A/N: Sorry! I know I'm a week late, but in my defense, it's been a really LONG week. Thank you all so much, again, for all your reviews, favorites, and follows. Your words are so encouraging!

CMA Legal Stuff: I still don't own The Fosters. (sigh) I know, sad state of affairs.

Chapter 4

Words were everything, and both women knew that Callie chose her words carefully. Everything she said had a meaning (sometimes more than one) - a slight glimpse behind her suddenly refortified wall.

The dream she'd had - "Do you ever wonder where you'd end up if you could just float on a wave?" In the actual conversation, each mom had given a destination, but when asked, Callie's answer - "I'd sink" - on some level, scared them.

The phone call from Stef didn't help matters, either. Callie hadn't said, "home." Instead, it was, "the house." She couldn't help but fear that they were beginning to lose the girl again. Her adoption was taking too long, and she was beginning to give up hope on the two women.

Lena leaned on the hood of the Toyota and played with the hem on her sweater as she took a deep breath, praying that wasn't the case. She saw her wife pull into the parking lot of Anchor Beach, and as soon as the car stopped, Stef leaned over and said something to Callie. Within seconds, the teen was getting out of the car and heading toward Lena.

The young girl stopped just before reaching the brunette mother and waited. Lena stood from the Prius and held her hand out, smiling slightly, encouraging Callie to step into her arms. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she felt Callie's arms wrap around her torso, as she pulled the girl close. Lena hadn't realized the effect that finding the teen missing had had on her until that moment when the girl was back in her arms.

Stef got out and joined the two. She smiled slightly as she came up beside her wife and placed a hand on Callie's back.

"Come on, Loves," she started as she wrapped her other arm around her wife. "Let's get some breakfast."

~*THE FOSTERS*~

Breakfast was quiet, and Stef pretty much knew why. Callie has been down - way down - and both mothers wanted nothing more than to lift her up, but they were at a virtual loss.

The two mothers had fostered children who suffered from depression before. However, those children were never permanent. At the time, Lena and Stef hadn't been looking to adopt, so they signed up to be emergency placement only, which meant that they ended up with mostly children of recently deceased parents. While they would've loved to help the children get through their grief, the women also had to keep some sort of distance (both were known to get attached rather quickly), so they would get the children - young or teen - started in therapy. The state would then take them and deliver them to the family members that were going to ultimately be responsible.

Now, though, she and her wife were that family. These were uncharted waters for the two, not that that made any difference. Stef would gladly navigate whatever treacherous waters the girl could throw at her, or pulled her into. So would Lena. Everyone would be stronger on the other side. They would get her through this - Stef was determined.

After they finished their meal, they drove back to Anchor Beach to pick up Lena's car and head home. Callie was going to ride with Lena this time, but both mothers watched as she got out of the car and walked past the Toyota and onto the beach.

She heard a sigh beside her and looked over to see tears in her wife's eyes.

"Look at her, Stef," Lena said as she wiped a tear from her cheek. "When she hugged me earlier, it felt..."

"...like she was holding on for dear life?" Stef finished for her. At Lena's knowing nod, Stef continued, "I know, and you didn't see her at the cemetery. I don't know how long she was out, but I know she was in a deep sleep - possibly the first in a long time. I must have sat there beside her for nearly ten minutes, playing with her curls trying to rouse her, but she never even stirred." Stef turned the SUV off and turned to her wife. "She needs help, Lena, and the sooner, the better."

Lena nodded. "We should talk to her, then. I, at least, want her to have some say in this."

The two women got out of the car and began walking toward where Callie sat in the sand. As they approached, Callie hurried to stand and face them. Stef held out a hand to tell her to stay seated while she and Lena joined the girl.

"Mama and I want to talk to you, Sweets," Stef started.

"More like get your opinion on something," Lena clarified.

"Right." Stef smiled at the girl. "We would like to know how you would feel about a more individual, voluntary therapy." Stef placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to still any objections she was going to voice. "Hear us out before you object."

Lena took up the conversation. "I have a friend who is a counselor. She's not court-appointed. She actually refuses to work with the courts. Anyway, she has an office near the drop-in center where you were volunteering. I was - well, we were - hoping you might be open to the idea of going and talking to her, even if it's for a short while."

"What do you think, Love?" Stef rubbed her hand up and down Callie's back, trying to relax her.

'If I don't like it, I can stop?" Callie asked, not taking her eyes off the horizon. She seemed transfixed, to Stef, only blinking every so often to moisten her eyes.

"Under the condition that you'll really try, yes." Stef brushed Callie's hair behind her head.

"I think you'll like her, though," Lena chimed in while wrappingCallie's arm in her own. "Mariana did, after six different therapists."

Stef's phone rang, and she looked down at the caller ID: Brandon.

"Be right back, Loves," Stef said as she stood and walked away from the two, answering the phone as she went.

"Hi, Mom," Brandon started, "we were wondering when you guys were coming home. Jude's getting a bit punchy."

Stef let out a small laugh. "Jude?"

"Yeah. I think he thinks she ran away again."

"Well, one thing's for sure - she did not run away. She is fine, and we've got her. She's just not quite ready to come home yet."

"Why? I mean..."

"B," Stef interrupted, "there's no rhyme or reason. Right now, she's just not."

"Will she be?"

"Yes, Love, she will be. tell Jude that she's okay; she didn't run away; and we'll talk to him when we get home, all right? One of us - if not all of us - will be home in an hour or so."

"Okay; I'll tell him, but I don't know how he's going to take it. He's pretty upset."

"All right. Thanks, B." Before either of them hung up, Stef said, "I love you."

"Love you, too, Mom. Bye."

"Bye, baby." Stef hung up her phone and went back to her wife and daughter.

"Everything okay?" Lena asked as Stef approached.

"Oh, yeah. Punchy kids - nothing new." Stef looked at Callie's new position. She was laying on her back, her head pillowed by Lena's lap. Every few seconds, Lena would brush hair away from the girl's forehead that the ocean breeze would stubbornly place back. "You look comfortable," Stef said to Callie as she sat back down in the sand. "You're going to have sand in places you never imagined, though. Just a warning."

"I already do," Callie answered her as she turned back over to look at Stef. She smiled slightly, and Stef smiled back.

"So, Callie and I had an interesting conversation while you were on the phone," Lena said.

"Oh?" Stef commented as she looked up at her wife. "What about?"

"She's willing to give the counseling a try."

"Yeah?" Stef raised her eyebrows. "I'm so glad to hear that, Baby." Stef leaned down and left a kiss on Callie's forehead.

"We both are."

"I want to be okay," Callie said softly. "I really do. I don't want to feel like this anymore. I want to be happy; I want to be excited about being adopted." She reached out and took Stef's hand. I don't want you worrying about me anymore."

At that, both mothers let out a laugh. "Oh, Love," Stef lifted Callie's hand and kissed her palm, "we're moms. Worrying is what we do."

"That's right," Lena chimed in. "If it's not about something like this, it would be school."

"Or work."

"Or you driving a car."

"Or the movie you're watching."

"Or your future ambitions."

Callie laughed. "Okay, okay; I get it. You worry." She sat up. "I guess we should head home, huh?"

Lena and Stef looked at each other and smiled. She'd said, "home," not, "the house".

Stef stood and pulled Callie up from the sand. "I don't know. I was sort of feeling like a walk along the beach before we go. You want to join me?"

"You sure?" Callie stood in front of the blonde. "I mean, I'm sure you should probably check on the others."

"Already done. Brandon was the one who called. They are fine."

"Lena stood behind Callie and pulled out her own phone. "Why don't you two start walking, and I'll give Brandon a call back and have them meet us somewhere for lunch in an hour?"

Stef smiled and nodded as she pulled the girl away.

~*THE FOSTERS*~

As they got closer to the water, Callie stopped, watching how calm the sea looked. She closed her eyes and just breathed the salty air. A calm had settled over her, a welcome change from the anxiety and loss she'd been feeling.

She still wasn't sure what to do about that.

"Hey," Stef said as she came up behind Callie and wrapped her arms around the teen. "I said walk, not stand and stare." Stef took Callie's hand. "Come on."

Stef pulled the girl down to the water's edge, playfully kicking at one of the waves.

Callie grinned as she watched Stef walk through the ebbing tide. In so many ways, Stef was so much like her mother. She could see Colleen in Stef's playful side, but also in her disciplinary skills. Donald did his fair share of yelling and grounding, but Colleen was the mom. You didn't cross mom.

She saw Colleen in Lena, too. The way she wanted to have Callie close nearly all the time; her ability to love infinitely. The way she hopes that Callie would open up to her one day and not stay so guarded all the time.

That made Callie check herself. She'd been guarded with her mother nearly all the time, and yet, she didn't feel the need to be as guarded with these women. A part of her wondered if maybe she'd been born into the wrong family to begin with. She always felt the need to keep her birth mother at arms' length, but Stef and Lena had found a way to get her to bend her elbows.

"All set," Lena proclaimed as she came up beside Callie and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "We're going to meet everyone at Guido's Pizza Palace for lunch in an hour and a half." She looked at Callie. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah," Callie said as she began walking after Stef, smiling. "That sounds great."