those are expensive and I don't have that much money." Callie tells him.
"I will make you a deal. I will buy the system and you can buy him a game or two if you have enough for two." Brandon says.
"I can't let you do that Brandon." Callie says.
"You can and you will. See I know you miss thing, you have a hard time accepting gifts from people. But this isn't about you. This is about your brother, so I will be buying him the system. Now when it is your birthday if you don't want me to buy something for you ok, but not this time." Brandon smiles at her.
"Miss Thing? You do realize I will make you pay for that later right." Callie says with a wicked smile on her face.
"Ok, see now that smile scares me, but I am still buying the system." He laughs at her.
"Excuse me, you're Callie right."
"Yeah, um isn't your name Sarah?" Callie asks.
"It is, good memory. I was wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes? I will buy you a pop." Sarah says.
"I don't know, we are looking for a present for my brother." Callie says looking at Brandon.
"Go ahead Callie I will go look at the systems and see which one I want to buy him. You can catch up later." Brandon says.
"You sure?" Callie asks as she steps closer to him.
"Yeah I am sure, go see what she wants." Brandon says as he leans down and kisses her.
"Ok, love you." Callie says as she kisses him again.
"Love you too." Brandon says as he releases her hand and walks toward one of the stores.
"Ok so what did you want to talk about?" Callie asks.
"Wow you two are really in love aren't you?" Sarah asks.
"Brandon and me? Yeah we are, strange as to how it came about. But yeah we love each other that is for sure." Callie says as her and Sarah walk towards the food court.
"That is cool to see." Sarah says.
"Yeah it is an awesome feeling. Take it from someone who has seen the bad side of life it is nice to see something good for once." Callie says.
"I wanted to say thanks for the whole Liam thing. I know it must have been hard for you to come forward like you did." Sarah says.
"Yeah it sucked the judge couldn't do anything more than he did. Even though he believed me he said his hands were tied. But it will wash out in the end. After Liam and his friend shot me and my foster mom he went on the run. But the police caught the guy who helped him when he shot us. So they know the whole story as the guy confessed to his part in it and the fact that Liam planned it all. He said Liam did it to pay me back for ruining his life." Callie tells her.
"Wait the other guy? He said Liam planned it? I didn't know that. I knew that Liam was involved just not that he planned it." Sarah says.
"Yeah that little plan of his cost me over 2 months of my life. One of the bullets hit me in the head. It didn't enter my skull but it did fracture it. When I woke up I couldn't remember anything over the last couple of months leading up to the shooting. It almost cost me Brandon, as I couldn't remember anything about our relationship. Poor Brandon was the one hurt the most though. I still can't imagine what he must have went through waiting for my memory to return." Callie says.
"You my beautiful Callie are worth the wait. And by waiting I became the luckiest man on earth." Brandon says from behind them, causing Callie to blush a little.
"I think it is me who is the luckiest Person on earth." Callie says as they kiss before Brandon sits down.
"I hope you don't mind I was kind of missing Callie." Brandon says to Sarah.
"No, I don't mind. I was just thanking her for helping me with the whole Liam thing." Sarah says.
"I tell you what, why don't you come over for dinner tonight and we can talk a little more." Brandon says, as Callie kisses him again.
"You are a very special man Mr. Foster." Callie whispers against his lips.
"I won't be imposing?" Sarah asks.
"Not at all." Callie says.
"Ok let me call my foster family and let them know." Sarah says.
"Did you find a system?" Callie asks as Sarah is talking on the phone.
"Yeah figured I would wait till you were with me so we could buy them all together." Brandon says.
"Ok they said it was ok as long as I was home by 9." Sarah tells them.
"I am sure we can get you home by 9." Brandon says.
"Ok lets go get Jude's presents and then we can head home. Might want to call the moms and let them know to expect another person." Callie says.
"Yeah we should go ahead and look at some of the games for the PS3. I figure we already have a an Xbox 360 might as well get the other system." Brandon says.
"Ok, hurry and catch up." Callie says as she kisses him.
"I will." Brandon smiles at her as he pulls out his phone.
"Aren't you worried they will find out about the two of you and remove you from the home?" Sarah asks again surprised by their show of affection.
"No, the moms adopted Jude and have legal guardianship over me. We are not in the foster system anymore, so we don't have to follow their rules." Callie says.
"Wow, that is huge. It is every foster kid's dream to find a home like that." Sarah says.
"Yeah we got real lucky in it all. They figured out what was going on with me and Brandon and have been nothing but supportive of it. Even giving me the choice as to if I wanted to be adopted or go the way of the legal guardianship." Callie says.
"So why choose guardianship?" Sarah asks.
"Because adoptive siblings are not allowed to date or get married by the laws at this point in time." Callie tells her showing her the ring Brandon got her.
"Oh My God! You guys are engaged?" Sarah asks.
"No, not yet. That ring is a promise ring, it symbolizes our love for each other. And lets Callie and the world know that one day when we are ready, I will ask her to be my wife." Brandon says as Callie turns to meet his gaze.
"And I wear it to let Brandon and the world know that when he does ask I will say yes and that soon after I will be married to the man I am destined to be with." Callie tells her.
"Wow, you two give new meaning to being in love." Sarah says as she looks lost in thought.
"No we don't. This is what love looks like Sarah. I know being in the foster system you may not have seen it before. But this is really what it is suppose to be like. I was sacred and amazed at it at first myself. But the more time we spent together the stronger the feelings got, the less I could deny it. Here I was someone who from the age of ten knew nothing of love. None of the foster homes I have been in ever showed me what love was till I came to live with the moms and met Brandon. It was in their home that I finally found the love and sense of being home that I was missing in my life. Even if me and Brandon hadn't started dating, I would still feel that sense of finally belonging somewhere. It is hard to explain, you just kind of have to experience it first hand. It is that experience that made me realize that what Liam did was wrong, and I knew he would try it again. But it is Brandon who got me through it all. His kiss has some kind of magical healing powers that takes away the pain from scars that I didn't know was still hurting. So I guess what I am trying to say is that, if you don't know it or have never been around it before then love seems out there. But it isn't, it is normal and exciting and fun and emotional. All of that wrapped into a big ball of nerves in the pit of your stomach that aches when you are away for the person and that seems to be butterflies when they are close. Your fears and troubles melt away when they kiss you, and just knowing they are somewhere out there loving you gives you the strength to carry on even in difficult times." Callie says as she looks into Brandon's eyes, but talking to Sarah.
"It also means that you will do anything for someone even if it means putting your own self at risk. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for Callie, even if it meant losing my life so she could survive. It is all tied into love Sarah. When you experience it you will know. It is something that you can't resist or ignore. But it isn't a one way street. You each draw strength from the other and lend the other strength. It is done with out thought, rhythm or reason, you just do it. You can look into the person's eyes and know what they are thinking. If they have had a hard day and need comforting or if they need you to make them laugh, or maybe they need you to kiss and hug their pain away. You can get that all from a look, when you are really in love. One day you will find that person that loves you as much as you love them and then you will understand." Brandon tells her, as he finishes talking Callie kisses him with passion.
"You two do really love each other. I have never heard any one talk about love like you two do. I hope you are right and that one day I do find someone who will love me like that." Sarah says.
"You will you just have to be patient, don't be fooled by a guy who claims to love you but is really only using you to get what he wants. It took Brandon showing me how to love for me to realize that Liam was just using me to get what he wanted. So when I refused he forced me into it. He got what he wanted, to hell with what it did to me. Or the scars it created. That is why I wanted to get you away from him before he did that to you." Callie tells her.
"To late." Sarah says with tears threatening to fall.
"He raped you?" Callie asks.
"No, I let him do it. I told him I wasn't sure I was ready but if he wanted us to do that I would." Sarah tells them.
"Oh Sarah I am sorry. I wish I would have found out faster, so maybe I could have helped prevent that." Callie says.
"It is ok. I should have known something wasn't right about it. Cause as soon as I said I would he came to my room that night." Sarah said.
"Yeah well you are away from that now." Brandon says.
"Yeah, I hope I never get into something like that again." Sarah says.