Callie was walking down the sidewalk on a Friday afternoon, eyeing the thickening grey clouds in the sky with every step. She was only a block away from home and was already annoyed and agitated with the day. If she got rained on, that would be one more thing.
As she approached the door to the building, she spotted a middle-aged mail man struggling to open it because of the very large box taking capacity in his arms. Callie speed walked to the door to help him, but also because of the scattered sprinkles she saw drip onto the sidewalk.
"Thank you mam," he smiled widely, but then the box fell to the ground. The mail man grunted before both he and Callie bent down to pick it up. And just then, the rain started to poor. Her hair was soaked instantly when she tried to help the man pick the box up from the ground. She noticed who the package was mailed to.
"Oh, I'm Callie Foster," she told him, pointing to the label on the brown box. "I think this is for me?"
"Top floor? Brandon and Callie Foster?" He asked for clarification, reading the papers in his back pocket while getting through the door, pushing the soggy box with his foot into shelter.
"That's us," she laughed as she pressed the elevator button. "I can probably just take it up myself." She went to pick it up from the floor, but was warned by the mailman.
"Actually, it's pretty heavy."
"Yeah, it is," she nervously laughed, giving up on trying to carry it. "I'll just go get my husband."
"I can do it," he grinned politely as the elevator made a bing sound. He grabbed the box, letting out a soft sigh as he lifted it, and stepped into the elevator after Callie.
The elevator stopped once it got to the top floor and the mail man set the box in the hallway before going make into the elevator. Callie grunted as the drips fell off her hair, she got drenched by the rain. She dug in her bag for the keys and realized she forgot to put them in her bag earlier in the morning. She moaned again in frustration at the fact that she might not be able to get in, Brandon might have gone somewhere. Callie had an important exam she needed to take, and the online program she's in changed their policies this year, so now students cannot take tests at home. This meant that either Callie was going to fail whatever exam she had, Brandon would have to skip school, or Em and Colleen would be left alone, which obviously was not an option.
Callie grabbed the door knob, hoping that he had left the door unlocked, which would be bad but also good. She held her breath as she twisted the handle and released her breath as the door opened with ease. All of her clothes were wet and the only thing she wanted to do was to change, and open that mystery box.
"Hey, Cal. How'd the test go?" Brandon wondered with a grin on his face as Em played on the floor and Colleen bouncing on his knee while he sat on the edge of the couch.
"Ugh," she groaned, letting her head go limb, dropping her bag, which made a soft squishing sound from the rained on contents.
"Not good? Apparently you didn't get here in time with the rain," he laughed as Callie walked to sit next to him, laying back into the cushions, not even caring about getting the couch wet.
"No, it was fine. Just...bad day all together. Just feeling bleh, and cold. You had to stay home and miss school, and I had to leave, I just-"
"I told you this morning I didn't mind. It was nice. I wish I could do this everyday." He passed Colleen off to Callie, thinking it would cheer her up, and he leaped forward to bring Em into his lap. Brandon leaned to her, pressing his lips to hers for a lingering, tender kiss, both of them lightly humming. "How you feeling now?" He asked in a hushed tone.
"A little better," she whispered back before looking at the smiley child jumping in her arms. Something about a mother's love made Callie instantly smile back at Colleen.
"I, uh, got you a little something today..." he gazed over at the table before looking back at Em. Callie sat up enough so she could see the small, structured shopping bag and scoffed at the sight, and scoffed again when she noticed Brandon's plastered devilish smirk.
"You took our children to a lingerie store?" She asked with a scowl on her face. "First of all, you know we shouldn't be spending money in stupid things."
"It's not stupid," he seriously said with a straight face.
"Was it expensive?" Callie questioned, still wondering what was in the small bag with tissue paper overflowing from the top.
"I guess you'll have to find out..."
"Speaking of, there's a box addressed to us in the hallway. It's big and heavy as hell."
"Huh, did the label say where it's from?"
"No," she breathed as she stood up, letting Coleen fall to her hip as she clutched her back. "C'mon, let's bring it in." Brandon sighed before following Callie out the door and into the open space of the hall. He handed Em off to her so he could pick the package up, but he ended up not doing that anyway. They both kicked the large cube into the entry way before Brandon strolled into the kitchen to grab a knife.
"Whoa," Callie stepped back with the girls after she saw he got the biggest knife they had in their slim choosing's. Brandon sliced through the tape and the folded tops sprung open. A white note was placed at the top.
"Callie and Brandon..." he began reading. "For our babies babies. We love you so much. We are so proud of you and can't wait for you to enjoy all that parenthood as to offer. We also can't wait to experience it with you. It's a little late, but we had so much fun picking out girl things. Love Stef and Lena slash mom and mama slash moms."
"That was sweet, but you're saying that this entire box is filled with stuff for Colleen and Em?" She needed to double check, stepping forward to glanced at the stuffed full box.
"I think so." He began pulling out items after taking Colleen from Callie to free one of her hands up to fish through. "Look at this," he told softly, holding up to soft, white blankets. With further inspection, each blanket had a name stitched on it, one saying 'Elizabeth Marie' and the other one saying 'Colleen Quinn' on the edge of the fabric.
"We'll have to call them to say thank you." Brandon pulled out a stuffed, purple giraffe and Em babbled and giggled as soon as she saw it, or as much as she could at six months. "You like this?" He asked in a baby voice towards her and Em just started reaching her hands towards it.
"Okay, I'm gonna change my clothes," Callie informed, she was tired of damp fabric hugging her body, but Brandon didn't mind. She dragged Colleen's high chair closer to where Brandon was standing, placed her in it, and strolled into their bedroom.
Brandon and Callie made lasagna for dinner and sat around the table while Em and Colleen played with their new toys that were in the gift from Stef and Lena. Colleen got attached to a light gray elephant with a tiara on its head and was cuddling with it in her high chair. They had to admit, they ate lasagna way to much. It was one of the things they could successfully cook together, plus it had sentimental properties within the layers of ingredients.
Around eight-thirty, Brandon was in the shower and Callie needed to put Em and Colleen to bed. She was cradling the girls in her arms, swaying them to get sleepy. While the slow and continuous motions did not work on making Colleen and Em tired, more than they were before, Callie got the idea to sing to them like Brandon does. She tried to think of a nursery rhyme or a lullaby, but the only song she could think of was the one he wrote for her, Outlaws. The words started forming in her lungs as she softly sung the lyrics, creating a sweet and calming melody.
Seconds later, Em and Colleen were practically falling asleep in Callie's arms. She gently laid them in their cribs, slightly wrapping them in their new blankets. She took one last look at her beautiful daughters before taking a deep breath and tiptoeing out, shutting the door gently behind her. She walked a few steps to their bedroom, but was scared when she abruptly saw Brandon in the doorway.
"Y-you scared me," she stuttered as she dramatically placed her hand over her chest, noticing Brandon was in his boxers as she walked past him, or tried to. He blocked her from getting through.
"I didn't know you sing," he sheepishly smiled.
"I don't sing. I can sing. kind of. There's a difference," she finally made her way around him, which was difficult because his arms and legs were covering the entry like a child. Once she broke free from his hold, she noticed a black plunge lace teddy laid out on the bed on her way to brush her teeth.
"B. No way," she shook her head as she kept her eyes on the bright lights that lit up the bathroom.
"C'mon," he encouraged while he was hot on his heels. Of course, he as never going to pressure her into doing something she didn't want to.
"No. I honestly don't get the point of it. If it's gonna come off anyway, why wear it in the first place?" She sassed as she brought the toothpaste topped toothbrush to her teeth.
"Why make the bed if it's gonna get messed up again? Why even put on clothes to begin with? Why-"
"I get it," Callie interjected with a mouth full of white foam.
"Okay, well just think about..." Brandon placed a kiss on her temple before stumbling out and tucking himself into bed. A minute later, Callie comes running in and jumps onto Brandon's body, legs resting on either side of his hips. His eyes shot open and his hands instantly fell to the back of her thighs out of habit. "Did you change your mind?" She began lifting and shifting her hips from side to side in short movements as her hand slowly moved up his chest.
"Nope," she perked up, breaking the mood she created on purpose. She flung her body to her side of the bed, leaving Brandon flustered...just the way she wanted it. "Good night," she taunted, kissing his cheek before turning off the lamp. "I love you..."
"I love you too."
_______________
A/N- Hello readers! I was inspired to include the fact that Callie CAN sing from bralliemavidforever. I think it's sweet that he now knows it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading! XOXO