Two weeks before school started Lena was spending more and more time at school. One day she got a call from a phone number that she didn't recognize. "Hello, this is Lena Adams, how may I help you?"
"Hello, Ms. Adams. This is the child welfare department in Chicago. I believe you adopted a child from us two years ago?"
"Yes, my daughter, Callie, is there a problem?" Lena had fear in her voice.
"No, no problem really. It is just that her birth mother is pregnant. When we were taking her to the doctor for a check-up, she requested that her new son be placed with his sister. He will be fully adoptable. We would love to do just that, but first we need to check on your information. First of all, are you interested in taking in another child right now?"
Lena only thought for a moment before she answered. "Absolutely. I love Callie and I would love to have another child. Her biological brother would be a great addition. A newborn would be especially fun since Callie was already a year old before I got her."
"I was hoping to hear that. You were living in the Chicago, Illinois area when you adopted Callie, but now you are living in California, right?"
"Yes, ma'am. Callie and I moved to a suburb of San Diego a few months ago."
"Our records indicate that you were in a relationship. Is your partner, Gretchen, still with you?"
"No, she is not. We split up just before I moved here."
"Hmmm… I am sorry to hear that. Do you have a job then?"
"Yes, I am the Vice Principal of Anchorage Beach Charter School."
"Very nice! I will need you to have a home study done in your new community. Also, I do not know all the laws in California, but here we hesitate to give a second child to a single mother. You are probably alright though since the mother requested you, but so you know, it might be a difficult process."
"I guess I understand that, although I don't think being in a poor relationship is better than being single… Technically, I am in a new relationship now, we just don't live together or anything yet."
"Well, that might help. Do you have any questions for me?"
"Will I need to fly to Chicago to pick him up?"
"Get your home study done first. We will contact you when he is born, which will be soon. Then you can schedule your trip here."
Lena immediately called Stef with the news. Stef had taken off a week from work since Lena was needed at school full-time now. They had been seriously dating two months by this time. She gave Stef all of the information without giving her a chance to speak. When Lena slowed down, Stef got a chance. "Love, your apartment won't pass a home study, because it would need another bedroom."
"With him being a newborn, I can get away with putting him in my room for now if I am reading the requirements right. I think that would be okay for now. We will be needing a bigger house soon, though. The social worker also mentioned that there might be complications since I am single."
"You aren't entirely single. You have me. I will help with the baby, of course. No one really likes working evenings and I might be able to trade shifts with some of my coworkers. I could work my schedule around that to take care of him while you are at work until he can go to daycare…."
"That's true, Babe, but we don't even live together. In fact, we have never stayed the whole night together. If you did live here, we would need a bigger place for our two, soon to be three, children. I am not sure we can pass the home study with Callie and Brandon sharing a room. They are pretty much against boys and girls in the same room."
"Then they should be great with us sharing a room, right?" Stef joked.
Lena rolled her eyes at Stef's bad humor and then realized Stef wouldn't know. "I am rolling my eyes at you…. I am serious, Stef."
"I am, too." Stef pulled up the home study requirements on the computer at her house. "Okay, I am looking at it now also. Why don't Brandon and I go ahead and move in, we will see if we can get an emergency home study? That way you won't be classified as single, which might be the biggest concern. Social services will approve the apartment on a temporary basis since our kids are under five. When we get that all done, we will all fly to Chicago and pick up our new son. We can then look for a bigger house to buy."
"You would do all of that for me? I hate to say this, but Gretchen didn't even attend Callie's adoption or sign the papers. You are already calling the baby ours…. How did I get so lucky?"
"It's B and I that got lucky, Love. Now, you call to get the home study while I call to end the lease on my apartment. It is a good thing that I was only paying month-by-month. B, Callie and I will start packing here. We don't have much so we can be done this afternoon. I will wait to tell the kids where Brandon and I are moving until you get here."
"Thank you, Stef! I love you so much! Bye, Babe."
"I love you, too. Bye, Love."
When Lena hung up with Stef, she looked up the number of social services for her area. She called and they agreed that due to the nature of getting this new baby, they could do an emergency study right away as long as they got the permanent one done within three months. The appointment was set for two days away. Lena knew it would be difficult to have everything in order by then, but also could hardly wait to get their new son.
Lena explained to Principal Sanchez that she was going to need a week off. Even though school was getting ready to start, she was granted her request based on a family emergency. Lena left the school and went straight to Stef's apartment. The kids had made short work of Brandon's toys that were still there. His clothes had also been relatively easy to pack. When Lena arrived, both kids came running to her for hugs and kisses. She greeted both of them and then found Stef and kissed her as well.
Lena and Stef took Brandon and Callie into the living room and sat down on the couch. "We have something we would like to tell you guys…" Lena started.
"Callie's mama and I have decided that we should all be living together. We are going to be looking for a house, but for now, Brandon and I are going to move to the other apartment to join our girls."
The kids both jumped up in celebration. They hugged each other, then their own moms, and then they both ended up in the other mom's laps. Lena kissed Brandon the forehead and Stef hugged Callie up close.
"And, there is more. All of us will be flying to Chicago to get your new baby brother in a few days." Lena announced.
This caused more celebration from the two kids who felt like life might be just about perfect. Not only were they going to be brother and sister, but they were also getting a baby. Neither one of them had been around many babies, but they both thought it sounded exciting.
"Now, we would like to take you two for ice cream and pizza to celebrate, but first we need to get the rest of this apartment packed. We will unpack it all tomorrow at our new place."
Stef's apartment had come furnished. When she left Mike, she just left with Brandon and a few suitcases. Therefore packing was relatively easy. She had always just considered this apartment to be a stop-gap until she could find a more permanent place. Lena carried some of the stuff and took the kids towards the cars. Stef stayed behind to talk to the manager and turn in her keys.
"Mama, I want to ride with Brandon's mommy to get ice cream. Is that okay?" Callie asked looking up at Lena.
"I will have to ask her and we would have to move you booster seat, but I guess that would be okay. I will miss having you in my car, though."
"I could ride with you!" Brandon yelled hopping up and down. "Maybe me and Callie can just switch seats and then we wouldn't have to move them."
Lena knew that their boosters seats were almost identical and thought that might be a good solution. Until this moment, though, she had not considered transportation for their soon to be three kids. From experience, Lena knew that two booster seats fit in the back of her car, but also knew that would not leave enough room for an infant car seat. Stef's car wasn't any bigger. Now, they would need to buy a house and trade in one of their cars for something bigger.
By the time Stef got out to her car, Lena was back into a panicking state. "Stef, I am just not sure how this is going to work. I have only ever had one child and now we are going to have three. I have this week off from work, but I have to go to the staff development every day next week. We do not have a car that can haul all three children nor do we have a house. Our home study is going to happen in two days and we are moving you in tonight. The baby is going to be born anytime. We don't have tickets to Chicago yet, and we really can't get them until we have more information…."
"Calm down, Lena! Everything will be okay. We have plenty of time to get everything unpacked tomorrow. The kids are already excited about this change and three won't be that difficult. You have had these two almost all summer long, how hard could a baby be? Besides, I will be right here all the time. You said the baby was coming soon, how about if we go ahead and get tickets to Chicago for the day after the home study? If the baby has not come by the time on our return tickets, you can fly back alone. I will bring all three kids back with me if it comes to it. We will find a house and a car. For right now we might just have to take two cars everywhere until we can get everything else straightened out. Or maybe I could work on the car situation tomorrow. See, no problems we can't handle together, Love."
Lena slipped into Stef's easy embrace and started to relax before remembering her financial situation. "You're right, Stef. I think I would like to trade my car for a van or something. I have a little money saved, but I am not sure how we can afford a van and a house at the same time. I wouldn't even get a full paycheck until the middle of September. That is almost a month from now."
"First of all, we have a second income. I have a job as well and I am getting full pay. I am taking vacation for this week, but I still had some paid vacation so we are okay. Maybe I could pick up an extra shift at work every week to help out a little more. At least we won't be paying rent on two apartments anymore. That will help us save some money. Again, Love, we can do this."
"But I hate for you to go to work that much. We will miss you and I always feel like you are in danger as a police officer." Lena sighed.
"Mama? I thought we were going to have some pizza and ice cream to celebrate. Is it time for that yet?" Callie asked tugging on Lena's shirt.
"Yes, it is, Cals. How about if Brandon and I go pick up some pizza and you two pick up the ice cream?" Lena remembered Callie's earlier request to be the one to get the ice cream. "We can call meet back at our apartment."
They each loaded the child they were taking in their cars. Brandon immediately started asking questions. "So, are you my mama now, too?" Brandon had long ago quit calling her Ms. Adams and had replaced it with Callie's mama. Now he was hoping for a little more.
"I have not talked to you mom about that yet, B, but I would like to be your mama."
"Callie is going to be my sister forever now, right? And our baby will be my brother forever?"
"I certainly hope so, Baby. I love you and your mommy very much and I want us to be a family forever."
"Okay, Mama. Can we get cheese pizza? Me and Callie really like cheese pizza best of all."
"Callie and I like cheese pizza, Brandon. Not me and Callie." Lena corrected. "Yes, though, we will get cheese pizza for you two and get a different kind for your mommy and me."
XXXX
Stef knew that getting pizza would be easier, but ice cream was more fun. She pulled up in the parking lot and helped Callie out of the car. Callie held her hand as they walked into the grocery store.
"I like to hold your hand. Mama's hands feel softer, but your hands feel safe. I think it is because you are a police officer and keep our whole city safe."
"Thanks, Callie. I really don't keep the whole city safe, though. Just our little corner of it. I like holding your hand, too."
They walked over to the freezer section to see their choices. Callie immediately pointed to something bright blue. "I think Brandon and I like that one. It is very pretty."
"Hmmm…. I think I would rather not pick ice cream based on color alone. It is bubble gum flavor…. So, try again."
"It is hard for me to pick by anything other than the picture because I can't read yet. How about if we just get chocolate? I know about that kind and it is good."
"That's a good choice, Sweets." Stef opened a freezer door and lifted up Callie to reach the chocolate ice cream. She let Callie carry it all the way to the check-out line.
"Um… My mama told me to call you Mrs. Foster, and I have been calling you Brandon's mommy sometimes. If you are going to live with us, can I call you something else?"
"How about you start calling me mommy like Brandon does? Does that sound good?"
"No. I have a mommy in Chicago. I want to call you Stef. That's what my mama calls you."
Stef felt rejected by the four year old girl. "We will have to talk to your mama about that, but if you want to call me Stef, I guess that would be okay with me."
Stef lifted Callie and the ice cream into the car and watched her snap her booster seat. For the first time since their whirlwind plans started, Stef realized this was going to be difficult.