Glad to hear a few of you got a laugh out of my shower ordeals when I was younger-and that I wasn't the only one!
Apologies for the delay in getting these next chapters out. This was a monster to write, as it always is when many characters are involved. Hopefully I captured the right dynamic in depicting the family's challenges without it being too disorganized. Huge thanks to theypreferthetermpeople for helping to smooth out some of the rough patches, and to everyone else for keeping my ideas rolling! Jude is being brought in and I'm excited to develop his character more.
A heads up that I'm making a concerted effort to wind this story down. I can see it coming to a natural endpoint where it can be brought home. ~b'shert
Chapter 34: A Disturbance of the Peace
Lena massaged the back of her neck as they stopped at the four way intersection. Tension in their household that morning had been at an all time high and at one point, it looked as though they wouldn't make it past their door.
All the kids had been unsettled by the shift to their Saturday morning routine. Wanting to be able to take their time with Callie and Jude after the appointment without needing to rush home, she had arranged for Sharon to stay with the rest of the children. However, they were unhappy at being "babysat," as they had put it, instead of being able to stay home alone. Probably because they couldn't get up to whatever they wanted to. Still, they had spent an obscene amount of time watching TV while Sharon figured out how to drum up endless breakfast for three hungry bodies.
And Callie and Jude? Anxious and upset enough at being made to see Dr. Wiseman, both had woken up with stomachaches that'd kept them from having more than a few bites of breakfast. They had then proceeded to drag their feet so much so that, by the end of it, she and Stef had stood in their respective rooms to make sure they were getting dressed. Even incentivizing it with time at the park or lunch at a pasta joint—just the four of them—wouldn't sway them. Running out of options, they'd ended up lying about the appointment time, which she hadn't felt particularly good about. Then of course, at the very last minute, Callie and Jude said that they wanted to eat. She and Stef suspected it was another stalling technique but by then it didn't matter because they'd run out of time. As a result, they were dealing with two very tired, hungry, and grumpy kids.
"I'm hungry," Jude grizzled.
"Well, young man, this is why we eat when it's time to eat," Stef reminded. "Why don't you have your oat bar that Mama packed?" There was a full ziploc of snacks back there; surely he could find something to pique his interest.
She heard the rustle of plastic as hands rummaged through the stash.
"But I wanted the hot breakfast—" the boy pointed out, a whine creeping into his voice. He stopped when Callie hit him on the arm. "Never mind…"
Beside her, Lena heard her wife draw in a long breath and let it out. "I'm sure Grandma will save you some," she reassured, trying to intervene for the sake of both Stef and the kids. She fished her phone out from her bag to remind Sharon to do just that.
"Okay," Jude responded dejectedly before his attention quickly shifted towards candy.
"Callie?" he whispered. He reached across the middle seat to tap his sister on the arm for the umpteenth time that car ride. "Callie! Do you think she'll have suckers?"
"How would I know?!" the girl exploded, pulling away in disgust. "Stop poking me!" she complained, her voice also climbing.
Stef gripped the steering wheel tighter in an attempt to calm herself. Something about whining was always so effective at grating her nerves. "Settle down please." Jude had carried on incessantly from the backseat since they'd set out and Callie, who was normally quite patient with him, had become less and less tolerant.
The two of them went silent for awhile, Jude taking in his sister's reaction before piping up again. "Is she a real doctor? Because real doctors usually have candy."
"I said, I don't—know!" the girl snapped. "It doesn't matter whether she does or doesn't!"
"Callie…" the cop said in warning tone as Lena patted her reassuringly on the forearm. She'd been holding her tongue the whole time but she did not want her daughter's mood to land her in trouble. This was certainly not something to argue about and she could tell by the crabby tone in Callie's voice that she was close to tears. "If you two cannot stop, I will pull over and separate you two."
"Can I sit in the—" Jude began hopefully.
"Absolutely not. You are not quite tall enough to sit in the front seat yet," Stef informed before Callie interrupted.
"You're not allowed to have candy, anyway, Jude. It's bad for your teeth," Callie said in a bossy tone, ignoring the directive from her foster mother. "And even if you were, you can't have it in the car because if we get in an accident it could off the little stick and you'd choke and die."
From the rearview mirror, Stef saw her son's eyes widen before they welled up with tears.
"Callie. It's time to stop. That is not appropriate," Lena interjected.
"How is it not appropriate?" the girl sassed. Realizing what she had said, she muttered a halfhearted sorry. She hadn't meant to make Jude cry.
Lena exchanged a weary glance with her wife as they heard the boy hiccup back a sob. "It's not up to you whether Jude can have something or not," she scolded gently, though she wasn't sure if Callie had heard her. Wanting to disengage, her daughter now had her head resting on her forearm and was leaning out the open window.
When they finally arrived, with five minutes to spare, both women felt frazzled. It wasn't even nine thirty yet but they were exhausted enough that they wondered how they'd make it through the rest of the day.
Although there were no plans to attempt individual counselling with either child until rapport had developed with Dr. Wiseman, a lot was riding on this appointment. After last week, Stef felt the pressure to give Callie a positive experience—but her own hangup about therapy wasn't helping. While she would never hesitate to do anything that was in the best interests of any of her children, the thought of family sessions was intimidating. Over the years, she'd had her own share of critical incident debriefing with the police psychologist. None had ever involved Lena, though.
She was well aware that her perceptive children were likely picking up on her own worries, which in turn were influencing their behaviour. They had continued to argue, though Callie had toned it down enough to avoid further reprimand. It turned out that driving there had only been half the ordeal, though. When it was time to get out, Jude insisted that he needed Brandon's Nintendo DS which they had reluctantly allowed him take into the car as a bribe. Callie didn't want to leave behind her sketchpad and was upset that she couldn't find an extra pencil because the one she had wasn't sharp anymore. And although both had been given ample warning to put away those things, neither had started until they'd parked.
The cop leaned her head against the elevator. Five kids were going to be the end of her, she just knew it. She wouldn't have it any other way, of course, but the recognition that she and Lena were now more than doubly outnumbered was a little more than frightening.
"Hi. Lena," Dr. Wiseman said, extending her hand. "It's so nice to finally meet you." She bent to be able to make eye contact with the boy standing next to her. "And you must be Jude."
Lena smiled as her son, who had his sticky palm in her's, stepped even closer towards her and burrowed his head into her side. He glanced up at her, wearing an expression akin to prey being dragged into a lion's den.
"Hi," he said politely when Lena gave him a look that told him he was expected to respond. This other lady seemed like she could be nice enough but he had enough experience by now to know better than to trust first impressions.
"Stef, Callie. It's nice to see you again."
"Hi," Callie mumbled shyly from where she stood slightly behind the cop. Feeling self-conscious at their last interaction and knowing that Dr. Wiseman was probably aware that she'd run away, she really hadn't wanted to see her again.
She was surprised to learn that things were slightly different from last time. They still did more activities that she would've preferred. However, the focus was not only on her and Jude but on all four of them, and it was funny to see her foster mothers stumble over their answers. After a short game, each of them were asked to share the highs and lows of the past week.
The highlight of Jude's week had been discovering an abandoned bicycle in the alley one evening. Lena had been hesitant about letting him take it home—the seat was ripped, it was rusting, and the handlebar was loose—but finally caved at his persistence. He was not to ride it until Stef and Lena could get him a helmet but Jude said he didn't mind. Callie could understand that; it was his and they hadn't had many things they could call their own. Predictably, his low point had been the loss of his video games for hiding his work.
When it was her turn, Callie clammed up. So much had gone wrong that recalling the lows was easy; the worst had definitely been learning that Stef regretted her, but she didn't want to get into details. Not with Jude there.
"I didn't like Bill coming over," she said, hoping that'd be good enough. She omitted what she really wanted to say. Because of me.
"Just getting into trouble and disappointing everyone, I guess. Uhm…I liked getting to go back to school…" She smiled sheepishly at Lena who raised an eyebrow at hearing that part of her answer. "And yesterday. I got to skip and me and Stef had a picnic at the park. Oh! And getting to listen to some old tapes, with my Mom's voice on it," she added, forgetting that Jude didn't know.
"Sorry, I was gonna tell you. Really," she said quietly. His confused expression turned to one of hurt before he looked away, refusing to acknowledge her apology. He was mad.
Like their daughter, Stef and Lena weren't comfortable with being completely honest about the biggest stressors on their minds. Those comprised of Callie's legal issues, learning the full extent of the abuse the siblings had gone through, and the ongoing challenges with nightmares and establishing good hygiene. But by far, the most difficult—for the both of them—had been when Callie had gotten into the safe and how Stef had handled the discipline for it. They weren't at all surprised that Callie hadn't brought it up but wished they could speak openly about it so that their daughter could get the support she deserved—and so they could get feedback on moving forward.
However, because neither were comfortable with the risk of losing Callie or Jude over this, Lena shared that her biggest challenge had been getting burnt out with work. Zapped for energy well before she came home, she hadn't been communicating well, which had contributed to arguments with the children and Stef.
"Bill's visit was stressful," she said, empathizing with Callie. "But it wasn't all bad, was it? It gave me my favourite part of the week—getting an official adoption date," she said as tears pricked her eyes.
Callie looked away, not quite sure how she felt about the adoption anymore as Lena shared her other highlights. Sorting through everyone's closets to figure out what items no longer fit and what could be donated or saved for hand-me-downs. Watching Wall-E during family film night was another, and she couldn't help the intrusive thought that maybe that had been a high point since that was something she'd chosen not to participate in. That maybe, Lena, too, wasn't so sure of her either.
"Finally getting Adoption Day solidified was pretty special. It can't come soon enough," Stef agreed, clearing her throat so she wouldn't start to cry. She winked at Callie, perplexed at the girl's sad expression when it'd first been mentioned. "I also liked our picnic very much and hope we get to do more of that, although maybe at a time when you're not supposed to be in class. And learning to communicate better with my wife," she said as she turned towards Lena.
She paused, trying to figure out how she'd answer the second part of the exercise. What could she say? That her daughter had scared her half to death by putting herself in danger? That to return the favour, she had taught her to be afraid of her, too?
"There were some tough times…" the cop admitted, deciding to keep it general. "I've been working most nights when the kids are in bed, which isn't healthy. It seems like right now I don't have enough time with my family and that never feels good. We fought a great deal," she said slowly. "And that's hard because so much of my job involves crisis, negotiating, and fighting. I can't really catch a break."
"But I don't ever resent the difficult times," Stef continued, making eye contact with Lena. "Because there's always something that can be learned from them. Yes, we argued a lot this week—we got mad and resentful that we couldn't make each other see things our way—but we ended up with a better understanding of each other. I also don't like feeling as though I'm always having to be the mean parent—but it meant that when Lena and I finally got a chance to switch, I was all the more grateful for it." She grinned as Lena laughed, understanding her reference to the morning both kids had landed in her office. "It wasn't intentional. But I have to say, I really appreciated that break from my normal role."
Dr. Wiseman nodded at the opportunity to carry their discussion further with Stef's reflection. "That's a wonderful observation, one that maybe we can all take some time to think about. It's easy to write off an experience that isn't fully positive as bad. Something to avoid from happening again. But like Stef mentioned, they often give us a different perspective."
"I'm going to ask a series of questions now that are just for you to answer for yourself. When you think about the lows you described, were you able to take away at least one valuable lesson from each?" she inquired as each member of the family slowly nodded their agreement. "Was someone there to support you? If so, who was that person? Was that new, and how did it make you feel? Could they have done something differently that would've made their support even better?" She paused, letting the questions settle. "If you didn't have anyone…who could you have gone to?"
"For the highlights—was someone there with you to share in the success? Who was it, and how did their presence change the experience? If you didn't have anyone, what would it have meant to you, to have someone there?
This part of the activity was intended for Jude and Callie. The main thing she was trying to do was to guide them to look to the women as sources of support they could rely on. In the long run, this would cultivate attachment with Stef and Lena, and help them transition from a fostering to an adoptive relationship—which usually came with challenges that were overlooked. More importantly, she hoped to encourage the development of a more typical sibling relationship between the children. One grounded on healthy separation that allowed the space for them to reach socioemotional milestones.
"It's alright if you didn't have an answer for each of these questions," the psychologist reiterated at seeing Jude's concern. "What's important is that you thought of them."
She left the table and went to the cabinet, returning with markers and a brand new pack of bright, multicoloured flashcards.
"I like that exercise because it gets us to think about how things went, and how we might do things differently to change the outcome if we had an opportunity to do so. Reflection is just as important as looking ahead because it helps us shape our plans."
Tearing the plastic wrapper, she removed three of the colours and placed them into separate stacks on the table. "Because that's actually the fun part. So, for the rest of our time together today, we're going to practice making goals and talking about them."
Lena couldn't help her amusement as she watched her children, neither of whom were listening. Jude wore a glazed expression on his face and was on his third yawn; Callie was progressively sliding down in her chair. She leaned to the side, towards her daughter, so as to have a quiet word. "Hey. Sit up, please."
"Callie. Why might setting goals be important?" Dr. Wiseman asked. She had overheard their exchange and wanted to capture her attention again.
"Because you can keep track of what you're working on?" the girl tried, stammering at being put on the spot.
"What about you, Jude?"
The boy scrunched his face. "'Cause maybe it helps you remember what you're supposed to be doing?"
"Great answers, you two! Having goals help us keep the future in mind and plan out what we need to do to get there," she explained, upping her enthusiasm in response to the children's boredom. "Okay! Pick your colours!" She smiled encouragingly as Callie cautiously picked the orange cards while Jude went for the green.
"Remember, we're only doing the first step right now," the woman said, pulling the markers toward the family. "You're imagining all the things you want—it could be a specific item or something you would like to do. Write one on each card. I want you to think of it as, if nothing could stand in the way, what is it that you'd want?"
"There are a few ground rules. The most important one is to be respectful of each other's ideas—I don't want to see any discouraging. This isn't about debating what is or isn't a goal, but to hear what everyone is looking forward to so you can work together as a family to support them in getting there. Agreed?" she asked, satisfied when the kids nodded dutifully. Secondly: no goal is too big or too small. But, I'm challenging you to keep them as manageable and action-oriented as possible because it'll be easier to plan later on. For example, getting a job is more manageable to make plans for than, being nice. Last but not least: you two can talk about your ideas and have the same goals, but they must be written on cards of your own colour."
As she listened to the explanation, Lena understood the clinical reasoning behind the seemingly simplistic exercise. Adopting Jesus and Mariana had taught her that children used to chaotic situations kept very short-term mindsets. Because footing was typically on soft ground that could give way at any moment, the focus was usually tied to meeting immediate needs and getting through the day. This was a huge part of why Callie and Jude both had trouble adjusting their behavior; even if they were made of procedures and consequences beforehand, impulsivity eventually won. Therefore, expecting them to think months ahead was nearly impossible. Which would be fine, of course, if encouraging them to process the upcoming adoption didn't require thinking into the future.
Divvying up the remaining stack, Dr. Wiseman shifted her focus to Stef and Lena. "Your roles are going to be slightly different," she began. Every time she facilitated this exercise, she had parents share the same colour to represent that they were on the same team.
"You will be identifying the goals that you would like to see Jude and Callie work towards. You'll also keep track of as many major events—milestones, essentially—in the short- and long-term that you foresee. Birthdays; entering high school and graduation; learning to drive. Finishing probation and getting adopted count as well. Milestones are easy to overlook as goals because they happen naturally and to some extent, are beyond our control," the woman explained. "But they take just as much of our time and effort."
She smiled as she caught Callie give her the side-eye. Usually, this part of the activity lead to conflict between children and their adoptive parents. She fully expected it in this situation, since the kids were used to doing things on their own without much in the way of parental guidance. Plus, Callie had previously alluded to feeling like Stef didn't have the right to give her direction.
However, the collision of goals—in between siblings as well as against parents' rules and wishes—was healthy. It allowed effective ways to communicate disagreement to be modelled. The ultimate head fake was that children could slowly learn that disapproval did not equate loss of love and support.
Conflict was a necessity for growth.
Every so often, Stef and Lena would steal a glance at their kids as they worked away. They still looked bored but less so now that Gisella had stopped talking. Callie had her head against her arm, nestled in the crook of her elbow as she filled out her cards. Apart from the occasional interruption from Jude asking her to spell a word and her stopping to oblige, they didn't speak and there was little doubt that they were being thoughtful about the activity.
Hearing Callie's stomach squeal, Lena rummaged through her handbag for the snack bag from the car. The kids, seeing her take out the cut up fruit and nut butter she had packed, perked up immediately.
"Jude. Why don't you begin by reading out some of the goals you came up with that you don't mind sharing with us?" Dr. Wiseman suggested.
A born educator, Lena beamed as her son sat up straight and cleared his throat. She could see that he was bursting. That this was quite possibly one of the few times anyone had asked what he wanted to do and he couldn't wait to talk about it.
"I couldn't think of too many," Jude cautioned, his confidence faltering.
"That's alright. Today is only the start. You'll have plenty of opportunities to add new goals at later sessions," Dr. Wiseman reassured. "Even once we start planning for some of them, doesn't mean you'll need to stop thinking of things you want to do. Make sense?"
Jude nodded. That took the pressure off sharing. "Uhm, okay," he said as he gathered his cards together to go through one-by-one. "I want to walk to my friend's house by myself…I'm not allowed right now. Go hiking in the forest. Go to a movie together. Just us, if that's okay, because I can't hear or see whenever we watch at home because there's too many people and by the time the popcorn comes around there's just the kernels," he complained. "Go to the beach, and the waterpark that's close by. I want to get a library card so I can take out books. Have a real birthday party one year…go to the zoo or the aquarium, because I like animals," Jude added poignantly.
He hesitated when he saw what he'd written on the next one, knowing Callie wouldn't be happy. "See my Dad," he said quietly. Nervous, he avoided looking her way.
Stef and Lena exchanged a worried glance. They had always known that it was only a matter of time before this would come up but hadn't quite finessed the language around explaining the logistics of how that would look—or, if it'd happen at all.
The boy's hands shook as he finished off his pile. "Have my own DS because Jesus and Brandon always hog it." He grinned, basking in the attention as everyone in the room laughed. "Oh!" he exclaimed at seeing the last one. "I want to learn to ride my bike!"
His enthusiasm left him quickly as the laughter from his foster moms died off. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked, deflated. Perhaps, he had asked for too much, he couldn't help thinking.
"No, no. You did not say anything wrong," Lena comforted, although aware that the waver in her voice directly was in direct contradiction to what she was saying. Through tears, she smiled at her son who was staring at her—his face filled with concern and doubt. Wrapping an arm around his shoulder, she brought him into her side and kissed him on the cheek. "You did so well, Bud. I'm proud of you."
"Okay," Jude replied, troubled by the thought that Lena wasn't being truthful. Remembering that Dr. Wiseman was still there, he fidgeted out of her hold.
From across the table, Stef gave her wife a sympathetic glance. She knew exactly what this was about, because she felt the same sadness. Both of them had indelible memories of the very first time Brandon, Mariana, and Jesus learned to ride their bikes—a moment that would be built up for weeks as the training wheels came off. It hadn't even occurred to her that Jude had missed out on the cherished childhood experience—one that most parents touted as a developmental milestone.
"What would it mean for you to be able to ride your bicycle, Jude?" Dr. Wiseman asked. For now, she wanted to keep pushing them to articulate their needs and wants.
"If I could ride by bike then maybe I could ride to my friends' and explore the trails in the park."
"That's a great idea, Jude. Thank you for sharing. I like that you kept your goals very specific," Dr. Wiseman said. She could tell how excited he was. "Let's give your sister a turn, shall we? Callie, would you mind sharing some of the ideas you came up with?"
"Okay…" the girl stammered. Her cheeks burned. Although it was just Jude, Stef, and Lena, she didn't like speaking in front of groups—and especially not in front of strangers. Hands shaking, she reached for her cards, which she'd placed face down so no one would see. "I…I want to learn to ride a bike, too," she said shyly. "I hope I can find one that's the right size, like Jude did," she added before putting it aside. "Tide-pooling, because I like nature. Learn to swim. Go camping," she continued as her courage picked up. "Get my cartilage done, right here," she said, pointing to her pinna. "Build a tabletop easel with instructions I found online. Get my social security when I'm old enough so I can work and save up to move out and buy art supplies," Callie said, suddenly sounding very grown up. Until, that is, she reached the last one. "Go to the fair when it comes to town for the summer…" she said quietly, looking down.
"Those are all very good goals to have. Thank you," the woman praised. She wanted to provide Callie with lots of positive reinforcement since she was the more guarded of the two siblings. "What's your favourite ride at the fair?"
Callie brightened at thinking about all of the ones she liked. "The rollercoaster, and the log flume. There's this one ride…I don't know if they have it anymore, but you sit in a hamster cage thing with a few others. It starts to roll as it goes around a track—"
"—so you end up somersaulting faster as the ride speeds up. That one?" the psychologist asked, laughing at the incredulous look the girl gave her. "I do know a thing or two about the Rok n Roll, Callie."
"Oh my gosh, that sounds stomach churning. Mom will be more than happy to take you," Lena quickly offered.
Stef paled. "What?! Why am I always the one who gets voluntold? Don't I get a say in this?" the cop balked as her family laughed at her.
"And what about camping? What is it about it that you look forward to?" the Psychologist asked once the laughter died down. Having managed to break the ice with Callie, she hoped to make some inroads while she had the chance.
"Mmm—that it's totally different from daytime. I just think it'd be cool to be outside at night, when it's dark and quiet. Like you're up when everyone's asleep. And then, if it's clear, you can see the stars and try to figure out the constellations," Callie described, remembering the stories her Mom would share from going camping with her friends before she had her. "It doesn't have to be at a campground or anything," she added quickly. She figured that if she reeled it in enough, there'd be a higher likelihood it could happen. "I can pitch a tent in the backyard…if that's allowed," she said , making fleeting eye contact with her foster mothers.
"Well, Mama and I would have to discuss it…" Stef began slowly. "It probably wouldn't happen on a school night, but I don't see why we couldn't do it on a Friday or Saturday." Her daughter had no idea of the camping supplies in the garage and she could not wait to surprise her. Callie asking for wants was so rare that she was motivated to make it happen.
As the smile crept across the girl's face, she understood that, for Callie, the thought of her ideas falling into the realm of possibility was an entirely new concept. "It could be just us, if you'd like," the cop assured. She wanted to make it clear that she and Lena had no expectations that this needed to be shared with the rest of the family—unless, of course, that was what Callie wanted.
"Sounds like we all know which goal Callie will be choosing to get started with," Dr. Wiseman commented.
Mindful of the time, she began to look through the cards the women had filled out. She had to move on to the one thing she wanted Jude and Callie to start thinking about.
"Stef and Lena wrote this down as a milestone for both of you," she said, pulling two cards to the center of the table. Callie's Adoption. Jude's Adoption. "Is this something you think about?" The children nodded enthusiastically before she could finish her sentence.
Dr. Wiseman chuckled; it wasn't very often she got to see older children go through adoption, and Callie and Jude's happiness was contagious. "I can certainly understand why, you two. It's a big deal."
"I wanted to ask you, have you ever thought about what it means to be adopted?" she inquired. "How it's different from being fostered?"
"Well, you don't move around so much anymore, so we can live in one place," Jude replied right away.
"Adoption is the endgame," Callie piped up, using the same language as Bill would when he explained it to them. Over the years, that was one of the few things that had never changed. "Getting fostered is supposed to be a bridge to get us there."
"That's a great way to look at it. Foster care is a temporary arrangement but adoption is permanent. Once you're adopted, it cannot be reversed," Dr. Wiseman elaborated. Technically speaking, there were ways, but she was fairly confident in this case that it wasn't an avenue that would be considered. Stef and Lena had followed through with successful adoption in the past, and the surviving biological parent no longer had rights to Callie and Jude.
"Another way to think about it is by parental rights," the woman said carefully. Explaining the legal side of things was never easy but these conversations were important to establish a foundation for later questions which inevitably came up. "Foster parents work very closely with the state to take care of you. The state makes big picture decisions like where you live, medical care you need, and your education. That's where Bill comes in. He helps make the plan and checks to see that it's running as smoothly as it can be. Caregivers—so, Stef and Lena—are responsible for making it happen. They're in charge of everyday things like feeding you healthy meals, clothing you, getting you to school. Making sure you have the things you need to keep you safe, happy, and healthy. Based on what they learn about you, they're able to advocate for what they think you need for your wellbeing. But anything that impacts those big picture categories must be cleared with Bill. You can think of it as Bill sharing parental rights with your foster parents."
"So, right now…if Stef and Lena wanted to take you to a campground out of state, they would need to run that by Bill," Dr. Wiseman said, hoping that a tangible example would help illustrate her point. "They need permission. Same goes for field trips."
"Really?" Callie said. She had had no idea. "So even though Bill doesn't know us as well as Stef and Lena, who we see every day, he gets the final say?" she asked incredulously.
"That's right. Some agencies also have rules on what holidays can and cannot be celebrated, or if you're allowed to get a haircut."
"But that's not fair."
"It doesn't seem very fair, does it?" the woman empathized. "Once you're adopted, though, the state no longer oversees the relationship. Adoptive parents can make all the big picture decisions on your behalf because they have the same rights. As if they were your biological parents." She kept it factual. Unemotional. "How do you feel about that?"
Callie frowned. "It's good, I guess." She and Jude had known Bill for a long time, but she didn't like that things had to go by him so was happy that it'd come to an end. And she definitely looked forward to having a place to stay for awhile without worrying about being moved.
But still…it was weird. How could Stef and Lena have rights like their biological parents when they weren't?
"What about you, Jude?" Dr. Wiseman asked. "What do you think about all of this?"
"I don't want to cut my hair…" he whined, remembering how he and the other boys would be made to line up to get their heads shaved whenever someone managed to get head lice. Judging by how fast the parents would act, he was pretty sure that they hadn't asked Bill.
"We know, Jude," Stef and Lena chorused. Their youngest had made that clear from the start and they had never imagined pushing the issue. As long as he showed he could keep it clean or let them help him, he could keep it the way he wanted.
Callie rolled her eyes. That was not the point. "No. About being adopted, Jude."
"It's awesome!" he replied cheerfully, this time complying with the question. "'Cause now we can stay with Stef and Lena until Dad's out of jail and we can go live with him again."