A/N: So... I didn't think of the issue with the knife and TSA in the last chapter. Oops. Let's just pretend the world is a much nicer place to live in.
It was almost 10pm when they landed back in San Diego. Sometime during the flight, Callie and Stef had fallen asleep leaning against each other. Lena smiled when she noticed them as the plane taxied to the gate. Despite the fact that Lena had been the first one to meet and connect with Callie, she knew their relationship had been stunted by that dangerous night when they'd rescued Jude from the kids' former foster father. Although she'd gotten over it in the months since, she originally hadn't been able to help unfairly associating Callie with danger to her family. However, that same night had seemed to solidify Stef's attachment to the teen, and Lena had become very glad for that. Hopefully their bond would make some of the difficult days ahead a little bit easier.
"Hey," Lena quietly said as she shook their shoulders to wake them. "We're home." She took the small bag that the moms had brought for their one-day travel adventure. Stef pulled Callie's duffle out of the overhead bin since the teen still looked semi-conscious. As they walked out from behind the TSA security area, they saw several familiar faces waiting from them - Sharon and the rest of the kids had come to the airport.
"Welcome home," Brandon told Callie as he stepped forward to hug her. He had wanted to go along with the moms to Missouri to get her, but their last-minute plane tickets had been expensive enough without having to add one more. Brandon had therefore made sure that he and the rest of the family were able to see Callie as soon as she was back in California.
Mariana was next in line to greet their foster sister. "I missed you," she told Callie.
"We're glad you came back," Jesus added as he also gave her a hug. The moms smiled as they watched the four teens together; their family had been reunited. But then Stef noticed that there was one person missing. Jude was hanging back behind the older kids, just staring at his sister. When Callie looked over at him, he turned away, refusing to meet her gaze. Callie's face fell.
Sharon also saw the silent exchange between the siblings. "I think we should get everyone home," she suggested. "It's been a very long day."
Stef nodded in agreement as she wrapped her arm around Callie's shoulders. "Are you ready?" she softly asked the teen.
"Yeah. Let's go home."
Mariana decided to ride in the car with the moms and Callie, but Jude chose the SUV with Brandon, Jesus, and Sharon. The ride was quiet, with nobody quite sure what to say. Once they all got back to the house, the youngest of the family disappeared upstairs after a quick, "I'm tired."
"Jude!" Lena called after him, but Callie stopped her from following her little brother up the steps.
"I've got it," she told their foster mother.
"Are you sure?" Both women knew that she was pretty emotionally fragile at the moment and didn't want to add anything else to the list of what she was dealing with.
But Callie just nodded. "Yeah. This is on me."
Jude was lying on his bed in his room. When he saw Callie in the open doorway, he moved to his side, turning his back to her. "Jude, stop." He didn't respond. Callie sat down next to him. "Talk to me."
With a huff, he turned back over. "You lied to me," he declared. "You lied to me and you left me!"
"I know. I thought I was doing what was best for you. For both."
"You were wrong," he shot back.
"Yeah... I make mistakes sometimes, Jude. I'm sorry."
"I know. I do, too." He heaved a sigh. "Brandon said that Liam hurt you. Really bad."
Callie looked away. "Yeah, he did."
"Why didn't you tell me that?"
"Well... because I was ashamed."
"Why? It wasn't your fault."
She gave him a teary smile. "I didn't understand that at the time."
"I would have told you."
The simple honesty of that promise took her breath away. "I wish I'd known that."
"What do you always tell me?" Jude asked.
She frowned. "Um... I don't know. To always be yourself?"
He shook his head. "Besides that. You always say that you'll love me no matter what. But you didn't trust me the same way."
Her tears spilled. For so long, her brother had mostly just been her responsibility, her little burden. She was always so worried about how the environment he was in would affect the kind of person he'd eventually grow up into. But she'd totally missed the fact that he'd already started to become his own person - and apparently, a pretty decent one. "All I can say is that I'm sorry, Jude. I'm just... I'm sorry."
Jude sat up and hugged her; he'd always hated watching his sister cry. "I'm sorry, too. You're the only one who's always been there for me. I shouldn't have said those mean things to you. I know you care about me."
"I do," she agreed as she held him tight. "More than anything else. I thought that if I left.. we wouldn't have to be a package deal anymore, and you would get to stay here."
"But I don't want to be anywhere without you."
Callie smiled and kissed his forehead. "Okay." The numbers on the clock caught her attention. "It's really late; you should start getting ready for bed."
Jude shook his head. "I'm not tired yet. Stef or Lena will tell me when it's bedtime."
It wasn't the first time that he had deferred to their foster mothers' authority instead of hers. In the past, it had made Callie upset - she was the one that had raised him. But now she realized that maybe this was how it was supposed to be. "You know," she told her brother, "Things could be different for us. Once we get adopted, I mean. We'll have someone else that's taking care of us instead of having to take care of each other. Maybe that'll let us have a better relationship than before." It could be nice to just be Jude's sister instead of his pseudo-mom.
He just shrugged, contemplating the idea. "Maybe."
She smiled. "I'll see you in the morning, okay? Goodnight."
"G'night." She got up and started to leave. "Hey, Callie?" Jude stopped her as she got to the doorway.
"Hmm?"
"I'll always love you, no matter what. And I'll tell you that whenever you need to hear it."
She smiled. "I'll always love you, too."
When Callie stepped out into the hall, she was surprised to see that Brandon was waiting for her. "Hi," she said somewhat self-consciously.
Brandon smiled. "Hey. I'm glad you're back."
She nodded. "Yeah, me, too."
He was about to say something else, but Lena came up the stairs behind them. "I think it's bedtime, guys. For everyone; it's been a rough day."
Brandon nodded. "Okay. Goodnight," he told them as he disappeared into his room.
"Goodnight," Callie echoed. Lena took her hand for a minute.
"Goodnight, sweetheart. Welcome home."
Once she'd gone into her bedroom, Callie didn't initially see Mariana, but then realized that the younger girl was doing something in their closet. "There!" Mariana exclaimed with a smile as she saw her foster sister. "That looks a lot better."
Callie was about to ask what she was talking about, but then she saw it for herself. While she'd been talking with Jude, Mariana had unpacked for her. All of her clothes were back in the closet, and her backpack was on the floor next to her bed.
"Like you never left, right?" Mariana asked.
Callie just nodded. "Yeah." For one night, she could pretend that life was that easy.
TBC...