Summary - Anticipation is high with the Fosters as Jesus and Mariana's Sweet 16 birthday party draws near. However the twins are wanting a very special gift for their birthday.
Disclaimer - I didn't create pretty much all of the characters in this story. They are the property of Bradley Bredeweg, Peter Paige and ABC Family. Any infringement is unintentional.
Author's note - This story is set a few months ahead of the current timeline on the show.
The sunlight started to peek through the curtains in Callie and Mariana's room, which slowly woke them. Mariana was the first one to get up, which was a rarity, given how much she tried to get in as much sleep as possible on school days. However on this day, she was in a more energetic mood due to the fact that her and Jesus' Sweet 16 birthday party was over a week away. Mariana had been secretly planning the party in the last month with Jesus, mostly going over every detail of the party themes that they had to choose from. As she went to the bathroom for her shower, Mariana began to figure out what she had in mind for the party and planned to go over it with Jesus later in the day.
The outside premises at Anchor Beach Community School was buzzing with the usual lunchtime activities of the students, who were eating and chatting on various things. Mariana and Kelsey were talking about the latest issue of Vogue when Jesus came by their table.
"Hey what brings you here?" Kelsey asked as Jesus sat down. "You know that your lunch period is the next one."
"Yeah i know." Jesus replied. "I came by to see if Mariana have decided on what type of party we're going to have."
"Well i'm down to three choices." Mariana said as she handed Jesus a note containing her final three choices for the theme of the party.
Jesus took a look at the note. He shook his head to show his disapproval of one of Mariana's choices and then nodded his approval of the other two.
"These two look good," Jesus said as he handed the note back to Mariana. "especially the last one."
"Yeah i've been leaning more to that one too." Mariana said.
"I better get to class." Jesus said as he stood up from the table.
He made an atempt to steal Kelsey's brownie, which was foiled by a quick swat of Jesus' hand by Kelsey.
"Hey!" Jesus said.
"You know better not to mess with my dessert." Kelsey said.
"I know that. Just messing with ya. Anyway i'll see ya later."
"Yeah see ya."
Kelsey laughed at Jesus and then rolled her eyes at him while he was walking away.
"Jesus being Jesus." Mariana said.
"Oh yeah." Kelsey replied. "So anyways, what's the latest with you and Jesus` Sweet 16 party?"
"All i can tell you right now is that me and Jesus have just about picked the theme for it."
"Really. What is it?"
"I'm not telling you right now."
"Oh so you're going to be like that." Kelsey said while rolling her eyes.
"Hey don't be mad." Mariana said. "Me and Jesus want to run it by our moms first and then i'll tell you later tonight. Right now all i can tell you is that it is going to be a more fun and less stuffy party unlike last year."
"That sounds pretty good already. Since you've mentioned your moms, i was wondering if you could talk to them about letting me go to the party. I missed your Quince last year due to being in rehab after being caught with the pills and i'm not sure if i would be welcome."
"Why you're asking me this?"
"Well i get the vibe that i'm still in the doghouse with Vice Principal Mom."
"I'll put in a word for you with them later this evening."
Kelsey immediately sighed when Mariana mentioned talking to Lena. "Thanks."
The bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Mariana and Kelsey gather their stuff to throw in the trash can and then head off to class.
The kitchen in the Foster house had the usual frantic evening activity with Stef and Lena preparing dinner with some help from Jude, while Brandon was helping Jesus with a school assignment and Mariana was talking on the phone with her boyfriend Chase. About 10 minutes later, Callie arrived from her afterschool job at the photo studio.
"Hey guys." Callie said as she entered the kitchen.
"Hey Callie." Stef said as she was mixing the Chicken Salad. "How was work?"
"It was good. I did my first baby photo shoot."
"How did it go?" Lena asked.
"The baby was well behaved and really liked me." Callie said as she poured herself a glass of water. "Richard said that i was a natural."
"Nice to hear that your day at work went well."
Callie drank some water before getting Brandon's attention with a playful smack upside his head, which immediately got a flirtaeous smile from him.
"You two need some help?" Callie asked.
"No," Brandon replied. "but thanks anyway. We're about done."
Brandon and Callie gave each other flirtaeous looks for a moment before they noticed Stef, Lena and Jude glancing at them and stopped themselves from going any further. They didn't feel comfortable enough to show any form of affection to each other around everyone else, even though they had gotten Stef and Lena's approval to date not long after Callie became an emmancipated minor. Mariana entered the kitchen to break the awkwardness and walked over Jesus to whisper something in his ear, which immediately caught Stef's attention.
"Hey what are you two talking about?" Stef asked in a playful stern tone.
"We were talking about the Sweet 16 party." Mariana replied.
"I've been meaning to ask if you and Jesus has decided on what theme it's going to be."
Mariana didn't even bother hiding her excitement by displaying a big smile on her face. "Yes we've made a decision on the party theme."
"So what is it?" Lena asked.
"We want to something that's a lot more fun and less stuffy than the Quincea era," Mariana said. "like an 80s theme party."
Stef, Lena, Brandon, Callie and Jude were intrigued by the party theme suggestion and gave the twins their undivided attention.
"Yeah we want to be it like an old school skating rink party." Jesus said. "Like the ones Mom told us that she used to go to."
"Plus everyone gets to dress up in 80s style like having big hair."
"I think that it sounds like a lot of fun." Stef said. "Besides i've been waiting for this opportunity to dust off my old skates and show you guys some of my old moves."
"I hope that you won't hurt yourself." Lena said. "I really like your idea guys. How do you three feel about it?"
"Well i'm all for it as long as i don`t have to wear a gown." Callie said, which immediately got a laugh from Jude.
"Yeah i think that it'll be a lot of fun." Brandon said.
"Can Connor come to the party?" Jude asked.
"Of course he can." Mariana replied.
Jude's face immediately lit up in a smile after Mariana's response. He was very happy that Connor was invited to the party, which meant that he would get a chance to hang out with him some more. As Lena was washing her hands, Mariana approached her.
"Hey Mom, can i talk to you alone for a moment?" Mariana asked.
Lena dried her hands off before she and Mariana walked by the back door.
"What is it you want to talk to me about that's so secretive?" Lena asked.
"I want to ask you if Kelsey could come to the party."
Lena immediately scowled when Kelsey was mentioned, which worried Mariana. "Now why should she come to the party?"
"Well she missed the Quincea era last year, because she was in rehab and really wants to go to the party."
"I don't know if Kelsey should be at the party. I still haven't forgotten about catching her using drugs in the bathroom and then lying that Callie gave her Jesus' pills last year. What Kelsey did was very stupid and dangerous."
"I haven't forgotten about Kelsey did either," Mariana said. "but she's very sorry about it."
Lena stoically pondered Mariana's plea for a moment. "I`ll talk about this with Stef and let you know our decision soon."
"Okay." Mariana said. "Thanks for at least listening."
"No thank you for bringing this to me." Lena said. "It was very considerate of you to do this."
As she went back in the kitchen, Mariana felt relived after she asked Lena if Kelsey could come to the party, but also an air of uncertainty having to wait on her moms' decision.
Stef and Lena began to turn in for the night in their room. Stef was doing some writing, while Lena was reading a book.
"I've booked the party to be at the same place where the Quincea era was held last year." Stef said as she took off her reading glasses. "Now we need to find a way to get at least 20 pairs of roller skaters."
"I`ll call Skate World or some other place that has a lot of roller skates to see if they could help us out." Lena said.
"Speaking of Skateworld, i think that we ought to go there this Saturday to help everyone get acclimated with the roller skates before the party. I don't want the kids to be struggling to stand up on the skates at the party."
"That sounds like a great idea." Lena said. "I love how well you incorporate your duties for safety and fun."
"Well i try to do my best." Stef said with a smirk on her face.
"I had a little talk with Mariana before dinner and she asked if her friend Kelsey could come to the party."
"You mean the girl that you caught using drugs in the bathroom last year?"
"Yeah."
"You're not seriously considering it?" Stef said with a puzzled look on her face. "I hope that you haven't made a decision about this."
"No i haven`t." Lena said. "Mariana made a plea about it, mentioning Kelsey missing the Quincea era last year because she sent to rehab."
"Well even if Kelsey wasn`t sent to rehab, there was no way she was going to be at the Quincea era after being caught using drugs by you and then accusing Callie of stealing Jesus` pills."
"I`m very aware of what Kelsey did."
"I don`t think that she should be invited to the party."
"I kinda feel the same way, but at the same time, there is Mariana to consider."
"Yeah i really would hate to disappoint her."
"I think that we should talk to Kelsey`s parents first before making a decision."
"That sounds like a good idea." Stef said as she got a piece of paper from her nightstand.
"I'm glad that Mariana told me about this rather than inviting Kelsey by herself."
"Yeah that would`ve been very awkward.
"I have a more pressing, but pleasant issue to bring up," Stef said as she handed Lena the paper she was writing on. "which is the playlist for the party."
"Oh yeah, let me what you got." Lena said as she looked at the paper. "This looks pretty good, but it's missing something."
"What is it?"
"It needs more of the GAP Band."
"I already got them on there."
"Stef everybody knows You Dropped a Bomb. They have other songs you know like Party Train, Burn Rubber On Me and Early in the Morning."
"Alright i`ll add them to the list." Stef said. "I apologize for my whiteness."
Stef and Lena immediately laughed at Stef`s comment.
"I think that this is going to be a very fun party." Lena said. "It's not so formal and stuffy like the Quincea era last year and more about both of the twins."
"Yeah i think that the kids are going to love it." Stef said. "Plus it`ll give us old farts a chance to relive our youth."
Lena put her book down on the bed and got up to walk out of the bedroom before Stef stopped her in her tracks by pulling on her pajama pants. "Hey." She exclaimed. "Where's my massage?"
"You`re going to get it." Lena replied. "I have to go use the bathroom first."
Stef immediately put on her best pouty face, which Lena smiled at.
"Stef i really got to go."
"I`ll make it worth your while."
Lena contemplated Stef's proposal for a moment. "Well i would love to get inside your sugarwalls." Lena purred in Stef's left ear.
"Only if you give me a really good massage." Stef said as she kissed Lena.
"You're going to get it as soon as i get back."
Stef and Lena briefly made out with each other before Lena left to go to the bathroom, leaving Stef happily anticipating her massage and a lot more.
Mariana finished changing into her pajamas, while Callie was doing some research online for possible outfits to wear for the party.
"Have you picked out what you`re going to wear for the party?" Mariana asked as she sat down on her bed.
"No i haven`t." Callie replied. "I have a couple of things that are at the top of my list. How about you?"
"Well i`m going to dress up like Gloria Estefan from one of her videos back in the day that we looked at earlier."
Callie gave Mariana a look of surprise. "I`m surprised about that. I thought that you would dress up like Madonna."
"Not a chance. Every other girl at the party is going to be dressed up like Madonna and i want to stand out from everyone else."
"Well i think that it would be a great look for you."
"Hey i was talking to Mom about this earlier and i wanted to bring it up with you."
"What is it?"
"Well i asked her if Kelsey could come to the party."
"What did she say?"
"She said that she`ll think about it."
"Okay."
"If Moms let Kelsey go to the party, would you be alright with her being there? I know that she accused you of taking Jesus' pills and selling them to her last year and i didn't know how you feel about her being there."
Callie pondered Mariana`s question for a few seconds. "I don't think much about what happened. Kelsey's not my favorite person in the world, but it's your party. I have no problems with her being there as long as she doesn't accuse me of something again."
Mariana laughed at Callie's comment. "I`m glad that you're cool about this."
Callie got up to put Mariana's laptop on the nightstand and immediately noticed an old picture of Mariana, Jesus, Brandon and Lexi dressed up as pirates.
"Hey how come you guys are dressed up as pirates in this picture?" Callie asked.
"That`s from our ninth birthday party." Mariana replied. "We were so crazy about Pirates of the Caribbean and begged Moms to let us have a pirate themed party."
"You guys looked so cute."
"Yeah. I remember Jesus being such a perfectionist about dressing up as Captain Jack."
Callie and Mariana laughed together about the story for a moment.
"Hey i`m going to go downstairs to get a snack." Callie said as she stood up. "You need anything?"
"Yeah." Mariana said. "Could you bring me back a Granola bar?"
"Sure." Callie said as she left the room.
Mariana looked at the old picture some more and smiled, thinking about the memories from that birthday party. A few seconds later, Jesus came in the room, holding a catalog.
"You remember those old school Adidas sweat suits i showed you earlier today?" Jesus asked.
"Yeah." Mariana replied.
Jesus showed Mariana the page with the Adidas sweat suits. "Which one do you think i should wear?"
"The black one." Mariana said, pointing at her choice.
Jesus shrugged his shoulders to display his approval and closed the catalog before his attention went to the old picture.
"Hey it's from our Pirates of the Caribbean party." Jesus said as he sat down next to Mariana on her bed. "That was so much fun."
"Yeah it was." Mariana said. "I remember you drove Moms crazy about looking exactly like Captain Jack."
"They didn't get the right dreadlocks for me."
Jesus and Mariana shared a laugh together. However the mood quickly changed as they felt a tinge of sadness while looking at the picture.
"I wish that Lexi could be here for the party." Jesus said in a somber tone.
"I do too." Mariana said. "I wanted so much to make up for what happened last year and instead she`s down in Honduras."
Jesus and Mariana sadly looked at the picture in silence, with Jesus putting his arm around Mariana.
Lena came out of the bathroom and just as she was about to go back to her and Stef's bedroom, she heard Jesus and Mariana mentioning Lexi. Lena snuck over by Mariana and Callie's room to ease drop on the twins for a moment and noticed how sad they were. She felt for the twins after Lexi left the country with her parents and knew how hard her absence was on them. However Lena had a brainstorm and as she walked back her bedroom, she was immediately thinking of a way to make the twins` birthday party a very special one.
To be continued...