Lena had calmed Jude down before dinner, but he still showed clearly that he was unhappy. Stef started to put a whole piece of chicken on his plate, but Lena stopped her. "How about if we start with just a couple of bites this time, Mom? That way it doesn't look so overwhelming to him."

The other kids looked on with interest. It wasn't often that Jude got this worked up or that their mothers challenged him. Everyone was anxious to see how it would play out. With all eyes on him, Jude started eating everything around his chicken.

"Well, I got invited to a dance a week from Saturday." Stef said changing the subject and getting the attention back off of Jude. "Brandon and I are going together, but I am assuming that I will have another date for the evening. How about you Mama? Anyone ask you yet?"

"Not yet." Lena glanced over at Jude who still had not touched his chicken. "I am still hoping at least one someone will ask."

"I want you to go the dance with me." Jesus said quickly. "Please?"

"Yes, Jesus! I would love to go with you."

"Brandon said we had to dress up? Do I have to, Mama?"

"I want my date for the dance looking the best he possibly can, so yes." Lena said smiling at her son.

"So, Mom, if you are going with Brandon this year, you have to wear a dress, right? Last year you said that since I was wearing a dress, you could wear pants. This time your date is wearing pants." Callie pointed out.

"Not necessarily. Brandon never said what he was planning to wear…."

Jesus and Callie both cracked up laughing. Jude and Mariana both quietly giggled. Lena gave Stef a look. "Brandon has to wear a dress!" Jesus said almost falling out of his chair.

"I do not! Tell him Mom! I am not going to wear a dress!" Brandon protested again turning red.

"No, Brandon is not going to be wearing a dress to the dance. Mom was just trying to be funny. Eat your supper now." Lena said looking back at Stef who was trying to contain her own laughter.

"I am done, Mama. May I leave the table?" Jude asked.

"I still see all three bites of chicken that I put on your plate, Bud." Stef said looking over at Jude.

"You gave me four. I ate one. Besides I am asking Mama."

"No sir that is not the game we play in this house. Eat at least one." Stef scolded.

Jesus took a big bite of his chicken. "See Jude, it is good. You will like it if you try it."

"Jesus, I love your effort for your brother, but remember that you shouldn't talk with you mouthful." Lena said watching him take another big bite.

"I already tried it." Jude answered. "I don't like eating friends."

"Come on, Jude, you never even met a chicken. It was a turkey that you met. Chickens aren't the same at all. I don't think they are friendly at all." Brandon said disliking the tension. "Mom only makes a few things well, this is one of them."

The rest of the kids laughed a little and Stef pretended to be offended. "Well, going back to our last subject, I am going with Brandon and Mama is going with Jesus. Anyone else planning on attending this dance?"

Callie looked over to Mariana who was not making eye contact. She was uncertain what to say after the conversation in the office. Even though Callie had every intention of going with Lena this year, she had offered Mariana the first choice.

"We are going to go too, we just haven't decided to go with, right, Mari?" Callie finally said.

"Oh, I thought you and Brandon made a deal for that last year. No matter, you have time to sort that out. We will both be here all night." Stef didn't notice the slight look of hurt come over Lena's face.

Everyone except Jude was finishing up supper. "I am going to call my mother in a little bit if anyone else wants to talk to her." Lena said once again changing the subject. She wasn't sure what was going on between the two girls, but thought it mostly centered on Mariana who always wanted to talk to Dana. Jude also perked up a little at this statement.

"I need to talk to Grams." Mariana said taking the bait. "I want to talk to Gramps too if he is there."

"If he is, I need to tell him about my basketball game from last week! You sent him the pictures, right Mama? I made that shot just like he told me to and it worked!"

"Sure, Jesus. I will call and we can talk to Grams first. If Gramps is around we can talk to him next. We can do all of that as soon as you are all finished eating and we have cleaned up. Who's on chores tonight?"

"Brandon and I have dishes. Jesus is cleaning the table and sweeping." Callie quickly informed her mothers. Adding Jude to the chores changed things up some. "May we get started while Jude is still eating? I want to get done."

"I don't see why not. We can leave him with one plate, a fork, and a cup without getting too much in the way of your cleaning. If he does not eat a bite of chicken soon he will be washing his own dishes anyway." Lena said looking again at her youngest son.

"Actually, if he doesn't eat it soon, he is going to take a shower and go directly to bed. He can wash his plate in the morning after he eats the chicken." Stef said in a much harsher tone.

Jude cut off the smallest sliver of one piece of his chicken and dramatically put it in his mouth and swallowed. "I did it, Mommy. I ate chicken. Now am I done?"

"That was not a whole bite, so I would still say no. Mama agrees with me so there is no reason to ask her. What is your choice, Jude? Chicken or get ready for bed?"

"I guess I should just get ready for bed." Jude said after less than a minute of staring at his plate. "I just can't eat that."

"Fine. It will be served as your breakfast tomorrow. If not then, you can eat it for lunch. Eventually, you will eat at least one whole bite of it." Stef picked up his plate to take to the fridge while Jude gave his best pleading eyes to Lena.

"Mom's right. You at least need to try it to know for sure if it is something you don't like. You always liked chicken before and you would again if you ate some. If when you grow all the way up and you want to be a vegetarian we will be fine with that, but right now that is not your choice."

"You want your little boy to starve?" Jude tried with one last attempt.

"No, I want my little boy to grow strong and healthy and be willing to eat reasonably. You won't starve. Just one bite of chicken is all we are asking you to eat. It isn't that much."

"You really want me to eat it? If you really want me to, I could try a little harder. Then could I talk to Grams instead of going to bed right now?" Jude asked quietly.

"Absolutely. That's my boy!" Lena gave him a hug and went back over to the fridge to get the chicken back out. "Just one piece." Jude picked up one of the pieces with his hands. He made a bad face, but then stuck it in his mouth. He acted like he might try to swallow it whole. "Be sure and chew it so it doesn't choke you, Baby."

He slowly chewed and then smiled a little before swallowing. "It is good, Mama! I do like chicken."

"Would you like more?"

"No. I don't like it like that." He replied. "Now that I have eaten some, I think I don't have to tomorrow, right Mama?"

"That depends on what dinner is tomorrow. Whatever we have for dinner is what you are going to eat. That is just what has to happen. There are seven of us, I cannot cook for everyone individually. I plan meals with you all in mind, and that is what you all will eat. It is the same rule for you as everyone else."

"But why, Mama? I thought I was your special little boy."

"You still are, Jude. It hasn't changed. Let's go call Grams."

XXX

"Is Gramps around, Grams?" Mariana asked as soon as she could squirrel the phone away from Lena and get it to a spot she thought was mostly private.

"No, Baby, he has already gone to bed. It is kind of late here. Do you need him for something?"

"Kind of…. If I tell you something will you not tell my moms? Like a secret between the two of us?"

"I can't really promise that as I am not sure the nature of your secret yet. If it is something big and important your moms have the right to know. If it isn't then it could probably be just us."

"It might not be big. I just wanted to see if Gramps wanted to go to a dance thing with me at school. Brandon said that Mike and Grandpa weren't good choices, but I just thought Gramps would be perfect."

"Ah, yes, the family dance I remember hearing about it last year. I thought it was for kids to go with their parents."

"It is, but … I guess it doesn't matter…" Mariana said haltingly.

"It sounds like it does matter. Is this because you don't have a dad, sweetheart?" Dana asked knowingly.

"No… well maybe. Some of the other girls at school were talking and all of them are going with their dads or at least someone… different than my moms."

"You mean like someone who is male. That's why you wanted to invite Gramps rather than me. Mariana, you may not understand this right now and it took me a little time, too. It isn't easy when the other kids say things that are unkind to you due to your family. However, it also wasn't easy when I as a black woman decided to marry your grandfather, a white man. His son didn't even understand. It was also not easy for your mama when she got old enough to date to go out with other girls. It certainly wasn't easy for your mom after her divorce with a small son to follow her heart. It was fate that brought the two of them together, but it hasn't been easy. Us Adams or even Adams Foster women are a strong clan who can do hard things together. Go to that dance with one of your moms with confidence. Even that little mean girl can't stand against that." Dana paused to think back if Callie had said anything similar about this last year and couldn't come up with anything. "Do you have something new to wear to this dance yet?"

"No. We haven't talked about clothing since I haven't said who I was going to ask. Callie said I could wear her dress from last year, but I am not sure."

"If you could wear any sort of dress, what would you choose?"

"I want to look like a princess. I would want a lime green dress with some silver trim. I don't want a tutu, but I want a skirt that can sort of twirl. It needs to have sequins or something else that sparkles. Maybe strapless?"

"Or with those tiny spaghetti straps?" Dana asked with a laugh. "Are you still about a size eight?"

"Yes, even though I am nine… Mommy says I am going to grow, it just hasn't happened yet."

"What about your shoe size? Still a size three or are you up to a three and a half yet?" Dana asked now obviously taking notes.

"My new school shoes are a three and a half."

"Excellent. Do you know which mother you are going to ask yet?"

"Well, last year Brandon went with Mama and Callie went with Mom. This year they were going to switch. Callie, though, said I could go with Mama if I really wanted to. Jesus is going with her already. So, I am not really sure. I guess I go with Mommy? Callie said it didn't matter who we went with because we could all just be together anyway."

"I think she is probably right. You know that you won't disappoint either of them. They both love you. If the other kids have worked it out for you to go with your mommy that would probably be your best choice. How about you let me talk to Callie for a few minutes while you go ask?"

"Okay, Grams. I love you."

"Love you, too, Baby. Watch for a package from me this week."

Mariana handed off the phone to her sister happily. "Grams says she wants to talk to you. I am going to go ask Mommy to go to the dance with me."

"Hello, Grams." Callie said a little confused by why she was given the phone. She liked talking to her grandparents, but had not requested a turn this time. "How are you doing?"

"I am doing very well, thank you for asking. Mari told me that you had a school dance coming up soon. Do you know what you are going to wear yet?"

"Not exactly. Mama wants her dates to look nice, though, so I guess a dress. The one from the adoption still fits… I don't really own many other dresses. They aren't really my thing. I don't really see why I have to wear one if my mom doesn't."

"I bet if you ask your grandma, she would say that your mom wore dresses at least sometimes when she was your age, too. Your moms don't make you dress up like that every day, just sometimes. This is a special occasion and I think it calls for a special outfit. If you could have any dress for this dance, what would you get?"

"I would want something purple or maybe white and purple. I don't want any flowers or big bows. A girl last year wore something kind of lacy on top that was really pretty. I'm not really very sure."

"That gives me enough ideas. Do you still wear a size ten in clothing and a size four shoe?"

"A twelve might fit better. Some tens are small. My shoes are all fives now. Mom says I need to quit growing so fast."

"I agree with her! I have always thought you were growing up way to fast. You are going with your mama and Jesus, right? Do you know what size Jesus wears or could you check for me?"

XXXXX

Mariana, in the meantime, was searching for Stef, but trying to look inconspicuous. "Do you need something, Sweetheart?" Lena asked where she and Stef were cuddled on the couch together.

"Um, maybe. I just need to talk to Mommy for a little bit." Mariana said becoming a little shy again. She remembered that Dana said that neither one would have their feelings hurt, but she still felt awkward asking her mom to the dance in front of her mama.

"I see." Lena said standing up and winking at her wife as they both really knew what this was about. "I will go refresh our drinks while the two of you talk about whatever you need to discuss."

Mariana edged closer to Stef, but still didn't say much. Stef cleared her throat a little. "Okay, so you ran Mama out of the room because you had something to say. Go ahead and spit it out."

"Willyougotothedancewithme?" Mariana said so quickly and quietly that no one could really understand.

"What was that?" Stef asked with a laugh, that she soon stopped when it looked like Mariana might cry. "Was that an invitation for me to go to the dance with you?" Mariana nodded. "I would love to have you as one of my dates. How lucky am I to have my oldest son and my youngest daughter both with me for the evening?"

Lena got back into the room in time to see Stef hug Mariana and kiss her on the head a few times before Mariana escaped from the room. "So, I guess you have both of your dates now? I honestly thought I would have both girls and you would have both boys this year. I am a little surprised by how it has turned out. I am also surprised that Callie didn't already ask. Do you think she was waiting for Mari? Or that she really wants to go with you?" Lena knew that Callie loved her as much as Stef, but every now and then she would allow certain thoughts to circulate through her mind.

Stef pulled Lena down onto her lap and kissed her on the forehead like she used to do to Callie. "You told me yourself that you noticed Mariana was way off since school. I think you should go with your first instinct that she was waiting for what her sister wanted to do. It surprised me that Miss Thing wasn't the first one to ask someone to go. I thought the chance to attend this type of event would be completely a Mariana thing. But, yeah, I also thought that you would have both girls. I know Mariana loves me, but you are the one she usually needs. I know that I loved both of my parents, but my dad was the one I went to when I could."

"Me too. I always thought my dad just understood me a little better sometimes. For all the times I fought with my mother, she will always be my mama. You're right, Stef." Lena started kissing Stef again until they heard someone clear their throat from the doorway.

"Do you need something, Bug?" Stef asked catching her breath a little.

"Um, yeah. I need to give something to you, Mama. That is if Mom will keep her hands off of you for a minute or two…"

Stef rolled her eyes and took her arms off of Lena long enough to toss a sofa pillow in Callie's direction. "How about if I do one even better and go check on the other minions while you talk to Mama for a little while? Do you know who has her phone for instance?"

"I gave it to Jesus and Jude a little bit ago. They are in their room. You may not want to go in there, though." Callie said with her eyes wide.

"So, I need to go right away then? Thanks for the heads up. Do they just have a mess or were they being destructive?" Callie just looked at her mom. "Oh come on, you always like to tell on your siblings…"

"And you always ask if it is something that needs to be told. I don't think this is. There was no blood, no strangers, no throw up, no danger, and certainly no fire. Isn't that the list?" Callie said grinning a little and using her fingers to go through the reasons to tell.

"We have raised this one a little too independent, Mama. But no matter, I will go peek in to see for myself. Mama is all yours now, Callie."

Lena patted the couch next to her. "Come on over here, sweetheart."

Callie walked over there, but before she sat down she pulled out a construction paper card that she had hidden behind her back. "At school today we made invitations for the dance and I made this one for you."

Lena took the card and opened it. Tears sprang to her eyes and she read the words Callie had written inside. "Dear Mama, I would like you to be my date for the fourth and fifth grade family dance. I have been wanting to go with you ever since I knew about this dance. I love you very much and I hope that you say yes. Love, Callie Marie Adams Foster." Lena grabbed Callie tight. "Of course I am saying yes."

Callie wiggled a little free of the embrace. "Thanks Mama! It's true all true you know. When I was just a first grader and not old enough to go yet, I wanted to go with you. I hadn't asked you yet because I was making sure everyone else had a date."

"Like your sister?" Lena asked once again relieved it was her first idea and not her second that made this invitation come later.

"Yes, just like her. Oh, and I think Grams said to expect a package from her soon. I think it will have dance clothes in it. Grams was asking a lot of questions about sizes and things."

They heard a shower start from upstairs. "I think Mom must have the others sorted out now. How about you go get my phone so I can discuss all of this with Grams while you go get ready for bed. Tomorrow is a running day so you don't need to shower tonight. I love you, Callie."

"I love you too, Mama."