Two hours later Captain Roberts' phone rang and their third round of dodge ball stopped instantly, in the hopes that it was regarding Stef. Jesus went to get Lena and the whole family listened as Roberts spoke to who was obviously the bank, regarding another transaction on Stef's card.
"She filled gas in Phoenix." Roberts said as she hung up the phone. "She heading back this way."
"Oh thank god." Lena said as Brandon quickly pulled out his phone and tried to call his mom one more time. But it was no use, her phone was still off.
"No answer?" Mariana asked as Brandon groaned and put the phone back in his pocket.
"No." Brandon said, frowning. Nothing like this had ever happened with his family before and he was so angry. His mom always told him that he wasn't allowed to just walk away and here she crossed over two states without a word to anyone. What could possibly have made her that angry? Knowing his mom, he began to realize that it wasn't her fight with Lena or her stress over Callie that sent her away - there had to be something more.
"At least she's on her way back right?" Mariana said optimistically, for her own sake as well as the others.
Lena had stayed in the kitchen so that Callie wouldn't be alone while the others were outside and when Jesus came rushing in to say that the bank called she quickly rushed out. After the conversation and once Roberts told them what was going on Lena turned to go back into the kitchen and that's when she saw Callie standing in the doorway to the back yard - the first time she'd moved since she sat at the window.
"She's coming home." Lena said, knowing that Callie wanted to know though she'd never ask. "It's going to be okay."
But Callie wasn't so sure - while she was thrilled that Stef was coming back home and that she was fine she was also afraid of what would happen to her once Stef was back. Would they still want her? Would they send her away? Would they even care about what happened to her? For the first time Callie began to cry silently to herself - she had wanted to push them, test them, make sure that they meant what they said. But Callie had never meant to push so hard and now she was afraid that maybe, this time, she had pushed just a little too far.
After the phone call Mike called up the gas station where Stef had filled up her car and using a little influence he got some information on Stef. The guy behind the counter told him that the woman came in, paid for gas and a couple of cans of soda before heading out again. The man had also said that she didn't look hurt or injured in any way, just in a rush.
Lena felt more and more relieved the more she learned and now all she wanted was for Stef to get home.
"Hey honey, you're awfully quiet." Sharon said to Brandon as she entered his room. She had noticed that he'd gotten more quiet after the phone call while everyone else's spirits had lifted quite a bit at the thought of their mother coming home.
"Just thinking." Brandon said as he sat up to make room for his grandmother on his bed.
"Want to talk about it?" She asked, and he knew that just like his mom, she wouldn't let it go until he told her what was on his mind.
"I'm just mad at her." Brandon said. "I get that she needed some time and space, I've needed it too sometimes and I've walked away when she didn't want me to but she just left. She left the damn state and never told anyone." Brandon ranted, finally letting all this thoughts lose. "We're lucky that she and dad are cops and we had the advantage of tracking her otherwise we would have had no clue where she was or what had happened."
Sharon listened to her grandson without interrupting. She as angry too but she also knew her daughter and she knew that sometimes Stef got too stubborn, too angry, and too impulsive to think straight. Those things were both her strengths as well as her flaws - her drive and determination made her someone who didn't give up easily but at the same time it drove her to the point where she was ready to explode - and now was obviously one of those times.
"Mama thinks she's mad at her." Brandon continued, unaware of the thoughts his grandmother was having. "But I don't think that it." Brandon admitted. "She's been mad at all of us before but she's never left. I think there's something else that mama either isn't telling us or she doesn't know herself."
"I think you're right." Sharon told him. "I don't think she left because she was mad at Lena or Callie or anyone else. I think she left because she was mad at herself."
"Why would she be mad at herself?" Brandon asked.
"You know your mother." Sharon said by way of explanation. "You know how she takes things to heart and how disappointed she feels when she can't fix things. I think that she realized that maybe she wasn't able to help Callie as fast and as well as she wanted to and she just got frustrated."
"That sounds like mom." Brandon said with a small smile.
"I'm willing to bet you a hundred bucks that's who she's really angry with." Sharon said.
"No deal." Brandon finally cracked a genuine smile. "That's a loosing battle."
At six Sharon headed to the kitchen to start dinner. No one had eaten much all day - more than half the pizza was sitting in the fridge and most of the sandwiches were untouched as well. She desperately wanted to get something healthy into the kids and especially Lena so she set about making some fried chicken with grilled vegetables and mashed potatoes.
Callie was back at the window seat, the only one on the first floor at the moment. Mike and Roberts had headed back to the station for a while but were both coming back for dinner and planned to stay right until Stef got home. Lena was upstairs taking a shower and Jude and the twins were upstairs doing their own thing.
"You know, before your mom met Lena she wasn't like she is now." Sharon said, keeping herself busy with dinner but talking to Callie, hoping to engage her in some conversation. "She wasn't happy with who she was or the life she was living. But once she met Lena she found her place - somewhere she felt she belonged and everything changed after that, though it did take a while. Stef was so afraid to come out though she wanted to be with Lena more than anything. They disagreed a lot until Lena finally said that she wasn't willing to have a relationship with someone who was married. It took a while but Stef finally got the guts to go after what she wanted and accept that she deserved happiness too."
Sharon had a point to this story - she wanted to show Callie that it was okay to need some time to adjust to something new. She understood that it wasn't easy for Callie to accept something that was kept from her for so long and that even someone as strong and independent and confident as Stef had struggled to become who she is now.
Sharon quickly glanced at the girl and noticed that for the first time she actually looked up to listen to what Sharon was telling her. Sharon decided that she'd give it one more try and after turning over the pieces of chicken in the pan she headed towards Callie and sat down beside the girl.
"It's okay to not know how to any of this." She said softly to Callie. "It's okay to make mistakes and to be cautious. You'll get it eventually. Just like Stef did. One day this will all be behind you and you'll come out shining and you'll have an entire family there to help you pull through."
Callie gave Sharon a small smile before focusing on the crack in her iPhone screen again. Luckily for her the screen had just one crack in it but the phone still worked. All day Callie had been trying to call Stef but just like with everyone else the phone was constantly off. But Sharon caught the smile and taking a chance she wrapped an arm around the teen and pulled her close, giving her one tight squeeze before going back to her chicken.
What neither of them knew was that Lena was standing on the stairs, listening to every word.