Stef walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water before bed. What a day. She had been so sure the judge would see Adelaide for the evil woman she was but…she sighed. Stef grabbed her water bottle and was about to head back upstairs when she noticed Lena sitting in the breakfast nook, holding a picture in her hands. Besides Callie, Lena was taking their loss in court the hardest. Stef made her way over and sat next to her partner, folding her legs beneath her.
"That's a nice picture."
The picture was of Jude and Lena one afternoon during a weekend. Jude, her faithful companion, had been helping her prepare dinner as he always liked to do. The scene showed Lena attempting to wipe some sour cream on the boy's face as he ducked away, a big smile on his mouth. It was an afternoon where Lena consciously admitted to herself how in love she was with this child.
Lena traced a delicate finger over the picture as a tear rolled down her cheek, "I want our son back," she rasped in a shaky voice. She allowed herself to be pulled into Stef's arms and felt a kiss on her forehead.
"Me too, Love." Stef whispered as her own eyes welled with tears, "We'll get him back, I promise."
Lena ran a hand over her cheek, "When I picked up Callie that one afternoon, I thought hey: a week, maybe four, and she'd be gone. And suddenly we had Jude and now the two of them…I can't imagine our lives without them. Sure, Adelaide might be able to provide him with materialistic things but what about the things you can't buy? Like love and safety and acceptance? Jude deserves those things; he needs them. This isn't fair."
"It's not," Stef agreed, running her hand up and down Lena's arm, "Jude is a smart boy. He'll be okay until we can fight this. And it might take a while, but we will win, Lena. Yes?"
Lena nodded and let her eyes slip shut as she snuggled further into her partner's embrace, "Let's just be grateful Jude isn't as impulsive as Callie."
Jesus shifted in his bed in the middle of the night. He was finding it difficult to sleep. His ADD combined with the fact that he couldn't stop thinking about the case made sleep an impossibility. What's that noise? It sounded like…crying? Jesus pushed back the covers on his bed and quietly walked to the other side of his room. Sitting on her brother's bed with her back to him was Callie. The streetlights from outside allowed Jesus to see that she was shaking. He walked over and took a seat on the bed next to her.
"Callie."
She turned around with a little gasp. Her eyes were wet and tears were rolling down her cheeks. In her hands she clutched one of the many shirts Jude left behind when Adelaide took him away that one evening. Callie stared at Jesus for a moment before returning her gaze to the shirt in her hands, "I want my brother."
"Me too." He agreed quietly.
Callie sniffled and wiped her cheek, "I lost the trial with Liam. We lost the trial with Jude. What now?"
"We pick ourselves up and try again." Jesus replied simply, words he learned from his mothers. He wrapped an arm around Callie and she leaned her head on his shoulder.
She took a shuddering breath, "Why are you still awake?"
"Couldn't sleep."
"Me neither," Callie moved away and wiped her eyes again, "Do you want to help me with something?"
Jude sat on a bench at the bus station, waiting for the perfect opportunity. All he had was a backpack filled with some clothes, toiletries and two books. He had to pack light―he couldn't draw any suspicion to himself. He looked down at his watch, 6:13 AM. He'd better get going. Jude stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He began to walk to the terminal his bus would be departing from.
Jude walked as confidently as he could while his eyes scanned the crowd for the perfect group. Bingo. A mother and father were herding their four kids of various ages over to the bus. Jude walked up right behind them, trying to keep as cool as possible. The father handed the tickets in and the family entered, Jude right behind. His palms were sweating, would he get caught?
He followed the family to their seats and settled in a row behind them. Jude reached into his backpack and took out a book. He peered out the window and watched the various people walk past the large bus. Only a few hours and he would be home.
Mariana rolled over in bed as the sunlight hit her face. She squinted and rubbed her eyes a bit before sitting up. She looked over at Callie's bed: the covers were pushed back and the girl was nowhere to be seen. Mariana got out of bed and ran a hand through her hair before shuffling out of the room. She walked into the hallway and nearly ran into Brandon.
"Have you seen Callie?"
He shook his head, "No. She's not in bed?"
"No." Mariana continued down the hall to Jesus' room with Brandon right behind. She opened the door and surveyed the scene. Jesus was passed out, hunched over his desk with a few papers surrounding him. Callie was asleep in Jude's bed, an envelope of pictures in her hand. An open box was on the floor that contained more pictures and letters.
Mariana maneuvered her way through the room and walked up to Jude's bed. She shook Callie gently, "Wake up."
The older girl groaned a bit and sat up. The pictures dropped from her hand and fell to the ground with a dull 'thud'. She looked around, disoriented for a bit until she finally remembered what had happened the night before. "What time is it?" she asked as she yawned.
"6:30," Brandon answered, checking his phone while Mariana woke up Jesus, "Were you guys up all night?"
Callie stretched, "Pretty much."
"Doing what?"
"We were looking through the stuff from Callie and Jude's dad to see if there was anything that could help." A now awake Jesus answered.
Mariana picked up some papers and sifted through them, "Did you guys find anything?"
"No," Callie responded dejectedly, "Nothing that would prove Adelaide's a liar."
Brandon knelt down to look through the box himself, "Well, what have you found?"
"Pictures," Jesus answered, "Some home movies that were converted to DVD's, some letters…"
"Did the letters say anything about custody of you guys?" Mariana asked as she looked through the box as well.
"Not the ones I read so far," Callie said, running a hand through her hair, "They're more like journal entries than letters."
Brandon continued to fish around in the box. He finally pulled out some papers that were stapled together and folded. He opened them up and quickly scanned them, "Hey, I thought Adelaide had your dad's will?"
"She does…" Callie said, standing up and walking towards Brandon. She sat down and took the papers from him.
Mariana peered over Callie's shoulder, "Is that a copy?"
"No," Callie breathed as she read it over, "It's the original."
"What does it say?" Jesus asked as he leaned over towards his siblings.
I, Christopher Jacob, of 417 Lismore Street, Imperial Beach California, do make, publish, and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all prior Wills and Codicils at any time heretofore made by me.
I hereby nominate and appoint the following persons and/or institutions to serve in the respective capacities set forth below…
And suddenly Callie was on her feet, running toward the master bedroom as fast as she could; yelling for her mothers before she could put her revelation into words.
I appoint Stefanie Foster and Lena Adams, as Guardians to my children Callie Jacob and Jude Jacob.
So sorry I've allowed an entire civilization to be created before updating I have been CRAZY busy with school/work/the little social life I have. The college games are over (thank the Lord Jesus). My college choices are between NYU, George Washington University and Boston University. Anyone attend/plan to attend one of these schools? Let me know what's up! :)
So that Foster's finale! Ho ho ho. I can't wait for June!
Please review! This story is coming to its end or maybe I will continue it as a sequel but what would the sequel focus in on (and then there's my desire to write a Stef/Callie story)? Run on sentence much? What to do, what to do…
Please review! ;)
-Liv