Cooper POV
Flashback- the Date night
When we first got to the bar, we sat down at one of the table and simply talked. We discussed each others dates, our jobs, our lives, told each other some funny moment from our lives. After what was some hour of just talking with each other we decided to go have few games of billiard.
I just couldn't help myself, but to check Amy out. She was bent down, trying to get the perfect shot, moving the cue till she found the perfect angle. The high heels and the dark blue, tight fitting dress was making my heart beat faster. She had this perfume, which I thought was made for her.
"I know you are checking me out" she said with a smirk on her lips when she makes the shot. I quickly look back to the billiard table and watch how the 8th ball rolls in the left side pocket.
"Damn, you are good at billiard" I said back trying to play it all innocent. This was the 5th game that we have played. It was the 4th game that she won.
"Oh, please…"Amy pressed the cue down to the ground, looking back at me "You were hunting the 8th ball for like 6 rounds and not once you aimed. You let me win...all of the times"
"I have no idea what you are talking about" I reply smiling at her. I reach for her cue and go put the two cue's down.
We gathered the billiard balls and once I got back from returning the set, I stopped right in front of her. Sexual frustration was what I have felt ever since we got here. There was something about Amy that was pulling me in, I simply wanted to get to know her better.
I held my hand out for her "Would you like to dance?"
Amy looked around the bar. No one else was dancing, this wasn't exactly the place to dance, it was a bar after all. We both were way overdressed for this place. And honestly, Jay-Z wasn't exactly the music you could dance to as well. But I simply didn't care. I wanted to dance with her.
After a short moment she placed her hand in my palm "I would love to"
Every time she smiled at me, I couldn't help but smile back. Amy had the most beautiful smile ever. I do believe that a girl's smile is the best accessory that they can have. No expensive jewelry will ever come close to a woman's smile. We exchange smiles before I escort her down from the small platform, where the billiards were located.
I looked to the bartender as we got to the free space where we could dance "Could you please put on something slower?" He nods back and walks to the sound system, switches up the music.
"I have never danced in bar" Amy says when she placed her hand on my shoulder. I take one step closer to her and place my hand on her back. I had no idea what song the bartender would put on, but his choice was perfect "Take my breath away" by Berlin.
"It has been a while since the last time I danced with somebody like this" Amy admitted as I led her around the dance floor
"Then get used to it" I said looking in her eyes "We are not leaving this dance floor until this place closes" there was a small pause "or until you say so. Whichever comes first"
I took a step back and made her do few under arm turns until I guided her back to my arms. We moved swiftly around the dance floor and not once did either of us stepped on each others foots. I was so thankful Amy didn't try to lead and let me control the flow of the dance.
"You are a good dancer" Amy said after the second song ended and we continued to dance to the next song
"You are not so bad yourself" I reply and lead her to do few more under the arms turns, then again pull her close to me
"What are we doing?" Amy asked as we moved slowly around the dance floor
"What do you mean? We are dancing!
"No" she chuckles at first "I mean…is this a date?"
"Do you want it to be a date?" I ask her back. I think it kind of turned into a date. I think it wasn't at first, but we have been flirting with one another ever since we sat down at the table to just talk.
"Do you?" She asks me and when I don't answer instantly, Amy briefly looks down to her feet "I'm not…" Amy started when she glanced up to my eyes "I don't have time to just mess around. If you are looking for a one night stand - that's not going to happen, Cooper."
"Who said anything about one night stand? I am sick and tired of one night stands and women who don't want a relationship…I want some sort of stability. I am sick and tired or feeling lonely."
"I have a kid…" Amy blurred out
"Yeah, I know. I remember her pretty well, Amy!" I chuckle back "You think I already forgot that you have a kid?"
"It doesn't bother you?"
"That you have a daughter?" Amy nods back "No. Why would it?" I said with certainty
Amy stopped dancing and so did I. Her eyes traveled from my eyes to my lips and then back to my eyes.
"What?" I ask her back as she just stands in front of me, looking at me. She sucks in her lower for a second and then suddenly she leans in and kisses me. It was a messy kiss, Amy pulled out of the kiss first, after just few seconds.
Clearly the kiss took both of us by surprise. I hadn't expected it at all. Amy looked shocked herself, that she had kissed me. Her right hand goes up to her lips and she softly runs her finger over her lower lip.
"Umm…" I drag out as no words came to mind, but then she leans in one more time, her arms goes over my shoulder, one of her hand runs through the hair on the back of my head.
This time she leans in slower, this time I knew there was going to be a kiss. Amy tilts her head slightly to her right, she hesitated with the kiss, she lingers. But I lean forward and soon our lips connect again. The kiss was much more passionate, more tender and softer than the first one. I place my hands on her hips and pull her closer to me as we deepened the kiss.
End of Flashback
"And after the dance, we got our stuff and went out for a walk around the old city" I lie about the end. I didn't tell them about the kiss or that we went to my place, which was just 5 minute drive away - to spend the night together.
I had no idea if they believed me about how the night ended, obviously they weren't stupid. They know people have sex, but I was hoping for them to think that Amy wouldn't jump in bed with the first man she met. Especially after what happened to her late husband.
"You treat her good!" Harold said very sternly "If I ever hear about you mistreating or hurting my daughter…or Callie, you will deal with me! You got it?"
"I have no intentions of hurting your daughter or your grand-daughter, sir" I said glancing down to the empty tea cup in front of me "I know your daughter and Callie have been through a lot…and I will do anything to protect them and keep them safe"
Linda smiled at me, Harold nodded in approval "You do that"
Lena POV
July 11th
The morning started out like the previous 3 mornings –leisurely with no rush. We told the kids that we are going to head back home today at the breakfast. Thankfully, neither one complained about it, in fact, they were all really understanding and supportive, knowing Jesus needed to get some much needed rest at home.
After breakfast the kids, except for Jesus, all run down to the lake, for one last swim. This was clearly the reason why we need to head back. Everyone could tell, that Jesus wanted to go with, but swimming was certainly out of the picture for Jesus, at least for few weeks.
When the kids returned, they all started to pack their stuff. Stef and I did the packing for Jesus and Frankie's stuff as well, while those two just sat at the picnic table, chatting. At the end, we took down the tents and gathered the trash that we had made. Leaving the place in the same condition as we arrived here - all clean.
"Mom, can I finally drive?" Brandon asked Stef from where he stood, by the front of the SUV
Stef was very wary of other people driving her car. I had only convinced her to let me drive after the event in Bishop, after a long persuading. She is a stubborn woman.
Stef put her hands on her hips and slowly shook her head "Not going to happen, B"
"Oh, come on! Why not?" Brandon mimicked Stef's posture
"Because…it is my car and I like to drive" Stef stood her ground
"You know what?" Brandon pointed to Stef "I'm driving with Amy!"
"What?" Amy exclaimed out loud, the moment she heard her name being said. When she leaned out of the car in hurry, she bumped her head at the roof of the car, which made a loud thud sound, she rubber her top of the head as she looked at us.
After 10 minutes we were finally in the assigned cars. Clearly, the seating was a bit -unexpected
"Okay, I have to admit. This is pretty comfy! I was not expecting this" Stef said from the backseat.
I glance back to her. Stef had her left leg bent under her, the right stretched out over the backseat, her shoes were kicked off, her left elbows was pressed to the side of the window at the door frame.
"No wonder famous and rich people always sit in the back…" she gestured to the seat "Look at this space!"
I would have never imagined that Stef would willingly give her car keys away to someone else. But I guess she trusted Amy with her car, more than she trusted her own son, who she taught to drive. Amy's reaction, when Stef gave her the keys, was just priceless, like a little kid in candy store, who is allowed to taste different candy for free. Only Amy was allowed to drive SUV that wasn't even hers. Apparently, Amy had wanted to try the SUV for a long time.
Only second later Stef called to front "Hey, Callie, turn on the AC!"
"It's already ON" Callie said reaching for the panel to check the button
"Then how about some music…I would love some music!"
Callie glanced to me from the driver's seat and whispered "Is she always this…bossy?"
"I wouldn't know. I have never seen her sitting in the backseat" I laugh softly when Callie reaches for the radio
"No, not that crappy music!" Stef said when she heard the radio go off "Don't you have some CD's?" Stef pulled on the seat belt and leaned to front, to look between the two front seats.
"Remember, Lena when we went to Barstow…you had that amazing CD mix with you" She said very dreamy, then tapped on Callie's shoulder to get her attention "Lena has excellent taste in music. Little bit of everything...Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana. She has the perfect taste in music"
"Oh really?" Callie glanced to me briefly "I would have never guessed you liked Nirvana"
"I was one of the cool kids" Stef cleared her throat, so I quickly added "We both used to be cool" I pointed between the two of us
Callie laughed and pointed to the glove department "You can check there. A folder with CD should be there. You can probably find something you like." I didn't hesitate, I reached for the glove department, opened it and find the folder that Callie was talking about.
"Okay…let's see what you got…" I stopped at the first CD I saw "Really?" I ask looking down to the CD
Confused, Callie glanced to me to see what I meant by that. Stef leaned even more to front to see as well "Let me see!"
I held the folder up so Stef could read the writing on the first CD, Stef laughed out "One Direction, really Callie!?" Stef gave an unimpressed look to Callie
"That's Mariana's!" Callie called out and pressed the button to eject the disk that was in the CD player already "This is my! We just put it there…for safe keeping. She forgot it here, like a month ago! There is a case somewhere for Mariana's disk!"
I dig through the glove department and I do indeed find few disks that clearly belong to Mariana. I put the One Direction disk back in the case and take the disk that Callie was holding up, place it in the empty spot in the folder.
"Okay, moving on…" I mumbled to myself "What would you like to listen to, Stef?"
"Some punk rock would be nice!" Stef said watching me flip through the disk "Haven't heard that in a while"
Callie spoke up when she looked to Stef in the back view mirror "How cool exactly were you?"
"What kind of question is that!?" Stef asks fake hurt, I stop flipping through the music collection
"I mean…did you go to many concerts?" Callie asks innocently "Did you go to any concert together?"
"We have gone to few together, yes" I confirm
"Mostly we just threw our own dance parties!" Stef said from the back and looked to me with this mischief and naughty look in her eyes, remembering how those dance parties always ended
"When did you go to this Barstow place?" Callie asks further
"It was um…some 8 years ago" I said trying to remember which year it was
"It was Lena's 33rd birthday" Stef said with no problem remembering
"So, what musician preform in Barstow?" Callie wondered
"There was no concert there" Stef replied quickly, Callie got the hint
Callie glanced to me and mumbled "I sense that I entered the danger zone of – too much information"
I nodded back, Callie quickly looked back to the road and gripped the wheel with both hands. Stef laughed back and leaned back in the seat.
"Oh!" I exclaim when I see something I like "You have R.E.M!"
"That's mom's" Callie comments when she glance to the disk
"May I?" I ask taking the disk out
"Knock yourself out" Callie says smiling. I place the CD in and when the first notes play out, Stef calls out
"Uh! I know this one! What was its name…um…it is on the tip of my tongue..." Stef was leaned to front as she tried to remember the song name
"Losing my religion" Callie says simply without batting an eye at us
"You know R.E.M?" Stef asks from the back. Neither one of our kids knew the group, so we were positively surprised.
All Callie does is turn the volume up and starts to sing along the lyrics, as she taps her fingers at the steering wheel in the rhythm of the song
"-Oh no, I've said too much
I've said enough
That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion-"
Callie stopped singing and glanced to me briefly and then to Stef in the rear view mirror "Come on, you know the lyrics"
Next thing I know, Stef and I join Callie in signing along the song at the top of our lungs. I haven't done this in quite some time, it was so much fun. We ended up signing along with all of the songs in the disk.
We have now been on the road for some 7 hours. I was surprised myself when we didn't change the seating once. All our kids were still driving with Amy in Stef's car, but Stef and I were still driving with Callie.
This was our last stop before we reach San Diego. Only some 2 hours to go. We all need to meet at our house, because there are few of our bags in Amy's car.
Callie parked the car next to where Amy parked and we all got out. After we all got back from our bathroom break, the whole Adams Foster clan gathered around the back of Stef's car.
Stef dig out the small gift bag, that was hidden behind all of the bags, right when Callie called out "What are you all doing there? Do you have more food? If you have more food, you need to share!"
I peaked to her, looking over the small half circle, in which the kids were standing in around us.
"Sorry, no food!" I called her back smiling at her. Callie ate the last piece of sandwich and took the water bottle her mom handed her.
"How are we doing this?" Jude asked nervously
"Just yell it out…all at once" Stef replied holding the gift bag in her hand
"Wait…Jude, you take the poster" I pulled out the rolled up paper whose one end was poking out of the gift bag. Frankie couldn't stand still anymore so I peak out of the huddle and called for Callie. Callie finishes drinking the water and tosses the empty bottle away before she turns to us.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" We all called out at the same time, when she was looking to us. Her mouth parted in surprise, eyes were glowing, big, genuine smile appeared on her face.
"You thought we forgot about you, didn't you?" Mariana walked over to Callie first and gave her a big hug and a kiss to her cheek. One by one Callie received a hug from everyone and only then Jude handed the first part of the gift to her.
"We figured you could use a reminder of us" Jude told her as he handed her the poster that was rolled up, with two rubbers around each end - securing it
"Thank you" Callie took off the rubber bands and opened the poster. It was a simple gift, like Jude said, only so she could remember us. On the light blue poster there were all of our handprints with a small photo next to each one, so she could know which handprint belongs to whom.
We made the poster and got the gift, before we left for the trip, because we were thinking, that we would be spending her birthday at the camp.
Callie was holding the poster open in front of her, we couldn't see her face. But when she lowered it, she had tears in her eyes "Thank you guys…this is…it's perfect. I will hang it up once I am home and in my room. I love it!"
"We have more!" Frankie told her as she was nudging Stef to give her the rest of the gift
"Here you go, Callie…the second part" Stef walked forward, handing the gift bag to her. Amy took the poster from her hand so she would have free hands to look at the next part of her gift.
"You didn't have to" Callie said taking the bag, she wasn't looking in it, at the moment, she was watching us
"We wanted to" Stef said without hesitating
"We hope it fits" I said when I lifted Frankie up to my arms. Callie looked to me intrigued before she opened the gift bag. She pulled out the hoodie first, as it was on the top.
Jesus said watching her "It is customized. Check the writing on it!"
Once Callie unfolded the hoodie, she exclaimed out in joy "This is awesome!"
"You always are wearing your mom's shirts…we figured you need one of your own" Stef explained when Callie handed the gift bag to her mom for a moment to try the hoodie on.
It was a very simple hoodie, the design was exactly like the one's that were issued to Amy and Stef. But instead of the SDPD writing it had addition lines to it. It read - Daughter of SDPD officer. Callie reached in the bag and pulled out the t-shirt with the same writing on. Both of the garment were in light grey color. Letters were dark blue.
Callie was holding the shirt up, looking at it "Guess I won't have to take your shirts anymore, mom"
"No you won't" Amy said back smiling to her "Now you have your own!"
"Thank you so much guys" Callie said to us and we gave her one last, big Adams Foster family hug.
Amy POV
When we pulled up to our home, it was already over 9, but to our surprise, Cooper's car was still there. Lights were on in our home. We both get out of the car and went to the trunk to get all the bags out. The front doors open when we lift some bags out and we both hear voice we were not excepting at all.
"Amy! Callie!" it was my mother's voice. My mom was up to me and hugging me tightly in matter of second. Callie was now being hugged by my dad.
Apparently, when we arrived, they were having dinner at the house. Mom set two more plates for me and Callie and we all had dinner together. My parents told us how they met Cooper and in return we told them about our trip.
Cooper drove away around 11. My parents were about to set up the bed in living room, but I offered them my bed, they gladly took it. I took the pull out couch myself, I didn't want my parents sleeping on a couch.
Before going to bed, I had one final thing I had to do. I walked in my bedroom. My parents were both reading books, they watched me how I hurried to the closet.
"I'm just gonna grab…something" I reached for the top shelf and got out the already wrapped up gift for Callie. Then I made my way to Callie's room. She was about to settle down in the bed, but I stopped her.
"I thought the trip was the gift" She said to the gift in my hand
"Don't be silly. That was just one part of the gift. Happy birthday, honey" I handed her the gift
"What is it?" she asked as she went to sit on the bed to open it. I joined her sitting on the bed and watched how with excitement she started to open it.
"Something you have wanted for some time now" I replied watching her
Once she ripped the side of the paper off to see the box that was under it, she looked to me and exclaimed out surprised "No way, really?!"
I grinned back at her "It is about time you have your own!"
"Thank you!" Callie lunged on me, throwing her arms around me
"I'm glad you like it" I said hugging her back
"But if you sit at it the whole day and no longer talk to me - I will take it away" I say to her when her attention is back to the gift
"I won't…I promise" Callie said opening the box to look at her brand new laptop
"Let's try to boot it up!" I said when Callie opened the laptop for the first time and I reached for the charger