Hi ya'll, I know it's been a really, really long time since I last updated and for that I am sorry. I've been a lot busier than I had anticipated and I've also been suffering from a severe case of writer's block. Anyway, I'm hoping to get back into the groove of things and update more often.

Thursday and Friday passed with an unexpected ease, leading me to believe that Stef definitely had talked to Robert, considering his attitude with me had been at an all time low, as had mine with him. She had such an amazing way with words, I believed that she really could convince almost anybody of almost anything. I considered this to be part of what made her such a great cop. And Mom. And wife. And person.

Saturday morning, however, brought a wave of anxiety. Before my mom died, I had loved my birthdays. I'd make it the biggest deal that I could. Make sure that everybody knew that it was my birthday. And birthweek. And one year, as Jude likes to remind me, even my birth month. But after being through the foster system, I wasn't so big a fan. I didn't like getting so much attention, or being at the center of everything, which, unfortunately, was exactly what a birthday party elicited. So now that I had invited Cole, who no doubt had told more of our GU friends about the occasion, and Aaron, I was expecting at least a little bit larger of a crowd.

I was excited nonetheless, that I would get to spend more time with the Fosters. The every other weekend deal wasn't nearly enough in my opinion. I made my way to the kitchen, which was unusually quiet for a saturday morning. I found Sophia at the kitchen table, a cup of orange juice in front of her. Upon seeing me though, she hopped up from her seat and quickly engulfed me in a hug.

"Oh my God, happy birthday! I'm so excited for your party!" she exclaimed, a huge smile on her face as she pulled away from me. I could practically feel the excitement radiating off of her.

"Oh, uh, thanks" I responded, making my way to the fridge in an effort to escape from the rather unwanted clutches of Sophia. "Where's Robert?"

"He went out to get donuts for breakfast, so you better not fill up to much on anything else" she answered, noticing that I was rummaging around the fridge. "And Mom is out back decorating for the party."

I closed the door, and turned over to her, slightly surprised "Um, why decorations? It's not like it's a huge party"

"I don't really know, just a tradition I guess. Mom and dad have always gotten me crazy decorations. You should count yourself lucky, yours don't seem too over the top."

Our light conversation was interrupted by Robert coming in, donut boxes in hand. "Good morning, girls. I've brought donuts." he set them down, before turning me and giving me my second hug of the morning, which I expected many more of as the day went on . "Happy birthday, Cal"

"Thanks, Robert. And thanks for the donuts too."

"No problem" he said, opening the box, just as Sophia made her way to it.

One o'clock rolled around pretty quickly, its arrival being announced by Sophia knocking at my door.

"Come in." I said, putting my phone down and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Hey." Sophia greeted, sticking her head into my room. "Your guests are here"

"Oh, cool. I'll be down in a minute." With that, she left in a rush, her footsteps quickly running down the stairs, as I got up, put some shoes on, and made my way down much slower. Upon seeing the entry room empty, I walked to the backyard, where the main festvities were happening.

"SURPRISE!" voices from all over the back yard erupted as soon as I stepped through the door, immediately followed by Jude wrapping me in a huge hug.

"What is all of this?" I asked, hugging him back.

"Well, I know that you're not the biggest fan of your birthday anymore, but I thought that since now we're with our forever family…..or families" he said glancing back at the Quinns, "that we should do something special. You know, like you did with my thirteenth."

"Well thanks, bud. This is all really awesome." I said, glancing around the yard and taking in all the people that were there. Rita and everybody from GU. Raphael and a few other people that I had met while working at the drop in center, Wyatt, a few other acquaintances that whoever had made the guest list had deemed worthy of an invitation, and, of course, the Adams Foster clan, who were all coming over to greet me. Hugs, greetings, and happy birthdays were exchanged all around before I began to make my way around to say hello to the other people and see exactly what Jill (no doubt with the creative help of Jude) had decided to put up for me. I found Rita at the gift table, which had far more gifts than I was used to, looking at old pictures of me that I figured must have come from the old box of pictures that Donald had given to me and Jude. I said hello to her with a hug before everybody from GU came over from the buffet-style table and enveloped me in even more hugs, greetings, and questions. I then made my way around to the rest of the guest before finding my way back to the Fosters, who were over by a professional photographer, a few of them dressed up in pretty ridiculous costumes, which again, I found way more over the top than I was used to.

"Hey guys. Nice hat Mariana"

"Oh thanks, you like it?" she responded, tipping her cowboy hat in my direction.

"Yeah looks great" I said, laughing.

"Hey love, this is quite some party you've got here" Stef said, coming up behind me.

"I know, this is crazy, right? It's been awhile since I've had a party anywhere close to this one."

"I bet so. Jude told us about how much you used to love your birthdays. Hey, do you know where I can find the water."

"Um, I'm not really sure." I said, looking around. "I can get you a bottle from the kitchen if you'd like though."

"That'd be great thanks." she responded, beginning to follow me into the house. "So, have you been staying out of trouble?"

"It's only been, like, two days since I got in trouble" I said, opening the fridge with a laugh. "But yes, I have."

Stef took the water bottle that I was offering to her, laughing a bit as well "And it better stay that way, young lady."

I was about to respond when I heard a knock at the door "I should get that."

I made my way to the door, and opened it to see Aaron, gift in hand.

"Hey" I said, moving aside from the doorway and inviting him in.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late, that tends to be my general manner."

"No, it's fine."

Stef made her way from the kitchen to where we stood in the entryway, greeting Aaron.

"Hey."

"Uh, Mom, you remember Aaron. From the beach."

"Mm. I'm presuming that this is the same Aaron who invited you to that party, yes?' she asked, looking in his direction.

"Uh, yeah." he answered, extending his hand to shake hers.

She shook it back, a disapproving look still on her face "You're not going to apologise?"

"Um, should I?"

"Well, considering that you took my daughter to a party until 1 am on a Thursday, I'd say that it would be in your best interest."

He stood in silence for a moment, looking somewhat confused. "Oh, I mean, I'd just figured she'd gotten your permission to go. Or someone's permission. And, it was barely a party. I guess it was kind of late, though. I'm sorry."

"Mmhm" she said, sounding unconvinced. "I'm gonna go find Mama."

"Yeah, okay" I gave her a small hug before turning back to Aaron, who let out a sigh.

"I'm guessing that that probably wasn't the best first impression to make on your parents."

"Nah, I'm sure you'll grow on them. You're a pretty likeable person."

"Right. Uh, where should I put this?" He asked, gesturing toward the gift in his hand.

"There's a table in the backyard." I told him, nodding in the direction of the door.

"Cool."

Thank you for reading and reviewing, I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. As always, I'd love to hear any constructive criticism or ideas for where you would like to see this story to go, as well as any prompts for any other Fosters related stories you'd like to read as I am always looking for new ideas.

Until next time,

-Potato Lover 2.0