Neither children made a response, so instead Stef stood up and motioned them towards the stairs. "Okay, why don't you follow us." Callie got up off the couch, grabbing Jude's hand. She followed them up the stairs and into the first room. "So this is where you'll be staying Jude. You are going to share with our son Jesus." Jude looked around satisfied. It was by far nicer than any of his last bedrooms.
They left that room and entered into the one across from it, the bright pinks making Callie's skin crawl. "This is where you'll stay Callie. You will share with our daughter, Mariana. We hope you like it." Her bed was set up in the corner, the blankets a mix of white and purple. She ran her hand along the soft comforter, smiling a little. It reminded her of her old bedroom with her birth mom. "So, we figured we could let you and Jude get settled in by yourselves, give you some time to get accustomed to living here, and in the meantime we are going to make lunch for all of us. Sounds like a plan?"
Callie looked over to Jude who nodded. They watched the women walk out, Jude turning to callie. "I like it here. They're nice to us."
"It's been less than an hour, Jude, we have to be careful. It's also not permanent. We're only here until Dan finds us somewhere else to stay. Alright?"
"Okay."
"Why don't you go unpack your book bag." Jude nodded, heading out the door. Callie unzipped her own bag, taking out the one outfit she had on her and putting it in an empty drawer. She then placed her journal on the nightstand, along with her hairbrush and a tiny box that she usually kept her mom's necklace in whenever she wasn't wearing it, although that was seldom, along with a picture of Jude, their mom, and herself from when they were younger. That was all Callie owned, sad and simple.
Lunch had surprisingly gone well, to Callie's standards. Stef made them both a ham sandwich with some carrot sticks on the side. She watched her brother eat, making sure he was okay before starting on her own. They explained a few house rules while they ate, like no leaving to play outside without telling them, or no hitting, and definitely no misbehaving in school, which they would be attending the following week. Callie just nodded like she always did, this wasn't her first time in a foster home.
A couple hours later kids came crashing through the door, making Jude jump towards Callie. "Alright guys, there are some people we want you to meet." Lena ushered the three kids into the living room. "So this is Callie and Jude, and they will be staying with us for a little while. Callie, Jude, this is Brandon," she pointed towards the taller one of the group, not by much though. "And this is Jesus and Mariana."
"Uh, hi," Brandon said.
"Where are they staying?"
"Well," Lena started, "Jude will be staying in your room, and Callie will be staying with Mariana."
"So I have to share my room?"
"Jesus, be nice."
"Well I think it will be fun. It's nice to meet you Callie. I was getting sick of being the only girl in the house. C'mon, let's go play upstairs." Mariana grabbed Callie's hand dragging her towards the stairs before the girl could protest. Stef and Lena laughed at their over excited daughter, turning back to Jesus. "Why don't you go hangout with Jude upstairs, give him a warm welcome. Huh, love?"
"Do I have to?"
"Yes Jesus, Brandon will go too, won't you?"
"Yeah, sure. Follow me Jude." The rest of the kids headed upstairs as well, Jude tagging behind the other two boys. "So, what do you think? Did I make the right call?"
"I'm not mad Lena, I just wished you would've given me more time to think about it."
"It's only for a few weeks anyway. Just until Dan can find them a permanent home." Stef smiled, picking up an empty mug off of the coffee table from earlier. "I know love. Just a few weeks."
Home. What did that word even mean?
To Callie, it meant nothing.
If you asked her three years ago, well she would have told you a home is a place you live with your family, siblings, parents, grandparents, and pets alike. It is a place you feel safe and comforted no matter what, even when the rest of the world feels dark and dangerous. A home is a place you can truly be you with the people you love and no matter what life throws at you, you know you'll be okay.
That is naive Callie talking though; because today, she knows a home isn't a place full of love and comfort but, rather, a place full of heartbreak. A home is a place you grow up surrounded by people you come to love and cherish, yet in the blink of an eye can lose them all as if you hadn't spent years forming this special bond. Callie didn't need a home, not if it would cause as much pain as it did when her mother died or when she was ripped away from the Fosters. Callie learned quickly that the only thing she could consider home was her brother Jude, because despite the circumstances, she knew no matter what they would always be together.
So it felt foreign when Lena said let's go home. Callie hasn't had a home like that since, and doubts she ever will. God was she happy to see Lena, could practically feel the weight on her shoulders loosen. This woman had taken her in and cared for her, loved her, even after so many people before the Fosters told her she was worthless and wasn't a second thought to anyone. Callie came to see this woman as her mother, or mama as all the kids called her. The feeling of love was still strongly there, but Callie couldn't allow herself to become so attached again. There was no way after a year and a half of radio silence that Stef and Lena would just take her back with open arms. Even if they did, Callie couldn't just allow herself to settle back in, calling them mom and the other kids siblings, when she could be taken away from them just as easily as before.
No, Callie couldn't afford to feel that pain again. She succumbed to the fact it would always just be her and Jude against the world. That's why she ignored Lena's questions about Jude and asked if she were okay all on the car ride back to the house. Callie didn't need the sympathy, and she most certainly didn't need anyone else's help taking care of her brother; not after she had been raising him since she was practically 7 years old.
Callie would get Jude out of that house by herself, she just had to wait for the right moment to sneak away.
The morning hours ticked by faster then Callie would have liked, because while a part of her wanted to see everyone again, she was also nervous. How had everyone changed in the time she was gone? Did Mariana still love to give everyone a play by play of how her day went during dinner, exaggerating the smallest of details, or gossip about boys well knowing she wasn't allowed to date until she was at least 14 years old? Did Jesus still like to challenge Brandon to basketball games outside, knowing Brandon, somehow, one of the scrawniest kids on the planet, beat him every single time? And did Brandon still stay up past curfew to read his latest sci-fi /horror books under his covers, Callie claiming she never saw a bigger nerd then him.
These things wouldn't really matter to anyone else, maybe they would see it as just childhood memories to her, but for Callie it was those things that made her foster siblings themselves. She grew to know those certain things about them in the three years she lived with the Fosters, and now that another three years have gone by Callie no longer knew anything about the people she could once read like a book. Callie is remembering the 11 and 12 year old versions of Mariana, Jesus, and Brandon. When they walked through that door after school, it would be like meeting them over again and that was a scary thought.
Callie pushed her sandwich away from her, no longer hungry. Lena walked back into the kitchen giving Callie a small smile. "Were you able to reach her?"
"Unfortunately no, but Stef is at Brandon's piano competition right now which is probably why she isn't answering." Callie smiled. It was nice to know that that had never changed about Brandon. "On the other hand," Lena started, sitting across from Callie at the kitchen table. "The twins should be home any minute. They are going to be thrilled to see you." As if on cue, they heard the front door open and Mariana shout they were home. "I'll be right back." Lena made her way out of the kitchen and towards her younger children.
"Hi guys, did you have a good day?"
"More like boring," Jesus responded. Mariana rolled her eyes. "Everyday is boring for you. Hey, why weren't you at school today mama?" Lena grinned. "Well, I have a surprise in the kitchen. But before you go in there, just don't be overwhelming. Okay?" Mariana threw Jesus a questioning look, who shrugged in response. The two headed through the kitchen door, Mariana stopping in her tracks when she saw Callie sitting at the kitchen table. "Ow, hey why did you—" but the minute he looked over his sister's shoulder nothing else needed to be said on why she had stopped walking.
"Oh my gosh!" Mariana ran over to Callie crushing her in a hug. Callie hugged her back, pulling away when it felt more like Mariana was squeezing the life out of her. Jesus also gave Callie a quick hug, just as happy to see her. "I don't understand, how did you get here? Why are you here? Is Jude here?" Mariana spat question after question, and Callie couldn't help but chuckle. This was exactly in character for Mariana. "Okay Mariana, why don't you let Callie breathe a little. She'll answer all of your questions eventually." Mariana stood back, smiling at her lost sister. She frowned a little after finally noticing the condition of Callie's face. "What happened to your face?"
"Um…I was beaten up on my way out of Juvie this morning."
"Juvie!" the twins said in unison. "How did you end up in Juvie?" questioned Jesus. Callie looked towards Lena clearly asking for help. How was she supposed to tell them when she hadn't even told Lena yet.
"Okay guys, Callie has been through a lot today. So why don't you go get started on homework so I can talk to Callie, and then when I'm done you can have some proper time to get reacquainted. Alright?" The pair nodded, Mariana giving Callie one final hug before heading up the stairs. "Thank you," Callie said. "It was no problem. But we do need to talk. Callie, how did you end up in foster care again? I thought you were living with your grandmother."
Callie sighed. She knew she would have to fill in the blanks sooner or later. "Well, we were. After Jude and I were, uh...taken from here...Dan drove us all the way to Idaho to go live with her. Things were hard at first, I mean living with someone you never knew existed. But she wasn't all that bad. She had lots of pictures and stories of our mom. We still really missed you guys of course." Callie had to make sure Lena knew that. Jude and her never stopped loving the Fosters even after spending all that time with their grandmother. The woman hadn't been all that bad. Callie knew the old woman really loved her and Jude and even let them continue speaking with the family through letters. The only downside was they couldn't actually speak to them since the woman allowed no electronics in the house, not even a home phone. "Jude actually grew really attached to her. But, a year and a half after staying with our grandma she was diagnosed with dementia. About a month after that she had a stroke and was placed in a home."
"I'm so sorry Callie." How had these kids already been through so much in their short lives on earth. It sounded like both her and Jude grew close with their grandma, and somehow they had lost her too. "Yeah, since she could no longer take care of us they placed us back into foster care."
"There wasn't anyone else to take care of you? Like an aunt or uncle?" Callie shook her head no. "My mom was an only child. And our grandpa had passed away before my mom had died."
"Okay, so how did you end up with Bill as your social worker and how did you end up back in California?"
"I guess Bill had been in the area at the time taking care of another foster kid. Apparently that kid had also been moved from california. They notified him of us, and he took our case and became our new social worker. Since we grew up in California and had only lived like a year and a half in Idaho, he decided to take us back here with him." Lena sighed. That was a lot to process but there were still a lot of unanswered questions. "So you and Jude have been back for over a year and a half?" Callie shook her head yes. "Callie, why didn't you call us or have Bill try and get in contact?"
"I...uh." It wasn't like she didn't want to. A part of Callie had always dreamed of reuniting with the Fosters. It was just, well, months had gone by with no contact that by the time the siblings had reached California again, she thought it was too late. Why would they want to adopt two kids they hadn't seen in three years? "I just thought...I mean after so many months with no contact, after we were replaced, that it was too late." Lena softened, giving Callie a sad smile. "Sweetheart, we love you and your brother with all of our hearts. Three years didn't change anything. We think of you two every single day and how our family isn't complete."
"Then why did you stop fig—" the sudden ringing of Lena's phone interrupted the two, Stef's name displayed on the front. Lena shot Callie an apologetic look. "I can call her back."
"No it's okay, answer it. I think I'm going to go see how Mariana is doing. You know, get reacquainted."
"Sure, but this conversation will continue later. When mom...I mean Stef gets home." Lena cringed at her choice of words. It hurt that Callie no longer called them mom and mama, but had reverted back to Stef and Lena. She picked up on that after Callie had been so shocked to see her this morning.
"Uh yeah, okay." Callie responded, interrupting Lena's thoughts. She pushed her stool in at the stable and ran up the steps, leaving a worried Lena behind in her wake.
Author's Note: So that is chapter 2! I just wanted to mention that Callie's grandmother's story, if it wasn't obvious, was taken from AJ. I decided to mess around with that a bit.
