A/N: OK guys, keeping in mind I am Irish and we have a completely different culture and what have you from other countries, we call things differently than they do in the States so this was a bit of a challenge, if I have got anything wrong or haven't addressed it correctly please do correct me! Also we don't have kindergarten in Ireland well we kinda do but it's more playschool, so I have no clue what age one would be when they start or when they leaveā¦just to clarify, Callie is four and Brandon is six, I confused myself throughout this!
Stef and Lena had met with Bill three times since Callie and Jude had been placed with them, Stef had voiced her concerns with Bill about the bruises that she had found on Callie on their second meeting, Bill couldn't explain them which only angered Stef more, not only had Stef been adamant to let Callie and Jude go back into the system, but after Lena found out that Bill had no knowledge of the bruises she was too.
"Sweetie, can you just calm down before you come to bed, you're the one always telling me not to go when I'm angry" Lena said as she walked out of their bathroom into the room with the washing basket in her hands,
"How can I not be Lena, even their own social worker doesn't know how she got those bruises, I know this, they aren't being put back into that system until I get to the bottom of this" Stef said as she reached for a armful of cloths.
It was Stef and Lena's second meeting with Bill, Stef had mentioned about finding Callie's bruises and Bill had claimed he didn't know anything about them which only angered Stef further.
Stef was tossing and turning in the bed and Lena was having trouble getting to sleep, when was worried, annoyed, angry or just not having a good day she would toss and turn all night and as a result Lena would get little to no sleep and tonight was looking like one of those nights when she got none.
"Stef" Lena said softly as she placed a hand on Stef's back, Stef turned around quickly and looked at Lena,
"What!" Stef snapped, Lena was shocked for a second but composed herself quickly, she knew Stef was angry going to bed but she thought that she would have calmed down a little bit by now.
"Don't snap a me Stefanie Foster" Lena said sitting up straighter, she turned around an d switched on the bedside lamp, she turned back around to find Stef giving her a look, Lena just gave her one right back, Stef sat up in the bed and shook her head,
"I'm sorry my love, I'm just worried about Callie and Jude, the fact that they're own case worker doesn't even know about Callie's bruises is troubling" Stef said as she turned to face Lena,
"I know Stef, but getting worked up about it isn't help me, you or anyone else" Lena said running her hand through Stef's hair, Stef leaned into her touch before reaching up and grabbing her hand, she brought it down to her mouth and kissed the palm, she them placed it over her heart,
"I know my sweet but I love those kids so much" Stef said, Lena smiled at her,
"Would it really be a bad thing to add two more kids to our plan" Lena said smiling wider as Stef's head shot up,
"What?"
"Callie and Jude, and Callie is your double, I mean if I didn't know better, I would swear that you gave birth to her yourself, she's showing some stubbornness that could only be explained by you, and they've only been here two weeks, and as for Jude, that boy had my heart the moment I took him into my arms, I love them and I know you love them, even B loves them, Jude and B seem to be getting along, even Callie seems to be getting use to him" Lena said as she moved closer to Stef,
"She is like me isn't she" Stef said looking up at Lena, unshed tears in her eyes, "are you sure Lena, cause once we do this ther.." Stef was silenced and got her answer in the form a kiss that lasted into the early hours of the morning
"Sweetie, Bill said that he would look into it, and he's also working on papers for Callie and Jude to be adopted" Lena said with a smile, Stef looked up and smiled at her wife.
They had called Bill that morning after they had decided the night before and went over with him their interest in making Callie and Jude apart of their family more permanently, Bill couldn't have been more thrilled and Lena and Stef's heart could burst, Bill had popped over a few hours after their call and had told Stef and Lena that he could find nothing in the system of a 'Mr John' that Callie and Jude had ever been placed with, this is what made Stef even more angry, but she knew that it wasn't Bills fault but as their case worker, it was his job to make sure they were safe, but she could sleep at night knowing that they were safe in their home, for the rest of their lives.
"Have you told your parents yet?" Stef said, Lena looked up with a confused look, "about the adoption" Stef clarified,
"No, I haven't spoken to them in a week, they are still in Europe" Lena said as she placed the last of the folded cloths back in the basket, "what about you, you told yours?" Lena asked raising a eyebrow, Stef shook her head,
"Nope, I mean how am I going to explain this to my dad, he already has issues about us and adding Callie and Jude to that will only give him even more a reason to dig at me, it's bad enough getting some sort of lecture every time I do his shopping," Stef said rubbing her forehead, Lena knew that Stef's relationship with her father wasn't the best, he didn't approve of her relationship with Lena and that was a problem for her, she had cut him out of her life before she got with Lena but with some pushing from her mother she had got back into contact with him, he loved Mike, but Lena was a different story, he never had one good thing to say about her, and that bothered Stef, bothered her quite a bit.
"I know honey, but at least let your mom know, I'm surprised we haven't heard from her lately" Lena said
"She's still in Ireland as far as I know" Stef said,
"Why is she there again" Lena laughed as she placed the clothes basket on the ground,
"It's on her bucket list apparently, and she's always wanted to go" Stef said as she moved up onto her side of the bed,
"We should go sometime, me, you and the kids, have a proper holiday" Lena said as she too moved up to her side,
"Honey we can barely afford a holiday here never mind go to Ireland" Stef laughed as she got under the covers,
"Well hopefully we can soon, I got a text from Lara this morning, and she's leaving after the break, which means that vice-principal could soon be me" Lena said with a smile,
"Seriously?" Stef asked looking at her wife, a surprised look on her face,
"Yeah, well I'm already deputy so the job will be first offered to me, before Karina lets the world know, I mean everyone wants to work at Anchor Beach, the amount of resumes that have been coming in recently is ridiculous" Lena said as she got comfortable under the covers, Stef got comfy and opened her arms, Lena was quick to accept the offer and placed her head on Stef's chest,
"Well if all falls through, then we shall think about a holiday outside of the country" Stef said as she placed a kiss on Lena's head.
Monday morning came all too quick for the Fosters, Callie was starting preschool and wasn't happy about it, Callie and Jude had been with Stef and Lena for a little over two months and they would have had her in sooner but they didn't know how long they would be staying, now that they knew they would be staying for good, they could sort out arrangements for Callie going to school and Jude attending day care when Lena and Stef would both be at work, they knew if they were stuck then they could work around Stef's schedule, even though Lena didn't like Stef working the night shift, she was willing to let her do it if it came to it.
"Honey" Lena said as she turned around to see Stef still sleeping, the alarm on her phone going off, "Stef" Lena said again shaking her slightly, one thing about Stef, after a night of sex, she could sleep all day the next day, something that Lena still didn't know was a good thing or not, "Jesus woman" Lena said as she poked Stef in the side,
"Huh?" Stef said turning around her eyes still closed, "what was that for" Stef asked still half sleeping, Lena just smiled,
"You, not even budging, when that is going off in your ear" she said pointing to Stef's phone on her bedside locker, Stef turned around turned it off and then threw it on the floor,
"Thing is useless anyway" she said as she pulled the covers up over her shoulder,
"Oh no you don't Stefanie Foster, you're on children duty this morning" Lena said as she pulled them back down much to Stef's annoyance,
"You are no fun, you'd think after last night you would be nice to me" Stef said as she turned to her wife and pouted, Lena just laughed
"Yes, and you would think that after last night you would do what you are told" she said as she poked Stef's shoulder
"Uh" Stef said as she turned around to lay on her back, "I'm starting to wonder why I married you now" she said pouting,
"I can give you a good reason as to why you did" Lena said as she leaned down and kissed Stef, Stef grabbed Lena and pulled her on top of her, trapping her between her legs, "no Stef, up" Lena said tickling Stef causing her to release her grip on her and giving her enough time to get away from Stef and scramble out of bed,
"That is not nice" Stef said as she sat up and looked at Lena,
"Well we need to get going" Lena said smiling as she walked into the bathroom, standing at the bathroom door and smiling at Stef
"You" Stef said pointing to Lena, "are not nice" she said as she threw the blankets off her and got out of bed, she looked back to Lena who stuck out her tongue, Stef returned it, Lena then went into the bathroom and closed the door, Stef reached for her pajamas, she made her way into Brandon's room to wake up her eldest son.
"Morning B, time to get up" Stef said as she walked over and opened the curtains, she could hear him moan and watched him pull the blankets up over his head, "well now I see what mama means by 'Brandon isn't a morning person'" Stef said as she walked over to her son, "rise and shine baby" Stef said as she leaned down and kissed Brandon on the head, "let's go" Stef said as she pulled the blankets off him,
"Morning mommy" Brandon said as he rubbed his eyes and sat up,
"Morning baby, get up and get dressed B, school today" Stef said as she stood up,
"Mommy" Brandon said as she slid out of bed, Stef turned around and looked at her son,
"Yeah" Stef said as she kneeled in front of him, he looked to his feet before looking back up at Stef,
"Callie's coming too?" Brandon asked, Stef smiled and kissed his head,
"Yes baby, Callie is going too, and you're going to be a good boy and help her right?" Stef said as she ruffled his hair,
"Ya, I'm gonna be a good big brother" Brandon said as he pushed his chest out, Stef couldn't help but laugh, Callie and Brandon were getting along better and Lena and Stef had told Brandon that Callie and Jude was going to be his sister and brother and he couldn't be happier,
"Good boy, get dressed and then go down stairs, mama is making pancakes" Stef said kissing his head and pointing to the pile of clothes that was sitting on the plastic chair in the corner of the room, Stef didn't really care what Brandon wore to school but Lena always insured that what he wore matched in some way, she laid his clothes out every night so he didn't have to rush and mess everything when he went looking for something to wear, Lena had started to do the same for Jude, Callie on the other hand was a different story, she looked at Lena when she picked out her clothes for her one morning and Stef nearly wet herself at the look she gave Lena, when Lena asked her what was wrong she replied with, "Lena, I can get dressed myself" as she grabbed the clothes and placed them back in the drawer, she then went and got herself a pair of black shorts, a grey t-shirt and her blue converse, the shock on Lena's face was priceless, Stef smiled at the memory as she walked into Callie's room, they learned very quickly that Callie was not a morning person in any shape or form and realized that it was going to take a lot longer to wake the little girl that loved her sleep, Lena had made sure that Stef was the one to wake Callie up when it came to mornings, she couldn't deal with her grouchiness at half seven, so Stef had the job of waking her.
