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The afternoon had passed by Callie in a blur, as she spent most of it pacing her incredibly tiny studio apartment. Finally, in defeat, she picked up the phone and rang a familiar number she’d memorized at the age of seven. The phone rang three times before the line was finally picked up.
“Hey Calz” Dad spoke into the phone, her voice etched with excitement as she spoke to her daughter.
Callie had an unconventional childhood. It was not for the matter that she had two moms but rather the fact both of the women she called her parents were eclectic to say the least. Her dad and mom had met in high school and spent the rest of their years orbiting around each other. So when it came to relationship advice, Callie knew that they were the ideal relationship she aimed to reach but she recognized how rare that was.
“Hey Dad” Callie grumbled.
“Uh oh? You’ve got your mom’s voice. What’s wrong” her dad was able to pick up the tonal shifts so easily. It was something Callie and her mom, Shauna, were less attuned to.
“Ugh I don’t want to talk about it”
“Okay…” Callie heard some movement in the background of the phone call, “Right, so how’d college then?”
“It’s alright.”
“Your classes are good?”
“Yup”
“And you’re not trapped in some basement calling to ask for money?”
“DAD?! What– No!” Callie exclaimed. Jackie giggled on the other end of the phone call.
“Well hon, you won’t tell me what’s wrong so I’m just checking through all the possibilities of what is wrong.”
“And you thought I was stuck in some basement?”
“Hmm you never know with you Calz, you and your mom tend to end up in sticky situations. That is a trait you definitely picked up from your mom. I was a sweetheart at your age.”
“ NOT even! I heard mom tell me about the time you got locked up in overnight jail back in college.” Callie pointed out. One thing about her parents that she loved was their ability to drag one another. Their banter, despite having been married for so long, had not died out with their marriage.
“Well it was a misunderstanding. Anyway enough about me, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have to go all Liam Neeson and Taken on you.”
Callie groaned.
“Mom told you to stop watching those movies.”
“Snitches get stitches Calz, remember that.”
Callie couldn’t help laugh at her dad’s unreal behavior. Shauna, Callie’s mom, was someone Callie reached out to when she wanted emotional regulation. She was a steady presence in her life, a proper parent. Her mother was her guiding light in many ways, and much like her dad both of them were overly protective of their daughter. But her dad, Jackie, was more like a best friend. Jackie often relied on humor to get both the mother-daughter duo out of their heads. While Shauna led with her head, Jackie led with her heart.
And in both the women’s eyes, their daughter–Callie– was the perfect mix of them.
“So is it—” Jackie continued.
“Okay dad stop guessing, your guesses are horrible.” Callie interrupted.
“Then are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
“Fine…” Callie mumbled. “It's someone..”
“Right, great convo Callie! The attention to detail, I must say!” Jackie replied teasingly.
“Fine! It is a girl.” Callie confessed.
“Okay now we’re getting somewhere. Girl as in…?”
“Someone I have been talking to.”
“OH MY GOD!” Jackie squealed. “That is great, hon! Tell me about her! Your mom is going to be so emotional. Our baby’s growing up.”
“Daaaaaddd!” Callie groaned. “Don’t tell her yet. It’s.. complicated.”
“Callie, you’re your mother’s daughter through and through. Our family name could have been complicated.”
“Okay well I don’t know what she wants.” Callie said.
“Neither did your mom.”
“What? No way? You and mom have been together since high school.”
“Baby, oh no. We were friends in high school sure, but your mom and I had years of will-they-won’t-they before I finally had enough and laid it out for your mom. And THANK GOD I did! We’d still be waiting.”
Callie was silent on the phone taking in what she’d just learned. In her mind, her parents had been this great love story she bragged to her friends in elementary school about. In her mind, they were better than Romeo and Juliet. And all her life she believed she would meet the one and just know it was meant to be, and the end credits would roll–happily ever after.
“Tell me about her Calz” her dad asked.
“We share a photography class together, and she lives two floors below me.Ugh–” Callie rubbed her eyes trying to get the girl out of her mind. “She’s so pretty, Dad! She's super into crystals and nature. She is super educated on everything, but camera’s specifically. And…”
Jackie couldn’t help but smile on the other end of the phone.
“You sound just like me, Calz. I couldn’t stop thinking about your mom, like ever.”
“But I don’t even know what she wants”
“Did you ask her?”
“Well no..”
“How about you start there bud?”
“But what if she doesn’t feel the same.” Callie asked, her fears evident.
“But what if she does? And you end up having a beautiful baby girl together and name her Callie and she ends up being just as stubborn as her mom?? What then Callie???” Jackie exaggerated her voice to drive the point across.
Callie laughed. “Ugh you’re impossible”
“Nah you knew exactly why you called.” Jackie replied.
“Where is mom anyway?” Callie asked.
"She's in the other room, wait….” Callie heard shuffling on the other line once more before, “Okay Callie you’re on speaker can you hear us?”
“Yeah! Hey mom!”
“Hey baby! How’s school?” asked Shauna.
“It’s good, the same old same old. I’m excited for the quarter to be over.”
“Yeah? Well you’re almost there hon. You’re Dad’s been really excited about planning a trip for when you’re back.”
Callie heard her dad whine on the other end and a small ‘You weren’t supposed to tell her babe, it was a surprise!’ and then a laugh from her mom and a ‘Sorry baby’.
“Where are we going?” asked Callie.
“NO! Don’t tell her” yelled Jackie. “That is a secret and you won’t find out till you get here.”
“Fineeeeee” Callie said before looking up at the clock. It was almost fifteen minutes till one. Her class would start soon. “Okay mom, dad, I have to leave. I have class soon.”
“Oooo the class with the girl” Jackie teased, having forgotten about keeping this information a secret from Shauna till Callie figured it out.
“DAD!”
“WHAT?” Shauna exclaimed. “What girl?”
“NOTHING!” Callie yelled, but her voice was easily ignored as her dad said,
“A girl Callie has a …’C’..’R’..’U’..’S’..’H’ on” Jackie filled Shauna in.
“I can spell..” Callie said.
“Oh really? I thought you were still learning your ABCs” Jackie teased back.
“You know what. I am late.” Callie finally said having been successfully ragebaited by her dad.
“Okok, Jax stop it!” Shauna smacked Jackie’s arm, “Have a good time in class baby. Bye sweetheart.”
“Bye mom and dad , I guess. Also DAD HAS BEEN WATCHING LIAM NEESON MOVIES AGAIN!” Callie yelled into the phone.
And the last thing she heard before the phone hung up was her dad’s voice,
“CALLIE NOO–” and the line was dead.
Callie smiled to herself. The phone call with her parents made the weight of the unknown just slightly more bearable. Callie didn’t know what would come of the situation with the girl, but she knew she’d see it through before sitting through another lecture from her dad.