At a quarter to five Brandon drove Mariana to Kaitlyn's house and Jesus tagged along for the ride while Callie and Jude stayed at the house. Lena and Jude were putting the final touches on all the animals for Jude's project as he had to had it in the next day. Callie offered to start on dinner. She was going to try making Thai curry for a change and was busy in the kitchen, pouring over recipes on the internet.
Brandon drove down the street with Jesus beside him and Mariana in the back. So far the ride had been quiet save for the odd groan from Jesus each time his phone beeped.
"I don't want my own room." Mariana spoke up just a couple of minutes before they reached their destination.
"What are you talking about?" Jesus asked, slightly distracted.
"When Callie was sent to Girl's United, I hated having my own room again." Mariana said. "I don't want that to happen again."
"It won't." Brandon said fiercely.
"You can't promise that." Mariana shot back.
"Look, moms love us okay. No matter what happens between them we're still their kids." Brandon said. "Look at my mom and dad. They got divorced but they still love me."
"You're their kid." Mariana said.
"So are you." Brandon said as he pulled up to Kaitlyn's house.
"I know, but Callie isn't." Mariana said. "Who do you think will be the first to go?" Mariana asked bitterly right before she hopped out of the car and darted for the the door leaving Brandon and Jesus behind.
"She has a point." Jesus said.
"No she doesn't" Brandon tied to deny it angrily.
"Look, I'm not saying that they want to send anyone away or that they are. I'm just saying that Callie's not adopted yet so if they do have to send anyone away it'll be her first and then Mariana, Jude and I. You're Stef's kid and you'll always be her kid."
"You will always be her kid too." Brandon shot back.
"Maybe, but I haven't always been her kid." Jesus said.
Both boys were silent for the rest of the ride back home.
When they got home Callie was busy with her curry and Lena was sitting at the kitchen table dicing chicken.
"Hi boys." Lena smiled at them.
"Hi mom." They both said in unison.
"Where were you two?" She asked.
"I drove Mariana to Kaitlyn's house for practice." Brandon explained. "Jesus came along for the ride."
"That was nice of you." Lena said with a smile. "What time is she coming home?"
"I gotta pick her up at six-thirty." Brandon answered.
"Good thing we're making lots of curry." Lena smiled at Callie. "She's gonna be hungry after dancing for an hour and a half."
"I just hope everyone likes it." Callie said. "I've never made it before."
"I'm sure it's going to be delicious." Lena assured her daughter.
"Yeah?" Callie asked.
"Yeah." Lena said. "Thai curry is always delicious."
"You've had it before?" Jesus asked.
"Yes, Gretchen and I used to go to this little asian restaurant in Paris that wasn't far from our apartment." Lena told her kids.
"What else did you guys eat?" Callie asked, exotic foods were catching her fancy.
"Thai, Indian, Chinese." Lena said.
"We have Chinese here." Jesus said with a smile, recognizing one.
"Yes, but authentic Chinese food is different from what we get." Lena said.
"It sounds like you guys had an amazing time." Brandon said.
"It was an experience." Lena admitted. "I got to see so much of the world. My parents were always traveling and then Gretchen and I traveled a lot as well. Though her much more than me. She's been almost everywhere."
"Do you miss that life?" Callie asked.
"Not one bit." Lena said. "I always wanted to settle down and have a wife and family. I would love to travel with mom someday but if I had to choose, I'd definitely pick her over the world."
All three kids shot each other worried looks - even Lena would be devastated if Stef left her. But Lena was still dicing the chicken so she didn't notice.
"So I hear you got into trouble at school" Lena said. The whole family was sitting down to dinner and after the first ten minutes of trying the curry and assuring Callie that it was delicious and praising her, the conversation moved on.
"You did?" Mariana asked shocked, Brandon rarely got into trouble, excluding the fake ID incident.
"No." Brandon said quickly, looking worriedly at Lena.
"Then why did the principal ask to see your parents?" Lena asked with a smirk on her face.
Suddenly Brandon realized what she was talking about. "You know about that?" He asked in surprise as he looked over at Callie, both of them confused.
"Yes, they told me at lunch." Lena said laughing at Stef.
"They?" Callie asked. She was the only one besides Brandon who knew what the conversation was about, the other three were just listening, completely confused.
"Mom and Mike." Lena said. "They came over for lunch."
"Oh." Callie said, once again looking at Brandon.
"What are you guys talking about?" Jesus finally asked.
"Nothing." Callie and Brandon said before their mom's could explain.
"So did you get into trouble or not?" Mariana asked, though her curiosity about that had diminished slightly after hearing that Mike had lunch with her moms.
"I didn't." Brandon confirmed. "Dad just asked me to pretend."
"Why?" All three younger kids asked together - why would a parent want their kid to pretend to be in trouble?
"We were stuck in a class and mama was expecting us for lunch." Stef explained, grinning. "We needed an escape."
"Why did you think I wouldn't know?" Lena asked Brandon.
"No reason." Brandon said but he once again looked to Callie and they both shrugged slightly.
Stef caught the look between them.
"Callie?" She asked.
"You were with Mike." Callie whispered, under the intense gaze of her mother.
Stef sighed. "We're back to this again?" She rolled her eyes and glared at Lena.
"Guys, I'm sorry for what I said about Mike." Lena said. "I was wrong, mom isn't cheating on me. She and Mike are just friends. We love each other and we're going to be fine."
"Mama was just having a bad day." Stef added.
"Mom's right." Lena agreed. "I was just a little frustrated with myself and I got irrational. I never meant to pass it on to you guys. We love you so much and we love each other." Lena grabbed Stef's hand and held it tight.
"Babies, mama and I are absolutely fine. You need to stop worrying about this." Stef said.
"But Jenna and Kelly weren't." Mariana said.
"We are not Jenna and Kelly." Stef pointed out.
"Honey, Jenna and Kelly had problems for a long time." Lena tried to explain.
"But they weren't having sex." Mariana said softly causing Stef to roll her eyes.
"What makes you think that?" Lena asked. She knew it was true but she wanted to know how Mariana knew that.
"Garret told me." Mariana answered.
"Well, even if it is true, their problems didn't stem from their lack of sex." Lena said. "If anything, it was probably the other way around."
"Our physical relationship is of no concern of yours." Stef said firmly. "I promise you that whether mama and I have sex or not we are fine and nobody is going anywhere."
Five pairs of eyes glanced quickly at each other prompting Stef to continue.
"That includes all of you." Stef said.
"You are our babies." Lena said. "And even if something were to happen between mom and I you would still be our kids and nothing would change our love for you."
"You are legally ours." Stef added. "That means that in the eyes of the law we would be help responsible for abandoning you just as much as we would be if we abandoned Brandon. The fact that you are adopted has absolutely no value here. Your birth certificates say that you are ours and that's all that the law sees."
Stef watched as relief filled her kids faces before all eyes turned to a pale-faced Callie.
"Honey, you are just as much our daughter as the rest of them." Stef said. "You may not be legally ours but no one can ever change how much we love you. Robert isn't signing those papers but he can't stop all of us from considering you our daughter. If we have to, we'll wait until you're eighteen and then absolutely no one can tell you what to do or where to go. You are ours for the rest of your life."
Callie looked at Stef, trying to believe what she was saying.
"You're stuck with us kid." Stef said, smiling, trying to ease her mind.
Callie finally smiled back and Stef tapped the end of her nose playfully.
"Alright, do any of you still have concerns?" Lena asked, looking around at each child.
The five kids shook their heads.
"It's okay if you do." Lena added. "We'll talk through them and clear them up."
"We don't." Brandon answered for all of them.
"Alright, but if something does come up, you come to us okay." Stef added. "NO ONE is keeping secrets anymore." Stef said looking pointedly at Lena, receiving a grin in return.
"Mom's right." Lena said. "If something is bothering any of us we need to talk about it - that's the only way to avoid these kinds of misunderstandings."
"I never realized just now much of an impact my thoughts had on the kids." Lena said. She and Stef were doing the dishes and had sent the kids upstairs to do homework. "They should know by now that nothing can change our love for them."
"They've been abandoned before, by people who claimed to love them." Stef pointed out.
"But we've never given them any reason to doubt us." Lena cribbed.
"Old habits die hard honey." Stef said. "They're drawing results from other incidents."
"When Mariana brought up Kelly and Jenna I was stunned." Lena said. "I remember being shocked myself when she told me they were splitting up. I just didn't see it coming."
"That's probably what worries the kids." Stef said. "That they won't see it coming."
"It's not coming." Lena said firmly.
"No, it's not." Stef said, putting down the dish she was drying and reaching for Lena.