Chapter 36

"Christina, I said get inside now," Stef repeated a little more forcefully. "This isn't up for debate."

The girl stared back at the blonde and then back at her mother, who looked as if she had just been beaten, herself. She hated her mother. She was almost sure of it. But regardless, she felt loyal to her. This was the woman who gave birth to her, the woman she'd known all her life to be her mom. She didn't always used to be this cold, she'd tell herself. She remembered the good times they had together when Christina was little. Those memories proved that the woman loved her despite how much hate Angie spewed her way.

"I'm won't go inside," Christina answered simply.

Stef took a deep breath and exchanged looks with Lena, who was still standing close to the teen. They both knew that they weren't going to use force to get Christina inside.

"Okay," Stef said in acceptance.

"Wait a minute," Angie began. "You're her foster mom… The cop?"

The blonde glared back at the woman. It irked her that she was even talking. Normally, she would tell whichever criminal she had in cuffs to stop talking, but she refrained from doing so because Christina was there. She wanted tread lightly.

"Yes," Stef answered simply.

"Yeah, my daughter told me about you," Angie said in a casual tone as if she were just making conversation.

Stef rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly. She reached inside of her pocket and pulled out her cellphone.

"Wh-what are you doing?" the teen nervously asked her.

Stef scrolled through her recent calls and put the phone to her ear. "I need to call this in, Christina."

"What? No," the girl raised her voice as she attempted to reach for the phone but the cop pulled it away from her and raised her hand at chest length to keep Christina from snatching the phone from her hand. Stef's eyes widened. She was stunned into silence and all she could do was hold the teen back.

"None of that is necessary," Christina said as she took a step back slowly. "She didn't mean it. She'll go home," she tried to negotiate.

"Christina, I'm sorry," Stef sighed deeply before continuing. "But as an officer of the law, I cannot do nothing when I witness an assault…"

As soon as the three walked into Lena's office, Christina plopped down on the sofa. She felt a huge sense of guilt for all of this.

All she had to do was stop shut up.

Why did she always feel the need to provoke her? She knew it wouldn't end well. It never did.

Lena sat beside Christina first. She hadn't uttered a word since she watched two officers take her mother away. Lena placed her hand on the girl's knee and felt it jump and move away instinctively. Both women noticed and kept their eyes on her.

"I'm sorry," Lena apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Christina lifted her gaze to meet Stef's who was still standing in front of them, unsure of what to say.

"You didn't have to do that," Christina told her angrily. The look she gave her made Stef feel as if she had tried to choke her. She couldn't help but notice that the teen was blaming her for all of this.

"Honey, she hurt you. She's dangerous. I did what I thought was necessary for your safety. I won't apologize for that," Stef answered.

"No," Christina shook her head. "She didn't mean it. She was just mad."

"Was she just mad when she tried to assault you with a shovel?" Stef asked sarcastically as she tried to remind the girl of what Angie had done before.

"She was just trying to scare me. I shouldn't have told you that. She made a mistake."

"A mistake?" Stef repeated. "Christina, bumping in to someone as you're walking by is a mistake. Almost killing someone to prove a point is not a mistake."

"That's just how she is. She's always been like that."

"That's not an excuse," Lena budded in.

"How long will she be in there?" Christina changed the subject.

Her question caught Stef off guard. "…I don't know. Your mother physically assaulted a minor so she's not getting out anytime soon."

"But we don't want you to worry about any of that," Lena added.

"How can I not worry?" the teen asked sarcastically. "She's my mother and Stef just put her in jail."

Stef opened her mouth to defend her actions again but Lena stopped her. "Stef," she said in a begging tone. She shook her head 'no' to the woman.

"Your mother will be okay," Lena assured her. "And we get it… You feel loyal to her because she's your birth mother and you love her. But your relationship with her… it's unhealthy."

"That's how it's always been," Christina responded. "We always fight and then everything goes back to normal. I forget it by the next day. I'm still here… And neither of you were there to see everything. I provoked her. I could've shut up but I didn't."

"Nothing you could've said would have made it right," Stef answered. "Nothing you could've said would make it okay to cause physical harm to you." The blonde walked over and sat down on the other side of Christina. "She could've killed you today, Christina. If I hadn't shown up, she might have. Now, I know you don't understand it right now because you're so accustomed to this type of behavior from her but… we're doing the right thing here. Our job is to protect you. You kids are our first concern."

"But I think she's sick," Christina answered them.

Lena raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I think she has something… A disorder maybe? Look, all I know is sometimes she's not like this at all. She acts like a real mom. And then it's like after a few hours or days, something happens. She just changes. She becomes this angry person who just blames me for everything."

"Like Mark?" Stef asked her.

Christina's face fell. "What?"

"Callie told me that's who you two were arguing about. She mentioned that your mother blamed you for what happened, that she didn't believe you."

All of this was news to Lena. "Believe you about what?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Christina said defensibly as she stood up from the sofa and began walking to the other side of the room.

"Christina–" Stef began, while getting up from the sofa as well.

"Callie must've misheard," the girl answered. But Stef could see the fear in her eyes when she brought up his name and she could see how her hands were shaking slightly.

"She didn't mishear, Christina… She told me everything," the blonde answered with confidence.

"What did Callie tell you?" Lena asked her with worry in her voice.

Christina turned around to face them and crossed her arms. "So? …So what? It was a long time ago."

Lena couldn't take it. "Would one of you just tell me what's going on?"

Stef kept her eyes on the teen but spoke to Lena. "Mark was her mother's boyfriend..."

Lena could tell when her wife was angry, even when her voice said otherwise. The brunette could already tell where this was going. She turned to face Christina again, "Christina?" Lena began, needing to hear it from her.

"What!" she said even louder, which the brunette simply ignored.

"Did he rape you?" Lena finally asked.