Stef POV
I hear the front doors close when I reach for Lena's hand to stop her from just walking into Brandon's room "Wait, wait, wait…" I said pulling her back to me
"What is it, love?" Lena asks turning to face me, she places her hand softly on my upper arm
"Are you just going to walk in and start talking about it…just like that?" I questions her easy approach to all of this
"Well, I was going to ask him to go wait for us in our bedroom, till we get the other kids" Lena looked over her shoulder to our room
"Our bedroom? Really, Lena?" I ask screwing up my face "They will be horrified enough just by the talk. Do you really want to scar them more and have this talk in our room?" I tilt my head to one side looking at my wife "The place where they know we are having sex?"
Lena thought about it for few seconds and agreed "You are right"
"Of course I am" I said with a smug look on my face
Lena couldn't keep the smile off her face "Living room couch probably would be better. More neutral place" I added and Lena nodded back
The bathroom doors opened and Mariana walked out, dressed in PJ already, hair up in a messy bun.
"Neutral place for what?" She asked walking up to us. Lena and I looked to one another. We had one of those silent talks, when we talk communicating only with our eyes and reading each other minds
"Could you go wait for us and your brothers in the living room, please" Lena said looking back to our oldest daughter
Mariana suddenly tensed up, she crossed her arms on her chest "Why?" she asked slowly, she was looking one second to me, the next to Lena, then back at me
"We just want to talk to you guys about something" I tell her casually
"Is Callie still here?" She directed the question to me
"No, she left a minute ago"
"That was fast" Mariana looked between us "We kind of thought it would be a longer interrogation"
"It wasn't an integration, we just talked with her, Mari" Lena said softly and placed hand on her shoulder and run it down to her upper arm "Now, please, go wait downstairs till we get your brothers"
"Alright…" Mariana mumbled and squeezed thought us to get to the stairs
We left Frankie out of this talk. She was way too young and she was sleeping soundly. The 4 oldest were sitting on the couch. They were sat in height. Starting with Jude on the far left side on the couch, he was sitting neatly, straight back. Next to him was Mariana, who had her legs pulled up to the couch, hands wrapped around her legs. Jesus was sitting next to Mariana, he was slump down, feet up to the coffee table. And finally on the right side of the couch- Brandon, who was leaned down, elbows pressing to his knees, watching us closely.
Lena sat down in the same chair she sat when talking to Callie, but I pulled the other chair closer to Lena and turned it facing the couch, where the kids were.
"Is this still about this morning?" Jude asked us quietly
"No, it's not bud" I said offering him a warm smile. He smiled back and relaxed a bit. Oh, poor kid, he doesn't even know what he is in for. He won't even see it coming, none of them will.
"So..." Lena said and reached for my knee, touched it softy "Your mom and I wanted to talk to you about something" Lena glanced up to me for a second and then looked back to the kids "It is about something that got to our attention only today"
Brandon shifted and leaned back the couch, he got the seriousness of this conversation instantly
"It is something that Callie informed us about" I added and we instantly saw how they all tensed up. They all looked to one another, wondering what this was about, they all had worried looks.
"Callie told us what you were all talking about this morning and that you guys…" Lena said softly taking her hand back and leaned down to the right side of the chair, pressing with her right to the arm holder "…have all heard us having sex"
"Oh, NO! No, no, no!" Jesus jumped up "I'm not talking about this!" He said shaking his head and walking out of the room
I called after him "You can always join Callie in running the marathon. She will probably be thrilled that she will have company" he stopped in his feet, back still turned to us. I added "You know we don't like when you guys walk away when we are talking to you!"
"You signed her up for the marathon?" Mariana asked surprised, Jesus turned back to us
"You're bluffing!" He crossed his arms on his chest, looking straight back at me "Mom wouldn't allow you to do that! Right mom?" He looked to Lena for support. The silence and the look she gave him was enough for Jesus to understand that this time, Lena is not going to protect him.
I reached for the laptop that was still on the coffee table and open it. Made few clicks opening the signing up sheet.
"Why did you sign her up for marathon?" Jude asked warily looking to me
"She likes to run, she will run. You can call and ask her if you want, if you think I am bluffing" I say simply and click in the first field "Name…" I say writing down Jesus name "Jesus. Surname: Adams Foster"
"Mom!" Jesus said walking back in the room "What are you doing? Mom?"
"Age...15" I type in the next field
"Date of birth" I continue to fill the fields on the sheet form"1998-"
"Okay, okay, okay! Just stop! I am sitting down! Geez…" He slumped back down in the couch "You play dirty, mom" he added crossing his arms on his chest upset about the turn of the events
"If anyone would better just join Callie in the marathon say it now and you are free to go to bed"
The kids all sat in silence, not letting out one single sound. I close the laptop and wink at Lena "Told you it would work"
"So she rat on us?" Brandon asked us sounding frustrated "She promised she wouldn't tell and she rat us out the first chance she got"
"Callie did not rat anyone out!" Lena said firmly protecting Callie
"Hell yeah she did!" Jesus added upset "She said she wouldn't! But here we are!" he glanced around the couch
"I don't think she did it intentionally" Mariana added looking to her two brothers "Callie is a thought cookie. She wouldn't just…rat us out"
That's when Mariana looked back to us, more to me, gave me an evil eye "Mom probably threatened her with something. What did you do to her, mom?"
"Me?" I ask confused and looked to Lena for support "Why do you all always assume it is me?"
"Who else?" Jude added like it was obvious. Brandon then added "Mama doesn't play dirty, like you do. You always use illegal techniques. Like we witnessed seconds ago- threatening to sign Jesus up to a marathon if he leaves"
"Yeah!" They all agreed in unison looking upset with me
Lena glanced to me and now added "Told you it would come back to bite you in your ass" she said with a smirk on her lips
"But!" Lena turned back to them "We are not here to put mom on trail. We can do that another day" she said and smirked to me, then glanced back to the kids "We are here because we wanted to talk you about the topic I mentioned earlier!"
"We don't want to talk about it!" Jesus mumbled back
"We really don't. Not now, not ever" Mariana added to her twin
"Well, you have to!" I said sternly back not giving them a choice
"What is there to talk about…you do the nasty-nasty, we hear it, that's it!" Brandon concluded it all in few words
"Why haven't you told us, that you have heard us at night?" Lena asks taking control of the conversation
"Because it is super awkward! That's why!" Mariana said quickly trying to get out of this whole situation as fast as possible
"It is embarrassing, uncomfortable, weird, awkward..." Brandon counted off "You can add every synonym that there is"
"It is not a talk we want to have" Jesus said shifting in the couch "Ever! It is hard enough to see you smooch with each other all the time, snuggle, give weird hugs…and the looks you give each other makes us feel like you have totally forgotten that you have 5 kids sitting at the same kitchen table, witnessing all of it!"
"Jude?" I look to the youngest who hadn't said anything
He tilted his head up and looked to us "I wouldn't even know how to start the conversations" he said shyly
I looked back to Jesus "What do you mean when you said - we give weird hugs?" I ask raising eyebrow at him
"You know…" He said like it was obvious. It wasn't, not to us at least.
"I don't" I said back straightening my back
"Don't make me say it" Jesus said in a very typical annoyed teenage voice
"Please do" I stared back at him
"The hugs where you like…don't hug like normal people, but you…you know…squeeze each other butts, then hold on to each others butts and then kiss" he couldn't get any more awkward, his cheeks were bright red color
"Butt hugs" Brandon added with screwed up face
"Butt hugs?" I laugh, glancing to Lena I notice she chuckles too
"Well, sorry, but your mom's butt is very…" Lena looked to me and then down to my butt, checking me out and then adds with a small giggle"…round and perfect" All the kids instantly screw up their faces "Ewww"
"I'm a butt person…what can I say" I add smirking at Lena.
"So…" Jesus dragged "Let me get his straight" he said sitting up more. He cleared his throat and started "You are both lesbians…"
"Obviously" I chipped in, Lena playfully slapped my upper arm, telling me to to shut up and listen
"You both have breasts and other female organs that I will not name, but the thing you like the most about each other is each others…butts?" The way he said it, it just made me laugh
"What's so weird about that?" Lena asks him back, also slightly amused
"You both have…breasts!" he said and gestured to us "Am I the only one in the house who likes breasts?" he looked to his siblings desperate. The two kids on his left side said and did nothing. Jude just looked super uncomfortable about this whole conversation. Brandon slowly raised his hand.
"Thank god I'm not the only one" Jesus sighted relieved when he saw Brandon's raised up hand. Jesus fell back in the couch. I glanced to Lena with a big smile on my face. This talk has totally gone off tracks. Lena chuckled and tried to direct the conversation back to the one why we all have gathered here.
"Can we please…return to the topic on our hands" Lena said softly and looked around the room to all of the faces. I nodded back and Lena continued
"Picking up where we left off" Lena cleared her throat and leaned forward, pressing her elbows to her knees
"We want you to be able to come to us no matter what" Lena said her voice full of emotions "It shouldn't matter if it is about school, your friends, girl/boy trouble, your health or if you have any kind of concerns, worries, if you are scared, sad. Even if you think we could be angry, you can tell us. There shouldn't be anything that you can't tell us. This" Lena pointed to the ground looking around to all of the kids"…shouldn't be any different. Even if it is, like you all said, embarrassing and uncomfortable…we want you to come to us. We can talk about it, no matter what. We are always here for you, whatever you need…and we felt saddened, when we had to find this out from Callie, not from one of you" She took a small pause, looking between them "We could have addressed the issue sooner if either one of you had told you. We are here for you...always."
They all slowly nodded back to what Lena said.
"We are sorry" I added gently "That you had to hear us. We didn't think you had heard us, because neither of you had said anything. We do try and keep it down. We don't have sex when you are all awake and in the house, walking around. We don't do it, when we know you can hear us."
"So why did you do it in the car?" Jude speaks up "You knew we were all awake, home, we could walk out looking for you two any minute"
I wouldn't know how to answer, luckily Lena answered this "We know it wasn't the best choice we have made and all I can say now is that we are sorry you and Mariana had to see us. We didn't think you would come looking for us and…" she took a small pause looking at the kids "Well, you are all old enough to know, that as adults, we have needs too. Just like you sometimes want time alone time, the same way, me and mom want to have a private time once in a while too. And what we want, it is nothing bad. It is natural and sex is a good thing if you do it for the right reasons with the right person and if you want it. We love each other very much and sex is, one of the ways how we can show it to each other"
I look to Lena briefly and smile to her. I reach for her hand and take it "We are in a loving relationship for over 11 years. We love each other, we care about each other and we treat each other with utmost respect."
All of their disgusted looks was exactly what I had pictured before this talk. I would never picture any other response to the talk we are having. They all had screwed up faces, neither of them really looked us in the eye for more than a second and when they did, they quickly lowered their looks back to their laps or hands. The color of bright red never left their cheeks. This was just perfect.
"What we are trying to say…" Lena said briefly glancing to me, with a loving look in her eyes "is that…as much as you may hate it, we are not sorry for having sex, but we are sorry that you have heard us. We are sorry that we have made you feel uncomfortable in your own home and we will try and keep it down so you wouldn't hear us"
We sat in silence, waiting for maybe one of them to speak up and add something about the topic. But neither of them did.
Lena took in a deep breath "Okay" she exhaled and looked to me. I gave a slight nod and she glanced back to the kids "You can all scatter"
All of them jumped up and bolted out of the room, not looking back, leaving nothing, but a trail of colder wind behind.
"That went better than I expected" I say standing up on my own, I held my hand out for Lena and pulled her up
"I'm still sad that neither of them told us. That we had to find out from Callie" Lena said as she followed me out holding my hand
"Do you think they will come to us?" Lena asks as we walk up the stairs
I answered honestly "I don't see neither of them doing that. They are all too shy and uncomfortable talking about it." I look over my shoulder to Lena "Callie is own only hope" I say laughing lightly
In less than 5 minutes, Lena is already in bed and I intend to join her very soon. I turn off the big ceiling light and now the only light came from Lena's nightstand. I didn't bother going around to my side. I got on Lena's side, one knee pressed between her legs. With my arms pressing up from the bed
"Babe" Lena said grinning up to me "They are certainly not asleep now"
"Can't I just kiss my wife?" I ask and lean down kissing her passionately. Her hands travel to my back, she runs them up and down my back. Some seconds in the kiss, she moves one of her hand to my hair. I deepened the kiss even more as I run one of my hand under Lena's shirt to feel her skin.
Knock, knock
I quickly roll off Lena, knowing the type of knock on the doors so well. Lena sits up as well.
"Come on in, sweetie" she said tossing the blanket aside, knowing two little feet are going to run up to her any second now
The doors creek and slowly open. Frankie hurries inside straight to Lena's hands "I had a bad dream, mama" Frankie said when she was in Lena's hands
"You wanna sleep with me and mommy tonight?" Lena asks already turned back to the bed to set her down. Frankie nods furiously back.
I pat to the middle of the bed "We saved you a spot" Lena puts Frankie down and she crawls to the middle of the bed. Once they are both settled in, Lena pulls blanket over both of them
"Was it a scary dream?" I ask gently running my fingers over her forehead and then softly poke her tip of the nose
"There was a monster…he was really big and scary-" she said in one long breathe. Lena turned off the light and then we both snuggle Frankie between us as she keeps telling her story
Callie POV
When I enter the house, I hear the TV running in living room. Cooper's car was not there, so I knew mom was alone and waiting up for me.
"Hey" she said lowering the TV volume
"Hey" I reply walking inside
Somehow, at the moment, I didn't care, or maybe I just didn't want to remember, that I had told her I will be avoiding her for the next two days. I wanted to see her loving look in her eyes, her warm smile. All I wanted was few minutes alone with my mom.
I slump down on the couch next to her. She notices it too, so she asks with a chuckle "What happened to you avoiding me because of this morning and last night?"
I shrug back and scoot aside, further away from her, and lay down on my side, placing my head in her lap "I had a weird day"
"Is that so?" Mom asks when she starts to stroke my hair softly "Wanna tell me what happened?"
"Stuff" I said looking at the TV screen
"How detailed" mom laughs back
I turn on my back, my head still in her lap "Stef signed me up for a marathon in September" Mom let out a laugh
"She what? Why?" she looked amused at the fact
"I did something…or rather said something and then did something" I said time by time glancing to mom's face then back to ceiling
"So" mom dragged at first "she had a good reason to do it? Is that what you are saying?" When I looked back to her she raised her eyebrows at me, lips formed a small smile
"I guess" I said thinking back to the morning
"What did you do?"
"I would rather not talk about it" I say turning back to my side
"You know that Stef will tell me on Monday, right?" she asks not taking her eyes off me
"Yes, I am aware. You can give me a lecture on Monday. I already had one today from Stef and Lena. I don't know if I can handle another awkward talk. 2 is the limit."
I had a feeling that she nodded back, I didn't see, but that was what I got from the silent answer. Few seconds passed till she spoke up "You should start practicing then…"
"I don't want to" I whine back
"Well, you can't train for a marathon in 2 weeks, it takes months" She placed her hand on my shoulder and then offers "Tell you what, let's run together"
"You would train with me?" I ask turning back to my back so I could see mom
"Hell yeah…I want to see you suffer the first few weeks" she said with a big silly smile on her face
"How nice of you" I said and smile back to her
"We could run in the mornings, before I head to work on weekdays" she suggests "But on weekends at evenings"
"I'm not running at 6 AM!" I can't say I like the idea of getting up that early just to run
"More like 5:30, because we would need to do stretches before and after and I would still need to get a shower after and eat breakfast"
"Why not after work?"
"I'm tired after work…I chase bad guys every day" mom reasons back. Technically I do understand how she could be exhausted after work
"You came home with 4 paper cuts on Thursday. I doubt it was from chasing a bad guys. Bad guys don't attack with paper" I joke back
"You can always train alone. But just so you know, it is always easier with a partner. You will need to keep up with my pace, it will be harder, but it will bring better results. Besides, I have some amazing motivation speeches…"
"Are you trying to sell yourself to me, so I would pick you as my training partner?" I asked sitting up
"Maybe" Mom shrugs back watching me "Did it work?"
"Yeah, you could probably drag me back home if I pass out somewhere too" I say patting her knee and stand up
"We will start tomorrow" Mom said cheerfully as I walked out of the room
"Prepare yourself for a lot of swearing and me blaming you for all of this!" I called back when I turned the corner to head to stairs "Oh! Don't forget about the whining!"
AN: So, these last 4 chapters were totally unplanned. They were all your requests and I have to say, I absolutely loved writing them. So, thank you for the amazing story ideas! Your feedback has been the greatest thing ever! I am glad you enjoyed these chapters :)
Just a notification, next chapter probably won't be up till after Christmas. With that said, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and happy Holiday!