A/N: Thanks for sticking with me! Your support means the world! Managed to hash out two chapters today! Lucky you guys! :)

Chapter Four: The Road To Suppressed Anger

It had become a trend over the last month, Stef would crash Ben's office for lunch Monday through Friday and Ben would spend his weekends with the Adams Foster family. Saturday mornings would consist of Stef waking up and making coffee and waking her brother up to help her make breakfast.

"Bro," Stef whispered trying to wake him up, "Bro," she shoved his shoulder.

Ben grumbled, "Stef, it's early, please let me sleep." He mumbled turning his back to his sister.

"I have coffee ready for you," Stef said, "I even brought it to you." She added making the man open his eyes halfway and looking over his shoulder.

"Have I mentioned that you're the best sister ever," he said sitting up.

"I'll be sure to keep that comment to myself when Leah is around." She said sitting down next to him looking at him bring the cup of coffee to his lips and hum in appreciation.

"Well you're the best big sister ever," he amended, "just don't tell Lena."

Stef smiled in addition to her spending time with him, Lena did too. She liked the fact that her wife was interested in getting to know her brother just as much as she did. It warmed Stef's heart to watch the bond the curly haired woman and the half Asian man had. It warmed her heart to see the bond that they were creating and that her brother was creating with all her children. Well, almost all her children, Callie still refused to warm up to him. Stef made a mental note to talk to the girl about it later before her soccer game.

"I heard that," Lena said padding down the stairs, "and I'm offended," she mocked seriousness.

"Sorry Lena," the man said, "Stef brought me coffee in bed, the best way to get to my heart is make coffee for me and bring it to me."

"Noted," Lena said with a soft smile. "What's the plan for you two today?"

"We have to finish cleaning out Dad's house," Stef said. "We'll be done with it by the end of today."

"The realtor called me and said she'd be by first thing Monday morning to take a look around," Ben said, "So I'm taking the morning off, so you don't have to."

"Thanks Ben," Stef said.

He shrugged, "You've got seven months to feed," he said. "Eight if you include mine on the weekend. The least I could do. Besides, I can work from there if I absolutely need to."

"You're the best little brother in the world," Stef said, ruffling his hair.

Ben ducks his head, "I try." He said. As silence filled the room, Ben asked a serious question to the couple, "Hey, uh question for you two."

"What's up?" They both said simultaneously.

He took a deep breath before asking, "What's Callie's deal against me?"

The couple shared a knowing look with each other, knowing what he was talking about, but not really sure how to answer the man's question.

"Are you kidding me?" Callie yelled at Brandon, "I've said that I needed our shared car today all week."

"It's a last minute band gig," he said. "Where Someone's Little Sister is getting paid."

"I don't care," Callie said, "I have a soccer tournament where I could get a scholarship because scouts are going to be there watching the game."

"The money I make could put gas in our car," Brandon argued.

"Oh don't go there, you know betweens Moms and Dad, we'll be just fine." Callie yelled back, causing Stef and Lena to come up the stairs.

"What's going on up here?" Stef asked in her no nonsense voice.

"What do you think is going on, Mom?" Mariana asked, "They're fighting over the car again."

"I thought we worked out the car situation," Lena said. "Callie gets it because she has to drive to San Ysidro for her tournament."

"The band got a last minute gig," Brandon said.

"Well sorry kiddo," Stef said, "Callie has first dibs on the car since hers was planned out."

"I guess I can see if Lou or Mat can come pick me up." He mumbled going into his room getting his phone.

"So wait," Callie said, "you aren't coming to my game?"

"Sorry Striker," Brandon said from his room, "this could be big for us."

Callie sighed, "What about you?" She asked her mom.

"Of course," she said kissing the girls head. "I think your father is working though."

"I know that," Callie said. "What about you Mama?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." Lena said, "2:30, yes?" Callie nodded.

"Callie," Stef then said, "may I speak with you for a minute?" She asked as Lena turned to go back downstairs and Mariana went back into the girls' shared room.

"Uh yeah sure," Callie said following her mom into the master bedroom. "What's up?" Callie asked.

"What do you have against your uncle?" Stef cut straight to the point. "You've done nothing, but ignore him for the past month. And every time you don't, it's because he's asked you a question... about soccer."

"So, I have to conform to how you, Lena, and the rest of the kids believe and warm up to him right away?" She challenged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stef asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"You find out that you have a brother," the teenager began, "you track him down, show up at his office, fall in love with him, and then make us meet him not out of our own free will, and then what? Expect us to warm up to him immediately? Mom, I love you, but even I'm not that naïve."

"When did you stop trusting people?" Stef asked. "If Mama and I thought he was a bad influence, we wouldn't have him around."

"I trust people," Callie argued. "I just am careful who I trust."

"He's trying to level with you, babe." Stef said, caressing the girl's cheek. "You just need to level with him."

"I'll try," she managed to say, "but don't expect things to be perfect." She said walking out of the room initiating the end of the conversation.

Stef and Ben were in the process of cleaning out the garage in a relative silence when Stef finally broke it by bringing attention to the car in the middle of the garage that was covered up.

"Okay," she said uncovering it, "when did Dad get a hotrod car?"

"I beg your pardon, this is not a hotrod, it's a 1954 Thunderbird Mustang," he said. "It's a beautiful creation."

"Not too much of a difference, but okay." she said. "I clearly haven't been in here in awhile."

"Yeah," he said. "We uh restored it through all four years of my undergrad."

"Really?" Stef asked. The man hadn't really shared any memories that he had with their shared father, so the fact that he was opening up about this was beautiful in Stef's mind.

He nodded, "Yeah," he said. "We wanted something to do together so we decided to restore a car together. Some of my best memories with Dad was building this car."

"I knew he liked cars, I never knew why." Stef said.

"When we were out in this garage," Ben said, "nothing else mattered. It was me, him, sports radio, a beer for him, and rootbeer for me. We were just men doing what most men do. Every time I was here and the Padres were in LA, there'd be a debate as each inning went on. I didn't feel like an outsider in his mind."

"You felt like an outsider?" Stef asked.

"Just I felt like I always had to defend my mom and in return when he'd make a mention about you and Lena, I'd defend you two as well. I never understood why he would let his religion get in the way of loving his only daughter."

"He tried in the end," Stef said. "I just couldn't see it."

"I wouldn't blame you," Ben said, "his religious ways were full of double standards anyway."

"Hey," Stef said, "why don't you take the car?" She offered, "You and Dad built it together. You should have it since you're not taking anything else."

"Really?" Ben asked looking at his sister who nodded her head, "Thanks Stef."

"Don't mention it," she said with a soft smile.

"At least let me let you drive it once," he said tossing the keys in her general direction.

"Really?" Stef's face lit up when her brother nodded in agreement. "You're my favorite little brother ever."

"Does your mom have any other kids?" He asked and she shook her head opening the driver's seat door getting in. "Then I'm your only little brother," he said getting in the passenger's seat.

"Which gives you prime reason to be my favorite." She said with a wink starting the ignition.

Callie was on her A game in the tournament, but her mind still managed to wander to her uncle. He hadn't given her any reason to not trust her, but at the same time he just gave off this weird vibe. Her brothers, sister, and moms were practically infatuated with the man and she couldn't bring herself to be. Randomly out of the blue, her mom finds out that she has a paternal half brother. A man that has wanted to meet her mom since he was five years old. During the half, her coach caught her attention.

"Hey Foster," he said. "Got a minute?"

"Of course," she said. "What's up?"

"Good job bringing your A game today," he said. "The scouts are looking pretty impressed. You'll have the scholarship and first ticket out of San Diego next fall."

Callie smiled, her coach who had been her coach since the little leagues knew her all too well. He knew that she loved her family, but with all the foster children come in and out through years before the younger twins and between them and Jude, that she just wanted a break from her mom and Lena's 'we have to save the word' attitudes.

"Thanks Coach," she said. "Got a lot going on, so it's nice to focus on other things right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that things are crazy right now," he said. "But, I am glad that you're focusing out there. Keep up the good work kiddo. And you know Rachel and I are always here for you if you just need a ear to listen and confide in."

"I know Coach Kenney," she said. "Thank you."

He smiled and walked away and she looked out into the stands to see if her family was there, when she knew the other day they'd promise to be there, to support her, she knew Brandon had a last minute gig, but she expected to see her other brothers, sister, and moms in the stands, maybe even this uncle of hers. When she saw that none of them were sitting there her heart sank. She took a swig of water and went back onto the field for the second half of the game. She shouldn't be mad because ever since Ben walked into their lives, it seems as if she's not important enough. They've missed every single game since he swooped in and stole their attention.

When did she become less important to them?

Lena was sitting at the dining room table looking over some bills when Stef and Ben came through the front door. They were laughing about something or another when Stef came and kissed Lena's cheek as she passed by to get her and Ben a beer. The three settled into a peaceful silence until they heard the door open and slam shut.

All three of them looked at the doorway to see a fuming Callie as she chucked her soccer bag into the living room and tried to calm herself down before looking over at her moms and Ben.

"Hey Slug-a-bug," Lena said, "what's wrong?"

Callie took a deep breath as she looked at the three of them and said, "Did you forget about my game?"

The moms looked wide eyed at each other, inwardly cursing themselves for being so forgetful. Lena ended up having to get Jude through a panic attack, he wasn't officially adopted into the family quite yet, but everybody in the family considered him to be and it just dawned on the boy today that there's still a chance that he wouldn't be adopted. Lena spent the entire afternoon reassuring him that she and Stef loved him unconditionally and even if it took until well after he was 18, he would be an Adams Foster.

Stef on the other hand spent the entire day with Ben, they drove the mustang along the coast, laughing and making memories together. She knew that her oldest daughter, the girl who had half her DNA running inside her, would be mad. So she decided to take another approach. But, Lena being the graceful woman that she is, beat her to it.

"I'm sorry baby," she said. "Jude had an emotional breakdown today and didn't want to do anything, but lie around all day. It slipped my mind."

Callie's eyes softened, "Is he okay?" She asked. She grew fond of the boy when he came into the house. If she had to choose one sibling to protect, it would be Jude.

"He is now," Lena confirmed. "He's upstairs playing video games with Jesus."

Callie nodded, "The both of you were taking care of Jude?" She asked.

Stef took a deep breath, "Well no," she said. "Your Uncle Ben and I took a drive along the coast after we finished cleaning out Grandpa Frank's garage."

"Unbelieveable," Callie muttered under her breath as she attempted to walk out of the room.

"Callie baby," Stef said, "please don't walk away. Let's talk about this."

Callie spun around, "Talk about what?" She yelled. "Talk about how this game was really important to me and all the other seniors on the team and my own family wasn't there to see it?" Stef tried to stop the girl from yelling, but Lena put her hand on the blonde's arm, silently telling her to let Callie get it all out. "I get why Mama wasn't there," she said, "I'm not sure what it will take to make Jude's demons to go away, he's had a rough hand handed to him. But you," she said pointing at Stef, "you were always at my games. And what your paternal half brother comes into the situation and your kids get the back seat?" She said frustratedly.

"You know that's not true, Callie," Stef said.

"Really?" Callie challenged. "When's the last time you've been to a soccer game of mine?" Stef thought about it and maybe for too long because then Callie said, "Jesus' wrestling match? Mariana's dance competition? A gig of Brandon's? You're lucky that Jude hasn't started baseball yet. You're lucky that he still needs Mama to help him fight his demons."

"Callie, enough," Stef said.

"Why? Because the truth hurts? You're so infatuated with this brother of yours that you seem to forget the important stuff around here."

"You're being disrespectful to your uncle," she said noticing that Ben looked a little hurt and out of place.

"My what?" She said not willing to believe it. "Dad's brother is more of an uncle to me and Brandon then this fool is." She said getting more mad.

Ben cleared his throat and excused himself to the kitchen, "Do you have to make him feel anymore uncomfortable?" Stef asked. "Do you think this is easy on him?" Callie tried to speak, but Stef stopped her, "No, don't speak." Stef said. "I'm sorry that I've missed some of your games. But that doesn't give you the right to make your uncle feel uncomfortable. That doesn't give you the right to make anybody feel uncomfortable. Got it?" She said.

The mother-daughter pair were in an intense stare down and Lena broke it, "Callie honey," she said. "Why don't you go take a shower, cool off, and we'll readdress this later, okay?" Callie looked over at Lena and softened her face and nodded her head leaving the room. "She does have somewhat of a point, you know."

"What do you mean?" Stef asked.

"Ever since Ben came into the picture a month ago, you've been focused on him." Lena said, "And that's not a bad thing. It's just your baby girl isn't going to be here in the fall and if we don't play this game right, she won't be on the west coast anymore."

Stef put her head in her hands trying to hold herself together realizing that her wife was right, but also realizing she had to go talk with her brother who was probably very hurt right now.

Ten minutes later, Stef found her brother sitting on the steps of the back porch slowly drinking a beer. She sat down next to him, looking at the sunset that he was watching.

"Beautiful, huh?" Stef said looking from the sunset to her brother. He nodded, clearly shutting down. "Ben," she said.

"She's right," he managed.

"She maybe right, but she had no right to call you a fool." Stef defended.

"Do you think this is the first time somebody's called me a name, Stef?" Ben asked. "Come on, I was raised by a gay woman and a religious man. I had other, worse names that labeled me. It just never came from family."

"She shouldn't have said that," Stef reiterated.

"She was just expressing how she really feels," he defended the girl. "Maybe I shouldn't hang around here anymore."

Stef's head snapped from the sunset to her brother, "No," she said immediately. "We aren't giving her the upper hand in this."

"Stef," he said, "I'm not going to put you between your family, who needs you and your paternal half brother who just wasting your time."

"You are not wasting my time Ben," she said wrapping her arm around the man, pulling her into her side.

"If you can't manage to go to your kids' extracurriculars-" he started.

"No, none of that," Stef said, kissing the top of his head, "I'll work this out, but you are not going anywhere." He nodded knowing that no matter what he would say right in that moment, she would shoot him down.

He had his own demons to work through and maybe his older sister and her family could help him through it.

A/N 2: So I know it's probably early in the story for Callie to be getting mad, but I'm setting this blow up for the next couple of chapters while we are getting to know Ben and this AU Adams Foster family.

Flashbacks are a coming!