The Song Remains the Same

Chapter 6

Callie opened the front door and stepped inside in a daze, leaning back against the door and smiling dopily to herself. She'd just kissed Arizona Robbins. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth unconsciously. And it had been amazing. Arizona was amazing. She wasn’t going to be able to stop thinking about that kiss long enough to have the talk with Owen. At least she wasn't sure she'd be able to stop smiling.

Owen's heavy tread on the stairs announced he was coming but Callie couldn't move from her place against the door, couldn't wipe away her smile. He saw the expression and hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. “Hey,” he murmured. “Everything good?” Owen's weight shifted between his feet. He'd been rehearsing what he wanted to say to Callie when she got home and he wasn't sure he could wait much longer. It would be better for them both to say what they had to say and get this over with.

Callie breathed deep, trying to will the smile to go away. It wasn't as though she was happy about her marriage imploding in slow motion. The truth wouldn't stay behind her teeth, not with her lips still tingling from the feel of Arizona's kiss. “I kissed someone.”

It came out in the same breath as his, “Teddy is a woman.”

Left standing across from their new truths, it took Callie a beat to say anything else. “I want a divorce.” She swallowed thickly, her heart suddenly pounding for a different reason. She wasn't smiling now. All these years she'd wondered if she'd ever have the guts to even say the word 'divorce' and not only had she said it, Owen wasn't arguing. “Whoa,” Callie sighed as it struck her, slumping back against the door.

Owen was frowning, the room quiet as they each tried to adapt to the things they'd each said. And abruptly he was furious, heavy brow furrowed. Callie's frustration flared up just as quickly. “You kissed someone else?!”

“You've been talking to another woman for our entire marriage!” Callie countered loudly.

They both realized that they needed to calm this down, keep quiet so the kids didn't wake up and see them ripping into each other. “Who was it?” growled Owen as he stalked into the living room ahead of her. “How long has this been going on behind my back?”

“I don't think you want to word it that way,” Callie pointedly advised, one brow arched in angry disbelief. She wasn't going to let him shame her for one indiscretion (that she couldn't bring herself to regret) while he'd been in some sort of deeply emotional relationship with another woman since before they'd even gotten married.

“Teddy's my best friend!”

“Who you deliberately didn't tell me was a woman!”

“I never kissed Teddy!”

“Oh, grow up!” Callie barked. “It was one kiss!”

“I'm sure you were lonely while I was deployed -” Owen started, trying to justify it to himself.

A scoff from Callie cut him off. “I wasn't lonely while you were gone! And I never cheated on you while you were deployed! I wouldn't do that!” Trying to calm herself, yelling at each other wouldn't solve anything, Callie took a breath and sank to the couch. “I've been lonely since you got back, Owen.” Her voice was quiet now, sad, and he was at a loss. Callie wasn't sad. At least not that she ever let him see.

Owen sat down stiffly, choosing a seat on the opposite wall from his wife. “I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't.” His chest expanded as he breathed deeply. He couldn't relax his jaw though. His muscles felt tight, sore, hard as stone. He believed her when Callie said she hadn't cheated on him while he'd been in Iraq. She had kissed someone though. “Are you going to tell me who he was?”