Stef POV
I let out a yawn as I wake up to the sound of my morning alarm, I don't know how much sleep I managed to get last night, I think I finally dozed off at around three thirty. My lack of sleep has resulted in a mild headache but a black coffee should fix me right up. I start to get up when I feel Lena place her hand upon my forearm "Didn't get much sleep too huh?" Lena asks me, I reply with a half-hearted smile "I might have squeezed a few hours in" I stand up, put on my zip up sweater and head towards the door "I will go get the coffee ready and then we can make a plan before the kids wake up for school" Lena gives me a nod, she is already up from bed and beginning to get her clothes ready for the day.
As I make my way towards the stairs, I go past the kids' bedrooms, silence, they are all still fast asleep and probably won't be awake for at least another twenty minutes. I haven't told Lena yet but I have already organised with work to have today off, I need to wrap my head around what Lena told me last night and figure out where to go from here. I get to the kitchen and get started on the coffee, getting out two mugs for Lena and I. As I am waiting for the coffee, I grab my laptop and place it in front of my chair at the kitchen table, I am now more determined than ever to source some information on Charlie. Just as I get my workstation ready Lena walks into the kitchen, she pours the now ready coffee into the two mugs I had placed on the bench and brings them over to where I am sitting. Lena places herself on the stool next to me, we are silent for a few beats, both exhausted and in our own minds. Lena is the one who starts the conversation that we are both clearly avoiding, she is staring into her mug of coffee as she begins to talk "What are we going to do Stef? I just can't get her face out of my mind, the sadness in her eyes.. she looked so defeated; I know.." Lena pauses for a beat "..I know I said that we didn't know for certain that she is in danger but I just have this feeling, I have this feeling that something bad is going to happen or maybe it already has. My heart is telling me we need to find her and bring her back here where she will be safe but my head.." Lena looks up into my eyes "My head is telling me that we just can't have another person in this house, financially and physically we just don't have the space" Lena looks as if she is about to burst into tears. Looking at Lena I know she is still very confused about this whole situation just as I am, I grab Lenas hands as she did with mine last night "Let's find Charlie first, let's figure out what is happening and if she needs help, hell she might not even want help from us but at least we can try" I wipe a stray tear that has just fallen down Lenas cheek "Once we get past this first step we can figure out the rest, okay love?" Lena gives a slight shake of her head "I know you Stef, I know you so well which makes me already know that you are not going to be able to let this girl go, once you meet her, once you look into her brown eyes just as I did" I know Lena is right, the second she told me that she thought Charlie was in an abusive home my heart grew bigger. I already have love for this girl, this girl that I have never met, I want to, no I need to protect her. I shift away from Lena, I know we need to talk more about this but I just can't at this moment, I need to find her before anything serious happens. I grab the home phone "I'm going to go and call Bill" I walk out of the kitchen, I can hear Lena say my name as I'm leaving but I decide to keep going.
The phone rings a few times before Bill picks up "Hello, Bill speaking", "Oh hi Bill, it's Stefanie Foster, Sorry for calling you so early" It's probably a bit too early to call but I am so desperate for answers at this moment that I don't really care "Yes it is rather early, How can I help you?" I can sense a slight tone of annoyance in his voice "I just wanted to know if you have any information about Charlotte Jacobs, Callie and Judes biological sister?" I hear Bill let out another annoyed sigh "Just as I told Callie a few weeks ago, I have no information on Charlie, she is not in our agency anymore and getting any information on Charlie is now illegal for me obtain and to share with you" my eyes are wide, did I hear Bill right "Wait..wait did you say you talked to Callie?", "Yes she was very interested in finding out any information on Charlie but like I said before I am unable to do so" Why did Callie suddenly want to find information on Charlie, after we couldn't find anything the first time she seemed to have come to terms with the fact that Charlie has her own family and her own life. What changed, is this why Callie has been acting off the last few weeks, why didn't she tell Lena or myself. I hear Bill clear his throat through the phone line, thus tearing me from my thoughts "Okay, thanks Bill. Sorry for calling so early, Bye", "Bye Stef" I hang up the phone and continue pondering my thoughts, I need to talk to Callie.
Callie POV
I am the last to enter the busy kitchen, "Morning Cal" Stef says, "Morning Mom" I reply. I am not that hungry so I just grab an apple and lean up against the bench, it is only now that a realise that Stef has been following me with her eyes as I made my way across the dining area and she is still staring at me. She looks like she really wants to say something but she is holding back "What's up?" I ask inquisitively, she looks across at Lena before she makes eye contact with me again "Is it okay if I take you to school today love, I'm not working so I thought I'd drop you in a little bit later?" weird, she must want to talk to me about something, Moms always take us individually if they want to talk in private, sometimes it's the only way to have a private chat in a big family like ours. My brothers and sister are chatting amongst themselves so they're not paying attention to my conversation with Stef "umm sure?" I reply with confusion written on my face, she gives me a smile before she takes a bite of her toast, I only noticed now how tired she looks, I then look to Lena who looks equally as tired, what is going on? there is definitely something going on and my guess is i'm going to find out on my ride to school.
Thirty minutes later the front door closes and it is now only Stef and myself in the house, I am starting to feel a bit anxious about what Stef wants to talk to me about. Hopefully it isn't bad, I can't think of anything I might have done wrong, Stef didn't look angry when she talked to me this morning, if anything she looked sad. Stef is upstairs getting changed into her clothes for the day, she said she would be down in a sec but I'm getting more stressed by the second, I should have said no to her taking me, maybe if I'm fast I can quickly jump into the car with the others. I look to the door and shake my head, no, I'm sure it's fine, I'm probably worrying about nothing.
Stef is making her way down the stairs now, she is currently throwing her hair up in a ponytail, I watch as she grabs her laptop and makes her way into the living area "Come in here Cal", hesitantly I make my way into the living area where Stef is patting the seat next to her on the couch "Come, sit love". I sit next to her "So.. what's up?" Stef pauses before she looks up at me "I called Bill this morning" my eyes widen and I feel my mouth start to go dry, she called Bill why did she call Bill? I'm adopted, Bill isn't my case worker anymore, unless they are undoing my adoption but why would they do that, I did nothing wrong, this doesn't make sense. I must have entered into a daze because I notice Stef is looking at me with worry written on her face, her mouth is moving but I am not listening "Love.. Cal, are you okay? Earth to Callie?" her voice is slowly starting to match her moving mouth now "yeah sorry" I shake my head "Wh.. Why did you call Bill?", "I wanted to ask him some questions but it turns out someone had already called him recently to ask him" Stef is looking at me, she looks like she wants me to open up about something but I just can't seem to put two and two together. I must look confused as Stef continues "I wanted to ask about Charlie" suddenly I realise what Stef wanted to talk to me about, she knows I asked Bill about her "Why did you want to ask about Charlie" I blurt out, "I wanted to ask you the same thing" Stef replies. I think for a second about what I'm going to say, I decide on the truth, there is no reason for me lie about it "I.. I thought I saw Charlie the other week, the girl she looked like me Mom but she looked horrible, she was so skinny and she looked hurt; she looked homeless. I know now that it probably wasn't Charlie, that's why I didn't tell you or Mama because I wasn't certain it was her and I wanted to call Bill just to make sure she was still with the same family", "I'm not to sure about that" Stef replies to me as she opens her laptop, "Wh.. what do you mean?", "I mean I have a big feeling that the girl you saw is Charlie" my mouth is suddenly agape "What.. how do you know? What is going on Mom?".
Stef holds my hands and then tells me the story of Lena meeting Charlie yesterday at school, at my school, the school where I was yesterday, I was just a few rooms away from Charlie and I didn't even know. I feel a mix of sadness and anger, why did Moms not tell me, would they even have told me if they hadn't found out about my phone call to Bill. My mind is racing and by the end of Stef talking I am up on my feet, pacing across the room, I realise I have tears running down my cheeks. I knew I should have followed her, that feeling in my gut was right, it's always right, why didn't I follow my gut, I continue pacing the room anxiously chewing on my thumbnail. Stef is again following me with her gaze, she is obviously giving me time to take in all this new information, after a few minutes I ask "So what do we do now? We have to find her!", "That's why I have taken today off, I'm going to try my hardest to find information on where to find her, now that I know you saw her outside your work and Lena saw her at the school I am pretty positive that she will be close by" I stop pacing and look at Stef "Well I am going to stay at home with you then, I couldn't think straight yesterday anyway, today will be even worse, I want to help", "Cal, you can't miss school. You have only been back for a day and.." I interrupt "I don't care, I'm not going to school Mom!" I am raising my voice which causes a unimpressed look to appear on Stefs face "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell, I promise I will go to school tomorrow and Brandon can bring my work home for me, so please please can I help you today?" I can see Stef coming around to the idea "Okay, Okay" she raises her hands up in surrender "I'll text Mama" I smile slightly as I sit back down on the couch as Stef is texting, she puts her phone down next to the laptop and puts her arm around my shoulders "Now let's find our girl".
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