By Your Side

Chapter 5: The morning after

Stef's POV

I awaken to an empty bed and rays of sunshine peeking through the blinds. I check the time and it is eight o'clock so I get out of bed to look for Lena. The house is still quiet so I know the kids are still asleep. As I tip toe down the stars as not to disturb any one I look into the living room to find all five of my kids still there. I figured they wouldn't make it all the way through the night sleeping on the floor but sure enough they did. I take a moment to admire how peaceful they look. It breaks my heart knowing that I am going to have to explain to them all of the details of the shooting. They are only kids and they shouldn't be exposed to this kind of stuff. They are all going to have trust issues after finding out that Nick was the one behind the gun. We all trusted him and invited him into our home. This just proves that not everyone is who they seem to be.

I hear some noises coming from the kitchen and follow them to find my wife pouring herself some coffee. "Morning" I say softly as I make my way over to the coffee pot to pour a cup for myself. Lena let out a sigh before greeting me back.

"What are we going to tell the kids?" she asked concerned.

"The truth. What else can we say? They'll find out eventually anyway."

"Yeah...maybe we should wait another day before we say anything though. You know, just to- let them get over the shock of it all."

"Ok Lena, but we need to tell them it was Nick before it goes public. Marianna is going to be crushed."

"You're right" she agreed. "We should make today a family day. No one leaves and no phones. They don't need to hear about all of the publicity going on." I nod along as she speaks because I think a family day sounds perfect.

"Speaking of publicity" I pause letting out a deep breath and rub the side of my face. "What do we do about Brandon and Callie." I could barely get the words out because I still cannot believe the bomb Callie dropped on us yesterday. I am horrified that it happened and I am horrified that we let it happen. I look into Lena's eyes who is shaking her head back at me.

"Oh God, I don't know" she says as she leans over the counter. "How did this happen? He told us it was just one kiss. They are supposed to be brother and sister!" Our tones were hushed so that the kids couldn't overhear just in case any of them have woken up. I rest my forehead on Lena's shoulder.

"I guess we just tell them not to say anything to anyone until we can figure out what to do" I sounded more like I was asking a question because what the hell do you do after hearing two of your kids have been having sex behind your back.

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Brandon's POV

A car alarm sounding off across the street wakes us all up. As I sit up, still laying on the floor I watch as everyone else starts to stir as well. Marianna lets out a loud grunt and shoves her pillow over her face and I laugh. A sweet smell travels to my nose from the kitchen so get up and follow the scent. When I walk in both of my moms were sitting at the table drinking coffee. "Hi" I say while rubbing my eyes.

"Good morning Brandon" Lena mumbles while avoiding eye contact. Mom just looks over to me and then turns back to her newspaper. I just bight my lip and roll my eyes at how awkward this was. Thank goodness Jude, Jesus and Marianna walked in and relieved some of the tension a moment later.

"Hey kids, there are some muffins on the stove. They just came out of the oven so they might still be hot." Mom informed us. That must have been what I smelled. We all walk over and grab one. As I ate mine I stare at the door from across the room wondering why Callie wasn't here. I know she is awake because I saw her sit up. I really hope she isn't afraid to come in here even though I know she is. I think Mom notices me watching the door because when I look over I catch her staring at me. As soon as she saw me looking at her she turned away and started talking to Jesus about something. Callie was definitely right about them watching us... I mean Callie isn't even in the room and moms are still looking to see what I'm doing.

About 10 minutes later Callie walks in. She looks completely nervous. Her right arm is reaching across her body and holding her other arm, which is glued to her side. Even from across the room I can see that her eyes look red, because she must have been crying. I feel really bad that she is so scared. She waited so long to finally get a family and now she thinks that she is losing us. I wish she could understand that even if moms are furious with her, she will still have Jude, Marianna, Jesus and I by her side.

"Hey, Callie!" Marianna exclaimed. Callie forced a small smile across her face as she looked at everyone.

"Do you want a muffin?" Jude asks as he goes back to the stove for a second.

"Um... sure." she said as she slowly made her way over to where we were standing. I watch as Mom's vision follows her as she walks. She thanks Jude for handing her a muffin and then briefly looks over at me. I smile trying to assure her that it's going to be alright and then quickly look away so that no one notices. I wish that we were the only ones in the room so that I could properly comfort her with a hug but I know that I cannot do that with everyone here... especially now.

"Alright, now that you're all up-" Mom blurted out as she claps her hands together. "We're making today a family day. Everyone is staying home so we can spend some time together. Oh, and I'll be taking your cell phones for the time being."

"What? Why are you taking our phones?" Jesus argues.

"Your mom and I just feel that you guys don't need to be texting anyone about what happened or looking at the media coverage" Lena explained. We all reluctantly handed over our phones. None of us have even used them since we have been home, so it really didn't make too much of a difference.

As Mom and Lena took our phones upstairs to their bedroom Jude and the twins started making their way into the living room. When I noticed that Callie was not following them, I placed my hand on her shoulder as I came up behind her and gave it a gentle squeeze. She takes a deep breath before looking over to me. My head motions toward the living room as I say " Shall we?".

She flashes another look signaling her anxiety before replying with an unenthusiastic "Yeah".

"So family day... this should be fun" I joke as we make our way out of the kitchen. She laughs and I feel as though I have already accomplished one thing today by lessening her discomfort and angst.