Chapter eight: Hair, not the musical.
Callie sat on the end of the bed, with Lena behind her spraying copious amounts of watermelon smelling detangler over her hair to the point her hair was drenched in the stuff.
"At least it smells good," Callie mumbled as she watched Spongebob on the television in Lena and Stef's room.
Lena smiled as she tried to gently work out the tangles in Callie's hair as she sat behind the child.
Starting from the bottom and working her way up, Lena realized the task was going to take some time. Callie's hair was much longer than they'd realized. Once it was fully brushed out, she expected it to nearly reach Callie's behind.
"Why don't you comb out your hair after you wash it, Cals," Lena asked her softly.
Callie shrugged. She didn't know. When she'd first gone into the foster care system she'd been eight. The first foster home had made sure her hair was always brushed out. By the third foster home, she'd had more hair jerked out of her head by rough hands than she cared to admit, so she started taking care of it herself. Then in juvie it had been easier and safer to just throw it up in a bun. When she'd come to Stef and Lena's, she'd just not bothered, fully expecting to be sent back to juvie when she finally got Jude back.
"I don't know anymore."
Lena worked gently on the knots in Callie's hair quietly for several moments, listening to the sweet sounds of Callie's laugh as she watched the porous, yellow sponge on the television try so hard to get
"One foster home smacked me across the back of the head with a brush," Callie said casually.
Lena stopped mid brush and looked down at Callie, "Am I hurting you, Love?"
"Nope. First time in a long time someone messing with my hair hasn't hurt. Including myself," Callie said, not really paying attention to anything but what was happening on Spongebob.
Lena nodded to herself, knowing Callie couldn't see her. Part of her was glad Callie was in her own little world at the moment. It was nice — just the two of them in steady silence.
She continued to work on Callie's hair for the better part of an hour, and she was finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
"Cals, I am almost done. After this, we are going to wash your hair and brush it out again. Then we will let it dry."
"What about my bedtime," Callie asked, not taking her eyes off of the television. She'd not really ever been the one to pick what to watch, and it was a treat.
"It's Saturday, and though you are grounded, this is more important. We need to get your hair to a point where it is manageable."
Callie nodded, "Can I take a bath in the big tub?"
Lena froze halfway to Callie's hair. The action caused Callie to turn and look up at Lena.
"You want to take a bath in my bathroom after I wash your hair?"
Callie shook her head.
"No, I want to take a bath while you wash my hair. I don't want to lean over the tub. Ever. I'd rather take a bath."
Lena looked into Callie's eyes. She wasn't sure what Callie was thinking, but she was sure there was more to this story. She didn't want to push Callie.
"You'd want to take a bath while I washed your hair, Love? I didn't think you'd want me in there. You're thirteen. When Mariana was thirteen she'd have a heart attack if one of us walked in the bathroom," Lena said.
Callie turned her entire body around, causing Lena to, once again, realize how young Callie really was.
"Lena, I was in juvie for three months. I don't care what you see. Besides — you kind of have the same parts I do and it's not like I have anything to show. So, what does it matter? Just means I don't have to take a bath after you finish my hair."
And just like that, Lena realized again everything Callie had been through in her young life.
"Does it bother you, Lena? I can take a bath after if it makes you uncomfortable. It just doesn't bother me. I lost my modesty when I went into foster care. It's not a big deal," Callie explained.
"Love, you deserve your modesty if you want it. But, no, it does not bother me. I'm a mom, I've seen it all. And you're right. I have the same parts you do."
"So, can I have some bubbles? I really like the soap Stef uses and I bet it will make great bubbles."
Lena laughed and nodded, standing up from the bed to start running the water for Callie's bubble bath — not even caring for a moment she was probably about to use an entire bottle of soap to make the bubbles Callie asked for.
After a forty-five minute bath, having hair shampooed and conditioned, and begging for another five minutes to just sit in the bathtub, Callie was wrapped in Stef's robe, back on the end of the bed, watching one of the Harry Potter movies that was on television.
Lena had once again sprayed the watermelon detangler on Callie's hair.
And oh how wrong she'd been about how long Callie's hair was. It went past her behind when straight. From personal experience, she knew once the curls dried her hair would appear much shorter. But the child had so much more hair than they had realized.
"Now we wait for it to dry, Love."
Callie looked up at Lena and smiled shyly, "Thanks, Lena. My head already feels a lot better. It doesn't hurt like it did. Do you think you can cut some of my hair off now that its brushed?"
Lena was just about to answer when a knock was at the door and the door cracked open with Stef's head peaking in.
"Everything okay in here? You've both been really quiet. Hey! Is that kid wearing my robe? You better be glad I love you, Sweets, because I wouldn't let just anyone wear my robe, you know," Stef said, winking at Callie.
Callie smiled, "Lena said I could wear it because I took a bath while she washed my hair and I didn't have any clean clothes in here except a tank top and underwear."
"Whoa, Cals. Your hair is beautiful, Love," Stef said, walking over and running her hair gently over the freshly washed chestnut locks. Neither Stef nor Lena could believe just how much hair she had. It bothered them both that they'd not realized sooner what Callie had been doing with her hair. They had known it was thick. They'd not known it was so long.
"Callie was just asking me if I could cut some of her hair off," Lena told Stef.
Stef nodded. She understood where this was going.
"We need to get her and Jude more clothes, too. It's time. We — no ma'am, Callie, not a word from you about this," Stef said when she noticed Callie was about to tell her she didn't need new clothes. Callie had been adamantly against the idea each time it was brought up.
"Your clothes are either much too small or much too large. You need new clothes. We can go tomorrow and get your hair cut. We need to talk about how you want it cut before any of it is chopped off, okay," Lena asked.
Callie sighed and nodded. She hated shopping. But having less hair would be nice.
"It's set then. We will go shopping tomorrow," Stef said.
Callie sighed again. This was not going to be fun.
AN: I have had some readers tell me this story is similar to others. For that, I am sorry, as I am trying to make this alternate universe as different as possible. I already have quite a bit of it written. But I can assure you I have not copied any of this story from anything else. These are my thoughts and ideas mixed with those of Freeforms "The Fosters."
On another note, I have also had questions about Brandon. Those will all be answered eventually, but he would have been a year older than the twins. Questions about anything else? Ask away!
