"Duck!" Isabella screamed as a snowball whizzed past her head. Mariana was on the other side of the bushes with Courtney, and they were taking turns hurling snowballs at each other, something that was clearly against the rules, yet somehow their workers were unaware as they were trying to get everyone down to the dining hall for lunch.

"Shut the fuck up!" Courtney yelled back as Bella launched a snowball right back that smacked the young girl right in the face. Losing her balance, she slipped and fell back as Mariana caught her. She was fighting mad, and Mari tried her best to keep her under control.

"She's not worth it, Courtney. Trust me. All you'll do is lose your home privileges this weekend if you fight her," Mari reminded the hot headed girl as she helped her pick up her mittens that had fallen out of her pocket.

"Come on, girls! What's taking so long?" Miss June yelled from the other end of the sidewalk after she realized a few of the girls were lagging behind.

"I'm gonna punch her out. That's what. She thinks she owns this cottage, Mari! I swear to god!" Courtney is red faced still as she catches up with the others, and Bella falls into line acting as if nothing happened between them earlier.

"She does act really smug. I thought you two were close. It seemed that way not too long ago." Mari observed as they reached the dining hall.

Taking off her coat, she stomped the snow off her boots and hung it up along with the rest of the girls before heading to stand in line for their food. Everyone ate lunch together every day; so, as usual, the boys whistled as the girls entered, and Mariana kept her head down. She was shy when they were anywhere near the boys or the girls from the other cottage for that matter. She was getting used to the girls in her cottage, but her shyness hadn't left completely.

"She's mad because I went out of my way to be nice to you. I don't know what she has against you, Mari. You're really sweet, and she's mean. I don't get why she thinks everyone has to bow down to her either. She's only fucking eight!" Courtney was unaware at just how loud she was being ,and Bella turned around and shot daggers at her as she stuck her tongue out.

"Bitch! I will beat your fucking ass!" Courtney threatened through gritted teeth as once again Mariana had to hold her back. She pinched her arm hard to get her attention, and Courtney tried to calm down as she grabbed a clean plate off the top of the stack.

Bella just held up her middle finger as she walked out of the serving line with her plate of food and went to sit down at her assigned table. Mariana sighed. She had no idea why the girl got under her skin like she did, but she surely did. There was something about her that rubbed her the wrong way, and she wished she would be moved up to cottage five so she wouldn't have to see her mean ass every single minute of the day.

A couple of hours away, the snow was coming down pretty heavily on the ranch as Stef had predicted, but the small family was all huddled under blankets with hot cocoa as they played scrabble. "This game is bull!" Jesus pouted as he pulled out his letters and set them on his tile to see if he had a word to set down.

"Jesus..." Lena reprimanded him for his cussing, and he rolled his eyes as he huffed and retorted.

"What? It is!" He rolled his eyes again, and Stef laughed softly then covered her mouth as Lena looked at her disapprovingly.

"Can you choose another way to..to tell us how you feel, Jesus?" Stef corrected herself as she smirked slightly avoiding Lena's glare. Jesus and Stef were beginning to form a bond lately, and she knew that Lena was miffed when Stef cursed because it was a downfall for the young boy.

Jesus scoots back a little bit against the couch as he crossed his arms. "Ya! Like can I choose different letters? I always get the absolute worst letters!"

Lena scoots a little closer to Jesus and reaches for his tile of letters. "May I?" And he just nods as he looks at the board. Lena maneuvers a few of the letters and whispers in his ear as she points out a few possibilities before scooting back to her place and sipping her cocoa.

"Heyyyyyy!!!!!! Not fair!" Callie teased as she tossed a marshmallow Lena's direction which she caught and threw in her mouth.

"What's not fair?" Lena winked at her as she blushed slightly. She still refused to meet Stef's eyes as she still was miffed that Stef had laughed earlier. Lately it did seem as if Jesus was taking to Stef more and more, and Lena wondered how she,herself could get through to the boy. She knew that not every child would warm up to her, but it certainly would help if they ever talked about adopting.

"Hey, now! No cheatin', Mama!" Stef tossed a marshmallow at her wife as well hoping to get her to smile, and briefly the woman glanced her way as Stef looked at her intensely. She knew Lena well, and also knew when she was pouting which was now.

Eventually Jesus got used to the board game, and by the time they finished up, he almost won, coming a close second to Lena which they praised him over and over as it was hard for the boy to concentrate as much as he had.

Stef stood and began grabbing the mugs as she announced, "Let's all go outside and build a snowman!!!! I think it's stopped snowing for a little bit! C'mon, Jesus! I think my cousin, Mike, left some snow coveralls over here. That, or I'm sure I can find some somewhere in the attic!" She walked over to her wife who was putting the game away and wrapped her arms around her as she whispered in her hair. "You gonna be mad at me all day? Hmmmm?"

Lena melted a little bit as she closed the lid to the game and smiled softly. "I'm not mad," She turned to look up into Stef's eyes, and Stef just smirked softly as she kissed behind her ear.

"That's not true, and you know it," She whispered softly as she gently tugged on her hand helping her stand. Lena brushed her hair back and shyly looked down as Stef pulled her to her in her arms. " I am...sorry. Okay? I shouldn't have laughed when you corrected him. That was wrong of me." Her nose twitched as Lena's eyes met hers.

Brushing Stef's cheek, she smiled softly. "That's better."

Mocking hurt, Stef sputtered, "What? That's all you wanted, woman?"

Lena laughed now as she tugged her wife towards the steps. "Let's go get ready for this snowball fight you have up your sleeve!"

"Who? Me? I said build a snowman! Who said snowball fight?" Stef giggled as she chased her up the steps.

"Oh, I know you a little too well, Stefanie Marie Adams Foster!"

Reaching the top of the steps, Stef swat at her wife's ass as she tried to dodge what she knew was coming but wasn't fast enough. "Watch it! I'll be the more smacking you dead on while you aren't even looking!"

"Ha! You talk big for someone who squeals like a girl every time she's hit with snow!" Stef came back with a smart aleck response as usual.

After everyone was dressed warmly, Stef having found warm clothes for Jesus in the attic, they all went outside to build their snowman. Laughing and chasing each other with snowballs, the young family could be seen getting along together smoothly and with ease, Jesus finally starting to warm up more and more, as Stef placed one of her dad's old cowboy hats on top of their snowman, they placed a camera up on a fence post for a family picture, and as they giggled and laughed together, Jesus stepped out of line to grab the camera.

"Everybody get together for one more!"

"What? No! You're a part of this family, too!" Stef waved him over so she could reset the timer, and he frowned.

"What? No, I'm just a guest..."

"Don't be silly, bud! You're a part of our family!" Lena walked over to him and placed her arm around his broad shoulders.

"Ya! Get over here!" Callie chimed in as well, and the boy smiled softly as he was trying to hide his emotions. It was true. He was beginning to see more good days than bad, but he still missed his sister, Mariana, so badly that that ache never fully went away. He only hoped that he could see her sooner rather than later.