Remedy

Jumping as the kettle whistled Callie turned to the stove and pulled it off, filling her mug with the steaming hot water before she dropped a tea bag into it. She glanced at the clock, wrapping her arms around herself with a sigh. It was just after two in the morning and Jamie had yet to come home after storming out hours earlier.

She picked up her mug and sat down at the table, pushing her damp hair from her face and back behind her ears. She had showered to pass the time, it was, after all, better than staring at the phone for hours on end. Especially when she knew she was waiting for a call that was never going to come. She had known he was in a bad mood after his game, it was evident in his silence as they drove Kelly to the airport, he had one word answers for every time either one of them spoke and when they had pulled in the driveway he slammed both the car door and the house door behind him. Things had been rocky between them since their fight the week before, Callie was thankful that if Jamie was still chewing he wasn't bringing it in the house, but they hadn't talked much since then. Jamie had been unpredictable and moody, and Callie was in no mood to deal with it.

She wasn't even sure what had set him off, but one minute they were on the couch watching a movie and the next he was up and out the door, pulling the key holder right off the wall, rattling the whole condo as he slammed the door.

She looked down at her beeping phone to find a text from Jordie, who had apparently gone out to find Jamie after Callie had texted him asking if he was there. She sighed and pushed her hair out of her eyes again, they were at a bar, and that if he came home Callie should expect him to be well over his limit.

Knowing where he was at the very least was slightly comforting, so she stood up and walked into the bedroom, leaving her tea sitting on the table. She pulled the covers back and got into bed, but simply laid on her back and stared at the ceiling. She was torn between slapping him and hugging him, and she was scared of which one she would do when she saw him.

Callie woke up a few hours later, when she looked at the clock it was six in the morning. She caught sight of Jamie, sitting on the bench in front of their bed, head in his hands, back to her. She heard him sigh, which made her sit up, and move across the bed, wrapping her arms around his waist she rested her chin on his shoulder as he turned slightly to glance at her, but made no motion to move from their position.

“You okay?” Was all she asked, and she watched him with soft eyes as he nodded, sighing again, pushing his hand through his hair. Callie asked curiously, “what time did you get home?”

“Jordie sent me home at 2:30.” He said quietly, and if Callie had heard the slight tremble in his voice she didn't let it show.

“Have you been sitting here since then?” When he nodded she sighed, “are you gonna tell me what's going on?”

Again he sighed, and he wouldn't look at her, instead his eyes shifted and focused on his jeans. Finally he said, “I'm sorry. I was just frustrated.” When Callie didn't say anything Jamie explained, “I thought maybe with the shorter season we'd be able to at least get close to the playoffs. I'm so sick of losing all the time. I'm tired of it because we have a good group of guys and we all try so hard and nothing happens.”

Callie pressed a very gentle kiss to the back of his neck and said softly, “it'll happen. Maybe not now, but it will Jamie.”

“When? Because it looks pretty bad that I haven't even seen a playoff game since I started.” He mumbled, making Callie reach forward slightly, taking his hands in hers, giving them a squeeze.

“You shouldn't have to take this on by yourself Jamie. You're a team. It's not fair for you to take the responsibility.” She said softly, glad that Jamie was staring at his feet rather than her, there was no way she wanted him to see the tears that were starting to well up in her eyes, not now.

“I know but it doesn't make a difference. I still feel like it's my fault, and tonight's loss just pushed me over you know?” Jamie said quietly, Callie let go of him and got off the bed, moving to stand in front of him, between his legs, her hands on his cheeks.

“It is not your fault.” Callie said sternly, forcing Jamie to stay looking at her even when he tried to look back at his feet. She then said again, this time much more softly, her thumbs stroking his cheeks, “baby listen to me. It isn't your fault. You give that team everything you have, and you've been doing that since you got here. You work so hard, and I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but you guys will get there. You need to stop blaming yourself Jamie, because there's nothing for you to blame on yourself.”

She watched as he sighed and closed his eyes, resting his forehead on her stomach, she could see his lips turn up into a very small smile as she ran her fingers through his hair, bending slightly to kiss the top of his head. Jamie finally looked up at Callie, who smiled gently at him before she kissed him quickly.

“Get some sleep okay?” Callie backed away, clasping her fingers with Jamie's, pulling him up before she guided him to the bed. She waited until he was laying in bed before she turned to leave, jumping as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into the bed with him.

She turned, raised an eyebrow at him, causing him to say softly, his cheeks slightly flushed, “I hate sleeping without you when I'm home.”

Callie smiled at him, and kissed him again, before she pulled the covers over both of them and settled into his side, resting her head on his chest. She lifted her arm, and ran her fingers through the hair at the side of his head, and soon enough she head his breathing slow and become shallow. When she looked up she found him fast asleep, but instead of leaving him she stayed curled into his side, stroking his hair as he slept.

She had been wondering when this would happen, the only other time she had seen him like this was in high school, during his first season with Kelowna. Even then she had done exactly what she had done earlier, because it was what she had to do, she had learned that over the years with Jamie, that when it came to their career her job was to be a cheerleader, to support him through the wins and the losses, and to be there when moments like tonight happened. Anyone else and she would have gone back to sleep, but she had always loved Jamie more than she could possibly explain to anyone. After all you can't spend almost ten years with someone and not be willing to go to the end of the earth for them.

She shifted slightly to look at him, his features were always so soft when he was sleeping, but she could see how tired he was, it showed. He stilled looked just as handsome to her now as he did nine years ago, and even then he was just a 14 year old boy she went to school with. She carefully moved her hand from his hair and onto his jaw, her thumb gently rubbing his skin as she placed a gentle kiss to his neck.

Two hours later she carefully pried herself from Jamie's grasp, not waking him in the process, as the phone rang. She knew who it was before caller ID confirmed it, “hello?”

“Hey, how is he?” Callie smiled gently as she moved to the table and picked up her mug, dumping it in the sink. It wasn't hard to tell Jordie was the older brother, no matter how much Jamie cared for him, Jordie was one of the fiercest protectors Callie had ever seen, and she had three older sisters.

“He's fine now. Sleeping finally. Thank you for yesterday.” Callie said, putting the mug in the dishwasher. She heard Jordie let out a sigh in relief, and smiled at this.

“Yeah, of course. I told you, any time he does something stupid you just call me and I'll put him back in line. You're pretty good at that but sometimes he just needs his brother to toss him around for a bit.” Callie laughed at Jordie's joke, and held the phone between her ear and shoulder as she picked up his shoes and jacket, putting them back in place. It was then that Jordie said, “you're good for him, always have been. You're gonna make a good wife Callie, and he loves you, so the next time he does something stupid just remember how much he loves you. Because I personally can't wait until you join the family officially, and Jamie knows brother or not that if he fucks this up I'll kick his ass.”

She laughed again, “thank you.” She jumped in the air and yelped as Jamie wrapped his arms around her from behind, scaring her half to death. She heard Jordie chuckle on the other end before she said, “he's up so I'll leave you to whatever it is you do when you're not here bugging me.”

Jordie chuckled again before saying, “yeah, yeah, bye.”

She hung up the phone and set it on the counter before she turned in Jamie's arms, wrapping her own around his waist. She rested her head in his neck and asked, “feeling any better?”

He nodded slowly, kissing her forehead, “I love you.”

Callie smiled, “I love you too.”

“Thank you, for last night. You seem to always know what to say, even when it's stuff I shouldn't have even brought through the door with me. You shouldn't have to deal with that.” Jamie said softly, making Callie smile and tilt her head back to look at him.

“It's my job remember? Wives are supposed to put everything back together. I don't mind Jamie.” Callie watched as Jamie's lips spread into a wide smile before he leaned down, and catching her by surprise kissed her.

“Well you're good at it.” Was all he said.

She smiled, “well it's not all that hard. The hard part is seeing you upset, and hearing the way you feel. I know you like to keep your job and our life separate, and I get that Jamie, I really do, but you need to know you can talk to me. About whatever.”

“I know that, I just didn't want to bother you with something like that. I thought I could handle it.” Jamie said, looking down at her as they stood in the kitchen. He smiled as she placed her hand on his chest, and brought his own hand up to cover it, and before long he began to absentmindedly play with her engagement ring.

Callie smiled at the gesture, he often did it without realizing it. Finally she said, “well next time just remember I'm here, and I don't mind it. I'm here for you, after this long we should be able to have conversations like we did last night.”

Jamie smiled and kissed her quickly before he said, “you're perfect.”

He kissed her again and Callie broke apart for a moment to say, “so are you.”

Jamie looked down at her, a small smile playing on his lips, Callie reached up with her free hand and ran her finger over his dimple, before she slid her hand around his neck, her fingers playing with the hair at the back of his head. Finally he said, “so I guess that means we're perfect then huh?”

She smiled, almost laughed, though it came out more like a snort, and leaned up, kissing him gently before she said, “we are. Always have been. I mean, it takes something to manage nine years together.”

He grinned and nodded, “it just takes a beautiful woman who makes you want to make it work and keeps you on your toes, and a whole lot of love.” This time Callie burst into a fit of laughter, making Jamie crunch his eyebrows together, though smiling at her laugh, and asked, “what's so funny?”

She calmed herself before saying, still slightly laughing, “I'm sorry, that was really sweet but it sounded like a line from a really bad country song.”

Jamie joined her in laughing, tightening his grip on her to pull her as close to him as possible. As their laughter died Callie rested her forehead on Jamie's neck, just under his jaw, and he pressed another sweet kiss to her head before he said, “you're truly amazing.”