Chapter 7
"What!?" Santana shrieked, causing Callie to jump in her seat. The younger Latina shot up from the couch and began to pace back and forth, mumbling to herself in Spanish.
"Santana-" Callie tried to get her attention, but her niece continued to pace. "Sweetie, please, sit down and lets talk a-" she was cut off by a simple raised hand from Santana.
"You can't let her take me back home, Aunt Callie." she blurted out, worry evident in her voice. "Y...you can't."
Callie watched as a her eyes filled with tears and she reached for Santana's hand and pulled her down on the couch, wrapping her in her arms.
After soothing her niece, Callie pulled back and pushed Santana's hair from her face, smiling softly down at her, "You know if I could do anything, I would." she said, "But, she's your mom, Santana, and-" she took a deep breath before continuing, "-she knows what's best for you."
Santana shook her head, looking up at her aunt, "But Aunt Callie she-" Callie simply shook her head at her niece.
"There's nothing you or I can do and you know it. She's coming in the morning to pick you up." she got up off the couch, tears building in her eyes. "And that's final. Come on, I'll help you pack." Callie held out her hand and waited for her to take it.
With a defeated sigh, Santana placed her hand in Callie's and slumped her way to the guest bedroom where they silently packed up her things.
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Across the hall at Mark's apartment, the Sloan men were currently tangled up in a heated match of operation. After Mark successfully removed the wishbone from Cavity Sam's body, he looked over at his nephew who was staring off into space.
With a sigh, Mark put down the tweezers and cleared his throat, "So," he started, "how are you and Santana?"
Puck looked up from his hands and nodded, "We're good. She said we could try again." he said with a small smile on his face.
"That's great!" Mark said happily and clapped the younger man on his shoulder, but then noticed that his nephew wasn't sharing the same joy he was. "It's great, right?"
"Yeah!" he said a little too loud, "I mean, I think it is."
Mark eyed him suspiciously before asking, "Well then, what's the problem?"
With a deep breath, Puck shook his head, "It's just," he started, "she said that my work was going to be cut out for me." Mark nodded his head and waited for him to continue, "And if I know Santana like I think I do, it's going to be hell."
To the best of his abilities, Mark tried to hold in his laughter. He knew exactly what his nephew was talking about. Callie was the exact same way. And the truly frightened look on his face only made it that much more amusing.
Unable to hold back, Mark let out a bark of laughter and received a harsh glare from Puck along with a firm punch to the arm, "Okay! Sorry!" he shouted, holding his hands up in defense.
"It's not funny." Puck growled at his uncle.
"I know, I know," Mark agreed, "It's just..." he trailed off, "It amazes me how much Callie and Santana are alike!"
Puck looked at his uncle with confusion in his eyes, "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the fact that both Callie and Santana have the power to bring some of the most dashing and sexiest men, us by the way," Mark said gesturing between the both of them, "down to their knees and beg for their mercy."
"What!?" Puck asked incredulously, "You..you think I...I'm afraid of Santana? Pfft! I am not afraid of Santana Lopez." He said, somewhat firmly, but not at all convincingly.
Mark narrowed his eyes at Puck and crossed his arms over his chest, "Mhmm...sure."
"Whatever" he huffed, "Wait...are you saying your *scared* of Aunt Callie?"
"Hell yeah." Mark said without missing a beat, he smirked at seeing the look of shock on his nephew's face then continued, "And I happily get down on my knees and worship at her feet."
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The next morning Callie sat at the kitchen bar anxiously biting her fingernails. She glanced up at the clock for the 5th time that morning and sighed, Aria would be there soon. Her head jerked towards the guest bedroom as Santana padded her way out, her Cheerios duffle bag hoisted on her shoulder.
"Morning." Callie greeted her softly. Santana walked over to one of the bar stools and plopped in the seat next to her.
"Morning."
"Are you hungry? I could make you-"
Cutting off her aunt, Santana shook her head, "No. I don't have much of an appetite this morning."
"Oh." Callie nodded, knowing exactly what she was feeling. "Okay."
After a few minutes of silence between the two Latinas, Santana cleared her throat.
"What time is mom suppose to be here?" she asked.
Glancing down at her watch, Callie answered, "She should be here in a few minutes."
Santana nodded and nervously twirled her ponytail around her index finger. Callie watched as she quietly fidgeted with the hem of the skirt she wore, wishing she could do anything to keep her from leaving.
The door to the apartment swung open and Mark strolled in making his way to Callie.
"Good Morning." he announced happily as he leaned down to place a chaste kiss to Callie's head.
"Morning." They both mumbled, staring down at the countertop.
Mark looked from one woman to another and raised his eyebrows.
"Hey," he started, "What's with the long faces?"
Callie looked up at him and smiled sadly, "My sister is due here any minute now."
Nodding his understanding, Mark wrapped his arms around Callie's shoulders and hugged her tight, giving her the strength she needed to get through.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door causing both women to jump in their seats. A look of nervousness crept upon their faces as Callie took a deep breath and looked over at her neice.
"Everythings going to be okay, sweetheart." she reassured her placing a hand on her shoulder.
Santana scoffed and looked up at her aunt, "You and I both know everything will not be okay, Aunt Callie."
Sighing, Callie sent her a small smile before moving out of Mark's embrace and heading to the door and pulling it open.
As expected, her sister Aria stood on the other side. "Calliope."
"Aria." Callie half-heartedly greeted her sister will a tight lipped smile.
"You did manage to tell my daughter that I'd be arriving this morning, right?"
Rolling her eyes, Callie held the door open and moved aside to allow her sister to walk through. "Yeah I did manage to let her know." she snapped. "It's not like she was thrilled to know you were coming."
Aria walked into the apartment and shot her sister a glare. She immediately spotted her daughter at the kitchen bar and firmly placed her hands on her hips.
"Santana Maria Lopez, start talking!" she demanded.
Santana looked up at her mother, " Hi mom. Nice to see you too." she said sarcastically.
"Don't you take that tone with me young lady! You're in enough trouble as it is."
"Oh Aria...don't get your panties in a twist." Callie chimed in from behind them. Aria swirled around to her sister and narrowed her eyes.
"This has nothing to do with you Calliope." she angrily reminded her. "You have no say in how I handle my daughter."
Callie rolled her eyes as she made her to the couch, where Mark had moved to, and sat down. "That's just the thing, Aria. She doesn't need you to 'handle' her." she said using her fingers to quote her sisters way of parenting. "Santana is 16 years old and wise enough to make her own decisions."
Aria crossed her arms over her chest and glanced at her daughter who was nodding agreeingly and abruptly stopped once she met her mothers eyes.
Turning back to her sister, Aria spoke, " Since when are you the expert on parenting, Callie?" she asked. "The last I recalled you never had a child before..." she trailed off before pausing to think, "Oh wait... I take that back. Let's share what happened to your child, shall we Calliope?"
Callie gasped and shot up from the couch, pointing a finger in her finger in Aria's direction, "That is none of your business, Arianna!"
"Oh?" Aria asked, "You seem to think it's okay to judge my parenting skills, Callie. Why don't we see how well yours are, or, should I say, would have been."
"Aria, shut up!" Callie commanded.
Before Aria could say anything else, Mark slowly stood from the couch and cleared his throat. "What is she talking about, Callie?" he asked.
Callie turned around to face him, tears causing her vision to blur, "Mark..." she sighed, her voice cracking.
"I see you haven't told him, huh Calliope?" Aria looked over at Mark and extended her hand. "I don't think we've officially met, Aria Lopez. "
Shaking her hand, he nodded his greeting, "Mark Sloan."
"Well, Mark Sloan, I'm sure you'd like to know who the woman you've been dating really is." Aria turned to her sister who was crumbling on the spot, "Go ahead, Calliope. Tell us all about how you got pregnant at 15 and aborted your baby."
Tears streamed freely down Callie's face as she looked into the eyes of everyone in the room, each wearing a different expression.
"I..."
"Not so perfect anymore, are you Callie?" Aria mocked.
Finally reaching Mark's gaze, Callie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Wordlessly, she ran to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.
Aria watched her sister flee with a proud smirk on her face. She turned back to her daughter and cleared her throat, "Santana," she called, " Get your things, we're leaving." she began to walk towards the door before her daughter's words caused her to stop.
"No." Santana replied.
Spinning around to face her daughter, Aria raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Excuse me?"
"I said no, mom." Santana repeated with much more confidence in her voice.
"No? Santana Lopez I am your mother and what I say goes. End of story."
Shaking her head, Santana replied, "Did you see what you just did to Aunt Callie?" she yelled pointing to the closed door, "There is no way I'm leaving her like this. So, no mom, I am not going home with you."
Scoffing, Aria rolled her eyes, "Oh please, your Aunt only has herself to blame."
Seeing the anger build up in Santana's eyes, Mark decided to step in, "Um, Aria, I think you've done enough damage for one day. For everyones sake, I think it would be best if you left, please."
Aria eyed Mark up and down before twirling around to face her daughter once more, "I'll be at The Archfield. Our plane leaves tomorrow at noon, if you know what's good for you, Santana you'll be there." And with that, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the apartment.
Mark and Santana stood in silence for a few minutes, each letting the events of the last 10 minutes sink in.
Taking a deep breath, Mark looked at the younger brunette and cleared his throat, "Santana, do you mind giving me a couple minutes alone with Callie?"
Santana shook her head, "Yeah, of course. I'll just go across the hall with Puck." she smiled up at him before heading for the door, but stopped before pulling it open. "Mark?"
"Yeah?" Mark asked swiveling around to face her.
"Thank you."
Mark smirked at her, "No problem, kid."
With that, Santana opened the door and softly closed it behind her.
Heading for Callie's bedroom door, Mark stopped before opening and knocked quietly.
"Cal?"
Without getting a response, he turned to doorknob and pushed the door open. His heart broke at the sight before him. Callie was sitting in the corner of her bedroom, her knees drawn in to her chest as she sobbed into them. Mark softly shut the door, the quiet thud causing her to jump and look up at him.
Her red bloodshot eyes tore through his soul as a new wave of tears were brought to her eyes. Moving quickly, Mark walked over to her and crouched down so they were eye level. He brushed her hair from her face as he dried her tears.
Callie continues to sob and soon began choking and finding it hard to breathe. Mark tried his best to soothe her but nothing seemed to work.
"Cal..baby... you have to breathe." he whispered, his hand rubbing soothing circles on her back.
Slowly, Callie began to calm down as her sobs subsided. Mark placed both hands on the side of her face and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. Sending her a small smile, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. She looked up at him, and all he could see was the pain in her eyes.
Mark dropped his hands from her face and wrapped one a beneath her knees the other around her shoulders and lifted her into his arms. Callie snuggled against his chest as he pushed his way through the bathroom door and sat her on the sink.
"You're gonna break your back hefting me around one of these days, Sloan."
Mark looked up at her and shook his head, "Never."
She watched as he adjusted the water taps to a comfortable temperature, not scalding hot the way she usually showered before moving back to where she sat.
Mark tugged the hem of her shirt and removed the article of clothing from her body. Callie shivered as he unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them off her hips, taking her panties with them. She took the liberty of removing her bra, then placed her hand in Mark's as he helped her off the counter and lead her to the shower.
After helping her step in, Mark turned away to leave, but stopped once he felt Callie's hand close around his wrist.
"Stay."
That single word was all it took for Mark to strip himself of all his clothing and slip into the shower behind her. When she leaned forward and reached for her shampoo, Mark beat her to it and squirt some in his hands before he began to lather the lavender scented soap into her hair.
Callie moaned in pleasure as Mark massaged her scalp, his fingers running the ends of her dark mane. When he was done, he placed her beneath the spray of the shower and smiled down at her as he washed the soap from her hair. When he was convinced that all the shampoo was gone, he picked up her conditioner and repeated his process.
After thoroughly washing the conditioner from her hair, he soaped his hands with the body was she used, that he loved so much, and dropped to his knees in front of her. He picked up one of her legs and slowly began to lather her silky skin. Mark paid extra attention to the back of her knees as he lightly tickled the sensative skin there, causing a little giggle to slip past her lips.
Moving his hands up, Mark soaped the rest of her body, spending a little too much time on her butt and breasts. However, he successfully managed to rinse her off and wrap her in a towel before leading her back to the bedroom where they didn't even bother with clothes, then climbed into Callie's bed.
With her laying atop his chest, one leg swung over his, Mark looked down at her and cleared his throat.
"So," he started, "You ready to tell me what's going on?" he asked softly.
Callie lifted herself off his chest and propped herself against the headboard beside him. Taking a deep breath she reached over and clasped her hand to his.
"Everything that Aria said was true. Yes, I did get pregnant when I was 15 and yes, I did abort my baby." she looked over at him before she continued to, "But, it didn't happen how your thinking it did."
Mark looked at her confused, "How did it happen then?"
Callie was silent for a moment before she spoke again, so soft that Mark had to lean in to hear her, "I was raped."