Everyone always asks me to write more and says that they wish all my stories were more than one shots, so here you go! I hope you enjoy.
The Adams-Foster clan decided to have a fun Sunday afternoon and spend some much needed time together. They headed out in their cars for the movie theater. Five minutes in the ride, Brandon speaks up.
"Uh… hey moms?"
"Yes love" Stef answers
"I um… I just realized that I was looking at the wrong movie showing time. The 2:35 showing I looked up the other day was for weekdays, not the weekend. Looks like it was really the 1:30 showing we were supposed to make"
"Well that's fine love, when is the next one?" Stef asks.
"Seven o'clock" he answers. Everyone looks a bit taken aback and Jesus sitting in the back seat breaks the awkward silence.
"Way to go dweeb! You have us driving around for nothing!" he shouts while he moves his hand to hit his brother on the shoulder.
"Hey hey Jesus! Stop it come on now!" Stef interrupts. "Well we should pull over and let the others know so we can figure out something else to do" she adds.
They turn onto the next street which leads to another neighborhood and Stef pulls over with her hazard lights on. Lena, driving the other car follows as well as she sees Stef, Brandon, and Jesus getting out of the car.
"What's going on Mama?" Jude asks.
"I'm not sure honey, let's check" she replies.
Everyone gets out of both cars and meets on the sidewalk. Jesus is the first to speak up.
"Beethoven here had the wrong showing time for the movie, so we missed it."
"The next one isn't until seven o'clock" Brandon admits feeling embarrassed and avoiding eye contact with Lena, Callie, Mariana, and Jude.
"That's okay, I didn't really want to see that weird Claymation movie anyways. Nobody needs a 'Claymation the Movie: Part 5' anyways!" Mariana admitted.
"Now we just need to find something else to do is all. What do you guys think?" Lena asked. Mariana shot up her hand as if she was being called on in school. "We could go shopping! That's always a fun thing to do!"
"No!" everyone shouted immediately.
"Anything but that. This is supposed to be something fun." Jesus teased as Mariana rolled her eyes and flipped her hair in response.
"What about the beach?" Stef asked.
"I feel like we always go there since we go to school on the beach" Mariana stated.
"Plus I don't feel like fighting off seagulls today" Callie added, making everyone nod and chuckle. In the midst of everyone making a decision, Jude peeked over to a spot a little further to where they were standing. He was eyeing a playground that seemed way too big to be just for kids. His gazing off and small smile spread across his face didn't go unnoticed by Callie.
"What do you think Jude?" she asked as the whole family paused their bickering. Jude looked back to everyone who was facing him waiting for an answer. He was embarrassed to admit that he had only enjoyed playing on playgrounds as a child before his mother had died. He didn't want everyone to know that he wanted to feel like a kid again; like back when he and Callie had no troubles in the world.
"Um… I'm not really sure" he lied. Stef turned around and looked toward where Jude's eyes previously were. She noticed the playground and didn't see anything else. She turned back and saw Jude, with his shoulder raised to his ears and his eyes looking towards the ground. After a moment, she spoke up.
"I see a playground over there if anyone wanted to go. Looks life fun". Jude was surprised by her response and looked up at her in disbelief. It was then that Callie knew that that was what he was looking at. She smiled as she remembered the days their mom would take them to the playground, and they would pretend the whole place was either a boat or a castle, or anything else they could think up. She rubbed Jude's shoulders and smiled at him. He looked over at his sister, and his embarrassment started to fade.
"It does look pretty big I guess. Maybe we can get food and have a picnic there later" Mariana chimed in.
"Are you kidding me? What kind of afternoon is that?" Jesus complained as Mariana hit him.
"Oh whatever Jesus, don't be so mean! I think it would be nice to play like we used to as kids" Mariana defended.
"Yeah why not. It'll be more fun than shopping" Brandon teased. Lena and Stef both laughed as they looked to each other in agreement as they went to go turn off their cars. Stef walked back up on the sidewalk where the teens were. "Well, what is everyone waiting for? Last one over is a rotten egg!" Stef yelled as she started running towards the playground about 50 yards away. Everyone looked towards each other with smiles on their faces and started racing to catch up. Stef and Jesus were the first ones to make it there, with Lena and Mariana being the last ones.
Jude ran over to the swings and yelled "Callie, looks! Let's fly again!" Callie followed and got on the swing right next to him. They both began to laugh and pump their legs to see who could go higher. Lena observed and smiled as she saw that this was something Callie and Jude used to enjoy doing. Lena and Stef always enjoyed when they could get a look into their kids' lives before they met them. Jesus and Brandon were racing each other down the slides, trying not to get stuck, and Mariana began to join Callie and Jude.
"Come on moms, join the fun! We'll even push you!" Jude exclaimed! Stef and Lena moved over to the swings as Jesus and Brandon moved over to the spring horses, leaning back trying to touch their backs to the ground. Callie and Jude taught the moms and Mariana the game they used to play on the swings, as they all cycled through, trying to see who could fly the highest while keeping their eyes closed and their heads tipped back.
"Woah, this is too dizzy for me" Stef admitted as she slowed down the swing.
"Me too. This is definitely for young people" Lena added.
"I'm going to go and get us some food so we can have a picnic like Mariana requested" Stef stated.
After 30 minutes, she came back with sandwiches, chips, juice, and fruit. Everyone gathered around a nearby picnic bench and began to dig in. Mariana played music from her phone as they chatted about the fun they had been having for the past 2 hours.
It was a perfect moment where their Sunday afternoon had seemed like the only thing that mattered. Jesus tried to see how many grapes he could catch as he tossed them in the air as Jude clapped for him impressed. Callie sat there and took in the moment; she hadn't experienced a feeling like this in a very long time. Stef watched as she saw a smile grow on Callie's face. She reached her hand out and rubbed Callie's back, giving her a wink and a smile as well. Callie took a deep breath and leaned over to rest her head on her mom's shoulder. Stef wrapped her arm around Callie as they both laughed at the sight of Jude trying to catch grapes in his mouth too. Lena spoke up.
"You know what would make this day even better? If we had some ice cream to top it all off". The shocked faces that turned towards Lena were soon replaced with nods and scrambles of cleaning up to head to the car.
On the way there, Callie's shoes were untied without her knowledge. Everyone else had rushed to the car in excitement for getting ice cream. Stef was about to say something when Callie stepped on her shoelace and began to stumble. Stef saw that she was going to tumble down off of the sidewalk and onto the road. Stef jumped over and grabbed the back of Callie's shirt, trying her best to pull her back up. She got a hold of Callie's arm with her other hand and helped her up.
"Your shoe is untied Bug. You alright? That was a close one".
"Yes, thank you. I'm okay… You didn't have to go out of your way to catch me" Callie responded tying her shoe. When she stood back up, Stef placed her arms on Callie's shoulders.
"Hey love, look at me". Callie met eyes with Stef. "I'll always be there for you. Nothing is ever out of the way for me when it comes to you."
Callie looked down, nodding her head and smiling at Stef's comment. Stef placed her hand under Callie's chin to raise it so their eyes met once again.
"I love you sweets" Stef said as she squeezed Callie's shoulders.
"I love you too mom" Callie answered. Stef smiled at the last part, as she always loved hearing her children call her that.
"Hurry up you two! Ice cream awaits us!" Mariana shouted out the window. Callie and Stef both shook their heads and headed towards the car. Callie climbed in next to Jude. As the car rolled off, Callie and Jude turned around to get one last look at the playground; one last look at what reminded them of their life when it was considered "normal". Now their time with the Adams-Fosters was their new normal, and something Callie was still fully getting used to.
I hope you've enjoyed chapter one. Stef's line "I'll always be there for you" will pop back up very soon in the upcoming chapter where things begin to take a twist. I appreciate reviews and suggestions!