Chapter 1

"Callie! Brandon! 5 minutes before we're late! Let's go!" Lena yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Stef had already left with Jude and she had been trying to wrangle her two oldest ever since her wife had left.

Callie came running down the stairs and leaped into her mother's arms.

"B is coming Mama." Callie told her as she wrapped her arms around her neck.

Lena stood her daughter on her feet and helped her get her jacket and backpack on. Brandon came down with his bag already in his hands. He glanced at Lena guiltily as he zipped it up.

"Are you ready?" She asked him as she took Callie's hand.

"Yup. I'm ready." Brandon told her smiling to himself, thinking that he was actually going to get away with bringing his Gameboy to school. He and his friends were planning on playing Pokémon at recess.

Lena knew that something was up with him just by the look on her sons face. Oh well, she thought, I'll find out sooner or later.

Meanwhile

San Diego Police Department

Stef was walking into the police department and noticed a little boy and girl sitting on the bench.

"What are they in here for? Armed robbery?" She asked her boss.

Captain Roberts shook her head, "Their foster mother brought them in about an hour ago, said they couldn't take care of them anymore. We're waiting on CPS to come pick them up."

Stef glanced at the two children and grabbed two of the lollipops she kept in her desk drawer. She walked over to them and bent down.

"Hi guys. My names Stef. What are yours?"

The little girl wouldn't look her in the eye, but the boy answered.

"I'm Jesus, and this is my sister Mariana."

"Jesus and Mariana? You're brother and sister? Or is this your wife?" Stef asked him jokingly. Both kids smiled. "Well, I'm sure you guys don't like candy, but I brought these just in case." She held up the lollipops and offered them to the children. Jesus immediately took his, but Mariana wouldn't move. Jesus looked at Stef and took the sucker from her and handed to his sister. She took it from him and smiled at Stef.

Two hours later she couldn't stop thinking about those kids. She pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to her wife.

Hey love, can we meet for lunch? We need to talk.

-Stef

Anchor Beach Charter School

When Lena got the text message from Stef she wasn't sure whether to worry or not. That thought was interrupted as Brandon's teacher brought him and three other boys into the office. A plastic bag clearly showing Brandon's Gameboy was present, along with trading cards, a cable of some sort, and three more of the little handheld games that seemed so popular. Anchor Beach had a no electronics policy for the elementary school. Now she knew why Brandon had such a shit eating grin this morning. Little squirt thought he'd actually get away with it.

She decided to go easy on the boys, because they were little boys after all, obsessed with video games and Pokémon. She took the bags and told each boy that she was going to make a call to their parents. For Brandon, that meant calling Stef, the look on the boy's face said it all. Stef was harder on him because he was the oldest. He also knew better than to do most things.

Lena sent the boys out as Stef knocked on her open door and smiled at her son, who gave her a wide berth and ran out. Stef laughed and closed the door as she regarded her wife.

"What was that all about?"

Lena held up the bag of items, "Oh the usual…forbidden Pokémon battles on the playground, smuggled Gameboys in backpacks."

Stef laughed as she kissed her wife, "I take it Mr. Man decided to try and sneak his game…thing."

"Yea. I knew something was up, he came down this morning with this little smirk on his face."

Stef busted out in laughter at this. "I bet he doesn't think he's so hot now!"

The two laughed for about 5 minutes before they stopped to take a breather.

"So, what did you want to talk about? Is…everything okay?" Lena asked

"Yea, I was…" Stef decided to cut to the chase, "There were these kids at the station today when I got there, and their foster parents decided they couldn't take care of them anymore. When I left they were still sitting there."

"Where are they gonna go if they can't find a new foster home?" Lena asked.

"To a children's home until they can get a placement for both of them." Stef looked at Lena with pleading eyes.

"Oh no Stef. No. Do you really think that we can handle two more children!?"

"Lena, it'll just be for a little bit. Just until they can find someone to adopt them or find a permanent home for them. Please Lena. I just can't stand to think about what would happen to them. What if it were Callie and Jude, Babe?"

"Stef we can't just take in every child we see. We have other kids to think about. Three of them, and one of them doesn't even sleep through the night." Lena looked at her wife and realized that it was the same look she gave her when she first brought up the prospect of fostering. She sighed, "Where would we even put them?"

"Well, we could put the little girl in with Callie and the boy in with Jude or Brandon. Who knows, having her there might help Cal. We may even find her snuggled up with her instead of tangled in between us."

Lena smiled, "Okay, but we have to talk to the kids first."

Stef smiled back at Lena and jumped into her wife's chair and hugged her tight, causing the chair to fall backwards. Both women started laughing again as they lay stunned on the floor.

"Lena, I need-" Lena's boss walked in saw both women laying on the floor and laughing.

"Hi…there…Karina…" Lena pushed the words from her mouth as she tried to decide whether she was embarrassed or to laugh some more.

"I don't even wanna know. I'm locking your door. Keep in mind that there are children here and that you are in a school. I need to talk to you after you're…done here." Karina turned and locked the door and then turned around again. "And be sure to disinfect before anyone comes in here." She told them as she smirked.

They heard the door close and busted out laughing once more.