Jude didn't think there was any better feeling in the world then to be back in his sister's arms; back at the Foster's. He pressed his face into Callie's shirt, allowing his eyes to slip shut as his arms looped around her waist. He felt a kiss on his forehead and he let out a content sigh.

"Baby, I missed you so much," Callie breathed into his ear, voice strained, "How did you even get here?"

Jude pulled back a little, "Well, actually I―"

"Callie who is that…" Lena's voice trailed off as she saw who was standing in the foyer. She had to blink her eyes a bit to make sure she wasn't seeing things, "J-Jude?"

The boy smiled, "Mama!" Lena knelt to the ground, arms open and ready as Jude flew into them. She let out a tearful laugh and kissed his head, a hand coming up to stroke the back of his hair.

"Oh, sweetheart," Lena whispered, "Oh, Jude." She had no other words at the moment. She just held her son as tightly as she could, as if he would disappear at any moment. She pulled back a little to put a hand on his cheek, "How did you get here? We just called Mr. Gardner this morning."

Jude furrowed his eyebrows, "Mr. Gardner? About what?"

"Adelaide forged the papers that said she had custody of you," Callie replied, "We found the originals this morning."

"Really? Wow."

Callie gave her brother a weird look, "If you didn't know, why are you here? Who brought you?"

Jude looked down, "Um…."

"Jude," Lena said gently, waiting until he was looking at her, "How did you get here, Love?"

The clicking of Mariana's shoes could be heard as she walked towards the front of the house, "Mom wants to know who's at the―" She stopped mid sentence and her eyes widened, "Jude! Oh my God!" She turned back towards the kitchen, "Mom, it's Jude!" She turned around to give the boy a hug, swaying him from side to side.

Stef came into the foyer with Jesus and Brandon close behind. She looked at Jude in disbelief and then Lena before her gaze returned to Jude, "How…"

"It's good to see you, man!" Jesus patted Jude on the back, "What was it like living with the wicked witch of the west?"

"Mr. Gardner works fast," Brandon commented with an impressed expression.

"No," Lena said, "He doesn't." She turned to face Jude, putting her hands on his shoulders, "Jude, sweetheart, how did you get here? I need an answer, please."

Jude's eyes went nervously from Callie to Stef before finally moving towards the ground, "I…I swear I was safe the whole time! I did everything I was supposed to: I didn't talk to any strangers and I never looked away from my stuff―"

Stef sighed and brought a hand to her forehead, "Please, please don't tell me you ran away." Jude's silence only confirmed her suspicion, "Jude―" she began to scold but Callie beat her to it.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Callie exploded in an angry shout, "Do you know how dangerous that is? What it something had happened to you?! What if―"

"Callie, calm down," Stef effectively ended her daughter's rant, putting a hand out, "Mama and I need to talk to Jude alone, the rest of you go finish eating."

Callie looked reluctant to leave but Brandon nudged her shoulder, "Come on," he said, "Just for a few minutes." She followed him to the kitchen with the twins right behind. Good luck! Mariana mouthed to her little brother before disappearing from the foyer. Stef lead the way to the living room. She and Lena took their usual seat in the armchairs while Jude sat across from them on the couch.

"Why did you run away?" Stef asked gently, looking into Jude's dark brown eyes, "Did something happen?"

"I don't want to live with Adelaide," Jude answered, eyes glued to the floor, "It's not the same as here. She's so…." He shook his head, "She doesn't understand."

Lena sighed, "That may be true, honey, but that doesn't mean you can just leave like that without saying anything to anyone. You're twelve, Jude. Traveling alone between states is not safe. How did you get on the bus by yourself?"

Jude fidgeted, "I followed this family with a lot of kids. Nobody noticed."

"And how did you get from the bus station to here?" Stef asked, crossing her arms.

"I took a taxi. I used my lunch money for this week and some of my allowance."

"Jude, do you understand how this could have ended very badly?" Stef asked, trying to stay calm, "There are some truly sick people in this world waiting for the perfect opportunity to kidnap children. You shouldn't have left like that."

Jude finally looked up, eyes filled with unshed tears, "But I came to you," he argued pathetically.

Lena moved from her chair to sit next to Jude. She pulled him into her arms and rested her chin on top of his head, "Yes, you came to us but that doesn't justify what you did. We're your moms, Jude. You know that and we know that, but legally we don't have guardianship of you. We want you back with us, Love. So, so badly, but this isn't the way to do it."

"I'm sorry," Jude whispered glumly. Lena kissed his head and rubbed his back a bit before looking at Stef.

"When was the last time you ate, Sweets?" The blonde asked softly.

"Before I left," Jude answered, "At like five this morning."

Stef gestured her head towards the kitchen, "Go eat dinner, Mama and I will be there soon." He nodded and headed for the kitchen. Stef blew some air out of her mouth and dropped her head into her hands, "Between Callie and Jude, I'm sure I'll be in an early grave. Jude was supposed to be the rational one."

Lena stood up, "We should call Bill, play this by the book. I don't want to give him any reasonable doubt." She squeezed Stef's shoulder before going upstairs to grab her phone.

Jude sat at the table, eyes trained on Callie who hadn't said a word since he had entered the kitchen. Mariana, Jesus and Brandon had all asked him questions about his living arrangements while Callie remained silent, her fork pushing around the food in her plate.

"Callie?" Jude finally found some courage, "Are you mad at me?"

Mariana looked at her sister before turning to Jude, "She's not mad," she answered for her, "She just got scared."

"I did not―" Callie tried to interject.

"You're a horrible liar," Brandon commented as he twirled some spaghetti around his fork. Callie shot him a glare.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Jude said softly, looking at Callie, "I'm sorry."

Callie sighed and reached a hand across the table to grasp her brother's, "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I was just scared because something could have happened to you. I'm glad you made it here in one piece."

"Speaking of," Jesus interjected in a curious tone, "How did you get here? Did you hitchhike? Ride the rails?"

"I'm not sure I want to hear this," Callie groaned, her mind racing through multiple scenarios where something could have gone wrong.

"I took the bus," Jude answered, "I snuck on behind this family."

Jesus grinned, "Nice!" He reached over to give his brother a high five and Mariana slapped his shoulder.

"Not nice!" she scolded, "Don't glorify his crime."

Brandon snorted, "His crime? Mariana, it's Jude we're talking about. Not Billy the Kid." Everyone laughed at this, including Jude. Callie smiled, she had missed her brother. She had missed this, this sense of wholeness and family. Jude was the missing piece and now he was back. And now they knew the truth about the will. From here on out, it would be smooth sailing.

Stef was still sitting in the living room, trying to gather her thoughts when there was a pounding at the door.

"Avondale PD, open up!" Stef furrowed her eyebrows and got up to walk towards the door. As soon as it was open, two men walked in, their eyes scanning the premises.

"Officer Stefanie Foster," Stef announced herself in a confident tone, arms crossing over her chest, "Can I help you?"

"I'm Detective Juarez, this is my partner Detective Stien. Where is he?" one of the men asked, a Latino man with a short hair cut.

"Who?"

"Jude Jacob," Stein replied bluntly, "He was kidnapped this morning. You know anything about that?"

Stef's eyebrow shot up, "Kidnapped? Now hold it right there―"

"Stef," Jude's voice reached her ears. She turned around to see him walking towards her. He stopped when he saw the men standing in the hall and the blood drained from his face, "What's going on?" he asked in a timid voice, eyes bouncing between the different people in the foye.

Juarez reached for his belt, "Turn around ma'am."

"Excuse me?" Stef asked in disbelief, gaze moving between the two detectives. Her eyes widened as they registered the steel handcuffs Juarez had pulled out.

"You are under arrest for the kidnapping of Jude Jacob."

I need to leave for the airport in T-minus 60 minutes. Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes but I have no time to proofread. I'm flying from JFK to Heathrow and from there to Geneva.

Please review! See you guys soon! :)

-Liv