A scream.
That's all her brain can process before Stef is out of bed and running to her babies. Lena is left behind, still waking up, in the dark as lightning flashes outside their bedroom window.
Stef follows the noise to their guest room, which had recently been changed into a bedroom for the twins. Her heart stops as she spots an empty bed. She is in full cop mode now.
"She's afraid of thunder." Jesus murmurs as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. He is sitting in another bed pushed up against the opposite wall.
Stef is finally able to catch her breath as she sees part of Mariana's little face peering out from behind the closet door. She slowly walks over and kneels down so she is eye-level with the little girl.
"Hey sweetie, did the thunder wake you up?" she whispered.
Opening the door further, Mariana nods sadly while trying to stop the tears that are flowing down her cheeks. She is clutching a stuffed dog to her chest like it's the only thing that is keeping her safe.
"Oh honey, you don't have to worry. I know its really loud and scary but it can't hurt you." Stef tries to wipe her tears away as Mariana sniffles sadly.
"I'm sorry." Comes the little girl's broken reply.
"It's okay, love. Come here." Stef says as she pulls her in for a hug. Mariana drops the stuffed animal and instead latches herself to Stef, her little arms wrapping around the blonde's neck like a cobra. "Oof. Alright, let's go big girl. I think I know what will make you feel better."
"Do you need me to come too?" Jesus asked with a sleep filled voice.
"No no, sweetie. We'll take care of her. You need to get some sleep."
As much as he cares about his sister, Jesus is perfectly happy with letting his new foster moms take it from here. He flops his head back down on the pillow and manages to fall back asleep almost instantly, completely undisturbed by the storm outside.
With that, Stef lifts herself up with Mariana still in her arms and makes her way back to the master bedroom after a quick look in Brandon's room to make sure he was still fast asleep. When she gets there, the lights are on and Lena is sitting up in bed.
"What happened?" She asked with slight panic in her voice, "Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, everything is fine. This one here is afraid of thunder though." Stef answers her wife. She sets Mariana down on the bed and the little girl finally loosens her grip to crawl over to Lena. "I thought she might feel better if she slept in the big bed with us tonight."
"Really?" Mariana asked hopefully.
"Of course sweetie," Stef flipped back the covers so that she and Mariana could get settled "You can always come to us when you're feeling scared."
Soon the lights were off and everyone was back under the covers. Mariana was lying comfortably between both her mamas. Suddenly, there was another loud crack of thunder outside. She let out a whimper as she pulled the blankets up to cover her face.
"Its okay, love." Mariana felt as both Stef and Lena turned so that they were facing her and each reached to put an arm around her, their hands connecting in the middle on top of her tummy. She instantly felt at ease knowing that both of her new moms were there to protect her.
The silence that had fallen upon the room was again suddenly disturbed, only this time by a little girl's giggle.
"What's so funny, love?" Stef asked with a smile that went unseen in the dark.
"Its like a mama sandwich," Mariana giggled again. Stef and Lena both chuckled with her before the room fell silent again. For once everyone in the Foster home was sleeping peacefully.