Hi Guys! Thanks for the great response to the first chapter. I really do hope that people enjoy this idea. It's turning into a huge challenge but now I've started it is an interesting experience to think about. Thanks for scene requests so far. I will do my best to include at least a bit of any that are suggested. Big thanks to TheTBone, Mea23 and MeryGFos for their help with test-driving this chapter - here it is!
"At least let me help you with your bag, Kase." Mike offered opening the car door.
"Really, it's fine, Dad. I've taken up enough of your time." she smiled, slightly frustrated.
"Kasey, I'm your father - you own my time." he forced a smile back through the awkwardness at the rebuff.
"Right - I'm sorry." she felt slightly guilty as she handed him her bag and he tried to support her arm getting out the car.
The evening hadn't gone as badly as the last encounter but it had still been awkward. Mike had spent most of the evening asking about Stef and whether she had spoken much about a new partner yet since hers was leaving. It was a subject Kasey knew little about but it was better than another lecture so she did her best to make small talk on it. There was still an obvious tension in the air but she was relieved that her Mom had clearly fulfilled a promise to advise to him to stop interrogations regarding boys.
He walked her to the door and she gave him a kiss and a hug as best as she could with the crutches before opening the door just as Brandon was passing.
"Oh Brandon - how was it?" he asked grabbing his attention and handing him Kasey's bag.
"Good - I made finals!" he beamed as Kasey nudged him.
"Way to go, Mozart." she smiled as Mike moved forward to pull him into a hug.
"So proud of you, B! I'm sorry about the meeting - if it wasn't to do with my partner's dismissal..."
"It's OK, Dad - I know." Brandon patted his arm as Mike grabbed his shoulder.
"Well at least I get to hear you now! Your Moms in the kitchen?"
"Oh yeah..." Brandon looked back. "but they're kinda busy. It's a long story. Sure you'll hear about it tomorrow when things are clearer."
"More mystery." Kasey quipped with a raised eyebrow remembering her conversation with Lena.
"See you tomorrow, Dad." she smiled sheepishly and began to make her way through.
Mike nodded as Brandon also bid his goodbye and he departed.
"Kase - " Brandon called after her quietly. "She's called Callie and she's had a rough day." he advised as Kasey nodded, intrigued and made her way through to the kitchen.
Stef was making coffee and a dishevelled looking girl sat at the kitchen table. She had a split lip and was covered in bruises. Kasey locked eyes with Lena who smiled at her passing silent instruction.
"Speak of the devil." Stef quipped clearly trying to be conversational. "This is Brandon's twin, Kasey. Kasey - this is..."
"Callie." she smiled. "Brandon filled me in. Nice to meet you. Feel bad for you though. Already look like you've had a bad day and now you have to spend the night with Moms?" Kasey smiled as Stef squinted at her.
"Funny, I was just about to talk about curfews. Kasey here is hobbling proof of playing fast and loose with them."
"What, she missed curfew so you broke her leg?" Callie replied deadpan. Had it come from Kasey it would have barely registered but Callie's flat and unexpected delivery prompted Stef to choke slightly on her coffee. Lena looked round nervously from her position at the sink.
"Don't worry." Kasey replied trying to break the awkwardness. "they only do that after the fourth time."
"Kasey." Stef warned unsure of what background Callie may have come from.
"Calm down Mom." Kasey replied gauging Callie's response as more of a defense mechanism similar to Kasey's own personality rather than a cause for her Moms' over sensitivity. "She knows I'm joking - if she's gonna be staying here with you she better get used to bad jokes." she responded lifting her eyebrows slightly, ever trying to lighten the mood. She now knew what it was Stef hadn't know and was guessing by her demeanour that she still hadn't known before Lena had brought this girl home.
"Well I'm gonna go get my coat and stuff off. Nice to meet you Callie -" she gave a hint of a smile as Callie remained emotionless and clearly bored of pleasantries.
Kasey disappeared as Stef continued to reel off various rules and regulations. Callie wasn't retaining it. She had learned not to bother. Nowhere was permanent and they were all the same. She had just learned to keep her head down and if the time came that she couldn't, she'd take their anger head on. It was pointless trying to please - it never changed anything.
She could sense Stef's growing frustration. Cops were all about how you looked. They never cared about the person - just the stereotypes. She grew frustrated with the script and cut her host off leaving Stef with nothing but a forced smile and a sudden regret for having gone along with this in the first place. Lena stepped in to finish getting Callie set up and they disappeared.
Stef was left swallowing the exchange down with a gulp of coffee and trying to remember that these things were never easy; the struggle with Mariana and Jesus was proof of that - but a small period of discomfort for her was nothing compared to the horror some of these kids had seen. She needed to keep that in perspective.
"She'll think she's been sent to Juvie if you list off restrictions like that, Mom." Kasey commented upon her return having caught the tail end of the conversation. Stef sighed and laughed through her hands after placing them across her face.
"Funny you should mention that." she replied before helping support Kasey as she slid herself onto the stool next to her Mom.
"So that's why Lena wouldn't tell me?" she remarked as Stef raised an eyebrow.
"Lena probably didn't tell you because for one, it wasn't your business and two, she hadn't even told me." She pushed back Kasey's hair. "You OK with it?"
"With what?" Kasey shrugged. "You've still not told me. You replacing me?" she asked plainly.
"It's a thought!" Stef replied squeezing her arm. "Especially if you continue to tease kids from difficult backgrounds that they've been put in the care of a child abuser." she scolded playfully, alluding to Kasey's earlier comment. Kasey laughed defensively.
"She made the joke first - she opened the door. Mom if she's had a crap time and is joking about it to cope then she's not a kid who wants you to protect her. She's built those walls already." She paused as Stef sighed, knowing she was right and fearing how complicated that would make things. "So, what's the deal? How long is she staying here for?"
"I dunno - right now it's temporary but we need to have a proper talk with Bill. He couldn't be there today." Stef answered. "But listen, you be careful. We don't know this girl too well, I want you to be good and be alert."
"You worried she's going to be a bad influence?" Kasey asked with a smile
"I'm more worried you'll be a bad one on her." Stef teased. "Just be vigilant, OK? And behave yourself. She doesn't know our dynamics yet." Kasey nodded and looked up at Stef who returned to her coffee.
"I'll look out for her. I wouldn't send me giving her tours around the school though, not unless you want her to be late for every class." Kasey replied spinning her crutch around with a smile.
"You better not be using them as an excuse to be late..." Stef warned before Kasey decided to change the subject with a teasing smile.
"So...Bill, huh? Any progress with..."
"Not your business Kasey." Stef snapped back with a warning.
"Mom you hate the idea as much as Jesus does..."
"Jesus wants Mariana to be happy - and so do I."
"You really want her back in their life?"
"I want you to stop interfering and understand that some things are more complicated than we want to understand. Now leave it. I don't want Mariana to think you're ganging up on her. You and Jesus do that enough." she washed her now empty mug in the sink.
"With pranks, we'd never bully her about something like this..."
"Either way, just leave it, OK? It doesn't matter what we think as long as we do our best to keep them safe. Be a sister, you're good at that." she kissed her daughter's head.
"Fine but I don't see why she'd want even more parents to tell her what to do."
"Speaking of which..." Stef raised an eyebrow turning the tables of awkward conversation against Kasey. "How did it go with your Dad?"
Kasey's shoulders dropped down.
"Fine." she replied bluntly. "I dunno, I can tell he's still mad at me which is stupid because not even you are and it was your damn rule I was breaking."
Stef laughed. "What makes you think I'm not still mad at you?"
"Come on Mom. He's overreacting and you know it."
"And he was still going on about it today?" Stef asked slightly surprised.
"Well...no. Admittedly we mainly talked about you today."
"See, you're project-...wait. Why were you talking about me?" Stef suddenly became nervous.
"None of your business." she shrugged back, looking down at her fingers.
"Kasey." Stef warned. Kasey looked up again and hesitated a response.
"OK fine - all your business - but nothing important. He was just asking me lots of questions about Vasquez and how he was leaving and stuff. I pretended to care and know what I was talking about to avoid going back to talking about me." she smiled sweetly as Stef rolled her eyes.
"OK - I need to get ready for bed and you need to start making your way up so that you're not still blocking everyone coming down in the morning." she quipped digging at Kasey's situation.
"You know some parents are actually sympathetic when their kids experience major physical trauma." she retorted as Stef helped her get down and back onto her crutches.
"And there are those of us who just write "This is what happens when you don't do what your're told" onto your cast." Stef beamed proudly.
"Yes, thank you for that. My reputation at school has just rocketed. It's a good thing you're sleeping with the Vice Principal otherwise the school may wonder if there is some abuse worth investigating." Kasey winced as they made their way to the stairs.
"Oh woe is you, come on - hop to it." Stef patted her back harshly as they ascended.
Callie paced the living room. she wasn't sure why she was surprised that the system had let her down again. The one thing, the one person that was most important to her was one danger and there was nothing she could do to get him. Lena had been kind and open, but she knew people like that. The ones who were there to help - the ones who were willing. The problem with them was they could never keep their mouths shut. They always did things by the book and before you knew it you are in someone else's hands. The system's hands again and back to square one. She could probably tell Lena about her brother Jude, but as Stef's re-appearance had reminded her, she was literally in bed with the cops. As soon as she said anything they'd investigate and she would be out faster than her feet could touch the floor. She heard that guy outside Juvie - whoever he was. Not Bill. She heard him try to emotionally blackmail Lena that the alternative was a group home and as soon as she was there she'd never get back with her brother. She had to work alone. She needed to find a phone.
She tip-toed into the kitchen to see she wasn't the only one snooping around. The younger girl, Mariana, was rooting around in a box on the shelf. They both fluffed excuses and Mariana had made a quick getaway. Clearly she had been caught in the act. Callie investigated to find a small bottle of ADD pills - they were prescribed to Jesus. No wonder Mariana had been caught in the headlights.
She spun around and gasped quietly as she was face to face with Kasey, leaning on her crutches and staring her down blankly.
"You looking for something?" Kasey asked, trying not to sound too accusatory while still exerting her presence.
"I was just looking for some aspirin. Head's...pouding." She fluffed. "I thought you were supposed to be bad at sneaking around?" Callie snarked, her defenses up.
Kasey saw through it.
"Apparently you're not so good yourself." the two of them had a momentary standoff as they tried to read each other.
Kasey yielded first, she had no proof of anything and Callie was bound to be trying to figure this family out.
"I can ask Moms if you want. For some aspirin." She offered.
"Your Moms keep it on lock up?" She commented coldly. Kasey remained unmoved. She obviously had painkillers of her own but she wasn't going to hand out even counter drugs to a girl she barely knew.
"I'll go ask them if it gets worse." Callie forced a smile but Kasey could see the front that she was terrified of being exposed. "I'll just have something to eat...if that's OK without asking their permission." she added, further digging in her earlier remark.
"OK. Well feel free to help yourself. Moms won't mind - any disappearing food automatically gets blamed on Jesus." Kasey offered trying to soften. She wanted to keep an eye on her but she didn't want to shut her off. If Callie was up to something it would be best to keep her close. "Goodnight..." she said, waiting only momentarily for a response. Callie gave her a small nod before Kasey left.
She took a deep breath and looked to continue her mission. A silent curse left her lips. The main phone was gone. She sighed down and thought harder. A family with this many kids was bound to have a discarded cell somewhere. There would be one - it just had to be found. She made her way upstairs once she was sure Kasey would be out of the way.
She had been right. Brandon had left his on his stand by his door. Finally she got through but even having heard Jude's voice was no added comfort. She'd have to get there tomorrow. She crept back upstairs to slip it back. He was still absorbed in his reading and clearly hadn't even noticed. He looked like he would be a geek - star child no doubt. It was no surprise. The biological kids always were. The parents always put their interests above any in-comers, regardless of what kind of kids they were. She scolded herself slightly for thinking it; she didn't know this boy and was prejudging him based on past experiences. She wouldn't make the same mistake so many had done about her. She has been trying so hard to fight that habit - to not fall into that trap.
Callie shook her head and returned downstairs. She just wanted tomorrow to be here so she could get her baby brother. She didn't notice Kasey watching her again from her bedroom door.
Preview: Kasey stands up for Callie in class and Stef and Mike discuss their partner assignment.
"What is this about?" she demanded as he shrugged.
"What? It makes sense. We were married Stef, if you tolerated me enough to share a bed with me surely you can share a car?"
"If I recall our bed sharing came to a bit of an abrupt end - or have you forgotten that we're not married anymore?"