Chapter 1

It was a typical morning at the Foster's home. Stef and Lena were getting ready in their room, Brandon got ready as fast as possible so he could practice for his Idllywild audition, Jude was waiting for breakfast, Jesus and Mariana were fighting over the bathroom, and Callie was just waking up.

"Lena, don't forget that we need to be in the judge's chambers at noon. So we need to get the kids and lea-" Stef said but was soon cut off by her wife.

"Yes, we need to leave at 11:30 at the very latest. Honey, Robert signed the papers. Everything is going to be fine. I promise!" Lena smiled and tried to reassure her wife. She knew Stef had been waiting for this moment for months and was positive another obstacle was going to get in their way.

"I'm sorry. But you know that the judge has a clear biased towards the Quinns. Did you see how upset he was when Robert said he was withdrawing his bid for custody? It seems that he would rather send Callie back into the system before letting her come and live with us. I just can't wait for this to be over," Stef hadn't noticed it but she was consistently getting louder and louder.

"Stef, come here," Lena opened her arms to her upset wife, "Today is the day we adopt our daughter. Now, how ridiculous does that sound? Callie is already our daughter and nothing is going to change that. Today, we just sign the papers so no one can ever take her from us again." Stef let out a sigh and Lena knew she couldn't get through her wife's stubbornness. Stef wouldn't be relaxed until the day was over.

Ten minutes later everyone was around the kitchen table eating breakfast.

"Oh my God! I can't believe Caitlyn. Ugh, why does she have to be such a b-" Mariana caught herself. "Sorry... its just that she is always trying to undermine our dance team. I guess she's just upset that her team won't be representing Anchor Beach at state."

"Moms, is it cool if I go to Emma's after school? She is going to help me study for the history quiz on Wednesday." Jesus said, completely disregarding Mariana.

Lena eyed Mariana, trying to tell her they would talk later but answered Jesus. "Yes, that's fine as long as you aren't behind closed doors young man."

"We won't, I promise!"

Stef smiled at her son, but turned her attention to Callie who had been silent all morning. "Let's go talk for a minute, love." She whispered to Callie. Stef grabbed Callie's hand and led her to the living room. No one was paying attention to them. Mariana was showing texts to Jesus, Jude and Lena were talking, and Brandon was playing air piano. When they sat down on the couch Stef smiled and said, "Tell me what's going on in your head, Callie. Please?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, really" Callie tried to sound sincere, but she knew her excuse wouldn't get past Stef.

"No. Tell me the truth. I don't want anymore of this deflecting nonsense. I just want to talk, that's all."

Callie sighed, and let down her guard. "Something is going to go wrong today. I just know it. Last time everything seemed perfect, but then I found out about Robert and he turned everything upside down and inside out. I just can't deal with anymore bad news."

Stef smiled sadly at Callie. She couldn't stand to see her daughter go through anymore pain. "I'm going to be honest with you right now, okay? I'm scared too. I want nothing more than for today to be a perfect day for you. How about you text me or mama whenever you feel something might go wrong. If you go anywhere or do anything that might seem out of sorts, just let us know." She could see the questions running throught Callie's mind. "No, it will absolutely not annoy us. Yes, I do mean anything at any time. Oh, sweetie. I wish I could just keep you home with me today. Hmm... maybe I could talk to mama and we could get your tests rearranged for today. Would you like to do that?"

"I would, but I can't. I already missed two days last week from when I was sick. I have to go today. But, yeah. I guess I will do that. Anything at any time?"

Stef smiled. "Yes, my love. Anything at anytime."