Callie's POV

I felt really bad excluding Mariana from my day with Stef, but I wasn't in the mood for shopping and having a "girls" day. I knew that's what the day would turn into if she tagged along. All I wanted was to finally let Stef into my past. Lena would come eventually, but both of my moms at the same time would be too much.

I looked at Mariana one more time before I went downstairs. She looked so sad and so angry. I decided I would talk to her when I got back and hoped she wouldn't be too mad at me. I made my way downstairs and Stef was waiting for me in the foyer.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you wait for me."

"Callie, you don't need to apologize for everything." Stef looked at me like she could read my mind. "You aren't going to get in trouble for making me wait." I guess she really could read my mind.

"We should probably get going." I couldn't look into Stef's eyes. Every time she looked at me, I felt like I was going to break into a million pieces.

Stef smiled at me sadly and took my hand as we walked out to the car.

"Where to first?" She started up the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Let's start at the beginning. 402 Hemmingway Drive, Mission Bay. We stayed here the night my mom died." My throat tightened as soon as I mentioned my mom. Every time I walked past one of my old foster houses I would think about her and I would want to cry.

We drove for about ten minutes and pulled in front of my first foster home.

"They were nice." I smiled a little as I recalled some of the only good memories from foster care. "But they couldn't keep us." My smile fell of my face as I dropped my head.

"How come?" Stef wiped a tear from my face.

"We were there for two weeks. They said that they wanted to keep us forever, but then they got bad news. She found out that she had breast cancer. It was going to be too much to have two new children trying to go through the adoption process while she was having surgeries and chemo. So, we had to go."

"I'm sorry, love."

"No apologizing, mom. If I can't do it, you can't either. And there are too many houses to say sorry every time." I looked down at the piece of paper I had brought with me. It had every address on it. "Next is the Kinney apartment complex. Do you know where that is?"

Stef nodded. When we reached the apartments, we got out of the car and walked to the building I stayed in.

I looked over at Stef. Her face was filled with horror. I couldn't blame her. Those apartments were horrible.

"Are you okay?" I grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze.

She looked shocked when she turned to me. "Don't you worry about me. How about you?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm okay. These people were… bad, to say the least. They didn't hurt us, well not directly, but they were still evil people. They packaged and sold drugs. Cocaine mostly. They made Jude and I carry the packages in our backpacks. We would walk to the park down the street and wait for the buyers to come. They would get into our bags, take their stuff, and replace the package with cash. But, one time, this guy didn't put money in the bag. When I told him that my foster parents would be mad if I didn't come back with money he slapped me."

Stef gasped and pulled me into a hug. "How old were you?"

"Ten. It was only about two months after my mom died. But, running the drugs wasn't even the worst thing that happened while we were there. My mom's funeral was delayed because of the investigation of my dad. It ended up being the second day that we were here and they wouldn't take us. Jude cried all day." I wiped a tear from my face. "I've never told anyone that before."

"Were you taken from their care or did they say they couldn't keep you?"

"We were taken from them. They decided to expand their products. They started making meth. Jude and I got really sick. We had to be hospitalized. But, the really crappy thing that happened is that their foster license didn't even get taken away. They just got a fine and charged with a misdemeanor."

Stef hugged me tightly again. We drove to the other houses and I told her all of the horrors that happened in each of them.

Stef's POV

After Callie and I went to the first four houses, we stopped for lunch. We went to this little pizzeria where they serve super greasy slices that are as big as your face.

"Are you holding up okay, love? If this is getting too hard for you we can go home. We don't have to finish."

"No, I want to keep going. I mean, unless you want to. I get that this stuff isn't exactly light conversation." Callie dabbed her slice of pizza with a napkin and held it up so I could see. "I think they went overboard with the grease."

I laughed at the soaked napkin. "I think you're right." I stopped and watch her for a second. She was so beautiful and so different from the angry girl I met the first night she stayed with us. "You know, you've told me everything that has happened to you in these houses, but not Jude."

The smile that had taken over her face quickly disappeared. "I know. I figured that it was his place to tell you what happened to him when he's ready… if he ever is. I mean, he never told you or mama anything about me. But, I hope he does tell you. He had it really bad."

"Mama and I will try to talk to him, promise. Well, are you ready to go? I don't think I can take one more bite!"

"Me either! And we still have more houses to go to."

I paid for lunch and then we got settled in the car. "Where to next?"

Callie tensed. "Uh, the Olmstead's." A tear slipped from her eye. "I'm sorry, but can we skip this one? I just don't think I can handle seeing that place today."

"Of course." I wiped the tear from her cheek and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Next, then, would be the Harland's. That's where Jude and I were right before I went to juvie and before we found you and mama. 2758 East 7th Avenue."

When we arrived, Callie gasped. The house that I once busted into to save Brandon, Callie, and Jude was gone. The lot was vacant and had a for sale sign in the yard.

"It's… gone." Callie jumped out of the car and ran to the lot. "I can't believe that it's gone." She sank down to the ground and pushed her hands onto the soft earth. "This house was hell. He was such a bastard. Half of the time he wouldn't feed us and the other half of the time we would have to fend for ourselves. I had to steal so much food just so me and Jude wouldn't starve to death." She looked like she was about ready to throw up. I couldn't really blame her. I was only in that house for ten minutes and I hated it the whole time. "Can we go?"

I nodded and helped her up. "Well, that's it, right? Should we head home?"

"There's actually one more house."

I was very confused. "We missed one?"

"No. It's Helen's house."

I'd completely forgotten about Helen's. Callie hadn't said anything about what happened there, but she was definitely different for a couple days after we got her home.

The drive wasn't too far. But, Helen was outside gardening when we got to her house so we just drove by.

"I never told you what happened when I was there. She… she locked me in the bedroom because she said no one had ever ran away from her and I wasn't going to be the first."

"She what?!" I was furious. How could someone lock a child in a room?

"Mom, please don't get mad."

"How can I not get mad, Callie? She locked you in a bedroom! What if there had been an emergency? What if, God forbid, there was a fire and you couldn't get out? What she did was illegal and she needs to be punished."

"Have you not listened to anything I've told you today? Almost every single family did something illegal to me or Jude. At least she didn't beat me."

"I'm sorry love. I guess I'm just so mad because you were in our care when that happened. If mama and I would have just gotten our foster license renewed that never would have happened."

"It's fine. Oh, there's one more house. You drive and I'll give you directions as we go."

I was confused yet again but I decided to just go along with it. Callie was taking me all over town. And something in her demeanor had changed. She wasn't so tense. She looked relaxed, peaceful, and… happy.

"Are we ever going to get to this mystery house or are you just sending me on a wild goose chase?" I joked.

Callie stuck her tongue out at me. "Turn left in two blocks and then right four blocks after that."

I thought for a minute. "That's our edition. You've lived in our edition before?"

She nodded. "Yeah. This family is great. They are definitely, without a doubt, the best family Jude and I have ever been with. They made us feel welcome the minute we were placed with them. Well, I guess I could say differently about their kids. Their daughter was a little hostile in the beginning, but she eventually warmed up to us." My heart broke a little. Why had Callie or Jude never said anything about this family to us? "Both of the parents were very protective over both of us and it was the first place that Jude was finally allowed to be who he is."

"Do you miss them?"

"No." Callie cracked a little smile.

"You don't? How come? They seem like they were wonderful to you."

"Stop here."

I looked out the window and broke down into tears. We were home.

"I don't miss them, because they are wonderful to us. I have two beautiful moms that love me, and even better than that, they love my baby brother too." Callie was crying now too.

"You are a devious little girl, you know that?!" I pulled Callie into a tight hug and peppered her face with kisses. We cried and hugged for a few minutes. "Should we go inside?"

"I guess so." We walked up to the front door, but Callie stopped me. "I love you, mom."

"I love you too Callie."

When we finally got inside, Lena was laying on the couch, almost asleep. She opened her eyes and immediately shot off the couch.

"Is everything okay?" She hugged us both tightly. I guess our puffy eyes gave us away.

"Everything is… great." Callie smile at me. I looked back at Lena and she was giving me a look that said we needed to talk.

"Callie, why don't you go upstairs for a while?"

Callie's POV

I got the feeling that moms needed to talk so I quickly made my way upstairs, but listened from the landing.

"Stef, we need to talk."

"Yeah, I have some news too. Marie called." Stef's words were like bombs going off. That call could mean so many things. My heart nearly stopped as I waited for one of them to talk.

"You first."

What do you think?! This chapter wasn't planned AT ALL so I apologize if it kind of bounces around. PLEASE leave me some reviews! You really don't understand how much I love hearing what you think!