A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

Mavis was probably getting ready to come out. Things had gone quiet on her end.

Calliope chatted with Portia for a while, and they made plans for Portia to come over and hang out after dinner.

As they talked, Calliope noticed that Archie Yoder had gone completely silent in the group chat.

She decided to tag him directly.

Calliope: "Hey Archie, what's up? You've been awfully quiet."

Calliope couldn't help but worry about Archie. He'd always had a tough time with the Yoder family. His stepmother was a nightmare, and his dad wasn't exactly a warm presence either. In fact, he always said Archie wasn't "good enough" and he much preferred Archie's younger half-brother.

Archie's pretty much been the family's underdog for as long as Calliope could remember. Sure, he worked at the family business now, but he was always getting the short end of the stick. His dad never seemed to take him seriously.

But Archie also wasn't the type to stand up and fight back, so he just ended up stuck, constantly under his family's thumb.

season, Archie would be in a funk. But because of his

could basically picture exactly what was going

things, make a show of being the perfect loving mother, but

just blame Archie for "making a scene," never realizing his wife was the real problem. It was the same tired story every

Archie should just skip Christmas at home altogether. But she knew there wasn't much she could do to

with Archie staying silent, Calliope's concern

pick up on it

"Do you think the wicked stepmom is at it again? Seriously, why can't she let anyone

frowned, thinking it over. Finally,

picked up almost

"Hey, Callie. What's up?"

in his voice, and she relaxed a little.

some TV. Archie laughed, trying to sound casual. "Don't worry about" me, after dinner I'll come over and

hesitated. She was still worried about him. She knew that even if something was wrong, Archie would never admit it. He always tried