AN: As promised…Chapter 1 of the other AU I am writing.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Fosters; I do not own FreeForm; I only own the characters that I create.
On with Part 1: Lena and Callie
Chapter 1
Lena Adams leaned against the door jamb to her Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten classroom, glancing in at the four-year-olds that were playing around the classroom with a smile on her face. Four girls were playing in the play kitchen area, one cooking, one setting the table, and the other two giving orders. Three of the boys were building with the Legos while the rest either colored or looked at books from the classroom library.
One of the girls at the coloring table looked up and smiled a huge, toothy grin at her. Lena smiled back before she waved and knocked on the door. She pushed it open and slowly made her way inside.
"Miss Adams," the teacher, Mrs. Lauritson, called, "to what do we owe this honor? You're not usually down in this wing."
"Oh," Lena commented as she smiled and stopped by the teacher. "I never get down here, anymore, actually, so I wanted to come down and see your room."
"Well, welcome!" She ushered the Assistant Vice Principal into the room and showed her the different activities the children were working on. "So, do I hear correctly that I am getting a new student in about a week?"
Lena couldn't help but smile. "Yes, you did hear that correctly. As a matter of fact, I'm taking the next few days off to be home with her."
Mrs. Lauritson smiled knowingly. "You're excited."
Lena smiled back. "I am."
The teacher nodded slightly. "I can tell. You have that glow about you."
"Glow?"
"Mmhmm." The PreK teacher leaned over slightly to speak softer. "That new-mom glow."
"I'm only fostering her for now, Cathy."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Lena."
Lena rolled her eyes as she smirked at the other woman.
"Don't roll your eyes," Mrs. Lauritson playfully scolded. "A mom knows."
"Honestly, Cathy," Lena said after a few moments. "I'm terrified. I mean, I've gone to all of the training classes; my apartment has been beyond-baby-proofed; locks have been installed on my cabinets, for Pete's sake, and yet, I'm still terrified."
Mrs. Lauritson smiled comfortingly at her. "Every new mom is, Lena. That's normal. What's not normal is what you've told me about her. Three different foster homes in as many months right after losing her parents? That's brutal."
Lena thought about that for a minute. Mrs. Lauritson was right. She still had both her parents, and she couldn't imagine what it would be like for a child at the age of four to lose both of her parents and be shipped from one home to the next like a piece of furniture. Well, Lena decided, this little girl was staying with her for as long as possible. Silently, she hoped the child was a match. If Lena had her way, she would never leave.
"I just can't fathom what that child must be going through. I'm willing to bet she's just as terrified as you." And there was the reality of it. For as terrified as Lena was, more than likely, the little girl coming to stay with her could easily be just as terrified, if not more so, being only four years old.
"I know." Lena smiled at the older teacher and stood, earning disappointed groans from the few students she was near. "I'm taking off early today so I can get ready for her. Maybe I'll bring her by tomorrow to have her meet some of her classmates."
Cathy smiled. "That would be perfect."
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"Now, you listen to me," the woman's caustic voice came as she bent low to be right in the young girl's face, making her try and back away. This woman's name was Marta, and she was supposed to be the girl's social working – not that she knew what that meant. All she knew was it gave her permission to be mean to her and leave her with mean, nasty, dirty people. "This is your fourth home in just as many months. You'd better behave, or so help me, I will put you in a group home, and no one will ever want you." She roughly pulled the girl to her so they were only a few inches apart. "Understood?"
The little girl shrunk back, but nodded.
"Good." The woman stood back up and straightened herself before walking up to the apartment door and knocking. Within a few seconds, a woman with dark-ish skin, and soft hair answered the door.
"Hi," the new woman said cheerfully.
"Hi, Lena," Marta greeted with a saccharine smile. "I'd like you to meet Callie Jacob. She's the girl I told you about."
"Hi, Callie," The woman called Lena knelt so she was eye-level with Callie and put out her hand. "It's nice to meet you."
Callie shyly stuck out her hand and shook Lena's.
"Manners," Marta whispered to the young girl.
"Hello," Callie barely managed to squeak out.
"Hello." Lena nodded her head over toward the couch. "Why don't you go sit on the sofa for a minute while Ms. Hayweather and I talk for a few minutes?"
Callie ventured over to the sofa and noticed a green bear sitting on the end with a bow around its neck. Green was her favorite color, so she sat next to it.
"You have to be careful with that one," she heard Marta say to Lena.
"Careful? Why?"
"She has some behavioral problems, and it may be a challenge for first-time foster parents."
"Behavioral problems? Like what?"
"She yells; she's thrown tantrums; on a few occasions, she's struck other children, which is why we thought this would be perfect for her – no other children."
"So, she's violent?"
"She can be, but it is a choice for her. We think she consciously decides to act out like she does…"
Callie tuned the two women out at this point. It was a lie; all of what her social worker said was a lie. She wasn't violent; she wasn't a mean girl; she was nice, and kind, and she messed up, but she always said she was sorry, but all of the houses didn't want her to be anything but perfect.
Tears began running down her cheeks. She wasn't a bad girl. She wasn't!
"I'm sure she and I will be fine, Marta. She seems like a quiet little girl…"
"Yes, right now. Just don't be afraid to be firm with her. It's not going to hurt her any."
"Uh huh. I will keep that in mind. Thank you."
The next second, the door was closed.
And the little girl inhaled sharply, an icy fear gripping her heart.
The new woman's – Lisa's? – footsteps were making their way over to the couch. Callie watched carefully as the woman knelt in front of her and reached for the bear. Suddenly, she felt guilty for sitting so close.
"Do you like him?" the woman asked. Her name was Lisa, right? No, no. Lena. Lena's shoulders dropped as she looked at Callie and reached a hand up to Callie's face. The girl flinched away from her touch, but Lena continued, gently placing her hand against the wet cheek and rubbing it with her thumb. "Oh, honey. Don't cry. I know you're not a bad girl; you just need some help making good choices. That's all. So, how about you take a deep breath…" Lena pretended to take a deep breath to get Callie to follow.
Callie did.
"Good girl. See? Already making good choices."
Callie blinked, trying to calm her tears. She emulated Lena's pretend deep breaths and soon found herself calming down.
"Feel a little better?" Lena asked, holding the green bear in front of her.
Cautiously, Callie nodded, never breaking eye contact with the woman.
"Would you like him?"
Again, Callie watchfully nodded.
The woman smiled and held the green stuffed animal out to her.
"Green's okay?" she asked as Callie took the animal.
Callie still only nodded.
"Okay." The older brunette looked down for a moment before looking back up at the girl. "Are you hungry, Callie?"
Nod.
"What do you like?"
Shrug.
"Honey, I can't read your mind, here. Is there something you would like?"
Oh, no. Now, she's mad. Can't make her mad. Um…
"Chicken?" she said in the quietest voice the little girl could muster.
"Chicken?" the woman clarified.
Callie nodded; so did the lady.
"Okay. Chicken I can work with." The lady stood. "You wanna help me?"
Help? Really?
"Iss okay?" Callie asked softly.
"Of course. Cooking's much more fun when you have good helpers. I bet you are an excellent helper."
This woman was different. There was something about her that made Callie want to trust her, but she'd been down that path before. Grown-ups are only nice the first few days. After that, they change.
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Lena had always thought she was good with kids. She taught the younger grades for years out of college, and she taught Anchor Beach's high school students for two years before applying (and getting) the Assistant Vice Principal's position. However, this girl – the one sleeping next to the green bear on the couch – had walls up so high that Lena was concerned. She only ever saw walls up like this in high school students who frequent her office. For a four-year-old to have them made the brunette wonder exactly what the girl had gone through, and whether or not it had anything to do with her ability to make a decision.
Granted, Lena wasn't having the child make any life-breaking decisions, but when the woman asked what to watch on TV, Callie only stared at her and shrugged; dinner was chicken, but couldn't decide on anything else. Despite her need to remain healthy, had Callie asked for a greasy burger with fries drowning in ketchup, Lena probably would have gotten it for her.
These walls were most evident through her helping with dinner. While Lena gave the girl little tasks to do, she tried to get information out of her – favorite color, favorite food, least favorite food. Sadly, though, most of the child's responses were non-committal shrugs.
Until, that is, Callie moved her arm and hit the handle of the spoon, which knocked the egg that was near it onto the floor. Within seconds, the girl was running out of the kitchen, heading for the hallway. Lena had heard a door slam, followed by a crash, which sent Lena chasing after her.
She found the girl in the room Lena had prepared for her, but in her haste, she tripped over the carpet in the center of the floor, sending the girl tumbling to the floor, knocking over her toy kitchen, thankfully away from the child, resulting in only minor injuries.
By the time Lena had gotten the girl calmed down and everything cleaned up, dinner was a loss, so she called for a pizza for the two of them. Apparently, a hit with the little girl.
Win one for Lena, messy though it was.
She glanced over at the child in question and smiled. Callie was laying with her head in front of the bear, her one arm cradling her head, her other wrapped in front, protecting her chest, hand wrapped around her nose, thumb in her mouth. Lena smiled softly as she shifted herself slightly in order to just watch the girl sleep.
After a few minutes, Lena stood and quietly made her way over to the sleeping babe. She reached down and gently lifted the girl into her arms, cradling her against her shoulder before making her way to the girl's room. She got her changed and tucked into her bed relatively easily before making her way back into the living room to work on some things for Anchor Beach.
Lena was so lost in her work that she didn't realize that it was approaching midnight. She stretched her back and looked down the hallway, the sleeping child crossing her mind. After she closed her laptop, she piled her papers next to it on the coffee table before standing and making her way down the hallway toward her bedroom.
As she passed by Callie's room – yeah, Callie's room – she peered in and her heart stopped. The bed was empty.
Lena entered the darkened room. Not seeing her, she went a little further down the hall to the bathroom but was disheartened to find the door open, the light off, and that room empty. She checked the other two rooms, one of them being her own, thinking maybe she'd gone to the bathroom and got turned around, but still to no avail.
Trying to keep her panic from rising, she went back to the girl's bedroom and opened the door further than she had before, illuminating the room in the hallway light. She slowly made her way over to the bed and reached down to see how warm it was. That was when she felt it.
Wetness.
Lena let out a silent sigh. Callie had wet the bed, but that wasn't at the height of the woman's concern. Where had the child gone?
AN: Okay, so that's it for the first chapter. Chapter 2 will be coming soon.
For those who are reading "Life Saver," Chapter 13 is coming, but it's giving me fits. I have the start point; I have the end point…it's the middle that's eluding me. Grr…but I have a two week vacation coming up, and I plan on getting a lot of writing done.
For those that celebrate: Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Joyous, Blessed, Safe, and Healthy New Year!