Brallie Metropolis AU | In This Together

Chapter 61 | Recess

Mike was woken up for the third night in a row by alternating crying babies. Brandon and Callie had been sleeping in his old room at his dad's apartment, thinking it was a better alternative than Stef and Lena's couch. Em and Colleen had been a little irritable from not getting enough sleep. They weren't used to the portable travel crib. The first night it was Colleen waking up at 4:10 am, then it was Em the second night, and then it was both of them. Brandon and Callie ended up rocking them to sleep in their arms, meaning they were the ones not getting any sleep. They didn't know how long they were staying in San Diego, but they were definitely going to cut the trip short.

6:35 on the Sunday morning, Brandon and Callie were sitting on the bar stools feeding Em and Colleen when Mike sluggishly walked into the kitchen.

"Did the girls wake you up again?" He sighed to his father, watching him as he headed for the refrigerator. Mike didn't say a word, he just let out a sharp breath.

"It's no big deal," he mumbled, grabbing cream for the coffee he was about to make.

"Hey, whatever happened to AJ?" Callie asked, listening to Colleen making sucking noises against the bottle.

"He...went to college, actually."

"Really?" Brandon butted in.

"Yeah!"

"You paid for his college tuition?"

"No," Mike laughed. "He got a scholarship. The only thing I paid for was the cab fare. I had to work and I couldn't get out of it to drive him to the airport."

"Oh," he nodded.

"Why don't we go to Stef and Lena's so your dad can get some sleep?" Callie proposed to Brandon. "We'll go." She stood up, heading for his old room.

"Yeah, okay." He stood up also, following her. Mike was zoning into the open cabinet, not even realize what they were saying or doing.

"Dad?" Brandon asked, waving his hand in front of his face with Em lying in his other arm.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. What's up?"

"We're gonna go to moms' so you can sleep."

"Ah, that's okay, B. I really don't mind."

"I know, and I appreciate that. But Mariana will murder us if she doesn't see Em and Colleen as much as possible before we leave tomorrow morning."

"Okay then," Mike laughed again. "See you later," he mumbled while rubbing Em's cheek and then Colleen's when Callie walked by after a quick diaper change, carrying two bags over her shoulder.

"Bye," she hollered as the front door shut behind her. They made their way down the staircase, waiting until they were at the bottom to open the stroller, which was pointless anyway because they had to hold them to burp them after they ate.

The walk to the Adams Foster household was peaceful. Early morning weather was amazing. The sun was coming over the houses in the horizon, creating a warm haze wave across them. They could tell it was going to be a hot day...there were no clouds in sight in the sky.

As soon as they opened the house door, coffee filled air wafted in their direction, catching them a little off guard. They didn't expect anyone to be awake at 5 'til 7 in the morning. Callie grabbed Em and Colleen out of the stroller before walking down the short hall and into the kitchen.

"I didn't think anyone would be up," she whispered because the girls' heads were right by her mouth.

"Hey, what are you doing up so early?" Brandon asked as he came up being Callie.