Author Note: Thank you for all the supportive reviews and messages. I'm thrilled about the positive response. If you're outside of the fandom, welcome-I've discovered a whole new world of fanfic because of ya'll. Wonderful stuff.

I had lots of fun writing this chapter. Enjoy... ~b

Dial-a-dope operation: when a drug dealer secures a phone number and advertises services via word of mouth, business card, etc. Customers text or call the number, using a predetermined code to verify their identity and to place their order. They arrange a time and place to meet in that medium.

Chapter 16: The Best Laid Plans

Mike cleared his throat nervously as he heard Callie sniffling through the open plexiglass window that separated the front seats from the back. It was all he could think of to do to relieve some of Callie's immediate stress, which he knew was in part to being made to sit back there.

Having come from a traditional family where his father and uncle both worked law enforcement, Mike and his brothers had been taught not to cry. It had been a hard cycle to break even with his own son—whenever Brandon got hurt as a kid, the duty of comforting him almost always fell on his ex-wife by virtue that she was better at it. So, apart from passing some napkins he had found in the glove compartment to the reluctant youth when he saw her wiping her face and nose with the back of her hand in the rearview, he was at a loss.

As with most things Stef did, adding Callie and Jude to the family she and Lena had built for themselves had grown on him. At the beginning, he had been selfishly focused on his son. How Brandon would feel about two more siblings. How Brandon would adjust. Almost immediately, he had realized how unfounded his concerns had been when he saw how all the siblings took to each other. Now? He wanted to see this arrangement succeed.

No stranger to difficult life circumstances and transitions, Mike felt for Callie; he'd be the first to admit how damn hard it was to adjust to routine when chaos had been the status quo. With Stef being his work partner, he knew of the recent difficulties the girl had been having. At the same time, he was privileged to have the perspective of an outsider. In the months since the kids had joined the family, they had become less like quiet tenants walking around on eggshells to avoid being served notices of eviction. A little louder and less fearful, they were starting to resemble the rest of the kids. And though Stef ran a tight ship, it seemed that her orderly manner of getting things done and heavy-handedness had ultimately been for the better. Callie especially had become fairly close with her and was, for the most part, lightyears ahead of where she'd started out at.

Figuring Callie must be starving and not wanting to be completely useless, he took a detour at a drive thru where he promptly ordered several cheeseburgers and extra sides. Lena would be upset about the junk food but after hearing the girl's stomach rumble, Mike realized that she probably hadn't eaten for several hours.

Finding an empty parking lot, he decided to climb in back so they could eat together. The molded plastic bucket seats hurt his knees and there was barely enough space, but he hated that he was potentially re-traumatizing the teen by containing her and wanted to do his part to normalize the situation. Curling one leg under him to face Callie, the both of them left a mess of salt grains, crumbs, and greasy fingerprints. He could only hope that no one would radio in right now or worse, drive by, as he had no idea how he'd explain this. However, in spite of the stress, it had been worth it to see her tuck into her food, barely stopping to wash it down with the pop.

"So tell me, who has the bigger temper at home, Stef or Lena?" The question caused the thirteen-year-old to finally crack a smile in between fistfuls of shoestring fries.

Cautiously, Callie ventured a reply. "Stef…but Lena if it's anything to do with school. That's her thing."

"I knew it. Nothing's changed. Trust me, I'm all too familiar with both of those women's wrath! You don't want to be messing with them," Mike quipped, laughing loudly until he noticed Callie stop mid-chew and look down into her lap.

"They're gonna be so mad," she whispered. "I just keep messing up."

"Mad? Yeah, maybe," he agreed, wanting to be honest. "But probably only because you scared them half to death when they didn't know where you'd gone off to. That's the only reason."

"They're just gonna be happy to have you back. They love you a ton, Callie Cat," he said, referencing his own nickname for the kid who he had slowly grown fond of over the past few months. "You know," he added, "Stef never shuts up about you. She's so happy you and your bro joined the family and she's absolutely stoked about the adoption."

A few minutes went by before he figured out what he wanted to say to help take some of the pressure off the situation. "You know, I didn't always like Lena and Stef being together," he admitted as Callie stared at him in incredulity. "I was angry at the both of them for a long time."

He laughed softly at Callie's bewilderment. "True story."

The girl furrowed her brow as she thought of what she knew of them, all of whom seemed to get along. She hadn't ever considered that things could've entirely different. There was the occasional fight, mostly over stuff about Brandon, but they were far and few in between and she never thought twice about what she would overhear. The girl understood that Mike and Stef used to be married and Mike was Brandon's Dad, so there were always three adults who needed to hash things until everyone was on the same page. But to the rest of the kids, Callie got the impression that he was the weird Uncle type who would always drop by the house with take out or let them come over to his apartment for pizza or Chinese to give Stef and Lena a break.

"How come?"

"Geez you don't hold back do you?" he teased, trying to buy time to figure out how much he wanted to disclose without overstepping Stef and Lena's boundaries. Nevertheless, this was his ex's kid and essentially his son's new sibling and he wanted to show Callie that she wasn't alone. That she had people rooting for her and that they formed part of a family who wanted her very much and were waiting with open arms if and when she was ready.

"To be honest it was kinda a gong show. I blamed Lena, for a long time, for coming along and changing everything. She and Stef getting together meant all the hope I had that we'd be getting back together was snuffed out."

He sighed, remembering his own hurt feelings as he explained. "B was suddenly off to a new school…Lena's school, and he had a whole new routine I was not a part of. And that was hard. It was hard for B and it was hard for the three of us."

"We were in this strange in-between stage, trying to create two stable homes for him when it felt that things were everything but stable. Stef and I were fighting over how often I could see him. I, uh—I had a drinking problem then and Stef told me she would fight for sole custody with no visitation so I was forced into therapy and rehab as part of retaining custody and I absolutely hated it. Brandon was fighting with Lena because he blamed her for Stef and I breaking up, and he fought with me for being preoccupied with drinking. I fought with Lena because I thought her parenting was so hokey and quite frankly, I felt she didn't have the right to a parent role. We all stepped on each other's toes and it was a huge mess. Things were pretty nasty for awhile, Callie."

"Oh."

There was a pause as she struggled with getting the plastic film off the sweet and sour sauce container. "How come you're telling me all this?"

"Well, ain't it kinda like that for you guys right now? You and Jude and Stef and Lena, I mean?" he said, smiling as Callie nodded meekly at the suggestion.

"You just gotta keep in mind that as time went on we started to fight less and less with each other. We realized that we had spent so much time trying to set up two camps: Me and B against Stef and Lena and B. We ended up forgetting the most important one. B and three parents working together. But none of us could see this while we were in the thick of it—we just had to slog through the mess so we could grow and be better people for it."

"So I think what you might want to take away from all this is, all the fighting that's happening is happening because everything's new and everyone's just trying to work their way through it. You're figuring them out, they're figuring you out. And…that's hard, Callie. Because it's much easier to keep doing what you're used to doing, even if it isn't working, because it's what you are familiar with. There's a certain comfort in that. Because otherwise you need to admit that things aren't working and that gets even messier. Trying to learn your way around a new family is not easy. It's a ton of work."

"Stef and Lena are not easy," he said, winking. "But I gotta tell you…it's worth it. It's just going to get better from here."

After worrying about Callie's whereabouts all day, it took all of Stef and Lena's self-control to avoid bursting out of the front door when the cruiser finally backed into their driveway. Although they were anxious to see her and to usher her inside, both women thought it'd be prudent to give Callie space and the opportunity to come into the home out of her own volition.

It had been well over an hour since they received news that Mike was en route with the teen, giving them time to talk about the events of the day and to determine the most appropriate course of action. Stef updated Lena on as many of the recommendations she could remember from her time with Dr. Wiseman, as well as some of what had been revealed in Callie's assessment.

Despite their frustration, they were mostly relieved. Given the rough start that morning and with Stef feeling responsible for how the rest of the day had transpired, the women decided they would make sure the teen had the opportunity to explain her actions. They would discuss any consequences later. After speaking with Dr. Wiseman, they decided to let Callie choose if she would like to continue attending. The psychologist had been supportive of this plan and indicated that, for the most part, Callie had participated adequately and that the level of resistance she saw displayed was typical for a first session.

"This oughta be good," Stef said, elbowing Lena in the arm as they watched Mike waltz around the car and open the back door. The cop couldn't help but to feel hurt when she saw Callie shake her head resolutely at him. Did Callie really not want to come home? Luckily, the entertaining scene unfolding in their driveway precluded her from ruminating on her insecurities.

Not knowing what to make of Callie's refusal, Mike ran both hands over his face and through his hair before stooping into the passenger seat to try again. This time, the girl's arm extended, holding out the fast food paper bags. Shaking his head in defeat, Mike accepted them and walked over to the garbage bins at the side of the home. Though both women were mortified by how Callie had just behaved, something about the interaction was endearing—the wariness with which she had regarded him just months ago having faded enough that she was comfortable challenging him.

Confidence deflated, he made his way up the porch steps. "I give up. She's all your's," he said, as he handed Lena a square purple and white paper container. "There's at least half the chicken nuggets in there still for her snack."

Lena raised her eyebrows in disapproval as she scrutinized its contents. "This is not a snack," she sighed, griping even in her amusement over Mike's plight.

"It is when you compare it to the two junior cheese, apple pie, and fries she hoovered. Man, your kid can eat…you obviously don't feed her!" the cop shot back in jest. Trying to lift the somber mood, he continued to tease Stef and Lena, causing them to finally crack up. "So which one of you do I make the invoice out to?"

As seriousness set in again, Mike turned to his ex-wife. "So do we have a game plan? In case Roberts asks?"

With the two of them ironing out the logistics of how to explain Mike's afternoon patrol taking an unexpected detour, Lena took her cue to leave. She knew that she would need to speak with Callie first if there was any chance at all of preventing a blowup. Given that she didn't have the weight of the entire day behind her, it was much easier for her to put her frustrations aside compared to Stef, whose ability to be patient sounded like it had been exhausted.

"I'd better go talk to Callie before you swoop in with your lecturing," she suggested to her wife, as Stef looked to her in surprise, a little more than relieved her more rational half was stepping up.

Lena quietly tapped against the window to get Callie's attention before pulling the door open so she wouldn't startle her.

The teen looked up, smiling faintly at the woman. "Hi," she said softly, dreading the conversation that was to come.

"Honey. Hi." Wanting to pose as little threat as possible, Lena immediately dropped into a crouch by the backseat so she wouldn't tower over the girl and clasped Callie's hands in her own.

"I am so, so glad you're home," she emphasized, sighing in relief as she heard herself say the words out loud. "We were worried sick about you."

Wondering if Lena might be expecting some sort of explanation, Callie looked down. She really had no idea what to say to her foster mom but had a sinking feeling that whatever she came up with would unlikely be good enough, anyway.

"Sorry, Lena," she whispered, her voice filled with remorse. "I—I didn't mean to go so far," she tried to offer.

"It's alright honey, let's not worry about any of this right now," Lena soothed. Knowing her daughter and knowing she had bolted from Mike, she surmised Callie was worried about being in trouble. Therefore, she wanted to deflect her daughter's focus from any potential consequences for the time being, as an altercation would definitely not help the goal of having the teen safe inside the confines of their home. There was no reason to get into any of that now.

"There will be plenty of time to talk about all of this later on but right now Mom and I are just happy you're home. We love you so much."

"Come on, let's go inside, it's getting late. Grandma ordered us Chinese food and I bet she remembered some of the dishes you like," the woman continued to cajole.

Lena's heart fell at how vulnerable and desolate the girl sounded when she spoke up. "I can't," Callie insisted, having a great deal of difficulty maintaining her gaze with the woman. Though her words were stubborn, fear and contrition were etched onto her young face. "I just…I'm not ready."

"How come?" Lena pressed gently. "Did something happen with Gisella?"

Both the miserable-sounding reply, as well as the shrug that accompanied it, were automatic.

"No. Nothing…"

The woman sighed over the fact that the conversation was not going quite the way she wanted it to. Her own patience was beginning to be tested and she wondered just how much leeway to give the teen, whose brow was now knitted into an obstinate frown.

"I had to put her in back. There isn't any way to engage the locks in the front," Mike explained apologetically as he and Stef stood on the porch. Far enough from the cruiser so they could talk without running the risk of the girl overhearing them and to give Lena enough space to work with Callie. But close enough to monitor the situation and be ready to respond in the event she tried to run again.

"No worries, I would've done the same. Sorry she gave you a hard time."

"It's all good. I'm just glad she found herself in a dead end so I didn't have to tackle her. On duty cop tackling a minor in breach of her parole by going MIA? That shit would go sideways so fast. It'd be an automatic near-miss incident report."

"Me too." Stef took a deep breath. "So, the plan?" She hated to ask but they hadn't had a chance to discuss what they would exactly do once they had located the teen.

Checking his watch, Mike replied, "Well first thing's first. I gotta make sure I return the cruiser before too long, otherwise Roberts will ask questions. I'll document my patrol this afternoon as routine surveillance of an area following a report of suspicious activity but I'm not going to submit a formal incident report. Otherwise it'll get really tricky having to rationalize why I didn't bring Callie into the station and it will flag her record."

"Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate this." Stef's voice faltered as she looked down. She so badly wanted to understand why the girl had been determined to get away. "Callie ran from you?"

"Yeah. I had a helluva time just catching up with her…she's swift. Honestly I think I just spooked her when I first found her," he said, omitting the part where he was outsmarted by a kid. "She was surprised when I told her I wasn't going to arrest her. After that little adrenaline spike, she crashed after we stopped for food. Fell asleep for about half hour."

"Did she say anything?"

Mike exhaled loudly. No way would he divulge what the girl had actually said, which he assumed was a reference to not wanting to return home. If anything, it was to spare Stef's feelings. But he almost didn't have to—he could see just how hurt she was knowing Callie had tried to run a second time.

"She's just a teenager afraid of the shit she's in."

"As she should be," Stef affirmed.

"Try not to be too harsh on her. Don't you remember us running away from home when we were fourteen?" Mike reminded, wanting to stick up for the girl. "We were there once."

"Hey," he began after things went silent between them again. "I—uh. I guess I want to apologize for being such an ass about you and Lena taking in Callie and Jude."

The apology caught the woman by surprise; she hadn't ever expected to hear those words from Mike of all people. Of her and her wife's coworkers and extended family, he had by far been the most outspoken critic of adding the siblings into the mix permanently. Figuring it stemmed from his worries over how his son would react, both she and Lena had always tried to remain patient. Still, he always managed to piss her off to no end with his I-told-you-so's whenever she came in feeling rattled and rundown from a poor night's sleep or having to deal with Callie, at times losing work time.

"Callie's a tough nut to crack and I know you and Lena have been having a bit of a hard time with her recently," he said.

"But hey, for what it's worth, she looks like she's doing much better than when she first got out of custody—Jude too. Remember how skittish they both were that first time I met them at the house? They're lucky to have you and Lena—you're both doing a great job."

Stef chuckled sadly, adopting a wide stance and putting her hands in her pockets as she recalled the moment Mike had referred to. Sucking in a deep breath, she looked up at the darkening sky, quickly blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. It had been the first time she and Lena appreciated how deeply ingrained the siblings' fear of authority figures were. And though Mike was bumbling at the best of times, she remembered how Jude had frozen and refused to say hello, instead cowering and standing almost directly behind Callie.

"Took you awhile to realize there was even another kid there with Jude refusing to come out from behind Callie, ha!" she joked halfheartedly. "True, they've both come a long way—and I get that, I really do. But honestly, it's just hard to see it when you're knee deep in the trenches you know what I mean?"

"I bet."

She paused, struggling to find the right words. "Thanks. For everything you did today for us and for going out of your way to help with Callie and to bring her home. You didn't have to do that."

"Sure I did. Hey it's no problem. Look, she's a good kid. She just got the short end of the stick, going in and out of homes like that. It's a damn shame. That whole six months in youth detention was unfortunate as well as the probation they tacked on. There's no way she planned what they said she did."

"It's complete bullshit. She was twelve, Mike, trying to defend herself. The seventeen-year-old in the foster home was cornering her into doing drug runs, giving her pocket money and threatening to beat her up at school if she didn't. Apparently, because she had a history of recruiting younger kids, her own Case Worker strongly recommended an individual placement where the foster parents would be able to provide one-on-one supervision. But that documentation got lost so Bill never saw it when he placed Callie and Jude into the same home. Of course, the foster parents were aware but they kept quiet since they wanted two more."

"Callie was an easy target," Stef continued. "The middle school was on the same campus as the high school, so the older girl was able to keep an eye on her to make sure she was doing what she was told. The customers were all high school students."

Mike sighed, shaking his head. "I gotta give it to her. Unfortunately-dial-a-dope operations in youth are not unheard of but that's pretty extensive."

"I'm with you there. Sophisticated for a seventeen-year-old for sure but Callie? This is the kid who needs Lena or I to help organize her binder on a weekly basis because she can't remember to put handouts under the right tabs and then gets frustrated and begins to shove papers every which way into the front and back pockets."

"It didn't help that the court-appointed lawyer assigned to the case sucked. In the ruling the judge said Callie's participation demonstrated a level of sophistication in her planning that far outpaced her years," Stef quoted sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "He felt that was concerning."

"Jesus, c'mon! So what finally got them arrested?"

"Oh. The older girl had been taking one of the foster parent's car to and from school without their knowledge, taking Callie and Jude with her," she described, cringing at the thought of Jude riding without a booster, given he was so slight he still required one now.

"They were at the park when some teens showed up in a group. Unhappy customers. The older girl left the car to fight but when things spiralled out of control, Callie tried to drive away."

"Grand theft auto." Mike replied, recalling the charges off the top of his head.

"Yeah. Automatically," Stef nodded sadly. "Because Callie was in the driver's seat, the car was running, and the cops who were first on scene saw the car move, it was a no brainer for them. In their search they uncovered the burner phone the girls were using for dealing and a small amount of marijuana in the glove box. So possession and trafficking, too."

"Lemme guess. Callie didn't talk?"

"She stayed quiet, probably because she didn't want to make enemies. Older girl admitted what she had done a month later but the judge refused to amend the ruling," Stef ranted through gritted teeth. It upset her to this day to talk about it and even more so now that Dr. Wiseman had discussed how crucial the transition to adolescence was. Callie needed support more than ever at that point in her life; instead she had been manipulated and the legal system had made an example out of her.

She shook her head in the silence that followed. "I thought I was going to lose my shit today, seriously. That girl is going to shave a good five years off my life if this is any indication of what her teenage years are going to be like," she stated emphatically.

"At least you're not alone. She's shortening Lena's as we speak," Mike pointed out as Stef groaned in annoyance.

Callie's arms were crossed and she had just pulled away dramatically from Lena, shaking her head in a show of defiance. Returning the car on time was going to be harder than they thought.

Author Note:

Will Stef be able to keep it together and go with her and Lena's original plan?