Sweet 16 Part 2

Summary - Everyone prepares for the big party and Stewart, Dana and Sharon come to town for the party and share some old stories. Plus the big surprise for Jesus and Mariana is slowly taking shape.

Author`s Notes - This is more of a filler chapter that helps sets the stage for the main event. Also i apologize for being late finishing it. I`ll try to the next and final part before the winter premiere.

The Fosters were packed up in the SUV on a Saturday afternoon drive for their day at Skateland.

Stef couldn`t contain her excitement while driving. "This is going to be so great." She said while making a turn. "I think that you guys are going to love it."

"I don't know Mom." Mariana moaned from the backseat. "Constantly falling down on our butts doesn't sound like much fun."

"You've gotta give it a try." Jesus said.

"Yeah that's easy for you to say. You and Mom are like the only ones who knows how to skate."

"Don't worry about. I`ll catch ya."

The family arrived at Skateland a few minutes later and made their ways inside where they rented their skates and headed out on the skating rink. Stef and Jesus were not surprisingly doing well on their skates, while everyone else were struggling to stand up on their skates.

"Oh my god, Stef!" Lena yelled as she was about to fall down on the rink.

"I got ya." Stef said as she skated over to catch Lena.

"I feel like such a klutz."

"Come on, you can do it Foster." Stef said in her best drill sergeant voice, which got a laugh out of Lena. "There's no such thing as can't."

Lena resumed skating on her own, which started with some awkward steps, but after a few minutes, she finally got it down and happily skated around with Stef.

"Wooooooooooo!" Lena yelled as she skated around the rink while the rest of the family happily watched her.

After 15 minutes, the moms leave the rink, feeling weary from all of the skating they had just done.

"That was so much fun." Lena said as she and Stef sat down at a bench.

"Yeah." Stef said while trying to catch her breath.

"I thought that i would be falling down on my butt a lot, but your instructions really worked."

"Well it doesn't hurt that you`re a great student." Stef said as she dranks some water.

"I learn from the best." Lena said, which immediately got a big smile and a kiss from Stef.

The moms watched the kids skating around the rink. Stef and Lena looked on happily as Brandon and Callie were doing a playful dance together, Mariana was doing her best impression of a figure skater and Jesus and Jude were doing some mock roller derby moves.

"You know we ought to do this more often." Lena said.

"Yeah we should." Stef said as she and Lena got back up to go back on the rink to skate some more.

_

The next few days passed with the family busy as usual with school and work. Stef, Lena, Jesus and Mariana had a meeting with the party planner on Tuesday to go over the plans for the party like the music and Jesus and Mariana's big entrance. Later that evening, Stef and Lena had their meeting with Kelsey's parents to get an update on her behavior since coming back from rehab. The next day at Anchor Beach School, Lena had just finished a conversation with a couple of the teachers in the hall when she spotted Kelsey leaving her class during the period break.

"Hey Kelsey." Lena said somewhat loudly, which immediately got Kelsey's attention.

"Hey Mrs. Foster." Kelsey said as she approached Lena. "You want to talk to him?"

"Yes i do. Can we go outside?"

"Sure."

Lena and Kelsey immediately walked outside and stood in the corner of the building.

"Me and Officer Foster had a talk with your parents last night." Lena said. "We`ve come to decision."

Kelsey anxiously braced herself for what Lena was about to tell her.

"We did a lot of careful consideration about how your behavior recently along with your grades, which i`m pleased to see are up, and we`ve decided to let you go to the party."

Kelsey was about to jump up and down for joy after hearing that she was allowed to go to the party, but kept herself from doing it after seeing the stern look Lena was giving her.

"Thank you Mrs. Foster." Kelsey said in a reserved tone. "I`m very grateful about this."

"Don`t make me regret this." Lena said.

"I won't." Kelsey said as she was shaking Lena's hand. "I have to go to class. Thank you Mrs. Foster."

Kelsey quickly walked away from Lena. After Kelsey felt that she had a safe distance away from Lena, she broke out with a big smile on her face. "Yes!" She said to herself while pumping her fist.

_

Chase and Mariana got together the next day after school to meet with a costume specialist that he knew to help design the dress that Mariana was going to wear at the party. After the meeting, Chase and Mariana went to a Starbucks where they had Cappucino, Caffè Latte and Butter Croissant.

"I forgot to ask you about how you're going to get your hair done." Chase said as he took a sip of Cappucino.

"Don`t worry about it." Mariana said. "One of my moms' hairdresser is going to do it, but thanks anyway."

"You`re welcome. Just wanted to be sure, because i would've made a call or two."

Mariana beemed with a big smile on her face. "Aw that's so considerate of you." She said while giving Chase a kiss on the cheek.

The couple smiled at each other for a moment before eating and drinking their meals and coffee.

"So are you going to come to the dinner on Friday night?" Mariana asked as she took a bite of her Butter Croissant. "My grandparents are going to be there."

"I`m afraid i can't make it." Chase sighed. "I have to do another short film for film class and you know how long they take to film sometimes."

"Oh okay." Mariana said glummily. "Grams has been looking forward to meeting you."

"I`m really sorry about this."

"It`s okay. I don't want you to get a failing grade on the account that you have to meet my grandparents."

"I`m glad that you're understanding about this."

Chase finished his
Butter Croissant and took a sip of his Cappucino before he noticed Mariana in a somber mood, picking at her food. "Are you alright?" He asked. "If this is about the dinner-"

"No it's not about the dinner." Mariana replied, interrupting Chase. "I was just thinking about Lexi."

"You wish that she was here right now."

"Yeah i do. I was so terrible to her at my Quinceañera last year and i wanted so much to make up for it until she had to go back to Honduras with her parents."

"Maybe you could chat with her before the party."

"It's not the same. We always talked about what our Sweet 16 parties would be like for so long and it just feel so incomplete without her."

Chase saw how much Mariana was hurting at the moment and immediately put his hand on top of her's.

"I`m so sorry about this." Chase said. "If i were able to, i would find a way for Lexi to come back here so that you and Jesus would be with her, even if it was just for the party."

Mariana felt very moved by what Chase had just said to her and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You're the best, you know that."

"I try to make an effort at least."

Chase and Mariana shared a laugh and then a brief kiss before Mariana noticed the time on her watch.

"I hate to interrupt this," Mariana said. "but i have to get back home. My moms will kill me if i`m out too late on a school night."

"I think that they'll go after me first." Chase said as he and Mariana gathered their stuff to throw in the trash before heading back to the Fosters' place.

_

Friday came with the Fosters welcoming Stewart, Dana and Sharon back in town. The kids eagerly greeted their grandparents when they met up with them at the house. After doing some catching up, Stef and Lena ordered the kids to get dressed up for dinner out at a steakhouse downtown. The family listened to some stories from Stewart, Dana and Sharon during the dinner.

"I really like your idea for the party." Stewart said. "However i wish that it had a 70s theme instead. I would love to show some of my old dance moves."

Lena immediately covered her face to hide her embarassment when her father mentioned him dancing. "Oh god dad." She said.

"Hey i can still get down at my old age. Maybe me and your grandmother can show you kids how to do the Hustle after dinner."

"Oh i would love to see that." Sharon said enthusiastically, much to everyone's amusement.

"What was Moms like back in the 80s?" Mariana asked.

"We were about to get to that." Dana said. "I remember Lena used to watch Soul Train every Saturday afternoon. Afterwards she would be in her room, practicing whatever moves she saw on there."

"Lena would beg us to buy whatever outfit she saw on there." Stewart said. "We had some rather intense debates on the appropriateness of some outfits."

"We sure did, although those outfits are tamed compared to what some of these girls wear today."

"Tell me about it." Sharon interjected. "I could never picture Stef wearing some of those crazy outfits."

"What kind of outfits did Mom use to wear?" Jesus asked.

"Stef used to wear those jeans with the holes that she cut up like that band she loved back then. What was their name?"

"Def Leppard." Stef answered.

"Yeah. I remember she used to watch MTV all day and ran up the phone bill requesting one of their videos."

"Did she go to one of their concerts back in the day?" Callie asked.

"Just one. Stef wore me and her father down, begging us to go to their concert and even made the honor roll until we reluctantly let her. Of course we said no when she wanted to go see Motley Crue."

"And i`m still a little mad about that." Stef said.

"You ought to be thanking us. I've heard some stories about them."

"It's not like i was going to do anything with them."

Everyone laughed at Stef and Sharon's discussion for a moment before finishing their dinner.

"So Mariana, are we going to meet Chase at the party?" Dana asked.

"Yes Grams, Chase will be at the party." Mariana replied as she pulled out her cell phone. "In fact here`s a new picture i took of him.

Sharon and Dana immediately went over by Mariana to see the picture of Chase.

"Oh my." Sharon said, impressed by the picture of Chase wearing a suit. "You did pretty good for yourself."

"Chase is quite a handsome young man." Dana said.

"Oh stop that Dana." Stewart said while rolling his eyes.

"Do i detect some jealousy?"

"No. You`re making a fool of yourself fawning over that young man."

"Oh Stewart, you know that you`re always be #1 to me."

"I`m flattered." Stewart said as Dana kissed him on the cheek. "So Jesus are you still going out with that girl Lexi?"

"Umm no Grandpa." Jesus replied in a sullen tone. "She had to go back down to Honduras with her parents."

"Oh i`m sorry about that."

"She was such a nice girl." Dana said.

"No it's alright." Jesus said.

Brandon surveyed the scene at the table for a moment and saw how uncomfortable Jesus was talking about Lexi.

"So who wants dessert?" Brandon asked as he stood up.

"I could use some chocolate cake." Stewart replied. "You want anything honey?"

"I want some of that cake too."

Brandon, Stewart, Jesus, Callie, Jude and Stef left the table to go get some dessert. As they went where the cake was at, Jesus went to pull Brandon aside.

"Hey thanks for doing that." Jesus said.

"No problem man." Brandon said as he and Jesus went to get in line.

_

Jesus went back upstairs after getting a quick snack from the kitchen, sat down on his bed and turned on his laptop. Usually he chatted with Lexi online in the evening. However Jesus noticed that she wasn't online and then saw an email from her.

Hey Birthday Boy,

Sorry to bring you some bad news, but i`m going to be away this weekend. My parents had an urgent trip all of a sudden and i have to go with them. I`m sorry that i won't able to chat with you and Mariana. I hope that you guys have a great Sweet 16 party tomorrow. I wish that i could be there.

XOXO

Lexi

Jesus looked at the email for a moment before turning off the laptop and sitting it on the dresser. As he went to turn in for the night, Jesus felt a mix of frustration and sadness that Lexi wasn't going to be at the party and wondered if it would be worth celebrating.

To be continued...