Author Note:

As always, thanks for the support and all of your ideas! I think I know where I'll be taking things now. For the reviewer who suggested a scene where Callie becomes ill and gets taken care of, I can promise you that will be woven in. (Hope you) enjoy!

Chapter 9: Recalcitrant

"No. No way. I'm not going to another shrink," Callie declared as she folded her arms across her chest.

As Stef and Lena had predicted, broaching the topic of individual counselling was hitting a dead end. After a fairly docile and uneventful evening with Callie the night before, this was not how either of them wanted to begin their day. Due to the stress about how to handle their daughter, neither had slept well and the restless night had left them feeling drained.

The three of them were in the girls' bedroom; Lena sitting beside Callie on the bed and Stef leaning against the desk where she stood directly facing the pair. The rest of the kids had left for school already. Usually, Lena left around the same time, but today she had decided not to go in until mid-morning so that she and her wife could be a united front in talking with Callie.

"Honey." Stef enunciated each syllable in frustration at her headstrong daughter. "You haven't even given it a chance. How do you know that you won't find it helpful?" she reasoned.

"Because I know!" Callie argued. "I've had to go to these things before. You already make me go to that stupid group which I don't like."

"I know you don't, honey, and I really hate to break it to you but it's not about what you want," Stef said as gently as she could. "It's what Mama and I think what's best for you right now."

She hated that everything had to be a battle, a negotiation. "And yes, we do make you go to Dr. Kodema's group even if you think it's stupid, because it's court ordered. That's not our doing."

"Can you please just trust us and not fight us on this, just this once?" Stef very nearly pleaded. Her exasperation grew when she was greeted by Callie's tearful and angry "No!"

And can you please just trust me for once? Callie thought, wishing she had the courage to ask. She fought against the all too familiar, prickly feeling that was building in her throat as the women cornered her. For all the complaining Stef and Lena did about how she didn't hear what they were saying, they sure didn't have a problem ignoring her side of things.

If they heard her, she would have told them that she'd been to individual therapy before when she was younger, always upon Bill's insistence. How she hated the way in which it chipped away at her each time, making her feel insignificant, different, and broken.

"Careful," Stef warned. "There's no need to raise your voice at us, love." She paused to glance at her wife in desperation; she was out of ideas and really needed Lena to take over before she lost her patience as well.

Lena caught the fatigued expression being directed her way and decided to try her best to cajole the teen. "Sweetheart, all we're asking is that you give it a fair shot, okay? I talked to Gisella yesterday—"

"Gisella?" Callie repeated incredulously, before a mischievous grin began to spread across her face. "What'd she sell-ya?" she asked, looking very pleased with herself for coming up with the crass joke on her own.

This girl, thought Stef and she couldn't help but smile. Even though it was at Gisella's expense, at least their daughter was giving them a bit of comic relief from arguing.

Unfortunately, Lena was much less impressed by Callie's stab at humour. "Okay, that's enough. I've made you an appointment for tomorrow morning and you're going, that's final. You need to stick with it for a few sessions. If you don't find it helpful after that, we can consider other options."

What seemed like an entirely fair compromise to Lena caused Callie to snap. "What?" she said with attitude, spinning around to glare at Lena as she felt the woman's hand graze her shoulder. "So you were just paying me lip service, or what? Why would you even bother to ask me if you've already decided?"

Callie's voice continued to climb in sheer frustration. "Why didn't you just take me on a random drive and drop me off at this stupid counsellor's office if you weren't going to give me an opinion so we could've skipped all of this!" she shouted at the woman in annoyance.

"Excuse me! Watch your tone, young lady. That is not an acceptable way to talk to me and you know that," Lena chastised as Callie immediately subdued. The Vice Principal shook her head in exasperation; it was rare that she had to raise her voice at Callie and, although there were times such as this when she thought it was necessary, she still felt bad to do so.

She tried once again to place a hand on the teen's shoulder as an olive branch, to show she would forgive the outburst, but Callie swiped her arm away which caused Stef to lose patience. Up until now, Lena had been mostly spared from the girl's wilfulness and she was taken aback to have it directed at her for once.

Stef straightened immediately and in one quick, coordinated move she had grabbed the desk chair and placed it directly in front of the teen before sitting down. "You need to stop this. Right now," she said firmly. "You do not get to hit or talk to us in this way, you hear me? That is disrespectful behaviour and we do not treat each other like that in this house."

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you," the cop ordered. She waited as Callie reluctantly met her gaze while simultaneously shrinking away from her.

"Stop arguing with us because it will absolutely not change the fact that you're going tomorrow. We are the adults here and we are trying to do what is best for you, and this is what we need you to do at this moment to be healthy."

"I won't go. You can't make me go," the girl finally said quietly, as her expression flitted between one of surprise to defeat, before returning to defiance.

Stef sighed, knowing she'd have to play a bit of hardball to make her point. "Alright, how about this? You either attend the session tomorrow with no drama and give it a fair chance like we've told you to. Or Mama and I will schedule you to sit down with the school counsellor once a week. She should have no problem coming by your class to remind you."

The woman felt bad twisting Callie's arm like this but was determined to get her to cooperate. She hadn't anticipated that this tactic would set fire to the gas and she mentally prepared herself for a fight as she noticed the girl's face automatically darken.

Callie hated that Stef and Lena thought they could just steamroll their opinions across and play their cards in a way that pushed her into compliance. What just happened wasn't so much a choice as a ploy to get her to accept what they wanted her to do. Even if she refused, Callie knew that she couldn't really avoid going as she wouldn't put it past Stef to drag her into the car and into the office.

So she would fight them. She vowed not to make it so easy for them to push her around this time.

"Why are you being such a bitch?" Callie spat before she could help it, blinking back tears to glower at the cop. As Stef's jaw clenched into a line and her eyes hardened, the teen knew she had crossed a serious line. She was in trouble but there was no backing down now and she kept going.

"It's like you get off on being so cocky, telling me what to feel and do all the time," she said as disrespectfully as she could manage without letting the tears fall.

The girl swallowed nervously as the gravity of the words she had just directed at her foster mother began to set in. Ears burning, she turned away from Lena who was looking angrily from where she sat beside her. And though she couldn't bring herself to look up at Stef either, she could only imagine how upset the cop would be in that moment.

Callie flinched and jerked her head up suddenly at the sound of Stef snapping her fingers and pointing across the room.

"Bring me your guitar," Stef said simply, without explanation.

Callie stared at her in consternation. "What? No," she replied. And though her words were defiant, her voice came out uncertain and juvenile.

Stef rested her forearms on her thighs so she could lean in closer to Callie, who already looked utterly miserable and full of remorse.

The teen pulled back slightly and lowered her gaze, but not before she noticed the woman's expression. Stef was looking at her sternly, but also with sadness and disappointment which made Callie feel even more guilty for how she had just spoken to her.

"Eyes up here, please." When the girl refused to obey, Stef slowly reached forward with one hand to cup her chin and tilt her head up.

"Callie," she said in a low, warning tone. Although Stef felt like she was parenting blindly in the dark with the girl, making it up as she went along, she was determined to send a clear message that what had just happened was unacceptable.

"You are not doing a good job listening to me right now. You know better than to speak to us with that sort of language and disrespect."

"The guitar is our's until you write a page of lines," Stef continued, the words making their way out before she could take them back. She regretted it immediately but knew she couldn't back down now that she had said it. She just hoped that Lena would back her up on this for consistency's sake.

"WHAT! No way!" Callie protested, crossing her arms. "That's not fair!"

"Excuse me?" Stef's tone was clipped in fury. "What's not fair, honey? That we've been telling you countless times since this conversation began to check your attitude, but you haven't? That you choose to behave unacceptably but yet you refuse to accept the consequences? You are right, that's absolutely not fair! To us!"

"There are repercussions to your actions and if you're big enough to defy us, you're big enough to deal with them." She could see Callie's shoulders slump as she berated her, but continued the tongue-lashing; she felt it was deserved this time.

"Callie," Lena said as she gently placed a hand on the teen's shoulder, trying to deescalate. "Do not make this worse. You heard Mom, please go get your guitar."

She hadn't anticipated the girl to wrestle her way out from under her hand and whip around to direct her anger at her. In that moment, Lena was purely collateral damage.

"Why don't you go get it yourself!" Callie shouted at the woman before turning back to Stef.

"And while you're at it—keep it! I'm not doing your fucking lines."

"Hey! We told you to watch your mouth, missy! Don't you dare Callie—don't you dare use language like that again if you know what's good for you."

"You do not get to call the shots here, you are not the parent, and you certainly do not tell me 'no'. The cop raised her voice, reaming the girl out. "Bring me your guitar, this instant! I am not going to ask you again."

Callie's eyes widened and she shook her head vehemently. She was trying to tell herself that it didn't matter, that it was just a guitar.

But it wasn't true at all.

It did matter.

They had presented her with the oddly shaped package, its gift wrap askew, the very night they had asked her and Jude if they would be alright with getting adopted by them. After Jude had whooped loudly and jumped into Lena's arms and she had spun him around. After Callie felt the brick of abandonment finally lift a little from her chest so she could breathe a bit easier.

And now they were going to take it from her.

It was silly, but she couldn't help but to feel the fragility of the situation. These women could stop the adoption so quickly if they wanted to. As quickly as it took Stef to snap her fingers.

"No." Callie's voice was a whisper now and she felt the lump getting larger in her throat. She did not want Stef to win but her resolve was quickly fading.

The cop could hear the tremor in the girl's voice, a subtle sign indicative of the dissent between what she was saying and how she really felt.

"Two pages, then. I will not tell you again." Stef could see right through Callie's stubbornness and she knew that she had the upper hand this time, as the guitar obviously meant a lot to the teen. The woman could easily take it away herself but knew the lesson would be much more effective if she got Callie to cooperate and do it herself.

"Stef!" Lena said forcefully, shooting her a look. She had noticed Callie's demeanour change and was starting to become uncomfortable with her wife's harshness. "That's enough." Please, she mouthed, as Stef raised her palm to silence her.

"Double-sided, sweets."

That did the trick in ending the stalemate. Callie all but ran to her beloved guitar and back to Stef, before thrusting it into her hands.

"I hate you!" she screamed, storming from the room.