The next day Callie woke up in Stef and Lena's bed and she noticed that she was alone. She also noticed that it was almost 1 in the afternoon and that her fever must have knocked her out totally. She was relieved that she wasn't nauseous, at least not at that moment. After carefully pushing herself out of the bed Callie padded down the stairs and could both hear Stef in the kitchen and smell something cooking. When she rounded the corner into the kitchen she watched as Stef added vegetables to the pot that was on the stove.

"That smelled good from upstairs. Smells even better down here." Stef looked up and smiled.

"Hey there sleepy head, how you feeling?" Callie took a seat at the counter and nodded her head. "Better, I think. Not nauseous anymore, at least not right now and that food actually smells appetizing, so I'm taking that as progress." Stef pressed her had to Callie's forehead and pulled it away with a satisfied grin.

"Well, your fever seems to have gone down some, which is always good. I asked Mike to bring over some groceries for me and that soup should be ready in about two hours. In the meantime, try some crackers and make sure those settle alright." Callie began nibbling on the crackers Stef placed in front of her before asking, "Did everyone else get to grandma's ok?" Stef smiled and nodded her head. "They did. Everyone is asking how you are doing, Jude especially. He's having fun though; my mother made him her sous chef so he is very proud of himself." Callie smiled, but her head dropped a little bit.

"Wish I could see it." Stef rubbed her back and assured her, "next year you will, and Lena will probably take a thousand pictures for us both."

"Would it be ok if I took a shower while you finish cooking?"

"You think you are strong enough to handle standing that long on your own?"

"I think so." Stef nodded her head and pointed upstairs. "If you use our bathroom you'll have the handle to help you out, just in case. Lena put it in after I was shot, just to help me when I would get tired. It's better than falling in the tub."

"Got it."

Over at Sharon's house the rest of the family was just then getting ready to sit down to eat. The kids helped set the table, while Lena helped Sharon take the turkey out of the oven and start to set out all the food they just took off the stove. Once the food was laid out everyone settled into a seat around the dinning room table.

"Alright everyone, since we have a new family member this year we have to explain Thanksgiving customs. Anyone want to volunteer?" Sharon looked around the table and finally, after being elbowed in the side by his grandmother, Brandon answered.

"Well, before we eat we go around the table and say something or someone that we are thankful for and the rule is that whatever you say has to be genuine. Make sense?" Jude nodded his head and seemed to immediately be deep in thought as to what he would say. Every one else went and eventually it came back to Jude who leaned over to Lena and whispered.

"What if I say the wrong thing?"

"Honey, there is no wrong answer, just speak from the heart, what are you thankful for?" Jude nodded his and head and took a deep breath.

"I'm thankful that this year I get to have a holiday season worth remembering." Everyone seemed to be a little bit surprised at what Jude said and he felt like he needed to explain his response.

"Callie can remember holidays from when mom was alive, but I can't. The only ones I can remember are the ones we had when we were in the system and they are hardly worth remembering. I mean Callie did everything she could to make them tolerable, but this year I'm just glad we aren't alone; we have people to share it with. This time it's worth remembering." The rest of the table was rendered totally silent and Jude looked at Lena who had tears in her eyes and he quickly looked at Sharon.

"I thought there was no wrong answer."

"There isn't sweetheart."

"Then how come mama is crying?" Lena brushed her tears away and smiled at Jude.

"That was just very beautiful and it got me a little emotional." Jude seemed to feel better and everyone dug into the food in front of them.

After getting out of the shower Callie felt a little bit better and her body ached less. She combed her wet hair out before blow-drying it to the point where she wouldn't get sicker because of the wet hair. When she finally made it downstairs Stef was spooning some of the soup out of the pot and was tasting it.

"So what's the verdict?" Stef turned around and offered a bowl to Callie.

"Our feast is ready my dear." Callie and Stef both grabbed their food and went to settle into spots on the couch. They snuggled into their spots and ate as they watched the Christmas movies that had been playing on the TV stations for the last month.

"Have you heard from the rest of them at all?" Stef nodded and swallowed the food in her mouth before she answered.

"Lena called while you were in the shower. They are all fine, though I assume you were asking more to find out if Jude was ok." Callie looked a little guilty, even though that wasn't Stef's intention.

"I care about everyone else too, but it's his first holiday with people other than just me and I…I don't know, I guess I'm a little mad I'm missing it." Stef offered Callie a sad smile and rubbed the teenagers back.

"There is always Christmas, which will be here before we know it. And then of course there is every holiday after that. You'll have your chance to be with him for those."

"I know. I just…it's stupid really."

"It most definitely isn't stupid if its something you are feeling."

"He wasn't old enough to remember holidays with mom and I'll thank whatever god you want that he can't remember holidays with dad. After mom died, it was just us on holidays and they sucked. No matter how hard I tried to make them tolerable, they sucked and even though he would smile and pretend it was ok, I know he was dreaming of something better. I guess I just wanted to be there when we finally got his something better." Callie finished her soup and put the empty bowl on the table in front of her before settling back into the couch and wrapping the blanket around her a little tighter. Stef put her own bowl down and pulled Callie toward her gently so that she was leaning against Stef's side, allowing Stef to wrap her arm around Callie's shoulders and back.

"Callie, my dear, sweat girl. You are the reason he got his something better."

"Pretty sure that honor goes to you and Lena, I'm just the one that made this drag out for 8 years. If I had agreed to let them separate us, maybe…"

"No. No maybes. You will drive yourself insane trying to figure out what might have happened if one thing had gone differently. You want to know what I think? I think that you keeping him with you was the bravest and most selfless thing you could have done. You could have decided to be a regular 8 year old, but instead you grew up much too fast to protect what was yours. But that woman that you grew up into, I happen to love her very very much and the very last thing I would describe her as is selfish. You deserved your something better too kiddo, you were just to busy finding it for Jude to realize you deserved it too." Stef felt Callie snuggle into her side more.

"I have it now." Stef kissed the top of her head and smiled. "You most certainly do."