Callie POV
I was sitting in the passenger seat of Rita's car. My knees were bent, my backpack was place on my legs, right elbow was pressed to the side of the window at the doors. I was biting my thumb nail as I kept looking at the place where I am supposed to meet them.
"Why did agree to this?" I wonder out loud as I watch the people inside the restaurant through the big glass windows
"Because it is the right thing to do" Rita's said back from the drivers seat "And most importantly, you are doing this for Jude"
"What do I say to them?" I ask staring out of the side window, watching people go in and out of the restaurant
"The truth. Always go with the truth" Rita replies without missing a beat. It felt like she knew that I was going to ask her that.
I place my hands on my backpack when I turn to look at her "If this goes South…I will blame you and Martin" I tell her in advance
"I know" Rita pats my shoulder "But honestly...I don't think it will. I think they will be nice people and I think you will find a way to work this out..."
"How can you be so sure?" I raise my eyebrow at her
"Call it a gut feeling if you like" Rita offered me a warm smile back and a soft shoulder squeeze
"You and your optimism" I said smirking back at her when I reach for the door handle
"Good luck" Rita says when I open the doors
"The hell with luck! I just hope the Universe will hand me some good from the Life's mixed bag" I replied getting out of the car
Lena POV
Stef and I were sitting at the booth at the end of the restaurant, by the window. We have been waiting for some 5 minutes now. Stef was tapping her fingers at the table, her leg was bouncing up and down non-stop ever since we sat down. Every 20 seconds she reaches for her phone, that stood in the middle of the table, to check the time.
"Stef" I placed my hand over hers when she once again reached for the phone "You need to calm down, love" I said softly to her, rubbing my thumb over her palm
"She is not going to show!" Stef said pulling her hand away from my, she pressed her elbows to the table, interlocked her own fingers and pressed her hands up to her mouth/chin region.
"You don't know that…give her some time" I said rubbing my hand on her lower back. Stef shifted again, her eyes darted over the street.
"How much time? She is already late 7 minutes and 22 seconds!" Stef said once again unlocking her phone to see the time
The small bell rang, indicating someone had walked in the restaurant. Both of our eyes immediately darter over to the doors, to see if by any chance it was Callie.
A young woman had walked in, she looked around early 20. Stef tilted her head sideways "Is that…Callie?" Stef wondered out loud
"Could be" I said as I looked at the girl. She looked around the room, searching for someone.
"Should we wave?" Stef whispered to me
"I'm…I…don't…know" I stutter back, watching the girl, trying to tell if that is her
Stef was slowly raising her hand up to wave at her. She almost did, but I quickly reach for her hand and pull it down, when I see that the girl found who ever she was looking for. That was not Callie, the girl walked over to some table where 2 boys were sitting.
"Uh..this is killing me!" Stef said and pressed her forehead down to the table. I place my hand on her back and run my hand in circles.
"She will show" I said with certainty
"How come you are so sure of it?" Stef mumbled back, her head still down at the table
"Because of one name" I paused for dramatic effect "Jude. If she really cares for he brother, she will want to talk it out and not get the court involved. As a kid who has been in the system, who has seen how it works, how much it screws the kids up…she wouldn't want to put Jude through it all. Not if she can avoid it"
Stef lifted her head up. She takes a deep breath in and gives me a small peck to my lips "I love your rational thinking and your optimism"
I grab a hold of her hand under the table and we once again keep our eyes on the street to look out for the girl.
We hear throat clearing from our right few seconds later. Simultaneously we both look to the person who made the sound. Obviously, while we talked we had missed the small door bell.
A girl was standing by our table. She was dressed very casually – sneakers, tight, black jeans, dark red sweater on top. Her brown locks fell over her shoulders. With her right hand she was holding on to the backpack that was just on her right shoulder.
It was her.
How could I tell?
Her eyes. It was all in her eyes.
The girl lifted a small paper up with her left hand and looked to it "Are you...Adams Fosters?" she reads off the paper and looks up to us, waiting for an answer.
"Y-Yeah…yes! Yes-that's us! Yes!" Stef called out and jolted up so fast she hit her knee at the table. There was a loud bang. The girl took a small step back, watching closely, how Stef makes a fool of herself. I move out of the seat like a normal person would – calmly, without banging my extremities at table.
When I stand up next to Stef, there is a short moment of us just looking at one another.
"Callie?" I ask stopping the silence. The girl nods backs. I extend my hand to her "Lena"
Callie looks to my hand, she hesitates with the handshake. But after few seconds, she crumbles up the small paper and puts the paper in her pocket.
"Pleasure" Callie replied, taking her right hand off the backpack strap to shake my hand
"My wife, Stef" I tell her looking to Stef by my side. Callie's ends eye contact with me and holds it with Stef.
"It is nice to finally meet you" Stef replied when she shook the girls hand "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us"
"Please…have a seat" I gesture to the other side of the table
Callie nods back, she takes her backpack off her shoulder, tosses the bag to the inside of the seat and only then sits down herself. Stef and I both sit back down to our side of the table. I had figured there would be the awkward silence at first, but Callie spoke up first, surprising both of us.
"I'm not really sure…why you wanted to meet" She said calmly, but there was a small hint of attitude in her voice. Callie was looking between us, she placed her hands on the table, interlocked her fingers. Stef gives me a quick look, telling me she didn't like the attitude.
"We wanted to talk about Jude" I said in the same calm manner
"What's there to talk about? He is my brother…I want him back. I want him to live with me"
"And he is our son" Stef said back firmly, without missing a beat
I could see Stef's comment didn't sit right with Callie. It ticked something off. Callie closed her eyes for a second, tilted her head to one side, bit her lower lip, she tightened the grip on her hands. Her body tensed up.
"I'm sorry…your son?" Callie looked to Stef and let out a frustrated chuckle "No! He is not your son. Jude is my brother and you two are just strangers to him" I could tell Callie was trying to stay as calm as possible. What Stef had said, had made her visibly upset.
"I would beg to differ" Stef said back as politely as she could, she held the eye contact with the girl
This wasn't how I wanted things to start off. I want that awkward silence. Awkward silence would be better than this.
I saw so many similarities between Stef and Callie. Both of them are ready to claw each others eyes out. I could tell Callie was just as stubborn as Stef was. They both know what they wanted and they won't step back until they get what they want. Neither of them were easily intimidated. They both had a strong presence with them and they said what they mean. And both of them where driven by one thing - love.
I was sure, if this works out, those two will be butting their head along the way.
"Can we please…keep it civil and start over?" I interject before either of them could say something else. Callie slowly takes her eyes off Stef, who watched her as a hawk, and looks back to me.
"We are here because of Jude" I continue and give Stef's hand a soft squeeze under the table "It is clear to me, that you love your brother. Very much. And you would do anything for him," Callie tilts her head to one side slightly, she keeps quiet, waiting for me to finish
"We love him too" I say sincerely, placing my free hand on my chest "Ever since he stepped his foot in our home, he has brought nothing but happiness and love in our lives"
"What are you saying?" Callie speaks up when she takes her hands down from the table and places them in her lap
"We want what is best for Jude. I have no doubt, you want that too" I don't have to wait long for a head nod from her that confirmed what I thought. Callie's features softened a lot after that.
"I hope you can agree, that taking this to court…will only make things harder for Jude. It would be horribly cruel to make him chose between his sister and the family has has grown to love and that loves him back as well"
"If you are trying to talk me into giving up on him-"
"No, no, no…that's not what I am saying" I interject at once, stopping the trail of thought "We are willing to put aside the adoption papers and try and work this whole thing out. Without involving the court and our lawyers."
"Of course we want the same thing from you" Stef spoke up, her voice was firm
Callie sat quietly for a while. Her eyes kept darting between us. She was biting her lower lip when her eyes finally stopped at me"What are you suggesting? How do we make this work?"