A/N: Another short chapter follows… thank you to those of you who said that you didn't mind :) Happy Tuesday!
Chapter 24: Homecoming
"I miss you too baby," Stef murmured into the phone at her ear, one hand on the wheel again. "We'll be home soon…ish… Where are the kids going to be?" She nodded in relieved affirmation of Lena's reply, glancing once over at Callie, whose eyes remained transfixed on the sights ahead. Stef had not been able to communicate with her wife in confidence yet, but she had not neglected to text at every gas stop and bathroom break over the extended and monotonous drive, updating the sitting beauty on their progress and finally directing her to clear their house of children in an effort to reconnect with Callie as a couple. The homecoming had eaten hours upon hours already, but a formidable road still stretched before the travelers.
Now, apparently tired of reading her love's mind instead of hearing it, Lena had called. At "Hello," Stef was acutely anxious to be home, back in the brunette's arms. She knew that she would profit from her partner's nurturing touch, as would Callie, when they tackled the essential, yet unspoken, conversations— as well as the impending fallout. If she were being truly honest with herself, Stef would admit that the pillar was leaning; her strength felt zapped. For the moment, Lena's voice was enough to hold her upright, however, and she couldn't halt the blush that crept up her cheeks at the obvious purr in the receiver. In any other circumstance, an empty house would have spelled a much different type of butterfly than the ones that were currently occupying Stef's stomach. She knew that Lena was giddy at the prospect of her girls returning safely to the nest, equivalent to a returning of her own sanity, but she also knew that Lena did not know everything; she wished that she could crawl into her wife's bed of ignorance to cuddle.
As though sensing the cop's silent trepidation, Lena shifted gears to align with her spouse's current motion, "Let me talk to Callie, Stef. Will she talk to me?"