I tried to steal the rights to The Fosters, but unfortunately I was caught and detained by Mike and Stef. So I still don't own it.
"I'll see you both in the morning," Lena called after her two boys, who were following Stef to the car. "Jesus, make sure you wear a helmet if you go skateboarding, and Brandon, if you and your dad end up going to the batting cages, I expect you to wear a helmet too," Lena listed the last few reminders as they opened their car doors.
"Shall we get them helmets for the car too?" Stef joked, shutting the trunk after placing the two suitcases in the back.
Lena shrugged, "wouldn't hurt. You're not the best driver in the world."
Stef threw her head back with a laugh. "So much sass," she murmured before getting in the driver's seat. "Buckle up," Lena faintly heard her say before pulling out of the driveway.
Lena shook her head before shutting the door and reentering the house. She looked at the stairs and frowned.
Mariana had been in her room since she got home from school, and while she still wasn't the most social or outgoing of kids, she usually didn't isolate herself from the rest of the family for that long. Lena figured she'd better go check on her. She knew not having Jesus around tonight would be hard for her, and that she would need some help.
"Hey, sweetheart," she said, opening the door to Mariana's room.
"Hi," Mariana said gloomily, briefly looking up from her coloring book.
"You didn't talk much on the way home from school. Everything okay?" Lena asked, stepping into the room.
"Yeah," Mariana said sadly, picking up a blue crayon and scribbling in the book on her lap.
Lena knew she wasn't going to get much out of the younger girl, but the distress in her actions was evidence enough that she was not happy about Jesus' departure that evening.
Lena sighed. "Mind if I join you?" she asked Mariana, taking a seat next to her when Mariana shrugged. She picked up a coloring book from the stack on the edge of the bed. The older woman flipped to an uncolored picture of a turtle. She smiled softly to herself, immediately recognizing the iconic figure. Skippy. Brandon had been obsessed with him and had evidently handed down the book to Mariana and Jesus when they arrived.
"So how was school today?" Lena asked, trying to ease her into a conversation she knew they would have to have about Jesus.
"Good," Mariana replied, another one-word, half-hearted answer.
"Well that's good. What'd you do in class?" Lena inquired, picking up a green crayon and beginning to color Skippy's shell.
"Mm, I don't know. In science we learned about volcanoes and in English we read a story," Mariana replied, coloring Cinderella's dress a light blue.
"Oh, how fun!" Lena said enthusiastically, attempting to perk up Mariana as well. "What story?"
"Well, it was only a chapter, but the teacher read us some of Matilda," Mariana responded.
"Wow, that's a great one. One of my favorites. Maybe after you guys get done reading it we could rent the movie," Lena suggested, switching out her green crayon for a yellow one.
Mariana smiled slightly, but Lena could tell it was forced. Her mind was obviously somewhere else right now.
"Listen," Lena started, setting the crayon down so her complete focus was on the young girl beside her. "I know that it's hard for you to not have Jesus here." She saw her freeze for a moment, a look of panic flash in her eyes, but she quickly composed herself and went back to doodling.
"But you can trust Stef and me, all right? We'll protect you just like Jesus does."
She got no reaction from the little girl beside her; instead she tried to remain nonchalant and contained, keeping her eyes fixated on the book in front of her.
"You can trust me, Mariana," Lena said, this time getting her to look up. Lena smiled warmly, waiting for another response from Mariana, verbal or not.
Instead, the silence was interrupted by beeping noise, and Lena felt a vibration on her hip. She let out an irritated sigh before grabbing the phone from her pocket, cursing the terrible timing.
She was about to push 'decline' when she read the name on the screen. Sanchez. She sighed, and wondered why the hell her boss would be calling her on a Friday night. "I have to take this call, but I'll be back in a minute, okay sweetheart?" She said, patting Mariana's shoulder before stepping out the door.
"Lena Adams speaking," she answered, a bit snappily, putting the device to her ear.
"Lena, hi, this is Robert Sanchez. Listen, I need you to do me a big favor," he said in his deep, gruff voice.
"Yes?" Lena prompted, raking a hand through her hair. She really didn't have time for this right now; she needed this to be over quickly.
"As you know, there's that big conference in Alcoa this weekend. A lot of the major private schools are attending, and it's important that we have a representative there."
"Okay, and…" she replied, cuing him to continue.
"Carina has been out with the flu all week and it looks like she's not going to be able to make it tomorrow. I'd go myself, but it's my sister's wedding on Sunday and my family's flying out to Indiana early tomorrow morning."
Lena winced; sensing the direction this conversation was headed.
"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking her place," Sanchez finished.
"Listen, Rob, I really would, but I'm kind of in a bind. There's some family stuff going on and I don't feel like I should leave my kids, I-"
"Lena, you know I wouldn't ask you if we weren't desperate."
"Well then…" Lena replied defensively.
"That's not what I meant," Sanchez replied quickly. "It's just…this conference is really important, and I wouldn't ask you to give up your weekend if it wasn't. Look Lena, you're one of the most dependable faculty members our school has. I would just really feel comfortable if you were the one that went."
Lena exhaled loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "All right, all right. I guess I can go. What time do I need to be there tomorrow?"
"First session starts at eight, it's a keynote with the superintendent of one of the highest testing schools in the nation," he added, as if this would somehow make this situation better.
"Eight tomorrow morning? In Alcoa? Isn't that like five hours away?" Lena panicked, her forehead creasing in worry.
"Approximately I believe it's around that, yes," Sanchez confirmed.
"Okay," Lena said, placing a hand on her forehead. That would mean she would have to leave the house at approximately three o'clock that morning, which wasn't an option. Meaning that she would have drive down that night if she was to be on time the next morning.
"So I'll need to get a hotel," Lena said, a bit of harshness and coldness creeping into her usually very calm and warm tone.
"The school will pay for it," Sanchez promised.
"Fine. I'll be there," she assured him.
"Thank you, Lena, I really do appreciate it."
"Yeah, you're welcome. Bye," she replied, ending the call, not believing her misfortune.
This had to be the worst timing ever, getting called away on the night Mariana needed her the most. She needed consistency, and to be surrounded by support tonight, and Lena was going to be noticeably absent. She walked into the room slowly, wondering how she would break the news.
"Hey, sweetie," she greeted her, retaking her former seat. "Okay, so my boss just called, and there's this really important meeting I have to go to tomorrow. It's kind of far away, so I need to drive there tonight, which means I'm not going to be home tonight," she started, waiting for Mariana to interrupt with a question or comment. Instead, she just continued to mark on the page in front of her.
"Trust me, babe, I would much rather stay home with you," she continued, "but this is really important for my job. But Stef will still be home, and she's going to take great care of you tonight, okay?" She asked, still getting no response. "Mariana, can you talk to me, please?" she gently prodded.
Mariana slowly looked up from her book, her innocent brown eyes wide and anxious. She opened her mouth and shakily uttered, "you're leaving me too?"
Wow. Again, thank you so much for the incredible response to this story. Your support is overwhelming. Keep those reviews coming, my amazing readers!
Justliziam is still the best beta in the world.