When The Rain Falls

CHAPTER 6

Amelia wiped down the counter carefully, scrubbing a stubborn spot that a stain had set before she could get to it. She had half expected Callen to come in, nostrils flaring at being left behind, but he never showed. Samuel had offered her a ride home, but she declined, opting for a very expensive cab. If he did come, it would have to have been in the mornings. Not while she was working at least. He hadn't even texted her in the past three days, when she left him at the restaurant with a paid bill and no note. To be fair, she didn’t reach out either. She just resided to back to being alone.

Jules had found another person to take the shifts Aoife left behind, so she was stuck again. The extra money worked well in her favor, and she didn't want to find another job. Jules was an amazing person in all his grump, so leaving was out of the question. After the incident with Callen, she didn't stay at the apartment any more, instead finding a closer hostel that gave her weekly rates instead of daily. She didn’t feel safe with him knowing where she was, which was ironic. The most safe she had ever felt was when he held her that night.

The door bell jingled, and Amelia was about to greet whomever walked in with a smile, but froze.

Two children, more specifically, Callen's children stood there, silently staring at the ground, their mother behind them with an exasperated look on her face. She caught Amelia's eye and relief poured over her face.

"Emily, right?" Arya said quickly. She ushered the girls to a table and walked quickly to the counter.

"No. It's Amelia. Arya, what are you doing here so late?" Amelia stepped towards the coffee pot, and poured one into a cup, handing it to Arya. "Are the girls okay?" She asked while setting out the cream and sugar.

Arya took the cup and doused it with a small amount of sweetener. "I'm so sorry Amelia. Jason asked that the girls be brought back. There was an issue in Italy; a state of emergency. I'll be heading back myself, but the girls can't come with me."

Amelia steamed some milk in two cups, and dumped chocolate into it. "What happened? Did you call Callen?"

Letting out a breath, Arya closed her eyes. "I tried. But he was on one call, then he was busy on another. I tried all damn day, Amelia. I wasn't able to reach him until right before I stepped in the door."

"Oh." Amelia said. She dropped two ice cubes in one of the cups. "So he's on his way here then."

"Yes," Arya nodded. "I would never put him in this position but-"

"If you need to go, I can watch them." Amelia said softly. She stepped behind the counter and put the two cups on a tray. Reaching down, she plucked three pastries and set them on the counter, handing one to Arya before carrying the tray to the girls. "I can wait for Callen."

Taking a bite, Arya shook her head. "No, that’s alright. He deserves to hear from me about this. I can't simply leave the girls without a moment's notice. That would be dreadful."

"Didn't stop you from doing it four years ago." A deep voice growled. Both women turned their heads to face the door. The bells didn't even jingle when Callen entered the door, but the door did slam behind him, startling them. Ainslee's face lit up and she jumped from her seat, with Fiona not far behind him. Both children wrapped their arms around him, his youngest slipping hers around his legs. He reached down and hugged them close, kissing the tops of their heads. He ushered them gently towards Amelia, giving her a soft look before turning to Arya. His face contorted with rage as soon as he turned to her, his jaw clenched and eyes narrowed.

"Amelia." He snarled, still staring at his wife. "Take me girls to the apartment upstairs. I need a moment alone with my wife."

He spat the last word as if it were a curse. Amelia nodded and ushered the girls towards the back, pulling her phone out to dial Jules. Callen heard her speak to him, but ignored it, instead concentrating on the scared blond waif of a woman in front of him.

"Why are the girls here?" He snapped. "They're supposed to be in Italy with you."

Arya swallowed, and wrung her hands. "Callen, it was an emergency. Jason had a work issue he needed to handle. He flew in his top executives to assist, and they needed him."

"Why can't you have watched them?"

"Because he needs me, Callen!" Arya sighed, wringing her hands. "He needed me. Jason is working on a large diamond deal. The girls were getting into so much, and he needs me to be there for support-"

"Your children need you!" Callen shouted. He stomped closer to her, and she stepped away, fear in her face. "They should be your priority! Jason can f**k off! He's with a f*****g married woman with children for f**k's sake, not some fly-by-night w***e! Although I'm wondering if there's a difference between that and who you are now!"

He didn't see her hand come up, but felt the hard sting of a slap and the burn of her nails as they scraped across his face. He stared down at the floor where the force of her blow made him see, and breathed deep. Slowly he turned to face her, his eyes trailing from her clenched fists to her grimaced face.

"How dare you, Callen Fraser." Arya hissed. "How dare you."

"If you were a man I'd have beaten you to your ancestors by now." He pressed a palm against his cheek and felt blood.

"How unfair." She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "If I were a man you'd only have destroyed me physically. I assume emotionally is saved for your wife?"

"The hell are you talking ab-"

“Us, Callen, I am talking about us!” Arya shouted. "You became a robot after you joined the police. Beforehand, you were so much more. You were a lawyer. You were a partner in the firm. You were home every night, and you never had knives, or guns, or anything pulled on you. All you had to worry about was if you'd have to bring a case home. I had a husband every night. The kids had a father. I wasn't afraid of getting a call at night that you were dead. But that didn't matter to you. You went on and f****d that up by following your stupid dream! What about our dreams, Callen? What about us?"

"I did what I had to!" He shouted back. "And what do you know of the girls' dreams? You abandoned them within a f*****g year. At least I'm there for them!"

"Oh, and you're home every night Callen?" Arya snapped at him. "Tell me. Who spends more time with them? You or your mum? Because I'm pretty sure that you have no problem dumping them off with her. You're worse than me, Callen. At least I can admit to leaving my family!"

He stared at her, his face set in stone. When he didn't respond, she screamed in frustration, and ran her hands through her thick blond hair. "See Callen? No response. Nothing from you. All your warmth for me and our family left as soon as you took up your precious badge. And you wonder why I left? I left when you left us!"

Callen slowly stepped towards a chair, and eased himself into it. He didn't look towards Arya. Instead, he clasped his hands in front of him and stared at the floor.

Arya stifled a sob. "Callen-"

"No." He replied softly.

"Callen, please. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean all that." Arya walked towards him, folding her arms across her midsection. "You're a good father. I was wrong. I'm so sorry."

"No." Callen whispered. "You're right. And that's the worst part." He looked up at her, his face scarred with distraught. "I ruined us, didn't I? I ruined our family."

Arya gasped. "Callen, oh God, no. My sweet man, no, it's not that-"

"That's enough, Arya." Another voice said behind them. Callen turned and faced an angry Jules. The large man's arms crossed over his chest as he glared at both of them. "Sorry to interrupt ye both. Been cleaning the back there or would have been here sooner. Callen, Amelia has put the girls to bed upstairs. You may want to go see them. Go upstairs and wait for me at the door."

Callen nodded and pulled himself up. He gave one last longing look at his wife, and walked towards the door of the cafe. Jules faced Arya with a rage he could barely suppress. "The f**k is wrong with ye Arya?" He growled.

She clenched her fists and let them hang at her sides. "I didn't mean it. I was just so angry, Jules. Everything comes to the surface when it comes to Callen, and all the hurt I feel-I don't know Jules."

"Why are you so hateful, Arya?" Jules asked. "He would never have said anythin’ to ye like that. Why did ye do it?"

“Because I never got the choice to, Jules. He took that away from me.” Arya sighed. "I still love my husband. My husband. Not the person he's become."

"So you hate the man he is now?"

"No." She began to walk towards the front door. "I hate that the man who was in front of us took my husband away. When he sat down there, in that seat, I saw my husband. Not the cop he became. I saw the man I still love. The man I had children with. But the man that replaced him chases him away. Every time."

Jules shook his head. "You're wrong Arya. The man who you loved was keeping the man Callen truly is away. This isn't just a job for him. It's his career. It's his life, coming behind his kids. You must accept that the man you saw him as is gone."

Arya stared at the ground. "I still love him, Jules."

"And he, you." Jules replied softly. "But if you can't accept who he's become, then your husband is dead, Arya. You cannot keep him from this life."

Pressing her lips together, Arya gazed at him with tired, weary eyes. "From the mouth of one old cop about another. I understand Jules. So let me mourn my husband my own way."

She walked out the door with out a backward glance.

----------------------

Callen waited at Amelia's door for Jules. When he saw Arya's car speed away, he finally let out his breath and filled his lungs with new air. Arya hit him hard. His face still stung, but nothing compared to how his heart hurt. Even said in anger, Arya was right. He was a selfish cunt for changing their lives around the way he did. It never occurred to him just how terrible he was.

Jules came rambling over to him, the big man giving him a once over. In silence, he led Callen back up the apartment stairs, and quietly knocked on Amelia's door. When she appeared, she pressed her fingers against her lips and motioned both of them inside. Jules made his way to an overstuffed chair and huffed down, settling in the cushions.

"The girls passed out on my bed," Amelia said softly. "I've been as quiet as I can be. They haven't slept in a day or so. Couldn't sleep on the plane."

Callen looked at her and nodded. Speaking in a normal tone, he said "They sleep like the dead, Amelia. Trust me, your house could be on fire and they'd complain about waking up."

"That's a relief," Amelia sighed. She took a glance at Callen and her eyes went wide. "You're a mess. Hold on, I have a first aid kit."

Jules watched her run to the bathroom, and took another look at Callens' face. "Ay, that'll hurt for a bit. Glad Arya's manicurist is getting their money's worth."

Callen swallowed. "Yeah. I guess-ow!"

Amelia had silently appeared with a gauze soaked in something antiseptic, and was pushing it towards his face. "One cuts kind of deep, the others not so. Keep this on your face. I can bandage it and give you an ointment. It's good stuff, it won't leave a mark once it's healed."

"I need to see my children, Amelia," Callen said sternly. She glared at him.

"They're asleep. You can see them once you're fixed up. Did you wanna scare them?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line and let her fawn over him. She pushed him down on the couch, and sat on the arm, tilting his chin so the cuts were in the light. In silence he took her scent in. She smelled like fresh rain and hibiscus, with a twinge of citrus. What perfume did she wear to smell like that? When she pulled out some tweezers and began taping his face together, he relaxed a bit, enjoying how soft her hands were, and how careful she was when cleaning his wounds. When her hands left his face, he turned to her and caught her eye, his ice-like gaze capturing her deep amber stare. She was beautiful, with concern etching her features, and all her attention on him. As she began to clean the tweezers she used to place the band aids on his cut, he felt a sense of loss. They hadn’t spoken in three days, and another day seemed unbearable.

"Move in with me." The words were out of his mouth before he could reel them back in. Jules’ eyes widened, and Amelia froze.

"What?" She asked, placing the tweezers back in the case.

"I mean-fuck." Callen leaned back on the sofa, never taking his eyes off her. "Mum called me before Arya did. Me aunts not healing as well as we thought. She needs to stay with her for three months, not six weeks like she thought originally. I thought Arya would be able to handle the children, but then this happened."

"Oh."

"I need help. I know you don't live here. I know you're in a hostel. I've got a master suite available in my house." Callen swallowed. "I need help Amelia. How I acted the last time we spoke was out of line, and I'm terribly sorry."

""I forgot all about that Callen." She lied. "But my hours at the cafe-"

Jules cleared his throat. "Ye know I did hire another lass, eh? Callens like a son t'me. His girls are me granddaughters. I can trust ye with them. You just let me know when you can work."

"I got my schedule switched. I work days now." Callen was almost pleading with her. "I'll pay you six hundred a week. Free room and board. You can still work the cafe at night. Add your groceries to the list. If I need you to go to the store and you have to pay for something, I'll reimburse you. It's just for the next six weeks. I've got some time off saved. I'll use that for the last two weeks my mum is gone. Afterwards, you can come back to the cafe."

Amelia looked at him in silence, then back to Jules. The older man was nodding, ensuring her. She took a deep breath, and sat down next to Callen. Nudging him with her hip, she smiled.

"Okay. Well," She said. "You got a deal, roomie."

-----

First thing she noticed was his house was big.

Unusually big.

It had a garage separate from the home, and his house was seemingly built on an entire estate. Inside was a hallway, a door with a sitting room the size of her apartment, and further down the rest of the house expanded. To her left a door was open to a large observatory office, complete with a deep brown leather sofa and matching recliner. Books upon books lined the walls, along with an impressive scotch collection sitting on a bench she took note of. A desk held a multitude of electronics, including a phone, laptop, printer, and an advanced tower connected to two monitors. Attached inside she noticed was a half bath. To her right was the living room, the floors indented for entertainment, a soft deep gray sofa chaise and a chair, with matching mahogany tables and side tables. The back windows took up the entire back wall, letting in light and shadows appropriately. The rest of the house expanded into a large professional grade kitchen, while four bedrooms filtered into the back.

Callen picked her suitcase from her and pulled her large duffel bag over his shoulder, letting her carry her backpack. He motioned towards a set of stairs in the back of the house. "You don't mind if your room is upstairs? It's the only other master suite here. You could have a downstairs room, but you'd share a bathroom with two girls. One almost a teenager, God help me."

Amelia shook her head quickly. "No, no. Upstairs is fine. I'm okay with that. But, ah, the extra bedroom. How many are there? Here I mean."

Callen turned away from her and began climbing the stairs. "Five. There are four bedrooms in the house, and one upstairs. Two of them have bathrooms, including the one upstairs. Unless you’d rather stay in the office? It has an en-suite. No shower though, so you’d still be stuck behind Ainsley.”

That damn laugh, albeit a bit nervous this time. “No, I think the upstairs will do just fine.” She gave him a look of curiosity piqued. “Although, why would you have an office?”

He ignored her inquiry and unlocked the door to her room, handing her the key. "Your room locks from both sides, so if you lock it from the outside, take the key or hang it up here." He slid the key on a hook, and opened the door. He opened the door wide and stepped inside, carefully eyeing her reaction.

Amelia stared hard at the area in front of her. "Callen. This isn't a bedroom. It's an apartment. It's bigger than Jules' apartment." She walked towards the bathroom, and gasped audibly. "Callen, this is a two-person tub! And that's a small kitchenette. And is that a balcony? Why do you have this place?"

He remained stoic as he set her luggage next to the bed. "It's for my mum. She stays here, usually, when needed."

"How the Hell can you afford this place?" She said, then clasped her hands over her lips. "s**t. Sorry. Rude of me."

Callen stared at her, carefully studying her face. "You don't know any history of mine, do you?" He scoffed. "Figured Jules would have said something."

"Nope. Sounds juicy though." Amelia threw her backpack on the king-sized bed, and watched as it sank into impossibly soft sheets. "So. How did you do this? Take any bribes? Sue someone?"

He pressed his lips into a fine line, and walked towards the other side of her room. Opening the doors, he stepped onto the balcony outside, and looked down. He looked over the expanse of rolling green hills and trees, breathing in the cold air. "No. I've only been on the force for five years. Before that, I was an acquisitions surrogate. A lawyer. High profile firm. I showed up, did paperwork, left."

Amelia walked next to him, and admired the view. Her eyes glanced on two chairs and a small table before looking where he did. "Seems like free easy money."

Callen scoffed. "You don't know half of it. We sanctioned the entire UK as a client. We held the monopoly. For the first five years of me life there, I made my company billions."

"So why give it up?" She asked quietly. "It's... difficult to see why you'd switch it up like that."

He turned around and faced her, folding his arms across his chest. "Money isn't everything, Amelia. The job was so simple. I could do it in my sleep. I needed more. More stimulation. More to look forward to. More ways to make a difference in something other than me f*****g bank account."

"So you decided that patrolling the streets was the best thing for you." Amelia nodded. "I commend you for that. Much respect."

"Heh. Tell me wife that. Maybe she'll listen to you."

Amelia glanced in his direction. "Callen, how old are you?"

He looked away from her. "I turn thirty-eight this year. You?"

"Twenty-five."

"Ha." Callen smiled. "Young thing." He shook his head. "When I was your age I deposited my first bonus into my first bank account I didn't share with mum. They held it for a fraudulent check. The number was concerning."

He looked at her then. The confusion on her face was blatant. So he smiled. "Amelia, it was one hundred eighty-five thousand pounds. I cleared four major cases that year. Immediately, I paid off me student loans. Arya and I were debt free."

The shock on her face made him laugh. Callen shook his head. "Suppose you're wondering if it was a one-time thing?" Before she could respond, he sat on a chair, shaking his head. "No Amelia. I did better the next year, and the year after that. For seven years, I cleared a minimum of three hundred thousand pounds in just my bonuses on top of my scheduled pay rate of twenty-eight hundred a week."

Amelia nodded. "That's impressive. I'm happy for you. Makes me feel like a loser, but, I'm happy for you."

To her surprise, Callen laughed. It was an amazing sound from his chest, and his wide-mouthed smile made her heart beat faster.

"Amelia, I don't mean to do that to you. You're young. You're starting your life. You jumped from one country to another to build said life. I had no choice but to do what I had to do."

Amelia grabbed the remaining chair and sat it next to him. "Callen, tell me. Why did you feel like you had no choice?"

He took a deep breath, and shook his head. "Mum and I didn't have a good relationship with my father. Abusive. Neglectful. It's why I'm so fond of Jules and his apartment up there. Spent many a night there getting my act together before my father finally had enough and off he went when I was thirteen."

Amelia looked at him sadly. "I'm so sorry. That you had to go through that. No kid deserves to have to grow up so fast."

Callen shrugged. "It's why I built this place. I paid for this house in cash, and built it from the ground up. I wanted my children to always have a safe place. As well as me mum. That was a luxury we didn't have when I was a child."

"Oh Callen." She whispered. He saw her fingers tangle together, and her head tilt adoringly. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard. You truly are a remarkable man."

Callen smirked. "It's what anybody should do in my situation."

"Not everyone would." She said sadly.

Callen looked at her, a small smile on his face. "You know. You're the only woman I've had over who hasn't asked how much I make, or expected me to have a wealthy mum and dad, or began immediately talking about going back to my old life. Why is that, Amelia?"

Amelia shrugged. "You're happy being a cop, Callen. Sure, the work is tougher. And the hours are probably longer. But doesn't it make you happy? Isn't that what's important?"

"Good point," he said thoughtfully. He looked at her closely now. Amber, the color of honey, he thought. No. More like the color of a stilled flame. With those strange flecks.

Peculiar girl, he thought to himself.

"So, how many women have you had over Callen?" Amelia asked, wiggling her eyebrows. "Should I look for a red sock on the doorknob when I get home?"

He grinned at her. "We had this discussion, if you remember anything other than snoring and drooling on me neck. Not many, not anymore anyway. Been concentrating on me girls. I tried to date, but not many women find an old cop with two young ones and an absolute nightmare schedule very attractive."

Amelia shrugged. "I would." She said simply.

"Oh, would you now?"

"Yes, of course."

"So you find me attractive."

"No." Amelia replied. "I said I'd find an older cop with two kids and an awkward schedule attractive. Didn't say a damn thing about you."

Callen laughed loudly. He was starting to feel the upcoming weeks were going to be quite an experience.