Chapter 8 #2
“Come with me to the bathroom,” Sasha said, overhearing this little exchange and taking Hannah’s hand.
“I’ll help you fix it up so it’s not as noticeable.
Then if anyone asks, tell them that I did it for you.
” She handed Dot off to Joshua, who took her without question, and then headed down the hall with Hannah before Mallory—or worse, Ariel—saw the state of the young girl’s face.
Callie smiled and put the food in the kitchen that was once James’ aunt’s house.
He and Mallory had been slowly updating the place ever since Miranda passed away six months earlier.
They were trying not to change much, wanting to hold onto the charm of the old home, but some things had to be replaced.
“Oh, good, you’re here!” It was Taylor who said this, turning to see his mom coming into the kitchen.
He’d just taken a beer out of the fridge, but he had the furrowed brow of someone with a lot on his mind.
“Mallory said we weren’t allowed to start eating until everyone was here and I was worried things were going to get ugly with the kids. ”
“Sorry we’re late,” Callie said, giving her son a hug. “There was a slight mishap with the veggies, but it’s all good now.”
“There’s no veggie mishap that Joshua can’t solve, right?”
“Well, this one involved blood,” Joshua added. “And lots of it.”
Taylor gave his mom a worried look, but she waved it off.
“Ignore him. He’s being dramatic. I have a tiny cut on my finger but look—nothing a band-aid can’t fix.
” She held her finger up in the air to prove her words.
“Anyway, speaking of your sister, where is she? I’ve got a trunk full of ice that I could use a hand unloading. ”
“She’s helping James with the grill. I’ll come with you though. I need a distraction anyway.” Taylor leaned in and lowered his voice. “Erica is on the phone with a social worker right now. They might have a kid for us to foster when we get home.”
Callie smiled. “Really? That’s great!”
“Yeah, hopefully it will be,” he said. “We just have to pass the house inspection this time.” Two months prior, there had been another potential foster situation that fell through at the last second.
Even though Taylor and Erica had done everything they could think of to babyproof their home, there had been a major problem that nobody could’ve foreseen.
The day before the social worker was supposed to come check out the house, Erica discovered termites, and it threw everything off course.
“I’m sure it’ll all be fine. Last time was a fluke, but you’ve gotten rid of the bugs now.”
He nodded. “That’s what I keep telling myself.”
They went outside, got the ice, and then returned to find Ariel giving her daughter a lecture on “growing up too fast.” Callie didn’t want to add to the girl’s embarrassment, so she snuck past them and pretended not to hear.
Ariel and Hannah had had a few ups and downs over the past year.
The girl was developing an attitude, which was normal for her age, but since Ariel had been out of the house more than usual, a lot of the snarky comments had been aimed at her.
There seemed to be a bit of resentment over Ariel deciding to go back to work, but Callie knew everything would work itself out.
Ariel was still a great mom, and she deserved to chase her dreams. Besides, Chris had turned out to be a natural in the role of stay-at-home parent, so it was mostly positive the way Callie saw it.
“I’ll take these into the kitchen.” Taylor reached for the ice bags his mother was carrying. “Dad’s in the sunroom with Sia, he said he wanted to see you when you got here.”
Callie frowned. “Did he say why?”
Taylor shrugged. “He just said he wanted to talk to you.”
“Hmm. Okay.” She gave him the ice. “Will you ask Joshua to get me some punch?”
“Sure thing.”
Callie went to the other side of the cute little home and poked her head into the sunroom, where David and his girlfriend, Sia, were sitting on the couch chatting.
When David saw her, he smiled and stood up.
“Hey!” He went to give her a hug and Sia waved.
She was a very kind woman, but she was also quite shy, so Callie was used to not receiving a big greeting from her.
They’d had a handful of good conversations, however, and Callie could see what David saw in Sia.
“How are you?” Callie asked.
“Good, good.” David glanced over his shoulder at his girlfriend, then took Callie’s elbow, guiding her out of the sunroom. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Yeah, sure.” Callie tried not to let her mind wander as they walked into the dining room. “What’s up?”
“There’s something I wanted to tell you,” he said. “And since Sia and I leave for Argentina first thing in the morning, I figured this is probably the last chance I’d get to talk to you in person. I meant to call you earlier in the week, but I kind of chickened out.”
Callie gave him a wary look. “You’re making me nervous, David.”
“No, no, don’t be nervous.” He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m nervous enough for the both of us.”
“Okay, then how about we stop with the preamble, and you just tell me what’s going on?”
He nodded, took a few more seconds and then blurted out, “I want to ask Sia to marry me.”
“Oh.” Callie stepped back. She hadn’t expected David to say this, and the surprise was a lot to take in. After a few seconds, however, she smiled. “That’s amazing.”
“Really?” David sighed with relief. “You think so?”
“Of course!” She hugged him tightly. “I’m so happy for you! Sia is a wonderful woman, and you seem to be really in love with each other. I think it’s fantastic.”
He laughed. “Wow. Okay. I’m so glad you feel that way. I figured you would be supportive, but there was a part of me that just didn’t know what to expect.” He took his phone out. “I’m going to ask her while we’re on the trip. Can I show you the ring I got? I want to make sure it’s a good one.”
Callie eagerly agreed to see a photo of the ring, and the two of them spent the next few minutes talking about David’s proposal plans. When she asked if he told the kids yet, he told her he had and that they all took it well.
“I didn’t even hesitate,” he added. “The second I decided I was going to ask her; I told the kids. I never want them to think I’m keeping secrets from them ever again.”
“Understandable.” She lovingly patted his shoulder. “I hope everything goes well, and I hope she says yes.”
“God, me too,” he said with a chuckle.
Taylor’s voice then resounded from the kitchen. “Really?! Oh my god, yes! That’s amazing.”
Callie and David shared a look. “Do you know what that’s about?” he asked.
“I think I might,” Callie said. “I’m assuming Erica is now off the phone with the social worker and she had good news to share.”
David beamed. “That’s what I was thinking as well. I’m so happy for them, and I can’t wait to have another grandchild running around.”
“They’re just fostering, you know,” Callie reminded him. “So, we have to make sure we keep that in mind before getting too attached. The kid might not end up staying with them forever. Or for very long, depending on the situation.”
“Then we’ll give them all the love we have while they are with our family and go from there.”
Callie smiled. “You know what, you’re right. It’s not like we don’t have enough to share.”
“Exactly. As far as I’m concerned, any kid who comes to stay with Taylor and Erica is considered a Ward child and will be treated as such. Which is to say, they’ll be spoiled rotten by their grandfather.”
Becca and Micah ran through the room right then, chasing each other with nerf guns and squealing at the top of their lungs. “Is that an example of you spoiling them?”
“Huh?
“The guns. Did you give them those?” Callie said, shaking her head. “Because I thought Ariel didn’t allow them to have violent toys.”
“Don’t look at me,” David said. “I’ve been yelled at by Ariel one too many times for letting the kids watch ‘violent movies’ and have learned my lesson. Although, when did Bambi start being considered a violent movie?”
“The mama deer dies right away,” Callie said. “No, not just dies! She gets shot. That’s pretty violent if you ask me.”
“I guess. But that’s just classic kids' movies for you. A parent always has to die. Or both.” He made a face.
“Geez, now that I’m thinking about it, that is kind of messed up.
I see Ariel’s point. But anyway, I think it was Mallory who got those toys.
She wanted the kiddos to have fun while they were staying here with her and James. ”
“Ah, I see. Well, if she wanted Hannah to have fun, she should’ve bought her some makeup.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. I’m going to go confiscate the guns before we start eating,” Callie announced. “And before someone gets hit in the eye and the crying starts.”
“Good thinking. I’m right behind you.”
*
It took Mallory and Joshua about five minutes after everyone finished eating to start talking shop. Callie was sitting on their side of the table, sipping on her punch and munching on potato chips, when her daughter started a conversation about spreadsheets with Joshua.
“If I’d known this is what was going to happen when Mallory started working as your assistant,” Callie said. “I might not have been so encouraging. She’s turned into a total workaholic, which is a word I never thought I would use to describe my youngest child.”
“I’m hardly a workaholic,” Mallory argued. “I’m just excited about this one thing, and since Joshua is sitting right next to me, I figured it would be a good time to let him know what I was thinking. But don’t worry, we won’t talk about work all night.”
Callie snorted. “You say that every time.”
“Yeah, but this time I mean it.” Her daughter assured her. “Really. It’s just that I had a really good idea for how we could save money going into the fall and it’s the kind of thing we need to start implementing sooner rather than later, you know?”
“That’s not a very good excuse, my dear,” Callie said. “Because you are always coming up with really good ideas.”
“Oh, please.” Mallory waved a hand in the air. “That’s not true.”
Joshua laughed. “But it is true. You come up with a good idea at least on a weekly basis. Why do you think I kept you on long after we got my office organized?”
“Because you were trying to get closer to my mom?”
“That,” Joshua admitted, taking Callie’s hand and pressing a kiss to it, “but also because you are incredibly good at the job. Honestly, I have no idea what I’d do without you. I’d probably be lost in my own office, tucked away behind stacks of papers and boxes full of junk.”
Mallory blushed and looked at James, who sat on the other side of her. “Thanks for saying all that, but I do want to be present tonight, so I am not going to get too much into work stuff. There’s just one other thing I want to say.”
Callie laughed but let her daughter continue chatting with Joshua, mainly because she was proud of her.
Mallory really had been thriving in this role, and she seemed to be enjoying the work as well.
It made Callie so happy to see her daughter’s life coming together, but nothing compared to how happy she was when she saw the way James took care of Mallory.
He was such a caring and attentive boyfriend, and it was obvious that he adored her.
In fact, he was gazing lovingly at her right then, as she excitedly went over her new idea and became animated about something as mundane as email sign-offs.
As Callie observed how James watched Mallory, she saw what she recognized as true love.
It was the same way she felt about Joshua, and how she knew David felt about Sia.
Even though the relationship Mallory had idealized her whole life didn’t work out the way she thought, she still managed to find the kind of love she deserved.
Callie then turned her attention to the rest of her family members gathered around her.
The people in that room were so important to her, and the connections between them all were so strong, that Callie knew they would all share a deep love for one another for the rest of their lives.
Even if relationships or situations changed, everyone would take care of one another.
Callie knew she was lucky, and she would never let a day go by without feeling gratitude for it all.
For her family. For her home.
And for knowledge that she would always have someone—many people, actually—to turn to when she needed them.