Hey guys! Sooo I've been updating lately,. I guess that's good. Nobody has yelled at me, also good. Who is nervous about the finale? Follow me on Twitter for sneak peeks and updating status for all your favorite stories jonn3y5. Thanks guys! Enjoy
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"How was school?" Stef asks her children. They all give different versions of fine as they shove food in their mouths.
"Glad to hear it." Stef shares an amused look with Lena who has a smile on her face. They look back at their kids and notice that Callie and Jude seem to be a little on edge.
"How about the beach this weekend?" Stef proposes and three of the five lift their heads in excitement and all start to talk over each other throwing out ideas and asking multiple questions. Stef looks over at Callie an Jude who continue to eat slowly and show no interest in the other kids conversation.
"Caleb is here." Jesus says over everyone when the doorbell sounds through the house and halts the conversation momentarily. Stef gets up from the table and answers the door.
"Hi." Stef says happily as Caleb walks in the house with his bag in one hand and his pads in another.
"Thank you so much for giving him a ride." Stef says thanking Caiden's mom.
"Oh no problem." She says handing Stef Caleb's backpack. "We will see you tomorrow." Caiden's mom waves to Caleb and Stef before walking off the porch and to her car. Stef shuts the door and sets Caleb's backpack down.
"You hungry bud? Mama made you a plate." Stef says ready to walk back to the kitchen when she sees Callie and Jude on the stairs.
"No thanks." Caleb says picking up his backpack and starting up the stairs with Callie and Jude.
"Buddy, you just had a 3 hour practice and you haven't eaten since lunch." Stef says and Caleb stops and looks at her as Lena joins the conversation.
"I'm not hungry, I have homework." Caleb says and Stef looks Lena hoping to get help. When Lena doesn't say anything Caleb walks up the stairs with Callie and Jude trailing behind him. This odd behavior has been happening since they got back. They barely talk, they kept their distance and honestly it was worrying them. They knew the transition back wouldn't be the easiest but they didn't realize it would be this hard for them. They watch them climb the stairs and Stef turns to look at Lena.
"Pushing won't help." Lena says touching her wife's arm before walking away. So that's how the week went, Caleb came home, Callie and Jude followed him around like puppies. All said nothing, all tip tied around the family like they were invisible. As the week came to a close, Stef could see the internal struggle within Callie, and when Caleb wasn't around she let Jude slip up and actually have a conversation with the family. So when Saturday rolled around Stef decided to talk to Callie while Caleb was at a teammates house to prepare for his first game
"Let's talk." Stef says leading Callie outside, while Jude helps with breakfast. Callie looks back at Jude who doesn't even notice her absence and relaxes a little bit as she sits down on the bench with Stef.
"What's going on?" Stef asks as Callie sits as far as possible and studies her fingers carefully. "Talk to me Callie." Stef takes Callie's hands gently and holds them, rubbing them soothingly. Callie looks at Stef and then down at their hands. She feels a wave of warmth through her body at the gesture, and looks back at Stef and studies her. She reminds Callie of her mom. Kind eyes, warm hands, a smile that could light up a room...
She misses her mom, and she really believes Stef is what her mom would've wanted for them. Callie understands why Caleb has gone into full blown protective mode, but what if Stef doesn't understand and wants them out, she couldn't do that to her brothers, but she also knew, she couldn't keep letting Caleb drive himself crazy with worry.
"Caleb doesn't trust you, he wants us to keep our distance." Callie softly admits and Stef could barely hear the girl admission and had to practically lean forward to hear her.
"And what do you think?" Stef asks and Callie shrugs her shoulders as her eyes stay focused on the floor. "You can talk to me." Stef takes one finger and lifts Callie's chin up so she makes eye contact with her.
"I'm not supposed to say..." Callie says starting to look away again but Stef stops her.
"Who's the mom here Callie? Me or Caleb?" Stef asks as watches a smile form on the girls face. The question was serious, Stef wants both Callie and Jude to realize that Caleb isn't their protector anymore, he isn't the parent, they are, but she could she the silliness of the question.
"You are.." Callie says looking up at Stef.
"Then as the mom, I'm telling you to tell me what you think." Stef says and once again a smile spreads across the girls face.
"I want to stay here.. And I trust you guys." Callie says and Stef smiles and feels her heart beat a little faster.
"Good." Stef kisses Callie's head, and for the first time, Callie leans into it and allows it to happen.
"What about Caleb?" Callie asks as Stef wraps her arms around Callie's shoulders.
"I will handle him, you just... You worry about being a kid." Stef kisses Callie's head again. "Your guitar instructor says you getting pretty good at that thing." Stef says and she sees Callie light up.
"Yea! I memorized 7 major and minor chords." Stef laughs an lets Callie ramble about her guitar for a few minutes before they go back into the house.
When they get inside, Jude's pajama shirt was covered in flour and he happily sets the first round of waffles on the table. Callie, who would usually walk over and take her brother to change, walks over and ruffles his hair before getting cups and pulling out milk and orange juice for drinks. Lena looks over at Stef who winks and picks up her coffee.
"Alright troops, Caleb's first football game today, we need to leave out in 1 hour." Stef says as she watches her kids file down the stairs one by one.
"Callie will you take Jude to change quickly?" Lena asks and Callie nods, leading Jude up the stairs.
"Speaking of Caleb, where is he?" Brandon asks and Stef takes a seat at the table.
"He spent the night at his teammates house." Lena says handing out plates and sitting down.
"How long is his game?" Brandon asks again and Stef laughs.
"B, I know you're not one for sports, but come on, it's your brother, cheer him on, it will be fun." Stef cuts up Jude's waffle while he is upstairs.
"Brother? So like they are staying staying?" Brandon asks and both moms look are stairs before looking at their three children.
"Yes.. Are you guys ok with that?"
"Yes!" Brandon and Jesus high five each other and Mariana just smiles and let's her brothers hug her.
"But... But..." Lena starts gaining their attention and pulling them back to the conversation. "We haven't told them yet, so let's just carry on as usual." Lena says just as Jude walks into the kitchen followed but Callie.
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When the Fosters arrive at the field, the quickly find seating and dig into the various snacks the moms packed. They all look across the field and look for Caleb. Callie and Jude are the first to point him out. The whole family looks over to see Caleb warming up with one of the coaches, throwing the ball back and forth. The moms could tell it was him, his hands shook nervously every time the ball wasn't in his hands. Stef wanted to go down to the field and calm him, but Stef knew from experience the knowledge of family watching only made it worse.
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"You're ready." His offensive coordinator says as Caleb keeps warming up with his assistant coach.
"Just breathe, don't forget to breathe." The OC taps Caleb's helmet before walking away and Caleb finishes warming up before walking over to get some water.
"Captains!" The coach calls and Caleb walks over to where Caiden and a linebacker, Jason, stands waiting. They hook arms together and walk to midfield. After the coin toss, the choose to receive and jog back over to the sideline to their coach.
"Alright boys... This is it, this is where we determine our year. Are we winners?"
"Yes sir!" The whole team answers.
"Then get out there and show me some winning spirit... Captains!" The coaches leave the huddle and Caleb and Caiden take over.
"Whose house is this?!" Caiden yells first.
"Our house you know!" The team shouts back.
"Whose house is this?!" Caleb yells. The team again answers.
"Our house you know!"
"Who are we!?" Caleb yells.
"Chargers!"
"Who are we?!" Caiden yells.
"Chargers! Chargers! Chargers!" The team chants.
"Get some! Whoooo!" They run through the paper banner the cheerleaders were holding and the crowd starts to cheer. The Foster family are on their feet cheering as loud as they could. Caleb nervously jumps from foot to foot as he waits to go on the field. When special teams jobs off the field he knows this is it. The coach grabs his arm and whispers the play into his ear before pushing him forward lightly. Caleb walks over to the huddle and calls out the play, the team claps before getting into position. Caleb's hands start to shake and sweat. He positions behind the center and looks up. He looks over at the bleachers and see Callie and Jude sitting on the bleachers completely preoccupied by something else, but that isn't what catches his eyes. What catches his eye is Lena and Stef standing up their attention completely on him. He feels a sudden wave of ease, and even though they haven't said a word to him, a feels a new sense of confidence.
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After the game, with a score of 28-7, Caleb played an amazing first game, threw for two touch downs and ran for one. The coaches were very impressed and praised Caleb up until he left the locker room to meet his family. Caleb wasn't sure what took over him but he started frantically searching for, not Callie and Jude, but Lena and Stef.
"There he is!" Caleb hears and he turns to see his whole family standing waiting for him. They start clapping and Caleb couldn't help the smile that forms across his face. He drops his bag and rushes forward and hugs Lena and Stef. They instantly wrap their arms around him.
"We are so proud of you." They say as they hold on to him. After a minute, the smell starts to get to Lena and they pull away.
"Honey I love you, but you need a shower." Lena says and Caleb laughs as Stef runs her hand through his sweaty hair and picks up his bag.
"Maybe a hair cut." Stef jokes as Callie and Jude hug their brother and receives high fives from Brandon and Jesus and a side hug from Mariana.
"Mom is right you do stink." Mariana says and the whole family laughs.
"Well that's good because I've been needing a hug from you Mariana." Caleb says and wraps Mariana up in his arms. Mariana screams and starts laughing as Caleb picks her up an starts running towards the car. The rest of the family walks behind them, laughing at the scene.
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"Hey." Callie whispers as she slides into Caleb's room. Caleb turns and looks at her.
"Hey." Caleb finishes putting up the poster and looks at his sister. It's been a couple of weeks since the game and just home from practice and changed out of his football stuff, Caleb was dressed in jeans and a plaid button up shirt, his Padres hat and socks. "Why are you whispering?" Caleb asks and Callie shuts his door.
"We have a problem." Callie says and Caleb raises an eyebrow. "They are painting our room Caleb and..." Callie pauses and pulls paint chips from her pocket. "Letting us choose." Callie tosses them on Caleb's bed.
"I'm confused, why is this bad?" Caleb picks up a light green paint chip and looks at it.
"If we are staying here Caleb, what happens to dad dad when he gets out?" Callie asks and Caleb tosses the paint chip back in the pile.
"That's not our problem." Caleb says and Callie steps closer to her brother.
"But it is, he is still our dad Caleb." Callie says and Caleb steps forward.
"Since when are you so forgiving towards dad?"
"Since I realized Caleb, we are getting comfortable here! To comfortable! I referred to Lena and Stef as mom, I'm actually thinking of them as our moms. We have a mom!" Callie yells and Caleb can feel the heat rising in his face.
"Had! Callie, we had a mom and dad took that from us!"
"Hey!" Stef opens the door with Lena behind her. "What's going on?" Stef asks but is ignored.
"You don't even know what tomorrow is Caleb, you don't know because we have forgotten her!" Callie yells. Caleb takes a minute and absorbs the information. Callie is right, he forgot that tomorrow was his moms birthday. He looks over at Lena and Stef who are standing waiting for an answer and then looks back at Callie. Caleb steps forward and pulls Callie, who at first resists, into a hug. He feels her breakdown against his body and he holds on to her as she continues to break down.
"I'm sorry." Caleb whispers. "I'm so sorry." Caleb feels Callie start to pull away and he lets her. He looks at her completely heart broken face and he watches as she brushes past him and straight into Lena's arms. Lena holds her for a minute before escorting her out. Stef watches them before turning to Caleb.
"Hey.. Hey it's ok." Stef rushes towards her son as she sees the tears run down his face.
"I forgot..." Caleb whispers out. Stef pulls him into a hug and kisses his head.
"I know baby.. It's ok." Stef whispers. "It's ok." Stef feels Caleb's body rack with sobs and she holds on to him. "I have you." Stef says as he continues to cry against her body.
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Later that night, with both Caleb and Callie asleep in their bed, the moms stand at the foot of the bed and watch them silently.
"We should do something for them tomorrow." Lena whispers and Stef looks for the bed to Lena. "Take them to go visit their mom, pay their respects. This has got to be hard for them Stef, they feel guilty about settling into a new family." Stef wraps an arm around Lena's waist and kisses the side of her head.
"I think that is a great idea love." Stef says and Lena offers a smile before stepping out of Stef's embrace and walking over to the bed where Callie and Caleb where sleeping. Callie's head rests against Caleb's shoulder as Caleb had a protective arms wrapped around his sister, fear was so engrained that he was trained to protect even in sleep. Lena knew that going to see their mom was going to be good for them. So the next morning, after informing the siblings of the plan, they got dressed in silence. Callie wore a simple black dress she had stowed away in the back of the closet, Jude wore a grey shirt and a black tie, and Caleb wore a black shirt and a black tie. All dressed in the same attire they wore to their mothers funeral. It all still fit because it was all too big when they first got it. It was reusable and that's why Bill insisted they get sizes up. It was all about the money saving to them while they grieved for their mother. As Caleb finished tying his tie, and Callie finished pulling her hair back and brushing Jude's hair, they all made it down stairs to where Lena and Stef were waiting, also dressed in black. It surprised the siblings how much they cared. So as they got into the car and drove to the cemetery, the sibling said nothing. They just stared out the window, watching as the fall weather was changing the leaves around them.
As they pulled up to their destination, they hesitated. They knew what today meant, today meant final goodbyes and letting go. They were moving on with a family, a great one at that, and so this was their final goodbye. So as they climbed out of the car as stood looking across the thousands of headstones, only one stood out. Caleb grabs Jude's hand as waits for Callie.
"Are you sure about this?" Caleb asks looking at Callie who just nods her head. Caleb tighten his hold on Jude's hand and Callie takes Caleb's hand into her own as they stand for a second. Stef is ready to cut in but Lena just shakes her head and that stops Stef. They wait for another minute for taking. Step forward and walking to their mothers grave. When they get there, they realize that's all that's left of her. Caleb looks at Jude who sets the flower down but never lets go of Caleb's hand. The anniversary is never easy, the birthday it's easier but the anniversary of her death never is. Jude steps back and they all look at the grave. Silent, the only thing that could be heard was the leaves crumbling under their feet as the moved from foot to foot. They never say anything when they come here, it's to hard, like they are saying goodbyes, and they don't want to say goodbye. Jude looks up at his older siblings and looks past them to where Lena and Stef are watching with a careful eye. He loves them, and he loves his mom, but his mom isn't here anymore, so she sent Lena and Stef to love and protect them when she can't, so Jude does something the Jacobs siblings have never braved to do. He lets go of Caleb's hand and steps forward and places a kiss on her head stone.
"I love you mom, thank you for our new moms." Jude touches her head stone and looks at his siblings before running over to Lena and Stef who wrap him up in a hug. Sure it was sad, but he knew where he belonged. Caleb looks at his sister who just stares at the head stone.
'Beloved mother, wife, and daughter.' It's fitting they put mother first because she was the very best. Callie could feel the tears rising in her throat and she feels Caleb tighten his grip and she leans into him slightly.
"I love you mom, and you will always be my mom. But it's time we say goodbye." Caleb says and he can feels Callie beginning to cry against him. Caleb pulls Callie back and looks her in the eye.
"She wants this for us Callie, she does." Caleb says his own tears falling down his face. Callie stares at her brother allowing the tears to fall down her face.
"Bye mom." Callie finally whispers before touching the headstone and turning to see Lena and Stef a few feet away. Jude still pressed against Lena. Callie walks over and Stef wraps her up in the biggest hug she can give and allows Callie to cry against her. Caleb watches the scene before turning his head to look at his mothers headstone.
"Thank you mom.." Caleb whispers before planting a kiss where Jude did minutes earlier. Caleb looks at the single rose that rests in front of her headstone and smiles. "You were the very best so you sent the very best." Caleb rest his hand against the headstone one last time before walking over to Lena's waiting arms. He hugs her and allows the warmth of her love spread across his body, and to be honest it felt great. And as they left the cemetery, for the first time, neither sibling looked back.
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So what did you guys think? Tell me thoughts, ideas? How should Stef and Lena talk to the kids about adoption? How about Caleb and football? Review!