PERMANENT

Chapter 7: Forgiveness is For Fools

Callie was gone and so was Brandon. He had stormed out of the house and no one knew where he was; one of the cars gone with him. He wasn't answering any calls or texts. The whole family was sitting on the floor trying to figure out what their next move was and recovering from the emotional shock they found themselves in.

"How did this happen? We were careful."

"Mariana, Jesus? Did you guys say anything? Maybe to Lexi or her parents? Maybe someone overheard you talking?"

"Wasn't me." Jesus said.

"It wasn't me either. And Lexi would never tell anyone even if she knew."

A car pulled into the driveway and both Lena and Stef jumped up thinking it was Brandon coming back. They were worried he was going to do something stupid. Jude walked in smiling and waving goodbye to Connor and his dad who had dropped him off. Connor's dad honked the horn signaling their departure. His smile fell when he saw the expressions on their faces.

"What's going on?"

"Um. Jude sweetheart, why don't you come sit down?"

"Okay."

Lena wrapped her cardigan closed and walked him over to the couch. Lena and Stef looked at each other and at the twins. No one wanted to be the one to tell him.

"Callie is gone. Someone told social services about her and Brandon and Bill came to take her. I'm so sorry." Lena hugged him, but his body was stiff and unresponsive.

"For how long?", he asked voice barely above a whisper.

"We don't know love. But I promise you, we will do everything we can to bring her home."

Jude wasn't really showing any readable emotion and it worried them. He and Callie had been separated before and they saw how that turned out. "If it's okay, I think I want to go to bed now."

"Sure hun. Go ahead."

They all watched him walk up the stairs and out of sight.

Brandon knocked on Talya's door. A large man answered the door, Talya's father. His eyes lit up when he saw Brandon standing there. This was exactly the type of young man he wanted his daughter with. Smart, talented, driven. He knew they were having troubles, so he was more than happy to see him coming around again.

"Brandon! It's been a while. Congratulations on Juilliard son."

"Thank you Mr. Greyson. Is Talya home?"

"I'll go get her for you. Are you sure you don't want to come in? We're having lemon meringue for dessert."

"No, but thank you. I have to get back home soon."

Talya's father nodded. "Next time then. Tally!", he yelled walking towards the back. "Brandon's here to see you."

Talya looked surprised when she came down the stairs. She walked outside closing the door behind her. Brandon grabbed Talya roughly by the arm as soon as the door closed; his nails digging into her skin.

"Why did you do it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me. I know you called family services and told them about me and Callie. You were the only person who knew outside of my family."

"I.."

"Just shut up! Do you even know what you've done? Because of you I may never get the chance to meet my own kid. They'll probably be shuffled around from foster home to foster home for the rest of their life because of you. Because you're a jealous, psychotic mess. I can't believe I didn't see this before. Wyatt was right about you."

Talya paled. What Brandon said about Wyatt cut deep. What happened with him was still a sore spot for her. Talya was the girl who had everything material, but low self esteem. She was the girl who thought she could use sex and manipulation to keep relationships. It hadn't worked with Wyatt and it didn't work with Brandon. She couldn't handle the fact that one girl had taken both boys from her without even trying. She had no idea that Callie was pregnant. Suddenly this was more serious than getting back at an ex boyfriend for dumping her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. Brandon, I swear I wouldn't have if I had known. You have to believe me." She touched his shoulder to calm him and he pushed her off with enough force to make her stumble back; almost falling to the ground. Tears formed in her eyes. She knew then that she had crossed the line and there was no going back.

"Don't fucking touch me. You should have listened to me when I told you to back off.", he said cryptically before climbing into the car and leaving her standing there.

Brandon went into the boy's locker room. He looked around for a moment and then found his target sitting on the bench.

He loomed over the boy who looked up at him with curiosity and a sinister smile. "Yo Foster. What's up?"

"Garner, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"How long until we can get in front of a judge?" Stef was holding her cup of coffee like a form of life support. Sitting with their lawyer was becoming a regular occurrence for both of them. It was exhausting and draining even for a police officer who dealt with law every day.

"Earliest is two or three weeks."

"That long?" Lena asked.

"Unfortunately yes. We want Judge White. His record shows that he's more sympathetic and lenient with youth being from the streets himself. If we want any chance at getting her back, it's with him. He's on vacation right now, but he'll be back in a few days. The problem is, he'll be backed up with cases. I'll try to call in a favor. That's the best I can do."

Lena grabbed Stef's hand in hers. "Do whatever you have to. We just want her home."

Stef plopped down next to Lena on the couch setting her feet in her lap. "How was work?". Lena asked.

"Not bad. How was your day? Suspend anyone? Smokers in the bathroom?"

"No, thankfully. But something interesting did happen today. I got a transfer notice. For Talya."

Lena looked at Brandon to see if he was giving off any reaction. His shoulders tensed a little, but otherwise nothing.

"Someone sent an anonymous video to her father of her removing her top at party. They want the school to do damage control. They're moving her to a private school downtown. Brandon, would you know anything about that? Maybe who took the video? People who were at the party that I can talk to?"

"No. Why would I know anything about Talya? We broke up.", he said packing up his books and walking out of the room.

Lena turned to look at Stef frowning.

"You don't think he had anything to do with this do you?"

"I have no idea. Nothing that happens with our kids surprises me anymore. Face it hon, we've lost all control."

Lena hummed in agreement.

Jesus walked into his room twirling a basketball and whistling. He immediately noticed Jude sitting cross legged on his bed, head down. His mouth twisted in concern and he went over sitting down next to him.

"It's okay to cry you know."

Jude looked up at him. "She's not coming back this time is she?"

"I don't know bud. But moms are doing everything they can to get her back. She'll be home soon."

"I told her I hated her. I didn't mean it, I was just so mad. I didn't even get a chance to tell her I was sorry. She probably hates me."

"Come on dude, do you know how many times I told Mariana I hated her? Callie's your sister. That's family. They forgive you even when you're being a jerk."

"I guess." Jude replied softly.

"You know me and Mariana were separated once. Before we came here. It was the worst feeling in the world. I thought I would never see her again. You're not alone. You have us now. Fosters stick together."

"But I'm not really a part of the family."

"What? Of course you're a part of the family. You and I are going to be uncles together. How cool is that?"

"Pretty cool I guess.", Jude said smiling a little.

Jesus nudged him in the arm until he got him to laugh.

"Come on", he said getting up. "Let's go shoot some hoops."

"I've never really played before."

"Don't worry, I'll teach you."

"Okay.", Jude said leaning over to put on his shoes.

Stef sighed and knocked on the door. No response. She cautiously pushed on it a little glad to find it open. She was met with the sight of Brandon sprawled out across his bed staring at the ceiling. If it wasn't for the rhythmic movement of his chest, she would think he was dead.

She cleared her throat. "B, dinner's ready."

"I'm not hungry"

"You have to eat babe. You're not helping anyone by starving yourself."

No answer.

"I know...I know this is hard, but you can't keep going on like this. We miss her too."

"Just stop.", he said.

"Fine. I'll just go. Come down if you get hungry. Leftovers will be in the fridge."

She wanted to say more, but she decided to let it go for now. She couldn't imagine what he was going through. Callie's leaving hit him the hardest like they knew it would. He was little better than a zombie these days. They hadn't given Callie phone privileges yet so they hadn't seen or heard from her in almost three weeks. They did check in with Bill frequently who assured them she was doing just fine.

She wished she could protect him and make it all go away but she couldn't. He was too young to deal with something like this. She was afraid this would break him if things didn't go the way they wanted them to on Thursday.

"No luck?"

Stef slid onto a stool. Lena sat down next to her, cooking mitt in hand. "None. He's still the same. What are we going to do? How do I make up for losing Callie and the baby? How do I fix that Lena?"

"I don't know. We just have to keep fighting.", she said rubbing Stef's shoulders.

"Alright.", the judge started; folding her hands in front of her on the desk. They were dealing with Judge Hiltmore who was a known hard ass. Daniel was unable to secure Judge White so they were not feeling confident at all walking into this. "I decided to bring this case into my chambers instead of the courtroom due to the delicate circumstances. Now can someone explain to me what the hell is going on here?"

They all took a brief moment to be shocked at her language. "Well it seems that the Foster's son one Brandon Avery Foster aged 17 and their foster daughter Calliope Jade Jacob also aged 17 have been involved in an intimate relationship. It also appears that Ms. Jacob is...several months pregnant with Mr. Foster's child." Daniel winced outwardly when he realized how bad that sounded.

"I understand that Ms. Jacob has a history of vandalism, theft, and a previous incident of sexual misconduct with another foster sibling.", the judge commented.

"To be fair your honor, these are all accusations made by one foster parent. He was later arrested and charged for possession of deadly weapon and threatening minors. We have reason to believe he was abusing Ms. Jacob and her younger brother. Furthermore, the past case of sexual misconduct is believed to have been non consensual."

"She was raped.", Lena said and Stef tried to shush her.

"Dear lord, this is a mess.", the judge said. She penned Stef with a harsh look. "Officer, how did this happen? Surely you know better."

Stef gulped. "Yes, I know the rules and believe me, they were explained to all of the children. I am an officer and I take pride in my work, but I am also a mother and guardian of four teenagers and a pre-teen. It happens."

"Well, what do you suggest we do about this counselor?", she said looking expectantly at Daniel.

He fidgeted and adjusted his collar under the judge's scrutiny. "Er, well. Ms. Jacob is currently in a group home. We are petitioning the court for her legal emancipation from the state so she will be exempt from foster restrictions and return home."

Judge Hiltmore frowned. "You do realize that emancipation is a very hard case to prove? The ward should have a steady job, a residence and prove themselves capable of complete independent care. None of which Ms. Jacobs possesses. Never mind her record."

"Yes your honor, I do realize that."

The judge was silent for a few minutes pondering the situation and looking over the files and sighing every few moments. It wasn't looking good. They knew this was a long shot from the beginning.

Lena couldn't take this anymore.

"Your honor. With all due respect, Callie is not her file. We love Callie and she is one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. Yes, she has made some questionable choices. I'm sure we all did at her age. We are willing to take full responsibility for her and the child. Please don't take her away from the only family she's known. Please.", she pleaded.

Brandon sat alone on a wooden bench in the hall with his head in his lap. He had to beg his moms to let him go. Jude and the twins were waiting anxiously at home. He couldn't even wrap his mind around what would happen if the judge said no. He would wait for her. There was no doubt in his mind. Callie and the baby were his family now. There were so many restrictions with the group home situation that he feared they might not even inform or allow him and his family be there with Callie when the baby is born. They belonged with him, not in a group home. His leg was shaking up and down from nerves.

He looked up when he heard footsteps coming his way. They were all smiling and for the first time he allowed himself hope. Lena nodded answering his silent question. He was pulled up and found himself in the middle of a mom sandwich; happy tears flowing all around.

"We did it. Congratulations.", Daniel said shaking Brandon's hand.

Stef kissed his hair. "Come on. Let's go get our girl."

End Note: I am really sorry. I know I said I might post again last night and then I fell asleep watching "The Wedding Planner". I woke up with like 15 emails telling me to update and voting! Ouch. The vote is now...

Boy-6 / Girl-4

This is the end of the biggest drama portion of the story. I'm not exactly happy with it, but at this point it is what it is. There will be more drama, but not as serious as before. Two or three more chapters left! And maybe an epilogue.

Coming up: The return of Callie, Jealousy, baby shopping, Brandon confronts Mike, and maybe a cute scene that someone suggests to me.