Home is Where Our Hearts Are
Summary - Lena is in the running for principal at another school across town. She and the rest of the family contemplate this, a lucrative offer of a new home as part of a package with the job offer and how much life at Anchor Beach and their home in Mission Bay means to them.
Disclaimer - I didn't create most of the characters in this story. They are the property of Bradley Bredeweg, Peter Paige and ABC Family. Any infringements are unintentional.
Everyone at the Adams Fosters home were rushing around the house, making some last minute preparations before school and work on a warm, sunny morning. In the kitchen, Stef was finishing her cup of coffee, while Lena, Callie and Jude were preparing their lunches and in the living room, Brandon was looking at Jesus` report to help correct any errors he had made on there.
"So what do you think?" Jesus asked.
"It looks better than i expected." Brandon replied. "I`m surprised that you used so many words you probably would never say."
"I wanted to impress Mr. Sanders by expanding my vocabulary, so i looked up some words in the Thesaurus."
"You probably don't know what any of those words mean." Mariana said as she came down the stairs.
"Yeah, whatever Blondie." Jesus said sarcastically, while Brandon, Callie and Jude laughed at Mariana`s comment.
Stef came into the living room a few seconds later, ready for work. "Hey guys." She said to bring everyone to attention. "Do you think you can make it home by six for dinner? I like to have dinner with you all for the second time in a week for the first time in a while."
"Me and the band are going to working on a new song and having a listening session at Mat's place." Brandon said.
"I`m going to be working until 7 tonight." Callie said.
"The team is going to have one of the last workouts of the year, so the earliest i`ll be in is 6:30." Jesus said.
"How about you Miss Thing?" Stef asked Mariana.
"I don't have anything planned." Mariana replied.
"Yeah, me neither." Jude said.
"Well i guess it looks like it'll be at least most of us for dinner tonight." Stef said as she picked up her bag. "I better get going. Duty calls."
"Okay Honey." Lena said as she went over to hug Stef. "Please be careful out there."
"I will." Stef said as she and Lena shared a quick kiss. "Bye babies."
"Bye mom." Brandon said as he went to give Stef a hug, followed by Callie, Jesus, Mariana and Jude.
After Stef left, everyone remaining in the house gathered their stuff before heading to school.
"You guys ready to go?" Lena asked.
"Yeah Mama." Mariana replied as she finished making some last minute touches to her hair.
Everyone walked outside and got in the SUV to begin their drive to Anchor Beach Community Charter School. During the drive, Brandon was listening to some music he and the band had completed on his headphones, while Jesus was reading his report to find any errors he might have made and Callie, Mariana and Jude were having a conversation about the upcoming summer break. After a few minutes, Lena made her to the parking lot and parked at her designated spot.
"Alright guys, time for another day." Lena said as she turned off the SUV`s engine. "Lets make this another good one and try to stay out of trouble, especially you Jesus."
"I will." Jesus moaned while Jude had a laugh at his expense.
Lena parted ways from the kids and headed for her office, greeting some students and teaching along the way. Just as Lena was walking toward the front desk, she felt her cell phone vibrating in her purse. She immediately pulled out and saw that there was a text message there.
I have some urgent news for u. Please call me when you get the chance. Mark.
The text was from Mark Callahan, an old friend who was a vice principal at a nearby school that Lena had meet first met at some education meetings and now worked with the Board of Education. Lena immediately knew that Mark`s text was important since he was never one for small talk. She decided to text him back to meet her later during lunch and instead focused on some paperwork that was on her desk.
_
The Anchor Beach office was quiet with it's usual lunchtime lull as most of the workers were at lunch. A short, dark-haired casually dressed man walked into the office and went to the front desk. "Excuse me," He asked secretary Wendy Marshall. "is Mrs. Adams Foster here?"
"Yes she is." Wendy replied. "What is your name, sir?"
"Mark Callahan." Mark said.
"One moment please."
Mark waited while Wendy went to Lena's office to alert her that he was here. She came back a few seconds later. "You can go see her."
"Thank you." Mark said as he made his way to Lena`s office, where she finished her salad. "I hope i`m not interrupting your lunch."
"No you haven't." Lena said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I've just finished. Come have a seat."
Mark immediately sat down in one of the chairs in front of Lena's desk. "So how have you been doing lately?" He asked, mainly to enquire on Lena`s well being after losing Frankie recently.
"I`m doing fine." Lena replied. "Just taking it day by day."
"That's good. How`s the family?"
"They`re doing fine. Stef has been busy with work, while the kids are ready for summer."
"I have the same thing going with Veronica and the kids. You know, we ought to have a joint family dinner soon. It's been a while since we've had one of those."
"I know. It's just that it's so hard getting everyone together for dinner."
"Tell me about it. It's starting to happen with me since Jenny is getting more into cheerleading and Derek having a lot of basketball."
"See i warned you about your kids being away more when they become teenagers."
Lena and Mark shared a laugh for a moment before getting straight to business.
"So do you know anything about who the new principal will be?" Lena asked.
"No, not yet." Mark replied. "They're still carefully screening the candidates to see who's the best fit here. You know how these things are."
"Yes i do."
"While we're on the subject of principals, i'm sure you have heard that Anthony McDonald resigned as principal at John D. Spreckels Charter School."
"Yeah, i heard some rumors about that."
"Well it's true. He took a job with the state Board of Education."
Lena was curious about where the conversation headed. "So what does this have to do with me?" She asked.
"Well your name came up as one of the candidates for the position.
Lena was immediately intrigued about this, which didn't go unnoticed by Mark.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" Mark asked.
"I`m pretty surprised about this." Lena replied. "However i have my reservations though since the board went with someone else as principal instead of me."
"It's understandable, although there are some board members that think favorably of you."
Lena silently gave Mark a stoic look as a response.
"Look, i get that you`re not trusting the board after they passed you over," Mark said. "but you know how these politics are with them, especially after what happened here."
"Please spare me the whole politics B.S." Lena said. "Besides what happened, happened. I`m over it."
"Well i hope that you`ll at least consider it. After all, JDS is a pretty good school."
"I`ll think about it."
Mark stood up and stretched out a bit. "I have to go now." He said while reaching into his wallet. "Here is the number for Aaron Stephens, who is part of the search committee in case you`re interested."
"Like i`ve said, i`ll think about it." Lena said as she looked at her watch. "I guess it's back to work for me as well."
"I hope that we can get together. Veronica really would like to meet Callie and Jude."
"I hope so too."
Lena and Mark shared a hug before Mark left the office. Lena sat back down at her desk to resume her paperwork. However the business card that Mark gave her caught her attention and made her do some thinking about the possibility of being principal.
_
Lena finished brushing her teeth and rinsing her mouth with mouthwash before heading back to the bedroom where Stef was reading a news story on the laptop.
"Reading up on the summer camp Jude wants to go to?" Lena asked as she entered the room.
"Yeah." Stef said as she adjusted her reading glasses. "I think that it looks like a good camp for him to go. Plus Connor is going there too."
"It would be nice for Jude to have some fun in the great outdoors."
Lena pulled back the covers on her side of the bed and got in it.
"Guess who i had lunch with today?" Lena said.
"Who?" Stef asked.
"Mark Callahan."
"Really? It's been a while since we`ve seen him. Did you ask about Veronica and the kids?"
"I did and he says that they`re doing well. In fact he wants to have a joint family dinner soon."
"Good look trying to make that happen with seven busy teenagers between us."
"That's what i told him."
Stef and Lena shared a laugh for a minute before settling into a brief lull of silence.
"Mark told me that the principal at the John D. Spreckels Charter School recently resigned to take a job with the Board of Education in Sacramento recently." Lena said.
"So what does this have to do with you?" Stef asked.
"Well it turns out that i`m one of the candidates for the job."
Stef immediately shot Lena a puzzled look. "Really? Are you sure Mark isn't playing some sort of joke on you."
"No, Stef. He would never joke about something like this."
"I find it hard to believe that the same idiots that wouldn't let you be principal at Anchor Beach would consider you for principal at this other school."
"I know."
Stef and Lena fell into an uneasy silence for almost a minute before Stef moved around a bit in the bed to break the tension. "So are you considering going for this job?" She asked.
"I`m starting to become more intrigued by it." Lena asked.
Stef gave Lena a look of concern when she mentioned being intrigued by the job opening. Lena immediately noticed the look Stef gave her.
"I know that look, Stef." Lena said.
"Honey, i`m really worried about you getting drawn into this." Stef said. "I still can't forget how disappointed you were when you wasn't named principal at Anchor Beach and i don't want to see you get your hopes up and then crushed again."
"I understand your concerns, but i`m just exploring my options right now."
Stef took a moment to think before saying what she was about to say next. "Suppose that you get this job." She said while taking off her reading glasses. "Now this other school is across town, am i right?"
"Yes," Lena replied. "but it isn't that far."
"That`s not the point. Not only will you have to commute every morning, but also you`re going to be very busy and who knows how much time you`ll have for us."
Lena saw how concerned Stef was and immediately held her hands to reassure her. "Listen, Stef," She said. "i know that you have your concerns, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. It's not like i`m going to take the job tomorrow. Besides i want to see what this supposed offer is about. If i don't like it, then i`ll decline it."
"But what if you decide to explore this more?"
"Well, i`m going about this carefully. Look, Stef, i love it at Anchor Beach, but at the same time, i feel like i owe it to myself to explore this. After all i don't know how many opportunities i'll get to be a principal, especially here in town."
Stef's look of concern turned into a smile after hearing what Lena had to say and then she gave her a kiss on the cheek, which made Lena blush.
"What was that for?" Lena said.
"That's for being so thoughtful." Stef replied. "Whatever you're going to do, i`m going to be in your corner all the way."
Lena felt relieved by what Stef just told her. "Thank you, Stef." She said. "While we're on the subject of job promotions, have you given any more thought into becoming a detective lately?"
"I have. It sounds tempting, but i just don't think it's the right time yet, especially with the kids. Maybe i probably would look more into in a few months at least."
"I think that Detective Adams Foster sounds pretty good to me."
"So does Principal Adams Foster."
Stef and Lena shared a laugh over their funny banter for a couple of minutes before starting to settle in for the night. Stef put her arms around Lena to cuddle with her and then gave her a kiss on her forehead. As Stef fell asleep, Lena was still awake, thinking about her name being mentioned for the open principal position at John D. Spreckels Charter School. She quietly made her decision to look more into the open position and further explore her options tomorrow.
tbc...