Stef's POV

The second I got back into the car I called Mike and Lena to let them know that I found Lux and she was okay. Mike wasn't too happy with me, for in his words, "losing her" but we agreed to talk at the twenty-four hour diner nearby. I couldn't get the fact that Lux still hadn't eaten anything all day, since I picked her up at school, and it was almost eleven at night now. That was just something else I'd probably hear from Mike about.

By the time I pull up into the diner's parking lot, I hear Lux's voice. "What are we doing here?" she asks harshly.

"Well, if you don't want to eat anything we cook for you, you're going to have to eat something someone else cooks."

"You can't force me to eat, Stefanie. I'm not a child."

"Oh, so you're back to calling me Stefanie, I see… And you could've fooled me. You're certainly acting like one."

"Well, it's your name. Isn't it?" she retorts. "And personally I don't care what you think of me."

"Good to know. And yes, that is my name. But I would prefer it if you called me… Stef," I say awkwardly, not really wanting her to call me that either, but I figured I wouldn't push it.

"Yeah, well I would prefer it if you and Mike sign the damn form like I asked you to and stay out of my life."

"Hey!" I snap at her causing her to jump in her seat. I hadn't meant to scare her but the fact that she kept bringing up this form, as if she could actually get me to sign it, was really beginning to piss me off right about now. "I don't want to hear another mention of this form again. Okay? I'm not signing it, so your best bet is to just drop it. Understood?"

"Why not?" she argues and I have to glance away from her, to keep from flipping out again. For someone who showed so much sign of fear, I didn't understand why she was still pushing this form on me. "It'll take two freaking seconds—"

"Lux—"

"It's not like you even expected to have a kid in the first place! And it's not like I'll even be your kid, like ever. I don't understand why it's so damn difficult for you to put your signature on a piece of paper! You write it all the time when you're handing out parking tickets! Just pretend you're writing a stupid parking ticket!"

"That's enough!" I snap. I couldn't understand why she thought signing a parking ticket and signing away my rights was the same thing.

Lux lets out a frustrated breath and folds her arms again over her body and sinks back into her seat. Just as I thought she was going to drop the subject, she opens her mouth again. But she isn't yelling anymore which is some progress, "…It's not like your family even likes me one bit. Your wife doesn't even want me in your freaking house."

"Oh my God," I mumble as I raise my hands to my head, because I felt a huge migraine coming on. But she keeps talking and I have to suck in a breath to keep from yelling back.

"And you know what? Lena's absolutely right. Your kids feel unsafe. And they should feel that way… You have no idea what I'm really capable of... If you won't do it for me, then do it for your family. Maybe you should stop being such a selfish bitch for a second and think about them."

I have to force myself out of the car, so that I wouldn't do anything stupid. Something Lena had taught me to do, that I'd try to do every so often when I felt like I was getting really riled up or about to do or say something stupid. Because every single thing, that she was saying to me was really starting to strike a nerve. I hear her grunt with frustration, but then I can tell she decides to stay quiet.

Luckily, when I get out of the car, I can see Mike getting out of his. "Mike, I don't think I can do this."

"Do what?" he asks in confusion. "Where is she?"

"She's fine. She's in the car. It's me that feels like I'm seconds away from losing my mind."

"Well, how can you lose her in the first place, Stef?"

"How could I lose her?" I ask in disbelief. "Are you seriously blaming me?"

"Well, she didn't runaway when she was with me," Mike says matter-of-factly. I try to keep myself calm once again. "Something must've happened…" he says accusingly.

I sigh as I try to accept the fact that this was probably my fault, "…Lena and I found out that Callie, Jude, and Lux all lived in the same foster home a couple of years ago…"

"Sounds wonderful," Mike responds sarcastically. "Keep going."

I stare at him and resist the urge to punch him in the face, "And it appears that Lux spray painted the outside of the house and got them all kicked out."

"And what you heard this from Callie and Jude? How do you know that they're not lying?"

"Because they wouldn't lie about something like this! And Lux admitted to it," I answer harshly.

"She admitted to it?" he asks in disbelief.

"Yes."

"So, that's why she left?"

"Not exactly…" I stare up at Mike and could see him waiting for me to continue. I take a deep breath before I do, knowing that there was a chance he'd use it against me. "…It appears that she overheard Lena and I talking and Lena might've mentioned that Callie and Jude didn't feel safe, but only because she was looking out for their best interest—"

"So… Basically, you all ganged up on her, took your other kid's side, and then called her a threat to your safety. And you were surprised when she decided to run away? Unbelievable," he responds with and obviously judgmental tone.

"Mike, I didn't take anyone's side," I try to correct.

"I knew her staying with you tonight was a bad idea. This was my fault. I should've said no," he answers as he shakes his head slightly.

"Excuse me?" I ask in disbelief. "You act as if you had a choice."

"I absolutely do! Lux isn't Brandon, Stef. You can't threaten me here with having full custody of her, like you do with our son. I get just as much a say as you do about what she does, if not more."

"More?"

"Yes, more! It's not my fault that you and hippie dippy Lena decided to take on five kids basically all on your own, and I've said pretty much nothing about it, because I knew that Brandon would be better off with you ten years ago. But now… things have changed. I don't drink anymore…. And you're obviously too busy and too involved in your other children's lives to take on Lux. And frankly, I don't think it's a good idea to keep her somewhere that she feels uncomfortable… and the other kids feel uncomfortable apparently. And not to mention Lena..."

"Lena was just trying to help, Mike."

"Call it what you want, Stef. But if Lux doesn't want to be around her then…"

"Then, what? You think you can just keep her away from all of us… and that's just going to magically solve everything?"

"I'm trying to do what's best for her in the situation. And what's best for her isn't to be around people who treat her like a damn criminal for God's sake. Your other kid went to juvie if I recall, but Lux is the problem here?"

"Of course not!"

"Then, why is she being treated like it? …You know what? Just forget it," Mike says as he starts to walk away from me to get to the other side of the car.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I ask him, which causes him to turn around.

"I'm taking her home, my home. Let's not argue about this any more, Stef."

"So, what? You get to be the hero here…Again. And I have to look like the bad guy?"

"I'm not saying that."

"...Well, that's how it feels."

"You made it this way, Stef. Not me," Mike says as he opens the car door on Lux's side. And I'm forced to shut my mouth and not reveal what I really want to say to him, "Come on, Lux."

Lux gets out of the car and doesn't even bother to look at me as she stands beside him. "Wait…where are we going?"

"Home," he answers as he puts his hand on her shoulder, but she flinches away, which catches us both off guard. Suddenly, the argument Mike and I had just a few seconds ago didn't seem that important anymore.

"Can we just go?" she snaps as she starts walking over toward his car and slams his car door shut just as hard as she slammed mine earlier when I forced her to get in.

"Well… she's in a lovely mood isn't she?" Mike says as he closes my passenger-side door and starts to walk away.

"Make sure she eats something," I tell him.

He looks at me in confusion, "I thought she had dinner at your house?"

"She did. But she barely ate anything. Lena made lasagna and—"

"Lux doesn't eat meat," Mike says in disbelief.

"Why, thank you for telling me that now… You know… After we tried to give it to her. I really appreciate it," I answer sarcastically.

He smiles, "I guess I could've mentioned it yesterday."

"What?" I ask angrily as I notice him smiling a little too much for me to see in my mood.

"Nothing," he says as he tries to brush it off, but I can see him still trying to hide his smile.

"What is it?" I ask out of irritation. What the hell could he be smiling about at this moment? Was he really taking joy out of my constant mistakes?

He looks at me before he continues, "…I ordered Lux a burger at the burger place and she looked at me as if I were the devil or something. Gave me a huge lecture about the horrible conditions that cattle are put through before they're slaughtered just so that people like me can eat." He laughs and suddenly I don't feel as bad. It was good to know that I wasn't the only one Lux was giving a hard time to. "It's okay You can gloat now… She got even angrier when I continued to eat my burger. Even called me a disgusting pig."

"Ouch," I laugh.

"So, you see? You're not the only one screwing up here… And I'm sorry made you feel that way. It's just… I don't want to be a half-ass dad this time around." I can see the smile quickly fade from his face.

"You're not—"

"Aren't I? How often did I screw up with Brandon growing up? He probably still thinks of me as the drunk guy who skipped out on his entire childhood. I just… I feel like I have a chance to do things right with Lux, to be that dad I should've been for Brandon. You know? She doesn't know about my drinking…my failures."

"You're not a failure, Mike."

"I know that now. But to be honest, I still feel like that with Brandon… Stef, he remembers things that I don't. And I know I should've done more for him than I've done in the past. I just have so many regrets. And I know I'll never do enough to make it up to him... And it's even worse now, since I've known Lux even less than that. And, it feels like a completely blank slate, like a new start for me, to be that guy I should've been before. I just don't want her to get away again, before I actually get a chance to be in her life."

"She won't. We'll make sure of that… But that doesn't mean that you have to throw me under the bus either. You can still be that guy with me around."

"I'm not thr—"

I stare at him and I can tell that he realizes that I was right. "I know that you want to be there for her. I really do… But I feel like she sees us as good cop bad cop. I yell at her and you come and rescue her from me and suddenly you make everything okay… And that's not how I want it to be, Mike. I've agreed to let her live with you, Mike. All I wanted was for her to meet Lena and the kids. I want her to be a part of my family too."

"And I'm trying, Stef. I agreed to let her stay over your house today, even though I knew it was a bad idea…"

"Are we still fighting here, or are we trying to make this crappy situation better? Because I gotta tell you, it feels like we're still fighting."

"We're not fighting… Why don't I park the car and… we'll continue to make this crappy situation better over some food?" Mike offers.

"Are you sure about that Mike? I don't think it'd be a good idea to continue arguing in front of Lux. That's one thing she doesn't need to see."

"We won't… In fact, I'll order another burger, and you can play good cop for a change," he smiles and I can't help but smile too.

"You're offer is so tempting. And I would like to see that."

"Then, maybe you should take it before you change your mind."

I take a deep breath before I agree, "…Okay."

"Okay?" Mike asks skeptically.

"Uhuh," I smile.

"Alright, well I'll go break the bad news to Lux," Mike says as he starts walking over to his car.