Chapter Four: When Love Arrives

Lena was sitting in her office when she heard a knock on her door, she looked up to see David standing there, "Hey buddy." Lena said. "What's up?"

"I- I-" David couldn't get words out. He was so anxious that getting words out was the hardest thing to do.

"Hey, hey." Lena said. "What's wrong?"

"Can't- can't breathe." He got out. "Can't-"

"Okay," Lena said jumping into action. "Do you want me to call Stef?" He nodded, he needed his big sister right now. "Okay, let me call her." Lena pulled her phone out of the dress pants pocket she was wearing and dialed Stef's number. "Hey honey." She said. "Uh, it's about David. He's having a hard time breathing, he said he needs you." David buried his face into the couch in the fetal position. "He doesn't look good." He started to shake and Lena wrapped her arm around him, "Okay honey, we'll see you in a little bit." Lena hung up and pulled David closer into her, "She'll be here in a little bit." Lena said. "Can I hold you a little better?" David sat up and curled himself into Lena. They sat like that with Lena rubbing her hand up and down his arm until Stef got there. She knocked on the door and Lena called for her to come in, "Hi honey." She said to the off duty police officer.

"Hey love," she said. "Hey bubba."

"Stef," he said.

"Yeah, I'm right here." Stef said sitting on the table in front of them. "What's going on?"

"I- I-" He tried to get out.

"Hey, hey." Stef said, moving to his other side. David curled into Stef and Lena got up to shut and lock the door, so that they could have a little more privacy. "Oh love." Stef said as he whimpered into her. "What can I do?"

"H- h- h- hold me." He stammered.

"Okay," she said. "Anything else?" He shook his head. He just needed for his sister to hold him. Lena sat across from them, giving them space. Stef kissed the top of her brother's head and whispered, "I love you bubba" into it. His breathing evened out and he fell asleep into Stef's arms. Stef looked up at her girlfriend, "I'm sorry," she said. "Things have been getting worse lately."

"Honey, you may have to get him some actual help." Lena said. "We can be there for him as much as he wants, but if we want him to actually be better than we need to get a professional involved."

"I know, I just don't want him to feel like I'm giving up on him." Stef said.

"You wouldn't be babe." Lena said. "I promise. Sometimes professional help is needed in order to get things right." Stef sighed and kissed the top of David's head again. "I meant what I said too, I'm not going anywhere. I'm in this for the long haul."

"I know, but I don't want to put that pressure on you." Stef said.

"You're not, I promise you that." Lena said. "This kid," she gestured to the sleeping David in Stef's arms, "has already made his way far into my heart. I love him and I knew he came with the package of being with you. And I know my boys have done the same exact thing to you."

Stef nodded, "They really have." She said. The police officer then sighed, "Okay, but I honestly don't want him going to your ex's wife. It wouldn't make me comfortable."

Lena nodded in agreement, "I understand." She said. "I'll talk with his guidance counselor, see what resources she has. She kind of already knows about us and the situation with David."

"Okay," Stef said. "Thank you love."

"Of course babe," Lena said. "I love you."

"I love you too." Stef said as Lena came and sat down next to her.

David was sitting on the couch at Lena's later that afternoon. Stef and Lena were in the kitchen making dinner. The boy was curled into a ball staring off into space. Stef checked him out of school for the rest of the day and Lena took the rest of it off. They had been taking care of him and talking about him going to therapy and potentially taking medication.

David and Josh walked in from school. Josh walked straight into the basement to start doing homework. Matt saw David lying on the couch staring into space.

"Hey," Matt said sitting in the recliner next to the couch David was lying on. "You okay?"

David shook his head, "Bad day." He said. "My sister checked me out at the end of lunch."

"I'm sorry to hear that, David." Matt said honestly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You don't have to do that, Matt." David said honestly.

"I know, but the offer still stands." He said. "We're all here for you, bro. Don't push us all away."

"I just don't want you and Josh to end up hating me because your mama is helping my sister take care of me." David said. "She's your mama first."

"We still got her, don't worry man." Matt said. "She's still the best mama in the world, trust me."

"How are you even remotely okay with this?" David asked.

"Because I know the love my mama gives and it seems like you need it right now." Matt said honestly.

"Your mama makes me feel safe," David said. "Safer than I've ever felt in a long time."

"Yeah," Matt said looking at his mama preparing dinner with Stef in the kitchen. "She has the affect on people." He then looked back over at David, "She loves you man. She gets super protective of you and it's nice to have you and Stef around all the time."

"Thanks Matt." David said.

"Alright, I'm gonna go do homework now, but after dinner, let's play video games or something, yeah?" Matt said getting up.

David nodded, "For sure." He said.

That night Stef was sitting with her arm around Lena, they were sitting in the backyard enjoying the sounds of a late fall evening. Lena had her face buried in Stef's neck. Stef kissed the top of Lena's head, "You okay, love?" The police officer asked. Lena nodded her head, but Stef didn't believe her. "Love," she whispered making Lena sigh.

"You never really talk about your parents," Lena said. "Like I know they're gone, but like, what were they like?"

"They weren't necessarily the easiest people to be around," Stef said. "They loved me and David, but they had weird ways of showing it. Like working all the time. My dad was a police officer as well. We actually worked at the same precinct for a few weeks."

"What did your mom do?" Lena asked.

"She was a strategic analyst at some big corporation in San Diego." Stef said. "They had me early on in their marriage and David was somewhat a surprise 17 years ago."

"They were involved in an accident?" Lena asked.

Stef nodded, "It was my first night shift in my career. My partner and I were being stereotypical cops. Drinking coffee and eating donuts. And we heard there was an accident and we were one of the first ones on the scene and I recognized the car." Stef took a deep breath and started playing with Lena's hair. "And I thought it was just a coincidence that the car was the same as my parents' car. But then-" Stef swallowed remembering, "I saw the people in the car and when I saw that they were my parents, I froze. I couldn't move. My partner asked me what was wrong and I managed to get out that those people were my parents and he called for backup, not wanting me to have to deal with it. They were t-boned pretty hard by a distracted teenage driver. My mom was killed instantly and my dad died later that night in the hospital."

Lena had tears in her eyes listening to the story, "And you had to tell David?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Stef nodded. "Everyone knew that I could tell him the best. I took guardianship over him immediately."

"You're really good with him," Lena stated.

"We've had our ups and downs in the last ten years, but it isn't something I'd trade for the world." Stef said. "And you're good with him too. He feels safe with you."

"I've had a good amount of practice being a mom and an educator." Lena said with a shrug.

"He doesn't open up to anyone, besides me, like he opens up to you, love." Stef said. "Please don't brush it off like it's nothing because it isn't. All my other girlfriends tried to get him to where you have and you did it in a matter of a month."

"I love that kid," Lena said softly. "He has a lot to offer the world."

"I love you, Lena." Stef said. "More than I'll ever be able to understand."

Lena leaned in and kissed her before resting her forehead on Stef's, "I love you, Stef." She whispered.

"You're my everything." Stef said. "I don't want anyone else."

"You're my everything and I just want you." Lena said kissing her again, placing her hand's on Stef's face.

Stef looked at her watch and realized how late it was getting, "I should get David home," she said reluctantly.

"Stay the night," Lena said, wanting to be close after Stef shared that story of her parents.

"Are- are you sure?" Stef asked.

"We have an extra room for David and I wanna wake up next to you." Lena said. "Hell, move in if you and David want. You're here enough and I hate that he eats alone when you're at work late and he feels like he'd be an interruption to me and the boys."

"I think we should talk to all the boys about it and see where they're at." Stef said. "I don't want to rush things with them."

"You're right," Lena said. "But just for tonight, stay here. I want you close tonight."

Stef nodded, "Okay." She said. "I should go get David and change of clothes and my uniform for tomorrow then."

"Okay." Lena said kissing her while straddling the police officer.

Later that night, Stef walked into the guest room where David was sitting on the bed looking at his phone. "Hey buddy." She said.

"Hey Stef," he said locking his phone and putting it on the charger on the nightstand.

"You're okay with this, right?" Stef asked.

He nodded, "We're over here practically every night if Lena isn't at our place now." He said. "It's only the natural progression." He shrugged.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that." Stef said hesitantly. "Lena asked me for us to move in tonight."

"Okay," David responded like he already knew.

"How do you feel about that?" Stef asked.

"I mean, does this mean that our Sunday breakfasts at that diner is off of the table, just the two of us?" He asked.

"No, no, nothing like that is going to change." Stef said.

"Then, I don't care really." He said. "Lena makes me feel safe, Stef. I'm down for whatever at this point."

Stef sat next to him and pulled him into her side, he curled more into her. She kissed his forehead and asked, "How'd you feel about me asking Lena to marry me?"

"You haven't done that already?" David joked.

Stef smiled and cuddled with her brother for a little while.

Lena was talking to her boys as well. She wanted to make sure they felt okay with the way everything was progressing. They were down in Josh's room. Lena and Matt were sitting on Josh's bed and Josh was sitting at his desk.

"What's going on, Mama?" Josh asked concerned.

"Yeah," Matt said. "Last time you asked to talk to us you were telling us you and Mom were getting a divorce." Then it hit him, "Wait, are you and Stef breaking up? No, wait, are you sick?"

"We're fine and I'm fine, honey." Lena assured Matt. "I just want to make sure that this relationship I have with Stef is progressing okay for you two." The boys looked at each other and then their mama confused. "I asked Stef and David to move in tonight and I just want to make sure that it's okay. Stef said they aren't moving in until I get the okay from you two and she gets the okay from David."

"Oh," both the boys said.

"I'm definitely okay with it," Matt said first.

"Yeah, for sure." Josh said. "I'm okay with it."

Lena spread her arms to hug both of her boys, she laid back to hold them, "You really love her, don't you, Mama?" Josh asked suddenly.

"I do," Lena said. "I haven't loved anyone this much since your mom."

"You think you'd marry her?" Matt asked.

Lena nodded, "I would. In a heartbeat." She said.

"We're really happy for you, mama." Josh said. "And we really like Stef and David."

"We do," Matt said. "We were a little hesitant at first, but we really do like them."

"Also, don't feel bad when you want to love on David like you do us," Josh said. "Because we understand that he needs a lot of love right now. And we know you have a lot of love to give."

Lena smiled at her boys and kissed both of their foreheads, she knew that the divorce wasn't easy for them, but she loved that her boys were so accepting of not only Stef, but David as well.

The next morning, Stef woke up to Lena curled into her. The principal was already awake and enjoying the silence and the rhythm of Stef's heartbeat.

"I could get used to waking up like this," Stef said, voice still deep with sleep.

Lena hummed, "Me too," she said, kissing Stef good morning. "My boys are on board with it."

"So is David." Stef said.

"So, this means we can get you two in here as soon as possible?" Lena said.

Stef nodded, "We're on a month-to-month lease commitment with the apartment," Stef said. "So we can move out at the end of the month and move in here."

Lena straddled Stef, "Yeah?" She said as she leaned down to kiss Stef's neck.

Stef moaned at the kisses being placed on her neck, "Yeah," the police officer got out. She moaned again when Lena added a tongue to her kisses. "Fuck, babe." Stef got out as Lena was turning her on.

Lena moaned, "The kids are still asleep," she said. "We have time."

Stef kissed Lena hard and rolled them over, making Lena squeal a little.

At breakfast about an hour later, Lena was back in full mama bear mode in taking care of not just her boys, but David as well.

"You feeling better today?" Lena asked David.

He nodded his head, "I'll make it all the way through school today, promise." David said.

"Well, my office door is always open if you need someone to talk you down," Lena said.

"Yeah," Matt said, "why don't you hang out with one of us during lunch too?" Josh nodded in agreement. "I mean, Mama's cool and all, but we're probably more fun to hang out with."

"I mean, your friends wouldn't mind?" David asked.

"Even if they do," Josh said, "we got your back. My friends probably would be a little more accepting than Matt's, but it'd be cool to hang with you at school."

"I mean, okay." David said.

Lena smiled as Stef walked in wearing her uniform, the principal handed the police officer breakfast and coffee to go.

"Thanks love," Stef accepted the coffee and breakfast and gave her a kiss.

"Have a good day," Lena whispered as she kissed her again.

"You too, love." Stef said before turning to the three teenagers, specifically David. "Have a good day, loves." She said to them.

"You too," the twins mumbled back.

Stef then stopped behind David, "Text me if you need me today, okay?" She said quietly and he nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too, Stef." He said as she hugged him from behind and kissed his forehead. "Have a good day."

"You too, bubba." She said walking out of the house, feeling more in love with her life than ever before.