Mother's Day, a fosters fanfic

Jude walked into the kitchen, where John was washing his hands, getting ready to start making the Mother's Day for dinner all the kids had planned. Since John had the most experience cooking, he had volunteered to lead them in making dinner.

"Hey," Jude said. "Grandmas will be here soon."

"Perfect," John said, turning off the faucet and drying his hands. "I'll be starting to cook soon, so the house will start smelling good soon."

"How are you doing, John?" Jude asked uncertainly, washing his hands. "I know today can't be an easy day for you."

John sighed and nodded. "Celebrating Mother's Day hasn't been easy since my parents died. It was the hardest the first year after they died. But, it's gotten easier. And besides, Stef and Lena are basically my surrogate mothers, and I'm happy to celebrate this day with them."

At that, the doorbell rang. Callie ran pas them in the kitchen and answered it. There was the unmistakable sound of Sharon and Dana exclaiming how excited they were to see her. Jude and John laughed when they heard Callie groan slightly. A few seconds later, Sharon and Dana walked into the kitchen.

"Oh my goodness, look at you John," said Dana, pulling him into a hug. "How are you honey?"

"I'm great, thanks, Gram," John said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Enough of that!" Sharon said. "How about you give this grandma some love?"

John grinned and pulled Sharon into a hug. She kissed him on the head.

"Hi, baby," she said, while Dana hugged Jude. "You doing OK?"

"Yeah," said John. "I'm worried about you."

"It's hard, your Mom not being here," Sharon said, starting to cry a bit. "But, Stef and Lena are here, and that's what matters."

Sharon broke out of the hug, wiping the tears from her face. "Well, enough of this sad stuff, what's for dinner?"

"Some of my favorite spaghetti, Grandma!" John said. "And garlic bread, of course!"

"Oooh, Dana, you are in for a treat if you've never had John's spaghetti. I swear that boy can cook like nobody else," said Sharon.

"How can we help?" Dana asked, rolling up her sleeves.

"No, no, no," John said, grabbing Dana's arm gently and pulling it away from the stove. "You just let us kids handle it, and don't lift a finger. Stef and Lena are in the living room, and they have some wine for you all. You just leave the cooking to me, and we'll let you know when it's ready."

"Come on, Grandmas, I'll take you to Moms," Jude said, as the rest of the kids filed into the kitchen.

"My, what a gentlemen," said Sharon, starting to follow Jude. She and Dana hugged each of the kids before Jude hurried them out of the kitchen and into the living room. He returned a few minutes later.

"Nice work, Jude," said John. "Are we set to go after dinner for our other surprise, Brandon?"

"Yep, instruments are outside, and so are the microphones."

"Perfect," John said as he started to boil a pot of water. "We'll have dinner and then we'll give them their other surprise."

For the next hour, the kids all helped John prepare dinner. Callie and Mariana grabbed ingredients for him, and helped him mix everything together. Brandon handled the bread with Jesus and they threw it into the oven. Jude placed all the plates and silverware on the table, and poured a glass of water for everyone.

Once dinner was ready, they all sat around the table, while John walked into the living room.

"Ladies," he said, smiling at them. "Dinner is served."

They all stood up and followed him into the kitchen, the aroma of spaghetti and garlic bread polluting the air, enticing them toward the table.

"Oh, John," Stef said, pulling him into a hug and kissing him on the forehead. "This looks delicious. Thank you so much."

Lena pulled John into a hug, too. "I can't wait to start eating," she said.

"Happy Mother's Day," John replied, smiling.

Moms and Grandmas sat down at the table, a difficult feat since there was so many of them. Callie and Mariana served them the spaghetti while Brandon gave them each a roll of garlic bread. The kids all served themselves. Once everyone had some food on their plate, Moms and Grandmas took their first bite.

"Oh, my goodness!" Dana said. "Where did you learn to cook something so delicious, John?"

"Taught myself," John replied, smiling.

"Told you, didn't I, Dana?" said Sharon. "This boy can cook a mean spaghetti."

"It's delicious, John, thank you," said Lena.

"Enjoy everyone! And then, we'll give you ladies our other surprise of the day," said John.

Within half an hour, everyone had finished eating. The kids cleared the table and quickly cleaned off all the dishes, before they all returned to their seats as John stood up.

"Ladies," he said. "We have a surprise for you outside."

John locked arms with Stef, Jude with Lena, Jesus with Sharon and Brandon with Dana, escorting them outside, while Mariana and Callie followed them. Once all the Moms were in place, the kids took their places in front of them. Callie grabbed her guitar, checking its tuning, while Brandon played a warm up on his piano. Everyone else each grabbed their own microphone and sang some scales as a warm-up.

"Well, Moms and Grandmas," Brandon said. "This is a little something from all of us to you. Callie?"

Callie nodded, and started playing an opening rhythm, while Brandon echoed it on the keyboard.

After they played a few seconds, Mariana stepped forward to sing the opening lyrics.

"She used to be my only enemy, and never let me free. Catching me in places that I knew I shouldn't be. Every other day I crossed the line, I didn't mean to be so bad. I never thought you would become the friend I never had."

The rest of the kids broke in on the next set of lyrics.

"Back then, I didn't know why, why you were misunderstood. So now, I see through your eyes. All that you did was love."

"Mama, I love you. Mama, I care. Mama, I love you. Mama, my friend."

"You're my friend," John sang as they faded into the second verse. Callie and Brandon played a melody for a few seconds before Jude stepped forward to sing.

"I didn't want to hear it then, but I'm not ashamed to say it now, every little thing you said and did was right for me. I had a lot of time to think about, about the way I used to be. Never had a sense of my responsibility."

They all sang.

"Back then, I didn't know why, why you were misunderstood. So now, I see through your eyes. All that you did was love."

"Mama, I love you. Mama, I care. Mama, I love you. Mama, my friend."

"You're my friend," John echoed as the rest of them all sang, "Mama," again. "You're my friend," John repeated.

They rested a few seconds before John started the final solo.

"We're loving you," he sang. "You're loving me. A love that's true. And guaranteed."

The rest of the kids sang, "Mama, I love you. Mama, I care. Mama, my friend," as John continued repeating his solo.

On the second repeat, Jesus started echoing John's solo.

"We're loving you," John sang.

"We're loving you," echoed Jesus.

"You're loving me,"

"A love that's true,"

"And guaranteed."

John and Jesus continued their duet with everyone else sang the chorus twice. After the second run through, all of the kids sang the final lines, the music having stopped.

"Mama, I love you. Mama, I care. Mama, I love you. Mama, my friend."

As they finished, all the kids embraced in a group hug while Moms and Grandmas stood up cheering, each wiping tears from their faces.

"That was beautiful," Dana said, walking up to the kids and pulling John into a hug first before turning to the rest of the group.

"Thank you, guys," said Sharon, hugging Brandon first.

"You all are simply the best," said Stef, hugging Mariana.

"We love you," said Lena, hugging Jude.

They all entered a group hug as John yelled, "Happy Mother's Day!"