A/N: Thanks so much for all of the reviews I've gotten so far. They were high points during a rocky weekend.
Stef had already left for work by the time the kids finally rolled downstairs. All of them were fully taking advantage of their summer vacation. Lena broke the good news about the rulings before she had to go over to Anchor Bay Charter School for an administrative meeting. Brandon, Callie, Jesus, Mariana, and Jude fixed their own breakfast of cereal and fruit before they got dressed and headed for the beach.
"So, I don't get it," Callie told Brandon as they and Jude walked down the sidewalk behind Jesus and Mariana. "Why didn't your moms get married before Prop 8 was passed?"
"They wanted to," he replied. "They were planning on it, but then they heard about Prop 8 and decided to wait until after the election."
"Why?" Jude wondered. His foster siblings had given him the cliffnotes version of California's same-sex marriage history that morning.
Jesus slowed down to join the conversation. "Moms said the only thing worse than not being able to get married would be to get married and then have someone tell them it wasn't valid anymore."
"But that didn't happen with Prop 8," Callie pointed out.
"No, but they didn't know it would work that way at the time," Brandon replied. "It had already happened in San Francisco."
"Ever since we first came to live with them," Mariana recalled, "They'd always say they were married in their hearts. That was a marriage no one could take away."
"They'd just say that 'cause we were little kids," Jesus told her. "That's not the same as real marriage, and it's not fair. Lena could put her name on our adoption papers, but she couldn't legally be a Foster."
"Until now," Mariana reminded him. "Mama already said that they're going to get married now, and I can't wait."
Jesus eyed his sister suspiciously. "Why?"
"Because we get to plan a party!" she replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And after my quinceanera, I'm really good at it. I'm going to help Moms with everything."
Brandon and Jesus rolled their eyes.
Lena and Stef were both home and working on dinner by the time the kids got back from the beach that evening. "Did you get sunburned?" Stef asked Jude, looking at his slightly red shoulders as the kids all came into the kitchen.
He glanced down to check. "Uh, yeah, maybe a little."
"Brandon, can you take him upstairs and get the aloe for him? It's in Mama's and my bathroom."
"Sure."
"Can you guys put everyone's wet stuff in the washer while you're up there?" Lena added.
"Okay. Come on, bud." They took the bag Callie was holding and headed for the steps.
"So, when's the wedding?" Mariana asked her mothers with a grin as she sat at the table in the middle of the kitchen.
Lena and Stef looked at each other. "Um, we're not sure," Stef finally answered.
"I figured you'd be doing it tomorrow," Jesus commented as he reached for one of the tater tots in the container on the table.
Lena smacked his wrist. "Can't you wait five minutes? We're not starving you, Jesus!"
"To answer your question," Stef told them, "No, we're not getting married tomorrow."
"Of course not," Mariana said, shooting her brother a Look. "You can't plan a wedding in a day."
"There's not going to be much to plan," Lena told her. "We're just going to go downtown."
Her mouth fell open. "What?"
"We don't need anything fancy, love," Stef explained. "Just a simple ceremony and our family."
"But you have to!"
"Have to what?" Brandon asked as he and Jude returned. "The aloe's empty, Mom."
"Sorry, sweets," Stef told Jude. "I'll go out to the store after dinner."
He shrugged. "It doesn't hurt."
"Moms aren't having a wedding," Mariana loudly announced in order to get the conversation back to it's previous topic.
"What? Why not?" Brandon asked.
"We ARE having a wedding," Lena corrected, "But we don't need a big ceremony."
"We have better things to spend our money on," Stef added, "Like the five of you. We'll schedule the wedding as soon as we're allowed to and all we need is you guys to be there with us."
"Even us?" Jude asked, indicating himself and his sister.
"Of course," Lena replied with a smile. "This is about all of us, our family and love in general. We want you all to be a part of it."
After they ate dinner and the kitchen had been cleaned up, the kids headed upstairs. Brandon grabbed Jesus and Jude and they all got together in Callie and Mariana's room.
"We can't let the Moms do this," he told the rest of his siblings. "It's not fair to them. They've waited so long; they deserve to have something really great for their wedding."
"Weddings cost a lot of money," Callie pointed out. "And they've already thrown a big party this year."
Mariana sniffed. "They were already saving for my quince." She didn't like the idea that her mothers couldn't have a big wedding because of her huge birthday party - so she simply convinced herself it wasn't true.
"Moms might not be able to afford a big wedding," Jesus realized, "But we could do something for them."
"Like what?" Jude asked.
"We could throw a party. Here. After the ceremony downtown."
Brandon nodded. "I like it. We could invite family friends, make the food and decorations ourselves... I bet we could pull it off on our allowances."
"I can plan out everything," Mariana volunteered with a smile.
"Just remember what kind of budget you're working with," Jesus pointedly told her.
"So are we going to do this?" Brandon asked. Everyone nodded.
TBC...
