Disclaimer: I don't own the Fosters, only the plot and any characters you don't recognize from the show.

Author's Note: So, this chapter might seem like it's a bit of a filler chapter, but it's a necessary filler chapter, both to show a little of what's happened over the years and in terms of character development. Bear with me if it seems a little slow at first, and really, let me know what you think. Like it, don't like it, leave a review. Let me know. And just a hint- the more reviews, the more I am inclined to post a new chapter...Now, without further ado, I give you chapter 2!

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Chapter 2 - Meeting Mariana

She reached the diner, opened the door. There weren't very many people inside, but one woman matched Lena's description- dark brown hair, red jacket. Also, Hispanic, though Lena hadn't mentioned that. Becky wasn't very good at guessing ages, but she thought late twenties could describe the woman. The woman had a friendly face. She approached, carefully.

"Are you Becky?" the woman asked. Becky nodded.

"I'm Mariana. Nice to meet you. Have a seat. Hungry? Here's a menu. What do you want? These waffles sure look good, but then again, so do those pancakes. And the French toast. Hmm, what should I have?"

Becky took the proffered seat and menu, a little overwhelmed by all the talking. In truth, she was starving, but she didn't have a lot of money and Lena had never mentioned who would be buying. She found the cheapest thing on the menu.

"I'll just have some toast, I guess."

"Toast?! With all this good-looking food around, you want toast? It's my treat, get something good."

"It's okay. I'm not that hungry."

"When was the last time you ate?

"I had dinner about 6."

"Six? It's almost one in the morning. That was seven hours ago. You should be hungry."

The waitress came by then. "What can I get you?" she asked.

"Toast," Becky said.

Mariana looked at her, and then at the waitress. "I'll have a cup of coffee, a cup of hot chocolate, two glasses of orange juice, Belgian waffles, fruit-medley pancakes, the banana-walnut French toast, and two eggs scrambled with cheese. Oh, and some hash-browns."

The waitress finished writing all that down, and then left. She was back almost immediately with their drinks. Becky gaped at Mariana.

Mariana just smiled. "I couldn't decide what to get, so I got it all. I hope you're planning on helping me eat it all. We are going to be here a while after all."

They were silent for a while. "So, what do you want to talk about?" asked Mariana finally. Becky shrugged. Mariana gave her that look again. "Let me guess, you have so many questions you don't know where to begin, but you're also a little nervous to be talking to a stranger face-to-face. On the phone with Lena was easier." Becky started to shrug again, then nodded, feeling that Mariana was on the dot there. "In that case, I'll tell you a little about myself, and then I won't be such a stranger anymore. Okay?"

"Alright."

"I'll start right before I met Lena and Stef. I was six years old the first time I met Stef. My twin brother and I were sitting in the police station, our latest set of foster parents having just dropped us off, with all our stuff in a trash bag. It was like they had just tossed us out with the trash. Stef came by, and said hi, and gave us some lollipops. Our case worker came for us in a few hours, and took us away. I was sure that was the last time I would see the nice blonde lady. But it wasn't. A few months later, after another foster family wanted us out, our case worker dropped us off at a new home, and she was there waiting. Her and Lena and her son, Brandon, who was a little older than we were. I remember I didn't say much at first; my brother, Jesus, he did most of the talking. I talked to him, and tried to clean up his messes. He had so much energy all the time. Between his energy and my silence, no family ever kept us longer than a few months. Until Stef and Lena, that is. They were kind, they were patient, they got Jesus the meds he needed to help with his ADHD, and they were simply there for us. They didn't push me to talk; Lena said I would when I was ready."

The waitress came with their food then, and Mariana broke off her story to take a few bites, motioning for Becky to do the some. Finally, she continued her story.

"Anyway, long story short, I did. And three years later, they formally adopted us. It was a happy day, to finally have a real family again, even though I still felt...something for my biological mother. I was confused though, and I kept it quiet. I just thought that no one would love me like she did, she who gave birth to me. It had been explained to me that she wasn't well enough to take care of her kids, and I remembered when CPS took Jesus and I away. She hadn't been around for a few days, and we hadn't eaten. But I thought, maybe, all she needed was time to get well and she would be back for us."

Mariana stopped talking to eat some more. Becky, who had been eating, had liked what she heard. It seemed like Lena was as nice as she'd thought, given all she'd done for Mariana and Jesus. But people are a lot more likely to be nice to little kids. It's like getting a dog; everyone wants a puppy. But she wasn't a puppy anymore. She was a teenager. Nobody likes teenagers.

Mariana resumed her narrative. "I got into contact with her about five year after the adoption. She seemed like she really regretted giving us up, and I liked looking like my mother. She said she was trying to get back on her feet, and I realized my younger self's version of the story needed a little adjustment. She wasn't sick, exactly, not cancer sick, like I kind of thought. She had a drug problem, also a sickness, but not where my mind was. I tried to help her. I stole my brother's pills and sold them at school to make money to give to her so she could pay for a treatment center. Later I realized she was manipulating me. She took money from me like I was an ATM, and when she asked me to steal something from my mothers', I realized then that blood wasn't the strongest determinant of love. But I had gotten Jesus involved at that point, and one night he went to try to get her away from the man she was shacking up with and to a shelter. I was worried, and finally I told Mom. She went after him, and she ended up shot."

She stopped to eat again. Becky was entranced by her story. And also by her calm. Mariana gestured at her to resume eating also.

"It was a really scary time, and I knew I had majorly screwed up. I was so certain that this was the end of my family, that Jesus and I would get kicked back to the system. Who wouldn't send us back? We had gotten one of our adoptive parents shot? But Lena and Stef aren't most people. They were mad, sure, but they forgave us, Stef quicker than Lena actually. They took my birth mom in for questioning, and came down pretty hard on Mike, Stef's partner, who had shot and killed the man who shot Stef. He almost lost his badge because of it. But we all came through. And we all came through again when my sister Callie ran away and almost killed herself. And when my brother Jude was bullied after he came out." She noticed Becky had stopped eating. "Have a question?"

"You didn't mention Callie and Jude before.".

"Oh, yeah, Moms adopted them, too. Callie was right about your age actually, Jude was younger. Callie also almost got Mom shot at one point, when she snuck out to rescue Jude from an abusive foster father, the same one that got her stuck in juvie for a while after she banged up his car to get him to stop beating Jude. This was, by the way, all happening at the same point I was sneaking around to see Ana, my birth mom."

Becky thought about this. They adopted someone her age once? Maybe these were people who did like teenagers. And they kept Mariana after she got one of them shot? Were they saints?

"Anyway, lots of drama later, but all five of us went to and graduated college. At first, I wanted to study fashion-" Becky could've guessed that based on her fashion-trendy clothing- "but then I got interested in addiction, to try to understand my birth mom, and now I'm an addiction specialist. I haven't forgotten my love of fashion, though, so I help with the San Diego branch of Dress for Success. Have you heard of it?"

"Maybe...?" Becky offered hesitantly. It sorta sounded familiar...

"We, er, 'promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support, and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and life'. That's straight from the mission statement, by the way."

"You came far."

"Thanks to Lena, and Stef, I did. I owe everything to them. But I haven't forgotten where I came from. I also want to be a foster parent, once I'm settled and have more time to devote to children, but for now I work as a CASA-"

"What's that?"

"A Court Appointed Special Advocate. Essentially, we're appointed on behalf of a judge, to speak on the behalf of a child, usually in custody disputes, sometimes with abuse allegations. It's our job to collect information from parents, teachers, family members, and the child. We review records, and even to visit the home, all for the purpose of figuring out what's in the best interests of the child, and then we present it in court."

"I didn't even know there were such people."

"Well, there are. I've even worked with some of my moms' kids." Becky started, and looked at her suspiciously. "No, I'm not going to turn you in. However, if you ever need me, here's my number." Mariana passed a business-card across the table, which Becky took. She seemed to be getting a collection. "I know what they do now, and that it's only quasi-legal at best. But I agree with them that it's necessary. And they need somebody local, somebody to cover for them until someone can come. So that's why I take calls in the middle of the night, asking me to help them out, sit with a kid during the four-hour wait. I've given them rides to safer locations than the ones they called from. I've even shown up at 4 in the morning, only to find out that the kid has disappeared. But knowing what they did for me, how could I do anything else?"

Becky nodded, reassured. It made sense. But she still didn't exactly like the fact that she was sitting with someone who worked for the court. But then it dawned on her, maybe that was a good thing. She was scared of being turned into the police, not that Haven was some big trick anymore. And the fact that Mariana worked for the court gave it just a little more validity.

"Now, am I less of a stranger to you?" Becky nodded, shyly. "Well, I won't make you tell me your story to be less of a stranger to me. Unless you want to. In that case, I'm all ears. But if you've been vetted to come to Haven, then I know your story probably isn't the most comfortable, and that you probably aren't the most comfortable telling it. Yes?"

Becky nodded. It seemed like Mariana had a gift for knowing exactly what was on her mind. That, or she had just done it a lot. Either way, it made her feel comfortable around Mariana. Comfortable enough to ask a question. "Tell me more about Lena and Stef, please. Stef's a cop? And you work for the courts? But isn't this place not exactly, um, by-the-book? I'm so confused about Haven, but Lena says I have to see it before I really understand."

"Stef was a cop; she's not anymore. That's an important distinction. She keeps some of her old contacts, just in case things need looking into, she does some detecting around some of the kids they take in – she was able to put a pimp away once – and she makes sure that even if what they do sometimes isn't precisely legal, it's not illegal either. And Lena's right. I mean, I could tell you about it, and I'd be happy to, but you'll still be confused. It's just not one of those places that can be explained easily. "

"Alright. Might as well wait. At least it seems like nothing bad will happen there."

"Definitely not. Rest assured on that point." Mariana smiled at her again, and this time, Becky smiled back. "Want something more to drink? Another hot chocolate? We've still got more than an hour." Becky nodded, and Mariana waved over the waitress, to refill her coffee and Becky's hot chocolate. People had come and gone in the time they'd been sitting there, most of them getting after-party food, but at the moment, the place was virtually empty.

"So Lena and Stef..." A pause. "They're together? Married?"

"Yes. That doesn't bother you, does it?" Becky shook her head. "Stef was married to a man before Lena, Mike actually, her old partner and my brother Brandon's father, but she says she was never really happy with him. Lena was the assistant Vice Principal at the school where Stef brought Brandon to start kindergarten, and it all kinda went from there. They were together three years before Jesus and I joined them, and after Stef got shot, she proposed to Lena from her hospital bed."

"Really? Sounds like something from a movie, or a tv show."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it? They had been domestic partners for eleven years and finally Stef proposed. She was worried about what her dad would say. He wasn't the most supportive of her 'lifestyle choices'." Mariana gave air quotes and an eye roll. "But he came around eventually, actually. He never actually said anything negative to Jude or moms when Jude came out, and a few years after the wedding, we even convinced him to go to Pride with us." Mariana smiled at the memory.

"That's nice" was all Becky said, her mind still processing it all. Does that mean...would it be safe...for her there, to explore these feelings that were so confusing? They sipped quietly at their hot chocolates for a while.

"So, Dani should be here in about ten minutes or so. Want any last minute food? We finished eating a while ago, and it's a bit of a drive. I'm sure Dani will stop if you get hungry, but there's not a lot of choice for a while, especially at this time of night. I'm assuming of course that you still want to go?"

"I do. Want to go that is. I don't know about the food. I'm not really hungry, just kinda tired."

"I don't blame you. It's almost five in the morning after all. It'd be tired too if I hadn't been sipping coffee all this time. You could sleep in the car if you wanted to."

"Maybe. I'll see. Won't Dani be tired too?"

"Dani will be fine, I'm sure. She makes this drive often enough. She knows how to keep herself awake. She's probably had more coffee than I've had. She'll probably come in for a cup when she makes it here."

"Okay." Becky felt a little bad, that all these nice people were going so much out of her way to help her, but she didn't really have another choice. And they treated it like it was completely commonplace.

Just then, Mariana's phone rang. "It's Dani," she said and answered it. Becky only heard about half the conversation, but it really only seemed to confirm that they were still at the diner. Mariana hung up. "She'll be here in five minutes." Becky nodded. "Any last minute questions for me?" Becky shook her head. "Okay then."

They sat in silence for a few moments, nursing the dregs of their drinks, until Mariana spoke again. "I think you'll like it there, I really do. I know Lena and Stef'll be great to you. And you can trust them. Really. They only want to help you. Maybe grown-ups haven't always been there for you, but really, they're good ones. Okay?"

"Alright."

"And you have my number. If you ever want, or need, to get in touch with me, just call it. Whenever. I'm serious, alright?"

"Alright."

Just then the door of the dinner opened up and a pretty African American girl walked in. Becky judged her to be a few years older than herself. "And that," Mariana said, "would be Dani." She waved Dani over to them. Dani stopped to talk to the waitress on the way over, and then came by their table. Mariana got up, and the two hugged. It was obvious to Becky that they knew each other well.

"Dani, meet Becky. Becky, Dani," Mariana said, introducing them briefly.

Dani held out a hand, which Becky took gingerly. Dani covered it with her other hand, looked into Becky's eyes, and said, "Nice to meet you." The sincerity in her eyes was unmistakeable.

"Nice to meet you," Becky replied.

"I'd hug you too, but I don't know how you'd take that from a stranger. I'm a big one for hugs."

Becky considered it. "I actually think I'd be okay with it."

"Okay then," Dani said, and hugged her briefly. "So," she said, after they parted, "can I sit for a minute? The waitress is grabbing me a cup of coffee and a bite to eat."

Mariana padded the booth next to her. "C'mon, sit." She looked at Becky. "What I tell you about the coffee?" Dani laughed. They talked about commonplaces for a while. It sounded to Becky like they were catching up, on their lives, on people they both knew. She just stayed silent and listened. And the last of her apprehension melted away. This wasn't a trick. She didn't even have to see Haven to come to that conclusion. While Mariana could, theoretically, have been lying to her this entire time, which she just couldn't believe, this friendly banter, sharing stories about Haven, seemed far too real to ever be a trick. Nobody would go through this much effort just to trap her for some nefarious purpose. She was being paranoid. Muscles that she hadn't even known were tense relaxed.

The waitress came by with a foam cup of coffee and two foam boxes. She refilled Mariana's coffee too. Dani checked one, and then opened the other. It revealed a batch of banana-walnut french toast, identical to what they shared earlier. Mariana laughed, and pointed it out.

"What, it's good!" Dani said defensively and dug in. She inhaled a third of it, and Mariana's coffee. "I'll eat the rest on the way." Mariana noted Becky's look of surprise at the little Dani ate.

"Dani eats little meals every two to three hours. She claims it's how she gets her energy."

"It's true!" Dani argued. "And Lena does the same thing most of the time."

"True enough," Mariana agreed good-naturedly.

"Speaking of which," Dani said, turning to Becky, "we ought to be going. It's a long drive back. You ready?" Becky nodded. They all stood up. Mariana and Dani hugged again, and Dani grabbed her coffee and boxes. Becky turned to Mariana.

"Thank you," she said, feeling like it wasn't nearly enough. Mariana hugged her. "You'll be okay," she said. "I know it. Whatever happened before, you'll be okay now, with Lena and Stef and Dani. You believe it, okay?"

"Alright."

Mariana let her go. "And you have my number." Becky padded the pocket where she stored it. "Okay then."

"Time to go," Dani said. She led the way out the door and onto the street. Mariana went one way, and Dani led Becky the other way.