Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter thirty of "Turnaround." This chapter has some Gary/Callie. I may introduce Walter and Ryan in the next chapter or the one after that. I feel it is time to bring them into the fic as I have mentioned them several times. Stay tuned for chapter thirty-one.

XXXXX

Chapter 30: Nothing Like Quiet

Gary massaged Callie's shoulders while sitting on their in their room around early afternoon. He increased the pressure on them a tiny bit. She let out a relieved sigh as the pain vanished. She looked up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes as she laid her hands on her legs. He moved to her upper back. He proceeded to rub circles into it with his thumbs.

"That feels so damn good," she said warmly.

"I am glad it does," he responded and upped the pressure. "That ghostbust was bound to give us some pains."

"I massaged your entire back. I didn't miss your neck and shoulders," Callie pointed out with a smile.

"That you didn't," Gary agreed and emitted a soft snort. "I decided to reward you with a nice massage."

"I have one request," Callie said, looking over her shoulder at him and opening her eyes.

"What's that?" Gary said, an eyebrow raising.

"Don't lean back and hit your head on the headboard like you did last time when you gave me a massage," Callie responded with a smirk.

"Sure. I think I saw birds flying around my head when that happened," Gary joked and snickered under his breath.

"People don't get birds on their heads in real life. They get concussions," Callie said and chuckled to herself. "Little Ben said that to Junior in Problem Child."

"Though Junior went too far with his antics at time, I can understand why he acted the way he did. He was treated like crap by most everyone," Gary whispered sympathetically.

"This was especially true for the nuns at the orphanage. They were supposed to be the most compassionate of his caregivers. They branded him a monster instead," Callie grumbled in disgust.

"Many kids act out to get attention. Discipline should be a last resort if all positive reinforcement has failed," Gary commented and ran his tongue all over the inside of his mouth.

"I've done that with both of my kids many times," Callie admitted and rubbed her nose. "Phoebe was better behaved than Trevor was when they were little, though she could be worse than he was at times. They behave equally now."

"Though they have done some really dumb stuff, they are still good kids," Gary said, warmth showing in his voice. "Being dumb is part of being young. You are bound to make lots of mistakes."

"That's right," Callie agreed with a nod. "You think nothing can happen to you. Then something does happen."

"You learn your lesson," Gary said and moved down to her middle back. He began to massage it. "You try not to do dumb things again, but you may not be able to help yourself."

Gary increased the pressure on his wife. She tried to hold back a chuckle, but she couldn't help herself. He tilted his head while stopping her massage. He blinked three times.

"What's so funny?" Gary wondered in confusion.

"I just realized that I have to take Phoebe for her final ultrasound later this week," Callie replied and looked ahead. She felt somewhat embarrassed. "We've been so wrapped up in ghostbusting over the last few weeks that I forgot."

"I don't blame you. I would've forgotten about it myself if I had been the one to take her," Gary pointed out honestly.

"Sometimes, we feel our brains are on vacation," Callie said, snickering under her breath.

He furrowed his brow. "You got that right."

"Some people act like they have removed their brains and thrown them in the trash like Squidward did in Spongebob Squarepants," Callie grumbled with a roll of her eyes.

"Like Dino and Mina," Gary said bitterly.

"Exactly," Callie agreed. "If they had their brains, they would leave us the fuck alone and live their lives quietly."

"Right," Gary agreed. "Unfortunately, I don't think that will be happening anytime soon."

She sighed heavily. "Me neither."

Callie sighed contently at her husband's moving his hands to her lower back and massaging it. They looked toward the window. They could see a peregrine falcon perched on it. They felt their jaws drop to the bed. It looked at them. It seemed to make eye contact with them.

"What a beautiful falcon," Gary whispered in amazement. "I never thought I'd see one sit on our windowsill."

"Me neither," Callie agreed. "That falcon could be looking into our souls."

"It could be. Mom did say the eyes were the windows to the soul," Gary commented honestly.

"Mom said the same thing," Callie said, laughing in delight.

"Great minds think alike," Gary said, finishing massaging her and wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her cheek. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Callie replied lovingly and looked over her shoulder at him. She kissed his nose. "Who would've thought an ordinary teacher like you would meet and date a single mother like me?"

Gary slipped a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's not something that happens every day. That's for sure."

"It is true many men do not want to date single mothers. That is okay. Everyone has their own preferences for dating," Callie explained with a soft chuckle.

"I was prepared for things not to work out with you and your kids. I remember they feared disappointment when we started dating," Gary commented, giving a shrug.

"Some men expect the mothers to give up their children in order to be with them. The mothers say no because their children are the most important things in their lives. They tell them to leave if they refuse to accept that," Callie said, smiling. "Those are great mothers."

"Unfortunately, we have single mothers who would rather screw men left and right than take care of their children. They dump them on any babysitters they can find. This includes their own parents. While it is nice grandparents are willing to take care of their grandchildren, they should not be expected to be full-time caregivers. They may have compromised health," Gary said in a bit of seriousness.

Callie scratched her neck. "One thing is clear. You did the right thing giving us a chance. Everything has been going well, despite we have had a few hiccups along the way."

He kissed her cheek and pressed his forehead against her temple. He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter. She brought her hands up to his arm. She gripped it rather tightly. He chuckled, causing her to become confused.

"What?" Callie wondered.

"Your grip gets stronger every time you squeeze my arm," Gary replied as he pulled back.

"That grip enabled me to flip you over my head during self-defense lessons you gave me," Callie teased and giggled softly.

"You got your grip from working out several times a week," Gary pointed out while running his hand over her hair.

"When you are on call twenty-four hours a day, you might as well find ways to pass the time. We can never be sure when we will get a call," Callie admitted and flicked his nose.

"I know, right?" Gary said and cleared his throat. "It makes me wonder when we will get our next unwanted call."

"Who knows?" Callie asked, shuddering in disgust. "I am mortified we got two unwanted calls in one day."

"We had two stalking incidents yesterday," Gary mumbled, feeling his body shake a bit.

"We wouldn't have gotten the unwanted phone calls within hours of each other if the stalking incidents didn't happen," Callie commented and balled her hands into fists. "I really want to go over to Dino and Mina's place and punch their lights out."

"I don't blame you for feeling exactly like Phoebe did earlier," Gary whispered sympathetically. "Of course, you wouldn't want to be slapped with assault charges."

"No one does," Callie murmured and pressed her lips together. "Dino and Mina still deserve an ass-kicking."

"I agree," Gary said, nodding slowly. "They had no right butting their noses in our business at Hobbie's Place. I hope we don't run into either of them."

Gary kissed Callie's temple. They looked at her nightstand that contained a picture of them, Trevor, and Phoebe at their wedding. She was wearing a white dress that came down to her ankles. It had short sleeves and happened to be strapless. He and Trevor wore tuxedos. Phoebe wore a green dress that stopped at her knees. It contained short sleeves and a slight dip in the collar. All four of them were smiling.

"That was such a wonderful day," Callie said happily.

"It sure was," Gary agreed. "I signed the adoption papers a week later."

"Then we left on our honeymoon in Miami," Callie said, laughing delightfully. "We had such a fun time there."

"Yep," Gary said with a chuckle. "We went snorkeling and fishing. We took walks on the beach. We made love several times, especially in the early morning."

She sighed contently. "That was the best. Of course, we did get interrupted while getting busy by two wrong number calls on my phone."

"I hate it when the mood is killed," Gary grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "It makes me want to smash every phone in sight."

"I was told to never answer the door for strangers or pick up the phone if I saw a familiar number. I followed that advice seriously. I still do," Callie whispered, suppressing a yawn.

"It is very good advice. You never know who you could be talking to. This is especially true online. Some people disappeared without a trace after meeting up with chat buddies," Gary mumbled, shuddering badly.

"I know," Callie said and bit her lip. "Trevor and Phoebe are careful about who they talk to online. So are Lucky and Podcast."

He sighed in relief. "Thank God."

Gary rocked Callie from side to side. He started talking about the time he placed a real frog in his washing machine.