Chapter Three: Second Chances
"Not pregnant," Matt whispered back to Rachel after she got her test results back.
"Oh, thank god," Rachel said back. "I definitely couldn't be a mother right now."
"I definitely couldn't be a father right now," Matt said back.
They were sitting in the waiting room of Katie's practice. They had just gotten the news that Rachel wasn't pregnant and were sitting their taking a moment to talk. All four of the parents were delighted to hear the news as well.
"This doesn't change us, does it?" Rachel asked.
"What do you mean?" Matt asked.
"Like, are we still together?" Rachel asked.
Matt surprised by this, "Of course we are," he said. "Why would that change?"
"I don't know," she said, crying for the first time.
Matt, who was sitting across from her, moved next to her and pulled her in closer, "I'm not going anywhere, babe. I'm right here." He said. He kissed her forehead and held her close for a minute. "I love you."
"I love you too," she got out between tears.
Stef walked into the apartment and saw that David was home in his room with the door shut, she heard music playing from underneath the door.
She loved her baby brother so much and she knew that he was struggling, their parents had died so suddenly and she knows that she hasn't yet grieved properly and she knows that her brother hasn't either. It had been ten years since their parents passed, but the two siblings were the best at hiding hard emotions. The two of them were so similar and she just wants to get inside of his head, but she also knew how he would shut down. She was at a loss of what to do. She wanted to give the boy space, but she wanted to also scoop him up and hold him close all the time. With all the crime she saw as a police officer, she didn't want her baby brother to ever experience that.
Her thoughts were interrupted with a knock at the door, Stef confused walked over to open it, surprised to see Lena standing there with takeout, "Hi honey," the police officer said. "What a surprise."
"My boys are with their mom tonight, so I thought I'd be here with Chinese food." Lena said. "Can I come in?"
"Of course," Stef said taking a step back as Lena walked through the door, kissing the blonde as she passed.
"Where's David?" Lena asked.
"In his room, doing homework, I think." Stef said. "I'm not actually sure, just got home myself."
"Oh great," Lena said. "Can you get him? Food's better when it's hot."
Stef leaned over and kissed Lena again, "Of course, love." She said. "Thank you for this, by the way. Means a lot."
"Of course, honey." Lena said. "Anything to help."
Stef went to get David, she knocked on his door, "David, honey?" She called out. She heard some sort of muffled voice. She opened the door slowly to see her brother, face-first in his pillow. "What's wrong?" Stef asked, concerned.
"Nothing," David said muffled into his pillow.
Stef sat down next to him, rubbing his back, "Are you sure?" She asked.
David flipped over, "I'm just- just tired." He said. "I have no energy to do anything tonight."
Stef laid next to him, causing the boy to curl into her, "Yeah?" She asked, causing him to nod. "Any particular reason why?"
David got quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to say what was on his mind, "I miss Mom and Dad," he finally said. "Does it ever get easier?" He asked.
"I mean, not easier, but you learn ways to cope." Stef said, pulling him closer to her, feeling his need for physical comfort.
"I wish I could've said I love you one more time to them," he said. "We didn't end on bad terms, but it still feels like I could've said I love you before heading to school that day, y'know?"
Stef nodded, "I know, hun. I wish I would've called them before." She said. The lied in silence for a while before Stef said, "Lena's here with dinner. She brought Chinese food."
David sat up and stretched, "Okay," he said getting up.
What the two didn't know is that Lena was listening outside the door with an sympathetic smile on her face. She loved watching Stef with David. It was something she knew she could look forward to with her love and her children, it was what told her that she had found that person that she was going to spend the rest of her life with and she never had to question it.
Matt was staring into space thinking about what happened earlier with Rachel thinking that he was going to break up with her because she wasn't pregnant. His knees were bouncing up and down making his stepmom ask the question, "Are you okay?" His knees continued bouncing, "Matt," she said firmly. "Matt," she said waving her hand in front of his face.
"Hm, what?" He said.
"I asked if you were okay." Olivia said, making both Josh and Katie look at him weirdly.
"Yeah, yeah." He said. "I'm fine. Just thinking about stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" Katie asked.
"School stuff," he lied not wanting to get into it with his mom.
"Like that senior project that you still need to decide on and start," Josh asked, calling his brother out.
Matt gave him a dirty look, "Yes," he lied again. "That's exactly what I'm thinking about."
Josh shrugged, "I'm just saying, it'd be nice to have Mama talk to you about something else during dinners too." He said.
"I still have like a week and a half to decide." He snapped. "I'll pick something."
Matt went back to eating his food and the three people around the table had confused looks on their faces. It was rare that Matt snapped at his brother. The three thought he'd be relieved about his not becoming a father as a teenager prospect, but something else was bothering him. It didn't take a psychiatrist like Olivia to tell them that, but they dropped it and finished their dinner in a relative silence.
David didn't know how he ended up here, nor did he really want to know. Here was his head in Stef's lap as she held Lena, the principal's hand was playing the David's medium length hair as they watched a mid-week Padre game on the couch after dinner. This was the safety that David's been craving lately, this is the safety that he's been needing.
"So, this may sound dumb," Lena asked, "but what does RBI stand for?"
"Runs batted in," the Foster siblings said at the same time.
Lena held back a chuckle at how cute the sister-brother duo were, "And what does that actually men?"
"If a batter gets on base and his teammate that already was on a base scores home, that's a runner that was batted in." David said softly, starting to fall asleep because of the scalp massage.
"It's like extra help to score another point," Stef clarified.
"Oh," Lena said. "Makes sense."
She continued her soft scalp massage that she was giving David, "Oh come on," Stef called out when the pitcher for the Padres threw another bad pitch. David turned on his stomach and buried his face into Stef's lap, "You okay, honey?" Stef then immediately asked. He nodded his head into her legs. She felt the tears through her sweatpants and Lena saw him begin to shake, "David, honey," the police officer said.
"I miss them so much," he said softly as he turned his head to the side looking at the tv. "I miss Dad yelling at the umpires in Padre games and I miss Mom telling him to shut the hell up."
Stef had tears in her eyes, "I miss that too." She said honestly.
Lena continued running her fingers through his hair, "It's been ten years, but it still feels like yesterday since you told me." He said.
"Yeah, it was the first call I ever got called out to on the force," she said honestly.
Lena's eyes went wide, it was rare that Stef talked about her parents, but it was interesting to finally hear about it. A lot could happen in ten years. She knew that Stef came to terms with her sexuality in ten years. She knew that she had worked hard to rank up in the department in ten years. She knew that she raised David from a scared 7 year old boy to an equally scared and now more anxious 17 year old young man. She knew it hadn't been the easiest ten years since their parents died, and she was amazed by the almost bravery that the two showed the world.
David started crying again and Stef took her arm from around Lena and somewhat cradled her brother in her arms. Lena scooted over, giving Stef room to take care of her brother.
"It's okay," Stef whispered into the top of her brother's head. "I got you. Don't stop crying. Let it out." She was rocking him back and forth. He was too big to be cradled like Stef was trying to, but Lena knew that Stef didn't want to leave her brother in a spot where he didn't feel safe.
The principal sat in awe watching her police officer girlfriend comfort her younger brother and she felt like this was a special moment, that she was honored that she got to witness.
Matt was pacing back and forth in his room at his mama's house the next evening. He was still thinking about what Rachel had said the previous day. He then stopped in his tracks when he heard his mama talking to his mom in the foyer of the house.
"What are you doing here?" Lena asked.
"I'm worried about Matt." She said. "He was acting weird last night at dinner."
"What do you mean?" Lena asked incredulously. "Weird how?"
"I don't know, Lena." Katie said softly. "He just wasn't acting like himself. You think he would be relieved knowing that he didn't throw his entire future away."
"Okay, you have to stop saying stuff like that to the boys." Lena said as they both walked up the stairs towards Matt's room. "That isn't good for them to hear from their mom."
"You know what I mean, Lena." Katie said.
"Yeah, I may know what you mean, doesn't mean the boys do." Lena said
Matt quickly sat at his desk where he had his math homework out already and acted like he was doing homework when Lena knocked on his doorframe. He looked up, "Hey Mama. And, Mom? What are you doing here?" He asked.
Katie shrugged, "You were acting weird at dinner last night." She said. "I was worried about you."
"I was?" He asked.
"Yeah," Katie said, "it's not normal for you to snap at Josh."
Lena's eyebrows raised, that wasn't like the son in front of her, "Are you okay, bubba?" Lena asked him.
Matt looked between his mothers for a moment before sighing, "No," he said softly, throwing his pencil across his desk. "No, I'm not."
"What's wrong?" Katie asked as both she and Lena sat on Matt's bed as the boy turned around in his chair to face them.
"Rachel asked something yesterday after we found out that she wasn't pregnant." He said. "She asked if this would change anything between us and I don't know where that came from. Like am I that bad of a boyfriend for her to think that I was only going to stay with her because she might've been having my child?"
"Oh honey," Lena said softly.
Matt shot up and started pacing again, "I mean, what did I do?" He asked. "Did I do something? Hell, say something?" He asked rhetorically.
"Buddy," Katie tried.
"We had a pregnancy scare." Matt went on still pacing. "And she thinks that the only way I'd stay with her is if- is if she was pregnant? What did I do?"
Lena got up slowly and stopped Matt in his tracks and pulled him into a tight hug, "Have you talked to her about it?" She asked, still in the hug.
"No," he said, tears filling his eyes. "She wasn't at school today and I don't know if I could face her."
"You have to talk to her, honey." Lena said softly. "You have to know what she's thinking."
"You can't just bottle things up inside," Katie said as the mama and son pulled away from each other. Lena grabbed his face softly. "It isn't good."
"Your mom's right, honey." Lena said. "Just talk to her, I'm sure there was a reason she asked."
Matt sighed and nodded, "Okay." He said.
Matt took his moms' advice and showed up on Rachel's doorstep with a small bouquet of flowers. Callie opened the door to see the boy standing there, "Hi Matt." She said like she was expecting him to show up.
"Hi Guidance Counselor Sawyer." He said.
"Rachel's in the backyard," she said. "I'm sure she'd love to see you."
Matt walked passed her and through the living room to the backyard, he opened the door, and stepped out. Rachel who had been sitting on the back step looked back, "What- what are you doing here?" She asked.
He gave her the flowers and asked, "Why'd you think I'd break up with you?"
Rachel shrugged, "You had just been so distant before I thought I was pregnant and you didn't really have a reason to stay." She said.
"I-" Matt sighed. "My mama's in this new relationship." Rachel's attention was peaked now because she knew it took a lot for Lena to move on from Katie. "You know that new-ish kid? David Foster?" Rachel nodded, "He lives with his older sister, who's a police officer, and his sister is dating my mama."
"So, you've been distant because you've been worried about your mama?" She asked knowingly.
He nodded, "I've been trying to feel everything out." Matt said. "David, Stef. I don't know. It's just weird to see my mama so goddamn happy. And I've been trying to see if Stef and David are here to stay or if Stef is just here to hurt my mama. It seems like they're here to stay."
"Well, it makes sense. After your mom and Gretchen." Rachel said as Matt wrapped his arm around her.
"I promise not to pull away anymore." Matt said. "I'm sorry that I did."
Rachel looked at him and kissed him, "I love you Matthew Adams-Hudson." She said seriously.
"I love you, Rachel Sawyer." He said seriously back.
Stef was sitting between Lena and David and across from Josh and Matt at Lena's place a week and a half later. They were all playing a game of monopoly. Matt sat back and watched his mama with Stef and David. He then looked over at Josh who had a smile on his face. He couldn't find himself to be any happier. He and Rachel were not having a baby and were doing fine. His mama was madly in love with Stef Foster. And even though technically he would be their uncle upon his mama and Stef being married, he was gaining another brother.
As David landed on one of Lena's properties in the game, Matt watched the little smile that David gave as he handed over the money. Both the twins knew that he was going through a lot mentally and emotionally, he didn't have to say or do anything to make them know. They saw in the affectionate ways that their mama was with him. How at dinner earlier that evening, he sat next to Stef across from Matt and Josh. Their mama had served him his food even after protests of him being able to get it himself. And as they sat down in the living room to play monopoly, Lena had squeezed David's shoulder before she sat down. They knew their mama was helping her girlfriend take care of David and they couldn't wait for both Stef and David to be a permeant member of their family.
Well, until David made this comment, "You get your senior project proposal in on time?"
Matt rolled his eyes, "Yes," he muttered. Literally two minutes before the deadline."
"What'd you finally decide on?" Josh asked curiously.
"Starting a youth football club for foster kids in the area." He said rolling the dice.
"Oh, that's really cool." Stef said.
"Yeah, still awaiting principal approval though," he said moving his piece.
"It'll be approved for you on Monday." Lena said.
"Cool," Matt said.
"How's your senior project coming along, David?" Lena asked.
"Uhh, alright. I guess. Need to find the motivation to actually continue it." David said, slightly leaning into Stef.
"Your depression in full force still?" Stef asked wrapping her arm around his shoulders.
He nodded, "Yeah." He said softly. "I don't know how to push through it."
"Medication helps me," Josh said.
"You're on antidepressants?" Matt asked.
Josh nodded, "Have been for the last couple of years, Matt." He said.
Lena nodded, "Their stepmom is a child's psychiatrist. She recommended a low dose of zoloft. It seems to help with his depression and anxiety." She offered.
Stef rubbed up and down her brother's arm, "It's something we can look into." The police officer said making David nod.
It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was one that the Foster siblings were willing to try. David stayed curled into Stef for the rest of the night. This felt right to everyone in the room. Felt like the family and second chance that they all needed.
