Chapter Twelve: The necklace, revisited

Callie sat in the kitchen and glared at Frankie who was sitting across the island from her. Frankie was staring back, her arms crossed over her chest.

Lena was cooking dinner and keeping her eyes on the two girls while she cooked, thinking back to the talk she and Stef had had with Sharon earlier.

"You two need to talk to Callie about a Liam. I have a bad feeling about this person. Jude said …"

"Mom! Tell me you did now bombard our seven year old with questions about their past lives," Stef hissed. Stef was still wound tight from Callie running into the streets and nearly being hit. She took a deep breath.

Sharon put her hands on her hips and and stared at her daughter.

"Stefanie, of course I didn't! He just talked to me during our little tea party. Some of the things he said …"

"What did he say, Sharon," Lena had asked.

"He said Callie let 'Liam' touch her in her bedroom so he wouldn't hurt him. I just have this feeling …"

Lena had stared at Sharon for several moments, confusion written all over her face.

"Who is Liam," Lena finally asked.

"I am not a hundred percent sure, but it seems he had to have been a male in one of the homes she's been in. How many did you say she'd been in? The child is only thirteen years old, her mother was killed when she was, what, eight," Sharon asked in a whisper.

The conversation would replay in Lena's head for a long time, she knew. They knew they needed to talk to Callie, but Stef and she had both decided they wanted to look at Callie and Jude's files first. They didn't want the children knowing they were looking at the files. Foster children often thought their files marked them, like a bad omen throughout life. It was something Stef and Lena had had to deal with when they had emergency placements when they had first started fostering children. Those children were usually older and hated when their files were mentioned.

They no longer took emergency placements, and Callie had only been placed with them because she didn't handle male authority figures well at all. Then Jude had been placed with them after Callie had gone after him.

Jude should have been placed with them when they got Callie. Stef and Lena had always been open to siblings.

They needed to see Callie and Jude's files to see what the children had been through.

"Can I get up now," Frankie asked. She felt like she'd been sitting at the table for hours.

"No," Lena said, as she checked the rice she was boiling.

"Why," Frankie asked.

"Because you are in trouble and Mommy and I need to talk to you about it."

"When."

Lena's eyes narrowed. The child knew exactly what she was doing and Lena was definitely not going to give into her.

"When Mommy and I are ready."

"Is Callie in trouble, too?"

"That is none of your concern."

There was silence afterwards and Callie laid her head down on the table. She felt like this day was never going to end. This had, no doubt, been the longest weekend ever.


"Wake up, Love, we need to talk before supper," Stef gently shook Callie awake.

Callie jumped and looked around. Frankie was still sitting across from her, her arms still crossed, and supper looked to be nearly complete.

"Come on, Love. We need to talk about today," Stef said again.

Callie nodded and then wiped her eyes. She knew she hadn't been asleep long, but she was still disoriented.

"Okay girls, Frankie, let's talk about Callie's necklace. You knew it was hers, yes." Stef asked.

Frankie shrugged.

"No ma'am, that is not good enough. Use your words," Stef lectured.

Frankie sighed and rolled her eyes a bit.

"I knew it was Callie's. It fell off in the car and I put it in my pocket and when we were in the store I put it around my neck. Callie didn't even know her necklace was missing til she realized it inside the store and then ran out. It wasn't even my fault!"

Stef raised her eyebrow at her youngest.

"Had you told Callie her necklace had fallen off and had given it to her, you wouldn't be in trouble."

Frankie shrugged again.

"She should take better care of her things. You always tell us if we lose things we aren't taking care of them."

"And I also told you there is a difference between losing your shoes every day and something being actually lost. Callie's necklace fell off of her neck because it's very old and the clasp is loose. That means Callie has taken very good care of that necklace for a very long time," Stef explained.

"Fine. Sorry I took Callie's necklace."

"I don't think I am the one you need to apologize too," Stef said, nodding toward Callie.

Frankie sighed again, "Callie, I am sorry I took your necklace. I should have told you it fell off your neck."

"It's okay, Frankie," Callie said in a whisper. What else did they think she was going to say? That she was really angry at Frankie? The kid was five and their real kid. Callie wasn't dumb. She knew how this worked. It worked the same way all foster homes worked, no matter how safe they made her feel most of the time.

"Frankie, you are grounded from television and will go to bed early all week. Now, go wash your hands and then tell everyone it is time for supper. Remember you have to count to fifty when you wash your hands," Lena said.

Frankie, thankful for the reprieve, jumped down and ran toward the stairs.

"Walk, Francesca," Lena said.

The two women took this time to look at Callie, who was obviously exhausted, but they only had a short amount of time to talk before the rest of the kids came down for supper.

"Callie, honey, do you realize why you are in trouble for today," Lena asked softly. It had been a rough day. That was definite. They were all tired.

"Because I lost my necklace," Callie said quietly.

Stef came around to Callie's side and lifted her chin up so she could see her face.

"Love, you are NOT in trouble for losing your necklace," Stef said gently, "That was an accident."

"Then why can't I have my necklace back," Callie asked. It was the last thing she had left of her mother except for Jude. She needed it. It was the only string attaching her to a happy life. The happy life she had had before her mother had died.

"Oh, my love. I am not keeping your necklace from you. I wanted to talk to you about either getting it fixed or buying a new chain for the pendant so you can wear it without worrying about it falling off again," Stef said, rubbing Callie's back.

"Then why am I in trouble? I didn't do anything," Callie said, glaring at Stef.

"Callie! You ran out in the middle of traffic," Stef said, trying to keep her cool. The girl had scared her to death when she ran out in front of all of those vehicles.

"That's why?"

Callie looked confused, but she was saved when the sound of stampeding children were headed to the stairs.

"We will finish this talk after supper, understood," Stef said, moving to help Lena get the food on the table.

Callie nodded and then turned to watch as everyone came into the kitchen for supper.


AN: I had some comments about Frankie and talking like she is not a 5-year old. I disagree. She is the youngest in a family with two educated mothers and two older siblings who are quite a bit older than she is. I have a niece who could hold a conversation such as these when she was 3-5-years old. In the family she grew up in, I believe Frankie would be similar.