AN: Hi, I just want to thank you all for the support. Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following and adding this story to your favorites. I'm sorry I can't update more often. But I always try to update at the end of the week.

I will be honest, I don't really know how I want this story to end (I am torn between the options). I have no idea how many chapters there going to be. I'm just as clueless as you are :D

Lena POV

This was a sort of thing I would have expected from Stef, not from myself. I surprised myself by coming here and doing this. My car was parked on the street, by Jude's school. If I am not mistaken, in movies they call this a stakeout...or a lookout. I may be wrong about the correct cop slang.

I simply want to make sure that Callie gets Jude to school, on time and unharmed. Like she promised. This is just me being concerned about my son. I'm a mom, this is what moms do – we worry, non-stop!

I was tapping my fingers at my knee as I was watching the school and the streets around it, waiting for them to show up. As I kept waiting for Jude and Callie to show up, I couldn't help but to remember the first time came to this school with Jude.

Flashback

The ride from Anchor Beach to Jefferson High school was very quiet. Jude was sitting next to me, in the passenger seat, holding on to his backpack. He was looking out the side window and hadn't said a word since the breakfast.

"Here were are" I say as I park in the school's parking lot. I unbuckle the seatbelt and then turn to the backseat to get my purse.

"Aren't you excited? New school year..." I ask him when I look to out to the school

"And new school…again" he mumbles under his breathe

I sight "Look, honey... I know you have changed schools a lot and I am sorry you had to do it again. But your last school was simply too far away from home"

Jude turns to look at me finally "I liked the Anchor Beach better. It had a beach right next to it. Why can't I go there? Why did the other kids all go there, but I have to go to this..." He gestures with his left hand to the school

My heart ached for this kids. There was just so much hurt in his eyes. Jude looked sad most of the time. In the 3 weeks he has been living with us, he hardly ever has smiled. We have only heard his laugh once or twice.

"Jude, honey" I reached over to his left and say gently "We talked about this"

"Yeah, I'm stupid I know" He says back harshly looking back at the school

"No!" I instantly reply back " Don't say that!"

"Why not! ?It is true!"

"It is not true!" I insist and squeeze his hand softly "Look at me, Jude. Please, look at me" I wait till he turns to me.

"You, my sweet boy, are not stupid! Trust me! With a little bit of work, with a little bit of help - you will soon be getting only B's and A's. I know you don't believe it, I know you don't believe in yourself...but Stef and I – we believe in you. Okay? We believe in you!"

"Why?" Jude asks back, taking me by surprise

"Why what?" I ask back confused, looking in his big, brown eyes

"Why do you believe in me?"

"Because we care about you, Jude. More than you can imagine" Jude looked taken aback by the words

"No one has said that before..." He says quietly and shyly

"Get used to it" I smile to him as I give his hand a soft squeeze

End of flashback

I was taken back to the reality, when I heard a knock on the passenger side window. My head snaps to the right side. I see Callie and Jude both leaned down, looking inside the car, through the passenger side window. They were both smiling at me and waving at me.

I was caught in the act.

Callie opens the doors to the passenger seat, while Jude gets in the back seat.

"What a lovely surprise Lena" Callie said looking at me and then turned to the back seat "Are you as surprised as I am, Jude?"

"Oh, yes my dear sister. I am just as surprised as you are!" They had obviously planned this dialog to tease me

Callie turned back to me and very theatrically scratched her temple "Hmm, now why would you be here, when you should be at work? Hmm..."

Jude leaned from the back to the front, peaking his head between the two front seats. I bit my lip as I looked between the two siblings. My cheeks felt like they are burning up.

"Fine! Yes, you caught me!" I said giving up

"Yeah we did" Jude chuckled back

"I kind of expected Stef to do something like this...because of you, I owe Jude an ice cream" Callie said in playful manner

I looked between the two siblings. Jude had huge smile on his face, while Callie had a smirk on her lips.

"You bet that one of us...would show up here?" I asked both of them

"Yeah" Jude said excited "I will have a big box of chocolate ice cream waiting for me in the freezer the next weekend!" he pats my shoulder "Thanks mom! Got to run, can't miss my class! I have a test! Love you both" He said jumping out of the car

We both sit quietly in the car, watching how he crosses the street and then runs off to the school as the bell rings out. Callie's reaction changed dramatically once Jude was gone.

"So much for the trust thing" Callie muttered as she reached for the door handle

"Callie wait!" I reach for her shoulder to hold her back

She leans back in the seat and closes the doors. Callie presses her head to the head rest and keeps her eyes out the front window.

"I'm sorry" I try to apologize, but I felt so bad that nothing but sorry came to my mind

"Mm-hmm" She hums back in a manner, which made me think she doesn't really care what I say, what excuse I have

Callie turns to look at me and said in a hurt tone of voice "I told you I will get him to school! What did you think I was going to do? Keep him locked up in the apartment? Not take him to school?"

"Of course not! That's not why I…that's not what I thought" I reply the hurt in her eyes doesn't go away. I start to regret coming here. Now I know, that I made a huge mistake.

"To be honest" Callie said looking down to her hands in her lap "I'm kind of hurt to see you here Lena. I truly believed Stef would be the one sitting in the lookout for me. I guess I was wrong to think that only Stef doesn't trust me. It is both of you" She gives out a frustrated laugh

"And why would you trust me, right? I'm just some stupid kid that is trying to snatch up one of your kids...who is ruining your perfect family!" She looks to me with tears in her eyes "That's what I am - the bad guy!"

"Callie..." I say softly reaching for her hand. Callie pushes my hand away roughly.

"Don't! I don't want to hear it" She snaps back and gets out of the car, slamming the doors shut. I watch how Callie storms off around the corner of the street not looking back to me once.

Callie POV

I placed the bowl in the microwave and hit the start button. As I wait, I head over to the couch to make my bed.

The whole apartment was a mess. Jude and I messed it up pretty badly over the weekend. There were empty pizza boxes and food containers, playing cards were all over the pace, the pillows were everywhere, but on the couch. One slipper was by the TV other in the kitchen, food crumbs were all over the floor. I definitely need to clean up this place.

But just when I picked up one of the slippers, the doorbell rang. I wasn't expecting anyone, so I got kind of wary.

I kept the slipper in my hand as I head over to the doors. When I lean closer to the doors, to look who it was, I was surprised to see Lena standing there. I lean away from the doors and try to think of a reason why she was here. As I stand by the doors thinking, Lena rings the bell one more time.

I unlock the doors and open the doors partly, only peaking my head out to talk to her.

"What do you want?" I ask harshly, still upset about this morning

"Can we talk...please?" Lena begs "Just for a minute"

"I'm busy" I say back after a moment. I wasn't really in the mood for talking. Usually I don't talk about my problems. I deal with them by bottling all of my feelings up inside. That's how I handle things.

"Doing what?" She asks and looks down to my left hand and the slipper that I was holding

"Hating on you" I say back as I open the doors wider and step aside to let her in

"I guess I deserve that" Lena's head dips down as she walks in the apartment

"That's why I said it" I mumble back as I close the doors behind her.

Lena notices the microwave going and points to it "Dinner?" She asks me when she turns to face me

"Yes" I say when I head to pick up the other slippers "I don't like cooking for one"

I head to place the slippers neatly away. When I turn around I am surprised to see that Lena was picking up the playing cards. I watch as she picks up all of them, put them in a neat pile and then places the pile of cards on the shelf in the bookshelf. After that she casually just picks up one of the pillows and carries it back to the couch, fluffs it up as she places it down.

"What...are you doing?" I ask when she picks up the other pillow

Lena looks to her hands, to the pillow "Sorry...I clean when I am nervous" She says placing the pillow down on the end of the couch

Lena rubs her hands together "Look, Callie...I'm truly sorry about this morning. I didn't intend to hurt you the way I did"

"No, you didn't expect us...me to see you there!" I correct her "You got caught, that's why you are here. If I hadn't seen you, you would not be here right now!"

Her head dips again, she closes her eyes briefly. I walk pass her to the kitchen and open the microwave to mix the soup up.

"You have to believe me when I say that I trust you!" She said when I closed the microwave doors "If we didn't trust you, we wouldn't have allowed Jude to stay with you"

"But not enough!" I point out, she sights as I say that. I knew I was right about that.

"You have to understand that this hard for us too. Not just you! Yes, we have some doubts, we worry! But only because we have been through this...before! We have been hurt by the biological family before!"

"What are you talking about?" I ask crossing my hands on my chest. Lena runs her hand over her forehead.

"The twins birth mom!" Lena explains further "The twins were with us for few months, when she decided that she wanted to get them back. The twins were taken out of our care and placed back with their birth mom. Their birth mom was clean for some 2 weeks, before she started using again. We found out, when the twins hadn't show up for school for 2 days in a row. Stef and I, along with our social worker Bill, went to her place and found her with a needle in her hand...she was barely alive. The twins were in the closet, afraid to come out because they thought their mom dealer was still there! They were holding on to one another, crying their eyes out. We were asked...by the judge...by the system to trust their birth mom - we did and in the end, the twins got hurt! We are afraid to see Jude getting hurt..."

I uncross my arms and say in a softer tone of voice "I'm not...an addict. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't gamble and I don't do drugs! I wouldn't hurt Jude like that...I would give my life for him!"

"I know that. We know you are nothing like the twins birth mom. But still, we barely know you, Callie. I hope you can understand, why we worry so much, why we have trust issues? Why it is hard for us to fully trust you!" Lena said looking desperately to me

"I guess...I understand, yes" I answered after a while, I thought about what she said

"Stef and I talked..." Lena spoke up when the microwave behind my back beeped "We want you to come over for dinner"

"Dinner?" I ask back surprised

"Yes, so we could get to know each other!" Lena nodded "How does this Friday sound?"

"I have a job" I say the first thing that is on my mind

"When do you get off?"

"Um…" my schedule had slipped my mind all of a sudden. I scratch my temple "I have my...schedule in my phone" I told her walking over to the coffee table where my phone stood.

Lena waited patiently as I looked the schedule up. I had forgotten that I took Friday off. So right now I was looking at the plan for Friday, where the only entry read – FREE.

"7..." I stutter out

"Do you want one of us to pick you up?"

"No!" I said way too loudly, I surprised Lena. I repeat it again quieter "No...no, I'm good. I like to walk."

"Okay. How does dinner at 8 at our place sound?" Lena offers a time

"Good...good" I nod my head back many times "8 sounds good!"

Lena smiled at me. We head towards the doors. When I open the doors for her, she asks to confirm what we just talked about "Okay. I will see you on Friday then. See you then!"

"Yeah...till then!" I say and watch her walk down the stairs