"Listen" Callie started, "I appreciate what you're trying to do". Lena eyed her skeptically but the teen didn't flinch. "But you've got to understand" she looked at the older woman dead in the eye to convein how serious she was being "We are not staying here forever".
Lena flinched, hard.
The teen in front of her, who was more of a mother to the little boy upstairs than the sister she was supposed to be, had a point. And a good one at that but still… " Here he is free to be himself." The teen next to her sighed, long and deeply as she shook her head.
"It's easy to get comfortable here fast, too easy really" she needed the woman who was fostering them to understand, so she changed tactics. "I love my brother, I really do, and I'd do anything for him." she dry swallowed "Even be the bad guy if that's what it takes to keep him safe in the long run."
And Lena's heart broke, because that's a mother's job and this teen, this child actually, had stepped up for her brother after the system failed them. Repeatedly. What's more, she and Stef were only keeping them for so long. So, what right did she actually has to bypass the teen's authority to parent Jude.
"Allright. Let's make a compromise then." and so Lena took a decision that was bound to anger Stef. "When it comes to the big decisions about parenting Jude we'll ask your opinion," at that Calli narrowed her eyes in suspicious "but in this house, Jude can be himself freely." And eyeing the sixteen-year-old woman sitting next to her, she added "And so can you."
The doorbell rang and Lena signaled her to go get it, and Callie kept her eyes on her as she went to open the door for Wyatt. Lena made sure to get verbal confirmation from Callie about the curfew and because she had to ask several times she paid the teen more attention and noticed that her eyes were darting to the stairs every few seconds. "Go," she said smiling "I'll take care of it. This time you get to be a kid." and she hopped with all her might that Callie would trust her.
For her part, Callie saw the honesty in those deep brown eyes which were so similar to those of her brother and the ones she once had, that she took a leap of faith "Alright". She reached for the door handle and called back to the other woman "Lena!" the older woman looked at her over her shoulder "Thank you." was all she had to say, a thank you for so many things even she wasn't sure how many.
The door closed and she climbed the stairs with a smile on her face. "Baby steps." she added quietly to herself.