Never feel alone

Chapter 36

Callie

After my dad was gone, I felt an emptiness inside me that I couldn't describe. I swallowed hard, and turned to my little sister. "Don't worry, Soph. We've waited this long. We can wait one more week. Then we'll just tell him we want him to sign the papers."

Sophia looked down, still holding the bag of sour gummi worms. "What if we don't want him to sign them?"

My eyes widened with disbelief. "What are you saying, Soph?"

She shrugged. "I feel sorry for him, Callie. He seems so sad."

"I feel sorry for him too," I admitted, remembering the way he'd looked at us when he said goodbye. "But I don't want to live with him. I'm happy here."

"So am I," she said, wistfully, twisting the cellophane bag in her hands. "But we could be a family again! I miss him so much. You think I don't remember anything about our family, but I do! I remember us and Mom and Dad. We were so happy once. Sometimes I just want that back!"

"Quiet down," I told her calmly, placing my hands on either of her shoulders. "Moms will hear you." I glanced at the kitchen doorway, where moms were cleaning up in the kitchen, then looked her in the eye. "We can't get the old days back, Sophia. I'm sorry. But it can never be the way it used to be. Things have changed too much."

"I'm tired of everything changing," she said. She was on the verge of tears, but she tried to hide it from me.

"I know you are, baby," I sighed. "I am too. But we have a new life now. We need to move on, and forget about the old days."

"I can't forget," she said in a choked voice. "I miss Daddy. I- I think I want to live with him."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," I said. "You can't mean that, not after all we've been through. After all Stef and Lena have done for us. How could you be so ungrateful?"

Sophia's dammed up tears finally burst free. "I knew you wouldn't understand." She turned toward the back door.

"Sophia, wait!" But she already stalked out the screen door, slamming it behind her, rattling the windows. My shoulders slumped. I felt crushed.

"What is going on?" Stef said, hurrying into the living room, with Lena behind her. Their faces were full of concern. "Is Sophia okay, honey? Did something happen?"

"She's fine," I said. "I don't want to talk about it. I'm gonna go finish my homework." I headed upstairs before they could stop me.

Dinner was torture. Sophia barely said two words to anyone, and I felt just as glum. After we cleared our plates, Sophia went up to our room. Sensing she wanted to be alone, I stayed behind and did the dishes with Brandon.

"So how was your visit with you dad?" he asked, as I rinsed a dish under the faucet. "You guys didn't seem very happy after he left."

We had a fight," I admitted. "She's just been so difficult lately. She never used to be like that, until our dad came back into the picture

It's her age," he told me, drying the dish with a towel and placing it in the rack. "Mariana was a pain in the ass when she was that age. Hormones, I guess. She'll outgrow it." He took another dish from me. "Didn't you ever go through a phase like that?"

I shook my head. "No. I was too busy taking care of an eight-year-old."

"That must have been tough," he said, thoughtfully. "Can I ask what the fight was about?"

I paused, my hands submerged in the soapy water. "It's our dad," I shakily admitted. "I knew seeing him was a mistake. He wants us to live with him. I don't want to, but Sophia does. Or at least she thinks she does. I don't think she's old enough to make those kinds of decisions. But she can be really stubborn when she wants to be."