Brallie Metropolis AU | In This Together

Chapter 44 | Hesitancy

"My dad and AJ just landed," Brandon stated as he walked towards Callie, who was sitting at the table writing something on paper.

It was a late afternoon on Friday, two weeks after Mike told Brandon he and AJ were coming to see them. The day had a little bit of an overcast, which Brandon thought was a sign that the day would not be good. The clouds swirled in the sky, as did the troubles that were to come.

Callie couldn't tell how Brandon was feeling. Was he feeling threatened? Was he excited to have a new 'brother'? Was he pissed that one of his parents was bringing in another child?

"What's the plan again? Are we going out to eat or are we eating here?" Callie asked, dropping the pen to the wood.

"Eh," he moaned. "I guess we could eat here. Are we supposed to cook something?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should just wait until they get here and see what they want to do."

"Yeah, okay."

No more than 10 minutes later, Brandon and Callie heard a three loud knocks coming from the door. Callie ran to the door, dragging Brandon behind her. She was trying to be enthusiastic, so maybe that attitude would rub off in him.

When Callie opened the door, her and Brandon saw his father standing next to a tall, African American, devilishly handsome guy. AJ's mouth immediately opened slightly at the first sight of Callie before he grazed his eyes up and down her body. Brandon noticed because AJ wasn't exactly stealth about his instant admiration for his wife.

"Polar bear," AJ blurted out of nowhere after a few seconds of silence, still standing outside the door beside Mike.

"What?" Callie awkwardly laughed.

"I just broke the ice," he grinned, moving his hand forward for Callie to shake. "And you are..." His voice trailed off, wanting her to say her name, but Callie had a different answer when she went to accept his hand shake.

"Married...to Brandon," she said with a bright smile. She needed to shut whatever this was down as soon as possible.  AJ's grip subsided in the handshake before doing the same to Brandon.

"Who'd you think she was? My cousin?" Brandon had sarcasm and sass in his voice.

"Nice to meet you," AJ muttered to him, not replying to his snide comment.

"You too," he lied.

"Maybe this is gonna be a little more weird than I thought," Callie whispered in Brandon's direction.

"Brandon..." Mike tried to relieve the tension that was so powerful, it could be felt on the moon. He took a few steps to give him a hug. He was really happy to see his son in person.

"So, what does everyone want to do for dinner?" She perked up, also trying to help this situation by putting on a brave face.

AJ, Mike, Callie, and Brandon decided to eat there, meaning Brandon and Callie would have to cook. The only thing they had that would make a coherent meal for four people involved something with chicken.

While they were cooking, both Callie and Brandon noticed AJ staring at her every now and then. She could see Brandon's jaw clench and nostrils flare.

About an hour later, around 6 pm, Callie and Brandon set the plates of grilled chicken around the table, along with bowls of different sides.

"So Brandon, how's Juilliard going?" Mike asked after everyone settled in their seats and began eating.

"Good, actually. I just started this camp that's within Juilliard and at the end, judges pick someone to perform somewhere."