I love writing about young Brandon, Jesus, and Mariana! So this is the story of the day the twins came to live with the Fosters.
Please note that Brandon is 6 and the twins are 5. I wanted to change their ages.
Thanks for all of the positive reviews! Remember to send any suggestions of stories you would like to see!
"But when mommy?" 6-year-old Brandon whined as he followed his blonde mother around the kitchen.
"Sweetie, Mama said she will be back any minute and then we can go see them." Stef answered. She had been running around the house all day getting ready to welcome the two new guests they had staying with them. It had been almost 2 years since Lena and Stef had moved in together and they had been working on paperwork for over a year to become foster parents. Finally the day was here that they would get to move 5-year-old twins Mariana and Jesus into their house. The guest room had already been prepped with two beds, dressers, and much to Brandon's approval, toys.
Lena was coming home from a board meeting and as soon as she arrived, they wanted to get on the road to take the 2 hour drive to meet up with Bill, the twins' caseworker.
"How many minutes now?" Brandon asked, not knowing Stef was becoming frustrated. She knew that he was excited- and so was she. But it was the 10th time he had asked her that same question since they had arrived home a half hour earlier.
Stef stopped and squatted down to her son's height. "How about you go wait for mama by the window?" She suggested. "And you can let me know when you see her pull in so I know." Stef continued, hoping that if she gave Brandon a task, that he would focus on that.
"Okay, mommy!" He exclaimed happily and ran to the living room in order to spy out the window.
Stef smiled and stood back up. She looked around the kitchen and her smile widened. She and Lena had been waiting for this moment for such a long time. She couldn't believe it was finally here!
Lena had arrived home only 5 minutes after Brandon had found a spot to sit by the window and as soon as he saw her car, he sprinted to tell Stef, yelling through the house.
"Brandon! No need to yell, sweetie." Stef said as she walked down the stairs. She went to grab a jacket for herself and for her son and handed the coat to the boy. "Well come on! You were so excited! Shake a leg!" Stef chuckled as Brandon's eyes widened.
"Wait! I have to bring my toys for them!" He suddenly realized and made his way to the stairs, only to be stopped by Stef's grasp. She lifted him high up in the air and smiled. "We already packed some toys in your bag, remember?" She lowered her son onto her hip and walked over to greet Lena, who had just walked through the door.
"Hi, love." Lena said, her smile reaching from ear to ear.
"Hi!" Stef's excitement mirroring her partner's as she leaned in and kissed the curly-haired woman.
"Are you excited, Brandon?!" Lena asked as the boy reached over towards her.
Brandon nodded his head as Lena took him onto her hip and smiled. He played with her curls as she walked further into the house. "I'm gonna bring my toys." Brandon stated and Lena nodded in response. "You are being so nice and sharing your toys!" Lena praised as she pressed a kiss to the boy's forehead.
"Ewww kisses!" Brandon said as he wiped the side of his face where Lena's lips had been.
Lena looked over at Stef who rolled her eyes and chuckled.
"Ok, my loves. If we have everything, we should get on the road." Stef exclaimed as she picked up the bags of toys they were bringing, along with some other necessities, like snacks.
"B, can you go with mom. I have to go potty." Lena asked the brunette as she put him down on his feet.
"Come on, bud." Stef said with a smile and reached out her hand.
Brandon eagerly took it and she led him to the garage.
"Mommy! You have my toys?" Lena heard Brandon ask as she walked into the bathroom and smiled, knowing he had probably already asked Stef that question numerous times today.
2 hours and only 1 rest stop (because Brandon just couldn't hold it) later, the three turned into a parking lot. Stef checked the GPS to make sure that they were at the correct location.
"Come on, mommy!" Brandon said from his booster seat. He hadn't quite gotten the process of unbuckling himself, much to Stef and Lena's praise, so he simply kicked his feet against the seat in front of him.
"Brandon, please stop kicking." Lena said gently as she turned around. "I know you're excited. We're just checking that we got everything done." Lena explained and Brandon stopped kicking.
Finally, Stef and Lena opened their doors to get out. Stef opened Brandon's side door and unbuckled him while Lena got the bags out of the trunk.
"B. I need you to look at me." Stef said before lifting the boy out of the car. Brandon took a moment to turn his head but he finally looked at his mother. "Ok. I know you are so excited to play with Jesus and Mariana, but you have to remember that they might be a little scared and shy. And that's ok. You can't get upset with them. And if they don't want to play with you, that's ok too. They need some time to adjust. Got it?" Stef said in a light but firm tone.
Brandon nodded his head.
"You sure?" Stef asked as she poked at the boy's sides. "You sure you got it?" She said as she continued poking her son and eventually tickling him.
"Come on, goofballs!" Lena said with a chuckle.
Stef smiled and lowered Brandon to the ground, making sure to grab ahold of his hand, and the three walked towards the building together, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Where are they?" Brandon asked as soon as they walked through the doors.
Stef chuckled and smiled at Lena "Let's take a deep breath and relax a bit, ok bud?" Stef said as she gently squeezed the boy's hand.
"Oh there's Bill" Lena said, pointing towards a tall man. To his left stood two small Latino children clutching each other's hand.
Both moms smiled as they approached the three. Stef's grip tightened slightly on Brandon's hand as he tried to break away from their grasp- wanting to run over to the two children.
"Hello Bill." Lena said as she stook her hand out and shook his hand.
"Hello. So sorry for the inconvenience, but I needed to be here for another two hours with another little girl and I couldn't get anyone to drive them to you." He said as he scratched at his arm.
"That's alright." Stef said with a smile. Her eyes traveled down towards her partner who had let go of Brandon's hand and squatted down in front of the twins.
"Hi!" She said with her never-failing gentle smile. "I'm Lena. Do you remember me?" She asked. The kids had met both moms once before, though it had been a few months prior.
The small girl shrunk further behind her brother, but the boy responded. "Yeah. I remember you."
Lena smiled and moved her head slightly to catch the eyes of the young girl. "You about you, Mariana? Remember when Stef and I came to see you last time? And we played board games?" Lena tried to put the pleasant memory of their last visit into her head, even though she acted about the same as she was at the present moment.
Finally, the little girl nodded ever so slightly before burying her face into her brother's shirt.
Lena took what she could and smiled back. "Yeah! It was so fun! And you know what? We have a bunch of board games at our house that you can play with whenever you want!" Lena continued, though she was now mainly addressing Jesus, who was the only one she could physically see.
Jesus smiled and nodded his head. "Hermana and I love board games." He exclaimed with a smile.
Lena smiled right back at him. "I'm so glad! We do too!" She said as she looked up at Stef, who had by then picked up Brandon and held him on her hip to ensure that he didn't try and run over to the two kids.
"We sure do!" Stef agreed as she brought herself and Brandon down to Lena's level. "Would you play a game with us?" She asked with a smile.
Jesus nodded his head eagerly, while his twin stayed hidden behind the boy.
"I am so excited!" Stef responded. "And you know, this is my son Brandon. And he is 6 and brought some toys to share with you!" Stef said as she set Brandon down and pulled the bag of toys over towards the children.
Brandon began pulling out everything in the bag and Jesus stared down at the pile like it was Christmas. Even Mariana poked her head out to see what they had brought.
"You wanna play with my toys?" Brandon asked eagerly as Jesus simply watched.
Jesus nodded and sat himself down next to Brandon and grabbed an action figure.
Startled at the loss of her hiding place, Mariana's face paled as she looked around for a place to hide.
Luckily, by that time, both Lena and Stef had stood up from their crouched positions and were talking with Bill. When Lena saw Mariana begin to panic, she crouched down to the girl's height and began to soothe her.
"Hey! It's ok! Jesus is just playing with some toys. You're ok." She started. The young girl's eyes began to fill with tears and Lena's motherly instincts kicked in. "You're ok, my love." She cooed. "I know it's so scary, but Stef and I are going to take really good care of you and your brother." She continued as the tears began to fall from her eyes.
Lena sighed. "Can I give you a hug?" She asked, hoping that the girl would agree.
It took a moment, but after Lena had opened her arms for the girl, she entered the warm embrace of the mother, rested her head on her shoulder, and let the tears flow.
Lena put both arms protectively around the girl's body and stood up, whispering soothing words into her ear and rubbing her back.
Stef smiled sadly at her love and the young girl who had trusted her enough to be held. "So I think we should get everyone home, it's gonna be a long drive back." Stef concluded as she reached out to shake Bill's hand.
"Of course." Bill responded, knowing that all of the paperwork had previously been taken care of and there wasn't anything legal that needed to be done at that time.
"Ok. Brandon and Jesus it's time to go!" Stef said as she walked over to the boys who were playing with several of the toys.
"Aww mom!" Brandon whined. "Jesus and I were playing!"
Stef smiled. She usually didn't condone whining, but seeing her son get along so well with her new foster son made her heart beam with joy.
"I know, bud but It's gonna be a long ride home and everyone is getting tired." Stef tried to reason with the boy.
"I'm not tired!" He responded.
"Come on, B. Pick up the toys and be mommy's helper please." Stef said in a firm voice.
Brandon hung his head and nodded. "Ok mommy." He began to pick up the toys while Jesus held onto the action figure tightly in his fist. Stef saw the slight panic set in the younger boy's eyes and walked over to him.
"Hey bud. If you want, you can hold onto that toy in the car." She said gently, tapping at the toy so he would look down at it.
The panic flew away in an instant and he smiled. "Okay. Thank you" He responded.
Once the toys had all been packed into the bag, minus a toy for each boy to hold in the car, the now family of 5 began to walk towards the door.
"Thanks again, Bill." Stef said over her shoulder as she was dragged out by both boys who were occupying her hands. Lena followed behind, a half sleeping Mariana in her arms. It had only taken 5 short minutes for the girl to cry herself into a dazed sleep and Lena was somewhat relieved that getting her into the car would be easier than if she was awake.
When Lena reached the car, she could already hear the arguments about seating.
"Mommy! I wanna sit next to Jesus!" Brandon cried as Stef climbed into the backseat with them. They had decided to put the twins next to each other in their car seats, and Brandon was to stay in the single seat behind the driver's seat.
"Bud. This is where the car seats are right now. When we get home, we can talk about changing them around." Stef compromised.
Brandon folded his arms and pouted. "That's not fair." He said as Set eased her way back out of the car and looked down at her son.
"Brandon. You are not being a very big boy right now." She warned, raising an eyebrow at her son's attitude. "I know you want to sit next to Jesus, but we already have all of the car seats strapped in. This is where you're sitting." She stated simply and looked at Jesus, who had stayed quiet. "Ready, bud?" She asked with a smile.
Jesus looked from Stef to Brandon as to try and gage the two before he nodded and lifted his arms up. Stef quickly scooped him up and kissed the side of his head before helping him into the car. Jesus giggled at the show of affection and got happily into his booster.
"Alright, my love." Stef said as she looked at Brandon. You ready to be my big boy helper?" She asked and gave her son a pleading look.
Brandon sighed and smiled. "Okay, mommy. I'm sorry."
Stef smiled and lifted Brandon up and into the car. "Thank you, B!" She praised as he got into his booster and Stef helped both boys buckle.
Finally she looked out and saw that Lena was standing with a now fully asleep Mariana in her arms, gently rocking her. Stef's heart swelled and she smiled, reaching out towards Lena. "Here. I'll buckle her in." Stef said.
Lena carefully leaned into the car and tried to unlatch the girl from her body and hand her to Stef. However, as soon as Stef's arms touched the girl's her little brown eyes shot open and she began to flail her arms and kick her legs, surprisingly, without a sound.
"Hey, hey, hey! It's ok!" Lena cooed as she took the girl back into her arms. "Honey you're ok." She kissed the girl on the forehead and smoothed out some of her hair from her face. "Stef was just putting you into the booster seat so we can go home." Lena informed the girl who would not lighten her grip on the brunette's shirt.
Lena looked at Stef who smiled sadly. "Come on, love." Stef tried to coax the girl to let go of Lena, but to no avail.
Lena sighed and thought for a moment. "Look your seat is right next to Jesus!" She commented as she turned her body so the girl could see into the car. Mariana opened her eyes to see for a moment, but shook her head and buried her face back into Lena's curls.
Lena exhaled and decided there was one other option she could try. "What about if I sit next to you?" She asked. The little girl stopped and sniffled a little before nodding her head slightly.
"Good choice, sweets! I wish I could sit next to Lena too!" Stef responded as she got out of the back of the car.
Lena slowly stepped into the car and somehow made it to the back seats where Jesus was already strapped in.
"Hermana! Esta bien!" He tried to calm his sister by telling her it was ok, but she still had a look of panic on her face.
"Ok, sweetie. Time to get into your booster!" Lena said as she tried to se the girl down.
Mariana shook her head and held tighter onto the woman.
"Mariana, honey you have to be in a booster seat. It's the law. But look. Right next to you. See this spot? I'm gonna sit here the whole time." Lena said as she reached around her neck and unclasped the little hands that had latched on to one another.
As Lena finally got the little girl into her seat, she could see silent tears running down the girl's face. She sighed and used her thumbs to push away the fallen tears before finishing buckling the girl. As promised, she sat down right next to the Latina and buckled herself in. "Ok. Ready to go?" She asked. She received two 'yups' from the boys and one 'yes' from the blonde in the driver's seat. And even though Mariana hadn't said anything, she nodded to Stef and the car took off back home.