Chapter 19

Anthony

After Jace made that declaration, he left. I stood by the door, looking at her. “Let's go outside, baby.”

“My clothes?”

“Oh yeah, give me a minute.”

I went in search of Crystal, and I found her in the living room. "Umm, Crystal, where's Callie's stuff?”

She jumped off the couch. "Sorry, I kind of forgot; it's in the other room; I'll get it for you.”

“Thank you” 

She left to go get Callie's stuff. That's when my parents walked out into the living room. “Son, how is Callie?”

“She's okay; something happened. Rachel went to Callie's parents and told them that we're together, and now they're on their way here, saying that Callie is not to be with me. Do you know anything about that?”

My dad looked at me and then looked at my mom. “No, I forgot, sweetheart. I needed to talk to you about something.”

After that, they left. That was weird. “Mr. Collins, dinner will be in a few minutes.”

“Thank you, Ann. Did you find your room?”

"Yes, I did. It's fine. Thank you for asking.”

“Here you are, Anthony; this is all of Callie's stuff.”

“Thank you, Crystal. Dinner will be in a few minutes, let Jace know.”

“Okay, I will.”

When I walked back into the room, I found her in bed. She was already asleep. She looked so peaceful sleeping that I just dropped her bags by the door, closed the door, and went back outside. I was in the kitchen grabbing a drink when I heard raised voices coming from the direction of my parents' bedroom.

What the hell? Jace came out, and so did Crystal, and they were looking at me. He walked over to me.

“What's going on?”

“I don't know.”

I heard the door open, and then the door slammed shut. My mom came storming out. “Mom, what's going on?”

“I can't be here right now, Anthony.”

I saw my dad coming out. “What's going on?”

He just looked at Mom and then looked at me. “It's just a small misunderstanding.”

“You call that a misunderstanding? No, David, that is not a small misunderstanding ,what you did."

"Jenny, please, let's not do this. Not right now. Let's talk about this in private.”

“There's nothing to talk about; I need time to think about everything you have just told me. I can't believe you did that.” I looked at my parents, and I looked at Jace. The buzzer for the front door was going off.

"Anna, can you please check who's at the front door?”

“Yes, sir.”

My mom and dad were still going at each other. What did my dad do? I saw Anna walk and come back in. “Mr. Collins, Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs are here.”

Oh, fucking hell I looked at Jace. 

“What the fuck is going on, Jace?”

“Shit, I'm standing right here with you, Anthony, the fuck I know.”

My parents were still going at each other, the minute Mr. and Mrs. Jacob walked into the apartment. That was when all hell broke loose. I wished to God I was anywhere else but here. 

My mom looked at Mrs. Jacobs. “Oh, so you have the nerve to show your face here? to step foot into my son's apartment?”

“I need everybody to be quiet. Callie isn't feeling well, and she's already asleep. I don't want to hear any shouting; you're all adults. Hash this out like adults now. What is really going on?”

Mrs. Jacobs looked at me. “Fine, if you want to know what is going on, you and Callie can't be together.”

“And why not?”

“Because she's your sister.”

“What?”

When I turned around, she was standing there; she probably heard all the yelling and came out of the room.

“Callie, sweetheart, you can't be with Anthony; he's your brother.”

"No, you're lying.”

“Sweetheart I'm not. I'm sure, it happened a long time ago. I don't know if Jace remembers when his dad and I had an argument and we separated for a while.

She looked at Jace, then at me. “I think I'm going to be sick.”

She looked like she wanted to throw up. I looked at my parents. “Is Callie your daughter?”

“Anthony, you know she is not; you know why; your mother knows.”

“Of course she is. I only got pregnant after I slept with you.”  Jace looked at his mother, then at me. He knew my secret, too.

“So you're trying to say Mr. Collins, David Collins, is Callie's father?”

“Yes ”

“That's a lie, mom. I don't believe you, and plus, it's not possible.”

“What don't you understand, Jace?”

“Mom, is that why you and Dad were arguing?”

"Yes, Anthony, because he just told me about his little affair he had back then with Joanne.”

Jesus Christ 

“Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs Callie is not my sister; she could never be my sister.”

"Oh, please, Anthony, you don't know what you're talking about.”

“Mom Anthony can never be Callie's brother, for a simple fucking fact. Anthony isn't their biological son; Anthony is adopted.”

Everyone had a look of surprise on their face. The only people that knew were my adoptive parents and Jace. I had told Jace about that, no one else knew.

"Jace, you deal with this shit. I need to go take care of Callie.”

I left them standing there and went looking for her in the bathroom. This was all going to hell. This is a fucking shit show. I can't handle this shit. First it was Rachel, and now this shit God damn it, why can't they allow us to be happy?

I found her in the bathroom, throwing up. I rushed over to her. I didn't want her to bend down or she would hurt her back; it hasn't even been one day that she's been out of the hospital.

“Baby, are you okay?”

"No, don't touch me.”

“Callie, listen to me; I'm not your brother.”

“No, how do you know that? How do you even know that?”

She started crying. What the hell is happening? I tried touching her, but she didn't want me to touch her. 

“Callie, baby, look at me.”

"No, please don't touch me.”

This was starting to piss me off, and the fact that she didn't want me to touch her was screwing with my head. When she stood up to wash her face, I grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her towards me. “Look at me; I'm not your brother because I'm adopted.”

She just kept looking at me.  "What, wait, what?”

“My dad had an accident when he was younger, and for that reason, he can't have kids. They knew who my mom was when she gave birth to me, and they adopted me. Jace always knew the only people that knew were my parents and Jace. I had told Jace.There's no chance of me being your brother.”

“Are you sure? You're not lying to me to make me feel better.”

"Callie, look at me. I would never lie to you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Anthony, but what if we are stepbrother and stepsister?”

“No, we're not. I'm guessing your mom used the affair to make it seem like we're related, so I would leave you.”

“Why is she doing this? Why is Rachel doing this? Rachel is going to ruin so many lives and so many relationships only because she wants you. ”

"Baby, I'm not giving you up for anything or anyone. Let's go back outside.”