Greg

 

 

 

Sonny opens the door with a confused look on his face. “Everything alright? Wasn't expecting anyone at this hour.”

Why would he, it's a little after midnight?

To be honest, I'm surprised the dogs didn't bark when I knocked. They're huge for the breeds they are, Shepherd and Rottweiler, they can be quite intimidating. Especially when looking after Callie, as what they were trained for.

“Why weren't you and Callie at the club with everyone else?”

He sighs but motions me to come inside.

I follow him into the den.

Callie's sitting on the couch in her PJ's looking at me with wide eyes. “Is everything okay?”

I can understand why she'd be worried, I'm here so late and I never call around late at night unless we're having a party or something is wrong within the family.

“Just wondered where you guys were tonight.” I take a seat in the lone armchair, while Sonny sits next to Callie and wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him.

Four and a half years of marriage, a lifetime of loving each other, and they show no signs of ever losing the spark they found as children.

“I didn't think you'd want me there, Greg. Not after what I did.”

“What you did was look out for me, the same as I would have looked out for you. You just went about it the wrong way.”

“But you have to see how it looked to her, Greg.”

I nod at Sonny. “I do, and so does Dani. I was angry because of the way you all treated her, not because of what you thought happened. You didn't even give her a moment to tell you who she was with in that room, you just jumped on her. You hurt her, Callie. And I couldn't understand why if you thought she'd cheated on me you didn't call me.”

“I know. That's exactly what I should have done. I don't know why I didn't.” She sniffs but doesn't look away from me. “I thought she cheated on you, that she didn't care that she was in a public place with her friends, your sisters. I didn't want to think badly of her, Greg, but what was I supposed to think? It was like Maya all over again.”

I know she's right, of course, I do. Anybody would have thought the same thing. People were hurt, especially Dani. But I can see how badly my sister is beating herself up over this. I know Dani doesn't want that. She wants to put the whole mess behind her, and so do I.

“Beating yourself up over it and ignoring Dani won't make you feel better, Callie.”

Callie has always been the same. Beats herself up over everything that goes wrong in our lives. Roya's abduction, Sonny leaving the way he did for five years, the death of their unborn daughter while he was gone. She blamed herself for her attack because she thought it was punishment from God for Roya's abduction. Hell, she's blamed herself for every bad thing that's happened to our family, no matter what it was.

There was a point where she couldn't take life anymore, especially without Hudson, and my baby sister tried to take her own life. It killed me, I'll tell you that. Our parents had kept us close after Roya went missing all those years ago, and the thought of losing Callie as well – I just couldn't cope.

Callie was sent to a residential hospital on my mother's orders. She meant well, she just wanted her daughter well and she wanted the best help for her.

Isn't that what any decent mother would do?

When I visited Callie in that place, the place that looked like a mansion, the hotel kind, I held her close to me and literally begged her never to do anything like that again, that nothing could ever really be that bad, that I would always be there for her should she need me. She sobbed in my arms and told me she would never hurt herself again.

I may have been angry with her for a while there after what she did to Dani, but she's my sister and I love her. However misplaced it was, she was only looking out for me.

“I didn't know how to face her, Greg. I wronged her. No matter what my intentions were, however, I was trying to protect you, I should have let her explain.”

“She doesn't hold it against you, Callie. The same as she doesn't where Paige is concerned. Everyone has said their piece, everyone is friends again. But Dani is wondering why you hate her so much.”

It's the truth. Dani has actually asked me why Callie is avoiding her. She thinks that Callie is so disappointed in what we did, in Dani, that she can't even face her. But I know that's not the case, Callie is disappointed in herself.

Callie looks shocked. “I don't hate her. Oh my god,” She scrubs her hands over her face. “I like Dani, Greg. I just feel awful about what happened. I know, though, that I need to face her and apologize for my part in all of this. I just don't want her to hate me.”

“Women,” Sonny mumbles, making me laugh.

“Hey, you pig!” Callie slaps his chest, he laughs and kisses her. “I'll speak to her, I promise. I'm just really sorry, Greg.”

I smile and get out of my seat. I hold my hand out to Callie.

She looks at Sonny, who winks at her. She looks at me with a smile on her face, gets out of her seat and takes my hand.

I pull her into my arms, hold her close and kiss her head. I don't ever want her to think I'd abandon her, even when I'm pissed at her. “You mean the world to me, Callie. You know that, don't you?” She nods. She knows how much I love her, all my sisters do. But I'll tell her anyway. “I love you something fierce, little sister.”

“I love you, too, Greg. I know you love Dani, and I know that I'm going to apologize to her and make sure she knows that I will never doubt her and what she feels for you again. I just hope she can forgive me.”

“She will because she's a very forgiving woman.” I squeeze Callie tightly, letting her know everything is okay now.

I know she'd never want her daughter to feel as upset as she's felt these past few weeks. And I know she'll be teaching Robyn the art of trusting her friends, brother's girlfriends, no matter the situation she may find herself in with them, even when things aren't what they seem, Callie will teach Robyn to talk to them about it before jumping right in with, “You hurt my brother, now I'll make your life hell.”

“Uncle Greg?”

I pull away from Callie and turn towards my eight-year-old niece standing in the doorway, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Hey, darling. What are you doing out of bed?”

You'd never know Robyn was adopted looking at her. She has dark hair like her parents, tanned skin like Sonny, making her look of Italian decent just like him. She has eyes as blue as her mothers, she's even sassy like Callie.

“I wanted some water. Is Mommy okay?” Her big blue eyes are trained on my sister, who's wiping tears from her eyes.

“I'm okay, baby girl, just wanted a hug from my big brother.”

“Oh. Where's Dani?”

I smile at her question.

All the kids in this town love Dani. I swear, she should have been a school teacher, not a paramedic.

“She's at home, pretty girl. I should be getting back to her.”

“Okay.” She wraps her little arms around my waist for a quick hug. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“Come on, darling, I'll get you some water and get you back to bed.”

As I watch my sister sorting her daughter, I know things are about to get better for everyone. Callie and Dani will have a heart-to-heart, then we can all get back to normal. Then who knows, maybe I can convince Dani it's time for us to move in together. I feel like we're ready. I'm in love with her and I want to spend my life with her.

I may have sworn to myself that I would never marry again, but I can't stop thinking about making Dani, my wife. Sure, it's way too soon to be thinking about any such thing, and I in no way want to rush into anything. I want us to last forever.

But when you know, you know.

Right?