He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Callie was usually the good one. Not that he would ever admit it, but based on his friends and his various, potentially illegal hobbies, he had assumed it would be Dylan that would eventually be escorted home by the police. Lindsey looked at his daughter briefly, then the officer.

"Yes, she's mine. What..." He looked at Callie again as tears began to well up in her eyes. "What did she do?"

"The bonfire got out of control, did some damage to the next door neighbor's fence and rose bushes. Sweet old lady. Apparently the kids tried to put out the fire with beer." The Officer shook his head. "There were no adults on the premises."

Lindsey's eyes became stormy and grey. His jaw clenched in anger. "Callie, go upstairs," he growled and she nodded.

"Yes, daddy." She wrapped her sweater around herself and walked past her father.

"Hey...sis!" Dylan called out but it was like she didn't hear him as she went up the stairs without saying a word to anyone.

Stevie pulled herself to her feet and waddled toward Lindsey and the man in uniform talking to one another.

"Thank you, Officer." Lindsey said and the officer gave a quick nod.

"My pleasure. Try to have a good night."

Stevie's eyebrows knitted together in confusion and worry as the door closed. "What happened?" she asked and Lindsey turned around, not noticing she was even there.

"Callie's new friends got in trouble at that party I didn't want her to go to in the first place!" he whisper shouted.

Stevie drew in a breath. "What about our girl?," she asked softly.

"She wasn't drinking, and she's the one who eventually helped put out the fire." His wife's eyes grew wide. "The fire got out of control, ripped through some lady's rose bushes and did damage to her fence." His voice grew louder, no longer able to keep it down as he had tried to do before.

"Oh my god!"

"Apparently Callie's the only one who knew dumping  alcohol on a fire wasn't going to extinguish it."

"I'm glad she's safe," she said and Lindsey shook his head.

"She's fine, but I'm never letting her hang out with those kids again."

"Where was Lexi's mother?"

"Probably working, left the big brother in charge but he didn't stay either. I told you it was a bad idea!"

"Please don't yell at me," Stevie pleaded. She was determined to find the silver lining in this. "This night didn't turn out the way we planned it but—"

The doorbell rang again and Lindsey rolled his eyes. He walked away from her, back to the front door to retrieve her copious amounts of greasy food from the delivery boy.

"Let me get my wallet," Lindsey said, and he breezed past her again. He pulled his wallet off the coffee table, opened it up and tipped the boy handsomely, unbeknownst to him. "Good night."

"Hey, thanks Mister." The teenager looked thrilled and hurried back to his old red hatchback.

"See, that kid knows how to be grateful," Lindsey pointed out and Stevie shook her head. "A five dollar tip and he's—"

Stevie looked amused. "Honey, you gave him a fifty." His jaw went slack and she giggled. "It's okay, don't worry about it."

"Do you know how many diapers fifty bucks could buy?"

"Two boxes, and I don't care." Stevie kissed his cheek. "You made his night."

"Yeah, but what about mine?" Lindsey complained. "My teenage daughter just got escorted home by the police and I gave away money we needed to some kid who will probably do with it what Callie's friends did." He sighed heavily. "Tonight just isn't my night."

"Hey, don't say that. Our little girl is safe. She's home with us. You said it yourself she wasn't drinking and that she basically saved the day. She's smart and kind...and Dylan is home and safe as well. So is Iris and we have two brand new babies on the way. You have a wife that thinks the world of you..."

"You do?" he asked and she nodded.

"I do." Her sweet face was just inches from his and he kissed her.

"Thanks, Steph," he said with a smile.

"No problem at all. I love you."

"I love you more."

She shook her head. "That's impossible." She took a couple of the boxes from on top of the pizza and went into the kitchen.

Aside from tonight, his life was pretty great and he worried he had really upset his oldest daughter. She was upstairs alone while everyone else was downstairs. He followed Stevie into the kitchen and sat down the pizza. "You guys dig in, I'm going to talk to Callie."

Stevie's eyes lit up and she smiled broadly. "Alright, honey."

He couldn't help but smile too. He climbed the stairs two at a time, still nervous but happy to see her. It wasn't her fault and he acted out of anger. He justified his anger. Had she been drinking he had every right. And she begged to hang out with those new friends of hers from the squad but he couldn't take it if she were falling into a bad crowd. He could feel his temperature rising, his blood boiling. She was left alone with those people. What if she hadn't been able to put it out, or what if she had gotten hurt trying to help those kids? Where was the mother, or the brother who was supposed to have been in charge? He had so many questions but he put them down as he got to her door. He inhaled deeply then exhaled, trying to be as calm and collected as he could be. At the foundation of all of his emotions was pure love for his little girl.

"Come in," a soft voice replied.

He watched her wipe her tears away with the sleeve of her sweater. She was now in pajama pants and her hair was tied up in a messy bun. Her makeup was off and she looked just like she should to him. Instantly he remembered the first time Calliope Emmeline was laid in his arms. He remembered the button nose and the big, inquisitive eyes. He didn't know a baby could open her eyes and focus on him as intently as she did. She gripped his finger in the whole of her fist and he knew she had him hook line and sinker. He promised then to protect his children, to love them and give them the understanding they deserved. He didn't want to fly off the handle and be the kind of parent that didn't give his kids the right to question. He didn't want to punish them when there was no need. His head lowered, thinking about how he told her to go to her room and she had been alone up here in tears.

"Callie I'm—"

"I'm sorry, daddy," she told him and his head shot up to look at her. "I should have called when Oliver left. No...I should have called when Lexi said their mom wasn't there, but I was stupid. I thought everything was going to be okay."

"You're not stupid." Lindsey said. "Can I sit?" Callie nodded and pat the bed. "I know you weren't drinking and I'm proud of you for not giving in, but I'm not comfortable with you hanging out with them."

"I understand," she said.

He lay his hand over his daughter's, and frowned. "I know you do, and that's why it's so hard to punish you." He chuckled and she sniffled, wiping another falling tear. "Sweetheart, I trust you but I don't trust them. You shouldn't have been left alone. You shouldn't have had to deal with this. How did the fire get out of control in the first place?"

"Wind? Dry grass? I don't know. It just kept getting bigger and bigger. It was spreading and some of the other people there started dumping their cups and that only made the fire worse. I didn't mean for it to do any damage. I tried to...to find the extinguisher and I called 911."

He scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. "I know you did."

"After all that, I just wanted to leave so I asked the police officer if he could take me home."

"You could have called me, honey."

"I know, and I know I should have but I didn't want to ruin your night. You didn't want me to go and you were right. It was stupid and I don't want to go to another party...I just want to have friends, dad. I like cheer and I'm good at it. When everything dies down, can they come over here?"

Lindsey thought for a moment, wondering what would happen in his home if he left for just a second- another fire? "Callie, I can't give you an answer right now."

"Okay," She said sadly.

"But I will think about it and I will talk to your mother about it too, okay?"

"Thank you, daddy." She hugged him tightly. He could still smell the scent of fire in her dark curly hair.

"There's food downstairs. Are you hungry?" She shrugged. "Alright. We would love it if you would eat with us. We've missed you."

Callie smiled a little. "I'll come down, but can I shower first?"

"Of course." He got up from the bed and headed for the door.

She spoke suddenly. "Thank you for being..."

"Hm?" Lindsey hummed.

"You." She sighed happily. "I'm really lucky to have you and mom."

"And we're lucky to have you."

She blew a kiss and he caught it, making her small smile broaden. Lindsey closed the door behind him and somehow felt lighter by talking to her as he jogged down the stairs.

"So? Is she grounded?" Dylan asked, leaning against the bannister.

"Why? Want a matching sentence?" Lindsey asked and Dylan's eyes grew wide.

"N-no...of course not," he said. He straightened his posture and let his father walk past. Lindsey chuckled, hurrying back to the kitchen to see what was left of the food. As he opened one of the two pizza boxes, and peeked into the container of barbecue wings, he frowned. Despite all that had happened during the course of the evening, leaving Stevie and Dylan unintended ended up being his worst decision of the night.