Callie calls Lena 'Mom' for the first time.
(Someone asked if I'd do one for Lena since I had done one for Stef.)
It had been weeks since Callie had let the word 'mom' slip with regard to Stef and although everyone seemed happy with it Callie still felt somewhat awkward about it. She had avoided addressing Stef with any title since that day. She did not want to go back to calling her 'Stef' but at the same time she was still a little nervous about calling her 'mom'. Using the term by accident was one thing but it took more courage than she had to use it knowingly.
She also felt a little odd about calling Stef 'mom' because she hadn't addressed Lena with that title yet and she didn't want to hurt either of them. Just using the word with Lena to make up for it seemed unfair somehow and so for the last few weeks Callie used other methods to get their attention when required.
It was a lazy Saturday morning and Stef and Lena were both in the kitchen with Mariana while Brandon was up in his room practicing for a recital he had the following week. Jesus was out front teaching Jude how to skateboard. Callie had been in the shower and came down into the kitchen to grab some breakfast.
"'Mornin' sweetheart." Lena greeted as she looked up from her paper.
"Hey" Callie said with a smile as she sat down with only banana on her plate.
"Sleep well?" Stef asked as she poured Callie a glass of juice and added two slices of toast to Callie's plate.
Callie smiled to herself causing Stef to ask her what was so amusing.
"Nothing, just..." Callie began as she looked at the two women in front of her who raised their eyebrows waiting for her to continue.
"It's just no one's ever cared if we ate too little. That's all." She brushed it off as no big deal.
"Well in this house we do care. In fact you'll be in trouble for not finishing everything on your plate missy." Stef said in mock firmness.
Callie and Mariana both smiled discussed their plans for the day while Stef and Lena went back to reading their respective papers. All was quiet in the house until the door burst open with Jude and Connor bursting in.
"Connor's dad is outside." Jude began as he walked up beside Callie. "He invited me to go to the museum with them today. Can I?" Jude asked as he looked directly at Callie.
"You'll have to ask them." Callie said, pointing towards the adults in the room.
"I know. I will. I just wanted to make sure it was okay with you too." Jude said matter-of-factly.
"It's fine by me." Callie said and Jude turned towards his moms.
"Can I?" He asked again.
"May I." Lena corrected. "And yes you may, but I'm coming out with you to talk to Connor's dad." She said as she got up and followed a happy Jude and Conner out of the kitchen leaving Stef, Callie and Mariana alone.
"I'm sorry he asked me." Callie said to Stef. "He's been doing it so long." She said by way of explanation.
"Don't worry about it sweets." Stef said. "He asks us as well and we know you aren't going to put him in any danger." Stef smiled to ease Callie's mind.
"I think it's cute." Mariana piped up. "He trusts you so much."
Callie just smiled as she buttered her second slice of toast.
Lena came back into the kitchen followed by Brandon and once they were both seated Callie tentatively looked up and said "I'm going to talk to him tonight." She said and Lena looked up confused since she had not heard the beginning of the conversation.
"About asking you permission?" Stef asked.
Callie nodded. "We have you now I know that he's safe. I'm his sister not his mother and I'm not the one that needs to give him the permission to do things."
"Okay." Stef said cautiously.
Callie got up and walked around the table. She put her arms around Stef and Lena and hugged them tight. "Thanks for letting me be the kid again." She said softly."I love you mom." she whispered as she kissed Lena and then Stef on the cheek.
All five people in the room had huge smiles on their faces and Callie knew that from that day on she would be using the word 'mom' a whole lot more.
