The Royal Love Triangle

8: Explanations

Callie's POV

After I had gotten changed and packed, I looked at the clock and saw that I still had a little bit of time before our driver would be here. I looked at my phone and sighed. I had been avoiding calling my parents and talking to them about everything, but I knew that it was something that needed to be done. I took in a deep breath and listened to the voice mail that my mother left me the night before.

Voice mail left yesterday at 3:15 pm: “Callie! Oh Callie! Please call me. There is so much that we need to explain to you. We love you so much. No matter what anyone says, you’re our baby girl and we love you. If you need us to, call us and we will come home. We love you sweetie. Call me or dad back… Please.”

I knew that I couldn’t avoid this conversation forever. It was something I needed to do before I lost my nerve. I reluctantly dialed one of the numbers that my parents had left me. I laid across my bed and the phone rang only a few times before my mother’s panicked voice picked up.

“Callie? Callie is that you?” I could tell that she had been crying. To be honest, it sounded like she hadn’t slept either.

“Hi mom. Hi dad.” I didn’t really know what I wanted to say yet. But I knew that I didn’t want to say anything out of anger. This whole situation had my head a total mess.

“Callie, please listen to us.” I could hear my dad say in the background. I must have been on speaker.

“I called to hear you guys out. So, say what you need to say.” I didn’t want to be short with them. They were my parents and I loved them, but I was so confused and honestly really hurt.

“Callie, when we decided that we wanted to have another child, we tried for a long time. Then, I found out that I couldn’t have any more children. We were devastated, but soon we decided that we wanted to adopt a child.” I could hear my mother sniffle on the other end of the phone.

“We wanted a private adoption. We finally had someone contact us, saying that they had a baby girl that was looking for a family. We jumped at the opportunity. We fell in love with you instantly.” I could hear my father talking in the background again.

The line was silent for a few moments. I could tell that this was hard for them as well. Reminiscing on the day that they got me, had to be emotional for them. I wiped a stray tear away from my eye. I could hear my mother sniffle in the background. Once again, I didn’t know what to say. This whole situation was a total mess. I was kidnapped as an infant and I was adopted.

“After a few years, there were stories and articles in the newspaper about people being charged. They would kidnap children from different countries and adopt them out in America. We never thought anything about it.” I could hear my father take in a deep breath before continuing. “We had already completed the adoption. We moved on. Neither one of us thought about reporting anything. We moved on with our lives and raised our little girl.”

The line was silent for a few moments. It almost felt like everything that had happened in the last 24 hours had been a dream. More tears were streaming down my face. I tried wiping them away, but there were too many for me to keep up with. I knew that my parents were waiting for me to say something. But I didn’t really know what to say right now.

“Callie? Are you still there?” I heard my mother’s worried voice come through the phone.

“Yea… I’m still here…”

“Callie, can you ever forgive us? We did everything out of love. The thought of possibly losing you was too much for either one of us to bear. When you called us yesterday, you were so angry and upset. We know that those words were out of anger and that you were hurting. We just wanted to do what was best for you. I’m really sorry that you had to find out like this.” I could hear my mother take in a deep breath.

“It’s okay. I love you guys. I know that everything that you both did was to keep me safe. I’ve already made sure that there will be no charges pressed against you. The way I see it, neither one of you did anything wrong. You both kept me safe. There are worse things that could have happened to me.” I smiled weakly.

“Callie, we love you so much. No matter what anyone says, you are our little girl.” My dad’s usual strong and confident voice was soft. I knew that this whole thing was hurting them too.

“I love you guys too. But I really need to understand where I came from and who I am. I’m going to New Biblica. I have to find myself. I really hope you guys understand.”

“We understand, sweetie. Please be safe and keep us in the loop about what is going on with you. We love you so much.”

I wiped a tear away from my eye. The phone was quiet again. I could hear the two of them talking in the background. I couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, but I knew that I needed to get going.

“Mom? Dad? I really need to get going. Our driver is going to be here soon to take us to the airport. I’ll talk to you guys as soon as I can. I love you guys.” I smiled.

They said their goodbyes and we hung up the phone. I stood up from my bed and let out a deep breath. I turned around and saw Tessa standing in the door way. I jumped a little. I wasn’t expecting her to be standing there. I didn’t know how much she had heard.

“Oh, hey Tessie.” I did my best to sound confident. I needed to keep myself together until things clicked for me. This still felt like it wasn’t real.

“Cals, you don’t have to keep it together in front of me. You know that I’m here for you, right? There is never anything that you could do that would change that.” Tessa walked over to me and pulled me into a big hug.

“I know Tessie. This is all just so hard and confusing.” I smile the best that I could before pulling myself closer to her chest.

“Cals, I’m not going to pretend that I know what you’re going through. But if there is anything that I can do to help, you just say the word.” I could see a big smile form on Tessa’s face.

The rest of the time we had at the apartment was just the two of us talking about everything. We made hot chocolate and some snacks. I told her everything that my parents said and what I was feeling. It was really nice to be able to be open with someone like that. When I was with Tessa, I felt like I was where I was supposed to be.