Breaking The Rules: a Foster's Fan Fiction

Chapter 16. Next Time

Chapter 16. Next Time

"So, you found a dress?" Brandon asked. It was later that afternoon.

"Yeah," Callie replied happily. "It's beautiful. I can't wait for you to see it."

Brandon smiled. "So, I get a sneak peek?"

"No," said Callie, feigning shock. "It's bad luck. Besides, I don't actually have it yet. I had to leave it for alterations."

He shrugged. "Well, I'll just have to be surprised."

"It's only a few months away," she told him. "Can you believe it?" They'd set the date for the end of March.

"No," he said. "I can't wait. It's gonna be amazing." He slipped his hand in hers as they walked down the beach. It was a chilly day, and they huddled together for warmth.

"You know," said Callie. "I had a great time with moms today. I think they did, too. I never got much of a chance to do stuff like that with my birth mom."

"They think the world of you," Brandon told her, referring to their parents. "Especially mom. I think you remind her of herself."

Callie smiled as the wind whipped her hair. "I love them so much. I wish I could take back all I put them through when I ran away. I don't know if I'll ever be able to make up for it."

Brandon squeezed her hand. "I think you've more than made up for it. You're a good daughter."

"They've been great parents to us," Callie reminisced. "Jude and I were lucky to end up with foster parents who love kids so much."

They walked a few more feet without talking, then Brandon spoke up. "Callie?"

"Hmm?" She answered, as she zipped her jacket up to her chin.

"Do you still think about the baby you lost?"

She nodded. "Yeah. All the time. He'd be four now." She often wondered what the child she miscarried at seventeen would be like as it grew older.

"Four," said Brandon. "Wow. Wait... he?" as far as her knew, Callie never knew the baby's gender.

Callie shrugged. "I guess I always thought of it as a boy." She was most familiar with baby boys, since, as a little girl, she was her mom's designated "special helper," when it came time to care for infant Jude. She used to play house, and pretend he was her baby. Little did she know, by the time he was five and she was ten, she'd be forced to become a mother figure to him outside the world of pretend.

"Oh," said Brandon. "I'll never forget that night," he confessed. "I've never been so scared in my life. And I mean never. I thought we were gonna lose you."

"I'll never forget it either," said Callie. "But you helped me through it. You were really brave." He'd held her while they waited for the ambulance to arrive, comforting her while she bled. If that wasn't love, she didn't know what was.

"Hey?" Brandon asked suddenly. "Would you ever consider having another baby? With me, I mean. We talked about it a little after the miscarriage..."

She digested his question, which had caught her off guard. "Yes," she finally replied. "I think so. There's no one else I'd want one with."

"I'd love to be a father," he confided. "Especially to your babies, Callie." The child she lost was Wyatt's. He knew he would have loved the baby despite that fact, but he truly did want to experience that bond with her, himself.

Callie smirked, her eyes shining. "Are you trying to tell me something?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Mayyy-be."

"It sounds like you're asking me to have a baby with you." She stopped walking, and faced him. "Are you?"

"It wouldn't be a bad thing, would it?" He replied. "We both have good jobs and we're young."

"No, it wouldn't be a bad thing," she admitted. "Actually, it would be pretty great." She believed Brandon would be a wonderful dad, nothing like her own father. She knew he would never put his hands on their kids, drink away their food money, or endanger their lives by driving drunk with them in the car. He was loving and tenderhearted. If only her mom had married a man like him. She'd be alive today. Callie had determined long ago that she and Jude would break the cycle of alcoholism and neglect that ran deep in their biological family. It meant a lot to her that she and Brandon could give their kids what her birth parents never could; a happy home where they never had to doubt that they were safe and loved.

"So... is that a yes?" Brandon asked, crossing his fingers and toes.

Callie looked down at her feet. Her shoes were caked with wet sand. "It scares me... after what happened last time. I know it probably won't happen again. I've been to the doctor, and I'm healthy, but still..." She paused. "How about this; next time we have sex, we won't use protection, and if it happens, it happens."

"Next time?" Brandon asked with a raised eyebrow. "Let's go home and get started right now!"

She laughed. "Okay," she said. She was freezing, anyway. And what better way to warm up?

They were soon standing outside the door of Brandon's apartment. He pressed his lips against Callie's, begging for entrance. When she parted her lips, he massaged her mouth with his tongue, while fumbling to put the key in the lock. Finally, he managed to get the door open. When they got inside, he locked it behind them, then lifted her over his shoulder and carried her to the bedroom.

He laid her down gently on the bed, kissing every exposed inch of skin as he undressed her, then himself. He and Callie had never had sex without using a condom before. The idea of feeling her skin to skin nearly drove him over the edge as they made love. Lately, Brandon had become fond of sex of the oral variety, but now that conception was a factor, he avoided that, and somehow managed to control himself until the last second. It was difficult- the way Callie made him feel, he should have qualified for sainthood. But he didn't want to waste any potential babies. Finally, Callie panted and cried out as he released himself deep inside her. Afterwards, they snuggled together under the blanket, feeling warm and drowsy. They'd never felt so close.