It started with a tickle in the back of her throat Wednesday night. By Thursday it was more than a tickle, with a slight cough and a pain behind her eyes that just wouldn't go away. Callie was short tempered and was snapping at everyone, though she had been trying not to. For once, she'd been thankful she was grounded and had to go to bed early. By the end of each day she was exhausted. She'd nearly cried when, Thursday night, Lena had told her she had to wash her hair when she .
"No," Callie said, trying to push past Lena to go to her room. They'd just finished working on her math homework and she was exhausted. They'd had chicken and rice for dinner and she'd hated it, trying to move her food onto Jude and Jesus' plate when Stef and Lena weren't looking, but Frankie had ratted on her — probably because she was still miffed about having to go to bed so early and not being able to watch television — causing Stef to scoop more food onto her plate, though it had mostly been tomatoes and cucumbers, something she could at least stomach. Callie had noticed Lena put tomatoes, cucumbers, and ranch dressing on the dinner table every night now, so even if Lena cooked something Callie didn't like, she could the vegetables until she was full.
"Callie, you are taking a shower and washing your hair. You do not tell me no, okay," Lena told the child.
"I don't want to wash my hair. It hasn't even been three days. I want to go read in my bed," Callie snapped.
Lena's eyebrows rose up. It wasn't like Callie to have an attitude for no reason.
"What is going on, Love," Lena asked her, lifting Callie's chin up so she could look her in the eye.
That was when Callie swatted Lena's hand away, stomped her foot, and loudly said, "I am not taking a shower!"
"Young lady, that is enough. What is going on with you," Lena asked Callie, putting her hands on her hips in exasperation as she stared at the child in front of her.
"You are trying to make me do something I don't want to do, Lena!"
"Callie, you have to have a bath and you need to wash your hair. You have an hour before you have to be in bed, trying to sleep. Why don't you want to take a bath?"
By this point, Callie was tearing up. Her head was pounding and her throat was starting to hurt worse.
Callie stood up as straight as she could, stomped her foot, and looked up at Lena. It was hard, however, to look like you meant what you said when you were not even as tall as your foster mom's chest and you felt awful.
Lena, for her part, was trying to figure out what was wrong with Callie. Because Callie never acted like this.
"Callie, let's go into my room and you can take a bath. I will wash your hair for you. How does that sound," Lena asked, wanting to hug Callie, but not sure it was the best idea at the moment.
"I don't want to, Lena," Callie said, tears finally falling down her cheeks.
To Lena's surprise, Callie then threw her small body at Lena's waist, wrapping her arms around her foster mother.
And then Lena knew exactly what was going on and she was more than angry with herself for not realizing it sooner.
"Callie, sweetheart, you are burning up! What hurts, Love?"
Callie looked up at Lena, shocked she'd just thrown herself at her foster mother — but she kept reminding herself that Lena was going to be her mama. Even Jesus had said so, and Jesus knew a lot.
"I feel fine," Callie lied, trying to back away.
"No ma'am. You get upstairs and get in my bathroom. We are going get you in the bath, I am going to wash your hair and then brush and dry it. We are going to take your temperature and then get some medicine in you. And while we are doing all of that, you are going to talk about what is wrong and what hurts," Lena said.
Callie, at that point, was just worn out.
"Fine," Callie said, and stomped to the stairs. She half heartedly stomped up the stairs, down half the hallway, and then into Stef and Lena's bedroom, then slammed open the bathroom door — where Stef was trying to pee.
"Callie," Stef exclaimed, shocked. The kids never walked in on them when they were in the bathroom. They knew if the door was shut, they were not allowed in.
"What," Callie asked, oblivious to the fact Stef was trying to use the bathroom in private.
"Callie, love, can you wait outside the bathroom? I will be out in thirty seconds," Stef said.
Callie shook her head no.
"Lena told me to come up here to take a bath. She's gonna wash my hair. And said I had to take medicine or something."
At that moment, Stef looked at Callie closely and realized something was definitely not right with her. She finished her business quickly, realizing Callie was going no where. She and Lena were quickly learning Callie not only lacked modesty for herself, but had no care for others' modesty either. It was the one thing that let them know how safe Callie must feel, knowing she could just walk into their room whenever she wanted without getting in trouble — apparently the bathroom was now included in that.
Stef stood up, pulled her clothes up and into place, and then quickly washed her hands. After she dried them, she opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the thermometer.
"Come here, Cals. I am going to stick this in your ear," Stef said, quickly walking over to Callie and sticking the thermometer in her ear, pushing the button on the top of it.
"Oh, Cals, you don't feel well do you," Stef said once it beeped and the number 102.8 blinked on the screen.
"Lena told me I had to take a bath and wash my hair," Callie said again.
"I realize that, Love, but let's get some tylenol in you first," Stef said.
"No! I have to take a bath! Lena told me to come take a bath and then she was going to wash my hair and THEN I was going to take medicine!"
Stef watched, in both humor and horror, as the thirteen year old stomped her foot and started to tear up.
"Callie, honey, I know Lena told you to come up here and get ready for a bath. Why don't I start your water and you get undressed. When you get in the water, I will get you a cup of water and some tylenol. How does that sound," Stef asked her, trying to calm her down. Stef knew, for a fact, it was not Callie talking. It was definitely the fever.
Callie nodded and started to take her clothes off. Stef shook her head. She'd never met a teenager who had no modesty like Callie did. Neither for herself nor others. They'd have to talk to her about that eventually. It wasn't a big deal with her and Lena, or even Mariana and Frankie as long as she wasn't forgetting about Mariana liking her privacy and Frankie as well if she asked, but Stef did not want her shedding her clothes in front of the wrong person — when she was changing at school for gym; at home in front of the boys; in front of any male; honestly, Stef definitely didn't want her changing her clothes like that outside of the house.
"Oh good, you got her in the bath," Lena said as she walked in the bathroom.
"She walked in stomping her feet when I was trying to pee. She has a temp of 102.8. She wanted in the bath because you told her to take a bath before I told her she needed tylenol," Stef said as she filled a paper cup with water and got out two pills for Callie and then walked over to the tub, sitting on a small stool they kept there.
"Here, Love, take these."
"The water is too cold, Stef," Callie whispered. Her eyes were closed and her head was lying back. Stef hadn't run her a bath as hot as she normally liked it because of the fever. She wanted to cool her down, not make her temp go up even more than it already was.
"I know, Love, but your water can't be much warmer or your fever will go up more. Now, take these and tell me, would you rather I wash your hair or Mama?"
"Mama," Callie whispered, her eyes still closed.
Stef looked over at Lena — Lena looked at Stef. They both knew it was probably the fever talking, but it gave them so much hope. Callie had been with them going on four months now — she was finally starting to let down her walls.
"Okay. I will go get you some pajamas. You listen to Mama."
Forty-five minutes later, Callie was laying in the middle of their bed, her hair was washed, dried, and braided; she was in her favorite pair of pajamas with a pair of Stef's warm, fluffy wool socks, and she was under the blankets. Her pointer finger was on the bridge of her nose, with her other three fingers and thumb over her mouth. Stef had pulled her last two fingers out of her mouth once she'd fallen asleep. She looked so young in their bed, sick and uncomfortable, seeking comfort for herself, they had no doubt, in the only way she knew how.
"Her fever is still 102," Lena said, staring at her foster daughter.
"At least it has come down some. We will leave her in here so we can monitor her tonight. She can't go to school tomorrow. I will keep her home with me," Stef said.
"You have that meeting tomorrow, Stef. I will stay home with her. The kids can walk to school. Mariana and Jesus can take and pick up Frankie and Jude."
Stef nodded. She wanted to stay home with Callie, but Lena was right.
"Okay. I will come home after my meeting. If she still has a fever, we will take her to the doctor then."
Lena smiled and nodded.
And in the back of their mind, they both anticipated the moment when Callie and Jude were officially theirs. Because every single day they fell more and more in love with the two children who they knew in their hearts were theirs.
