Oh my gosh i'm so tired! You should have heard the kids this afternoon. ever since they all got home from school first Noah and Jesus, then Mariana and Jesus. then even Brandon and Callie. They all got into it with each other today" Stef said throwing herself down on her bed.

"Sounds busy" Lena said putting the laundry basket on the bed

'Ugh you have no Idea, why do we have 5 kids again? what is this the Brady Bunch?" Stef sighed covering her eyes with the inside of her elbow.

"Hey Stef?" Lena said

"mmm?" Stef mumbled.

'I umm, I have to tell you something" Lena said putting down the shirt she was folding

"What, did they all just turn 18 that would be wonderful" Stef said.

"I umm, can you sit up?" Lena asked. Stef sensed her tone and sat up looking at her as Lena stood to close the bedroom door before going back to sit on the bed.

"I went to the doctors today because I still haven't been feeling that great, you know no appetite and stuff. Well it turns out I didn't get my period a few weeks ago like we thought. It was just spotting, They ran a pregnancy test and it came back positive, The other test was a false negative because i'm 5 weeks" Lena said. Stef felt her mouth drop open.

"Your pregnant?" Stef asked breathlessly. Lena nodded.

"Oh my god" Stef said again.

"Are you…happy?" Lena asked.

"Happy, Lena we're going to have a baby what kind of a question is that to ask oh my god!" Stef cried lunching from the bed over to Lena showering her with kisses. Lena laughed.

"I just thought, after you came in here talking about your day with the kids and your right 6 kids is a lot especially with an infant and 4 teenagers…" Lena went on. Stef stopped her by kissing her lips.

"We are crazy, but we're crazy together. me and you and our beautiful family and I could not be happier then I am right now" Stef laughed. She kissed Lena then pulled back lifting her shirt reviling her flat stomach.

"Oh Stef!" Lena laughed trying to pull her shirt down but Stef pushed back her hands kneeling in front of Lena's belly placing three little kisses all around.

"Hi baby" she whispered

Lena sat up in her bed reading one of her new pregnancy and baby books. She expertly had her knees drawn up hiding the cover of the book incase any of the kids were to walk by. Stef was next to her working on some paperwork on her computer. The house was quiet, Noah was in bed and the teenagers were settling in for the night. Lena heard soft footsteps down the hall and then a knock on the doorframe.

"Come on it Callie" Stef called not looking up from her computer.

"How do you do that?" Callie asked stepping into the room.

"Do what?" Stef asked looking up as Lena book marked her page putting the book face down on her nightstand.

"You always know who it is without looking up"

"Thats because you all come to us differently, whats up?" Stef asked as Lena waved Callie over and Callie sat on the end of Lena's side of the bed. Stef again felt herself marvel about how comfortable Callie was becoming to just walk in and make herself comfortable on their bed.

"How can you tell?" Callie asked ignoring Stef's question.

"Well, Brandon walks louder, and he knocks but just comes in. Jesus doesn't knock at all but he walks like an elephant so we always know when he's coming. Mariana knocks but then says which one of us she is looking for before we say anything. You and Noah both have light little steps but you stop and hesitate before you knock, he doesn't, that's how I tell you two apart" Stef said. Callie smiled as Lena nodded her agreement.

"What's up girly?" Lena asked again.

"I…I was just wondering if you had any Advil or anything? I have a headache" Callie said.

"Are you sick again" Lena asked getting up and putting a cool hand to Callie's forehead.

"No I think I just did to much homework with my lamp on, it's probably not bright enough" Callie shook her head. Lena nodded going into their bathroom coming out a minute later handing her a glass of water and a little pill.

"Thanks" Callie smiled taking them from her popping the pill and taking a drink handing the glass back to Lena. Stef watched all this from where she was sitting on the bed not saying anything. Had this been any of her other children she would not have given this a second thought. But less then a month ago Callie had almost ruptured her appendix because she didn't want to let them know she was in pain. And now she was coming to them for a headache. Stef couldn't help but feel overly excited.

"Why don't you head off to bed sweetie, sleep it off and give your eyes a break, you will feel better in the morning" Lena said.

"Ok, thanks" Callie said reaching out and giving Lena a hug.

"Good night" Callie said going over to Stef and giving her a hug to Stef's surprises.

"Good night love" Stef kissed her temple and Callie left going down the hall back into her room.

"Remind me to make her an eye doctors appointment tomorrow" Lena said getting back into bed.

"what?" Lena asked turning to Stef who just looked at her smiling.

"She just came to us for a headache, a fricken headache Lena!" Stef whispered

"I know, I was trying not to make a big deal about it. But I know" Lena smile and Stef knew Lena was thinking the same thing she was.

"One step back one giant leap foreword" Stef muttered turning off her light and pulling Lena close to her.

"Ok i'm going grocery shopping, i'll be back in an hour" Stef said coming down grabbing her purse the next morning.

"Didn't you just go yesterday?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, but it's been almost two months since I went for my dad" Stef muttered.

"oh right" Lena said.

"Ugh I can't wear these jeans" Stef sighed going back up the stairs.

"I thought Stef's dad didn't talk to her" Callie said

"It's complicated, he says away and doesn't agree with her choices, but she brings him things every once in a while, they talk for five minutes and that's it, usually about every two or three months" Lena said sadly

"That's sad" Callie said.

"Yeah, yeah it bothers her more then she shows" Lena nodded

"Ok, do these look better?" Stef asked coming down.

"Love you look fine, it's just your dad" Lena told her gently.

"Yeah, yeah I know" Stef said picking up her bag again.

"Hey, can I come?" Callie asked

"You want to come shopping?" Stef asked. Callie nodded.

"Sweetheart i'm not sure if that…" Lena started but Stef cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah you can go grab some shoes"

"Ok" Callie said running up the stairs

After shopping Stef pulled the car up to an unfamiliar home not far from their own.

"Ok love grab that bag, we'll be in and out" Stef said as She and Callie both picked up a bag.

"Hey dad" Stef called going into the front door.

"Oh there's my favorite daughter" a man called from the recliner he was sitting on. Callie peered at him from behind Stef, he was a large man, salt and pepper hair and big reading glasses. The mornings pepper was thrown around his feet and the tv was muted in but background on some game show.

"I'm your only daughter but I'm relieved I made the list" Stef said walking into the kitchen. For the first time the man saw Callie.

"Hey, did Mariana get whiter?" he asked. Callie looked to Stef horrified

"No dad, this is Callie, we just adopted her and her brother remember I told you about them" Stef sighed opening her bag and directing Callie to put her's on the counter.

"Here let me help you" The man said standing up.

"No dad it's fine go sit" Stef said side stepping him on her way to the fridge.

"You don't have to keep doing this you know" he said sitting at the table.

"If I don't stock your fridge dad you will live on sodium packed TV dinners. it's bad for your heart" Stef said as Callie handed her some apples.

"Oh come on we raised you on TV dinners"

"Yeah and I still have nightmares about frozen peas" Stef said sticking her tung out at Callie who gave a little laugh.

"I spoke to mom last night by the way, she says hi from Florida" Stef said.

"Good for her, you see the Padres game last night?"

"You mean the massacre? Yeah, but I barley heard the last inning with Jesus screaming at the TV" Stef laughed.

"Oh man he's a good kid, I should take him to a game or something, since baseball isn't Brandon's thing still right?"

"They would both love the invite dad" Stef said

"Just not next weekend Jesus wants to go to a church camp thing" She added.

"Church camp, your not raising those kids catholic are you?" Her father asked.

"No, dad he's going because his girlfriend is and he wants to spend time with her, you know we don't raise our kids in church" Stef said.

"Well don't you think they need a church though, a good Christian church, I never understood why you stopped going"

"Your kidding right" Stef laughed.

"what?"

"Dad the catholic church is against everything that I am, my marriage, my kids, my life choices"

"So that's it you won't go back?"

"How can I go back dad" Stef cried. Callie backed up a little feeling herself sink into the wall realizing Stef had forgotten she was there.

"I'm just saying you are making a lot of wrong choices" He said. Stef burst out laughing.

"you had a husband and a son and you still left Mike for that women. you had everything and you threw it away and made the choice to be gay" He went on.

"it's not a…I…oh my god" Stef said pinching her eyes as she turned away from her father.

"Ok let's pretend it is a choice dad, at the end of the day, who I love should not be an issue for you or anyone else. I have an amazing family, Lena is my wife who i adore with all my heart, so yeah. I made a choice, i decided to be happy dad" Stef said. Her father threw his hands up

"I don't want to have this fight again" he said picking up the paper to read. Callie saw a sad smile cross Stef's face.

"Your welcome for the groceries dad, come on love" Stef said taking Callie's hand and lead her out. When they got into the car Stef put her head all the way back taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry about your dad" Callie said uncomfortable in the silence

"No, no I'm sorry you had to see that, I shouldn't have let you come, thats why the other kids don't even ask, I thought if he met you…I'm sorry i put you in that place, he didn't even acknowledge you did he?" Stef asked Callie shook her head.

"Well, that's my dad" Stef sighed and backed out of the drive way.

Lena lay down in bed trying to breath. Stef should be home any minute from her dad's. Brandon had gone to the park with some friends but Mariana was in her room right down the hall and Lena know if she threw up again Mariana would start asking questions. As badly as she wanted to tell the kids about the baby she wanted to wait a little longer until she was in the safe zone. Oh man this morning sickness was killing her, she couldn't wait to get that part over with. As the feeling was passing her phone rang Lena checked the caller Id. Brandon.

"Hey B" she said clearing her throat

"What…yeah I can come get you, are you ok?…ok yeah…yeah I'm coming" Lena said hanging up the phone a little surprised by the urgency in Brandon's voice.

"Mariana" She called down the hall putting on her shoes.

"Yeah?"

"I have to go get your brother, watch your brother" Lena called.

"Wait, what?" Mariana asked popping out of her bedroom.

"I have to go get Brandon, watch Noah please, don't leave the house" Lena said suddenly feeling dizzy from standing up to fast.

"Mom, You ok, you look green, are you still sick?" Mariana asked.

"Of course not, i'm fine, just stay here" Lena said going down the stairs. She drove to the park Brandon had directed her too and parked the car when she saw him sitting on a rock near by. Brandon got into the car he was sweating and breathing hard.

"Are you ok?" Lena asked

"Not really, I had a pot brownie, and now i'm freaking out, is it normal to be freaking out, I can't feel my fingers are they still there" Brandon asked. Lena laughed a little.

"Yes they are still there, everyone has different reactions to weed, we can just wait it out your fine" Lena assured him.

"So my fingers are still there, they look like they are there, i'm sorry I called you but you always say to call when we need a ride, and I didn't want to deal with momma like this…" Brandon said.

"No, it's ok i'm glad you called that's what i'm here for. Lena said.

"How to you make this stop?"

"Let's get out and walk around, i bet some fresh air will help" Lena said as they both got out and started walking around the park

"Your a good mom you know that, I know momma is my real mom, but sometimes i forget. sometimes I look at pictures of us and i'm like why don't I look like my mom that's weird. And then i'm like on yeah she's not my birth mom" Brandon said making Lena laugh again.

"Thank you B that means a lot"Lena said.

"But like you could be my birth mom, you have been around for as long as I can remember really"

"Oh yes, I remember, you were so cute when you were little, it took you a minute to understand the two mom's thing. For a few weeks I was afraid you are going to call me dad forever but you got and then we moved into that house and you had your own room but you were afraid to sleep in it for like a month"

"Yeah well, there were monsters in that closet" Brandon said.

"That's right, you used to sleep with momma and I every night but sideways of course. I can't count the number of nights i spent with your elbows in my ribs and your feet in momma's face" Lena said making Brandon smile.

"And then we brought the twins home and you went from being an only child to the most perfect big brother. you still are"

"But not now! now i'm just high, the high kid who had to call his mommy" Brandon cried.

"There is no shame in calling your mommy, ever" Lena told him.

"Hey B" Stef said walking into his room that night followed closely by Lena.

"Yeah I knew this was coming" Brandon sighed turning around in the keyboard stool as Lena shut the door behind them.

"So mom says you have something to talk to me about" Stef said as the two women sat on his bed.

"umm, yeah I was in the woods with some buddies today and one had made pot brownies, so I tried one" Brandon said.

"You got high?" Stef asked.

"Yeah, and I freaked out and called mom" Brandon said. he was surprised when Stef burst out laughing.

"I should have told you before that we are not pot people, it just doesn't sit well with us" Stef said.

"Wait really?" Brandon asked.

"Yes! oh yes" Stef nodded.

"So..so i'm not in trouble?" Brandon asked.

"Well based on the reaction you had i think we're safe in assuming you will never do it again" Lena said.

"No, no I won't i swear" Brandon nodded.

"And despite making a mistake in judgement you did the right thing, you called mom for help and turned to one of us, you made a mistake but you asked for help, you did the right thing B" Stef nodded.

"I guess something you are always drilling into our heads stuck" Brandon said. Stef laughed.

"You can repay us by being sure to tell your brothers and sisters how awful drugs made you feel, and please never doing it again" Lena said.

"You got it" Brandon nodded.

"Ok, get to bed soon it's late, good night" Stef called as they left his room.

"Got the paperwork in?" Stef asked leaning on the cop car the next morning eating an apple

"Yup" Mike nodded walking to her.

"Good man" Stef opened the drivers side door.

"You driving?"

"I'm driving" she said with authority getting behind the wheel

"Ok" Mike said going around to sit in the passenger side.

"Hey I waited for Brandon to call me yesterday for plans for lunch he never did" Mike said as Stef drove around.

"Oh yeah, Brandon had quiet the adventure yesterday" Stef nodded.

"What?"

"He had a pot brownie with one of his friends and got a major anxiety attack from it, I told him it runs in the family, remember the one time I tried it you thought you were going to have to call 911" Stef chuckled.

"Wait Brandon got high!"

"Yeah, it wasn't a big deal he called Lena to come get him, she talked him down and we both had a talk with him about it last night."

"Oh you had a talk with him I feel much better now, I hope he's grounded for a long time" Mike said sarcastically.

"Actually we decided not to punish him" Stef said.

"You what!" Mike cried.

"Well Lena thought that…"

"Lena thought oh Lena thought, I don't care about hippy dippy Lena and her PHD in child whatever with her gentle parenting nonsense, the kid did drugs Stef he deserves a punishment" Mike said.

"Well i'm sorry you feel that way" Stef sighed.

"It's the truth! he gets away with this he starts doing worse"

"Oh come on Mike this is Brandon we are talking about"

"Yeah, exactly had it been Jesus or Mariana I would have held my tung, but this is my kid too Stef, my kid and I don't have a say in anything" Mike yelled.

"Well…" Stef started.

"I want a say, we are going to sit down, the three of us and talk about this, after work" Mike said.

"Lena!" Stef called running into the house

"Kitchen" Lena called back.

"I'm so sorry about this Mike is right behind me he thinks.." Stef started muttering to her.

"Hey" Mike said walking into the kitchen.

"ok bub take a break and head up stairs ok" Lena told Noah who nodded going upstairs.

"Mike thinks that we were to relaxed with Brandon's punishment, he thinks there should be bigger consequences for him doing drugs" Stef said.

"Ok, I hear that. unfortunately we already told Brandon there would be no punishment" Lena nodded.

"And we can take that right back, I'm tired of not having an opinion in how my boy is raised" Mike said.

"Of course you do we value your opinion" Stef said.

"And I want to step up. I know when you guys moved in I stepped back, he was so little and you guys did everything so well, I just want to do the fun stuff and have him one night a week, but I'm done i'm still the father." Mike said.

"What's going on?" Brandon asked coming into the kitchen.

"Your dad stopped by, he thought that…" Stef started.

"Your smoking pot? Your grounded!" Mike told him.

"But I thought I wasn't in trouble for that, I made plans" Brandon said.

"Yeah cancel them your not going anywhere this weekend" Mike said

"What the hell, where did you come from!" Brandon cried.

"Brandon" Stef said firmly.

"See! This is what i'm talking about, you let Lena be to easy on them!" Mike cried.

"All do respect…" Lena started.

"that's two weeks your grounded two weeks" Mike told Brandon not listening to her.

"That's not fair" Brandon cried.

"Brandon" Stef said again

"Keep talking you'll make it more" Mike said

"This is crap" Brandon cried grabbing his coat.

"Brandon do not leave this house when we are having a discussion" Mike yelled as he opened the door. Brandon went out slamming it behind him and Mike ran over to it.

"Mike, let him go he needs to cool off" Lena yelled

"All do respect, he's not your kid" Mike said going out the door.

"Mike!" Stef yelled running after him.

A little while later Stef came back in,

"Did you find Brandon?" Lena asked.

"No, but neither did Mike, he went home" Stef sighed sitting next to Lena in the nook off the kitchen.

"What's wrong love?" She asked sensing Lena's quiet.

"I just…I have never felt like such a stepmother in my whole life" Lena said.

"Oh love, it's not about you, you know you are not his stepmother, he loves you so much" Stef whispered.

"He was the first kid in the world to call me mom. the very first one, I always thought I was more then just his mother's wife"

"You are. love don't let Mike get into your head, he was jealous, you are the very best mom in the world, that's why Brandon called you and not me. Don't let him get in your head." Stef said as Brandon came in.

"I'm sorry" Brandon said coming over to them

"That was…that was not pretty buddy" Stef said.

"Yeah, yeah I know"

"Your going to have to call your dad and tell him your sorry too, I know you were angry but you can't disrespect him like that. If you don't like something you stay and talk about it" Stef said.

"I just…I can't talk to dad like I can to you guys" Brandon said.

"I know, it's hard." Stef agreed

"So i'm grounded?" Brandon asked.

"No, no I decided that mom is right, weather dad agrees with it or not. If he want's you can be grounded at his house. But when your in this house your not" Stef said as Lena and Brandon both looked at her surprised.

"Ok" Brandon nodded.

"Ok, go get some homework done, and call your dad" Stef said. Brandon went upstairs.

"Thank you for that" Lena said.

"Yeah well, you are right. I knew you were right that's why I agreed with you the first time. I should not have let Mike come in here like that. I'm sorry"

"Brandon has three parents we are just going to have to learn to work through it" Lena said.

"At least until he's 18" Stef sighed.

"Hey I think we need to have to talk again" Lena said. coming into the bed room.

"No! No mini van I can't do it" Stef sighed.

"Sweetie we can't even fit all the kids in your car. When we want to go somewhere as a family we only fit in my car and the girls and Noah are crammed like sardines in the back seat, and we're full where it the baby going to go?"

"Ugh but a mini van is just so soccer mom" Stef sighed.

"Well it's either that or one of those big 8 to 10 passenger vans" Lena said.

"Ugh, your right" Stef sighed.

"It won't be for long, once the older kids start moving out or going off to collage and getting their own cars we can sell it and get you a better car" Lena assured her.

"What! Me the better car! i'm not driving a minivan I thought we were swapping it for your car!" Stef cried.

"No, love your car only had 5 seats, what happens if you have to drop the kids at school with the baby" Lena said.

"Umm strap one to the roof"

"We need my car I need to be able to drive 4 kids and a baby to school, and we need a minivan so we can all fit in one car. it's just practical" Lena said.

"Oh man! this kid better be cute" Stef mumbled but gave Lena a smile.

"Speaking of the baby, I want to tell the kids today" Lena said.

"Yeah, are you sure? I know you wanted to wait a little while" Stef said.

"Yeah I'm 12 weeks today so that's the safe zone. And they are going to start catching on soon, I'm surprised the girls haven't already. We told them we might be trying, so it won't be a complete shock"

"Alright love, well I know they will be so happy we can talk to them after school" Stef agreed.

"Ok, and in the meantime start looking at colors for your new van" Lena smirked leaving the room.

"Ugh not yet let me live for a few more weeks!" Stef cried.

"Tick tock" Lena called back

The doorbell rang early during the breakfast rush. Lena put down her cup of tea going to answer it as Stef passed out lunched.

"Are we expecting someone?" She asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"Hey Mike" Lena opened the door a little surprised to see him.

"Hey Lena"

"Are you here to get B?"

"Actually I was wondering if I could talk to you" Mike said.

"Sure" Lea stepped out onto the porch closing the door behind her.

"I just wanted to apologize for what happened the other night, I know that I over stepped" Mike said.

"I do understand where you are coming from Mike, I just want to make sure we are all on the same page" Lena nodded.

"We are. I understand that you are B's mother as well, I know when he was little I handed the reigns over to you guys. It was just so much easier being the fun dad who took him out once a week and brought him back. I mean I didn't want to be the single parent and you guys had two and were so good with him. I let you guys do the hard stuff and I regret that because it wasn't fair to you" Mike said.

"It's ok Mike" Lena said gently.

"Well, either way I am sorry for the things I said, Brandon has three parents and in the future if something like that happens I will be much better at compromising and working with you guys" Mike said.

"I really appreciate that, thank you" Lena said.

"Ok, well I better be going.."

"Would you like to come in for some breakfast?" Lena asked.

"No thanks, I have to get down to the station, if I don't file the morning paperwork before Stef gets in I pay for it all day, i'll take a rain check though" Mike said. Lena laughed.

"Sounds good" She said going back into the kitchen.

"Who was it?" Stef asked.

"Mike just came by to talk for a minute" Lena said and Stef nodded knowing what she was talking about.

"So tonight?" Stef asked pulling Lena off to the side for a minute.

"Yes" Lena nodded smiling

"Ok listen up! everyone home after school today mom and I are calling a family meeting" Stef called as all the kids turned to her.

"About what?" Jesus asked.

"well if we could tell you now we wouldn't call a meeting. Come on time for school" Lena said grabbing her school bag and giving Stef a kiss.

"Ok I know your all wondering why we called all you here today" Stef said as she and Lena gathered the kids in the living room after school.

"Whatever it was I didn't do it" Jesus said.

"Me either" Noah piped up. Stef raised her hands for silence and everyone was quiet.

"No one is in trouble, As you know, there was talk about Mommy maybe having a baby, we were exploring some different things and a few weeks ago we did picked a donor" Stef said turning to Lena.

"Umm well we didn't think anything would really happen, But I had a doctors appointment a few weeks ago and, I am pregnant" Lena smiled.

"You are! Yess! I knew it." Mariana cried throwing her hands up.

"Thats so great congratulations" Brandon smiled.

"Thank you guys. Momma and I are very excited" Lena smiled.

"When are you due?" Callie asked.

"Not until May, So we have a while to get everything ready, but it will go by fast" Lena said.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Stef asked

"Is it a boy or girl?" Mariana asked.

"Oh it's to early to tell we'll find that out in about 6 weeks, but momma and I are not sure if we want to know yet. We might keep it a surprise" Lena said.

"Who's the donor?" Jesus asked.

"Well i know we were taking about one we knew but we went with an anonymous donor so no one will ever know" Lena said.

"But We do know he's a mix race just like Mommy so the baby will look a lot like her, which is just what we want because mom is so beautiful" Stef said.

"I have a question" Noah said.

"What is it bubby?" Lena asked.

"What's a donor?" Noah asked. Stef and Lena both looked at each other.

"Well gota go" Jesus said jumping up and pounding up the stairs Brandon close behind him. Mariana laughed hiding her mouth in her hand.

"Umm I guess we are used to gearing our conversations towards teenagers, We forget that your younger then the rest of them buddy" Stef said

"So will you tell me what it is? What's a donor? and how does the baby get inside of you?" Noah asked.

"Hey buddy how about you and I go get some ice cream?" Callie said.

"But I want to know" Noah looked confused.

"Ok buddy, Callie can i see you in the kitchen for a minute?" Stef asked as Callie followed her out of the room.

"Does he know how any of this works?" Stef asked her. Callie shook her head

"We never talked about it. I guess it never came up and I was never going to bring it up."

"Ok, Do you mind If Lena and i give him a bit of the talk, Not all of it but enough so he understands a bit of what is going to be happening to her?" Stef said.

"Yeah, yeah he should know" Callie nodded.

"Ok, well, here goes…this" Stef said heading back into the living room.

"Alright buddy, Lets you, mom and I head upstairs and we can answer some of your questions" Stef said. Lena put her arm around Noah leading him up the stairs to their bedroom.

"You girls start dinner please, we will try to make this as quick a possible" Stef said to Mariana and Callie following them up.

"Oh man I am so glad he asked that while we are here and I don't have to be the one to tell him" Callie laughed watching them go.

"And the baby is going to grow in Mommy's tummy, Right now it's very little like the size of a plum. But in a few months it will look normal. But even though it is so small now it still has a heartbeat and little fingers." Noah told everyone about his newly acquired knowledge over dinner that night. Callie was glad to hear Stef and Lena focused mostly on the growing baby and not how it got there.

"And if it's a boy He's going to sleep in my room and Jesus is going to have to move in with Brandon" Noah said.

"What!" Brandon and Jesus both yelled.

"Alright well that's a long way away let's not dwell on it" Lena told the bigger boys.

"And mom and I learned that in the future we may have to address you all in different groups so we can make the conversation more age appropriate" Stef smiled.

"Because even though I am very mature for my age I am still to young to understand all the things that you guys do" Noah recited. Lena winked at him.

"That being said after dinner we would like the have a talk with you two girls. and then you two bigger boys" Stef said.

"This is a little to much family time for me today" Jesus said.

"Well get used to it dude because once mommy's hormones start getting crazy in there she's going to want all family time!" Stef said.

"Awesome" Jesus muttered.

"Ok, So after we had our little talk with Noah we decided we wanted to have a talk with you Callie and make sure you understood everything, and Mariana, well this is a refresher corse for you" Stef said.

"I know it all, I swear I'm good" Callie said begging Lena to get her out of this conversation.

"Yeah and I remember, every last word I swear" Mariana said.

"Now listen this is not to be weird, this is just to keep the lines of communication open." Lena said.

"Callie we want you to know that if anything starts to progress to the direction that you think you might start having sex we would like you to come and talk to one of us. We can help you get on the pill and make sure you are totally comfortable with everything that is going on and we promise not to make it weird. We know that your a teenager and you will do these things no matter what, so we want to make it as safe for you as possible. Also, the other kids know this but there is a box of condoms in the second draw in our bathroom, If you need one you can take one no questions asked, you don't have to tell us we just really want to make sure you are protecting yourself from STD's." Stef said.

"And should something happen, that results in well, a baby. We want you to know that is this house we are pro life. We believe that every baby is a blessing and not something to be thrown away. Mom and I will help you in anyway can. But we believe that killing a baby is never the answer" Lena said. Callie nodded understanding.

"Callie If I may ask, Are you already, sexually active" Stef said. Callie looked up meeting her eyes.

"Once… a year or so ago" Callie whispered biting her lip.

"That's ok sweetie it's nothing to be ashamed of, Just come tell us if you are going to start again so we can get you everything you need to be safe" Stef said.

"I will" Callie nodded.

Callie shifted from where she was sitting on her bed. Her leg was falling asleep and her head was getting heavy. Mariana had fallen asleep watching a movie that was still playing quietly on her computer but Callie was up trying to finish her homework. She couldn't concentrate after the talk she had earlier with Lena and Stef. The more she thought about it the more she wanted to tell them the truth. Getting out of bed Callie crept out the door seeing the light on in their room she went down the hallway knocking on the door frame. Both women were sitting up reading.

"What's up sweetie?" Lena asked waving her in.

"Can I tell you something?" Callie asked going in and sitting on the end of the bed near Stef.

"Of course" Stef moved over making room for her.

"When you asked us before, if we had had sex. It was only one time" Callie said

"Sweetie we don't care about that" Lena said.

"But It was with one of my other foster brothers, he made me" Callie said looking down at her toes hardly able to get out the last few words. She saw Stef and Lena glance at each other.

"Callie, he forced you…to have sex with him?" Stef asked after a full minute of silence. Callie nodded.

"Did you ever tell anybody?" Lena asked. Callie shook her head.

"Oh Callie girl" Stef pulled her into a tight hug and Callie allowed her to, clingy tightly to her shirt for comfort. She felt Lena's hand across her back.

"It's ok, thank you for telling us" Lena said when Stef released Callie.

"Did you try to tell anyone? his parents? your social worked?" Lena asked.

"He said no one would believe me, I was just the foster kid and that if I told anyone he was going to hurt Noah" Callie said.

"Well thank you for telling us, I promise you we will not let that happen" Stef said pushing Callie's hair from her eyes.

"You understand that this was not your fault? That you are in no way to blame for this. We are so so proud of you for telling us. That was very brave, we will make sure he does not hurt you again. I think it's most important for you to understand it was in no way your fault" Lena whispered kissing Callie's temples.

"Callie we have to tell someone and get this boy taken to court ok? He needs to pay for what he did" Stef went on.

"And that means you may have to talk to more people about what happen" Lena said.

"But you would be protecting other girls younger then you from going through the same thing you had to go through" Stef added.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore" Callie shook her head. Stef took Callie's hands in hers.

"My love, you deserve some kind of justice, you deserve to know that the boy who hurt you will never do it again and that he has to pay for what he did. I want justice for you" Stef said.

"Can you tell us his name?" Lena asked

"Liam" Callie whispered. Stef leaned in kissing her forehead.

"My love, it will be ok" She whispered resting her forehead on Callie's, Callie was quiet for a minute soaking up the love in the room as Lena ran her hand gently up and down her back

"Can I just go to bed now?" Callie asked

"Yes, sweetheart, do you want to sleep in here?" Lena asked.

"No, i'm ok" Callie took a deep breath getting down from their bed.

"why don't I walk you to bed" Lena said getting up Callie stood up reaching over to give Stef a hug. Stef held her tightly with one and on the back of her head. Callie soaked up all the comfort she could get before pulling back offering Stef a smile. Lena put her arm around her as they slowly walked back to her room.

"Your momma can turn into a bit of a momma bear when one of you kids are hurting. I know you don't want to face this, but I am very grateful that you told us, and we will be with you every step of the way. And anytime you need to talk you can come to us, Ok?" Lena said.

"Yeah, Thanks" Callie nodded.

"Go get into bed" Lena whispered as they went into the room Callie climbed into her bed while Lena turned off Mariana's computer and the lamp next to her bed. She brushed Mariana's hair from her eyes then walked over to Callie's bed pulling the blankets up.

"Good night sweetheart, I love you" she whispered planting a kiss on Callie's forehead before leaving the room. Callie watched as Lena crossed the hall going into Jesus and Noah's room. From the shadow casted by Noah's night light she watched Lena check on both boys before going back to her own room.

"Love you too" Callie whispered into the dark night.

Lena went back into her bedroom where Stef was sitting in the same place.

"She's brave" Lena whispered.

"It's not fair" Stef said her eyes looked watery. Lena went to her gathering Stef up in her arms. Stef rarely showed any kind of emotion. But Lena knew she felt really connected to Callie.

"It's not your fault."

"I feel like I failed her" Stef said.

"We didn't know her, we couldn't protect her like we can now."

"But i'm a police officer Lena! she was in this town it's my job to protect the people, she is just a kid"

"Stef look at me, you can't do this, you can't blame yourself because she needs you now. She needs you to help her with this, you have to be the parent you can't do this to her or she will start to feel guilty. I feel bad too, by all means be upset, but don't let her see that, she needs you" Lena whispered.

"I'll put a restraining order on him tomorrow" Stef said laying down as Lena lay next to her.

"I think that's a good idea"

"Oh my baby" Stef sighed laying her head on Lena's chest as Lena ran her fingers through her hair.

"I know, I know, Stef" Lena whispered.

"Hey mom can Lexi come over for dinner tonight?" Mariana asked the next morning

"Sure sweetie" Lena said. Lexie had been Mariana's best friend since the girls were 5. She was Latino also and her parents had helped Stef and Lena a lot with they first had the twins as far as understanding their broken English and making food they would eat. Her parents were always inviting the family over for Latin celebrations and helping everyone embrace the twins culture. They were very religious but always accepting of the family Stef and Lena had created saying that the most important thing was family. Lexie had always been like another daughter to them.

"Ok, i decided if I have to get the min van I do not want the ones with the TV in them, If we are going to be together as a family in the car, we are going to do it electronic free" Stef said coming in.

"alright, but that means when theres a screaming toddler in the back seat with 4 moody teenagers and Noah one of us is going to have to deal to all that" Lena said.

"Ok, i'll rethink that" Stef nodded.

"What we're getting a mini van?" Mariana asked.

"Oh no, I can't be seen in that" Jesus said

"Well guys we don't have a choice, unless you want one of those big vans." Lena said.

"Eww a creeper van? mom you'll get fired for driving one of those" Mariana wrinkled her forehead.

"Well then we have no other choice we're becoming a family of 8. That's a lot of people, and we need to all be able to fit into one car" Stef said.

"Speaking of which I wanted to go back to this room thing, I can't move in with Brandon" Jesus said.

"Listen dude, We have not totally figured that out it's a long ways away we don't even know if its going to be a boy" Stef shook her head.

"Besides the baby will be in our room for a while we will have plenty of time to talk it over" Lena added.

"Plus it might be a girl" Mariana said.

"Oh man that's all this house needs" Jesus sighed.

"Hey, be nice the baby is going to be able to hear you soon and you don't want to turn it against us. It's going to be all hands on deck when it's born" Stef said.

"Eww it can hear in there?" Mariana said.

"Ugh i'm signing all three of you up for a pregnancy class" Lena sighed walking out of the room.

"It's your fault" Mariana told Jesus

"No it's not your the one who said eww" Jesus shot back

"Hey, It's both of your faults, be nice to mommy guys it's hard work growing a person.

"And what are you both doing up before 10 on Saturday, what kind of teenagers are you?" Stef asked.

"Brandon has been playing piano since like the crack off dawn" Mariana sighed.

"He's supposed to have his headphones on" Stef said.

'He does, but you can hear him banging on the keys, Noah's lucky he is always up before him" Jesus said.

"Cut B some slack guys he's stressing out about school. Where's Callie?" Stef said.

"She's outside, she was up a lot last night" Mariana said. Stef turned looking through the window to the backyard. Callie sat on the swing strumming a guitar she had bought herself at a yard sale. Brandon had been teaching her a few cords and she practiced a lot. Stef wandered out to the yard sitting beside her.

"Doing ok love?" Stef asked. Callie stopped strumming to look up at her. She saw
Stef looking at her long sleeve sweater. Callie sighed knowing what she wanted and rolled up the sleeve so Stef could see her arm was cut free. She saw Stef skim over her arm with her eyes.

"Thank you baby" Stef whispered as Callie rolled her sleeve down.

"Your sister said you didn't sleep well last night. Everything ok?"

"Yeah, are you going to be asking me that a lot for a while?"

"You bet, it's my job! We just want to make sure you know you can talk to us sweetie" Stef said.

"I feel better when I'm not talking about it"

"Yeah…don't tell Lena but I get that" Stef winked at her making Callie crack a smile.

"ok, love please let us know if you need anything, Lena and I want to help you in anyway we can"

"I know, thanks" Callie said.

"We also feel like we want you to go to group a few more time a week for the next few weeks, and we scheduled you some private session with your councilor."

"I don't need to" Callie shook her head.

"I think it would help, we just want to make sure you are safe"

"If I talk to you or Lena can I not do it?" Callie asked.

"I will ask mom what she think, but If you would like to talk to mom she's the one with the degree in psychology then I think we can arrange that, We just thought you might be more comfortable talking to someone not in the family" Stef offered gently Callie shook her head.

"I'd rather talk to Lena, she's easier"

"Ok, I think Mom will be happy to hear that, I will talk to her and we can find a time for you two to be alone here or maybe go someplace quiet to talk" Stef said. Callie nodded.

"And I know I don't have the degree but you can always talk to me" Stef said.

"I know, you have said that like 50 times since last night" Callie said with a little smile.

"Yeah well get ready to hear it 50 more lady" Stef said widening her eyes at her before giving her a kiss and standing up.

"Thank you very much for dinner" Lexie said.

"Oh course you know you are always welcome here" Lena said as she got up to clear the table.

"Sit mommy I got this" Stef cried pushing Lena back down and starting to pick up the plates.

"Oh I could get used to this pregnancy thing" Lena smiled sinking back into her seat.

"Can we go watch TV?" Noah asked.

"Sure" Stef said as he and Jesus got up heading into the living room.

"I'm going to go practice some more" Brandon said getting up.

"Hey only 20 more minutes of homework and then go watch TV with your brothers please" Lena called after him.

"Top 5 things you never thought you would tell your kid" Stef muttered.

"He's been stressing himself out all day with his piano" Lena sighed

"How about you girls? what are you going to do with your Sunday night?" Lena said turning to the three girls sitting at the table.

"No, we thought we would just hang out here" Mariana shrugged.

"Well why don't we have a movie night? It's been a while since we had one of those" Stef offered.

"Can we get the new avengers movie?" Mariana asked

"I think that would be something your brothers would agree on. Why don't you girls go gather everyone in the living room, tell B it's mandatory" Lena said as the three girls jumped up.

"Come on!" Brandon yelled as Lena came from the kitchen.

"Alright we were just making you some popcorn" Stef laughed. the three boys were sitting on the couch together. Mariana, Callie and Lexie lay on the rug in front of them. Lena chose the recliner for herself and Stef took the love seat next to her as they handed each group of kids a bowl of popcorn.

"alright now no talking, looking at you" Stef said winding her eyes and pointing to the three girls on the floor making them giggle. Halfway through the movie Callie got up from the floor going to join Stef on the love seat putting her head on her shoulder.

"You have been so quiet today my love" Stef whispered putting her arms around Callie. Callie just shrugged leaning a little more into Stef. She sighed taking a deep breath allowing herself to relax with Stef's arms around her.

"Here sweetheart" Lena said placing a mug of tea in front of her on the coffee table. Mariana was shopping with Lexie, Callie had opted out of going. Steph had taken the boys to a basketball game and Lena had decided today would be the first of her one on one chats with Callie. Callie was odiously nervous her foot was tapping up and down and she was biting her lip so hard she was surprised it wasn't bleeding. She knew Lena was picking up on these things.

"Callie, you don't have to do this, we can find someone else for you to talk to." Lena said gently sitting across from her on the couch cross legged with her back on the arm rest facing Callie.

"I want to" Callie said turning to face Lena sitting like she was. Lena was quiet for a minute as Callie was shaking the couch with her nervous twitching.

"I don't know what to say?" Callie whispered.

"Ok, i'll ask you some questions, we can start like that" Lena offered. Callie nodded.

"How long did you live with Liam?"

"almost a year"

"And when did things go from a foster sibling relationship to more?"

"Well, he was really nice to Noah and I, I guess we became friends. Then he would start to tell me things like how special I was or if something looked nice on me. I know it was wrong but we started hanging out a lot more. then one day he tried to kiss me, but I didn't want to, he got mad and that night he came into me room" Callie said not looking up.

"And that was when he raped you?"

"Can we not use that word" Callie flinched.

"I think we need to, I didn't hear you say it, I think you need to say it, admit it to yourself, I know it's not fun but you need to use the word" Lena said gently.

"How soon after he raped you did you guys leave the house?" Lena asked. Callie still wasn't looking at her. It was painful for her to force Callie to talk about this, all she wanted to do was wrap her in a hug and let her forget but Callie needed to face this, and she wanted Lena's help doing that. Lena knew she had to be strong as much as she wanted to cry right now.

"It was three months"

"You strayed there for three months! that's a long time, It happened more then once didn't it?" Lena asked afraid to hear the answer but already knowing it. Callie just nodded.

"How many?"

"6" Callie mumbled. Lena sucked in her breath trying hard not to show to much emotion. When Callie had told them before they had thought it was just once. 6 times was a crazy number, Callie must have been living in fear for all these weeks.

"What was it that got you guys out of that house?" Lena asked.

"I umm, I started being really mean to the parents, and I stopped eating, to the point that I got sick. They didn't want to deal with it anymore so they just dropped us off at CPS."

"Why did it take you so long?"

"Because Noah was happy, He was in first grade he liked his school, the parents were nice enough, we had food, clean clothes sometimes even new clothes, the parents didn't hurt us. I thought maybe if we were good, they would adopt us, I thought Liam would stop but he didn't and I couldn't take it anymore. I was always afraid of being alone with him." Callie said. Lena finally saw a tear fall from Callie's cheek as Callie looked up meeting her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I know your disappointed it took me so long" Callie said trying to read the look on Lena's face. Lena again fought to urge to reach out and just crush Callie.

"No baby I'm sorry that went on for so long. I am not disappointed in you, I know you were trying to protect your brother, but I am so sad for you that you went through that" Lena said. Callie just nodded.

"If you could tell talk to yourself then what would you tell that girl?" Lena asked.

"To get out, to grab Noah and just run, run to here maybe, I thought that was a good as everything got, I thought that would be our best home. Even after we left, everything with Liam that was still our best home because Noah was safe, and happy. I always felt so guilty for getting us kicked out. But I would tell myself that it gets better" Callie said. Lena smiled.

"I think that is a very good thing to say" She nodded.

"Is Stef going to repot it?" Callie asked.

"Yes, she has to. Not just because she's your mom but because we want to protect any other girls who may get placed in their care" Lena nodded gently.

"i think that's a good idea" Callie nodded.

"What happened with Liam, is that when you started the self harm?" Lena asked.

"I thought if I could hurt myself, no one could hurt me as much" Callie whispered. Lena reached out taking her hand rubbing her thumb over the back of it.

"So all that has come up lately…I imagine you are feeling like you would like to again" Lena said. Callie bit her lip

"I didn't" she whispered.

"I am very proud of you for that. Callie we are so proud of you, I know how hard you have worked to get to where you are. We love you no matter what but I want you to know that we are proud of you, and I think you should be very proud of yourself." Lena said. Another tear fell from Callie's cheek and Lena knew she needed a break.

"I think we should do this once a week, you and I chat? Even if it's not about this I love having some alone time with you" Lena said. Callie just nodded her head.

"Ok, if you want we can be done for today, do you want to stop?" Lena asked. Callie just nodded again.

"Ok, we will but only if you come over here and let me give you a hug" Lena said. Callie crawled across the couch as Lena pulled her on top of holding her tightly. Callie closed in her eyes breathing in Lena's comforting smell. Her coconut shampoo and freshly cleaned clothes, just the smell of them brought Callie comfort as she let Lena hold her.

"I know it's hard to talk about, and it will take some work, from both of us, But I am really really proud of you for talking about it" Lena said. Callie relaxed allowing herself to melt into Lena's side. Lena was right, it was a lot of work, a lot of work she didn't want to do. But she also knew she had too, and she was really trying to trust her moms enough to help her. Lena ran her fingers through Callie's hair as she felt Callie start to relax. Stef lead the boys into the house an hour later and found them in the same place sound asleep.

"Hey!" Someone yelled in the hallway as Callie was making her way to her math class. She turned surprised to see a boy running towards her. She recognized him from her Anatomy class He had just started this year at Anchor Beach.

"Hi" She said starting to walk again as he caught up with her.

"Callie right?"

"Good guess" Callie said unsure of what he wanted.

"I'm Finn, we have Anatomy together"

"Yeah I know, do you need to copy notes or something?" Callie asked still unsure of why he was talking to her.

"What? Oh no I just wanted to say hi" Finn said as the bell rang.

"Really?" Callie asked surprised stopping to look at him for the first time. He had dirty blond hair he wore in a messy style. A plain blue t-shirt and kaki cargo shorts. He had tan skin and she could see his muscles through his shirt. He was every bit the typical California boy.

"Yeah, your not like other girls around here" Finn said as she started walking again.

"Thanks?"

"I did mean it as a good thing, ok well I better go, see you around Callie" Finn called and started walking the other way.

"Bye" Callie called after him watching him walk down the hall.

"Sweetheart the bell rang" Lena said suddenly coming around the corner Callie snapped her head up away from Finn.

"Oh yeah i'm going" She said not looking as Lena as she went into her classroom.

"Hey moms can I go to the movies Saturday night?" Jesus asked.

"No, actually we are have a party Saturday night" Stef shook her head.

"For what?" Brandon asked.

"Someone has a very special birthday coming up" Lena said. Callie whipped her head up from her plate.

"How do you know that?" She asked

"Because we're your moms it's our job to know" Stef said sounding almost offended.

"Wait I didn't know it was your birthday" Mariana cried.

"I don't like to make a big deal about it" Callie went back to shuffling her food around her plate. Lena sighed. with everything that had been going on Callie had become more withdrawn then she had been in months.

"So a party?" Brandon asked when no one spoke.

"Yes, we invited some of Callie's friends from school, you may all invite someone as long as it's ok with Callie, we can have a little barbecue as long as it doesn't get to chilly in the next week. And Callie of course you can invite who ever you want if you have friends from group or something" Stef said.

"So wait when is your actually birthday?" Jesus asked.

"Thursday" Callie said

"Why wouldn't you tell anyone about your birthday? You'd miss out on everything" Mariana said.

"May I be excused?" Callie asked ignoring her looking down the table at Lena.

"ummm yeah sweetie" Lena nodded as Callie got up putting her plate in the sink and went upstairs.

"What's going on?" Brandon asked. Stef glanced wearily at Noah before turning to all the kids.

"Callie is going though a hard time right now guys ok. She will be fine, but let's just be kind, have patients, ok?" Stef said as everyone nodded.

"Callie never celebrated her birthday before" Noah said.

"Do you know why bubba?" Lena asked.

"She says our mom used to do a big party, bouncy house and cake and big parties and presents. Callie always said she didn't feel like it after our mom died"

"Well we will celebrate it this year, don't worry bub she will be fine" Stef said squeezing his shoulder.

"You girls all ready for bed?" Lena asked knocking and going into the girls bedroom.

"Yeah" Mariana said from her bed. Callie nodded. Lena walked over to Callie's bed sitting on the side of it. Callie pulled her feet up resting her head on her knees.

"We don't have to have a big party if you don't want to. We just wanted to make it special because it's your first birthday with us" Lena said.

"It's ok" Callie said.

"You don't mind the party?" Callie shook her head.

"Ok my love, We will be downstairs if you need us" Lena sighed leaning in to gently kiss Callie's forehead before standing up and giving Mariana a kiss and heading into the hallway

"How was she?" Stef asked leaving the boys room and meeting Lena downstairs. The house was quiet as all the kids were settled in.

"She is so closed off" Lena sighed watching Stef pour herself a glass of wine.

"Here" Stef smirked handing Lena a glass of apple juice.

"Do you think it's about Liam?" Stef asked as they settled into the nook putting their feet up.

"I think it's about, not caring enough about herself to want to celebrate, until now since they entered the system her life revolved around taking care of her brother, I don't think she ever gave herself a second thought. I think Noah's right it makes her miss her mom and she already has a lot going on. It's been a really hard month. Her adoption was denied, she had been dealing with Liam stuff and now missing her mom on top of that, I think she just has a lot of emotions and we know she's not good at handling them yet" Lena put her feet up and Stef started rubbing them absentmindedly.

"So we downplay it?"

"No, no I think she want's the party and the friends I think we just have to let her know it's ok, it's ok to focus on yourself for a change" Lena said.

"Two steps forward one steph back" Stef sighed.

"But she's getting there" Lena added

"So you like Anatomy?" Finn asked following Callie out of class as the halls filled up.

"Yeah I do, it's like the one class that makes sense you know? not like Trig or Chem"

"Totally, I want to be a doctor, what about you?"

"Oh no, as much as I love Anatomy I could never actually deal with that stuff, sometimes the pictures are bad enough. I want to be a social worker"

"Wow, I hear that's a tough job" Finn shook his head.

"Yeah, but its making a difference, Everything about the Forster system is tough but if you can be the person to stand up for the kids and make a change in their life, it's got to be rewarding at some point" Callie shrugged.

"You really know what your talking about"

"Well yeah, I am a foster kid" Callie said.

"No way" Finn stopped short putting his hand on her arm.

"Yeah way" Callie nodded trying to ignore the shocks going through her arm where he was touching her.

"I never knew that"

"Well it's not something I broadcast, Most people here know it anyway I came here last year, But I'm getting adopted soon so…" Callie shrugged again.

"Wow, i'm sorry, I never would have thought" Finn shook his head.

"Yeah, I don't fit the decryption anymore. I have been in my home for over 6 months. But that is why I want to take that job" Callie said.

"Your not like other girls" Finn said as Callie opened her locker.

"You said that already" Callie laughed a little.

"Yeah, but your better" Finn leaned close whispering it in her ear. Callie felt her heart beat pick up thinking he was going to kiss her but he didn't he smiled making his blue eyes sparkle and walked away. Callie's heart was still pounding as Mariana came running up to her.

"Ok what the hell was that!" Mariana asked jumping up and down.

"He's just my friend" Callie shook her head.

"Oh no! oh no girl that was way more then friendship" Mariana told her raising her eyebrow.

"We were talking"

"He was whispering sexy things in your ear!"

"Would you shut up he was not!" Callie said giving her a little push but she felt herself smiling. Mariana laughed

"Ahh the new kid is so cute!" She said giving Callie's shoulders a little shake making them both laugh before she opened her own locker.

Thursday morning Noah came bounding down the stairs.

"Momma she's coming" He whispered to loud throwing his arms around Stef in excitement.

"Ok here" Stef said letting him take the pancakes to the table.

"They are doing something big aren't they" Callie mumbled to Mariana as they stood at the top of the stairs. The bedrooms had quickly emptied out this morning and there was no fighting over bathroom time which meant Stef and Lena had something planned downstairs.

"No, I mean the pope was invited but he couldn't make it. The president and first Lady flew in last night though, and I think mom said something about Lady Gaga singing to you as you were showered with gold" Mariana said. Callie elbowed her in the ribs and she side stepped it laughing.

"Mom just made your favorite breakfast with a candle in it and will probably make your favorite dinner with cake and presents after. They are just excited" Mariana told her.

"I nerve told anyone my favorite breakfast" Callie said shaking her head.

"Really? Well i'm willing to bet what ever it is it's sitting downstairs on the table right now" Mariana smiled. Callie offered a smile back and started walking down the stairs Mariana close behind her.

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone cried when she got into the kitchen.

"Thanks" Callie smiled at everyone. Her favorite peanut butter pancakes were in a big stack on the table as Stef was lighting a candle in the middle. Callie looked over at Mariana feeling a little shocked.

"Told you." she whispered.

"Make a wish love" Stef said pushing the plate in front of her. Callie closed her eyes for a minute. She had not made a wish in years. She never saw the point in them, but now she looked up at the 6 smiling faces around her. 'I wish I'm adopted by next year' She thought and blew out the candle as everyone clapped.

"Ok guys have a seat who wants some? Callie first" Stef said as they all sat down and she started passing them out.

"I helped make them" Noah told Callie proudly.

"Thanks buddy" Callie smiled giving him a hug.

Callie was at her locker gathering her books for the morning when someone came up behind her grabbing her waist making her scream a little as she turned around. Finn stood in front of her grinning. She smiled seeing him.

"I heard it's your birthday" He sad.

"How?" Callie asked

"Your sister, I should have heard it from you" He said raising an eyebrow at her.

"I'm not big on birthdays, however it appears my family is big on them though for me" Callie said with a little laugh. The hallway was empty and Callie realized she was late again.

"Well you should be" Finn said putting his hand on her locker that her back was resting on causing him to lean forward a little.

"Why?" Callie asked. Suddenly he leaned forward and his lips met her's in a soft kiss. Callie felt herself melt and was glad she was leaning against the locker.

"Because then I can give you a birthday kiss" Finn whispered pulling away. Callie smiled still feeling him on her lips as he winked at her walking away. She quickly gathered her stuff walking towards her classroom before Lena caught her again.

Callie came downstairs after finishing her homework as Lena was making dinner.

"Can I help?" Callie asked.

"Not on your birthday you can't" Lena winked at her.

"Please?" Callie pretended to beg her.

"Ok, if you want to cut up those carrots for the salad" Lena told her. Callie sat down at the table picking up a knife and cutting board.

"What are you making?" Callie asked.

"Lasagna with spinach, salad with the strawberries in it, and there's garlic bread in the oven" Lena said giving her a smile. Callie felt her mouth water, it truly was her favorite meal.

"How did you know?" She asked Lena.

"Because I'm your mom and it's my job to know, when are you going to learn Callie, mom's know everything" Lena smiled at her, Callie smiled back she could feel her face turning a little red.

"How are you feeling about your birthday?" Lena asked her.

"Better, I was kind of dreading it, but it's not as bad as I thought" Callie answered her honestly.

"Why do you dread it?"

"My mom used to have theses big parties, and it would be like a whole birthday week, and we would always have a moon bounce, and all our friends I loved it. When we went into the system all that mattered was taking care of Noah, No one really did anything for my birthday, and it always made me miss my mom so much. I just treated it like any other day and that's what it turned into" Callie said.

"Well in this house, we celebrate. I am sorry for all those years Callie, I wish we could have been there. I understand how they can make you miss your mom and it's ok to be sad. But your birthday is about you, and celebrating your life and all you have done. I don't know your mom, but I think she would be really proud of you" Lena offered

"I didn't always do such a good job with Noah" Callie said looking at her feet. Lena pulled up the stool next to her turning her face so Callie was forced to look at her

"Sweetheart you were 8 years old in charge of a toddler. I know you, and I know you did the best you could with what you had. Noah loves you and when he gets older he will be thankful for everything you did for him. He is such a good boy and he is not even aware of what kind of things you guys were living in. She would be proud of you. Momma and I are proud of you" Lena said gently.

"Thank you" Callie whispered.

"We love you, you know that right?" Lena asked. Callie nodded again as Stef came through the front door.

"There's the birthday girl!" Stef cried planting a long kiss on Callie's cheek making her squirm but laugh.

"hi my love" Stef gave Lena a kiss

"Smells good in here" Stef said opening the oven to look at the food inside.

"Go change and it should be ready" Lena said playfully shoving Stef away from the oven.

"Ugh she's so bossy!" Stef same widening her eyes at Callie making her giggle.

"Go, get out of here!" Lena yelled as Stef headed up the stairs.

A few minutes later they were gathered around the table with everything in front of them.

"Ok guys before we dig in, Mom and I just want to say how thankful we are to have such a special girl in our lives. You bring so much happiness and grounding to this family we are so glad to say your a part of it" Steph said raising her glass.

"Paper or no paper you will always always always have a place in this family" Lena added.

"Here here!" Brandon said as they clinked their glasses.

"Of all my sisters you are probably the least annoying" Jesus said as Lena started passing out the food. Mariana kicked him under the table.

"Hey!" Jesus yelled.

"Who's the most annoying brother?" Noah asked.

"You" Brandon said punching his arm playfully

"Hey!" Noah yelled.

"No your right it's Jesus, something about those twins" Brandon said. Jesus picked up his spoon flinging pasta sauce across the table at him.

"Hey! hey!" Lena called defusing the situation looking at Stef.

"Hey that's on you, your the one with the boys down there, my girls are perfectly well behaved" Stef smiled at her reaching out the squeeze the arms of Mariana and Callie who sat on either side of her. Callie looked around the table. 8 months ago she was having her first meal here, Lena had picked her up from jail and she had no idea what was happening to her brother. She had hated it here. She had made inappropriate comments, she hated Mariana and Stef and she didn't think she would last more then 48 hours in the house before being kicked out. She gave them all an attitude as if she was just waiting to be kicked out. Now she referred to it as her house, Mariana was her sister, and quickly turning into her best friend and the blond cop who had her on edge for so many days was now someone she loved to be around. The other kids in the house were her brothers and Callie was thankful everyday that Lena had decided to take her home. Today she turned 16, she had gone through half her life not having a family and she finally found one again. She had forgotten the meaning of family for 8 years but now she know. It was the people who knew your favorite food without asking, the ones who knew how you were feeling by the look in your eye and the siblings you could fight with and be best friends within the same minute.

After dinner Lena brought out a chocolate cake she had made and everyone sang happy birthday. Callie blew out the candles and opened all her gifts from everyone. Stef and Lena had bought her new guitar strings and her own laptop. She tried to fight them that it was to much but Stef insisted and Lena backed her up saying she needed it for school anyway. Brandon and Jesus had given her guitar strings and a sketch book. Noah had made her a card and picked out some sunglasses and Mariana had gotten her some earrings. After a while the kids started to make their way upstairs again and Callie was alone on the couch watching TV.

"Did you have a good birthday my love?" Stef asked coming to sit next to her.

"Best on in years" Callie smiled.

"I miss that smile my love, you've been having a hard time" Stef said. It was more of a statement then a question. Callie felt her smile fade, Stef was right she had been in kind of a funk she couldn't seem to shake. She tried not to look at Stef knowing how she would read Callie's every emotion on her face.

"It is Liam? Your birthfather? the adoption? Your birthday?" Stef asked. Callie just nodded again unable to talk past the lump in her throat.

"Oh my Callie girl" Stef sighed pulling Callie on top of her and wrapping her up tight. Callie was always surprised by how calming the feeling was.

"I know you had a rough month, but it is almost over, and everything is going to be fine. We will take care of Liam, you will be adopted soon and you don't need a silly appendix" Stef whispered making Callie laugh a little.

"Mom and I love you very much, and we are very proud of the person you are becoming"

"What if they don't find my birth father?" Callie asked.

"Listen to me, no one it taking you out of this house. They will find him, no one can hide now a days, if he has a credit card he's trackable. I don't want you to worry, mom and I would never let anything happen to you" Stef said.

"I know" Callie nodded.

"Why don't you head up to bed it's getting late" Stef said Callie got up going upstairs, her skin was itching they way it hadn't in months. She knew this was all brought on by missing her mom and the Liam thing resurfacing as well as not being able to be adopted and safe but she couldn't help it. She changed for bed, made pleasant conversation with Mariana and they both turned out their lights but Callie couldn't fall asleep. Her mind kept wondering and she was dying to get up and go into the bathroom to find something sharp. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep if she didn't. As silently as she could Callie threw back the covers creeping across the room into the bathroom locking both doors she sank down resting the back of her head on the cool porcelain tub. She wasn't sure how long she sat there everything running through her head. Both Stef and Lena had told her tonight how proud of her they were. This would not make them proud of her. Callie was shaking as she stood up leaving the bathroom creeping down the hall. She stood in the doorway of the women's bedroom for a minute watching them. She went to move and the floorboard creaked. Stef immediately sat up looking her way so fast it made Callie jump.

"I was wondering when you were coming" Stef whispered calling her over. Callie made her way over to the far side of the bed and Stef held the blanket up. Callie hesitated for a minute before crawling in between the two women.

"How did you know?" Callie whispered

"I'm a momma, it's my job to know, when will you learn that" Stef said. Callie sighed.

"Are you ok?" Stef asked.

"I just couldn't be alone" Callie answered honestly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Stef asked. Callie shook her head.

"Ok, go to sleep love it's late you will feel better in the morning." Stef whispered as Callie lay down careful not to wake Lena who she knew had been overly tired from the pregnancy. Just as she got comfortable Lena rolled over pulling her close running her fingers through her hair, before Callie knew it she was asleep.

Saturday Lena dropped Callie and Mariana off at the mall.

"No coming home until we say it's ok!" Lena warned.

"We won't" Mariana laughed taking Callie's hand pulling her inside.

"Why are they doing this?" Callie asked.

"Because it's fun, let them they love you" Mariana said as they girls started walking through the mall.

"What was your first birthday like there?" Callie asked.

"We had been there almost a year. we were turning 5, it was a double themed birthday. I had princesses and Jesus had cars. Our adoption was almost finalized and they were so excited. We were happy and normal. I didn't talk to them for the first few months. I was scared, I was so scared. Jesus usually did all the talking for the both of us, I didn't trust anyone after my birth mom and we didn't speak a lot of english when we got there. Momma speaks some Spanish but I remember the first few weeks were rough. I was the only girl and the smallest, Jesus really liked having Brandon but it took me a while"

"That's like me and Noah" Callie said, thinking about how her brother acted like they had lived in the house their whole lives.

"Yeah, kind of, but it's probably harder for you because you are older then we were"

"We were in so many homes. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we had come straight to this one when we entered the system" Callie shook her head.

"Can you imagine moms having a 10, 9,two 8, and a 2 year old running around. Holy shit that house would be nuts" Mariana laughed.

"Yeah, that would have been fun though"

"Yeah, I wished for a sister so bad all those years" Mariana nodded.

Lena texted them a few hours later that she was outside and the girls went out to meet her.

"What did you get?" Lena asked as Mariana loaded all her bags into the back seat as Callie hopped into the passenger side.

"I got, a dress, some shoes, a few shirts" Mariana said going through everything.

"What about you Callie girl what did you get?" Lena asked. Callie pulled out a set of pink stud earrings she had liked.

"Those are cute!" Lena smiled at them.

"Oh my goodness" Callie said as Lena pulled the car onto their street and Callie saw the cars parked in front of the house. It was more then she had thought.

"Oh Lexie's here! I have to show her my dress" Mariana cried jumping out of the car running to the front door.

"You have a lot of people who love you and wanted to come celebrate" Lena told her as Callie sat in the front seat looking at the house.

"If it gets to be to much we can go upstairs, I know it's a hard time for you but momma and I just wanted you to have fun" Lena said when Callie didn't say anything

"No. I love it, Thank you" Callie leaned over giving Lena a kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car. Lena put her arm around her as they walked up to the house and Stef opened the door.

"Happy Birthday!" Stef yelled as everyone else joined in. Callie stepped into the house smiling. She saw all her friends from school, Her family, even Lena's mom was here, Callie was surprised.

"I didn't know you were coming" Callie smiled greeting her with a hug.

"your grandfather is stuck in Paris on business but I wouldn't miss a sweet 16" Dana smiled

"Thank you" Callie said going around to talk to all her friends.

"Oh man. I''d love to be stuck in Paris" Mariana cried as Dana pulled her into a hug.

"Look at what's in the back yard" Noah cried pulling on Callie's hand leading her through the house as everyone followed. Callie opened the back door and a moon bounce sat in the back yard. She gasped smiling tears springing to her eyes.

"Happy birthday my love" Stef whispered in her ear.

"Thank you" Callie turned giving Stef a Lena a hug at the same time.

"Come on!" Lexie grabbed her hand as Callie and her friends ran into it laughing.

There was music playing, Mike was cooking on the grill, people were dancing and hanging out as the sun went down Lena started a fire in the fire pit and they made marshmallows. It was late when Callie's friends started to leave Callie sat by the fire keeping warm as Dana came to sit by her.

"Thank you for coming Gram, I know it's a flight for just one day" Callie said

"Oh posh! I never miss the big birthdays! Beside gives me a chance to stay in a nice hotel tonight before flying home tomorrow" Gram said waving her off. Callie smiled. Lena's mother was a lot more out spoken then Lena, she was actually pretty opposite to her. But Callie could see a lot of Lena's kindness in her mother.

"I got you something" Gram said handing her a small gift bag. Callie pulled it open pulling out a little perl.

"It's beautiful" Callie said.

"You and your sister get one every birthday and Christmas, you hold onto them and someday you will have your own string of pearls, every lady needs her own perl necklace" Gram said.

"Thank you, I love it" Callie said giving her grandmother another hug.

"Did you enjoy your party?" Gram asked.

"Yeah, I was surprised it was so big."

"Why? You should know your moms by now"

"I know…I just, they have had a lot to do around me lately two different court cases, and I know they are worried about me. I feel like I'm causing them a lot of trouble" Callie sighed.

"My love those things are out of your control, besides every kid causes trouble, even Lena caused her share of trouble" Gram said raising her eyebrows at her. Callie laughed, she had trouble picturing Lena causing any kind of trouble.

"But your her birth mom, it's different" Callie said.

"Well now, I happen to know for a fact that your moms love you just as much as I love Lena. Which is to say with every little piece of my heart. You see baby when you love someone as much as your moms love you, they love all of you, even the messy parts. If I were you I'd stop worrying so much about the trouble your past has caused your moms and see if you can work on helping yourself come to terms and get over it. Because seeing you happy…I think that is the best gift you can give your moms" Gram said. Callie smiled reaching out to give her another hug.

"Callie come jump!" Noah called from the bouncy house that was now empty. Callie turned back to her grandmother who nodded taking the gift bag as Callie ran in crawling through the hole to join her brother.

"Come on!" Callie called to Brandon and Jesus. they smiled running in and started jumping with them.

"You guys are crazy" Mariana said stepping out of the house

"Come on!" Callie called again as Stef and Lena came out to watch them laughing.

"Go! bounce with your sister" Lena laughed giving Mariana a little push as she ran over crawling in. Callie took her hands as they bounced spinning around. Noah sat on the bottom and Brandon made him pop up in the air laughing hard while Jesus did a back flip.

"Come on moms!" Callie heard heard herself call. She had never addressed Stef and Lena as mom before it had just slipped out, but she was surprised by how comfortable it felt. She saw a look pass between Stef and Lena but neither of them said anything.

Stef felt herself internally freaking out as she glanced as Lena. She could tell they were both not trying to make a big deal about it even though they were thrilled that word had just come out of Callie's mouth.

"Come on!" Noah yelled turning their attention back to the kids.

"Oh no not for me" Lena said putting her hand on her belly.

"Ok here I come" Stef cried running in to bounce with the kids making Callie and Mariana scream with laughter.

They all said goodbye to Gram as she took the Taxi back to her hotel Callie climbed back into the bounce house laying down looking up at the stars. She was surprised with Jesus crawled in to join her.

"Good birthday?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was really good" Callie smiled.

"It's good to see you got your smile back, we were worried about you for a minute there" Jesus nodded.

"Moms said to come in before you get sick" He added crawling back out. Callie watched him go. She hadn't had very many conversations with Jesus, he was nice enough they just didn't have much in common. Not like her and Brandon or Mariana. But she could tell he was the protector, she remembered what Mariana had said at the mall today and could picture Jesus doing all the talking for her. Sighing Callie got up taking one last look at the moon bounce before going inside.

"You had fun today" Lena said as she and Stef came in to say goodnight to the girls. It was more of a statement then a question.

"It was awesome, you guys know better then I do what I want" Callie said.

"That's…" Stef started

"I know I know that's your job" Callie finished making them laugh.

"Good night my love" Lena said giving her a kiss then turning to say goodnight to Mariana.

"Happy Sweet 16 Callie girl" Stef whispered giving her a hug.