Chapter 4

Callie and Jude had been at the Fosters house for two weeks. They were slowly adapting, but Callie still didn't feel like she belonged. At least her detention at school, for getting into a fight to protect Jude, was finally over.

Jude was touching up his nail polish when Callie came by his room after school.

"Jude, why are you still wearing that?"

"Because I like it," replied Jude.

Callie sighed, "That almost got you beat up, bud."

Jude looked up at her, "I trust Lena. She said that she'll make sure things are safe at school."

Callie felt it was a mistake to trust anyone. She carefully said, "Jude, I know that it's easy to get comfortable here, but you shouldn't trust them. This is temporary."

Jude replied, "Callie, I like them. They're nice. And maybe it's not forever. But so what."

"You're going to get hurt."

"I already hurt."

Callie shook her head in frustration at Jude and went back to her room.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Stef heard the end of the conversation between Callie and Jude as she came out of her bedroom after changing out of her uniform. She felt so sad for those kids. She saw Jude sitting sadly on his bed.

She softly said, "You okay, sweets?"

Jude gazed up at her and asked, "Do you think it's a mistake to wear nail polish to school?"

Stef hesitated. She didn't want Jude to be bullied at school, but she also wanted him to be himself. She finally said, "I think you have to be strong to be yourself sometimes. It's never a mistake to be yourself."

Jude nodded.

Stef decided to continue, "I hid a part of myself for years, that I was gay, because I didn't want to disappoint my father. It was a mistake to hide that part of myself. I wish I had had the courage not to."

Jude looked up calmly, "Is that why you married Mike before Lena?" He had met Brandon's father Mike when he came to pick up Brandon on the weekend.

Stef was surprised that Jude understood, "Yes, and I don't regret that because that's how Brandon came into my life. But I'm so much happier now that I can love Lena and be who I am. Does that make sense?"

Jude nodded again.
He softly admitted, "Callie thinks I shouldn't get too comfortable here."

"What do you think?" Stef replied sadly.

"I like it here."

Stef smiled, "We like having you here too, sweets," and pulled Jude into a hug.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Callie had walked out of Jude's room in frustration. She saw Stef in the hallway and felt flustered. She hoped Stef hadn't heard them talking. Callie quickly stepped back into her room so she wouldn't have to talk to Stef. She saw Mariana by the closet trying on clothes. She still didn't feel too comfortable around Mariana. She felt like they were from different worlds. Mariana had a family and seemed so carefree.

Callie sat on her bed and looked at the nightstand. She kept a photo of her birth mom on her nightstand, and it always calmed her down to look at it. She sometimes stared at it for hours, trying to remember everything about her mom. But this time, the photo wasn't there. She looked around in a panic. She started moving everything off the nightstand and tearing apart her side of the room looking for it. It was gone!

She heard Mariana say, "What's up with you? Lose something?"

Callie turned around and accusingly said, "Did you take the photo from my nightstand?"

"Why would I take your photo?" Mariana defensively replied.

"It was right here! And now it's not!" Callie insisted.

Mariana hissed, "I didn't touch your stinking photo!"

Callie was so angry that she threw a book at Mariana just as Stef walked by.

Stef quickly intervened, "Hey, hey, what's going on here?"

Both girls started yelling their sides of the argument. Then, Callie saw Jude at the doorway looking scared. She quickly stopped talking.

Mariana kept on, "And I can't live with someone so paranoid!"

Stef sternly said, "Well, you both have to figure out how to live together. It shouldn't be so hard. You're both smart and have things in common. Mariana, I expect you to make more of an effort to make Callie feel welcome. You know what it feels like to be in a new home. And Callie, we don't throw books at people in this house. Come down and talk to me please."

As Stef walked out, she saw Jude in the hallway looking frightened. "Jude, sweets, everything's okay. Don't worry about this," she reassured him. Jude sadly watched Stef go downstairs with Callie slowly following her.

Stef led Callie to the kitchen and pointed her to a chair. She gave her a stern look and said, "Well, what do you have to say for yourself? I know Lena talked to you about thinking before you react. Throwing a book at someone is not okay."

Callie couldn't believe she was in trouble again. She felt like she let everyone down, especially Jude. But she was still upset that her only photo of her mom was missing. She couldn't deal with Stef right now. She respected her and didn't want to let her down, but she also knew Stef would make her talk, and she couldn't right now. She started crying and ran to the bathroom and locked the door.

Stef sighed. She decided to let Callie take some time to recover and went upstairs to ask Mariana and Jude if they knew what was going on.

"Mariana what was the fight about? Jude, do you know what's going on?"

Mariana exclaimed, "She thought I took her photo, but I didn't! I don't even know what photo she's talking about!"

Jude came in from the hallway and explained, "Callie has a photo of our mom that she keeps by her bed. It's the only photo we have of our mom." He had tears in his eyes.

Stef gently said, "Oh love, I wish she had told us that. Let's look around and see if we can find it."

They pulled out the nightstand and found the photo on the floor under it. It had probably slipped down there by accident. Stef took the photo back downstairs and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Callie honey, we found your photo. It had slipped behind the nightstand. Can you come out and talk to me please?"

After a few moments, Callie opened the door, still sniffling. She took the photo from Stef's hand and held it close.

Stef led her back to a chair and gently said, "It's a beautiful photo, love. We can get a frame for it, if you want, and then it won't get lost."

Callie nodded and wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry. It's just the only photo of her I have."

"I know honey, but Mariana wouldn't take that from you. None of us would."

Callie nodded again, looking down. She softly asked, "Can I really get a frame? I...I don't want to lose the photo and forget what she looked like."

Stef gently answered, "Yes, we'll go look for a frame first thing on the weekend."

Stef wished she could hug Callie and take away all her hurt, but she didn't want to scare her. She slowly put her hand out and placed it on top of Callie's hand and said,
"I know it's hard to lose someone you love, honey. It's hard to trust again and open yourself up again. But it's okay to let others in. I hope you can start to trust us."

Callie felt Stef's warm hand on hers. She wished she could let go and trust Stef to take care of her.
"I want to trust you, but it's hard," she quietly admitted, "I don't want to get hurt again."

"We wouldn't hurt you for the world, love. We're on your side," Stef gently reminded her. They sat like that in silence for awhile.

Finally, Callie took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry I threw a book at Mariana."

"Well, let's go back upstairs and put that right," Stef replied. "You need to say that to Mariana."

Callie didn't really want to, but she let Stef lead her back upstairs.

xoxoxoxo

Upstairs, Jude and Mariana were sitting on her bed and talking. Mariana jumped up when Callie and Stef came in. Callie turned to Mariana and quickly said, "I'm sorry I accused you and threw a book at you. I know you didn't take my photo." She just wanted to get it over with.

Mariana replied, "That's okay." She shyly continued, "Callie, I know what it's like to be a foster kid and have so few things from your birth parents. And to be forced to share a room with people you don't know. I never felt safe either until I got here. Can we start over? I think we could be friends."

Callie looked at her in astonishment. Maybe she had misjudged this girl. Maybe they had more in common than she thought. She shyly nodded. Mariana smiled and gave her a quick hug before Callie could react.

Stef took the opportunity to pull both girls to her in a big hug and then pulled in Jude too. It felt good to finally hug these kids.

Callie stiffened at first, but then relaxed into the hug. She felt to worn out to resist. Maybe it was okay to let down her guard a little bit. They were making room for her and Jude - maybe she could make room for this family in her heart too.

xoxoxoxoxo

That night, Stef told Lena about her interactions with Jude and Callie. Lena reached out to hold Stef's hand, "Honey, I'm sorry, but I think I'm falling in love with those kids."

"Me too, love," Stef slowly replied, "I want to take care of them and hug them and never let them go. What are we going to do?"

Lena smiled and pulled Stef closer, "Well, I guess we just have to make a little more room in our hearts and in our home. I'll call Bill in the morning and tell him to stop looking for another foster home for them. I think Callie and Jude should stay here as long as they're happy. I don't know if we can adopt them or not yet, but we can provide a good safe foster home for them for a long time."

Stef replied thoughtfully, "I think Callie needs something permanent to be able to trust us, but it seems too soon to talk about adoption. Perhaps this can be their last waystation before finding a forever home, whether that turns out to be our home or someone else's."

Lena agreed, "It took us awhile to adopt Mariana and Jesus too. Those early years were so valuable in getting to know them. I want to get to know Callie and Jude and get a lot of support systems in place for them, school, therapy, all of that. I want time with them."

Stef nodded. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, especially with Callie, but it was worth it. Callie and Jude were worth it.

xoxoxoxoxo

The next morning, Stef and Lena called all the kids into the living room. Stef said, "Callie, Jude, we've told Bill that we'd like to be your permanent foster home, not just an emergency placement. We want this to be your very last waystation. We'd like you to stay with us until you find a forever adoptive home."

Callie and Jude looked up in surprise. They weren't used to people wanting them to stay. Jude hesitantly said, "Does this mean we don't have to leave in a couple weeks?"

Lena smiled and nodded, "You can stay as long as you want, sweetheart. We hope you will be here a long time."

Jude grinned wide and said, "Okay!"

Stef looked at Callie and asked, "Callie, what do you think?"

Callie gave a shy smile and nodded. She felt like she couldn't talk. It was a relief that they didn't have to move again, at least for a long time. She felt more comfortable here than she had ever been in a long time.

Stef turned to the other kids and said, "I know I can count on all of you to make room in our house and in your hearts for Callie and Jude." The kids smiled at Jude and Callie. They already felt like Callie and Jude belonged here with them.

Stef grinned and said, "Alright everyone, family group hug!" She and Lena surrounded the kids and smushed everyone together for a giant group hug. Callie and Jude couldn't help but giggle. Things were going to be okay. It was a full house, but there was plenty of room for everyone.

The End.

(Thank you for reading)