Chapter 11:

Stef's eyes flicked towards the clock on the night table of their hotel room. It was almost noon. They had spent the morning going through the contents of the box from Christopher which was mostly pictures. It was nice to see Jude and Callie reminiscing as they saw each new picture of themselves and their parents, which reminded Stef that they had to make a decision.

"Hey guys," Stef interjected quietly, "Would you like to go to the funeral tomorrow?"

Jude immediately looked at Callie, wanting to hear what she would say. She shrugged, "Jude? It's up to you. He's…he was your dad."

Jude shook his dad, "He was your dad, too."

Lena put a hand on Jude's back, "Well we have some time before then to make a decision. How about we get ready for the day and go find something to eat?" Jude got out of the bed and took the bathroom first. Callie was left alone with Stef and Lena and had a sinking feeling they wanted to talk to her about yesterday.

"Callie," Stef began gently, wrapping her arm around the teen, "I want you to understand how dangerous running away was. We are in an unfamiliar state and the fact that it was so late…there are people, dangerous people, who want to hurt young girls like you." Liam popped into Callie's mind at Stef's words and she ducked her head.

"There's also your probation to consider," Stef continued carefully, "If you ever feel the need to run away like that again, please come to us, Sweets. We want to help you."

Callie nodded in Stef's embrace and lowered her gaze, "I'm really sorry. I was being stupid."

Lena put a hand beneath the younger girl's chin, "Hey, look at me. You are not stupid. Just promise to come to us, okay?"

"I promise." Lena smiled and wrapped her arms around her soon to be daughter and kissed her cheek hard as a knock was heard at the door. The three women looked at each other before looking at the door.

"We didn't order room service, right?" Lena asked pushing the covers back. Stef got up as well and made her way to the door. She looked through the peephole and her eyes widened in surprise. She quickly unlocked the door.

"What are you guys doing here?"

In the hallway stood Sharon along with Brandon, Mariana and Jesus, each looking a little worse for wear. From what Stef could tell, they were exhausted but they all had smiles on their face.

"We wanted to be here for Callie and Jude," Brandon answered, shoving his hands into the pocket of his pants, "Grandma drove us."

"Who is it?" Lena's voice could be heard from inside the room. Stef stepped back and allowed everyone to enter. Mariana jumped onto the bed Callie was on and wrapped her up in big hugged. Surprised to say the least, Callie laughed and hugged her back.

"What are you guys doing here?" Callie asked, still holding on to Mariana as she surveyed their visitors.

"Your brothers and sister love you very much," Sharon answered with a wink. Jesus flopped onto the bed as well and let out a groan.

"So. Tired." He grumbled, eyes slipping closed as he found a pillow. He let out a sigh and ripped the blanket away from Callie unapologetically. The brunette laughed at his antics and Stef saw just how necessary this was.

"I brought you something," Brandon held up the guitar and Callie smiled wider if it were even possible.

"You're lucky it made it here," Mariana said, rolling her eyes, "Jesus nearly broke it when he tried to play 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'."

Jude came out of the bathroom and his eyes widened at everyone in the hotel room, "Wow! When did you guys get here?"

"Just now," Sharon answered taking a seat in an armchair. She looked over her daughter who was still in her pajamas, "By the looks of it you haven't eaten yet."

Stef ran a hand through her hair, "Well we were going to see if we could find a diner or something…"

"No…" Jesus moaned from the bed, "Sleep."

"I guess we can get food and bring it back here?" Lena suggested at Jesus' refusal to leave the bed. Stef agreed and the two women grabbed some clothes before disappearing into the bathroom.

After some time, Sharon, Stef, and Lena were ready to go get the food. Stef fished around in her purse for her car keys, "We'll be right back babies," she said as she finally found them, "Under no circumstances are any of you to leave this room, yes?" She gave a pointed look to Callie who looked down at her hands. Receiving an affirmative answer, the three women left.

"What time did you guys leave to get here?" Callie asked, crossing her legs on the bed.

"Early," was Jesus' terse response.

Mariana picked up a pillow and whacked him over the head, "Around five in the morning," she answered, "We didn't know your plans for the day so we wanted to get here early."

Callie smiled, "That was really nice of you guys. Thank you."

Brandon looked around the room, "What have guys done so far?"

Callie let out a sigh, "Too much. I just want to relax."

"Well I just wanted to sleep..." Jesus grumbled. This time, Callie licked her finger and stuck it in his ear, grinning as he shrieked and nearly fell off the bed. He grabbed a water bottle from the night table and started towards Callie but she jumped to the other bed and pulled Jude in front of her.

"Don't even think about it!" she warned. Jesus put his hands up in surrender and began to walk away but suddenly whipped around and splashed water on the siblings. Jude immediately rolled away and wiped his damp face while Callie shrieked and pulled a sheet over herself.

Brandon, always the voice of reason, put a hand out, "Guys, maybe we shouldn't―" A stream of water hit him in the face, dripping down towards his shirt. He calmly wiped it off, "Okay," he said, licking the water from his lips, "This means war."

Stef, Lena and Sharon sat at a table as they waited for their food to be ready. They had found a bagel store about a mile from the hotel and ordered enough food for everybody twice over considering how hungry everybody was.

"So," Sharon intertwined her hands and set them on the table, "How has everything been? You guys haven't exactly kept in touch…"

Stef let out a sigh, "Absolutely crazy, mom." She filled her mother in on the 'highlights' from their trip from Adelaide to Callie running away.

"What that girl needs is some stability," Sharon said, leaning back in her seat.

"We're going to adopt Callie and Jude," Lena asserted, "We already have the papers. It's just a matter of the court and what they want."

"And if the kids are okay with it," Stef interjected.

Lena smiled, "Actually, they are." She took out her phone to show Stef and Sharon the text she had received from Mariana. Stef smiled to herself, ecstatic that the kids were on the same page as them. Just as quickly as excitement reached her, fear began to creep in the back of her mind.

"I forgot to tell you with everything going on yesterday," Stef turned towards Lena, "Adelaide was threatening to take Jude away from us."

Lena's eyes widened, "But…she can't do that. Can she?"

"It depends on how the court sees it," Stef admitted, as unfortunate as the situation was, "She is a blood relative."

"And a complete bitch…" Lena muttered under her breath, letting the profane word slip due to her anger at the old woman. A man called that their order was ready and Lena volunteered to get the bag.

"So adoption, Stefanie?" Sharon asked curiously as she peered at her only child through her glasses. Stef sighed and leaned back in her chair.

Stef gave her mother a warning lock, "Mom…"

"I'm just saying," Sharon shrugged, "You haven't known them that long and yes they are wonderful kids but I think you really need to think this over."

"Mom!"

Sharon put her hands up in surrender as Lena came back to the table with their food so that they could return to the hotel.

There was a click as Stef opened the hotel room door and entered with Lena and Sharon, "Okay kids we got the…" her voice trailed off as the three surveyed the scene in front of them.

Callie and Mariana were standing on one bed, each wearing bathrobes and their hair in ponytails. They each had almost empty water bottles in their hands. Jesus and Brandon were in similar positions with towels tied around their necks like capes on the other bed. All four were drenched with water. Jude was standing in between the beds, about to hand a glass of water (ammo) to Jesus when he noticed the adults were back. His face tipped off the older four who looked towards the door in surprise. Lena crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as she waited for an explanation.

Jesus smiled sheepishly, "Um…we didn't leave the room?"

Stef set down the bags she was holding and walked towards the kids. She took the glass of water Jude was holding and opened her mouth as if to speak but quickly dumped the water on the boy's head and made a break for the bathroom. Jude yelped and ran after her giggling while the others continued their fight. Sharon ducked into the hallway to avoid getting wet while Lena rolled her eyes albeit smiling.

Stef came out of the bathroom with Jude hanging over her shoulder. She deposited him on the bed before hopping over to the girls.

"Traitor!" Jude yelled through his laughing.

Stef scoffed, "I am a girl. My loyalty lies with my gender." Mariana stuck her tounge out at the boys. Brandon retaliated by jumping off the bed and yanking his sister down by her ankle. He started to pull Mariana off the bed, "Jesus, Jude, help me kidnap her!" The boys pulled Mariana to the other side of the room as she shrieked with laughter. Callie held onto Mariana's hands, allowing herself to get dragged along with her.

"You're going to rip your sisters' arms out of their sockets!" Lena warned. The kids giggled even more. Lena walked over to sit next to Stef to join her as they watched their kids, each with a huge smile on their face.

"You know housekeeping is going to hate us, right?"

Stef smiled and planted a kiss on Lena's lips, "Yeah, but this is completely worth it." And seeing the smile on Callie's face after the day from hell made Lena agree.

Fosters on tonight, YAY! I'm in a rush, I have to go babysit. I wrote all the way up to chapter seventeen and yooooo it goes down! Much drama. Such anger. Wow. Very surprise.

Reviews please!

-Liv