Chapter 11

 

Callum woke with a start, and was surprised to find Georgie leaning down over him. She was so close, her breath washed over his face. Callum held his breath, his heart hammering faster in his chest as he stared up into her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she looked down into his eyes. “I was just reaching for the throw. I was going to cover you. You were fast asleep.”

She took a tentative step backward, then another.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said, giving him a nervous look.

“No,” he replied, sitting up straight, scrubbing his face with his hands. “It’s fine. It’s just been a long day. Guess I was more tired than I thought.”

Georgie smiled, but didn’t say anything.

“Is Macy asleep?” Callum asked as he pushed up from the sofa.

“She’s spark out,” Georgie replied with a smile. “Surprising how much dancing can tire you out.”

“Tell me about it,” Callum said with a smile. “Great song by the way. Not sure I’ve heard it before.”

“You’ve never heard of Paloma Faith?” Georgie asked giving him a pretend shocked look. “Then you haven’t lived. That song was called Upside Down, I think it’s probably my favourite one.”

“It’s a good song,” Callum agreed, smiling as he thought about Macy dancing to it. “Macy seems to love it.”

“She does,” Georgie replied, smiling too. “She loves music, and dancing. She is so full of life.”

“You know, I was just going to grab a beer,” Callum said, giving her a questioning look. He half expected her to say no. “Would you like to join me?”

“Um,” she sighed, as she glanced up towards the stairs, then turned back and smiled. “Sure.”

“Okay,” Callum replied, surprised that she had said yes. “Take a seat, and I’ll go get them.”

He hurried to the kitchen, grabbing two bottles from the fridge, then hurried back to where Georgie was sitting, holding out a bottle of beer to her. She took it, smiling nervously at Callum before he sat down on the sofa next to her.

“Cheers,” he said, unscrewing the cap, then holding it out to Georgie. She tipped her bottle off his, then they both took a sip, as a comfortable silence settled between them.

“So, do you miss home?” Callum said, finally breaking the silence.

“Sometimes,” Georgie replied, and Callum was surprised to see a look of sadness in her eyes. “But I like living in San Francisco.”

“What brought you here?” He asked, taking a sip from his beer. He realised, as much as they had talked over the last few days, Georgie never really spoke about her past. Callum couldn’t help but wonder why that was.

“A mistake,” she replied, giving him a sad smile. “One I would rather forget about.”

“I’m sorry,” Callum said quickly, worried he had upset her or crossed a line.

“It’s okay,” Georgie replied, giving him a smile. “I just don’t believe in looking back. Life is too short for having regrets.”

She smiled once more, then took a sip from her bottle of beer. Callum liked when she smiled. It lit up her face, making her even prettier than she already was.

Still, he was curious about her story. He knew there was definitely one there, he just had no clue what it was. Callum just knew that when he looked into her eyes, there was a sadness there, and he wondered what could have made such a happy, bubbly person so sad deep inside.

Over the remainder of the week, Callum could see the difference in Macy every single day. She was so much happier, as little by little her confidence grew.

It was strange to him though. His penthouse that was once so empty and quiet, was now filled with laughter, music, and so much happiness. What surprised Callum the most was how much he like it. He found that he looked forward to coming home; something that was very alien to him.

He also enjoyed spending time with Georgie after Macy went to bed. She was funny and easy to talk to.

The only one issue remaining was the night time episodes with Macy. No matter how happy she was going to bed, she still woke in the night calling for Carolynn. It frustrated Callum that there seemed to be nothing he could do to make is stop.

Georgie assured him that it too would eventually pass, Callum just didn’t know how much more he could listen to his little girl’s heart break every night.

Saturday morning, Callum woke with a headache from hell, his eyes felt like lead. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept so heavy, but rolling over in his bed, he just wanted to sleep some more.

He tried to open his eyes, but the morning sun was pouring into his room, so he pinched them closed once more.

Just a few minutes more, he thought to himself; then he would get up for Macy.

“MACY!” He exclaimed pushing up in bed quickly before; he shoved back the bedclothes. Looking at the alarm clock on the nightstand, he was surprised to see it was almost ten a.m. Without even thinking, he was out of the bed, heading for the door, hurrying along the hallway to Macy’s room. He hadn’t heard her through the night. How could he have not woken up?

Pushing open the door, he was surprised to find Macy’s bedroom empty. He hurried on down the hallway, passing Georgie’s room. He was about to knock on the door when he heard Macy’s excited squeal echo from somewhere downstairs.

Needing to see her, he headed straight for the stairs. He had no idea if she had woken during the night. All he could think was, had she needed him, but he wasn’t there.

When he rushed into the kitchen, he found a happy Macy covered in flour, sitting on a stool, helping an equally flour covered Georgie bake some kind of cake.

“Daddy, look!” Macy exclaimed happily when she saw Callum standing there, wearing just his pyjama bottoms. “We’re making a cake!”

Callum smiled, as he took a couple of calming breaths before his eyes meet Georgie’s.

“Annie said she had to run some errands,” Georgie said, giving him a curious look. “She needed to go to the store, and she said she was picking up dry cleaning. She said she wouldn’t be too long.”

“Okay,” Callum nodded breathlessly as he hurried across the kitchen, kissing Macy on the top of the head. “Good morning, Peanut,”

“Are you okay, Callum?” Georgie asked, giving him a worried look.

“I slept all night,” he said, by way of an explanation, but his mind was racing. “I don’t know why I didn’t wake up.”

“Because you were tired,” Georgie offered with a smile. “And you weren’t the only one; someone else slept all night too.”

“She didn’t wake up?” Callum asked, giving her a hopeful smile.

“Nope,” Georgie confirmed with a broad smile. “She slept straight through.”

Callum looked down at Macy, smiling as a wave of relief washed over him. Suddenly, for some unknown reason, Callum felt overcome.

“I…eh… I’ve got to get ready for work,” Callum turned to leave, needing to get out of the kitchen before he cried like a little girl in front of this girl, who he hardly knew.

“But it’s Saturday!” Georgie exclaimed, stopping him in his tracks. Callum blew out a long, tired breath. “Annie said that you were going to visit your mother’s today. That’s why Macy’s is baking a cake.”

Forcing a smile on his face, he turned and looked back at Georgie. He had no idea what was wrong with him, but right at that moment, he just wanted to fall apart.

“I guess I’m still half asleep,” he offered her as an excuse.

“I could get you some coffee,” she said, her face completely unreadable. “Or make you some breakfast.”

“I think I’m just going to jump into the shower,” Callum replied, giving her a grateful smile. He stared at her for a moment, as once more the pull he had felt so many times over the last few days was there. He gave her one more smile before he turned and headed out of the kitchen.

His feet barely hit the steps of the stairs, as he took them two at a time. It wasn’t until he got to his bathroom, did he even realised he was holding his breath.

He slumped to the floor of the bathroom, hot tears stinging his eyes.

He didn’t know why he was so upset. Maybe it was that Macy finally was settling down. Part of him was so relieved; he could hardly hold the happiness inside.

For the last four weeks, it felt like he was slowly drowning, and it didn’t matter how much he kicked and fought, he was sinking lower and lower, beneath the water.

Now she was happy; she was smiling. Finally, Callum felt like he could breathe again, but there was a tiny part of him. A tiny part that hated he wasn’t the one to make his little girl whole again.

He hated feeling like this, feeling so out of control of his own life; of his world.

His brothers would joke that Callum was born with an old man’s soul. They would say that he was far too serious and anal about every tiny detail. Maybe they were right, but it was how he was built, it was who he was.

He had learned at a young age to rely on no one but himself. He loved his brothers, he really did. But it sometimes felt like he was the odd man out. He knew that Finn often felt that way too, but Callum felt like Finn missed the point. Landen and Finn had a special bond. Callum knew it came from Landen’s need to protect Finn, and he got it. Finn was quieter than the rest of them, at times, he was almost painfully shy. So Landen, being the eldest, had made it his mission to protect Finn no matter what.

Then there was Liam and Dylan. They were close too. They had the whole twin thing going on, and Callum understood that also. Liam would always say that Dylan was his first roommate and that they shared a womb with a view. It would always make Callum smile when he said that. He just wished that he had his person. The one he could turn to no matter what happened.

Sure, he and Landen were close. He was probably closer to him than he was to the rest of his brothers, he just knew that he would never have the closeness Landen and Finn, or Liam and Dylan had.

So, Callum decided early on that he would rely on himself. That he would never need anyone, he would be his own person.

Now, that’s how it was; it was how he liked it. He knew no matter what happened; he would always be strong enough to deal with whatever life threw at him.

Used to be, Callum thought to himself, bitterly.

Because now he was in control of nothing. His life had been turned upside down by the cutest, sweetest, tiny terrorist who he loved more than he had ever imagined possible. He had wanted to be the one that made everything okay for her, but he wasn’t. Georgie had become her person.

Callum hated that he felt jealous of what Georgie had with Macy.

She had been amazing. She had been the answer to the prayer he had made to Carolynn. He asked for help, as he walked into that coffee shop, where he found her at the exact moment her life was in pieces too.

She hadn’t really told him what had happened that had brought her to the coffee shop that day, but he knew whatever the reason was, it had been fate.

Maybe he just needed to stop fighting this. Allow life to happen without him needing to control everything for once.

Maybe Georgie was the answer to more than one question.