Hi friends, thanks for the comments on the last chapter. A shorter one today and probably a little filler (I split out some longer chapters). I do hope this episode isn't dragging, I know that most of the drama for the story is done but I still needed to look at Stef and Lena's fight before the wedding and then the adoption and then I've thrown some humour in for the end. Anyhow, thanks to thesameguest for proof reading this and if you would be so kind as to tell me your thoughts I would be thrilled :)

Callie and Lena came out of the courtroom to find Stef and Kasey standing on the steps.

"You were freakin' awesome." Kasey leaped on to her foster sister, the memory of Liam slipping away and being unable to think of better words to describe her intense emotions.

"I see you snuck here anyway then." Lena raised her eyebrows once Kasey had freed Callie from her clutch.

She didn't try to make any excuse, simply just shrugged.

"It's OK, I asked her to." Callie assured them, looking over to her, even though it was clear neither believed her.

"Well that aside, I think we need to head home. This hasn't been an easy afternoon." Stef rubbed Callie's arm.

"It's OK, really. I'm OK." She nodded reassuringly, the adrenaline in her body working over time to stop an imminent meltdown, but so far successfully keeping her calm on the surface.

Stef and Lena exchanged a look as Kasey gave her a kind smile.

"Really." She laughed, clocking the glares. "I'm fine." She insisted with a whisper as Kasey looped her arm around her. "I just...do you mind if I have 5 minutes to myself?" She asked with a wince feeling the front rapidly coming down under the scrutiny.

"Of course, sweets." Stef assured her, squeezing her arm. "You wanna get in the car?" She gave her the keys as Callie nodded.

"I am so proud of you today." Lena kissed her head as Callie nodded. "I'll see you at home when I get back later." Callie nodded slowly before heading to the car.

"How are you doing? That was pretty intense in there." Lena asked, welfare coming before chastisement.

"I'm fine," she replied looking back to see Callie let herself into the back seat and was resting her head against the window. "I just hope that Callie is."

"She will be, sweetheart." Stef assured her with a hand on her shoulder as they all looked over to her shape in the car. "She's been through a hell of a lot, it'll take her some time to process - but the worst is over." They looked for a moment before Lena broke the silence.

"Well, I have to get back to school - and you need to as well." Lena looked to Kasey.

"I have the afternoon, it's OK." She assured her. "I got it off."

Lena squinted at her as Stef rolled her eyes looking round at a serious Kasey. Of course she did.

"Kasey, we may be going soft under the circumstances, but we're not completely dumb. If you got the afternoon off as you say, you forged a note and I hate to break it to you, but if the Vice Principal knows that, it doesn't count."

"No, really. Sanchez gave me permission to come." She replied, still a look of serious intent as Stef's eyebrows dipped in confusion, both faces urging for explanation.

"I told her that you had to take Callie to the trial and had told me that I'd need permission to leave school."

"And she said, 'OK, go then'?" Stef asked sarcastically.

"No, she said 'Kasey I'm really busy right now. Shouldn't you be taking this up with your Mom?'"

Lena looked to the sky, realising what was about to be said.

"And I said you said you were cool with it as long as she was happy, to which she agreed."

Stef looked accusingly at Lena who folded her arms, not breaking her glare with their daughter

"I believe my exact phrasing, after about ten minutes of your badgering I hasten to add, was 'If Sanchez gives you the afternoon off, you can do whatever you want, but that isn't exactly going to happen.'"

"I paraphrased." Kasey shrugged, her smile creeping through as Lena shook her head, turning to Stef. In some ways they knew it had been an emotional day and sending her back for less than an hour seemed counter-productive.

"You - " She moved to hug Kasey "better make up for your missed work."

"Don't worry, I can doodle at home just as well." She assured her, hugging back. "And listen, be there for Callie, but if it's too much for you don't worry about stepping back." She squeezed her tightly. Through all the questioning over her school attendance, they knew it would have been impossible to cut Kasey out of something that ultimately she had been involved in.

"I will." She replied as Lena pinched her chin and gave Stef a kiss goodbye. "I'll see you tonight." She rubbed her arm as she left to her car.

"We going?" Kasey shrugged, moving off as Stef put her arm around her shoulders.

"Hooooold up." She pulled her in, placing her other hand on her chest.

"What did I tell you about coming today?"

"Not to, because it would make it harder for Callie and because I'd get arrested for contempt."

"Exactly." Stef squeezed her, pushing her hand against her chest. "So thank you for not getting arrested and for behaving. Also for being here, I do think it may have actually helped Callie to have more of us here after all."

"Really?" Kasey looked at her in confusion.

"Really." she rattled her hand gently, still holding her in tight.

"However." She added, Kasey knowing it was too good to be true. "I catch you sneaking into a court case you've been explicitly told not to go to again and I'll ground you for a week with nothing but Judge Judy repeats."

Kasey pulled her head back in confusion. "You're a strange woman." she commented as Stef kissed her head. "I am. Go, get in." She patted her back harshly, pushing her towards the car.

As they both climbed in and started up the car Callie barely registered them, the adrenaline waning and her mind getting lost.

A little while after they returned, Callie sat picking at her guitar on the front step. The ride home had been impossibly quiet, not even Kasey thinking of something to say. All of Callie's thoughts had jammed up her brain. There was relief, regret, sadness, contentment. Such a mixture that the only way she could even begin to process it was a soothing task she could complete without having to think. A way to channel her feelings through her fingers and take some of the blood from her brain.

She was interrupted as Stef came out to join her. She promptly stopped playing, almost embarrassed.

"You don't have to stop." She assured the otherwise silent musician, dropping down to be next to her.

"I was just messing around anyway." She twitched a smile, moving the instrument down. Her eyes looked so sad but her general demeanour wasn't weak.

"So - " Stef began, the silence beginning to make her nervous. "I hope you know what a brave thing you did today."

Callie turned to her, slightly taken aback - even though she was learning fast that nothing should surprise her any more.

"I guess so."

"You know so, Callie." Stef knocked her knee. "You know, too many women, and men, go through what you went through but never find the strength or opportunity to face their attacker like that. Not only did you face him but you stood up in court and sacrificed some retribution, which you rightly deserved, for your integrity. That is a pretty amazing thing for a girl your age."

She put her arm around her back, squeezing her in.

"I'm serious. You have a keen sense of right and wrong and stood by it. You stuck with your gut and your conscience. That - that takes more guts than a thug like Liam could ever dream of. What's more, he knows that. You really rattled him today."

Callie rolled her tongue along her teeth, staring into the distance, her shoulders now inadvertently relaxing.

"He looked so small." She whispered. "I wasn't expecting that."

Stef took a deep breath moving her hand across her chest and onto Callie's arm, resting against her side.

"And you looked like a giant up there. You crushed him." She shook her gently. "Men like that, they may never have the world kicking their ass but they won't ever get the kind of respect you will from the people who know them for who they are. That may not be worth much, but it may come in useful if you think you have nothing else." She shrugged.

Callie gulped down the words. They were simple and Stef may be dropping them without much hope of impact, but she had no idea how much that respect did mean. Callie had been a name on someone's paper work for the last 6 years. A statistic. A burden. None of those ever garnered respect. Maybe this was a case of figuring out what she really did want from this. Maybe it wasn't justice - maybe it was. Maybe Brandon had been right and it was just the pride of doing something for herself, regardless. Maybe it was simply to be seen by her loved ones in a way that nobody had seen her, even if that meant everyone else still seeing her as something else.

Maybe it was just finally accepting she had loved ones.

She finally pulled her head around and smiled more convincingly - this time, with some genuine intent behind it. Seeing the switch, Stef brought her face to hers, squashing a kiss on her forehead.

"So listen, I just wanted to make sure - if you don't feel ready for this party tomorrow it's really no issue for us to move it. You're our priority, yes?"

"You don't have to do that, Stef - really." She immediately responded, suddenly frozen at the thought she would interfere.

"Hey listen, if you're not ready we do have to, whether you like it or not. If you can't enjoy our wedding then we can't either and I mean that."

Callie gave her another genuine smile, once again feeling the warmth that this really was an offer without baggage.

"Seriously, though. It's not necessary. To be honest, I think it'll be good to have something else to focus on. Start moving on, you know?" She squinted as Stef pulled her head into a quick kiss again and rubbed her arm furiously.

"Well if that changes, you let me know. Even if it's a minute before the ceremony...though I'd maybe prefer it if it wasn't before I go to the effort of all the mind-numbing pampering." She teased.

"I will." she smiled back.

"OK then." Stef acknowledged, suddenly with the urge to hold her again, regardless of how it would be received. This girl needed love and she was warming to it step by step. She wrapped her arms tight around her shoulders pulled in her in tightly.

Callie's pose was slightly stiff but not out of resistance, more because of the tightness the last few days had wound her into. She felt it crumble down with Stef's embrace, feeling it finally ebb away, little by little. As she felt her grip loosen she had a sensation she hadn't felt in a very long time as her arms inadvertently relaxed and wrapped up, pulling Stef back in. Although it caught her by surprise, Stef was happy to oblige and moved her arms into a better position to hold her even more securely. Whatever therapy Callie was getting from the contact, it was clearly overdue.

Her conscious mind recapturing her movement, Callie loosened and finally eased off. She wasn't unhappy she had dived in like she had, but she still felt she needed to take things in small steps. She wasn't ready to throw herself in yet completely for long - but she was getting closer.

After leaving Callie, checking in with Lena and returning to the house, Stef slowly padded up the stairs. She had stayed on form all day but still recovering and emotionally draining wasn't a great combination, as little as she would admit it. The trial had taken her full attention - that was easy and natural for her to take on, but now with the final distraction out of the way she wasn't looking forward to her sole focus being last minute planning. Lena's parents had arrived the day before and she had already carefully ducked away before Lena could implement her plan to see how the mothers were getting on, she was hoping for a small nap before dinner to try and hide her struggle to stay awake and focussed.

Her plan was thwarted by an eager yell.

"Mom!"

Mariana came bounding behind her with a wince.

"Gram and Grandma said I could go get some last minute things for the decorations."

"Of course they did." Stef replied stonily. When Lena had proposed Dana and Sharon do the decorations, she had done it to take the task and the Moms out of their hands. It seemed the plan had a flaw or two.

"What kinds of things?"

"You know, decorations. It'll be classy, don't worry."

"I'm more concerned about it being costly, I think." Stef replied.

"Pretty sure she can do that too." Kasey snarked, passing by as Stef threw her a look.

"Uhm, are you not still grounded?" Stef squinted, her brain slowly catching up.

"Well yeah, but..." Mariana shrugged looping her arms around her Mom's. "I mean, this is for the wedding and my grounding ends with the party anyway. Mama said it was OK if you agreed."

Stef sighed, momentarily distracting herself with looking to Kasey whose business had apparently been to retrieve a book from Callie and Mariana's room.

"Ten dollars. One hour. Kasey goes with you."

She was met by a double hit of "What?" as she moved towards her room. Mariana easing off her arm and Kasey quickly changing direction to scurry behind.

"Ten dollars and an hour? What am I gonna do in time with that?"

"Mom, there's a reason I did all the ordering online. Shopping? Really? With Mariana?"

She stopped and turned as they reached the outside of her door.

"Mariana - ten dollars, one hour or nothing." she explained with urging eyes as Mariana sighed down in surrender.

"Kasey - if you don't go, she's not. Oh and if you do go, you're responsible."

"So is there anything in this for me at all?" she asked crossing her arms.

"You owe me for the court."

Kasey opened her mouth to protest but realised quickly she couldn't argue.

"Ugh. Fine." she grumbled in defeat.

"Thirty?" Mariana tried, hoping for a settle down the middle. Stef sighed heavily and rolled her eyes.

"Twenty. Final offer."

Mariana clapped, cutting her own losses. "I'll be ready in fifteen!" she ran into her room as Stef turned into her room and onto her bed.

"This isn't a fair trade you know." Kasey followed her as Stef walked round to the bed and hopped on.

"Well, luckily, I don't care." she mumbled passively, crossing her hands across her tummy.

"Have you ever tried to stop Mariana spending over twenty dollars?"

"Yes. And failed. That's why I'm charging it to you and you can cover what she goes over." she closed her eyes as Kasey leapt next to her.

"That is beyond unfair! No way Mama will let you do that."

"Kasey?" Stef asked putting her hands over her eyes as her daughter quietened. "It's been a very long day." She finished as Kasey scowled next to her moments before a "Stefanie?" yapped up the stairs.

"Oh please, just five moments peace." Stef pleaded to herself under her breath, Kasey looking on before Stef opened her eyes and sat up to her elbows. She waited in desperation for her mother's entrance, Kasey's mouth working into a smile.

"Guess I better get shopping." Kasey whispered as Stef grabbed her arm.

"Oh now you have to go shopping?" Stef muttered dragging her back down as Kasey wriggled free with a smug look.

"I can't work with that woman." Sharon finally appeared. "No offence, honey." She added as she noticed Kasey's presence.

"None taken." She replied as she pulled forward, eventually wrestling her hand from Stef's and springing off the bed.

"Later G-ma. Enjoy!" she nodded but Sharon was clearly too engrossed in her dismay to listen while Stef shook her head, hoping the bed would swallow her up.

"You nearly ready?" Kasey asked, ducking into Mariana's room.

"Almoooost." She beamed holding earrings up to her ears.

"You're putting jewelry on to go out for an hour?" Kasey observed cynically.

"Are you kidding? This is the first time I've been out in like a month."

Kasey threw an eye roll to Callie who had arrived to the room and bee-lined to her bed. "You wanna come shopping?" She asked hopefully to a returned smile.

"I'm OK, I wanna get all my work done before the wedding." Her response was quiet but Kasey was glad to see it didn't seem to have the hidden regret that other recent responses had shown.

"Homework?" Mariana chimed in. "I can't believe that's your chosen activity when there's all the wedding excitement."

Mariana's attitude had swapped from obsessive to overly excited apparently in the space of a day. She was either ignoring something or had achieved a huge breakthrough.

"I take it you have your present sorted then?" Callie guessed, Kasey smirking at the memory of the poem.

"I have!" Mariana smiled. "I've chosen the perfect song and I'm going to change my look."

"Because that worked so well last time?" Kasey teased, looking at the jewel on her nose. "You gonna get a chain linking it to your ear? Oh please do that - it would be freakin' hilarious." She momentarily got lost in the dream of what Stef's face would look like at the sight.

"No." Mariana squinted. "I'm going to take it out." She replied proudly as Kasey and Callie exchanged an impressed smile.

"That will be a gift." Kasey replied, Mariana ignoring the comment to turn, excited.

"OK, good to goooo!" Mariana grabbed her bag followed by Kasey's arm.

"Stef if you don't wanna get married, let's just not...let's just not get married!" they heard Lena's angry tone as she stormed past them, clearly having made Stef's unending afternoon even longer. The two girls watched as Lena disappeared, clearly not having noticed them. Both girls exchanged a look of concern and peeked in to Stef's room where she sat, looking completely blindsided and taking a deep breath.

"Should we be worried?" Mariana whispered to Kasey who looked back nervously before looking back to Stef.

"Uhm...no. No. This sorta stuff...it happens all the time." She tried to assure her, squeezing her hands on her shoulders. "They'll fix it. Let's just...get this stuff and get back. I think it may be like walking into a lion's den right now." She guided her sister down the stairs.

Next Chapter Preview: Kasey gives Stef some hard-hitting advice and Jude helps both Stef and Lena think about the importance of their relationship.

"Are you looking forward to the wedding tomorrow?" He asked, seamlessly changing the subject.

She wished it had been to anything other than that.

"I uhm, yeah." She smiled. Any tension Lena was having with Stef was not Jude's problem to worry about.

"It's just...Mariana said you and Stef were fighting a little so..."

Clearly it didn't matter how good her poker face was, the kids had already seen their cards - or probably heard them.