The following morning Stef was the first to wake. She checked on Callie and was relieved to find her sound asleep. She carefully got out of bed and went to make some coffee. It was only six on a Saturday but she knew that her kids would all be up soon getting ready to leave for the weekend. She and Lena had planned a wonderful, kid-free weekend but she knew that all their plans would change. Callie would not be able to go with the other kids and the time, instead, would be used to sort things out with Callie. In a way the trip was a blessing. It gave them time to focus solely on Callie without being interrupted or feeling guilty about ignoring the others. Her only other major concern was Jude. How would Jude handle the trip without his sister?
Stef had found her way into the kitchen and was sitting at the table lost in her thoughts and didn't hear her mother come into the room.
"Sweetheart, why are you up so early?" She asked as she went to get a cup of coffee for herself.
Stef looked up startled and Sharon immediately noticed the red eyes and dark circles. "What's wrong?" She asked sitting down next to her daughter.
"We had a rough night." Stef said softly wondering how to even start.
"Lena?" Sharon asked softly.
"No, Callie." Stef replied. "I caught her in the bathroom sli..." She began as a lump formed in her throat. She swallowed the lump as tears filled her eyes. "She was slitting her wrists with a blade." She finally said in a rush needing to just get the words out. She looked at her mother and was met with wide eyes and an open mouth.
Stef let out a small laugh. "Ya that was pretty much my reaction as well when I opened the door."
"What did you do?" Sharon finally asked.
"Well I was shocked until I realized she was crying. Then my goal was to take away the blade and stop the bleeding. It was really bad and took about 20 minutes of pressure to get it to stop but it finally did." Stef explained. "We tried to talk to her last night but she became so angry that I thought it was better to let her rest. That's when the second battle started. She wanted to go back to her own room. I couldn't let her just go."
"Of course not. What happened?" Sharon inquired.
"I forced her to sleep between Lena and I. She was not happy about it. She lay awake for hours just to be difficult."
"Did you sleep at all?" Sharon asked looking at her daughter's tired face.
"A little. Not until both Callie and Lena were though. Maybe a couple of hours. I've just been trying to figure out what to do."
"Do you want me to cancel the trip?" Sharon asked.
"No please don't." Stef said. "Take the kids. Not Callie of course but the rest. They are so excited and it will give us some time alone with Callie to just focus on her."
"I'm so sorry sweetheart." Sharon said gently. "This was supposed to me a nice weekend for you two."
"Honestly mom, right now there is nothing I'd rather be doing than looking after Callie." Stef admitted.
"What's wrong with Callie?" Jude asked hearing Stef as he and Jesus made their way into the kitchen.
"Good morning boys." Stef said trying to make her voice sound cheerful. "Callie isn't feeling too well so she won't be able to go with you today." She explained to Jude.
Jude just looked at her concerned. She could tell he was trying to judge if she was trying to protect him from something. She gave him a rather weak reassuring smile that resulted in him knowing that something was wrong.
"Did she do something?" He asked. "Did you change your mind?"
"About what?" Stef asked confused.
"The adoption." Jude said matter-of-factly.
"What?" Stef said surprised. "No Jude come here." She reached out for the boy and pulled him close. "Nothing can make us not want to adopt you or your sister." She said firmly.
"What did she do?" Jude asked not really believing Stef. People had made promises before and broken them. He was used to it.
Stef wasn't sure how to answer his question. "She had a rough night and didn't know how to handle it." She finally said telling him the truth without giving any details.
Jude looked at Stef as though trying to read her mind. Stef could no longer look back at the boy and so he pulled him in for another hug. Jude just stood there while Stef hugged him. This time he didn't lean in and let her comfort him.
Stef let him go when she saw Lena come into the room.
"Lena?" She asked worriedly. The single word conveyed all that Stef meant - where was Callie? was she left alone?.
Just then Callie walked into the room behind Lena. Stef gave an audible sigh of relief as Jude ran to his sister and hugged her tight.
Jude didn't ask any questions and Callie knew that he knew something was up.
"Hey young man." Sharon said encouragingly. "You ready to go to Disney?"
"We aren't going" Jude said loping down at his feet..
"Of course you are baby." Lena said as she reached an arm out to rub Jude's back.
"I don't want to go without Callie." He said.
Callie smiled back at him. She knew that Jude would love to go and that Stef and Lena wasted him to. She wasn't sure what was about to happen to her but she had to keep it together for Jude.
"Buddy, I'm not feeling so good so it's better I just stay here." Callie said carefully. "You go and have fun though."
Jude's face fell. "I know you're not sick." He mumbled as he pulled out of Callie's grasp and left the room.
Everyone just stayed still for a moment trying to understand everything when Sharon piped up. "Well let's all get ready. We should leave in half an hour." She told Jesus as they both left the room.
Mariana walked into the kitchen just then fully dressed and ready to go. "I can't wait to get to disney. You guys are going to love it." She told Callie, completely unaware of what was happening. "When mom's took us the first time we had been living with them about a year. It was the most fun I'd ever had in my life." Mariana said smiling at Callie.
Callie just rolled her eyes at Mariana and walked out of the room as Stef got up to follow her.
"What?" Mariana asked turning to Lena.
"Callie's not going today honey." She needs to stay here with us.
"What happened?" Mariana asked.
"She had a rough night and we need to make sure she's okay. We need to have a talk with her and figure some things out." She said to Mariana.
"I do need you to do one job for me though." She continued. "Keep an eye on Jude. He's not happy that Callie's not going and he's going to be a little upset, maybe even a little difficult since we are also not going to be there so I need you to help him out okay."
"Sure mom." Mariana said.