(no subject)
Title: Ready For A Fall (32/?)
Author: Chelle Storey-Daniel
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Addison/Mark, Callie/George, Callie/Alex, (mentions of other canon couples)
Summary: Sometimes it hurts to fall, but if you're lucky someone may catch you. And they may be falling, too.
A/N: So, this chapter started out as dark and disturbing and horrible. Thanks to _nigella_ ... you are not getting dark, disturbing or horrible. Yet. You're getting fun and hijinks and cheesy romance that I can't write for the life of me, but here it is. Enjoy it. I did. Halloween is just around the corner ... this ought to get you ready for it. :)
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty One
Twenty Two
Twenty Three
Twenty Four
Twenty Five
Twenty Six
Twenty Seven
Twenty Eight
Twenty Nine
Thirty
Thirty One
*~*~*~*~*~
All the fear has left me now
I’m not frightened anymore
It’s my heart that pounds beneath my flesh
It’s my mouth that pushes out this breath
And if I shed a tear I won’t cage it
I won’t fear love
And if I feel a rage I won’t deny it
I won’t fear love
- Sarah McLachlan
*~*~*~*~*~
Callie had an emergency surgery to perform right off the bat. It was complex and exhausting and she welcomed the fact that she had to concentrate on it. As soon as she began to cut, everything Izzie had said that morning fled her mind leaving nothing in it except the procedure. She moved fluidly, controlled. The surgery itself took nine hours and she didn’t request a break, even when Chief Webber came in to relieve her. She simply shook her head and continued operating. When sweat finally beaded on her forehead during the final phase, she took a deep breath and asked the scrub nurse to put the patient’s X-ray on the boards. She took a step back and gazed at the black and white film until it calmed her. And it did calm her.
It always had.
She knew X-rays.
Callie also knew herself and she straightened her back to remind her that her spine was still ramrod perfect and not bent in the least.
After the patient was sutured and she left instructions for follow up care, she walked out of the OR and took off her surgical scrubs. She washed her hands and pulled her cap off, massaging her scalp. With a determined nod, she pulled out her phone and called Alex.
"Hey, Gothika."
"Where are you?"
"I’m stuck in the pit. A bus crashed through a guard rail and rolled into a ravine. We’ve been dealing with some massive injuries down here. What about you?"
"I’m just coming out of surgery," she replied. In a light, conversational tone, she added, "Hey, did you enjoy kissing Izzie when you found my DNR paper in her pocket?"
There was no sound on the other end of the line. Callie shook her head angrily; his silence was all the confirmation she required. "Or maybe you enjoyed telling her that you loved her and, let me try to remember, that you fell for her a little more every time the old Izzie came out."
Alex still didn’t speak.
Callie took a deep breath. "Correct me if I’m wrong, but did you not tell me that I was the only person you had ever said that to? You’ve said it more than once ... that I was the only one. She didn't hit me because of George ... she hit me because she's jealous and that's understandable since *you* made her believe that you loved *her*."
"Where are you at right now?"
"Tell me, Alex. Tell me the truth that you set so much stock in."
"I’m not doing this over the phone. Where are you?"
"Did you say that to her? Did you kiss her? Did you go to California with me just to upset her? To make her jealous? Is that why you stay?"
"Do not do this, Callie. Do not get yourself worked up over nothing. Tell me where you are and I’ll come right now and explain everything."
"I don’t think I want to hear anything you have to say." She hung up the phone and turned it off for good measure. In a soft voice, she whispered, "What would mom say? She’d say ‘Fuck it’. That’s what she’d say. So fuck it. Just ... fuck it. This is not going to get under your skin, Calliope. We have thick skin in our family so own it. Wear the skin it does not wear you ... Dear God, I sound just like her. And ... I needed to hear that."
"Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity," Dr. Jamison, the anesthesiologist, appeared behind her.
"It’s one of many signs that I’ve been exhibiting lately. Gullibility was the first one and it won’t go away."
The man took his mask off and smiled at her. "I think that’s just a sign of being human."
"Considering that I don’t like humans ... isn’t it a shock that I’m a doctor?"
He laughed outright. "Well, human hatred aside, you’re a fine doctor. Very fine ... if I can just be honest."
It was enough to bolster her wounded pride. He was *flirting* with her. Nodding, she smiled. "Yeah, there is that. F.I.N.E., fine. Seeya, Eric."
"Seeya, Callie."
In the hallway, she used the phone at the nurse’s station to call Addison. Her friend was already gone for the day and cheerfully told Callie that she was cooking Mark a special dinner, but had no idea what a special dinner consisted of. Unable to spoil Addy’s good mood, Callie ignored her own problems and rambled off the ingredients for Blake’s chicken parmesan.
While she changed into her jeans and sweater in the locker room, she held her breath, half expecting Alex to walk in.. She was technically an hour over what Sydney had scheduled her to work, so she grabbed her purse and headed for the elevator.
She would simply go home ... where the alcohol was that she had not yet poured out.
"No. No way," she said out loud. "Running? Not so much."
She took the stairwell to the basement instead and sat down on a pile of crates that took up the spot where her bed used to be. This had been her safe haven, she thought. She had hidden away from her parent’s money, been first to respond to all the good cases, and never had to worry about anyone interrupting her power naps like they did in the on call rooms. She missed it, in a way. Staring around the room, she changed her mind. It was dark and depressing. Like a cave. She much preferred standing in the sun while Goon Docks bobbed in the waves. Especially when Alex was there.
Closing her eyes, she remembered the day that Denny Duquette had died. Alex had been the one to lift Izzie from the man’s bed and hold her until she calmed down. Callie had been touched by it, by the way he spoke to her. She had seen something in him that day that obliterated everything she had heard about him. He wasn’t just a ‘Fratboy Jock’ at all. He was a man who could be there for his ex-girlfriend when she needed strong arms around her. That meant he was forgiving. A good trait to have.
And since Callie had experienced his arms around her when she needed him most ... she knew that it was another great trait he had.
He had a lot of them.
She knew that Alex and Izzie had been intimate. It was a fact that she had successfully repressed, however, because the thought of another man comparing the two women in bed wasn’t something she liked to entertain. Alex had never given her any reason to believe that he was thinking anything like that. He had, in all fairness, told her she was the best lay he’d ever had. Several times.
Alex was *hers*.
He had erased all doubt.
Repeatedly.
Yet here she was ... torn.
When she opened her eyes again, she realized that the recessed corner of the basement had become a temporary storage for films while they remodeled the old records department. It took a few minutes, but she finally found a mangled hand to look at. She had told Dr. Gellar that she would do this instead of something crazy.
And she had promised herself as well.
She gazed at the X-ray and traced the bones that would need pins.
She breathed.
She survived.
And after a while she wasn’t very angry anymore.
*~*~*~*~*~
After checking the roof, the on call room, and the parking lot to make sure Callie had not left him, Alex checked the basement. He was close to giving up when he finally found her holding an X-ray up against the poor fluorescent lighting in the darkest corner of the place. She had not flown. She had not run. Granted, she was also not answering her phone, but he’d take a small victory. "Hey."
She didn’t lower the film or look at him.
"Okay, so look ... I did kiss Izzie when she took your DNR paper. I was grateful. She had given me back my best friend. You, by the way. And it was not a kiss like what you’re thinking ... it was one second of my lips on hers in *gratitude* and then it was done."
Callie said nothing. Alex reached up and took the X-ray from her and she crossed her arms over her chest, not looking at him. "And I did tell her that I had been in love with her, but that was a lie. I just didn’t know it at the time. I was honest with *you* when I said that you are the only person I have ever loved or said it to. I never said ‘I love you’ to Stevens. I said that I had *loved* her, past tense, but now that I know what love feels like ... I know that’s not what I had with her."
He pulled her around to face him. "And I did not go to California with you to make her jealous. I didn’t know where we were going that day, but I knew that if I didn’t get you alone I would die. And I stay because I need you, I need to be near you ... just to breathe. I don’t care if she’s jealous, but I care that you are. You don’t have a reason to be."
"I am not jealous!" she snapped. "I just don’t understand why that *girl* is in every relationship I have."
"Do you see her anywhere? Do you see me talking to her? Do you see me giving a damn what’s going on with her?"
"No," she admitted begrudgingly.
"You didn’t run this time, Callie, so that means that you are nothing like my mother and I have nothing to fear. And I’ll be damned if I let Izzie Stevens cost me the only thing I’ve ever wanted in life, so that means that I’m nothing like George and you have nothing to fear." He curled a lock of her hair around his finger. "So can this please be a fight that we don’t have to have? I am so tired of fighting with you."
"Me too."
"Could I have a kiss?"
She shook her head. "I’m thinking that I’ll kiss you after we go to Vinnie’s Italian Bistro and you sing to me."
"No, baby, you would not kiss me because you wouldn’t want anyone to know you were with me. I’d humiliate myself and you."
"A good dose of humiliation would serve you right."
"Come on, Elvira. Give me a pass on this one. I am hungry, though. We could go eat there and you could sing to me."
"What’s a good man hater song?"
"You don’t hate me," he replied. "Let’s go."
"Not until you button your shirt the right way. Did you get dressed in the dark, Jock Strap?"
He looked down and swore. "So that’s why someone asked me if you and I had been in the on call room. I was in a little bit of a hurry to find you and make sure you understood what actually happened."
She watched as he opened his shirt and began working on the bottom button. His chest was bare beneath it and she licked her lips. "Just so we’re clear ... I’m not jealous, Alex. but I am territorial."
"What are you going to do? Piss on me?" he laughed, but it faded when she glared at him. "Okay, maybe that wasn’t funny."
Gripping the front of his shirt, she pulled him forward and kissed him. He responded immediately and was about to push her back against the wall, but she slammed him against it first and moved to his neck. His eyes widened when he realized what she was doing.
She was giving him a hickey.
And she wasn’t content to stop at just one.
"Callie, I have to see patients. This is -"
"Turtleneck." She moved to the other side of his neck and then stood back, content with her handiwork. "I’ll keep them updated, by the way."
"Okay. Ow." He massaged his neck and shook his head. "People have actually died from this, you know."
"That is an urban legend, ass."
"Well, it’s a pain in the neck. Uh, which actually wasn’t intended as a pun."
Her arms crossed over her chest again. "You told me you wanted fifty years with me."
"Yeah, I did. I do ... I think."
"You know what endures for fifty years?"
"My love?"
"Nice try, Jock Boy," she replied, her tone deadly. "Ink. Tattoo ink."
"You want me to ...."
"Yeah, I want you to. Right now."
He laughed again and shook his head. "What the hell is that going to prove?"
She kept her poker face on, fighting the urge to smile. "Well, any woman who sees my name on your dick will think twice about it."
The look on his face was priceless. All the color drained from it and when he swallowed, it was loud. "You’re kidding, right? Because you don’t look like you’re kidding, but the words you’re making are very funny."
"I’m not kidding."
"No one except you will ever see my dick!" Alex protested. "And if I did that to myself ... I couldn’t use it for long time and then I’d die."
"You either do this or it’s over."
His jaw dropped. "Callie, my balls are in my *stomach*. Don’t tell me something like that right now. We are not over. We’re not even nearly over. Over is not in our vocabulary. And neither is tattooed penis."
"I’m pretty sure I called it a dick. And this is what I want for my birthday." She lost control of her resolve when he rubbed both hands over his face. When she saw that they were shaking, she started to laugh. "You’re so clueless. Do you actually think that I would ask you to do this knowing that it would put *me* out of sex?"
"Oh, thank God." He hugged her. "I take back everything I ever said about your poker face. And you won’t have to piss on me to mark your territory because I think I pissed myself."
Callie put her hand on his crotch and said, "No. You didn’t."
He narrowed his eyes at her when she began to massage him through his pants. "If you start this ... you better finish it."
She responded by taking off her shirt and letting it fall onto the file boxes. "You finish it."
Half an hour later, they were both sitting in the floor, trying to catch their breath. Callie said, "I don’t want to have this conversation again."
"Which one."
"All of it."
"Because I was thinking," Alex said. "Why don’t we go get inked? After we eat. Let’s just do it."
"What the hell would we have tattooed on us?"
"I have an idea. Let’s go."
"Are you kidding?"
"No! Come on!" He pulled her to her feet and tossed her clothing to her. "I’m just as territorial as you are, but I’m not bothering with something that *fades*."
*~*~*~*~*~
"Why are you walking like you have a corn cob up your ass?" Addison asked as Callie slid into the chair beside her the following morning. "What did you do? Sex, right?"
"Not quite. Probably not for a couple of days."
"You’re on your period? No, you take Depo. I know this because I have to see your naked ass every three months."
"I got a tattoo."
"WHAT!? Why?"
"Because I marked my territory and turnabout is fair play." She made a face at Alex, who was clutching his chest as he walked toward her. "He writes way too big."
"Hey." Alex leaned down and kissed Callie. "How’s your hip?"
"Every time I move I feel like I’m ripping open stitches. Why did you want it there. My hips move when I walk!"
"That’s because you’re a prissy diva," Addison told her.
"At least I’m not a PISSY diva, bed wetter."
"Enough with the painful reminders, Calliope!" Addison told her. "So, show me what you got!"
"I am not lowering my pants over breakfast for your amusement."
"Chicken shit." Addison looked up at Alex. "Let’s see yours."
He happily lifted his scrub shirt and displayed his chest. Emblazoned above his heart was a kiss. The shape was unmistakable. It was Callie’s kiss. And she had signed ‘Love, Callie’ just below it. The lips were outlined in black and colored in with red, making it appear 3-D with the artistic shading.
"That has *got* to be the cheesiest, the corniest, and most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen!" Addison said. "But considering that both of you need to be wearing turtlenecks, I can’t even pretend to be shocked by anything anymore."
"Clearly, symbology is lost on my friend." Callie shrugged, but touched her neck self consciously.
"What did you get? Tell me that Karev didn’t pucker up for you, too."
"I got a bastard flower and his name." Callie narrowed her eyes at Alex again. "Which he signed, very, very big."
Alex crossed his arms over his chest and winced. "She refused to get a football or baseball or anything else that was purely *me*."
Callie smiled at him. "Honey, the bastard flower? It’s a permanent apology because you’re always pissing me off."
"You called me 'honey'." He leaned down and kissed her again. "You’re making me horny."
"My body is a temple and services are over. I’m in pain, but you on the other hand could do things to me that would-"
"I’m sorry. I think I need to vomit." Addison heaved.
"Oh, there’s Stevens. I bet her scrubs would soak it up," Callie replied innocently, finishing off her bagel. "I’m going to Joe’s for lunch. I’ve had enough hospital food for *years*."
*~*~*~*~*~
The days passed swiftly and the nights became colder as Halloween approached. The hospital staff, anxious to find fun where they could, had taken to donning masks and terrorizing each other. Chief Webber put a stop to it after Dr. Gellar leaped out at him from a supply closet wearing a Freddy Krueger ensemble that was so realistic that it was gross. Webber had spilled coffee all over his sweater, yanked the bladed glove from Gellar’s hand, and threatened to dispose of it in places that were very unprofessional and much scarier than any mask. Webber's mood was a direct result of having been chased by Dr. Shepherd, who carried a fake rat that had ‘bitten’ his hand, the previous day.
Naturally, when the Chief went home every day the masks were brought out again and it kept the mood at the hospital light. And comical. Everyone agreed that the funniest moment had been the eerily realistic rubber snake that Callie coiled in a box and gave to Addison, telling her that she had brought her breakfast. Callie had somehow tied string around the snake's neck so that when Addy lifted the lid, the snake appeared to leap up at her. Addison had climbed onto the nurse’s station, screaming, and doing a bang up impression of Pee Wee Herman’s tequila dance. Beating Addison’s display by a landslide, however, was the fact that Callie had peed her pants laughing.
And Mark Sloan had photographed the proof which he liked to show everyone.
Happiness was enough to staunch Callie’s humiliation and she took her lumps with dignity. And by putting the snake in Addison’s locker that afternoon. The screams were phenomenal.
Cam and Blake arrived the night before Halloween and agreed to stay on Goon Docks. Callie, who had picked them up at the airport, was thrilled by this. She had insisted, after all. When they arrived at the garage, Leon came out, looking terrified, wringing his hat in his hands. "Miss Callie?"
"Hey, Leon. This is my brother Cam and his boyfriend Blake."
Leon inclined his head, but didn’t speak to them. "Miss Callie, there’s a problem."
"Oh?" she asked, trying to look as sincere as possible. "What is it?"
"I think I caught that thing that’s been making all the noise. You may want to take a look at it."
Her eyes widened dramatically. "Is it dead?"
"I clubbed it to death with my flashlight." He nodded. "You might want to prepare yourself. I ain’t never seen nothing like it."
Cam moved in front of Callie, a protective hand on her stomach. "Where is it?"
"What is it?" Blake asked, peering over Callie’s shoulder as if he expected to see the creature hobbling into the room. "Are you sure it’s dead?"
"Come on." Leon continued to wring his hat and Callie thought it was a nice touch when he went on and on and on and on and on about how he had courageously struggled with the beast. To her astonishment, he had a realistic looking scratches on the backs of his hands and arms, which he proudly displayed. *He* should win an Oscar, she thought.
They entered the guard’s area and Callie bit the inside of her cheek. She had spent days setting up the remote controlled demon dog. It was pale gray, suffered from mange, and had a tongue that glistened as it lolled from its mouth. The fur it did have was matted and the tail was mostly bone; most of the skin had been ripped away, making it look like a barb. It was ... disgusting. Leon had taken extra care to make sure the face was a mangled mess. For good measure, he picked up his flashlight and said, "I didn’t leave it laying like that, ma’am. That thing's moved."
"WHAT IS IT!?" Blake cried again, finally getting a good look at it. "Oh my god. It’s a hell hound!"
Callie squatted down beside the animal and reached down to touch its side.
"NO!" Cam cried, grabbing her hand. "It’s probably poisonous. I can smell the disease."
Callie knew that what he smelled was Canned Farts, but she played along. "If it’s not dead then -"
"Cut its head off!" Cam suggested. "Think of it as ending the suffering of a hideous, ugly, and hairless mutt... demon ... thing."
"Leon, can you help me take it outside?" Callie asked.
"I can’t. I hurt my back real bad getting it in here."
"That leaves you, Cam." Callie moved to the feet of the dog and grabbed hold of the towel that it was resting on. "Blake's already having a stroke."
"Why do I have to carry the business end?" Cam moved to its head and made a sickened face that was hilarious. "Oh dear Lord Jesus, God in Heaven, make it stop smelling like farts."
"On three." Callie glanced at Leon as she said it. "One, two, three."
The twins lifted as one and the dog began to howl, thrash, and kick. It bucked so hard that it flopped off the towel and onto the floor, landing near Blake thanks to Callie’s added flip of the towel in that direction. It happened in slow motion. Cam, who was wearing a long leather duster, attempted to climb the wall and appeared to actually levitate toward the ceiling (although he was only power jogging up the filing cabinet) because his legs were hidden by his coat.
And Blake.
Poor Blake hit notes that would make opera singers weep with envy and his fancy footwork could have easily secured him the lead role in ‘Riverdance’. Instead of running from the room, he leaped back and forth over the thrashing dog, obviously torn by whether he should help his boyfriend or rush to safety. He was suspended in a mid air arabesque, his arms flung wide, when he realized that Callie was rolling on the floor with tears streaming down her face.
His first cognitive thought was that she must have been bitten. He pulled out of the move so suddenly that he landed on the dog, whose renewed efforts caused him scream in agony, sounding like *he* was being bitten. He stomped up and down on the animal, screaming, "It’s trying to kill me!! Get it off me!! GET IT OFF ME!!!"
"You’re on it!" Callie wheezed, pushing herself into a sitting position. "Oh my god! That was *classic*! Say hello to my little friend!"
Cam, who had wedged himself in the four feet between the top of the filing cabinet and the ceiling, shouted, "CALLIOPE IPHEGENIA TORRES! I AM GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!"
"Worth it! Oh so worth it!" she cried. "Leon, did you get it on film?"
Leon wiped the tears off his face and nodded, the camera still pointing at Blake. "Mostly him. I couldn’t look away."
"Happy Halloween, guys!" Callie got to her feet and smiled from one to the other. "Never, ever laugh at a woman who has fallen into a mud hole that smells like the ass crack of a homeless dude in the middle of July."
Cam lowered one leg, glaring at her. "You’re about to find your way back into that fucking mud hole."
Callie screamed and ran.
Cam caught her easily and threw her over his shoulder, stalking down the trail.
She slapped at his back. "Look down, dummy. It’s *cobblestone*. The mud hole is gone."
They met Alex halfway down the trail. He was hurrying toward the source of the noise that had woken him up. "What did she do?" he asked, knowing exactly what had transpired. His girlfriend had been lying in the bed every night for the past week randomly laughing as she thought about the dog. She even laughed in her sleep.
"She filmed it. I’m sure she’ll show it to you on repeat every day for the rest of her life." Cam stalked down the stairs and walked to the edge of the dock. "I know I told you to stay out of the water, little sis, but I’ve changed my mind."
"Don’t you *dare*," Callie growled, wadding the ends of his jacket up in her hands. "If I go in, you go in!"
"Fine with me." Cam stepped off the side of the dock and threw her to one side. They both went under.
Alex stood with his mouth wide open, not believing what he had just seen. Callie came up, swearing and coughing, and headed for the ladder. She climbed up and said, "It’s four degrees below zero out here and he throws me in the water! Where the hell is he? I’m drowning him."
Blake came down the stairs and stood beside them, watching for Cam to resurface. "Something’s wrong," he said after a full minute ticked past. He toed off his shoes.
Callie dove before him. She was aware of two loud splashes and felt someone brush against her as they swam in the opposite direction. Her entire body was numb and it was a struggle after a few seconds to get her limbs to cooperate. Thinking of Cam’s jacket and how heavy it would be, she kicked toward the bottom and felt around frantically. When her lungs could take no more, she broke the surface and took a deep breath to prepare for another dive.
Alex and Blake popped up on either side of her and she said, "Oh god! Where is he?"
"Right here!" Cam called. He was sitting leisurely on the dock, his legs hanging over the side. "I don’t have a video camera, but this image will never leave me."
"You asshole!" Blake screamed, swimming toward him. He ranted in between his breast strokes. "I did not come to Seattle to be tormented. I did not come to Seattle to freeze my balls off in frigid water or to bruise my ass on a fucking fake dog!"
Alex nudged Callie and said, "Payback’s a bitch and apparently I get punished because I'm with you. Come on."
"Can’t. Move." She shook her head as her teeth chattered. "Cold."
Gripping her arm, Alex pulled her along with him and watched Cam pull her from the water. Blake helped him out and Callie stood there shivering, glaring at her brother. "Blake’s right. You are an asshole."
"I guess you can see, Callie, that I’m a much better swimmer than I used to be." Cam threw his head back and cackled. "Look at all the little drowned rats."
Blake pushed him off the dock and back into the water and then stalked toward Goon Docks. "He is *not* sleeping with me!"
~*~*~*~*~*
Callie was dreaming about the demon dog. In it, the creature was chasing her and she was running, but there was a treadmill under her feet that didn’t let her get away. The animal gnashed and snarled at her legs and she put on a burst of speed. It didn’t smell like farts anymore. It smelled like bacon and eggs and possibly pancakes. She turned to look at it and it leaped, landing on her face. For a partially hairless dog ... it was incredibly soft.
Something scurried down her neck and over her chest and she gasped, sitting up in the bed. A sable ferret was gazing at her intently. Her mouth dropped open and she lifted it into her arms where she ran her fingers over the black and silver markings on its thin body. It nudged her fingers, sniffing and playfully nipping. She held it up, confirming that he was a boy. He strained toward her, pushing against her hands with his paws, and she touched her nose to his. She knew it was love when he sneezed on her.
Alex stood a few feet away, watching her with a smile on his face. He joined her on the bed and kissed her neck. "Happy birthday, baby."
"You could not have gotten me a better gift."
"Leon would probably disagree. This thing scratched him all to hell and back last night." Alex reached down and rubbed the ferret’s ear as it explored Callie’s sheet covered lap. "The woman I bought him from says that he’s already litter trained which is a good thing. He’s from a ferret rescue instead of a mill."
She leaned her head against Alex’s. "What’s his name?"
"He doesn’t have one. The woman referred to him as a number."
"Well, that’s just mean." Callie picked the ferret up again and concentrated on his face.
"What are you doing?"
"Ferret whispering." A crease appeared between her brows. "No, we’re not calling you that, little guy. Think again." She wrinkled her nose. "He says that he’s Italian. Italian food was our first date. I guess we better call him Fratelli."
"Fratelli?"
"The bad guys in ‘The Goonies’." The ferret scrambled up her arm and nuzzled the side of her face. "Yeah, he’s apparently a fan."
"You are so strange."
"I try."
Someone knocked on the door and Callie pulled the sheet up over her naked breasts. Blake and Cam stood side by side. Blake took a deep breath and said, "Callie, breakfast is ready. Would you mind letting your brother know?"
Callie looked at Cam, then back at Blake. "Uh, he’s standing right there."
"I haven’t heard from him all morning. I don’t see a thing." Blake put his hands on his hips.
"You see *her*," Cam said, shooting Callie an evil look. "And she’s the one who started it."
"Never, ever make the person you love think you’re dying, Cam," Callie advised. "There’s funny and then there is abuse of privilege."
"You should know," Cam replied, tossing a rectangular package onto the bed. "Happy birthday, brat."
Alex picked up the ferret as Callie secured the sheet a little tighter and opened her gift. When she saw the box, she gasped. "Is this - did you - how the hell?"
"I’ll never tell."
"But this game doesn’t even release until next year!" Callie cried, turning Samurai Ambush: Total Destruction, over in her hands to read the back of it. "How did you get this?"
"I handled a business deal for the father of the guy who created it." Blake smiled. "Cam can’t take *any* of the credit."
Callie grinned. "I’d get up to hug you, but I’m naked."
"Okay, now Blake’s not the only one who can’t hear anything." Cam closed the door, winking at her.
She sighed in contentment and snuggled back into the covers. Fratelli found an opening and crawled in beside her, his body flush against her stomach. "I feel that I should be allowed to sleep in."
Alex nodded. "That’s probably a good idea, because your *other* present is a red bow. I’ll give you two guesses where I’ll be wearing it tonight."
"I only need one."
"You’ll have multiples, Gothika. Bank on it."
*~*~*~*~*~
"I just feel that we’re not *romantic* enough, Mark."
"In what universe, Addison, is self mutilation *romantic*? Tattoos are not romantic. Hickeys are only romantic if you’re in middle school and if I gave you a ferret you’d scream because you think anything small with fur is a rat." He took his tie off and hung it in the closet. "We’re very romantic."
"We eat, sleep, and have sex."
"What else do we need?"
"Forget it." Addison toed off her heels, exasperated, and then slipped her earrings out. "Tonight was fun. I love seeing Callie happy. And with Cam. Isn’t it weird how they finish each other’s sentences?"
"Well, they are twins." Mark unbuttoned his shirt while he watched her take her dress off. Her face was red and her nostrils were flaring. "You want to tell me how I managed to piss you off?"
"It’s PMS." Addison crawled in next to him and rested her head on his chest. "I have cramps."
He rubbed a hand over her hair and smiled. "You know what would stop your period?"
"Depo Provera. I know. I just don’t like needles and -"
"Being pregnant," he corrected. "Nine long months of no cramps or -"
She sat up, looking down at him with shock and fear. "What!?"
"No cramps or tampons so you won’t have to worry about getting your hand caught in a machine again and ... this is a big one ... pregnancy tends to increase a woman’s sex drive and I’d be very happy about that."
"And then your sex life comes to a screeching half for eighteen years!" Addison pulled a pillow into her lap as if shielding her stomach would change the subject.
"You said we’re not romantic enough." Mark sat up, facing her. "I think the most romantic thing in the world ... would be a person we make who has the best of both of us in them."
"Is this a Halloween prank? Because I'm so over Halloween."
"No."
"You want a baby?" Her mouth dropped open as she said it aloud. "Like, an actual baby who will grow into a toddler, then a sullen tween, then a rebellious teen, and then put us in a rest home one day and take our house."
"I’ll tell you what I want." Mark leaned over and opened his sock drawer. He withdrew a small, blue box and fisted it in his hand so she couldn’t really see it. "I was going to do this on Christmas morning after I gave you a crock pot or something else you’d hate. I was going to tie it to a ribbon and hang it from mistletoe. I was going to pull you under it and kiss you and tell you that the best Christmas gift you could give me would be one word.
"One word, Addison, and I’d have everything I ever wanted." He opened his palm and watched her eyes widen in shock when she saw the box. Reaching up, he flipped it open and heard her gasp. "Now maybe this is not romantic to you, but I’d still like to hear that word. Will you marry me?"
Her eyes took in the enormous round diamond which was circled with several smaller diamonds. It gleamed in the lamplight and she took a deep breath. Looking at Mark again, she saw that his jaw was tight. As she watched him, he gave her the smile that always turned her insides to mush. "Mark-"
"That’s not the word, Addy. Although I do like hearing you say my name." He reached up and brushed her hair back. "I’m not asking for much. Just ... forever."
Addison caught his hand in hers and squeezed it. Her heart was pounding, her mouth was dry, and she was so in love that it made it hard to exist at all. "Yes."
"Yes?" His eyes widened and he leapt from the bed, punching the air. "Yes!"
She watched him, amused, as he strutted around naked, talking about the life they’d have. He still carried the box and when he launched into what he’d be doing to her on the honeymoon, she cleared her throat. "Mark?"
He stopped in mid-stride and looked at her with trepidation. "You can’t take it back."
"In your Christmas morning fantasy ... did you actually put the ring on my finger or did you carry it around until New Year’s Day while you crowed like a rooster?"
"Oh, right." Sitting beside her, he slipped the ring from the box and took her left hand. "Am I supposed to say anything while I put it on?"
"Uhm, no. Those would be wedding *vows*, Mark."
"I don’t care. I have something to tell you." He smiled at her again. "I’m still the guy who has to program Christmas into his phone, but I’m also the guy who has been thinking about Christmas morning for weeks now. And Thanksgiving. I’m *thankful* for second chances and for you. I’m going to make you so happy."
"You already did." Addison replied, her eyes welling with tears. "I love you."
"I love you, too." He slid the ring into place and nodded. "Perfect fit."
"Yes, we are."
"So, do you have PMS or is your period actually here?"
"I’m still the girl who fakes PMS when she’s pissed." Addison pushed him back on the bed and straddled his hips. "This was very, very romantic, Mark."
"It wasn’t Christmas."
"It was better." She eased down onto his cock and closed her eyes. "And if you get me a crock pot anyway, I’ll bash your head in with it while you’re sleeping."
"Damn."
Arching her back, she moved upward, letting him almost drop from her. Then she slammed down onto him and nodded. "Damn."
*~*~*~*~*~
Author: Chelle Storey-Daniel
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Addison/Mark, Callie/George, Callie/Alex, (mentions of other canon couples)
Summary: Sometimes it hurts to fall, but if you're lucky someone may catch you. And they may be falling, too.
A/N: So, this chapter started out as dark and disturbing and horrible. Thanks to _nigella_ ... you are not getting dark, disturbing or horrible. Yet. You're getting fun and hijinks and cheesy romance that I can't write for the life of me, but here it is. Enjoy it. I did. Halloween is just around the corner ... this ought to get you ready for it. :)
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty One
Twenty Two
Twenty Three
Twenty Four
Twenty Five
Twenty Six
Twenty Seven
Twenty Eight
Twenty Nine
Thirty
Thirty One
*~*~*~*~*~
All the fear has left me now
I’m not frightened anymore
It’s my heart that pounds beneath my flesh
It’s my mouth that pushes out this breath
And if I shed a tear I won’t cage it
I won’t fear love
And if I feel a rage I won’t deny it
I won’t fear love
- Sarah McLachlan
*~*~*~*~*~
Callie had an emergency surgery to perform right off the bat. It was complex and exhausting and she welcomed the fact that she had to concentrate on it. As soon as she began to cut, everything Izzie had said that morning fled her mind leaving nothing in it except the procedure. She moved fluidly, controlled. The surgery itself took nine hours and she didn’t request a break, even when Chief Webber came in to relieve her. She simply shook her head and continued operating. When sweat finally beaded on her forehead during the final phase, she took a deep breath and asked the scrub nurse to put the patient’s X-ray on the boards. She took a step back and gazed at the black and white film until it calmed her. And it did calm her.
It always had.
She knew X-rays.
Callie also knew herself and she straightened her back to remind her that her spine was still ramrod perfect and not bent in the least.
After the patient was sutured and she left instructions for follow up care, she walked out of the OR and took off her surgical scrubs. She washed her hands and pulled her cap off, massaging her scalp. With a determined nod, she pulled out her phone and called Alex.
"Hey, Gothika."
"Where are you?"
"I’m stuck in the pit. A bus crashed through a guard rail and rolled into a ravine. We’ve been dealing with some massive injuries down here. What about you?"
"I’m just coming out of surgery," she replied. In a light, conversational tone, she added, "Hey, did you enjoy kissing Izzie when you found my DNR paper in her pocket?"
There was no sound on the other end of the line. Callie shook her head angrily; his silence was all the confirmation she required. "Or maybe you enjoyed telling her that you loved her and, let me try to remember, that you fell for her a little more every time the old Izzie came out."
Alex still didn’t speak.
Callie took a deep breath. "Correct me if I’m wrong, but did you not tell me that I was the only person you had ever said that to? You’ve said it more than once ... that I was the only one. She didn't hit me because of George ... she hit me because she's jealous and that's understandable since *you* made her believe that you loved *her*."
"Where are you at right now?"
"Tell me, Alex. Tell me the truth that you set so much stock in."
"I’m not doing this over the phone. Where are you?"
"Did you say that to her? Did you kiss her? Did you go to California with me just to upset her? To make her jealous? Is that why you stay?"
"Do not do this, Callie. Do not get yourself worked up over nothing. Tell me where you are and I’ll come right now and explain everything."
"I don’t think I want to hear anything you have to say." She hung up the phone and turned it off for good measure. In a soft voice, she whispered, "What would mom say? She’d say ‘Fuck it’. That’s what she’d say. So fuck it. Just ... fuck it. This is not going to get under your skin, Calliope. We have thick skin in our family so own it. Wear the skin it does not wear you ... Dear God, I sound just like her. And ... I needed to hear that."
"Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity," Dr. Jamison, the anesthesiologist, appeared behind her.
"It’s one of many signs that I’ve been exhibiting lately. Gullibility was the first one and it won’t go away."
The man took his mask off and smiled at her. "I think that’s just a sign of being human."
"Considering that I don’t like humans ... isn’t it a shock that I’m a doctor?"
He laughed outright. "Well, human hatred aside, you’re a fine doctor. Very fine ... if I can just be honest."
It was enough to bolster her wounded pride. He was *flirting* with her. Nodding, she smiled. "Yeah, there is that. F.I.N.E., fine. Seeya, Eric."
"Seeya, Callie."
In the hallway, she used the phone at the nurse’s station to call Addison. Her friend was already gone for the day and cheerfully told Callie that she was cooking Mark a special dinner, but had no idea what a special dinner consisted of. Unable to spoil Addy’s good mood, Callie ignored her own problems and rambled off the ingredients for Blake’s chicken parmesan.
While she changed into her jeans and sweater in the locker room, she held her breath, half expecting Alex to walk in.. She was technically an hour over what Sydney had scheduled her to work, so she grabbed her purse and headed for the elevator.
She would simply go home ... where the alcohol was that she had not yet poured out.
"No. No way," she said out loud. "Running? Not so much."
She took the stairwell to the basement instead and sat down on a pile of crates that took up the spot where her bed used to be. This had been her safe haven, she thought. She had hidden away from her parent’s money, been first to respond to all the good cases, and never had to worry about anyone interrupting her power naps like they did in the on call rooms. She missed it, in a way. Staring around the room, she changed her mind. It was dark and depressing. Like a cave. She much preferred standing in the sun while Goon Docks bobbed in the waves. Especially when Alex was there.
Closing her eyes, she remembered the day that Denny Duquette had died. Alex had been the one to lift Izzie from the man’s bed and hold her until she calmed down. Callie had been touched by it, by the way he spoke to her. She had seen something in him that day that obliterated everything she had heard about him. He wasn’t just a ‘Fratboy Jock’ at all. He was a man who could be there for his ex-girlfriend when she needed strong arms around her. That meant he was forgiving. A good trait to have.
And since Callie had experienced his arms around her when she needed him most ... she knew that it was another great trait he had.
He had a lot of them.
She knew that Alex and Izzie had been intimate. It was a fact that she had successfully repressed, however, because the thought of another man comparing the two women in bed wasn’t something she liked to entertain. Alex had never given her any reason to believe that he was thinking anything like that. He had, in all fairness, told her she was the best lay he’d ever had. Several times.
Alex was *hers*.
He had erased all doubt.
Repeatedly.
Yet here she was ... torn.
When she opened her eyes again, she realized that the recessed corner of the basement had become a temporary storage for films while they remodeled the old records department. It took a few minutes, but she finally found a mangled hand to look at. She had told Dr. Gellar that she would do this instead of something crazy.
And she had promised herself as well.
She gazed at the X-ray and traced the bones that would need pins.
She breathed.
She survived.
And after a while she wasn’t very angry anymore.
*~*~*~*~*~
After checking the roof, the on call room, and the parking lot to make sure Callie had not left him, Alex checked the basement. He was close to giving up when he finally found her holding an X-ray up against the poor fluorescent lighting in the darkest corner of the place. She had not flown. She had not run. Granted, she was also not answering her phone, but he’d take a small victory. "Hey."
She didn’t lower the film or look at him.
"Okay, so look ... I did kiss Izzie when she took your DNR paper. I was grateful. She had given me back my best friend. You, by the way. And it was not a kiss like what you’re thinking ... it was one second of my lips on hers in *gratitude* and then it was done."
Callie said nothing. Alex reached up and took the X-ray from her and she crossed her arms over her chest, not looking at him. "And I did tell her that I had been in love with her, but that was a lie. I just didn’t know it at the time. I was honest with *you* when I said that you are the only person I have ever loved or said it to. I never said ‘I love you’ to Stevens. I said that I had *loved* her, past tense, but now that I know what love feels like ... I know that’s not what I had with her."
He pulled her around to face him. "And I did not go to California with you to make her jealous. I didn’t know where we were going that day, but I knew that if I didn’t get you alone I would die. And I stay because I need you, I need to be near you ... just to breathe. I don’t care if she’s jealous, but I care that you are. You don’t have a reason to be."
"I am not jealous!" she snapped. "I just don’t understand why that *girl* is in every relationship I have."
"Do you see her anywhere? Do you see me talking to her? Do you see me giving a damn what’s going on with her?"
"No," she admitted begrudgingly.
"You didn’t run this time, Callie, so that means that you are nothing like my mother and I have nothing to fear. And I’ll be damned if I let Izzie Stevens cost me the only thing I’ve ever wanted in life, so that means that I’m nothing like George and you have nothing to fear." He curled a lock of her hair around his finger. "So can this please be a fight that we don’t have to have? I am so tired of fighting with you."
"Me too."
"Could I have a kiss?"
She shook her head. "I’m thinking that I’ll kiss you after we go to Vinnie’s Italian Bistro and you sing to me."
"No, baby, you would not kiss me because you wouldn’t want anyone to know you were with me. I’d humiliate myself and you."
"A good dose of humiliation would serve you right."
"Come on, Elvira. Give me a pass on this one. I am hungry, though. We could go eat there and you could sing to me."
"What’s a good man hater song?"
"You don’t hate me," he replied. "Let’s go."
"Not until you button your shirt the right way. Did you get dressed in the dark, Jock Strap?"
He looked down and swore. "So that’s why someone asked me if you and I had been in the on call room. I was in a little bit of a hurry to find you and make sure you understood what actually happened."
She watched as he opened his shirt and began working on the bottom button. His chest was bare beneath it and she licked her lips. "Just so we’re clear ... I’m not jealous, Alex. but I am territorial."
"What are you going to do? Piss on me?" he laughed, but it faded when she glared at him. "Okay, maybe that wasn’t funny."
Gripping the front of his shirt, she pulled him forward and kissed him. He responded immediately and was about to push her back against the wall, but she slammed him against it first and moved to his neck. His eyes widened when he realized what she was doing.
She was giving him a hickey.
And she wasn’t content to stop at just one.
"Callie, I have to see patients. This is -"
"Turtleneck." She moved to the other side of his neck and then stood back, content with her handiwork. "I’ll keep them updated, by the way."
"Okay. Ow." He massaged his neck and shook his head. "People have actually died from this, you know."
"That is an urban legend, ass."
"Well, it’s a pain in the neck. Uh, which actually wasn’t intended as a pun."
Her arms crossed over her chest again. "You told me you wanted fifty years with me."
"Yeah, I did. I do ... I think."
"You know what endures for fifty years?"
"My love?"
"Nice try, Jock Boy," she replied, her tone deadly. "Ink. Tattoo ink."
"You want me to ...."
"Yeah, I want you to. Right now."
He laughed again and shook his head. "What the hell is that going to prove?"
She kept her poker face on, fighting the urge to smile. "Well, any woman who sees my name on your dick will think twice about it."
The look on his face was priceless. All the color drained from it and when he swallowed, it was loud. "You’re kidding, right? Because you don’t look like you’re kidding, but the words you’re making are very funny."
"I’m not kidding."
"No one except you will ever see my dick!" Alex protested. "And if I did that to myself ... I couldn’t use it for long time and then I’d die."
"You either do this or it’s over."
His jaw dropped. "Callie, my balls are in my *stomach*. Don’t tell me something like that right now. We are not over. We’re not even nearly over. Over is not in our vocabulary. And neither is tattooed penis."
"I’m pretty sure I called it a dick. And this is what I want for my birthday." She lost control of her resolve when he rubbed both hands over his face. When she saw that they were shaking, she started to laugh. "You’re so clueless. Do you actually think that I would ask you to do this knowing that it would put *me* out of sex?"
"Oh, thank God." He hugged her. "I take back everything I ever said about your poker face. And you won’t have to piss on me to mark your territory because I think I pissed myself."
Callie put her hand on his crotch and said, "No. You didn’t."
He narrowed his eyes at her when she began to massage him through his pants. "If you start this ... you better finish it."
She responded by taking off her shirt and letting it fall onto the file boxes. "You finish it."
Half an hour later, they were both sitting in the floor, trying to catch their breath. Callie said, "I don’t want to have this conversation again."
"Which one."
"All of it."
"Because I was thinking," Alex said. "Why don’t we go get inked? After we eat. Let’s just do it."
"What the hell would we have tattooed on us?"
"I have an idea. Let’s go."
"Are you kidding?"
"No! Come on!" He pulled her to her feet and tossed her clothing to her. "I’m just as territorial as you are, but I’m not bothering with something that *fades*."
*~*~*~*~*~
"Why are you walking like you have a corn cob up your ass?" Addison asked as Callie slid into the chair beside her the following morning. "What did you do? Sex, right?"
"Not quite. Probably not for a couple of days."
"You’re on your period? No, you take Depo. I know this because I have to see your naked ass every three months."
"I got a tattoo."
"WHAT!? Why?"
"Because I marked my territory and turnabout is fair play." She made a face at Alex, who was clutching his chest as he walked toward her. "He writes way too big."
"Hey." Alex leaned down and kissed Callie. "How’s your hip?"
"Every time I move I feel like I’m ripping open stitches. Why did you want it there. My hips move when I walk!"
"That’s because you’re a prissy diva," Addison told her.
"At least I’m not a PISSY diva, bed wetter."
"Enough with the painful reminders, Calliope!" Addison told her. "So, show me what you got!"
"I am not lowering my pants over breakfast for your amusement."
"Chicken shit." Addison looked up at Alex. "Let’s see yours."
He happily lifted his scrub shirt and displayed his chest. Emblazoned above his heart was a kiss. The shape was unmistakable. It was Callie’s kiss. And she had signed ‘Love, Callie’ just below it. The lips were outlined in black and colored in with red, making it appear 3-D with the artistic shading.
"That has *got* to be the cheesiest, the corniest, and most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen!" Addison said. "But considering that both of you need to be wearing turtlenecks, I can’t even pretend to be shocked by anything anymore."
"Clearly, symbology is lost on my friend." Callie shrugged, but touched her neck self consciously.
"What did you get? Tell me that Karev didn’t pucker up for you, too."
"I got a bastard flower and his name." Callie narrowed her eyes at Alex again. "Which he signed, very, very big."
Alex crossed his arms over his chest and winced. "She refused to get a football or baseball or anything else that was purely *me*."
Callie smiled at him. "Honey, the bastard flower? It’s a permanent apology because you’re always pissing me off."
"You called me 'honey'." He leaned down and kissed her again. "You’re making me horny."
"My body is a temple and services are over. I’m in pain, but you on the other hand could do things to me that would-"
"I’m sorry. I think I need to vomit." Addison heaved.
"Oh, there’s Stevens. I bet her scrubs would soak it up," Callie replied innocently, finishing off her bagel. "I’m going to Joe’s for lunch. I’ve had enough hospital food for *years*."
*~*~*~*~*~
The days passed swiftly and the nights became colder as Halloween approached. The hospital staff, anxious to find fun where they could, had taken to donning masks and terrorizing each other. Chief Webber put a stop to it after Dr. Gellar leaped out at him from a supply closet wearing a Freddy Krueger ensemble that was so realistic that it was gross. Webber had spilled coffee all over his sweater, yanked the bladed glove from Gellar’s hand, and threatened to dispose of it in places that were very unprofessional and much scarier than any mask. Webber's mood was a direct result of having been chased by Dr. Shepherd, who carried a fake rat that had ‘bitten’ his hand, the previous day.
Naturally, when the Chief went home every day the masks were brought out again and it kept the mood at the hospital light. And comical. Everyone agreed that the funniest moment had been the eerily realistic rubber snake that Callie coiled in a box and gave to Addison, telling her that she had brought her breakfast. Callie had somehow tied string around the snake's neck so that when Addy lifted the lid, the snake appeared to leap up at her. Addison had climbed onto the nurse’s station, screaming, and doing a bang up impression of Pee Wee Herman’s tequila dance. Beating Addison’s display by a landslide, however, was the fact that Callie had peed her pants laughing.
And Mark Sloan had photographed the proof which he liked to show everyone.
Happiness was enough to staunch Callie’s humiliation and she took her lumps with dignity. And by putting the snake in Addison’s locker that afternoon. The screams were phenomenal.
Cam and Blake arrived the night before Halloween and agreed to stay on Goon Docks. Callie, who had picked them up at the airport, was thrilled by this. She had insisted, after all. When they arrived at the garage, Leon came out, looking terrified, wringing his hat in his hands. "Miss Callie?"
"Hey, Leon. This is my brother Cam and his boyfriend Blake."
Leon inclined his head, but didn’t speak to them. "Miss Callie, there’s a problem."
"Oh?" she asked, trying to look as sincere as possible. "What is it?"
"I think I caught that thing that’s been making all the noise. You may want to take a look at it."
Her eyes widened dramatically. "Is it dead?"
"I clubbed it to death with my flashlight." He nodded. "You might want to prepare yourself. I ain’t never seen nothing like it."
Cam moved in front of Callie, a protective hand on her stomach. "Where is it?"
"What is it?" Blake asked, peering over Callie’s shoulder as if he expected to see the creature hobbling into the room. "Are you sure it’s dead?"
"Come on." Leon continued to wring his hat and Callie thought it was a nice touch when he went on and on and on and on and on about how he had courageously struggled with the beast. To her astonishment, he had a realistic looking scratches on the backs of his hands and arms, which he proudly displayed. *He* should win an Oscar, she thought.
They entered the guard’s area and Callie bit the inside of her cheek. She had spent days setting up the remote controlled demon dog. It was pale gray, suffered from mange, and had a tongue that glistened as it lolled from its mouth. The fur it did have was matted and the tail was mostly bone; most of the skin had been ripped away, making it look like a barb. It was ... disgusting. Leon had taken extra care to make sure the face was a mangled mess. For good measure, he picked up his flashlight and said, "I didn’t leave it laying like that, ma’am. That thing's moved."
"WHAT IS IT!?" Blake cried again, finally getting a good look at it. "Oh my god. It’s a hell hound!"
Callie squatted down beside the animal and reached down to touch its side.
"NO!" Cam cried, grabbing her hand. "It’s probably poisonous. I can smell the disease."
Callie knew that what he smelled was Canned Farts, but she played along. "If it’s not dead then -"
"Cut its head off!" Cam suggested. "Think of it as ending the suffering of a hideous, ugly, and hairless mutt... demon ... thing."
"Leon, can you help me take it outside?" Callie asked.
"I can’t. I hurt my back real bad getting it in here."
"That leaves you, Cam." Callie moved to the feet of the dog and grabbed hold of the towel that it was resting on. "Blake's already having a stroke."
"Why do I have to carry the business end?" Cam moved to its head and made a sickened face that was hilarious. "Oh dear Lord Jesus, God in Heaven, make it stop smelling like farts."
"On three." Callie glanced at Leon as she said it. "One, two, three."
The twins lifted as one and the dog began to howl, thrash, and kick. It bucked so hard that it flopped off the towel and onto the floor, landing near Blake thanks to Callie’s added flip of the towel in that direction. It happened in slow motion. Cam, who was wearing a long leather duster, attempted to climb the wall and appeared to actually levitate toward the ceiling (although he was only power jogging up the filing cabinet) because his legs were hidden by his coat.
And Blake.
Poor Blake hit notes that would make opera singers weep with envy and his fancy footwork could have easily secured him the lead role in ‘Riverdance’. Instead of running from the room, he leaped back and forth over the thrashing dog, obviously torn by whether he should help his boyfriend or rush to safety. He was suspended in a mid air arabesque, his arms flung wide, when he realized that Callie was rolling on the floor with tears streaming down her face.
His first cognitive thought was that she must have been bitten. He pulled out of the move so suddenly that he landed on the dog, whose renewed efforts caused him scream in agony, sounding like *he* was being bitten. He stomped up and down on the animal, screaming, "It’s trying to kill me!! Get it off me!! GET IT OFF ME!!!"
"You’re on it!" Callie wheezed, pushing herself into a sitting position. "Oh my god! That was *classic*! Say hello to my little friend!"
Cam, who had wedged himself in the four feet between the top of the filing cabinet and the ceiling, shouted, "CALLIOPE IPHEGENIA TORRES! I AM GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!"
"Worth it! Oh so worth it!" she cried. "Leon, did you get it on film?"
Leon wiped the tears off his face and nodded, the camera still pointing at Blake. "Mostly him. I couldn’t look away."
"Happy Halloween, guys!" Callie got to her feet and smiled from one to the other. "Never, ever laugh at a woman who has fallen into a mud hole that smells like the ass crack of a homeless dude in the middle of July."
Cam lowered one leg, glaring at her. "You’re about to find your way back into that fucking mud hole."
Callie screamed and ran.
Cam caught her easily and threw her over his shoulder, stalking down the trail.
She slapped at his back. "Look down, dummy. It’s *cobblestone*. The mud hole is gone."
They met Alex halfway down the trail. He was hurrying toward the source of the noise that had woken him up. "What did she do?" he asked, knowing exactly what had transpired. His girlfriend had been lying in the bed every night for the past week randomly laughing as she thought about the dog. She even laughed in her sleep.
"She filmed it. I’m sure she’ll show it to you on repeat every day for the rest of her life." Cam stalked down the stairs and walked to the edge of the dock. "I know I told you to stay out of the water, little sis, but I’ve changed my mind."
"Don’t you *dare*," Callie growled, wadding the ends of his jacket up in her hands. "If I go in, you go in!"
"Fine with me." Cam stepped off the side of the dock and threw her to one side. They both went under.
Alex stood with his mouth wide open, not believing what he had just seen. Callie came up, swearing and coughing, and headed for the ladder. She climbed up and said, "It’s four degrees below zero out here and he throws me in the water! Where the hell is he? I’m drowning him."
Blake came down the stairs and stood beside them, watching for Cam to resurface. "Something’s wrong," he said after a full minute ticked past. He toed off his shoes.
Callie dove before him. She was aware of two loud splashes and felt someone brush against her as they swam in the opposite direction. Her entire body was numb and it was a struggle after a few seconds to get her limbs to cooperate. Thinking of Cam’s jacket and how heavy it would be, she kicked toward the bottom and felt around frantically. When her lungs could take no more, she broke the surface and took a deep breath to prepare for another dive.
Alex and Blake popped up on either side of her and she said, "Oh god! Where is he?"
"Right here!" Cam called. He was sitting leisurely on the dock, his legs hanging over the side. "I don’t have a video camera, but this image will never leave me."
"You asshole!" Blake screamed, swimming toward him. He ranted in between his breast strokes. "I did not come to Seattle to be tormented. I did not come to Seattle to freeze my balls off in frigid water or to bruise my ass on a fucking fake dog!"
Alex nudged Callie and said, "Payback’s a bitch and apparently I get punished because I'm with you. Come on."
"Can’t. Move." She shook her head as her teeth chattered. "Cold."
Gripping her arm, Alex pulled her along with him and watched Cam pull her from the water. Blake helped him out and Callie stood there shivering, glaring at her brother. "Blake’s right. You are an asshole."
"I guess you can see, Callie, that I’m a much better swimmer than I used to be." Cam threw his head back and cackled. "Look at all the little drowned rats."
Blake pushed him off the dock and back into the water and then stalked toward Goon Docks. "He is *not* sleeping with me!"
~*~*~*~*~*
Callie was dreaming about the demon dog. In it, the creature was chasing her and she was running, but there was a treadmill under her feet that didn’t let her get away. The animal gnashed and snarled at her legs and she put on a burst of speed. It didn’t smell like farts anymore. It smelled like bacon and eggs and possibly pancakes. She turned to look at it and it leaped, landing on her face. For a partially hairless dog ... it was incredibly soft.
Something scurried down her neck and over her chest and she gasped, sitting up in the bed. A sable ferret was gazing at her intently. Her mouth dropped open and she lifted it into her arms where she ran her fingers over the black and silver markings on its thin body. It nudged her fingers, sniffing and playfully nipping. She held it up, confirming that he was a boy. He strained toward her, pushing against her hands with his paws, and she touched her nose to his. She knew it was love when he sneezed on her.
Alex stood a few feet away, watching her with a smile on his face. He joined her on the bed and kissed her neck. "Happy birthday, baby."
"You could not have gotten me a better gift."
"Leon would probably disagree. This thing scratched him all to hell and back last night." Alex reached down and rubbed the ferret’s ear as it explored Callie’s sheet covered lap. "The woman I bought him from says that he’s already litter trained which is a good thing. He’s from a ferret rescue instead of a mill."
She leaned her head against Alex’s. "What’s his name?"
"He doesn’t have one. The woman referred to him as a number."
"Well, that’s just mean." Callie picked the ferret up again and concentrated on his face.
"What are you doing?"
"Ferret whispering." A crease appeared between her brows. "No, we’re not calling you that, little guy. Think again." She wrinkled her nose. "He says that he’s Italian. Italian food was our first date. I guess we better call him Fratelli."
"Fratelli?"
"The bad guys in ‘The Goonies’." The ferret scrambled up her arm and nuzzled the side of her face. "Yeah, he’s apparently a fan."
"You are so strange."
"I try."
Someone knocked on the door and Callie pulled the sheet up over her naked breasts. Blake and Cam stood side by side. Blake took a deep breath and said, "Callie, breakfast is ready. Would you mind letting your brother know?"
Callie looked at Cam, then back at Blake. "Uh, he’s standing right there."
"I haven’t heard from him all morning. I don’t see a thing." Blake put his hands on his hips.
"You see *her*," Cam said, shooting Callie an evil look. "And she’s the one who started it."
"Never, ever make the person you love think you’re dying, Cam," Callie advised. "There’s funny and then there is abuse of privilege."
"You should know," Cam replied, tossing a rectangular package onto the bed. "Happy birthday, brat."
Alex picked up the ferret as Callie secured the sheet a little tighter and opened her gift. When she saw the box, she gasped. "Is this - did you - how the hell?"
"I’ll never tell."
"But this game doesn’t even release until next year!" Callie cried, turning Samurai Ambush: Total Destruction, over in her hands to read the back of it. "How did you get this?"
"I handled a business deal for the father of the guy who created it." Blake smiled. "Cam can’t take *any* of the credit."
Callie grinned. "I’d get up to hug you, but I’m naked."
"Okay, now Blake’s not the only one who can’t hear anything." Cam closed the door, winking at her.
She sighed in contentment and snuggled back into the covers. Fratelli found an opening and crawled in beside her, his body flush against her stomach. "I feel that I should be allowed to sleep in."
Alex nodded. "That’s probably a good idea, because your *other* present is a red bow. I’ll give you two guesses where I’ll be wearing it tonight."
"I only need one."
"You’ll have multiples, Gothika. Bank on it."
*~*~*~*~*~
"I just feel that we’re not *romantic* enough, Mark."
"In what universe, Addison, is self mutilation *romantic*? Tattoos are not romantic. Hickeys are only romantic if you’re in middle school and if I gave you a ferret you’d scream because you think anything small with fur is a rat." He took his tie off and hung it in the closet. "We’re very romantic."
"We eat, sleep, and have sex."
"What else do we need?"
"Forget it." Addison toed off her heels, exasperated, and then slipped her earrings out. "Tonight was fun. I love seeing Callie happy. And with Cam. Isn’t it weird how they finish each other’s sentences?"
"Well, they are twins." Mark unbuttoned his shirt while he watched her take her dress off. Her face was red and her nostrils were flaring. "You want to tell me how I managed to piss you off?"
"It’s PMS." Addison crawled in next to him and rested her head on his chest. "I have cramps."
He rubbed a hand over her hair and smiled. "You know what would stop your period?"
"Depo Provera. I know. I just don’t like needles and -"
"Being pregnant," he corrected. "Nine long months of no cramps or -"
She sat up, looking down at him with shock and fear. "What!?"
"No cramps or tampons so you won’t have to worry about getting your hand caught in a machine again and ... this is a big one ... pregnancy tends to increase a woman’s sex drive and I’d be very happy about that."
"And then your sex life comes to a screeching half for eighteen years!" Addison pulled a pillow into her lap as if shielding her stomach would change the subject.
"You said we’re not romantic enough." Mark sat up, facing her. "I think the most romantic thing in the world ... would be a person we make who has the best of both of us in them."
"Is this a Halloween prank? Because I'm so over Halloween."
"No."
"You want a baby?" Her mouth dropped open as she said it aloud. "Like, an actual baby who will grow into a toddler, then a sullen tween, then a rebellious teen, and then put us in a rest home one day and take our house."
"I’ll tell you what I want." Mark leaned over and opened his sock drawer. He withdrew a small, blue box and fisted it in his hand so she couldn’t really see it. "I was going to do this on Christmas morning after I gave you a crock pot or something else you’d hate. I was going to tie it to a ribbon and hang it from mistletoe. I was going to pull you under it and kiss you and tell you that the best Christmas gift you could give me would be one word.
"One word, Addison, and I’d have everything I ever wanted." He opened his palm and watched her eyes widen in shock when she saw the box. Reaching up, he flipped it open and heard her gasp. "Now maybe this is not romantic to you, but I’d still like to hear that word. Will you marry me?"
Her eyes took in the enormous round diamond which was circled with several smaller diamonds. It gleamed in the lamplight and she took a deep breath. Looking at Mark again, she saw that his jaw was tight. As she watched him, he gave her the smile that always turned her insides to mush. "Mark-"
"That’s not the word, Addy. Although I do like hearing you say my name." He reached up and brushed her hair back. "I’m not asking for much. Just ... forever."
Addison caught his hand in hers and squeezed it. Her heart was pounding, her mouth was dry, and she was so in love that it made it hard to exist at all. "Yes."
"Yes?" His eyes widened and he leapt from the bed, punching the air. "Yes!"
She watched him, amused, as he strutted around naked, talking about the life they’d have. He still carried the box and when he launched into what he’d be doing to her on the honeymoon, she cleared her throat. "Mark?"
He stopped in mid-stride and looked at her with trepidation. "You can’t take it back."
"In your Christmas morning fantasy ... did you actually put the ring on my finger or did you carry it around until New Year’s Day while you crowed like a rooster?"
"Oh, right." Sitting beside her, he slipped the ring from the box and took her left hand. "Am I supposed to say anything while I put it on?"
"Uhm, no. Those would be wedding *vows*, Mark."
"I don’t care. I have something to tell you." He smiled at her again. "I’m still the guy who has to program Christmas into his phone, but I’m also the guy who has been thinking about Christmas morning for weeks now. And Thanksgiving. I’m *thankful* for second chances and for you. I’m going to make you so happy."
"You already did." Addison replied, her eyes welling with tears. "I love you."
"I love you, too." He slid the ring into place and nodded. "Perfect fit."
"Yes, we are."
"So, do you have PMS or is your period actually here?"
"I’m still the girl who fakes PMS when she’s pissed." Addison pushed him back on the bed and straddled his hips. "This was very, very romantic, Mark."
"It wasn’t Christmas."
"It was better." She eased down onto his cock and closed her eyes. "And if you get me a crock pot anyway, I’ll bash your head in with it while you’re sleeping."
"Damn."
Arching her back, she moved upward, letting him almost drop from her. Then she slammed down onto him and nodded. "Damn."
*~*~*~*~*~