The alarm goes off at 7:00 on the dot. I groan, getting out of bed. I have not slept well enough to be going to work today, but I am, unfortunately.

"Call out," Jacqueline grumbles, and I can tell she's already feeling my absence in the bed. "It's Saturday."

I chuckle and lean over to kiss her forehead. "I wish I could, but there's no rest for the weary."

"I think working class people have the right to say that," she says groggily, "not a pretty woman whose co-parent is rich as hell."

"I don't live solely off of his money," I scoff, moving to the closet to pick out an outfit to wear to work. "I make my own."

"At his company," she says.

"You live off his money, too," I point out.

"Don't remind me," she scoffs, turning over so that she isn't facing me.

"You're always grumpy in the morning," I tease.

"You're always beautiful all the time," she says, making it sound like some sort of retort.

I smile. "Thank you."

I get ready for work, and once I'm there, Liam's newest assistant Marc Haas is waiting for me in my office. I am the operations manager of the PD - pacific division, of course. Not the police department. They'd never let me work there.

"Morning, Marc," I say with my eyebrow raised. "You're looking like you're in the wrong office today."

"Mr. Jameson is in one of his moods," Marc explains. He's a young man, about 22 years old, and kind of socially awkward. "I'm trying to stay out of his way."

"Ah, don't let the boy scare you," I shrug, sitting at my desk. "Liam likes to seem intimidating, but he's really a softie."

"Marc!" I hear Liam yell from down the hall, the click-clack of his way-too-expensive dress shoes approaching. Marc looks like a feral kitten being disturbed by a human. "Stop hiding in Miss Cooper's office and get out here!" I give Marc a gesture like, I got this.

Liam appears in my doorway. He spots Marc immediately. "See, there you are! I won't have you distracting Charlotte from her work, now come on."

"Is he like this all the time?" I ask Marc. Marc just looks at me, as if he's afraid to nod. I sigh and turn to Liam. "You wanna apologise to this man?"

"Apologise for what? Being his boss?"

"That's the wrong B word, but sure," I quip. Liam catches my meaning and fights back a smile.

"Fine," he turns to Marc. "I'm sorry, Marc."

"It's fine, Mr. Jameson," Marc says quickly. He looks between us and scurries off, probably back to his own desk inside Liam's office. I give Liam a withering look, and he catches it.

"Listen, if I'm not tough on these guys, I'm gonna prove to them that I don't really deserve my position and I'm just some rich kid from Texas whose daddy gave him a job to make up for the fact that he never wanted him," Liam says in a voice so low only I can hear it.

"Or, you'll just prove to them you're a dick," I say. "And you are some rich kid from Texas whose daddy gave him the job."

Liam glares at me, but nods. "You're right, but I can't let them think that. They won't take me seriously."

"They won't take you seriously if you're just some bully, either," I point out, earning a groan from him. I look in my drawers for my notebook and pen.

"I know that, I know, but it's so hard to find a balance," he says.

"You'll figure it out. If you were smart enough to potentially be a doctor, you're smart enough to figure out how to get your employees to take you seriously as a boss," I say. "Now, get to work. I got people to watch."

"Yes ma'am," Liam says, amused, leaving my office.

"Wait, I wanna talk to you about something," I call him back, remembering what Georgia said about the bullies at school.

He peeks his head back in. "Yeah?"

"Come in, close the door," I command, gesturing at the door.

"Oh…kay then," Liam says, tilting his head and furrowing his brow as he does so. "What's the matter?" He takes a seat in one of the chairs in front of my desk.

"Our daughter is bein' bullied in school for having two mothers," I say.

Liam sighs. "I always worried about this," he admits. "Kids can be cruel, and it's even worse because our family isn't set up traditionally."

"Yeah, but Liam, what can we do? It's not like I'm going to get in a straight relationship again. No offence."

"None taken," Liam says. He accepted years ago that we were never getting back together. I don't think he's happy about it, but he doesn't bring it up anymore. "What did you tell her when she told you she was getting bullied."

"To ignore them, take away their power," I reply.

"Good advice about taking away their power. What did ol' Jackie have to say about this?" he asks, saying her name in a mocking way.

"Hey, you're 32, by the way," I remark at his childish behaviour. "And Jackie said to give them beatings."

"That's Jackie," Liam rolls his eyes. "She never takes a day off, does she?"

"I don't think she knows how," I smile fondly, thinking of my girlfriend.

"Well, Georgia can't go around punching folk," Liam chuckles, "so here's what I propose: we set up a meeting with the school and get this resolved."

"I doubt that school will do anything," I scoff. Schools aren't exactly famous for their ability to handle kids being bullied, especially for things like having gay parents.

Liam shrugs. "You're probably right. But it won't hurt to try, right?"

"Maybe not," I say.

"I'll call on Monday and set up an appointment to talk to the principal," Liam says.

"Okay, but Jacqueline will be present, too. You sure you can be civil?"

"Can Jacqueline be civil?" he retorts.

"I'll handle Jacqueline so long as you can handle yourself," I say, raising an eyebrow at him. He stares at me for a second, and nods. "Good boy. We need to do this for Georgia," I say determinedly.

"Of course," Liam says, standing up from his chair. "I need to get your office new chairs, these are uncomfortable."

As he exits, I call after him, "Worry about giving your employees a raise, first."

I hear him scoff, but he says nothing else.

I think about our conversation. I doubt the school will really do anything about the bullying, but we need to at least show Georgia that we are on her side and that we will fight for her, no matter what, just like my family did for me a lot of the time when I was younger. Especially my Dad. Oh, how I miss that man.

After a while, I get up from my chair and move out into the hallway. Today, like every day, my job is to go around and check up on peoples' projects. It's monotonous work, but it pays well. I start with Marina De Santos, our Artists and Repertoire manager. I knock on her office door. She looks up. "Hello, Charlotte," she says, "doing your rounds?"

"Yeah," I reply with a smile. "How's everything going?"

"Dealing with a particularly difficult artist we're trying to recruit," she says, sounding frustrated.

"Yeah? What's so difficult about this one?" I ask curiously.

"They want complete creative control and a ridiculous amount of money," Marina scoffs. "It's like they don't understand the industry at all."

"It's a new artist, they likely don't." I point out. "Marina, are you a musician, yourself?" I tilt my head.

"I am not," Marina answers matter-of-factly. "Why?"

"I hear you complain a lot about artists wanting complete creative control, and do you understand why they want that?" I ask.

"Not really," Marina admits. "I suppose you do?"

"I do," I nod. "Musicians are sensitive about their work," I explain. "They don't want too many hands in their cookie jar, you know?"

"Is this some Texan saying, or something?" Marina asks in confusion.

I laugh. "I'm just saying, musicians are stubborn," I say, dismissing her comment about me being Texan. "Have you tried to reach a compromise that benefits both us and the artist?"

"Like what?"

"You seriously haven't thought about it?" I deadpan. "Marina, you need to learn this sooner or later."

"Would you like to get behind this desk and do this job?" Marina raises a defiant brow at me, which I dismiss with a chuckle.

"I can," I respond, "if you don't." I give her a warning smile, kind of like I give my daughter when she's acting up.

Marina seems humbled by this. "Fine. I'll think of something and let you know about it," she says in a quieter tone.

"There you go," I nod, stepping back out of the office.

As I go about my workday, silently cursing Liam for making us work on a Saturday - the employees are a lot grumpier on Saturdays because they don't want to be here - all the while, I can't help but feel concerned about the situation with my daughter. I had never really considered that our family structure could ever be a problem for her, I only saw it as her having a bigger support system than most kids. I never factored in her being bullied for it. I hope that we can come to a resolution that works for her. I don't want this to follow her around for her entire life.

It's 2007 for crying out loud, shouldn't we be cooler about this now, anyway?

…

The school meeting comes, and we're all gathered in the principal's office - me, Liam, Jacqueline, Georgia, and the Principal: John Chrysler.

"Mr. Jameson, Miss Cooper, Miss Pierce," Principal Chrysler addresses us. "Can you tell us more about the situation with your daughter and the students here at Suncrest Junior High?"

"Is there more you need to know?" Jacqueline asks, raising an eyebrow at Chrysler. "We've already told you she's being bullied because we-" she gestures to herself and me "-are gay. What more do you need to know?"

"Well," Chrysler says, "are any of these students threatening Georgia's wellbeing? Has there been any physical action taken?"

"No," Georgia responds. "Nobody has threatened me or harmed me physically."

Principal Chrysler shrugs then, and looks around. "So, what's the problem?"

"The problem?" I ask, unable to believe that this man runs a school and does not care for its pupils. "The problem is that my daughter is being bullied by her peers."

"Look, Miss Cooper, I'm sorry to say it, but this is junior high. Kids will be kids and pick on other kids. Especially if they're easy targets, and unfortunately Georgia having two Moms makes her an easy target. This is something she'll just have to ignore," Chrysler says.

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard," Jacqueline scoffs.

"It's the way the world works, Mrs. Pierce," Chrysler says, obviously fighting back a smirk.

Jacqueline seems to restrain herself and turns to me, "That dog don't hunt."

"What does that mean?" Chrysler asks, confused.

"It means that your plan to try and pacify my parents won't work," Georgia informs him. She glances at his hair. "Kind of like that ill-fitting wig. I didn't know you were bald, Chrysler."

Chrysler goes red with anger. Liam bites back a laugh. Jacqueline doesn't bite hers back, My own mouth is agape in shock..

Chrysler opens his mouth to reply, but Liam interrupts him. "Listen, John," he says. "Either you take care of this issue for my daughter, or Jameson Records pulls out from donating to Suncrest any longer."

Chrysler bites back an angry response and takes a deep breath. "That won't be necessary. I'll see to it that the problem is solved, Mr. Jameson."

"Great," Liam smiles, knowing he owns Chrysler now. "Glad to hear it."

Chrysler dismisses us, seeming embarrassed.

"Fair play, Liam," Jacqueline says as we walk out, begrudgingly impressed.

"Well, I mean," he shrugs. "Dad always said if you got power, use it."

"The same Dad who said he didn't want you?" Jacqueline asks, trying to get under his skin. He glares at her.

"That was 14 years ago, okay? I'm over it," he says.

"Are you?" Georgia asks dubiously. "You answered awfully fast."

"I am," Liam says. "Sometimes people don't become parents under the greatest circumstances or react to it in the best ways, but it's what they do for their child that matters."

"So, since you've got all this money because of your dad," Jacqueline says as we approach our cars. "It's fine that he didn't want you?"

"Should we be talking about this in front of Georgia?" I ask, worried.

"I'm okay with it," Georgia says. "Continue."

"Get in the car," I scoff. Georgia shrugs and gets in the car.

"And no, Jacqueline, it's not fine. It's just that I've forgiven him, so can you drop it?" Liam asks, trying to seem cool but clearly Jacqueline hit a tender spot.

"Whatever," Jacqueline says, also getting in the car.

"Thank you for what you did for Georgia," I say to Liam.

"No problem, Cal. That's my kid," Liam smiles a little. I get in the car.

Liam might have started out rough, dumping me when I told him I was pregnant, but he has really evolved as a person over the last 13 years and I'm really proud of him. I remember after Georgia was born, he wouldn't leave my mother's house for more than two hours at a time because he always wanted to be with Georgia. I think that Declan telling him he never wanted him really put everything into perspective for him and made him want to be a better dad than his dad ever was. He's succeeded so far, and I'm proud of him. If I hadn't lost feelings for him a little while after we split up, I probably would have gotten back together with him and married him. Oh, well. I got a hot girlfriend and a friendly relationship with the father of my child. I'm doing fine, anyway.

…

So, Sheldon got fired from Caltech and my mother is in town. This should be fun. I knock on the door. I've been invited to have dinner with them, with Mom cooking. As much as Mom annoys me, I do miss her cooking. Leonard opens the door. "Hey, Callie, come in," he says.

"Well, if it isn't the woman of the hour," Mom says with a hint of sarcasm as I enter the apartment. She's making dinner in the kitchen.

"Hello to you too, Mom," I say in the same tone.

I notice a blonde woman present that I've never seen before. She turns and looks at me. "Hey, I'm Penny!" she says with a friendly tone.

"Callie Cooper," I say.

"So, wait, you're Sheldon's sister?" Penny asks in awe.

"Um…yeah," I nod, confused at her surprise.

"But you're pretty, and so…not Sheldon," she marvelled.

I nod. "Yeah, the rest of us are like that," I say, referring to myself and Georgie and Missy. "The odd one out has always been Sheldon." I say, sitting down on a stool beside Penny.

"Where is my granddaughter, Charlotte?" Mom asks in an expectant tone.

"She is at home," I inform her, waving absentmindedly to the rest of the people in the apartment.

"And why didn't you bring her?"

"Bring her around men that I don't know?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not you, Mom."

Mom glares at me. After Dad died and Sheldon and I moved to California (albeit a few years apart), Mom has been a rotating door for random men that she meets, and that had a less-than-favourable impact on Missy.

"Hey, Sheldon," Leonard calls in the direction of Sheldon's bedroom. "Your Mom made dinner!"

"I'm not hungry!" Sheldon snaps.

"So, this is what they've been dealing with," I remark to Mom, who nods.

"Yep, your brother hasn't taken to being fired very well," she says, setting a glass of sweet tea in front of me.

"Doesn't surprise me," I shrug. "Sheldon's always like this when met with the consequences of his actions. And then someone else has to pull him out of it."

"Now, there's no need for that. He'll pull himself out of it eventually," Mom admonishes. "He just needs a little time."

Sensing an in, Howard gives my mother a flirtatious glare and says, "Excuse me for being so bold, but I now see where Sheldon gets his smouldering good looks."

"Oh, honey," Mom laughs, "that ain't gonna work, but you keep tryin'."

I smile at Mom's rejection of Howard. "Didn't work for me, either."

Howard looks dejected, but backs off.

"Are we going to do anything about Sheldon?" Leonard asks.

"Oh, we will. You have to take your time with Sheldon," Mom says.

"Yeah," I agree. "Try to force him out of his freak-out and you're gunnin' for at least twice the time it takes to get him out of it." Mom nods in agreement.

"There's nothing we can do to…speed up the process?" Howard asks.

"It's inconvenient, but no, not really," I shrug. "Sheldon runs on his own clock. Not ours."

Mom begins to serve the food, along with the placemats. We all go and sit in the living room as she recounts a time where the government came and told Sheldon that it was illegal to store yellowcake uranium on the property, and his reaction was to lock himself up in his room and build an ineffective death ray that "didn't even slow down the neighbour kids".

After a while, and after a lot of offensive and backwards comments and actions by my mother that embarrass me far too much to go into detail - let's just say it involves passive-aggressively insulting Raj, who is a follower of the Hindu religion, and Howard, who is Jewish - we sit down to eat dessert.

We start to notice Sheldon coming out of his room, and Howard says, "Hey, look who's comin'-"

before Mom nudges him with her elbow and says quietly, "Shh, he's like a baby deer, you gotta let him come to you."

All eyes are on Sheldon as he approaches the spread of food on the kitchen island that Mom prepared. With shaky hands and careful, nervous precision he begins to serve himself some cobbler from the casserole dish. He looks over at us, and we look away, pretending to pay attention to our food.

Leonard scoffs, sets his plate down, stands up and says, "Damn it, Sheldon, snap out of it!"

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, hey now," I interrupt, getting up and standing between him and Sheldon. Sheldon takes the opportunity to escape to his room. I make eye contact with Mom and nod her in the direction that Sheldon went. Mom rises and follows Sheldon. I glare at Leonard.

"Well, this is stupid! Everyone's tiptoeing around Sheldon," Leonard protests. "He's a grown man who got fired and won't apologise."

"I won't deny that my brother is in the wrong," I say, putting my hands up. "But I should let you know. You cannot treat Sheldon like that in my presence. You're saying he should act his age? You are a grown man who just yelled to get your point across to a person who is clearly suffering mentally. To a person I care about. I don't care about your feelings when you mess with my brother. Are we clear, Leonard?"

Leonard sulks. "Crystal." He sits back down.

"I should go. I think Mom's got it from here." I say.

"So, you're just gonna leave him?" Leonard asks. "Kind of ironic, don't you think?"

"I have a family to get home to. Sheldon has you here most of the time and not even you're here for him. The only reason you want him to be okay is so that things are easier for you. I know your type, I've handled broody rich boys before. I would stay if I were needed," I shrug. I turn to Penny. "Nice meeting you." I smile.

"Yeah, you too," she says reluctantly, clearly not having expected the row between me and Leonard.

I nod and leave.

Family has been the most important thing to me for the past 31 years. I'm not going to back down from defending my family when they're wronged, especially if it's Sheldon. Sheldon doesn't always know when the people around him don't necessarily have his best interests in mind. I always do. People have been known to take advantage of Sheldon and treat him like a burden unless he serves a purpose for him. I won't let that happen if I can help it. If Jersey boy can't straighten up, then I'm going to straighten him out, Texas style.