AN: Many people have commented about Stef and Callie in the airport. I did not go into detail so it could be left up to the reader and because it was sort of a private moment between the two. Either Stef talked to Callie strongly or swatted her, whichever happened, Callie was remorseful and uninjured so it is all good. :)
Stef and Lena were both aware that Callie was acting differently during the outdoor dinner party. She was very distant from them and yet a little more polite. They decided that she was just working hard to make a good impression on Lilly and mostly dismissed it from their minds.
A week later Callie was still acting oddly. Callie was no longer tattling on Brandon at all, which the mothers took as a great improvement. Callie got her happy stamps every day at school and hadn't argued at any meal. Again, all of these things seemed good. However neither could remember the last time they received spontaneous hugs and kisses from their daughter. The once spunky little girl who always had an opinion on everything all the sudden seemed to not have any. Whatever Brandon suggested, the two of them did. Almost like she had lost her voice or her confidence.
The moms were concerned, but still observing the change in Callie's behavior. They had asked Callie many times if everything was okay and she always said yes. Then Karen called and invited Brandon and Callie to come over and play on a Saturday afternoon. Brandon was excited, but Callie obviously was not. Lena knew this was the time to find out what was going on in Callie's mind. "B, we would like you to go play in your room upstairs for a while. Mommy and I need to talk to Callie alone for a little while."
Callie looked up from her coloring book feeling terrified. She had worked very hard on being good and getting along with Brandon this week. Now she was in trouble anyway, and probably they were going to send her away. Callie stood up to leave the room with Brandon only to be stopped by Stef. "Bug, come back over here and sit with us. Mama and I need some special Callie time." Stef patted a spot on the couch right between them.
"I would rather play with Brandon." Callie said quietly still sort of edging out of the room. Her eyes were wide with fear.
"Are you afraid of us, Baby?" Lena asked. "We just want to know what is going on with you right now. Come sit with us and tell us why you don't want to go play with Lilly tomorrow afternoon." Callie gave her mother another horrified look. "You aren't it trouble. Your mommies just want a little Callie love, that's all."
Callie walked over closer to them, but did not get within reachable distance. "You aren't my mommies. I have a mommy and daddy somewhere else!" Callie said with a sob. "I don't think you even want me anymore!"
Lena looked shocked and also began to cry. As an adoptive mother this was always her biggest fear. Stef caught up with Callie who had made a small attempt to escape up the stairs. "I think we need to talk a little more, Love Bug." Stef said as she picked her daughter up and took her back to the couch. "Okay, Callie. Why would you say we weren't you mommies? Did someone tell you that?"
"Yes. Dylan said I was adopted. Babies have to have a mommy and daddy to be born. He said that Brandon was the only born one in our family. He has a mommy and a daddy. I must, too."
Lena took a deep breath and pulled in Callie closer. "All three of my babies were born. Brandon is just the only one who lived inside of Mommy before he was born. You and Jude lived inside of your birth mother. She could not take care of you so she gave you to me. The very same lady gave all of us Jude. Remember, we have talked about this before. We have a book we read sometimes about the koala that was adopted. We have even talked about why we don't look alike."
"Yes, but I am not a baby koala. I didn't know that it meant you weren't my mama. She just adopted me." Callie said pointing at Stef. "I knew she wasn't my first mommy, but I thought you were. I thought we were always together."
"Callie, you came into my life when you were just a little under a year old. I had wanted a child for a very long time. When you were put into my arms, I knew that you were mine. I became your mama that day and I love you very much. It took some time to make you officially mine, but we did that, too. I thought you understood all of this. I am sorry that I didn't explain better." Lena said snuggling Callie in and giving her a kiss. "Now that we have talked, do you want to play with Lilly tomorrow afternoon?"
"No, Lilly can't be my friend because she might not get to stay in her new family. They already have lots of kids. Sometimes I don't get along with Brandon and you might not keep me either."
Stef wanted to address Callie's security issues herself as it also involved Brandon. "You don't remember going to court with Mama when she adopted you, but you should remember going to with me just a few weeks ago. Adoption is permanent. I would have never adopted you if I didn't love you every bit as much as I love Brandon. I expect that you two won't always get along, but I also expect that you will always love each other. Remember how we named you Callie Bug Adams Foster when we went to see the judge?"
Callie giggled a little and looked back at Stef. "That's not my name… I am Callie Marie Adams Foster. I got the Marie from you because you are Stefanie Marie, right?"
"Yep. Mama has two girls with Marie for their middle names. I gave you my name because I love you and I wanted you to be mine forever. You didn't come from either of our tummies, but that doesn't matter to us. You are ours now that is the important thing." Stef grabbed Callie off of Lena's lap and began to tickle her. "I love you so much, Love Bug."
Callie squirmed and laughed. As soon as Stef stopped, Callie threw her arms around Stef's neck and kissed her cheek. "I love you so much, Mommy. I was sad when I thought I might have to live with strangers."
"We knew you were sad, Baby because we are your mommies. We did not know why until you told us. I think you are feeling happy again now, though. You can always talk to us about anything and we will always do our best to make you feel better." Lena peeled Callie away from Stef so that she could hold her now. "I want some Callie love. Mommy got some, but not me." Callie gave Lena a big hug and kissed her cheek, too. "That's better. I love you more than you can understand."
"I have another question, Mama. Lilly said she might not get to stay at her house. She said she had lived places before and didn't get to stay. Why is that?"
"Families can be complicated. Lilly has moved around a little bit. Some families only take in kids for a few weeks or months because their birth parents need a little time to make things better. Lilly went to one of those homes first. Then things changed for her and she needed a forever family. She tried out a few places that did not work out before she found Phil and Karen. They had wanted a little girl for a long time and were very excited to have a chance to keep Lilly. This seems perfect for her. Karen and Phil want to be Lilly's parents and adopt her just like they did with the boys."
"And just like you did with me, right?"
"Right!" Stef and Lena put Callie in the middle of their Mama sandwich again giving her many kisses to her cheeks and head. "Now, Karen is planning on you and Brandon both coming over to play tomorrow afternoon. Should we call her back and say that you are staying home?"
"No, I want to go play with Lilly and the boys, too! They are my best friends ever!" Callie said.
"Perfect. Go play with B upstairs then." Stef said putting her back on the floor. Lena and Stef watched Callie run up the stairs with the exuberance they were used to from their daughter. Lena was so happy to see it that she didn't even get onto her for running in the house.
Stef looked over and Lena and kissed her. Lena put her arms around her wife getting closer. Soon they Stef's back was against the couch with Lena on top her. They were both still fully clothed, but were rapidly loosening clothing. Then they heard giggling.
Lena quickly got off of Stef and straightened out her clothing as well as possible under the circumstances. Stef had a bit harder time and was thankful when Lena grabbed a blanket from beside the couch to provide her with a little more covering to get herself together.
"Do you two, um, need something?" Lena asked still quite embarrassed.
"We want to play games tonight!" Brandon said. Callie looked at him and nudged him some. "And we want to eat ice cream!"
Stef had her clothing readjusted now and sat up next to Lena. "How about we get baths done and pajamas on first? Mama can deal with Jude and then get everything ready for us."
The kids ran back up the stairs happy things went their way. "Tomorrow afternoon?" Lena asked raising her eye brows.
"Absolutely, Love." Stef said getting another kiss before heading up the stairs.
XXXX
"Are we going to get Lilly a preset like it is her birthday, Mama?" Callie asked from the back of the car.
"Yep. Do you have any ideas? We can only make one quick stop before we get to her house." Usually Lena did not like to save things for the last minute, but as most mothers of young children things kept coming up. Today, Jude's nap had gone a little long. Making their schedule sort of tight. Other than some extended family, they were the only invited guests to Lilly's adoption party. Both sets of parents thought a party would help all of their kids realize adoption was a good and exciting thing. Lena wanted to be there on time.
"She really wants a puppy just like her brothers. It wouldn't take very long to get one of those, right?" Brandon had to practically yell from the very back so that Lena could hear.
"No puppy. That is something her parents need to decide, not us. Any other ideas, Babies?" Many random ideas were thrown in. None that Lena could go with. Stef and Lena had already bought the family a new picture frame to put Lilly's adoption day picture inside. Lena loved the idea of the kids getting something to welcome the little girl, but this was not getting them anywhere. "Okay, we are going to stop at Target. We just have a few minutes to make a decision, though, Babies."
Lena pulled Jude's stroller out and attached his car seat in. She held Callie's hand with her free one. Brandon got Callie's other hand so they could make their way across the parking lot. This had become a routine everyone was used to by now. They made their way to the toy department. "Okay, Babies, you both know what a ten looks like. Lilly's present needs to be less than ten."
The kids scurried around grabbing random items and bringing them to Lena for inspection. Finally, Callie brought a package of bubbles to her. "Mama, this could be a present for the whole family. There are six bubbles in here and they have five kids."
"That is perfect, Callie, and very thoughtful to remember her brothers. It is an exciting day for the whole family." Callie carried the bubbles as they made their way to the check-out counter. Brandon insisted on carrying them from the store to the car as he had a free hand and Callie did not.
Lena loaded the kids back into the car. It was nearly Christmas. In fact the kids only had a few more days of school before having a two week break. Brandon had his first piano recital between now and then. The kids were also having some sort of party at school. All four grandparents had been invited to celebrate Christmas with them, but were given the condition that Dana in particular could only give each of the kids one present. Stef had been working some extra shifts recently hoping to get off as much of the kids' break as possible.
Lena's thoughts were quickly interrupted again. "Mama? Why didn't we have a party like this when we adopted Jude or when Mommy adopted me? Did you have a party when you adopted me?"
"No, we didn't have any adoption parties for you or Jude this time. Grams and Gramps did come visit us in Chicago when you were adopted. It was kind of like a small party. We just thought it would be fun this time. Sort of like how we had a party for Brandon's birthday with all the kids from your class and then for Mommy's birthday we just did something as a family."
"Yes, but for my birthday we will have a party again, right, Mama? I want to have a party, but just like Mommy's birthday I want to stay overnight with Lilly"
"And you will have one. It is several months from now, though and I am not sure you can invite yourself over to Lilly's house for your birthday." Stef and Lena had done several kid exchanges with Phil and Karen over the past couple of months giving both sets of parents some much needed time alone. The slumber party in question was Karen's birthday gift to Stef.
"When we adopt my sister I want to have a party for her. We can invite all of them and Grams and Gramps and Grandpa and Grandpa Frank…" Callie went on to list everyone but David from her class as well as everyone else that she knew.
"We are not even thinking about a sister for you right now. You have two brothers instead. It isn't a bad thing. I would have loved to have had a brother growing up."
"Not as much as you would have liked having a sister, though, right, Mama? A sister could wear matching clothes with me like Brandon and Jude sometimes. She would like the same movies and toys as me and we could play all the time…."
"You and Brandon like most of the same toys and movies. You guys play together all the time. You don't need a sister, Babes. You have two brothers."
They pulled up at the house. Lena once again got the kids out of the car, but this time did not take out Jude's car seat or stroller. Before they went in, Lena looked at the older two kids. "Remember that I want you on your best behavior today. They do have some cousins over as well as some adults you will not know, but they are all safe." Lena looked directly at Callie for that part and then turned to Brandon. "We are not going to run in their house and we are going to share with everyone including Jace."
"Are you going to tell Jude not to cry, Mama? That is sometimes bad…" Brandon asked sort of innocently. Jude had been teething and as a result crying more. It was wearing on everyone.
"No, Jude can cry if he needs to. Babies are like that and it isn't bad. Jude is a good baby."
"If you say so…" Brandon started before getting a look from Lena and deciding to be quiet.
Callie got to ring the doorbell this time while Brandon was talking. Phil answered the door and let everyone in. Lena handed a present to each child to put on the table with the other gifts. Brandon then went to find Matthew and Callie found Lilly. "Callie has been great for Lilly. I know I have said that before, but having a best friend so quickly really helped her to form bonds with the rest of us. She called me Daddy this morning when I woke her up. There is really no feeling exactly like that."
"No, there isn't. I remember the night we told the kids we were going to be a family. Brandon asked if he could call me Mama. It was about the sweetest name I had ever heard."
"Mama, Mama, Mama…" Brandon said running up between the two adults. "Matthew wants to play outside is that okay?"
"Of course, Baby. Just be ready to come back in when we call."
"Thanks, Mama!" He said giving Lena a quick hug before hurrying outside with his friend.
Phil smiled a little at the interaction. "It still is nice to hear, I see, even repeatedly."
"With three little ones I hear it a lot so I am glad that I like it more than anything. I know it is nothing like how often you hear Daddy, though. I mean, Stef and I feel crazy with three kids, five seems overwhelming."
Phil laughed. "Well, Callie has been telling us how she is going to get a little sister, so you should probably get use to the concept of at least one more, right?"
"Not you, too… We will look into getting a sister for Callie when you look into get a puppy for your tribe."
"Well, you should be careful what you agree to… The puppy will be here in about an hour. Now that our family is feeling complete, it seemed like the right timing."