This story has 10 chapters and 210 reviews. That is like an average of 21 reviews per chapter! I am just so blown away by the incredible support you have all shown me and this fic! Your reviews force me to write even when i'm super busy because i love hearing what you guys think and i want to get another chapter up as fast as possible so you can tell me what you think of the next one and its just a never ending circle! So thank you; this chapter is for you all:
Lena and Jude were walking down the corridor towards Callie's room when the elevator at the end of the hall opened revealing Brandon and the twins.
Brandon's eyes immediately found Lena's and then flicked down to where her had was linked with Jude's, relieved that the boy had warmed up to at least one of his moms.
He smiled as he made his way over to them, knowing Jesus and Mariana would follow him.
"Hey mama"
He leaned in and wrapped one arm around her in a quick hug, which she returned as best she could with Stef's bagel still wedged under her arm and her phone in her hand.
She didn't let go of Jude's hand. She knew she had a lot to prove to the boy and making sure he felt loved and safe was the best way to start doing that.
"Brandon, I'm glad you guys are here."
The teen let go of Lena and grabbed his mom's bagel from her, Callie's bag in his other hand.
"Hey buddy, how's your head?"
Brandon smiled at Jude and was surprised when the younger boy smiled back.
"Its alright, they didn't even give me real stitches this time! Just the sticky strips!"
Jude seemed to be almost excited about his injuries, just like a normal twelve year old boy and Brandon was glad for that, the kid was the total opposite of the one Brandon had seen last night.
Brandon didn't miss Jude's slip as he said 'this time' implying that once before he had needed stitches and as he locked eyes with his mama he realised she had heard it too.
"Hi mama, hi Jude!"
Mariana too leaned in to hug Lena and then smiled down at Jude, not sure if she should touch him or not.
"Hey Miss Thing, whatcha got there?"
Lena nodded her head towards the large bag in her daughters hand.
Mariana held it up as she answered.
"I brought some clothes for mom, figured she might want to shower or at least get changed into something clean. The guys brought Jude and Callie's stuff as well, we weren't sure if they would need anything.."
She trailed off as she pointed to the bags her brothers were carrying.
Lena smiled at her three kids, her heart swelling with pride at how thoughtful they'd all been.
"Thanks guys, I'm sure they will appreciate it"
Brandon and the twins smiled back and shrugged.
"We just wanted to do something useful"
Jesus tried to wave off his mama's thanks, what they had done was nothing compared to what Callie had done and he wasn't about to feel proud for just carrying in a tiny backpack.
Jesus looked at Jude properly for the first time, he could see the boy looked a little shellshocked around his new foster siblings and Jesus empathised, he remembered what it was like at a new place with new people. At least he'd always had Mariana there, Jude was flying solo at the moment and didn't look too happy about it.
"Hey is this your backpack?"
He shrugged the bag off his shoulder and showed it to Jude.
Jude looked up at the older boy and nodded his head.
"Its Skippy right? I used to have this backpack!"
He smiled at Jude trying to make a connection with the younger boy, show him that they weren't that different.
His effort was rewarded when Jude smiled back at him.
"Cool!"
Just one word, but Jude looked more comfortable already and for that, Jesus could be proud of himself.
"Can we see Callie?"
Lena was surprised that it was Mariana who asked after the older girl, she'd expected Brandon to be eager to see her, but Mariana hadn't shown any real interest in Callie since she moved in.
"Yeah, sure, come on guys, we'll take you to her room."
Lena smiled at her kids and squeezed Jude's hand as she lead her family to room 6029.
She paused when they got to the door, turning to face the twins.
"Guys I don't know what Brandon told you, but Callie was shot last night by her foster father. She's okay, but her arm is in a sling and she looks kind of tired and pale, but she's fine, she's recovering."
The twins both nodded as Mariana spoke.
"Brandon told us what happened, he told us everything"
She stressed the last word and Lena nodded. The twins knew that Callie had protected Stef.
"Okay, so just, you know, be gentle. No being loud or nosy alright? She's had a rough couple of days."
She had said similar words to the twins the night Callie came to stay with them, but the statement still held.
All three kids nodded and Jude looked anxious to get back to his sister so Lena quietly opened the door and guided them in.
Stef had been watching over Callie as she slept but had not fallen asleep herself. Her mind was too full of everything Callie had told her, everything Callie hadn't told her as well.
When she'd heard Lena talking to, she assumed, their children outside the room, Stef had carefully slipped herself out from under the sleeping teen.
She had a feeling Callie wouldn't have wanted to look so needy and vulnerable in front of the others. Stef didn't think she did at all, but the girl held herself to a very different standard so Stef moved to the chair beside her bed, maintaining her hold on Callie's hand so as not to break her promise to the teen.
Callie looked so peaceful in sleep that Stef could hardly believe that the girl had been so badly hurt. Aside from the bruising on her face and the split in her lip, she looked like any other teenager and that reassured Stef, Callie would be able to get through this, she was stronger than her past.
She turned to face her family as they walked through the door, putting her finger to her lips to signal for them to be quiet, he head tilting towards the sleeping Callie on the bed.
Jude looked at his sister carefully. She seemed to actually be asleep and that shocked him.
He could see the slight swelling around her eyes, it wasn't obvious and no one else would have ever noticed, but Jude knew his sister better than anyone or anything and he could see she had been crying.
That made two strange things.
Callie never cried in front of anyone except him, and even that she only did on the really bad days. More than that though, Callie never slept when there was someone else in the room.
Sleeping made them vulnerable and left them unprotected. Callie never slept until she was certain that no one else was awake, and even then, she slept very lightly and was woken by the quietest noises, even Jude's breathing.
She hadn't woken when they'd entered the room and that made Jude feel good and bad at the same time.
He knew that she had to be really hurt if she would let herself sleep this deeply but he also knew that she had to at least kind of trust Stef if she'd fallen asleep while the cop was still in the room, she'd also probably let the cop see her cry and Jude didn't know how to feel about that.
He had now reached his sister's bedside, Stef's coffee still gripped in his hands as he watched Callie's chest rise and fall with her breathing.
"I can hear you thinking."
Callie kept her eyes closed as she spoke, but a tiny smile ghosted across her face.
Jude smiled at her even though she couldn't see him, she would hear it in his voice, she was good like that.
"No you can't, you can hear me breathing!"
He'd wised up to her tricks sometime during Six, she'd said she could tell when he was awake because she could hear him thinking, but on a really bad night, she'd told to pretend to be asleep and when he'd panicked because he didn't know how, she'd told him that they could tell by his breathing if he was asleep and that's how she'd always known.
Callie opened her eyes and smiled at her brother but didn't say anything.
She looked around the room at the rest of the fosters and smiled hesitantly, not really sure what to expect from them.
She'd woken up when Stef got off the bed, and a part of her had almost panicked as she felt the blonde leave, but she had quickly calmed when heard the woman sit back in the plastic chair, their hands still joined.
She'd heard the family come in but had taken a moment to just get herself together, prepare herself as best she could for whatever was about to happen.
"Hi Callie, how're you feeling honey?"
It was Lena who spoke first, her eyes soft and full of worry as she regarded the teen from her spot behind her partner, her hands resting on Stef's shoulders.
Callie shrugged her good shoulder and shared a look with Jude.
"I've been worse"
She'd meant to sound reassuring but as soon as the words left her lips she realised they'd been anything but.
The Fosters just looked shocked, the identical looks on all of their faces would have almost been funny if Callie hadn't seen the multitude of emotions behind them.
Lena and Mariana's eyes both held sympathy and horror at the fact that she had been through something worse than a gunshot.
Brandon and Stef both looked furious and Callie swore they seemed to be almost protective over her and it was a strange feeling, seeing people want to protect her for a change.
She would never let it happen, of course, but she appreciated the thought.
Jesus, however, looked at Callie with a kind of understanding behind his eyes, like he knew something and Callie wanted to squirm under his gaze. She didn't want to be pitied, but she especially didn't want to be understood.
She wanted to break the tension she had accidentally created so she spoke again.
"I'll be fine, really, its not as bad as it looks."
She didn't know why she felt the need to reassure this family, but seeing them look at her like they had been had made her feel strange, like she was somehow hurting them and she didn't like that at all.
"We brought your clothes, we weren't sure when you'd be getting out, but at least you'll have them when you do"
He held up her blue duffel bag as if to prove he'd really brought it and Callie had to smile at him and his attempt at starting a conversation.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it."
He nodded his head and the room was plunged back into silence.
"Oh, this is for you, and Lena got your bagel as well!"
Jude held the coffee out to Stef, looking her straight in the eye as he did.
Callie told him that eye contact showed respect and that you weren't afraid. He never made eye contact with foster parents for those reasons.
Callie did, but that was because she was trying to be brave, trying to show them they didn't scare her and it had almost never ended well for her.
Jude didn't like cops, but neither did Callie and she seemed to like this one, and so did Lena and Brandon so he could too.
Stef smiled at him and reached for the cup.
"Ah thank you sweets! You are officially my favourite!"
She winked at Jude and he smiled at her words, joking as they were, they made him feel special and Callie was relieved at how relaxed Jude was around the cop.
"Hey what about us?"
Mariana looked at Stef with mock hurt on her face.
"What did you bring me Miss Thing?"
Stef raised her eyebrow at her daughter, her smile light and teasing.
"I brought you clothes, thought you might want to get changed!"
Mariana smiled sweetly at her.
"Hmm, you're a close second then"
Stef winked at Mariana too and the overall atmosphere of the room seemed to lighten at the easy banter.
"So did they say when we could bust you outta here?"
Jesus was subtly trying to imply to both the moms and Callie that he wanted the older girl to come home with them. He only hoped the three women had caught his use of the word 'we'.
Mariana picked up on her twin's plan and added to it.
"Yeah coz breakfast this morning with just three people was lame and I definitely need another girl now that there are three boys in the house."
She too was subtly trying to include Callie and Jude but making it sound like they expected the siblings to come home with them.
Stef fought a smile as she felt Lena's hands squeeze her shoulders.
They knew what the twins were up to and both were overjoyed. Both kids were really trying to make Jude and Callie feel like part of the family and the moms could not be happier.
"Uh, I actually haven't even seen the doctor since I woke up so I don't know."
Callie was confused by the twins' words. It sounded like they just expected her to go home with them, two days ago she hadn't thought they'd even liked her, she wouldn't have blamed them after the things she said at the dinner table, but now they were being really nice and wanting her to stay with them and it made her heart hurt.
She really wanted to stay with them.
Stef spoke next.
"Mm, that's a really good point, we need to talk to the doctor!"
She stood from her chair and turned to face all the uninjured kids.
"Okay guys, I'm sure I saw a gift shop downstairs, why don't you guys go and have a look around and I'll text you when we're finished talking to the doctor alright?"
The older three nodded but Jude was looking at Callie, not Stef.
"Go on, it'll be like twenty minutes max and I'll be here when you get back, I'm not exactly going anywhere buddy"
Callie smiled at Jude and he nodded at her instructions and reassurance.
Lena and Stef shared a look. It would be a while before Jude listened to anyone other than his sister, but the women were prepared to put in the work.
"Alright come on lets go"
Brandon put his arm around Jude and nodded at Callie's grateful smile, the boys followed the twins out and then only the three women were left.
"Okay I'm just gonna change my clothes and then I'll go find a doctor. I can't believe he hasn't come by already!"
Stef shook her head as she grabbed her bag off the floor where Mariana had left in and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and leaving Lena and Callie alone.
"Thank you"
Lena's voice was quiet but her words shocked Callie.
"Thank you? For what? For taking your son and your wife into a house where a drunk guy pointed a gun at them? Yeah you're welcome, anytime."
Her voice was sarcastic, but Lena could hear the surprised undertone. Callie didn't think that what she'd done was worthy of thanks and Lena hated that.
"Stef said you pushed her out of the way, she said she would probably have been shot in the chest if you hadn't moved her."
Lena gauged the teen's reaction as she finished speaking and was bewildered to find none on the girl's face. No emotions, nothing.
"I did and it probably would have."
Callie's voice was even as she confirmed Lena's statement, her blank emotionless mask beginning to crack under Lena's soft gaze.
"Thank you for saving her life."
It was the first time Callie had heard it put like that. Saving her life. And she didn't like it, it wasn't true.
"I didn't save anyone."
Callie was adamant. She wasn't going to be thanked for something she hadn't done.
Lena could see that the girl didn't fully understand what she had done, how much she had saved and as much as she wanted to shake Callie for her actions, she also wanted to make the girl see how big a deal it was.
"She would have been hit in the chest and she probably would have died. You saved her life Callie, you did that."
Callie shook her head again at Lena's words. She needed to stop saying it like that, you saved her life, she hadn't, thats not how it was.
"I'm the one he was aiming for. Stef should never have been there and her life should never have been in danger so I made sure it wasn't."
Her life wouldn't have needed saving in the first place if it weren't for Callie, so by pushing Stef out of the way, Callie just cancelled out the fact that she'd put Stef in danger. They were even.
Lena shook her head at the teen, growing the tiniest bit frustrated at the stubborn girl.
"Callie, whatever you think, you did save Stef's life, and I am so grateful that she's alive, but it is not okay for you to do that. You are important Callie and your life is worth the same as Stef's okay? And its not okay for you to just trade yours for hers, you could have been killed."
The teen took a breath and then replied.
"I didn't save Stef's life! Stop making it sound like I did such a good thing! It was my fault that she was even there in the first place, it was my fault that she was in danger so I didn't save her life, if she hadn't been there, I would have gotten hurt, the fact that she was there didn't change that, it was always going to be me. I didn't save her life. I just made sure that she didn't get hurt like she wouldn't have gotten hurt if she hadn't shown up."
Callie blew out a breath. Her speech hadn't made any sense to her. Her head was all muddled up and she couldn't get the explanation out properly.
She would have to try again when she as less tired.
She closed her eyes and felt Lena's hand touch her own.
"Callie, what you did was incredibly dangerous and maybe we are never going to agree on it, but you saved my family and I promise you I am going to do everything I can to save yours okay?"
Her eyes were still soft, but there was a determination there as well that Callie hadn't seen before.
She nodded her head, all the words suddenly vanished from her brain.
Lena smiled reassuringly at the teen, she had meant every word. She was going to save this girl and her little brother from the foster system and probably themselves as well.
It was clear that Callie tended to blame herself for a lot that was out of her control and while she didn't want to upset the teen by discussing it right that second, Lena knew they would have to talk about it at some point.
Stef walked out of the bathroom at that moment in a pair of faded jeans and a light pink button down shirt.
"I'll go get the doctor."
Lena stood up as her partner walked in, she knew she would need a minute before they went over Callie's injuries. She was sure there was more damage than meets the eye and she had a horrible feeling that she would hate the stories behind the wounds they were about to uncover.
Stef smiled knowingly at her partner.
"Okay love, we'll be here."
She took her seat by Callie's bed and looked between the other two women in the room. She could see that something had been said between the two but she knew she and Lena would talk about it later so she didn't press either brunette for information.
Lena walked out of the door and walked towards the nurses station to ask them to page Callie's doctor. Her pulse racing as she tried to prepare herself for what she was about to find out.
Okay so that was the first chapter with all seven of them in. I was quite happy with how it turned out, but please dont hesitate to tell me if you disagree! Next chapter will be callie's injuries, past and present, let me know if there is any particular injury or story you want brought up later, because now is probably the time for it and it will be harder to write it in later if there are no reports of it up next!
If there is a doctor reading this, please let me know, i would love to pick your brains about abused children and the sorts of injuries they have.
Please review :) It makes me happy! I love you all, happy friday people :) ~Em xxx