Amy POV
After some 5 minutes of sitting alone in the living room with my thought, I finally reach for the phone to text back Cooper
-I told Callie. I told her it was you who I was seeing
I don't have to wait long for reply, my phone buzzes almost instantly
-How did she take the news?
I get up, gather all the dishes and head over to kitchen to place them in the sink. Once I have done that, I reply back
-I'm not sure. I couldn't really tell. She was surprised for sure. Confused. Didn't yell or get mad…she just, she looked really confused. Said she needed time, went to her room. Give me 30 minutes, I will call you
I wash all the dishes, clean up the big mess in living room. I lock up and before I head upstairs I turn off all the lights downstairs. I stop at the hallway once I am up the stairs and look at Callie's bedroom doors. I hear her pacing in the room. Part of me just wanted to barge in and talk with her. But the other part, the more rational part of me, told me to just give her the time she needs and patiently wait till she comes to me. I let out a long breath that I was holding in, and walk to my room.
Once I get to my room I change to my PJ and go through the night routine before I crawl back to bed. I fall back in the bed and press the pillow over my head, I lay like that for a moment. After a while, I move the pillow down to my chest, I hold it tightly with one hand to my chest and with other I reach for my phone and call Cooper
"Hey" I say quietly once he picks up
"Hey…I was thinking, I know I'm not a pro about kids, because I don't have kids, but it sounded to me like it went okay. I mean, it sounded like she just needs time to figure it out. To think about it…That's not a bad thing, right?" he says carefully
"No, it's not." I sight "I just want her to be okay with this…eventually" I take a small pause and with my free hand rub my forehead "I didn't want to hide it from her anymore. It was hard to tell her I was going out, but not tell her it was you. I wanted her to know."
"We will just see what happens next and take it from there" He replies softly "I am glad you told her. It is like you said, it didn't seem right hiding it from her…"
The doors to my room suddenly opened and I sit up, lowering my phone to the bed at once. Callie walks to the middle of the room, takes a stand. I was wrong, she does look a little bit angry, no doubt she was upset, confusion hasn't left her face.
"Why him!? There are so many guys out there, why did it have to be someone I knew!?" she demanded an answer, throwing her arms up. I knew by the look, she wouldn't leave without an answer
"It just happened" that was my first answer and it was horrible one, Callie knew that, I knew that
"Just happened!?" She threw her arms up again, that answer got her pissed off "I am not a fucking baby, mom! I know that things don't just happen! There is a reason behind everything that happens" she pointed with her right index finger to ground
"I'm sorry!" I reply quickly back "I shouldn't have said that. But the truth is Callie, I didn't plan this. I didn't think me and him would ever happen and I don't think he saw this coming either" I shift in the bed and now sit on my knees "We were at the same place, at the same time. The dates, we both were on, turned out bad for both of us. We got to talking and we…we hit it off. It is not often that you hit it off so good with another person. And we did. We both agreed we would at least try and see how things work out. I am not dating him to embarrass or hurt you in any way…that was not my intention, and if I did…I am truly sorry, Callie"
"So what…" she said after a moment and once again rise her hands up "…you like him now?" her voice was softer, but it still holds some anger
"Yes, I like him. I wouldn't have told you otherwise, if I didn't, if I didn't think he was a good guy. I hated that I was hiding it from you, we both did, actually. And I am sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, I didn't want to worry you..."
"So, 2 weeks you like him. In two more you love him. In a month you move in and you leave me behind, run away with him-" I stop her mumble by quickly interrupting her
"Yes, I won't deny we started off fast, we jumped into this head first, but we have agreed to keep things slow, we are in no rush. We won't rush into anything and we certainly aren't thinking about moving in or getting married or anything like that. We have just started dating, we are still getting to know each other, what we like, what we don't like. And trust me, there won't be any moving in anytime soon. And most certainly, I will never leave you behind, you know that!" I kept my voice very calm and I tried to convince her the best way I could
"What is so great about him?" she asks not missing a beat still sounding quite upset
"Well…for starters, I love the fact that he acknowledges that you exist" Callie crosses her arms and waits for me to continue, her body is tense, she is watching me like a hawk "He knows that you are the most important person in my life, period, and he is okay with that. He is a good listener. He is really easy to talk to, and we could talk for hours about anything and everything. Cooper was really sympathetic, understanding and sensitive when I told him about Aaron and Markus. He makes me smile. Every time we meet, he asks me how my day was…he is gentle and caring, and kind" I say back to her not taking my eyes of the girl in front of me
I remember back to the time after my blind date "He knows how to change a tier" I chuckle to myself when I say that, but then continue with the seriousness I had before "He gives me his jacket if it is cold. Cooper is a horrible singer, just like me. He lets me win at a pool, even thou he is way better than me. Cooper is also a great dancer…I don't mean club dancing, but actual dancing" I smile at the memory of us dancing in the bar
"He is understanding about the fact that I need to take things slow and not rush into anything. He texts me every night saying goodnight…and I miss him, I know we haven't been together that long, but I miss him if I don't see him. The fact that it has been only 2 weeks and I feel so strongly about him, was and still is surprising to me too. So you are not alone in being surprised, Callie."
"Do you love him?" She asked warily, uncrossing her arms. Her posture softens a lot after I explained to her what I liked about him. Callie was now sucking on her bottom lip, browns frown together, her brown eyes watching me carefully
"I can't answer you that. It is too soon. But if you are asking me whether I could love him, sometime in the far future, I think I could. But if you are asking me if I could love him more than you, the answer will always be no"
Callie shifted from one side to other. There is a moment of silence when we both just look to one another
"I am not-" I stop the silence, shifting closer to the end of bed and gesture with my hands a lot "-asking you to be okay with this, I don't expect you to be. I know it will take time. I am not asking you to like him instantly. I know this wasn't what you expected, I know you are surprised and shocked, confused and it probably feels weird and strange because you know him."
The emotional strain was heard in my voice, I was talking with tears in my eyes. I swallow back a lump in throat, not taking my eyes off her.
"I want you to know, that I am happy with him. I thought I could never be happy with someone else after Aaron, but I am. He makes me happy. Just like you have for the last 2 years, just like you still do. You two make me so darn happy, Callie. All I am asking from you - is that you give him a chance, Callie"
I had forgotten that Cooper was still on the line, that he probably heard every word we said, but I don't look down to the phone on the pillow. I keep my eyes on Callie.
She looks down to her feet "You gave me a second chance, so I should give him one, right?" she says barely above whisper, picking her fingers "It's weird that I know him, it is hard picturing you with him. I never saw him anything else than my therapist. I was used to seeing you single, I guess...I freaked out. Once you told me it made everything so real..." she looks up to me and quietly adds "...but I will be fine."
"You don't have to be okay. Don't say that just because of me, Callie! You can tell me how you really feel. You don't have to pretend with me. It is okay to be mad and angry and upset. And it is okay to be angry with me, I'm okay with that…"I say gently back
"No" she said louder and more confident "I will be fine. I may need a little bit more time to actually get used to that idea, but I'm okay. I liked him, he seemed nice" she shrugs back "You shouldn't worry what I feel, it is your life. You deserve a good life, you deserve someone to love you…if you are happy, I will be happy for you…"
I smile back at her. I leave the phone on the pillow and get up from the bed to walk over to Callie
I placed my hands on her upper arms "I will always worry about you, your feelings matter to me. And it is not just my life this relationship affects, it is your life too. So of course I will be concerned as to what you are feeling. Your feelings matter! You matter!" I state firmly at the end and then tilt my head to one side, waiting for the nod back. Once she nods back I continue.
"I know that you are scared that if this relationship progresses I could forget you or love you less or whatever silly thought you have in your head of me distancing from you" the facial expression on her face told me I was right, that that was why she was upset. I place my right hand on the side of her neck and look straight to her eyes "I will say this again and again, I will tell you this every day if I have to Callie - you are the most important person in my life. I would do anything for you and you can't even imagine how much I love you" Callie didn't reply, she just stood in front of me, looking right to my eyes, biting on her lower lip, worry written all over her face
"I promise you that him being in my life, in your life, in our life – it won't ever change how I feel about you, how much I love you and how much I care about you, how much you mean to me. I never break a promise, you know that. You have to trust me on this one" I place my palms on her cheeks, squeezing her cheeks softly
"Callie, if you think…that you are lucky that you found me, you can't imagine how lucky I feel because I have you in my life. I feel so blessed that I have you in my life…that we both crossed path, because I don't know what I would have done without you. My life would be empty without you in it. I would be stupid to mess it up - what you and me have" few tears roll down my cheek while I spoke to her
I see in Callie's face that she was fighting hard to not cry in front of me. But once I end my little speech, a single tear rolls down her cheek she whispers back "I love you too, mom"
I pull her in a hug and we stay in it for quite some time, a minute at least.
"Am I going to actually see him anytime soon?" Callie asks pulling out of the hug and she wipes her hand over her cheek
"Do you want to? I mean, I wasn't planning on inviting him here anytime soon, but if you want to…" I say as I run my thumb softly over her cheek to get the tear that she didn't get
"I think I want the awkward phase to be over it" she replied after a moment "I kind of have few questions for him…"
"You do?" I ask surprised, she nods back, but I know she won't tell me what they are
"I could invite him over this Saturday? Does that sound good to you? Or is that too soon?"
"No, Saturday is good…" she answers, but then adds very shyly "But like…not for whole day. I don't think I am ready him hanging out here for too long just yet"
"Just for dinner? For hour?" I ask to make sure, Callie nods back
"We can arrange that. If that is what you really want?" I ask to just be sure "You don't have to do this, if you don't want to" I remind her
"No, I want to…Saturday sounds good" she replied and then I pull her in for another quick hug and place a kiss to her temple
"Goodnight" she pulled out of the hug, kissed me back on my cheek and walked away. I wish her good night just before she reached the hallway and closed the bedroom doors behind her.
Once Callie heads back to her room, I rush over to my phone. Cooper was still on line, I heard TV running in background
"Coop?" I ask wondering if he was still listening in
"So, you could possibly love me sometime in the future?" He said back, I could hear the big, silly smirk on his face, he was enjoying this
"Shut up" I say playfully back "How much did you hear?"
"Almost everything. Okay, well...Not too much at the end...you two were too far away. Do you really think I would miss out on that talk? That was pure gold for my ears" I laugh back softly
"That was a private conversation, Coop" I smile in the phone as I lay back in the bed, I cuddle the pillow to my chest again
"Then you should have ended the call. I think deep down you wanted me to hear all that" he never stopped sounding smug "I didn't hear the end well thou. What was the verdict on me?"
"In the end…positive" I say back rolling on my side and pulling the pillow closer to me "But she does want you to come over this Saturday"
"Oh...Really?" he sounded very surprised and not ready for it
"Yes, really. Callie told me she has…few questions for you" I tried to scare him a bit
He once again sounded smug "Please, I can handle one teenager" laughed back "Don't get too cocky Coop. One wrong word and…kaput – you will be her worst enemy for life"
"Kaput sounds bad, like bad-bad" He said after a moment sounding more worried. I think i did scare him "So, um, what time? Oh and I do need your address..."
"I will send you the info tomorrow" I say rolling back on my back, pillow on my chest
"Did she leave? Are you alone?" he had a mischief, naughty tone in his voice
"Yes, I'm alone. Why?" I drag slowly looking at the closed doors
"What are you wearing?" I push the pillow aside and look down to my oldest pair of PJ pants and my old, simple, black t-shirt that had toothpaste stain on my chest
"If I tell you the truth, you won't be turned on, not one bit" I reply and he laughs back