A/N: So, my super awesome guardian angel for this story Hidden Joy (GO READ HER WORK IT'S AWESOME) told me I need to beef up the parts with Jesus, Mariana, Jude, and Callie and I totally agree. So I gave them their own chapter. Enjoy y'all.
...
November, 2004
Mariana is crying.
To Jesus, it's seems like she's always crying. He doesn't remember a Mariana that isn't sad and scared. He can't remember the last time his sister smiled or laughed. Jesus doesn't remember the last time he smiled either, but that's not something a five year old should think about.
The last foster home wasn't that bad. The lady was nice, really tried to feed them every night and didn't get mad when Mariana snuck into his bed at night, but she didn't have any money.
She couldn't take care of them, but the nice lady with the lollipops can.
She made Mariana smile, so did her partner. Their son gave him one of his toy trucks and their nieces let Mariana play with their dolls.
He hopes they don't have to leave.
...
October, 2007
They signed the papers with their messy eight year old scrawls, their mom kissing their cheeks and Brandon bouncing off the walls in the pews.
"They're going to be my siblings," he tells Bay for probably the twentieth time that day. He would tell Daphne, but he's to excited to sign, his hands are moving to fast for that.
The judge smiles from his seat and says, "Jesus and Mariana Gutieres, you are now Jesus and Mariana Foster." Their moms hug them and Brandon joins in and they've never felt so loved in their whole lives.
...
June, 2013
Her new social worker didn't tell her anything about this home. He didn't tell her where Bill was, or what was going to happen to Jude. This guy was crap, Bill would have had Jude in the back of her new foster mom's car.
But he's not, so Callie keeps asking "where is Jude? Why can't I see Jude?" through her split lip and he denies everything.
"I don't know what you're talking about," is all he says and introduces her to her new foster mom. "Callie, this is Lena." He keeps talking, saying something about a group home, but Callie isn't listening to him. She just wanted to know where her brother is and end up in a good foster home for once. She feels so helpless she wants to cry.
Her foster mom- Lena- smiles at her and takes her in, even though Callie's face is bruised and she'd just gotten out of Juvie. She says, "it's just for a few weeks, right?"
So Lena takes her home, where she has a partner and three other kids. Callie is hostile and mean and says some things she really regrets. She hates it, but it makes it easier for when she has to leave.
...
Water never stops flowing. He shouldn't be wasting it, they're in a drought, but it's relaxing.
Water never stops coming. It's reliable.
He thinks he hears the knock on the door. He's not sure, it doesn't really register. His foster dad scowls at him, ask him if he's deaf. He's not, he can hear the boy at the door talking about the metro and he hears when his foster dad starts screaming.
And Callie is there and a his foster dad has a gun and two other people come charging in with guns. Jude has never been more scared in his life, but it's just for a few moments.
Less then an hour later, he's at a new home. Callie is there with him and, even though, everyone is shaken up and scared they're nice. They keep saying, "just for a few nights" and "you're not going back into the system," which kind of contradict each other, but make Jude smile anyway.
He hopes he and Callie found their forever home.
...
March, 2014
Jude had Lena's hand on his shoulder and Callie gripping his hand when he signed the papers. Callie couldn't stop smiling next to him.
Their family was in the pews. Brandon and Jesus were grinning, Mariana basically jumping in excitement. Daphne, Regina, and Bay barely seen behind them but still there. The girls from Girls United plus Rita cheering and Connor giving him a big grin and a thumbs up.
Then the judge looked at the papers and smiled, doing whatever it is judges do and finally making Callie and Jude part of a family.
