Saturday morning the doorbell rang and Harry raced to open it with Will at his heels.
"Good morning" Katie smiled as Callie came from the kitchen holding Elizabeth.
"Hi please come in" Will said waving her in. Callie glanced at the little girl Katie ushered into the house before her.
"This is Amaya, Amaya this is Callie and Will." Katie said.
"Wow, you got bigger from the last time I saw you" Harry said looking over his sister. From what Callie could gather the last time he saw her was when they were in the same foster home 6 months ago for a few weeks. Amaya had been in her father's custody since she was an infant so the kids were not together often. Their mother had no rights to Amaya so she was up for adoption but had not found a home.
"Hi Amaya, we are so happy to have you here, Harry has been waiting for you" Callie said gently. Amaya offered her a smile, and Callie was please. Amaya had dark skin like Harry and long curly hair held in place with a headband. she wore a frilly pink dress and looked around the room
"Hi" Amaya whispered shy but not frightened from what Callie could see.
"Amaya I'm going to leave you here and pick you up tomorrow night ok? If you need anything you can have Callie call me" Katie said.
"Ok" Amaya said taking her pink bag, she also came with a lot more stuff. From just the look of her bag Amaya had more for a weekend then Harry had when he came to stay long term. Katie gave them a last smile and left.
"Amaya we were just about to have breakfast, do you want to join us?" Callie asked.
"Ok" Amaya nodded.
"Here I will take your bag" Will said and she gave it to him with a smile as Harry lead her into the kitchen.
"Amaya.." Callie started.
"You can say Maya" The little girl whispered.
"Maya, what can we get you to eat, do you like pancakes?" Callie asked.
"Yes please" Maya nodded.
"Alright" Callie smiled as Harry looked proudly at his sister.
After breakfast Will ran around with all three kids outside as Callie cleaned up. After a while Maya and Elizabeth came back inside while Will and Harry kicked the soccer ball around.
"Hi sweetie, do you need anything?" Callie asked scooping up Elizabeth.
"Do you have toys?" Maya asked.
"Well sure we have a lot of toys" Callie said looking around the living room, she realized all the toys in the room were either for older boys or toddlers like Elizabeth.
"So there's the legos your brother likes, and the batman, the cars are over there, and we have a basketball downstairs" Callie said pointing to everything as Maya looked over the toys.
"Do you have a dollhouse?" Maya asked.
"No we don't" Callie said shook her head sadly.
"Any baby dolls?" Maya asked
"Umm this one?" Callie asked holding up Elizabeth's little cloth one. Maya looked at it, Callie could tell she was trying to be nice but was not impressed. Even though she had not been here long Callie could tell Maya was a girly girl.
"You know what, I bet I know where to find some toys you might like" Callie said picking Elizabeth up and going to the back door.
"Hey, the girls and I are heading to my moms for a few minutes, we'll be back" Callie called.
"Ok" Will waved her off as Harry kicked the ball around him laughing with glee of getting it past him.
"Come on want to go see Grandmas?" Callie asked Elizabeth.
"Yeah!" Elizabeth cried walking over to the door banging on it with her hands.
"Ok, let's go find you some toys" Callie said grabbing her keys leading the way to the car.
"Hello, Mom? Momma?" Callie called opening the door. Elizabeth squirmed from her arms as ran to the kitchen as soon as her feet were on the floor looking for Lena. Frankie came thumping down the stairs.
"Hi" She smiled giving Callie a hug.
"Hi, this is Amaya, Maya this is my sister Francesca, wheres moms?" Callie asked.
"Momma is in the garden and mom was on the deck" Frankie said.
"Ok, come on this way" Callie said leading both younger girls out the back door. Stef had already caught Elizabeth up swinging her around in the grass.
"There you are we were wondering if she walked here" Lena said giving Callie a hug.
"I want you guys to meet Maya, she's staying with us this weekend" Callie said introducing the little girl hiding behind her.
"Maya, welcome it's so nice to meet you" Lena gave her a smile.
"We came to see if we could raid the garage from some girl toys, do you guys still have Frankie's barbies and dollhouse?" Callie asked.
"Oh we do we were saving them for this little one" Stef nodded as Elizabeth threw herself from Stef's arms at Lena.
"Alright baby, how about you and mom go dig that out and the little girls and I will go have a popsicle?" Lena asked raising her eyebrows at Maya.
"Yeah" Maya nodded and surprised them all by placing her hand in Lena's free one.
"Alright" Lena said giving Callie a surprised look as they headed back to the house.
"Wow, she seems friendly" Stef said as she and Callie crossed the yard to the garage.
"Yeah, she's super sweet. I wish we could keep her with her brother, she fits in really well" Callie said.
Stef and Callie loaded the dollhouse into the car along with a box of barbies and clothes. Will pulled it out when they got home and Callie set it up in Elizabeth's room. Maya played quietly for the rest of the afternoon and was patient when Elizabeth tried to play with her. She helped Callie make dinner and they all went out for ice cream after.
"I like strawberry, and chocolate mixed together" Maya smiled at the two little scoops of each in her bowl.
"I like chocolate with lot's of sprinkles!" Harry cried.
"I like anything that's not broccoli flavored" Will teased them.
"Eww" Harry wrinkled his nose at the thought as Maya let out a squeal.
"Can Maya come back and visit?" Harry asked.
"Of course, Maya you are welcome anytime." Callie said.
"I like your house, and your big doll house" Maya flashed Callie a smile.
That night Maya slept in Elizabeth's room, Callie tucked both girls in and they went right to sleep.
"Why is she so different from him?" Will asked Callie as they were watching T.V.
"Because she's been in a good stable home, she doesn't have the sense of fear or uncertainty that he does, or did."
"She is the kind of kid I thought we were going to get when we signed up to foster."
"unfortunately those are not the kind of kids who need homes. She is pretty cute though" Callie smiled. Sunday morning they all went to the park. Will and Harry flew a kite while Maya and Elizabeth ran around in the grass watching them and trying to catch the butterflies. That afternoon before going to dinner Katie came to pick Maya up again.
"She was wonderful, tell her family we will take her anytime!" Callie said.
"I will, they were looking to get in touch with you next week about maybe finding a time for her and Harry to get together again" Katie said.
"that would be wonderful" Callie nodded as Will came into the living room with Maya on his shoulders setting her down in front of Callie.
"We will see you soon ok, you can come and play again?" Callie said.
"Yeah" Maya smiled giving Callie a hug. Callie returned it warmly before Maya followed Katie back out to the car.
"Play!" Callie heard Elizabeth shriek. She wondered into her room and found Elizabeth holding Harry's hand pointing to the doll house.
"Play dolls play!" Elizabeth cried.
"No, those are girly toys" Harry said
"Harry play!" Elizabeth yelled again.
"I don't want to play dolls" Harry said looking up at Callie.
"Why don't you go put on your shoes it's time to go to dinner anyway" Callie said. Harry ran down the hall.
"Maya will come back to play with you soon" Callie told Elizabeth who glared up at her as if she was mad Callie let Harry leave.
"Callie Adams Foster" Callie answered her work phone Monday afternoon.
"Hi Callie it's Laura, Maya's foster mom"
"Hi Laura, how are you, I was not expecting to hear from you so soon." Callie smiled. truth was they all missed Maya today, it was nice having her for the weekend.
"I was wondering how Maya did?"
"She did great, she loved being with her brother, and I have a little girl she played with really well. We had to go to my moms house and dig up some girls toys but once we did that she was very busy playing, she was joy to have we would take her anytime you guys needed a sitter" Callie said.
"I'm glad to hear that, she had a lot of fun as well, she talked about it all night" Laura said making Callie smile.
"I was calling because I have a question for you, I know this is not something foster parents usual handle but I thought since you were with Social Services maybe we could pull a few strings" Laura said.
"I can see what I can do" Callie nodded.
"We got a call for a new placement, an infant sister on one of our other foster daughters. We are only licensed for 4 kids so we are already full. However we are hoping to adopt this daughter and now that she has a sister, probably her sister too. Normally we would just say no but after Maya had so much for with you guys…well we know she would be going to a good home, and she should be with her brother, and she likes you guys so much. We would be so sad to see her go but if she's going to a good home and we can give this newborn a good home…" Laura trailed off.
"So you would like us to take Maya?" Callie asked.
"Yes, I know this must sound crazy but we just feel like she should be with her brother"
"No, no I get it, family is so important especially to kids in the system" Callie said.
"So would you guys be willing to?" Laura asked.
"Yes, yes I'll draw up the paperwork and fax it over to you" Callie said.
"Wonderful! I'm so glad this will work out" Laura said.
Callie tried calling Will a few times that afternoon but he didn't answer, probably busy with work and Callie was not even sure how to word a text message. She felt bad for just agreeing to it without even asking him. She had to work late so she picked up Harry and Elizabeth at her mom's house that evening.
"Hi baby how was work?" Lena asked as Callie went inside.
"I got an interesting call." Callie said.
"Oh yeah?"
"Maya, Harry's sister, her foster family was looking to take a placement of a sibling of one of their other foster kids, but they are already full so they asked us if we wanted to take Maya"
"Premaritally?" Lena asked.
"Well, yeah I mean until the grandparents adopt them but it still might be a month at least" Callie said.
"What did Will say?" Lena asked.
"Well that's kind of the thing, I said yes without asking him…She's coming tomorrow and he still doesn't know. I can't get a hold of him on his phone" Callie said biting her lip. Suddenly Lena burst out laughing.
"what?" Callie asked.
"You know, everyone always says you are just like mom, but today you may be a little more like me" Lena said.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you remember? I did the same thing to your mom when I brought you home. She didn't know you were staying until you were sitting at the kitchen table being all sassy to her." Lena laughed making Callie smile.
"I hope he's ok with it" She said.
"Oh he will be, he might have appreciated being asked first, but he will be fine." Lena said.
"Maybe I should keep it a secrete from him and surprise him when he comes home to three kids tomorrow" Callie said.
"I don't recommend it, so you went from 1 to 3 kids pretty quickly" Lena raised her eyebrows.
"Yes but this is it, we are putting the cap at three, at least until Maya and Harry leave" Callie said.
mmhhmm that's what mom and I said once we adopted the twins" Lena said smiled
"yes well, you two were just nuts, even when you had 5 almost grow kids you just had to have a baby" Callie said making Lena laugh again.
"Well, you were all worth it," Lena smiled.
"Speaking of which where are the kids?" Callie asked looking around.
"Harry just finished his homework I sent him outside to play and Frankie took Elizabeth up stairs to play. " Lena said.
"I should go get them to go home. At least I can make Will a nice dinner to announce that I'm bringing home another kid" Callie said standing up.
"good luck!" Lena smiled.
The next afternoon Callie left work early and met Katie in her office.
"Her family is just saying goodbye" Katie said when Callie found her in the hallway. A few minutes later the door opened and a teary eyed women came out.
"You must be Laura" Callie said.
"I am, it's so nice to meet you finally" Laura said giving Callie a hug.
"We are so happy to be taking Maya"
"We're glad that she is going you a good home but we will miss her" Laura said.
"Well of course she can come visit anytime, I would love for you to still have contact with her."
"We would like that too, I'll walk out with you guys and get the rest of her things from my car" Laura said. Callie nodded before turning to Maya.
"Hi sweetie, your brother is so excited your coming" Callie told her.
'Me too" Maya smiled at her. They walked down to the parking lot and Laura pulled two big boxes from the back of her car helping Callie load them into hers.
"We will see you soon" Laura said giving Maya a last hug before Callie put her in the car. Maya was quiet for a few minuted then she started asking Callie all kinds of questions. Callie smiled trying to answer them all. They went to the daycare to pick up Elizabeth and Maya was so excited to have a real live baby around. She held Elizabeth's hand in the parking lot and talked to her in the car. Then they went to the school just in time as Callie helped the girls out of the car. Lena came out to meet the in the court yard.
"Maya, I'm so glad you are staying with Callie for a while" Lena smiled at her.
"Me too, I like you" Maya said.
"Well I like you too" Lena laughed as the least bell rang and Harry and Frankie came running from the building.
"Maya!" Harry cried, he had been waiting all day for his sister and was so excited to see her. Maya squealed and Harry gave her a hug.
"Alright guys, let's get home and get settled" Callie smiled herding her three children back to the car.
The evening was busy and Callie tried to accept that they would be for now on. She unpacked Maya's things in Elizabeth's room which was luckily big enough for the girls to share. They had talked about moving Harry into the bedroom downstairs and giving Maya her own room but Callie decided against it. She had such fond memories of sharing a bedroom with her sisters she wanted Maya and Elizabeth to have that even if it would only be for a few weeks. Callie knew a lot of her and Mariana being as close as they were now was that they had once been forced against their will to share a loving space. Will came home and played with the girls as Callie made dinner and helped Harry with his homework. After dinner was a dash to get everyone bathed and settled down before sending them off to bed, first Elizabeth, then Maya and last Harry after he finished his reading. As soon as all three kids were asleep Callie clasped onto her bed ready to fall asleep herself as Will came in.
"So is this a bad time to tell you I have to go in early tomorrow so your alone for the morning rush?" Will asked.
"Ugh…I suppose this is the karma for agreeing to a third child without telling you" Callie sighed.
"Yup, that sound about right" Will laughed.