Up to Idyllwild
After excess amounts of begging and sly persuasion, Stef had managed to sway the staff at Girls United to let Callie join them for the weekend. She hoped that this stay would become permanent once again, but the adoption process was halted yet again by the social worker and her inquiries about Brandon and Callie's dormant relationship. As Friday afternoon came to a close, the metallic grey SUV pulled up in front of Girls United and Stef exited, beyond excited to bring her daughter home and spend a weekend up in Idyllwild as a family. Gripping her keys in the protective pocket formed by her closed hand, Stef paced to the front stairs of the newly refurbished house. She didn't even have to knock before the door swung open, revealing a young brunette with soft curls. Stef glanced at her daughter. She hated their separation and some of the other girls seemed intimidating, and she didn't want Callie away from her any longer.
"Hey!" Callie answered brightly, beaming as she said her goodbyes to Daphne and Kiara, her best friends at Girls United.
"Ready to go, babe?" Stef couldn't help returning the smile her daughter had just given her.
"Yeah." She said quickly as she swiped her duffle bag from the ground and crossed the threshold. Through the crack in the door, Stef spotted Brooke, standing defensively at the base of the stairs with a menacing smirk. Earlier in the week, Callie had told her that things with Brooke were fine, but seeing the girl's posture and attitude, she had a hunch that Callie hadn't told the whole truth. She made a mental note to investigate this later, but she put it out of her mind, and stepped off the doorstep, taking Callie's duffel bag. Stef's arm found Callie's waist and she found herself pulled into a quick hug, with a peck on the cheek following the embrace.
The mother and daughter ambled to the car where Callie's duffel bag was tossed in the backseat and they headed home.
"So… Mama headed up to Idyllwild with Jenna and Monty this afternoon," Stef said absent mindedly as she checked her mirrors.
Callie nodded and gazed out the window, then glanced back at Stef and smiled. She then felt a hand pat her knee and her smile grew, a simple expression that did not go unnoticed by Stef, who turned to face Callie with a look of pride and absolute love.
When they arrived home, Mariana scampered towards them, wrapping Callie in a tight hug and turning to her mother, giving a similar display of affection to her as well. After setting the duffel bag near the entrance of the house, the group wandered their separate ways. As she heard her girls nearing the back door, Stef called out, "I assume you two are packed for Idyllwild, yes?" When she heard silence she replied to her own inquiry, "Go upstairs and pack now, please," before turning back to the television and kicking her shoes off.
Callie and Mariana begrudgingly climbed the stairs and entered their bedroom.
"What do you even wear to a music competition?" Callie wondered aloud as she turned to her sister.
"I'll help you pick something," Mariana offered, opening the doors to the closet they shared. After a lengthy search for the perfect selection of clothes for the weekend in Idyllwild, the girls marched downstairs and set their things down by the door and walked through the house in search of their mother. They found her in the kitchen, setting a modest but appetizing dinner of potatoes, vegetables, bread, and chicken on the wood grain table.
"There you two are, I was just about to call you down," Stef smiled as she brushed the crumbs off of her jeans and took a seat next to Callie. Mariana went to sit at the corner of the table, and the three grabbed dishes and began adding food to their plates. Dinner was normal enough, Stef brought up work, Mariana mentioned the drama at school, but the main topic of conversation was the weekend up at Idyllwild and the unveiling of Brandon's big composition.
"So where are we staying? Is it nice? I'd better not be a motel." Mariana asked her mother for what seemed like the tenth time in the past few weeks.
"Again, Mariana, we are staying in a cabin that Jenna's friend owns. There's plenty of room, but you girls will have to share a room."
"It sounds nice," Callie added quietly, turning her attention back to the vegetables that were left on her plate.
"I'm sure it will be, sweets." Stef rested her hand on her daughters back. "Now eat those veggies, please." Callie grimaced a bit before slowly impaling a green bean with her fork and bringing it to her mouth. "There you go, love." Stef encouraged before standing up to clean up their dinner.
After bidding each other goodnight, the three Adams Fosters went up to bed. Stef woke up abruptly at 7:00, but decided to let her girls sleep in a little. She tiptoed past their door and made her way to the kitchen, where she began preparing pancakes. As she transported the freshly griddled pancakes to a serving tray, Callie entered the kitchen sleepily, while yawning and scratching her head. Stef smiled at the sight. She was overjoyed that Callie was home, at least for now.
"Morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep okay?"
Callie answered with a non-committal grunt.
Stef chuckled, glancing at her feet for a minute before replying, "I'll take that as a no, baby."
Callie shrugged and approached the table, eying the stack of steaming pancakes.
"Hungry?" Stef asked before Callie say anything. She received a nod in response, and handed her daughter-to-be a plate.
"Where on earth is your sister?" Stef wondered aloud as she peered up the staircase, hoping to see Mariana bobbing down the stairs. To her dismay, however, her sleepyhead daughter was nowhere to be found.
"I think she's in the shower," Callie finally spoke for the first time that morning, as she swallowed a bite of pancake and dowsing the remaining food on her plate with syrup.
Stef nodded before noticing the lake of syrup forming on Callie's plate. "Hey, whoa. Slow down babe." She tipped the bottle back to an upright and smiled at the mock glare plastered on her daughter's tired face.
It took a few more minutes for Callie to finish her breakfast, and so she and Stef sat together at the island before Stef struck up a conversation.
"Hey, Cal." Callie turned to her mother. "I think maybe you should go back to bed. You look exhausted, baby." She took a sip of coffee.
Callie glanced at the large mug of coffee in her mother's hands. "Or I can just have some coffee," She suggested lightheartedly.
"Not a chance, baby." Stef replied, amused by Callie's comment. "But I do think you need some more sleep."
"I'll be fine. I can just sleep in the car on the way up," Callie replied nonchalantly.
"No way, Cal! Who will I play I-Spy with?"
"Shouldn't you be focusing on the road considering that you're the one who's driving?" Callie asked while smiling.
"Oh, you're going to get it for that one!" Stef teased as she grabbed Callie's waist and pulling her close. She tickled and poked at her ribs, causing the mother-daughter pair to surrender in a fit of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Mariana asked in an annoyed manor as she padded into the kitchen, arms crossed.
"Oh, hello Sleeping Beauty!" Stef joked as she brought her daughter into a quick hug before setting a plate of pancakes in front of her.
Later that morning, Stef called both girls to the entrance of the house; it was time to go. They piled into the SUV, Callie claiming the front seat and Mariana in the back. Once Callie and Mariana had finished arguing over the radio station, the three of them were on the highway with perfect silence, excluding the radio, which was tuned to a station deemed acceptable by both parties.
"We're making good time," Stef broke the silence as she glanced at the car's clock. "How about stopping for a quick lunch?" She asked her girls, directing her attention to the rear-view mirror to see Mariana's reaction.
"Sure." Mariana answered rather quickly, her eyes dropping to her phone as she texted a quick response to a friend.
"Cal?" Stef asked, laying a hand on her knee.
"Huh?" Callie jerked around in surprise, coming back into reality after her lengthy gaze at the passing countryside outside of the car's window.
"I was just wondering if you were up for grabbing some lunch. It's almost 11."
"Oh, yeah. Sounds good." She added dismissively as her head turned back to the window.
"You okay, babe?" Stef inquired, worry evident in her tone.
"Yeah… just tired." Callie rested her head back against the seat.
"Mm. I bet. You barely slept a wink last night." Stef smiled at the clearly exhausted girl beside her. With two pats on Callie's leg, she brought both hands back up to the steering wheel and turned left, entering the parking lot of a quaint little diner that advertised 20 flavors of milkshakes.
As the mother and her daughters walked towards the establishment, Stef realized that Callie must be heartbroken for Rita, who at this point was still in custody. She made a note to talk to Callie about this in greater depth, and hoped that a hot meal and a milkshake would ease her daughter's worries, at least temporarily. They walked in and seated themselves at a cramped little corner booth, Stef and Callie taking the bench seat and Mariana settling in a chair across them. As they awaited their waitress to take their orders, Stef took in Callie's miserable appearance and brought her in for a gentle hug.
"Oh, my baby," She cooed. "Everything will be alright, just give it some time, alright?" Stef felt a nod on her chest and smiled, kissing the top of Callie's head just as their waitress arrived at the table. After the order for a bacon cheeseburger, hamburger with ketchup, mustard, and tomato, a house salad, and three vanilla milkshakes were ordered, the family sipped on the complementary water and Stef listened to Mariana talk about not wanting school to start. Callie's head was still rested on Stef's shoulder and didn't seem to be listening. Their conversation continued; Callie never spoke. After waiting 25 minutes, their food emerged on the plastic tray carried by their kind and homely waitress. Stef turned her head to look at Callie as she placed her food in front of her, but Callie's closed eyes and even breathing revealed an interesting fact: she had fallen asleep. Stef smiled to herself before rubbing Callie's right arm while soothingly saying, "Wake up for a minute, love. The food is here." Callie's eyes fluttered open, and she propped herself out of Stef's warm embrace, reaching for her meal.
They ate their food rather quickly, as Stef was itching to get back on the road. They took their milkshakes to go and headed back to the car. Mariana soon fell asleep in the backseat, leaving Callie and Stef to talk.
"Baby…" Stef started off but soon stopped as she didn't know quite what to say. She sighed and tried again.
"Sweetheart, I just want you to know, everything will be okay. I- "
She started to speak again but was soon cut off.
"Do you know if they've dropped this whole thing yet? Is she being charged?" Callie asked abruptly, her eyes no longer wandering the mountains in the distance.
"Not yet sweets." Callie sighed. "I'm expecting a call from my friend at the DA's office sometime today or tomorrow, thought." Callie straightened up a bit in her seat. "Don't worry, my love, we'll find out soon enough." Stef gave another pat to Callie's leg as she spotted a sign in the distance. It read:
IDYLLWILD CREST SCHOOL OF MUSIC
"We're here, ladies," Stef announced quite loudly, succeeding in her goal of waking Mariana. They turned into a dirt driveway which wasn't far from the sign they had seen. As they pulled in front of a large white cabin, Lena dashed out the front door, followed by Monte and Jenna. Lena opened the doors and gave out hugs to everyone in the car.
"I'm so happy you're here!" Lena exclaimed as she took Mariana's duffel bag and wrapped an arm around Stef.
"How was the drive up?" Jenna asked as she held the door for the guests.
"Thankfully uneventful." Stef replied, smiling down at Callie as she draped her arms on Callie's shoulders.
"Make yourselves at home." Jenna said, looking to each new temporary resident of the Idyllwild cabin.
"I'm so glad we did this," Lena remarked. "I'm sure this will be a fun weekend."
They would all find out soon enough if this prediction was true.