Stef and Lena followed the girls closely as they walked through the mall — Marianna, followed by Callie, with Frankie practically in Callie's back pocket.

For once, the mothers were glad the boys were not with them. Jesus was at Emma's house and Jude was with Stef's mother, absolutely refusing to go shopping.

Callie hadn't wanted to go either, but Lena and Stef had told her she had to since she was grounded. It was part of her punishment for lying to them about her math test and forging Stef's signature on it.

And Callie was miserable. That much was obvious.

They were there because Callie wanted her hair cut, which had been their first stop, Stef and Lena agreeing to nine inches of hair being cut, still leaving Callie with hair well past her shoulders. Callie had immediately put her hair in a ponytail after it was cut, though Lena and Stef could both tell she was proud of her haircut.

Callie also had to have some clothes. More than the two pairs of pants and three shirts. More than a few pair of panties and she needed a few training bras since, hopefully, she would put on some weight soon, which in turn would more than likely mean she'd need to start wearing a bra. And she had no socks. Jude needed more than he had as well, but even he had more than Callie.

She had written her sizes down and handed it to Stef that morning, stating she decided she wasn't going and she could get her hair cut at a later date. Stef had looked at the piece of paper Callie had handed her and held in her laughter.

None of the sizes were correct. Stef knew that right off. But that wasn't what was funny. It was what the note said:

"No pink. No bright colors. No pink. Some flannel is okay. No weird color jeans. Just regular jeans. No PINK. I hate PINK. I already live in a room that looks like a unicorn puked and then rolled in it. NO PINK. I MEAN IT."

When Callie realized she had to go, however, Stef had thought she was going to cry, despite Stef asking her how she thought she was going to get her hair cut if she wasn't with them.

"Callie. Callie. Callie. Why are you mad?" Frankie asked Callie again, pulling Stef out of her thoughts.

Callie sighed and tried to walk faster, but Frankie slipped her fingers through one of Callie's belt loops.

"Callie you have to slow down! I can't walk as fast and you have to answer my questions!"

If anything, Callie tried to walk faster, but Frankie, while small, was still half Callie's size and weighed Callie down, slowing her movements.

"Frankie, stop," Callie whispered, nearly begging. She didn't want Stef and Lena to hear her. She didn't want them to think she was being mean to the little girl. She was only a bit younger than Jude, but they were so different. Jude was timid. Frankie was outspoken. She took after Stef, that much was for sure.

Lena chuckled, watching the interactions in front of her.

"How long are we going to let Frankie pull on Callie like that? Isn't she miserable enough?" Stef asked Lena.

"We should …" Lena started to say, until Callie turned to the left, causing Frankie to jerk and tear the belt loop on Callie's jeans. Frankie fell, Marianna stopped and turned, Callie froze, and then bolted down the corridor to her left, towards the bathrooms.

"I've got Callie, you get Frankie and Marianna." Stef said to Lena as she headed towards the area Callie had run off. Callie had been with them such a short time, she didn't feel it was a good idea to send Lena after her, not knowing how far the girl would run.

Lena watched Stef run to where Callie had disappeared as she walked up to Frankie, who was being comforted by Marianna.

"Callie is mean!" Frankie cried, as she reached her arms out towards Lena from Marianna's hip.

At this, Lena's eyes narrowed. She took the child, but then stood her up on the ground and took her hand, leading her to a nearby bench.

Lena sat on the bench and brought Frankie to her, standing her between her knees.

"Callie is not mean. Mommy and I have talked to you about this several times since Callie moved in with us. She is not used to so many questions. When she asked you to stop, what should you have done?" Lena asked.

Frankie frowned and stared up at her mother. She crossed her arms and stuck her bottom lip out. She did not, however, respond.

"Francesca. I asked you a question."

Frankie's bottom lip went out further, causing Marianna, who was trying to remain invisible, to snicker.

Lena's head shot in her direction, "Miss Thang, if you don't want to be in this conversation, I suggest you mind your manners and sit down while I talk to your sister."

Marianna's head nodded, and she quickly went to another nearby bench to sit and look at her phone. She definitely didn't want to be involved in any of this. She just wanted to shop.

Lena turned back toward Frankie, "You have to give Callie space when she asks for it. I realize you are only five and sometimes you don't understand things, but Callie asked you to stop, correct?"

Frankie nodded, sullenly.

"So what should you have done?"

Frankie shrugged, sticking her bottom lip out and staring at the floor. Stubborn. The child was so stubborn. Lena knew Frankie knew exactly what she should have done, but at the moment, in front of her stood Stef's child through and through.


Stef ran after Callie. She was surprised at how fast the girl could run, but was pleasantly surprised when Callie stopped and sat against a wall at the end of the corridor instead of running out the exit, setting off alarms.

Stef stopped mid-jog, then walked over to Callie and slid against the wall into a sitting position beside her.

"Well, Love, I have to say, you can definitely run like the wind. Maybe we need to put you on the track team."

Callie tried to laugh a little through the tears running down her cheeks.

Stef put her arm around Callie and hugged her close, "Frankie can be a bit overbearing at times. I think she learned that from Mariana."

This time Callie did laugh as she put her chin on her knees.

"You can't run, Love. Not anymore. You cannot run away from your problems."

"I hurt Frankie," Callie said, bearing her head in her crossed arms.

Stef squeezed Calle closer to her and kissed the side of her head.

"Love, you did not hurt Frankie. Thats on Mama and me. We should have made Frankie leave you alone sooner. That is on us, not you. And Frankie is also to blame a bit. She knew what she was doing. She knew she was getting on your nerves and you told her to stop and leave you alone. You didn't push her. She fell when your belt loop tore. The only thing you did wrong was run."

Callie shrugged.

"No ma'am. You can't shrug this one off. You can't hide from your problems. You need to come talk to me or Lena. You have to figure out how to deal with things in healthier ways."

"I'll try," Callie whispered.

"Okay, how about we go find everyone else and head across the street to the boutique Mariana 'just has to go to,'" Stef said.

Callie looked up at Stef, "Can we be done now? Please? I have more clothes than I have ever had and I am tired of being here. We got my hair cut hours ago and that was why you made me come. Next time Lena can shop for me, not Mariana, though."

Stef laughed. It had definitely become clear while shopping that Callie hated shopping and Mariana and she had nothing in common when it came to clothes.

"One more stop and then we are done. Let's go," Stef said, standing up and then offering her hand to the teen, pulling her up so they could go find the the others.

AN: Thank you for the reviews. To clear up a few things that will probably come to light in the story at a later date, Stef and Lena already had the twins and had adopted them when Brandon died. Brandon would be 17, the twins are 16. The got the twins when they were four. Questions? Ask away!