Teach Me - Brollins

28.

Rebecca walked up the stairs calmly and she heard Cali in her room screams muffled by what she could only guess was a pillow. She opened the door and sure enough the little girl sat on her bed, her head in a pillow as she screamed at the top of her lungs. She stood there for a moment, letting the little girl get all of her frustration out of her system.

She cleared her throat as she stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her and Cali looked up quickly, if looks could kill Rebecca would have dropped dead on the spot.

Rebecca looked behind her and then back at the little girl quickly

"I don't know who you're glaring at because I know its not me" she shook her head as she pointed to herself

"I don't want to see you" Cali snapped and Rebecca nodded

"That's fine" she nodded as she moved towards the little girl's desk and grabbed her laptop and then grabbed the iPad that was on charge in the charging deck

"What are you doing?!" Cali yelled as she stood up and reached for the electronics in Rebecca's hands

"What does it look like? I'm taking your stuff away"
"Why?!"

"You said that we didn't give you a choice in becoming a big sister.. and now we're not going to give you a choice on whether you're entertained or not either" she shook her head

"You can't take my stuff!"

"Yes I can.. You're grounded"

"For what?!"

"For the way you acted downstairs, what you said to your dad and this attitude that you've got all of the sudden"

"You can't ground me!" Cali folded her arms across her chest

"I just did" Rebecca opened the door "Two weeks"
"No!"

"Three"

"That's not fair!"

"Do you wanna go for four weeks?" She questioned and the little girl sat on her bed as she folded her arms across her chest

"I hate it here!" She exclaimed

"Yeah, Well.. We're not liking too well here at the moment either with you acting like this"

An hour after taking her stuff away, Colby walked into his daughter's room and Cali looked up at him as she laid against her pillows with her arms folded against her chest, she was pouting.

"Come on" he said and she looked at him as he grabbed her suitcase from her closet and began throwing her clothes into it and she didn't move, she just watched him move around her room "Let's go" he said as he grabbed her hand and forced her to her feet gently

"Where are we going?" She asked as she followed him down the stairs and she was met by her grandmother, Nancy

"You're going with grandma" Colby said and his daughter looked up at him "You don't want to be here obviously" he shrugged as he handed Nancy the little girl's bag

"You can't be serious" Cali folded her arms across her chest and Colby bent down and kissed his daughter's head

"I love you" he said as Nancy reached out and grabbed Cali's hand and pulled her towards the door "We'll come see you" he nodded "You don't want to live here so we're giving you the opportunity to go live somewhere else"

Cali was out the door with Nancy as Rebecca wrapped her arms around Colby gently.

"I don't like this" he shook his head and she leaned back to look up at him and she saw the tears in his eyes, he was trying to be strong

"She needs to go with her for now, it's just for a little bit until she can cool down" Rebecca nodded

Nancy took Cali to her house, she got the little girl settled and walked into her living room, carrying a tote. She sat down next to her granddaughter and just stared at her for a moment before letting out a slight laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Cali questioned

"You.. You are so much like your mother when you're mad.. the heavens better watch out when you're mad" she said and the little girl let out a grumble "Alright.. there's something you need to see and know" she said as she pulled things out from the tote and Cali looked at the black and white sonogram photos

"Is this me?" She asked and Nancy smiled slightly

"No" she shook her head "This is your older sister"

"Huh?" The little girl looked up at her confused "I don't have an older sister" she shook her head

"Well.." Nancy took a deep breath "When your mom was in college and your dad was working really hard at this wrestling thing, she found out she was pregnant with your sister and about two months later, she lost the baby"

"Does my daddy know that?" Cali questioned and Nancy shook her head
"Your mom never wanted him to know.. she wanted to keep that a secret just because she knew it would destroy your dad.. so we put everything in this tote and put it up in the attic and that's where its stayed, only she and I have known and now you.. what you choose to do with that is up to you"

"I won't tell him" she shook her little head "Mommy wouldn't want him to know so he won't know" she said "but why did you tell me?"

"Because..if you would have come along at the same time you did and your mom actually had this baby" she looked down at the sonogram photo "You were supposed to have an older sister" she nodded "and that is something that you get to do with this new baby that Rebecca's carrying and you should consider that a privilege because your older sister didn't get the chance to meet her little sister" she explained

"What if my mom dies too?"

"The main difference between your Mommy and your mom is Heather was sick for a very long time and she knew the risks she was taking.. as much as I love your mother with my whole heart and I miss her every single day, I think you're old enough to hear this now.." She took a deep breath "Your mommy dying was her fault" she nodded "It wasn't your fault, it wasn't your dad's fault.. it wasn't the doctors fault, or my fault.. she knew the risks and she still took them.. she knew she could die and she still went ahead with it because she loved you so much"

"Daddy didn't do it?" Cali asked with tears filling her little eyes and Nancy put an arm around her

"Your daddy did nothing wrong.. everything that happened to your mom was her own decisions"