A/N: They are not adopting Daphne. She is just staying with them for now.

"Jude has a birthday party after school and then I will be dropping Jesus and Brandon off at Mike's house. Mariana is going to Lexi's house after school and is spending the night. Is there anything else going on?" Lena asked the kids over breakfast.

"I thought Lexi was coming here. We stayed at her house last time."

Lena looked at her calendar carefully. "Well, I guess that would work. Mom is off work today and she is going to work evenings starting tomorrow. That should not affect the sleepover. Maybe you two could sleep in the family room?"

"No, we want to stay in my room…" Mariana whined.

"Your sister might not be okay with that. Remember that it is her room also. She doesn't really like it when you have a friend over for the night. We have talked about this before." Lena explained remembering how difficult it was for just one child to have a friend over.

"It's okay, Mama, I will stay in Daphne's room tonight. It will be just like I am having a sleepover also!" Callie answered for Mariana.

"That would be up to Daphne and not you, Bug." Stef said gently pretty certain she didn't want Callie spending extra time with the older girl.

"I will go ask her." Callie said standing up.

"No, you will eat breakfast." Lena replied touching Callie's shoulder to remind her to sit back down. "And you will stay in your own room tonight. Daphne needs her sleep."

"Maybe I can stay the night with one of my friends then." Callie stated.

"You are doing that tomorrow night, remember? Your friend is having a slumber party for her birthday. Two nights in a row would be too much for one weekend. No, Mariana will stay in the family room with Lexi. You can your room." Lena said with a little irritation now.

"Make Callie stay in the family room so that we can stay in my room."

"Hey! I don't want to stay in there by myself. That's not fair! Mama said I could have our room. Tell her Mama!"

Lena was now rubbing her temples. All of the kids wanted to stay in the family room until it was offered. Then no one did. Stef decided to interfere. "No more from either of you. It is not too late for me to cancel both activities. Mama has already told you both the plan. If it changes, we will let you know."

XXXX

After the moms read a little more of the book with Daphne, she got another little knock at her door. She opened it to reveal Callie. "I thought you were in bed."

"I was, but now I am back up. You ask me questions last night so now it is my turn to ask you some things." Callie said barging the rest of the way in and going back to the bed to sit down.

"Okay? Do your moms know where you are?"

"Nope. It doesn't matter, though, they are busy with Mariana and her friend downstairs. So, um, you are having a baby… My mama has told me all about where babies come from and so I know all of that, but there are other things I want to know about." Callie said once again making herself comfortable. "Like, when did you know you were having a baby? Did it feel different?"

Daphne was completely taken aback. She had no idea what Callie knew and what she didn't from what she had said before. If Lena did not like the word stupid, what words did she use for this type of conversation? "Did you take to your mom about this? She had Brandon, right?"

"She did have Brandon, but she doesn't like talking about doing anything with Mike much less how they made my brother, if you get my drift. I just want to know how you knew."

"Well, I thought I might be knocked up about a week after, but I didn't take test for another month when I was feeling sick all the time. There was nothing magically different the moment of if that's what you are talking about."

"Oh." Callie was looking thoughtful and still confused. "I saw a game once that when the character was pregnant it played a little music… I thought it was like that. Does it hurt when the baby grows inside of you?"

"Not really. I mean, my back hurts and my feet hurt, but the part the baby is in doesn't feel so bad. Kind of odd, but not bad. I guess at first, my stomach hurt. Sometimes I can feel the baby kick. That actually feels kind of neat. Maybe I can let you feel that next time."

"That would be a little neat, I guess…." Callie got really quiet and leaned in closer to the older girl. "I think I might be pregnant, too."

"What!?" Daphne half yelled. "No way. You are too young and there is seriously no way."

"Shhhh… Last week I slept in here with Brandon. Now, my stomach hurts, too, kind of like cramping. I read in your book that sometimes pregnancy makes breasts tender… Mine kind of hurt just like that. Just so you know, my moms already say I need to wear a bra, but this is a little different. I also haven't had a period. The book also mentioned that. So what do you think?"

"I think you should stay out of my room and away from my things." Daphne answered her rather embarrassed to have this conversation as well as the fact the eleven year old read better than her.

"That is beside the point. Do you think I am having a baby?"

"No. If you just slept with Brandon that couldn't happen. Have you ever had a period? I don't know about everyone, but I know that I didn't have one until I was like twelve. I thought you knew how this stuff all worked. I really think you should talk to one of your moms about all of this."

"I don't think I have, but I am not sure. How would I know?" Callie asked sincerely.

"You would know, trust me. Go talk to Stef or Lena or maybe both. Just trust me, you are not pregnant."

Just then they heard some voices in the hallway. "You know, I might check on Callie. Maybe she could come stay with us and we could have our own party. Then Mari could have her room. It is really hard to get them to actually sleep in the family room." Stef said from right outside Daphne's door.

"That is a good point. I bet Jude would also not mind the company with Jesus and Brandon gone. We could give her a choice. She has always been fond of having choices." Lena opened Callie's door. "Unless she is already asleep… Actually, I do not see her at all. Callie? Are you in there?"

Callie looked at Daphne with wide eyes. She knew that she was specifically told to stay in her own room tonight. She had to sneak out of Daphne's room the night before and Stef had been none too happy when she caught her. "Hide me." Callie whispered trying to get under the bed.

"No way. Stef already hates me. I really don't want to add this to her list of things. Just get out of here."

"No, they will see me and I will get in trouble." Callie insisted, all the while trying to look for another spot as she could not fit under the bed with the other things there.

"They are going to find you anyway. Seriously, I am pretty certain not finding you right away will make it worse. You told me last night that they would never really hurt you."

Stef knocked and then opened the door before she got an answer. "Hey, Daphne, I had to intrude on you like this but… Callie Marie you get out of there this instant."

"Daphne said I could stay in her room tonight." Callie said glancing at Daphne for permission.

Now Stef's eyes were on her also. "I never said that. I told her to leave. I swear." Daphne said holding up her arms.

"I just needed to ask her some questions." Callie said rolling her eyes slightly.

"Like, I said, get out of there now." Stef said it a lower voice that usually made the kids obey.

"You can't make me!" Callie said very much imitating what she saw Daphne do the day before.

"I actually can." Stef and Lena both came into the room. Stef approach Callie and gave her a rather hard swat on her bottom in front of both Daphne and Lena causing both to flinch. Callie let out a small scream in both surprise and hurt. Then Stef got a hold on her upper arm. "March."

Daphne was watching this scene with great interest. She recognized the words Callie used. Stef mentioned that she was an example, but it never really meant anything to her until she saw the actual results of her actions. It somehow did not seem as grown up coming from a child. "Wait, Stef? I am really sorry that I talked to you like that yesterday. I didn't mean it, you know."

"Thank you for your apology." Stef said as she left the room with Callie.

Lena stood there looking a little embarrassed. "We are sorry that Callie invaded your privacy again. We are going to do our best to ensure it is the last time this happens." She turned to leave the room, but thought about one more thing. "Stef would never really hurt Callie or any of the other kids. She would certainly never hit you like that."

Daphne nodded. "I know and I really don't mind Callie hanging out in here. Talk to your kid tonight. She has a lot of questions about some things that you and Stef need to explain."

Lena cautiously opened her bedroom door unsure of what was going on in there between Stef and Callie. She was relieved to see almost nothing. Stef had almost cooled down and Callie was staring at the floor. Lena couldn't tell what Callie was feeling.

"Callie, do you have anything you need to say to Mom?"

"I can't believe that you would do that to me in front of Daphne! I am not sure if I can face her again." Callie was now crying obviously more due to humiliation rather than pain.

"Do we need to finish what we started in the other room right now?" Stef asked rhetorically. "I mean, I thought one swat might do it, but if it didn't I can give you a few more. Or maybe you don't want to attend that slumber party tomorrow with your friends. You could just give her the gift on Monday and stay home."

"No, Mom! I won't go back into her room and I won't speak to you that way again, I promise! Please don't make me stay home! I need to be with my friends tomorrow night. It is super important!"

"That really didn't sound like an apology to me, Callie." Lena said sitting down next to them. "I guess what I would like to hear is not just a promise not to repeat the action, but also that you are sorry that you did it in the first place. Are you sorry that you did something we ask you not to? Are you sorry that you were disrespectful to your mom?"

"I needed to talk to Daphne. You wouldn't let me talk to her earlier today. So, no, I am not sorry for that." Callie said uncrossing her arms. Then she looked at Stef. "I am sorry that I was disrespectful to you. I told Daphne last night it was a bad idea to do that, but I did it anyway. I knew you really could make me."

Lena took a deep breath. "Daphne said that you had some interesting questions for her and that you needed to talk to us. So, maybe before we go any farther, we should discuss those." Callie looked between her mothers and turned a little red again.

"Better yet, I am going to get the little girls settled in your room and pop some popcorn for us. If say you want to go ahead and start the discussion without me, it would be okay. I will just be back when I can." Stef winked as she left the room.

Mariana and Lexi were still going strong when Stef got back downstairs. It wasn't super late yet, but knowing Mariana she probably still wanted to do fingernails and toenails with her friend as well as share secrets. Neither of which were conducive to being in the family room. "Well, I have some good news for you ladies. Callie is going to stay in my room tonight, so if you all want the bedroom it is all yours."

Both cheered. "Mommy, we want to finish our movie first, is that okay?"

"Sure. In fact, I am making popcorn. Would you also like some for the end of your movie?" Stef heard more cheers and took that as a yes. When their popcorn was finished she took it out to them. "Okay, when this movie is finished, go on upstairs. I might still be down here, but I am not certain. I want you both laying down and quiet by midnight."

Stef went back into the kitchen to make popcorn for the discussion that was currently in progress upstairs. It could be a long night for them depending. She didn't notice the Mariana had followed her. "Thanks for the popcorn."

"No problem, babe. How is the sleepover going?"

"We are having fun… Was that Callie screaming earlier?" Mariana asked with big eyes.

"Callie did scream a little earlier. Everything is okay now, though. There should not be any more screaming tonight if that is what you are wondering."

"Okay. We were kind of scared. Was there a spider or something? Did you squish it?"

"It wasn't a spider, but Mama and I took care of the problem." Stef put her arms around her younger daughter and kissed her forehead. "Stay this age as long as you can."

XXXX

"And that, sweetheart, is how someone gets pregnant." Lena said pulling Callie onto her lap.

"That's what Mom did with Mike to have Brandon and what Daphne did with someone to get her baby? That's why you and Mom can't have a baby together… It all sort of makes sense, but it is so gross…"

Callie felt like she jumped a foot in the air when the bedroom door opened. "Is it over? Did you explain everything?" Stef asked Lena.

"Not quite. You are just in time for the changing bodies sort of talk. Bring us the popcorn and come sit down."

"Um, I will hand off the popcorn and go finish the movie with the girls still downstairs. I will do these talks with the boys. After all, Brandon is my son and all." Stef said setting down the popcorn and edging out of the room.

"And Callie is your daughter. Come back in here and sit down with us, please. We need to show Callie that we are not embarrassed and she doesn't need to be either. This is part of keeping communication lines open where she can talk to either of us."

Stef looked uncomfortable, but went ahead and sat down on the bed across from her wife and daughter. "Okay, Mama, it is your task to make this better than the video that I had to watch in grade school. Have you by any chance seen that video, Callie?"

"No."

"It is on the agenda for later this month. This is good, really, that we are getting to talk this over before you watch the movie. I really should have talked to you about all of this earlier. It sort of snuck up on me that you have grown up so much. There are changes happening in your body right now. They are good changes, but it may not always feel like it…."

XXX

After Lena finished her talk with Callie, she sent her down stairs to find a movie to watch as they went to sleep. "So, I guess we need to schedule a talk with Brandon soon, too. Can you believe that she thought she might be having a baby? I guess we need to be watching for her first period. It will happen soon, you know."

"I am having a hard time with the idea that Daphne is who she thought she should talk to about all of this. No matter how hard we have tried, she is still going to grow up and talk to other people first. I remember when she always came to me." Stef said sounding hurt.

Lena grabbed her pajamas and started changing clothes. "She did used to come to you. Before that, she always needed her mama most of all. Honestly, though, if she had really asked you some of those questions, would you have answered or would you have told her to ask me?"

"I would have definitely sent her to you. I just wished she had asked. Is her slumber party off for tomorrow night?" Stef asked getting her pajamas on as well.

"I am not sure if that is fair to her friend having the party, Stef. We already called the mother to prepare for Callie to be there. She did apologize for talking back to you and I think she understands to ask us instead of others now. My question is whether we should go tell the little girls to be quiet."

"Let's not. They are not being very loud and I think they will be all right. It is almost midnight and we are just now putting in a movie to get Callie to go to bed. It wouldn't be fair to not let them stay up just as late."

"Look! I found my all-time favorite movie to watch tonight!" Callie burst in holding up Frozen. "I remember watching this together lots of times. Mama, do you think you could braid my hair like Anna in the movie?"

"Sure!" Stef watched as Lena braided Callie's hair. It seemed like all at once Callie had gone from a little girl to almost grown up and then just as quickly gone back to being a little girl.

Callie laid down right in between her moms on the bed to watch the movie. The three of them sang the familiar songs together until all three of them were asleep.