So this is a ***was*** a one shot, but I've changed and repost it (having deleted the original) under a new name... So please don't hesitate to tell me what you think :)

The first part is mainly just Stef and her thoughts...

So yeah, please reveiw, followand/or favourite :D

DISCLAIMER: I own less than nothing. NONE of it belongs to me. At all. *sigh*

Stef lay there, under the covers with Lena beside her, listening to her sleeping partner's shallow breathing. Despite the day's drama she couldn't sleep - her mind was still reeling from the evening's events... and the decision she'd made as a result.

...

It was dark and she knew that if they didn't start heading home soon, Jesus and Mariana would start to worry. Well, Jesus maybe. Considering Mariana's plan to 'deceive' her parents and sneak out, Stef wasn't sure if both twins were even home right then. She sighed. Mariana sneaking out - yet another thing to add to her growing list of worries. But right then she only had one main concern - the three children who currently sat in the back of her car, two of whom had had a gun aimed at them only minutes before. Stef sighed again.

Half of her wanted to shout at the girl who'd let her son find himself in that sort of danger, that sort of position that could have oh-so-easily have ended completely differently. Instead of thinking about going home, she could have been forced to think about hospitals or even... funeral homes - if it hadn't played out as well. One - or both - of them could have been dead. But they weren't. All of them were alive. A little shaken, yes, but alive and well considering, and she can't help but just feel relieved.

Then she remembered the teen's face as she'd rushed to her brother. The obvious love and concern she felt for him. That girl had been willing to risk her life for him, and somehow Stef doubted it'd been the first time. A wave of pity washed through her body as she thought of how desperate the girl had looked as she'd begged for her brother to be placed in a good home if - when - she got sent back to juvie. There's nothing she wouldn't do for him. Stef can't help but admire her.

Which was why she told Lena that she wouldn't - couldn't - send those kids back into the system, that they had to find a way to make room.

She couldn't give up on those two foster kids, not after they'd already given up on themselves.

...

Stef sighed. She knew they'd find a way, they always did. But right then there were two scared children downstairs in her living room, both of whom had no idea how long they'd be staying. She wished she could do something - anything - to help them, really help them. An overwhelming urge to go downstairs and just... look at them overcame her, and before she realised what she was doing, Stef had slipped out of bed and put on her dressing gown, tying the strap around her waist. She crept out of the room, careful not to wake Lena and tiptoed across the landing towards the stairs. Although she wasn't particularly expecting it, she wasn't surprised when she heard their voices, talking softly to each other as they lay there in the dark, alone in an unfamiliar environment. She sighed. Without meaning to, she found herself sitting down and just listening, trying to understand - to work out what she could do to help.

"They seem...nice?" Jude seemed to question the last word, his doubt evident.

"Yeah, they are." His sister let out a small, dry chuckle, "I don't think we've ever been in such a friendly, cheerful place." There was no humour in her voice, making it sound almost...bitter.

"Really!" He asked, awestruck at the idea, "Wow! I can't imagine..."

"Then don't." She didn't say it to be mean, in fact it was for the opposite reason. Callie knew from experience that the childish imaginary ideal home didn't exist. Nothing was perfect, nothing worked out.

She sighed and turned to face her brother, making her sleeping-bag rustle, "There's no point - we don't even know what catch this place comes with."

Stef winced at the knowing tone of Callie's voice. What could have made her so distrusting? What had they been through? She thought, and sighed. The poor babies... My poor babies... It took all her strength not to enter the room and just hug them - showing them the comfort and protection from the world that they deserved but never got. She wanted to but didn't - just like she didn't realise how she was already associating them with being hers - how they'd already found a place in her heart and family. She sighed again, turning her attention away from her thoughts and back to the conversation the two children were having.

"How long will we be here?" Jude's voice was soft and hesitant, as though just asking would jinx their luck and cause them to be kicked out.

Though she couldn't see her, Stef could easily imagine Callie shrugging."I don't know." The girl answered. "Not long though, not after tonight. Bill will probably get us tomorrow."

"Oh." Jude's voice was full of disappointment. He'd evidently hoped to stay for longer. "Then what?"

"Then what what?" She teased her brother, though she knew what he meant, she just didn't want to tell him, not yet.

"You know what! What will happen after Bill gets us?"

"What do you think Jude?" Her voice lost its playful tone. The two of them fell into silence.

Callie sighed. She hadn't meant to snap, but it was his own fault. He knew as well as she did. She took a deep breath and began again. "We'll be split up. You'll be placed in some foster home somewhere and I'll end up back in juvie. You're a good kid - if you play it right maybe this family will want to keep you - else, a different just as nice one. I'm the problem. Without me you'll do just fine." She spoke in a matter-of-fact sort of tone, as though it was already arranged.

Stef felt a pang of sympathy for them. Those poor kids. She wished that there was something she could do, anything at all. She could only think of one thing.

"Oh." Jude's voice interrupted her thoughts, and Stef frowned at how close to tears he sounded. "I don't want that. I'd miss you too bad."

Callie sighed. "I'd miss you too, bud" The two siblings fell back into silence.

Quietly, Stef got up and walked back up the stairs. Getting into bed, she lay there, staring up at the ceiling. A small smile appeared on her face as she made up her mind. Tomorrow she's talk to Lena and then they'd call Bill. Still smiling, she shifted in her bed, getting into a more comfortable position and closed her eyes, able to sleep now that her mind was at rest. She knew what she had to do.

…

"Coffee's on the table."

Stef smiled at her partner's greeting. Despite Lena's views on caffeine, the two of them had an agreement concerning Stef and her morning pick-me-ups.

"Thanks, love." With a peck on the cheek, Stef took the drink and moved past her to stand by the window which overlooked the garden.

"So I was thinking..."

"Mariana's going to Lexi's today, Jesus has a tutoring session after school with Timothy - that boy is falling behind in English now too, we rely need to talk to him about it - oh, and Brandon and Callie have a detention afterschool for skipping yesterday." Lena let out a deep breath. "You were saying...?"

"I...um... wow." Stef smirked at her, "you totally belong vice principal-ing."

Lena mock-glared at her teasing. "Focusing, Stephanie, you were thinking...?"

"Oh right," Remembering what she'd been planning on saying, Stef's voice lost its playful edge. "It was about our guests..."

Lena bit her lip. "I know that I didn't discuss it with you before I - we - took Callie in, and I'm sorry. In hind sight it wasn't the best idea -"

"No." Stef interrupted, cutting Lena short. "It was. If you hadn't been the kind hearted, loving woman that I adore, then that girl might have ended up in a house worse than the one we just rescued her brother from - and god knows what would have happened to Jude..."

"So you're no longer cross..."

"I'm no longer cross." Stef confirmed,.planting a kiss on Lena's lips and placing her hands on her partner's hips, bringing them closer. "In fact, I was never really cross."

"I knew it." Lena breathed, a soft smile playing on her lips.

"Hmmm," Stef made a Boise of agreement. "But now there's two of them. And, though we don't have much space -"

"We don't have enough with just three teens."

"-We can't just put these kids straight back into the system."

"They deserve better."

Stef nodded. "Exactly," she said, "They deserve better."

"So we'll make room?" Lena asked, putting into words what her partner was trying to ask.

Stef nodded, "We'll make room."