A/N. Thanks for all the great reviews for this story so far! Really appreciate it. So I think this story may turn into 3 parts instead - I was never very good at sticking to word limits. This part deals more with the Stef/Callie relationship - so next part with focus on Stef/Lena and the whole baby thing. Let me know what you think! All parts taken from the show belong to the wonderful creators!


Part 2

Stef breathed a steadying sigh before pulling herself up off their bedroom floor and heading to the door. She really just wanted to hide up there all day, but she knew that she had been up here too long already. Someone would have noticed she had been missing for 20 minutes by now. Just as she was about to open the door, she heard a timid knock from the other side. Opening the door quickly, Stef was a little stunned to find Callie standing there, an unsure look on her face.

"What's up love? Is everything ok?" Stef asked worriedly, jumping straight back into Mom mode.

"That's funny; I was just about to ask you that…" Callie shot back.

Stef let out a sigh, often forgetting that her eldest daughter could read others so easily.

She grabbed Callie's hand, pulling her into the room and shutting the door behind her again. Callie looked back at her confused, a frown forming on her forehead at Stef's unusual behavior.

"I just, needed some time away from…everything" Stef said honestly.

Callie nodded, sitting down on her mother's bed.

"Lena is looking for you."

"Yeah I figured"

Stef sat next to Callie, placing a tentative hand on the teenagers back.

"Thank you for coming today love. It really means a lot to me." Stef said quietly.

Callie shrugged, answering quickly. "I wanted to be here for you, well for all of you really."

"Well thanks. I really miss you around here Callie."

Callie looked at Stef, unsure of whether her foster mother was being genuine. No adult had ever said that to her before. "Why?" she managed to croak out.

"Why?" Stef asked incredulously, as if the answer was obvious. "Because we love you Callie, and I've always felt like out of all the kids, well you're the most like me."

Callie couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. It was the second time that someone had brought that to her attention today. She couldn't ignore the warm feeling that it had given her.

"Do you want me to go and stall Lena for a while? Give you some more time?" Callie asked earnestly.

Stef smiled playfully, bringing Callie into her side for a quick hug. "That's ok sweetie, I'll come down with you."

Lena saw Stef trailing behind Callie on the stairs, seeing the worry and sadness etched onto her partners face. She made her way through the crowd of people standing around in the living room, heading towards Stef quickly. Callie went one way, while Stef went the other, nearly bumping into Lena as she approached.

"Hey, I've been looking for you. Are you…."

"We need to talk" Stef said blankly, cutting Lena off mid sentence.

Stef reached for Lena's hand, dragging her into the kitchen behind her. Stef took a quick look around the room, making sure it was empty and there were no kids listening in.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Stef said seriously.

Lena sighed, letting her shoulders slump slightly.

"Mike told you?' she asked in disbelief.

"Mike…? What?"

Well now Stef was really confused. What on earth did Mike have to do with this? How did he know about something as important as this before she did?

"About the article…" Lena clarified, struggling to read the emotions on her wife's face. As soon as she saw her eyes widen, she knew that this was not what Stef had been talking about at all. She felt like kicking herself, she had just made everything so much worse.

"What article? Lena?" Stef asked, panic and anger evident in her voice.

Lena sighed again, reaching out a hand to gently rub Stef's upper arm.

"It's nothing babe. Nothing that you need to be worrying about right now anyway."

Lena felt heart tighten when Stef visibly jerked away from her touch.

"Seriously Lena? I can't believe you've been keeping this from me."

"I was going to tell you Stef, just after today. You already had so much to deal with, I didn't want you to be focusing on anything other than saying good bye to you father today…"

Stef scoffed, stepping back from her wife.

"Well it's a bit late for that isn't it…?" she said bitterly, turning on her heel and heading back into the living room.

Lena stood still in shock, unsure as to what was happening right now. Stef was hurting, she knew that. But she had no idea where all the anger was coming from. And she had even less idea about how to help.

Once Stef had spoken to Mike, read the article, and then spoken to her Mom as well, she felt even more confused than ever. She picked up the box of cupcakes that she had left out of sight, taking them to the kitchen to put them on a plate. She dumped the box on the counter, flipping open the lid and staring down at the cakes in disbelief. Seriously, was this really happening? She threw her hand onto the kitchen bench angrily, causing Lena and Callie to look up at her.

"Are you kidding me?"

"What's wrong?"

"These are dodger cupcakes; they are supposed to be Padre Cupcakes. I never checked the box when I picked them up. Dad hated the dodgers!" Stef said in exasperation.

"It's ok hun. I can go and pick up some plain ones" Lena started, moving towards her wife.

"Ah it's fine. It's stupid anyway. I'll just put them out like this…" she said, stalking off.

Stef dumped the cupcakes onto the table, turning and walking quickly back to the kitchen. She felt bad for snapping at Lena, and for all the kids to have had to watch her lose her cool like that. She should apologize. As she got back to the kitchen, Callie was frantically running around the kitchen, and her partners face told her that something was wrong.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking at Lena.

"Um, Callie misplaced her necklace."

"I didn't misplace it ok, I lost it, and I'm so stupid…." Callie shouted, wildly going through the garbage.

"Callie, honey its ok. I'm sorry, but we can always replace it…" Lena said softly.

"No Lena, don't. Just leave me alone!" Callie said forcefully, rejecting Lena's touch and running out into the backyard.

Stef shared a puzzled and concerned look with her partner, just as Jude spoke up.

"It was out Mom's necklace." He said sadly, heading out into the backyard after Callie.

Lena went to follow, but Stef stopped her, realization hitting her.

"I'll go love."

"Are you sure?" Lena asked, still attempting to get past her partner to the open door.

Stef put her hand on Lena's shoulder, causing her to look at her in confusion.

"Let me talk to her ok?"

Lena just nodded, unsure as to what her wife seemed to know that she didn't.

Stef headed outside, closing the door behind her.

"Jude, can I talk to Callie please?" she said, placing her hands on the young boys shoulder and giving him a kiss on the temple.

Jude reluctantly went inside, leaving Stef and Callie alone.

"Lena was only trying to help you know." She started.

"I know I'm sorry."

"That necklace is not your Mom"

"It's the only thing I have left of her"

"That's not true; you have her and all those memories. And those are never going to get lost." Stef said, placing a hand over her heart and trying to desperately make eye contact with Callie. Once Callie's tear filled eyes flicked up to meet Stef's, her chest filled with sadness for the confused girl. Stef reached behind her, pulling out some chairs and sitting down.

"Here, sit down, have a seat, talk to me love." Stef said, Callie following her lead and sitting opposite her.

"You know you've never once said anything about her, about your Mom. Why don't you tell me about her, tell me about this woman who created the amazing girl sitting in front of me" Stef said, desperately trying to get her foster daughter to open up. "Please" she added, locking eyes with Callie.

"I never kissed her goodbye…"

"What?"Stef asked confused.

"The night she died, I never… I should have…"

Stef placed a hand on her knee, squeezing it lightly to let Callie know that she was here for her. She was listening.

Callie took a deep breath, and Stef could see that it was hard for Callie to get the words out.

"The night she died, I never kissed her goodbye. I should have kissed her goodbye" Callie said, tears streaming down her face and sobs wracking her body.

"Oh Callie, oh baby" Stef said sadly, leaning closer and bring the teenager towards her chest in a hug.

Stef was glad that for once, Callie didn't stiffen or pull away at her touch. She let the girl sit there and hold on to her as she cried, trying anxiously to keep her own tears from falling.

"You know the last thing I said to my Dad was to basically take the car and shove it" she said into Callie's ear, breathing a sigh of relief as she felt the girl smile and laugh in her hold. She pulled back to look at her.

"It hurts to lose someone you love, and you never want to feel that way again. But the problem with that is, to stop that happening again that you shut yourself off. You stop loving, and that's no way to live."

Stef paused, watching as Callie continued to cry in front of her. She knew that the teen understood, she knew what Stef was trying to tell her. The poor girl had spent so long trying not to feel, and trying to shut herself off from everyone other than Jude. And now, she was faced with all these new people, people who loved her and cared about her. People who wanted her to be a part of their family. She felt her stomach twist as she realized why Callie ran away all those weeks ago.

"It's hard to open yourself up again." Stef paused, taking a deep breath. "You know most of the time I feel like I have 5 separate hearts running around outside of me"

Callie started at her, confused as to what she was trying to say.

"It's you kids." Stef said truthfully, smiling slightly at the look of shock in Callie's eyes.

Callie stared at Stef in disbelief for quite a while, unsure of what to say next. What could she say to that? Stef knew exactly how she felt, what she had just described is what she had been doing the moment she found out their mother was dead. Stef understood her so well, and she loved her. Stef loved her and Jude so much, that she compared them to all of her other children like there was no difference. Callie had no idea how they had managed to get so lucky with this family, but she knew she didn't want to let them go.

She felt Stef move forward, wrapping her up in another hug. Callie then did something that she had never done with any adult since her mother, she hugged her back. She clutched at Stef with shaky arms, her hands on the older woman's back, pulling her in close. This, this moment right now with Stef, well it felt perfect.

Lena joined Brandon and Marianna at the kitchen window, taking in what they were seeing. Callie with a tear stained face, hugging her wife forcefully, practically clinging to her. Lena smiled at the sight, her heart filling with joy as she saw the two connecting so strongly. She knew that Callie had a lot of issues and terrible things in her past, and to see her so open and vulnerable with Stef really was a turning point. Maybe connecting with Callie was exactly what Stef needed right now as well.