Hello folks! Here is the next offering. So excited about how much Stef and Lena in the sneak peeks! This chapter has a fair bit of both of them too! I've got a bit of a debate at the end of this which is quite similar to a debate I had with a friend on mine watching the show and I've seen it dropping various forums/discussions. I thought I'd paint 3 perspectives anyhow. Thanks to Mea23 and TheTBone as always and I have a vague recollection that I put the Talya/crutch comment in because of review from RL13436 so thanks to everyone who contributes to the way I think up these things!
Hope you enjoy and please do tell me your thoughts. On anything really, I just love speaking to people!
Lena settled into the car and buckled her belt up, looking over to an already secure Jude. He looked longingly out of the window and Lena immediately recognised something his tutor had just warned her about. He was extremely quiet today.
"Well that was good, Angie sounds very optimistic about your midterms." Lena smiled starting up the car. "Now you have something to focus towards, things should be even easier."
He turned his head towards her, doing his best to put what was on his mind aside. "I really like Angie, she makes things a lot simpler." He offered up before dipping his head back towards the window.
Lena started the car and waited a few moments to try and think of a good approach to find out what was bothering him.
"So..." Lena began, eyeing him from the side. "Did you have a good day at school?"
He shrugged a response, his mind clearly on other things.
"You seem a little quiet."
He bit down on his lip and instinctively hid the blue nails that had made him a target for the day. He was so embarrassed that it almost felt like the bullies were watching him - even though they themselves hadn't been his main issue. Lena was OK though, he could tell her. She already knew about the nail polish and she didn't find anything strange about it. But then neither had Connor, not until he saw him getting picked on. Was that what he was scared of? How people's perceptions changed when they saw him weakened? His deliberating took longer than Lena's wait for a response.
"Did something happen at school?" She could read him like a book. He couldn't lie to her- she would tell Callie though, and she would be mad at him for wearing it when she told him not to. Knowing he would have to give some kind of an answer he shrugged his shoulders again.
"I just got into a thing with some guys, it's not a big deal." he felt an instant relief but still left her hanging. Part of him hoped she would ask more so he could divulge and part of him just wanted it to go away.
"Were these guys picking on you?" her voice remained calm even though she was bubbling with anger inside.
"I know Callie told me not to wear the nail polish but I can handle bullies. It'll be fine."
Lena looked across at him patiently but it looked as if that was all she would be getting. She knew that Jude's relationship with Callie was complicated and Callie was doing her best to protect him, but she could see that Jude's internal struggle had to be explored in order for him to progress.
"Did you report it?"
"I didn't have to, they got caught and sent to the principal. It's over now."
Lena licked her bottom lip. "Well I'm proud that you stood up for yourself. If you get any more trouble you make sure to tell me immediately, even if it is already being dealt with."
He nodded but she could see he was still holding something back. "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
Jude looked up at her, his eyes wide. 'Yes' he thought. Connor's reaction had affected him more than any bully but he knew there was nothing Lena could do to help that. Connor had backed off in Jude's weakness, he didn't want Lena to do the same. "No. I guess I just need a bit of time to myself." Was his eventual reply.
"OK." Lena nodded. She could tell there was more but she would give him the space he needed and try again tomorrow. Right now he was safe and they had opened the dialogue, that was the important thing.
Kasey made her way down the stairs, a borrowed book from Callie in hand. She had decided to keep a low profile this evening and was hoping to be tucked away in the basement before her Moms got back - they would be too distracted with Jesus to go looking for her but probably not if she drew attention to herself.
She sped back towards the kitchen but heard Stef and Brandon returning from his dentist appointment. She quickly ducked behind the wall with a quiet curse.
Small talk batted between them but Brandon had soon made his way up the stairs. There was no sound of Stef as Kasey peeped around the wall only to jump with fright as Stef was there face to face with her.
"You're going to have to do better than that. Were you actually hiding from me?" She asked, arms folded.
"No...I was just..." she looked around. "Hiding from Brandon! He always wants to tell me about his dentist appointments and..." she stopped her pathetic excuse midway through, Stef's expression confirming it was pointless.
"We need to talk." Stef informed her as Kasey sighed. "Step into my office." She signalled towards the backyard. "I need to see if Lena's back so we can talk about this."
"A sit down, really?" Kasey grumbled.
"Yes, a sit down. You made a very bad decision, my friend. We need to tell you why." Kasey's face lit up.
"If you know why I made it then why do you -"
"Why it was bad decision, smartass." She silenced Kasey's chanced remark before turning her head to see she wouldn't have to find Lena after all as her and Jude returned to the house.
"Ah, good. Time for a talk?" Stef flicked her head to Kasey as Lena nodded.
"Jude, why don't you go upstairs." Lena patted his back. "And remember what we talked about." she winked at him. He looked up at her, still nervous, but nodded and made his way up the stairs.
"Everything OK with him?" Stef whispered, slightly concerned.
"I don't think everyone was as accepting of his nail polish as we'd have hoped." Lena sighed.
"Did someone pick on him?" Kasey asked, enraged.
"I don't mind putting the fear of God into some 7th graders..."
"First of all, I don't think his foster sister fighting his battles is going to do much for his place on the food chain, and secondly - I think you have been doing enough for your brothers today, young lady." Lena looked at her sternly. "Karina will deal with bullies, we just need to be a support for him."
"Fine, but all I'm saying is I better not see them...or any of us for that matter. I don't think any of us would be held responsible for our actions."
"OK, Godfather, let's tackle your responsibility for today's actions rather than your delusions about not getting into trouble for hypothetical ones. Outside."
"Why do we have to go outside?" Kasey asked slumping out in front of Stef's guiding arm.
"I don't want to risk anyone hearing us." Stef and Lena took a seat on the table outside and Kasey joined them opposite.
"Look I know it was a bad move, but he was really scared Moms. I told him to go to you but they were really worked up about Lexi's parents. Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same." she pointed out, looking at Stef. Lena quickly joining her. Stef exhaled deeply, knowing she'd have to play this carefully if she wanted to stay on Lena's good side.
"That doesn't make it OK to do things behind our back. This is a serious situation and it's not one that Jesus or Lexi should be trying to face alone. They're too young - and so are you for that matter..."
Kasey shrugged. "What do you want me to do? Whatever I did it wouldn't have changed the fact that Jesus needed help."
This time it was Lena's turn to respond.
"And what if Lexi had taken the pill and had got ill? Or if she wasn't prepared emotionally for it? Would you want that to be your responsibility?"
"Her taking it would have been her decision - not mine..."
"But Kasey," Stef took her hand. "By buying it for her you're taking responsibility for preparing her...do you understand that? You weren't going to just give it to her and leave her to her own devices. That wouldn't be in your nature."
Kasey dropped her head down as Stef patted the back of her hand, letting go. "I guess..."
"As parents it's our role to handle these things, not yours." Lena added.
"So what? That means you're going to tell Lexi's parents?" Kasey asked as they both went silent.
She drew her own conclusions.
"So you're mad at me for going behind your back because it's not my place to do so...and you're about to do the same?" Kasey asked her as Stef sprung on the defensive.
"It's not as simple as that. Jesus is our son and this affects us as much as it will The Riveras."
"Well hang on..." Lena cut her off. "We haven't decided either way yet anyway." She threw Stef a glare.
Stef breathed out through her mouth being careful to not start the debate they still needed to have in front of Kasey.
"Either way, the point is that whatever decision we make, we are well equipped to be the support they need - you just have ID." Lena looked at Stef from the side but silently agreed that their argument would have to be had at a later time.
"Nice. So me caring about my brother doesn't factor here at all?" Kasey shot back, slightly offended.
"I didn't mean that. Look - put it this way:- if you have to ditch school to do something then it is probably not a good idea, got it?" Stef tried to re-focus the attention back to her daughter's misjudgment. Lena followed suit.
"And on that note, I don't care if it was health class or a core subject - you do not leave school premises without permission."
"OK, I know, I'm sorry." Kasey threw her hands up.
"You can have detention tomorrow and the day after." Lena informed her as Kasey nodded in defeat before a quiet pause.
"OK." Stef broke the silence. "Well I think that's all for now." She looked at Lena for agreement. It was granted with a nod. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay off our radar for a bit. Why don't you go in and put some water on to boil for dinner. Your Mama and I have a few things to discuss."
Kasey looked between them. "You really think you're gonna talk this out before dinner?" She asked in disbelief.
"Just do it, please." Stef added indicating towards the door with her hand. Kasey widened her eyes and made her way inside. They waited until the door closed before continuing.
"She's right you know, we're not going to get this sorted in time for dinner." Lena looked hard at Stef who brushed her hair back with her hands.
"Well we don't have much of a choice. We're going to have to face Jesus soon and we need to at least be in the vicinity of a united front." She stopped fiddling with her hair and stared back. "And that's not the only thing Kasey is right about either." she added, alluding back to Lena's earlier comment. "If Jesus had come to us would we really not have got him the pill?"
"Stef, we've talked about this - I can't even give students band-aids, never mind contraception." She tapped the fingers of her right hand into the palm of her left to emphasise her point as Stef raised her palms.
"But we're not talking about just any student, Lena. This affects Jesus almost as much as it affects Lexi. He's your son, not just your student."
"And that may be true but it doesn't mean we override the fact that the body concerned is not Jesus - it's Lexi."
Stef patted the table down in front of her.
"Lexi's parents will not give her the choice. Technically Lexi can legally get that pill and take it without their permission, they are going to take that choice away from her..."
"And we have the right to stop that? We're making that judgment based on what two scared teenagers are telling us. I'm not comfortable making this call for them."
"Well what do you suggest?" Stef cut her off, unable to stop her anger seeping through. She bit it back with a blink as Lena took a deep breath, also trying to maintain calm under the stress of it.
"We still have a couple of days for it to work. I think we need to at least try to persuade Lexi to talk to her parents - if she still refuses to then we can take it from there."
Stef shook her head even though she was going to agree.
"Fine. But are you prepared to deal with the fact that they may not let her take it if she does?"
Lena exhaled deeply. "Well we will have to deal with that as it comes. Nothing we do will reverse the situation."
"Well that's not entirely true." Stef muttered.
"Stef." Lena reprimanded her, sternly.
"OK - you're right. It won't change the fact they got into this mess. We'll tell Jesus that you want to talk with Lexi tomorrow and that we'll make our decision depending on how that goes." Both women nodded in a final agreement, happy to have at least temporarily postponed the difficulty of the decision. With nothing further to discuss they made their way inside to prepare dinner.
Kasey and Callie worked their way through the dishes after they had finished eating. Lena and Stef had immediately taken Jesus for a talk, Jude had disappeared rapidly to his room and Mariana had gone to prepare for some theatre trip.
"Anyway, that's why I missed health class." Kasey finished filling Callie in on the day's events after she had inquired over her absence. "May be best not to shout about it though - probably best that as few people know as possible." She added as Callie couldn't hold back a laugh at the hypocrisy.
"Which is why you just told me?" Callie raised and eyebrow as Kasey gawped back gormlessly deciding to not respond to the accusation.
"So how are things going with Wyatt?" Kasey asked, quickly knocking the smile of Callie's face.
She looked at her thinking back to a disagreement they'd had that day.
"I didn't know there were things to be going on about..." she lied, drying a plate.
"Right." Kasey smirked. "Whatever...he just spent his Sunday evening drying our dishes and trying to impress our Moms because he had nothing better to do." She teased, flicking some water off her fingers into Callie's face.
"You're really annoying, you know." Callie grumbled, though she couldn't help but like Kasey's blasé approach to everything. It was so laid back it made things seem a lot less complex than in her own over-analysis.
"So I'm frequently told." she smiled proudly. "Come on, something or not, you two hang out a lot. I mean maybe you just give each other hair care tips but you seem to be getting along."
Callie laughed. "Well he wasn't that cool with me today. It seems he doesn't like me probing his reputation."
Kasey looked a her confused. "Reputation?"
"Brandon said he dumped Talya as soon as she gave him what he wanted. Wyatt's side is pretty different and he wasn't too thrilled about me jumping to conclusions."
Kasey laughed. "You took Brandon's version of events? You have so much to learn. He may have seen Talya's true colours but he's still as dumb as a day old puppy. Anyone could see Talya was driving Wyatt mad - I mean, I barely knew either of them then but Cooper delighted in warning me about it when she started dating Brandon."
"So you've never liked Talya?" Callie asked, picking up a handful of cutlery to dry.
"I had little opinion of her until she started being all possessive of Brandon. I can't say she's my favourite person since she went all Nancy Drew on your private life."
Callie lifted an eyebrow. "I'm starting to wonder if her tripping over your crutch last week was an accident or not..."
Kasey looked at her with an innocent glare. "I have no clue what you're talking about". She lied as Callie shook her head with a reluctant laugh. Once again Kasey's simplistic view of events that had been haunting her was making her take a less severe perspective. It was a nice relief, even though she knew it would fade once she was back to her own company.
"Well anyway, apparently I have to make it up to him now so I guess that will determine whether he will remain to be my only friend or I'll go back to eating lunch in the music room."
"Make it up to him?" Kasey replied through a laugh, an ecstatic look across her face. "Honey, you can kid yourself all you like but you are in there." This time it was Callie who flicked up some water in Kasey's face with an eye roll.
"Hey, hey - chores aren't meant to be fun." Stef jokingly reprimanded them both as Kasey flicked some water back at Callie.
"Just teasing Callie about her boyfriend. I mean, friend."
"Kasey!" Callie shot back at her.
"OK, OK - Kasey, stop being a pain in the ass." Stef ordered playfully. "You know you need to ask us before you go on any dates, right?" Stef reminded Callie who was now turning pink.
"We're not dating." She replied sheepishly. "We're just hanging out."
Stef nodded. "OK, well when, I mean if it becomes anything more then you keep us in the loop. And you - stay out of things." she looked sternly at Kasey who threw her hands up in defense.
"Noted." Callie nodded folding her arms awkwardly.
"Mom, I'm going - I'll be back before curfew." Mariana scurried down the stairs and bee-lined for the door.
"Hey, hang on there speedy." She turned. "Is Garrett picking you up or do you need a ride?"
"He's at the door now." she opened it up to reveal Garrett standing there smartly in a hat and with tight pink shorts. A look of disbelief splattered across Kasey's face.
"Hey there Garrett!" Stef shouted.
"Hey Stef, what's happening? Did Mom give you that recipe we had been working on?"
"Yes she did honey, we're going to try it at the weekend. I hear you're taking part in some competition this week?"
"Mo-om!" Mariana glared at Stef, frustrated. She put her hands up to apologise.
"OK - I'm sorry for being interested. Go enjoy yourselves."
Mariana hurried Garrett out the door as he tried to shout his goodbyes.
As it closed Kasey looked to an oblivious Stef.
"Is Mariana going on a date...with Garrett?" she asked, still unable to believe it.
"Uhm, yes. Do you have a problem with that or are you just determined to be involved in everyone's relationships today?"
"Of course I don't have a problem with it." She folded her arms. "I'm just worried that Mariana might when she realises he's gay."
"Garrett isn't gay, he's just unique."
"Oh come on Mom, he's wearing pants he bought in the children's section, exchanging recipes with you and writes poetry..."
"Kasey Foster!" Stef scolded. "You of all people should know better than to judge someone's sexuality on their appearance. I thought you were better than that."
"I ain't judgin', I'm just calling it - come on Callie, you must agree with me?" she turned in hopes to get some support for her observation.
"Don't get me involved." She put a palm up to Kasey as Stef folded her arms.
"Just because he's feminine doesn't mean he's gay. He was raised by two Moms, he just has just inherited their interests."
"So was I and not even I'm as feminine as he is."
"Being feminine isn't the same as being gay..." Callie added.
"Thank you." Stef signalled a hand to Callie. "You're lucky Lena isn't hearing you say this, she'd tear you apart. Gay or not, he doesn't need you attempting to out him because you're stereotyping his style."
"I'm not even implying he's in the closet - all I'm saying is Mariana's gaydar needs calibrating."
Stef shook her head and squeezed Kasey's shoulders. "I'm going to say this once; stay out of people's private lives...you can listen to me or ignore me, but be prepared to deal with the repercussions of sticking your nose in other people's business. You're meant to be staying off my radar. We can go back outside if this is going to be a problem..."
"Fine, fine." Kasey conceded as Callie smirked. She may admire Kasey's ability to be so carefree but it certainly got her into a lot of unnecessary trouble.
"I'm gonna go finish my homework." She announced before heading up towards her room.
"Thanks for your help with the dishes." Stef shouted back as Kasey's phone bleeped. A smile developed across her face, Stef's advice already having left her head.
"Do you mind if I go bowling with Dad tomorrow?" She asked, processing the message on her phone.
"Uhm...if you want...any particular reason?"
Kasey shrugged. "I just think he needs a bit more company these days, is all."
Stef scrutinised her face, her intentions seemed innocent enough and Kasey had been trying hard with Mike recently.
"OK - check if Brandon wants to go too though."
"No, no - I think we need some father-daughter time." Kasey smiled.
Stef squinted. "OK...keep us up to date with when to expect you back." she informed her as Kasey departed. She followed her out with her eyes, it seemed strange but she would check all was as it should be with Mike the next day to put her mind at ease.
Next Chapter Preview: Lena talks with Lexi producing an unsatisfactory conclusion for Stef. Their heightened sensitivity on the subject leads to an awkward talk for Callie.
"Make sure?" Callie queried clasping her fingers together and pushing her shoulders out in an awkward pose. She was suddenly cast back to her first night in the house.
"We just need to make sure you know the facts"
Callie squinted out a confused smile. "The...facts?" she looked across at both women's expectant glances, a look of both horror and realisation flooding her face. Oh God.