AN: I'm going to try and update this story as often as I can. The updates won't be each weak, but I hope it's better than having this story on hiatus. Please bear with me :) I do want to move forward with the story line in this AU, I don't like it standing still.
Hope you enjoy :)
Aaron POV
"Beth just texted me," Markus said, while holding his phone out, as we stopped by Amy's car in the parking lot "I'm going to go meet her at the mall and then we will head to the party,"
"Wait!" I said reaching for my wallet in my pants pocket "This is for the cab!" I took out few dollar bills and handed them to Markus "Don't drink too much!" I urged him as I place the wallet away
"I won't, I promise!" Markus said putting the money away
"When can we expect to see you home?" Amy asked as she jiggled her car keys in her hands
"Probably around noon tomorrow," Markus replied with a small shoulder shrug "Don't quote me on that later!"
"If you want a ride home – call us!" Amy reminded him "Dad and I are just a call away,"
"Yeah, I know mom!" Markus answered "Bye!" He waved at us as he walked away
"Bye! Be safe!" Amy and I said together as we watched how Markus walked across the parking lot
Amy turned to our newest addition to the family "Callie, did you figure out where you want to eat, yet?"
"No," Callie replied quietly as shook her head. I can only guess, that she doesn't know too many places, where we could go. I doubt that she had the free time or the spare money to go out to cafes and fast food places with her friends.
"What would you like to eat?" I asked and then started to count off options, while keeping a close eye to Callie's features "Tacos?" I paused as I watched for her reaction or for her to say something "Kebab? Burgers? Noodles? Soup?" There was no reaction to either one of the foods, that I mentioned
I glanced to my wife next to me, we shared a look and smirk at one another "Pizza?" Amy and I ask together, both having a hunch that it would be her choice. Callie nodded her head warily. We should have started with that option.
"Do you want to eat in a pizzeria or would you rather we order in?" Amy asked
"Order in?" Callie replied, but it sounded more like a question, than a statement
"Okay, let's meet at home. We will order in!" I concluded and pulled my car keys out of my pocket
"That's a plan!" Amy said excited and then turned to Callie "Hop in! Let's go!"
"See you at home!" I called and walked to my car
Some few minutes later we met at the house. It took us about 15 minutes till we decided what kind of pizza each of us would like. Callie took the longest, because she didn't have a favorite, like Amy and I do. She looked over the menu multiple times till she finally decided on one pizza she would want. I called in and made our order.
"While we wait," Amy spoke up as she sat at the kitchen table next to Callie "Why don't we show Aaron your grade card?" she suggested to Callie. The young girl glanced to Amy scared, not liking that suggestion at all. To me, it looked like the idea frightened her.
"Don't worry, I'm gonna be right here!" Amy reminded her "We are going to show him together. Just like we talked in the car!" Amy paused as she eyed the girl next to her, who was looking right back at her scared "I will make sure, Aaron doesn't do anything bad, okay!" Amy assured the young girl as she placed her hand gently on her shoulder. I noticed that Callie didn't flinch away from Amy's touch. That must be the first time.
But my excitement about the fact that Callie didn't cringe away from Amy's touch disappeared, when I realized something. After Amy's last sentence, I was sure, a former foster father had punished her for bad grades. That's why the young girl was so scared.
I don't want to think about what her punishment had been. No matter what it was, it had been too harsh and has scarred her. The thought alone, that a parent would hurt a kid for bad grades made me feel angry inside. It also brought back bad memories from my own childhood.
To this day, I remember how my own father took his belt out of his pants and flogged me with the belt, when I had brought home a grade card with a grade lower than B in it. The first time it happened, I was only 12. I remember how I cried in my room for hour after I had gotten the flogging. That one time was enough for me to understand, that I need to study harder. It took me some few weeks till I got my grades up. That was my fathers way, a cruel way, to make me study. My mother would menace that if I didn't study, my father would have to take his belt out again.
Amy and I have never even thought about physically punishing our kids for bad grades. I was strictly against it and so was Amy. Neither one of us will ever raise a hand to Callie, that I could promise. The same goes for Markus.
I watched how Callie reluctantly got up from the chair and walked over to the doorway, where she had dropped her school bag.
"Aaron," Amy whispers to me from where she sat at the kitchen table "Come sit down," she nodded to the other side of the table
Without any hesitation, I walked over to the table and sat opposite Amy. Callie walked back to the kitchen table and took her seat next to Amy. She was holding on to the grade card with her dear life, not wanting to let go of the paper, obviously scared of what would happen, when I see it.
Warily Callie peaked a look up to me "Can I see it, please?" I asked gently as I reached over the table
"It's okay," Amy whispered to Callie and rubbed her upper back fondly, encouraging the girl
"I promise I won't get angry," I added. Callie bit her lip as she looked down to the card. She looked uncertain, but slowly she extended her arm and handed me the paper.
"Thank you," I reply with a smile as I watch Callie lower her hands in her lap and avert her look down to her lap
Her grades were exactly as I had expected. Not too good, not too bad. There was certainly room for growth. After the semester start she had, this was expected. But I was happy to see the missed classes count hadn't gone up.
I looked up to the two woman on the other side "This is good," I praised her, raising the grade card up "I'm proud of you, Callie!" Callie glanced up to me for a second, with a surprised look in her eyes. But as fast as she looked up to me, she averted her look back down.
"Let me just get a pen," I placed the paper down on the table. There was no pen in kitchen, so I hurried out of the room to look for pen elsewhere.
When I was in the hallway, carrying a pen with me, I saw how Amy was playing with Callie's hair, which was put in a pony-tail. For a moment I stopped in my tracks and listened to Amy talk to the girl "Did he look angry to angry to you?"
"No," Callie replied quietly
"There is no need to worry, Callie. Aaron will just get a pen and then he will sign it. After that we will be done with it," even thought Amy was sitting with her back turned to the hallway, I knew she was smiling at the girl "The pizza should be here soon and we will have a peaceful evening at home," Amy painted the picture to her
I resumed walking to the kitchen. They both heard my footsteps and looked over their shoulders to me "Got the pen!" I raised it up, showing it to them as I walked inside the kitchen
"Math is really hard, huh?" I said as I sat down at the table with a pen in my hand "I remember I had trouble with the formulas. There were so many of them. I could hardly remember them," I pulled the grade card closer to me and looked over it one last time. Callie warily looked up to me, surprised that I was sharing about the school subjects.
Math was actually a subject I was excelling at while at school, but I figured that saying that would make Callie feel better about herself. She's not the only one who has struggled with math and school in general, I just wanted her to know that.
I clicked the pen and smiled at Callie, she quickly averted her look away from me. She was still very shy.
"Let's not even talk about physics! Newtons laws of motion...ugh! That was a complete nightmare!" I got a barely visible smile from Callie as I shared about physics
I put my signature on the bottom line "Back in my day, we had play piano in music class. To be more exact, only a small part of a song. I could not play the notes correctly no matter how much I practiced," I commented, when my eyes stopped at the B, she had gotten in Music
"We had to sing in class," Amy joined in "I could barely hold a note. I dreaded going up front of the class to sing!"
"We had to sing a song and play few notes on piano," Callie spoke up quietly, her voice small "It was easy," Amy and I share a look. A huge smile grows on both of our faces, happy that she shared.
I slide the paper across the table to Callie "Don't ever ask Amy to sing! She is so bad at it!"
Our conversation was interrupted by the door bell ringing. It was probably the pizza delivery boy. "I will go get it," I said getting up from the chair.
I walked back into the kitchen 2 minutes later with three boxes of pizza in my hands. "Oh, it smells amazing!" Amy said as she was pouring soda in glasses
"Callie, top one is yours," I said as I set the boxes on the kitchen table
"Hey, I got an idea! Why don't we go eat in the living room. I think I remember seeing a commercial that they are showing Home Alone sometime around this time," Amy said after she had checked if her pizza had everything she had ordered on it
"Oh, I like that idea!" I said grabbing my pizza box and drink "Haven't seen that movie in few years!"
I started to walk towards the living room, when I heard Amy ask "What's the matter, Callie?" I stop in my tracks and turn around to see the two of them still in the kitchen. Callie looked kind of uncertain and slightly scared.
"You can tell me, honey," Amy pushed gently, so the girl would speak up
"Can I come too?" I heard the young girl ask quietly
"Of course, pumpkin! We would love for you to join us," Amy said without a hesitation. I felt a warm feeling in my chest, when I saw how a small, yet genuine smile appeared on Callie's face, just by this simple and small act of kindness from us.
Minute later, we are all sat around the TV. Callie found a spot in one of the armchairs, while Amy and I slumped down on the couch. We all had our pizza boxes in our laps, our drinks just hand reach away on the coffee table.
I reached for the TV remote on the coffee table and turned on the TV "Okay, let's see if they are really showing Home Alone-" I said to both of them as I opened the menu
"Oh!" Amy called out and pointed to the screen "There it is! On channel 16!"
I went up the list "Good timing, it starts in 5 minutes!" I said switching to the channel
I tossed the remote by my side and then picked up one piece of pizza out of the box. "Let the night begin, ladies!" I said stretching my feet out to the coffee table, relaxing
Callie POV
I had just changed into my PJ and climbed into my bed, when I heard a soft knock on the door. When I looked to the doors, I saw Amy standing in the doorway.
"Hey, sweets!" she said smiling at me "May I come in?"
I nodded my head back, giving her the green light, as I moved my blanket over my legs and leaned at the wall behind me. Amy smiled at me as she walked inside the room, up to my bed.
"Can I sit down?" She nodded to the bed. Once again, I nodded back. Amy took a seat at the very edge of my bed, by my legs.
"So..." She said running her hand over the bed cover, straighten it "Did you have fun today?"
"Yeah," I said as I reached to my back and moved the pillow, that was behind my back, little bit to one side
"Which part did you like the most?" She asked me, confusing me a little by the question
"I liked that we had pizza for dinner. I haven't had pizza in a long time. And I liked that we ate in living room, while watching a movie!" I admitted after thinking about it
"Yeah?" A smile grew on her face "Would you want to do that again sometimes?"
I wondered about it for a moment "What would I have to do?" I asked curiously, trying to figure out if I could do what she would want me to do. I could try and not skip any more class, but if she says that I have to get like all A's – I doubt I would ever get another pizza for dinner.
I looked like my questions saddened Amy "Nothing!" Amy detained a little pause "You wouldn't have to do anything, sweetie! We could order pizza, just because we want to," Amy explained
"Could I order different pizza next time?" I asked after a moment of silence
"You didn't like the one you ordered today?" Amy's head tilted slightly to one side and her eyebrow rose just a little bit
"I didn't like the olives too much," I said quietly, while looking down
To my surprise Amy chuckled at my statement. When I look up to her, perplexed by her response, she explains "I hate olives! I guess you and I have something in common!"
"Okay, I'm gonna go and let you sleep," Amy said as she lightly patted my legs, which were under the blanket "Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite!"
"Night," I replied quietly as I watched her walk out of my room. Amy stopped at the doorway and looked back at me as I lowered myself in the bed. When I rested my head on the pillow, Amy smiled at me one last time, before she closed the doors behind as she left.
December 24th
I woke up to a knock on my bedroom doors. When I lifted my head up from the pillow, I saw how the doors to my bedroom opened slowly, they creaked a little. I was still half asleep.
Markus peaked his head in my room and asked in a hushed voice "Hey! You up?"
I sat up in the bed and rubbed my eyes "I am now,"
"Get dressed! Meet me in 5 by the car!" Markus said louder as he opened the doors wider
"What?" I asked utterly confused by what was happening
"Get dressed! We need to move out before others get up!" Markus called as he ran down the stairs. His right hand was up in the air and moved his index finger around, like showing me to hurry up.
Not really understanding what is happening, I got out of the bed and got dressed. As I walked down the stairs this familiar scent hit my nose - gingerbread. It smelled yummy. When I reached the first floor, I glanced to the kitchen. I saw a gimps of Amy, she had an apron around her waist. Radio was on, Christmas jingles where playing, filing the house with soft music, setting a very Christmas like atmosphere in the house.
I walked inside the kitchen and saw that on the kitchen table there was rolled out gingerbread dough. There were different dough forms next to it. I saw a star, heart, evergreen, something that looked like snowman and a moon.
My mom always made gingerbread for Christmas. She got up an hour early just so some of gingerbread would be ready for when Jude and I got up. The house at Christmas always smelled like gingerbread.
"Morning, munchkin!" Amy beamed at me as she lifted a pan of made gingerbread up to the stove
"Morning," I said looking around the kitchen, a little bit surprised as to how much this reminded me of Christmas morning in my childhood house, where I lived with my family before I got placed in foster care
"You want some gingerbread?" Amy asked as she nodded towards the bowl on the counter. There was some gingerbread already made, but Amy was making more.
I walked up to the bowl and picked out one gingerbread in the form of a star. It was warm to touch and it smelled tasty. I took a bite of it carefully, savoring the taste of the first gingerbread I have had in years.
"Mmm..." I hum as I chewed it, with my eyes closed. It was delicious. Tasted as good as it looked and smelled.
"Good?" Amy asked as she was taking gingerbread of the pan and placing it to another bowl
"Really good!" I agreed, opening my eyes, and shoved the rest of the gingerbread in my mouth
There was a sudden knock on the kitchen window. Markus stood outside the house with rope in his hand. I even jumped a little at the noise.
"Let's go!" Markus called me from the outside and waved me to move out
"Where am I going?" I asked Amy before I go move from my spot
"To get Christmas tree!" Amy explained, when she glanced over her shoulder to me "Now go! You two need to hurry, before the best trees are taken!"
"Oh...okay!"
As I started to walk out, Amy called "Take some gingerbread with you!" I turned around on my heel and walked back to the bowl. I took out 5 gingerbread.
"Is that all, really?" Amy questioned me "Dig in! Take a real handful!" Amy nudged me
I grabbed another 3 in my left hand and then took a handful of gingerbread in my right hand. Warily I glanced to Amy, to see if I went overboard.
"Attagirl!" Amy smiled at me "Now scatter! And don't come home until you find the best a Christmas tree!" I laughed to myself quietly as to how much Christmas spirit Amy had
I had to open the front doors with my elbow and close them with my feet, because my hands were full with gingerbread.
As I walked to the front lawn, I heard a sound coming from the house. Or more like from the roof. I stopped in my tracks and looked back to the house. There were stairs put up to the side of the house and Aaron was basically on the roof, hanging up Christmas lights around house.
"Morning Callie!" Aaron called from the roof and continued hanging the lights
For a moment I stood there stunned. I shook my head few seconds later and continued to walk to the car. Markus was sitting in Amy's car already. When he saw me walking towards the car with gingerbread in my hands, he opened the doors for me.
"I hope some of that is for me!" He nodded to the gingerbread in my hands as I sat in the car with him
I extended my left hand to him "Awesome!" I handed all the gingerbread in my left to Markus and finally closed the doors behind me
"Now, let's go Christmas tree hunting!" Markus said, his voice full of excitement