"Hey, you slept late" Callie said as Mariana came downstairs.
"Ugh it's to hot to sleep at night" Mariana sighed pouring a bowl of cereal she looked over at Callie.
"Is that my shirt?" She asked wrinkling her nose at Callie.
"No" Callie snapped giving her a weird look.
"No that is totally my shirt! I asked mom to wash it because I wanted to wear it tomorrow" Mariana yelled.
"I have no idea what your talking about I wouldn't take your shirt, this was in my side of the closet." Callie said.
"Was it all the way on your side or the middle?" Mariana asked her hands on her hips.
"I don't remember! it's mine, I got it last month" Callie's own voice was raised now.
"that's totally my shirt!" Mariana yelled
"Like I would ever what to wear your cloths!" Callie cried.
"What's that supposed to mean!" Mariana bellowed
"Whoo what's happening?" Stef asked coming downstairs with a laundry basket on her hip.
"Callie stole my shirt. I wanted to wear it to the park tomorrow" Mariana said pointing to Callie.
'This isn't your shirt!" Callie yelled.
"Yes It is! mom washed it so I could wear it" Mariana shot back.
"Mariana, could this possibly be your shirt?" Stef asked. Both girls looked over as Stef held up the same exact shirt from the basket.
"Oh…yeah" Mariana said snatching it from her not looking at Callie.
"mmmhhmm" Stef said turning to go back up the stairs giving both girls a look.
"Sorry" Mariana said turning to Callie.
"It's ok, maybe we should label them or something" Callie offered
"Probably, and have assigned days too so we don't look like dorks trying to match" Mariana smiled.
'Oh man can you imagine" Callie laughed. Stef listened to them giggle as she climbed the stairs finding Lena in their bedroom.
"the girls were just fighting over a shirt" Stef told her.
"Is that what that yelling was? They went from enemies to friends to sisters pretty fast" Lena laughed.
"Two teenage girls a year apart." Stef smiled shaking her head.
"four kids between the ages of 16 and 14" Lena nodded. Just then Noah walked by the doorway on his way downstairs.
"Hi momma" He smiled catching Stef's eye Stef smiled pulling him in for a kiss.
"And then there's this guy" Stef smiled messing his hair.
"Hey Callie Can I ask you something?" Callie almost jumped as Mike came out onto the back porch as she was plucking on the guitar Brandon had let her borrow.
"Oh sorry" Mike said.
"No that's ok, whats's up?" Callie asked. She had become much more comfortable around Mike since they first got here. He was around a lot and Noah had really taken a liking to him.
"Well I'm taking Brandon and Jesus to the Padres game tomorrow I was wondering if you thought it would be ok if I asked Noah if he wanted to come" Mike said.
"Oh yeah that's fine, you should probably ask Stef and Lena though" Callie said .
"I did, they said I should ask you, I guess I'm wondering if you think he would like it?"
"Well he's never been, to any kind of game, But he likes to watch it on TV and he likes hanging out with you guys. I think he would love it, he might not last the whole time though he might get bored" Callie said.
"Well that's prefect. Brandon usually gets board around the seventh inning those two can go walk around and buy some popcorn and Jesus and I can finish the game in peace" Mike laughed a little.
"Ok yeah, that sounds good" Callie smiled nodding. He gave her a little wave heading back into the house.
"Hey Mike" She called after him. He turned back to her.
"Thanks for thinking about him" Callie said.
"My pleasure, he's a good kid. Reminds me of B when he was that age. I'll see ya"
"I don't think I want to see my dad" Callie said coming into Lena and Stef's room that night.
"Are you sure love?" Stef asked
"Yeah, I just. He doesn't want to see us. You said he was out of jail but he never came looking for us. I don't want Noah to know him. I think it's best to just leave him be" Callie said.
"Ok, If you ever change your mind just let us know ok sweetie" Lena said.
"I won't, so now what?" Callie asked.
"No we just ask him to sign the papers and then we can officially adopt you" Stef smiled at her.
"ok" Callie nodded.
"What's still want you want right baby?" Lena asked.
"Yeah, yeah of course, I just, I just wish we could be adopted now and get this over with" Callie said.
"Don't worry Callie girl, we're almost there ok, we'll take care of the rest of it" Stef assured her.
"I can't believe there is only three more weeks until school" Jesus complained
"The summer did fly by" Lena agreed.
"Oh says all you on vacation, i'v been working all summer!" Stef teased.
"Did you get the principal job mom?" Mariana asked. Callie saw Lena glance at Stef before shaking her head.
"I did, I turned it down though" she said.
"Why?" Callie asked.
"it wasn't because of what we said was it? Because you would be a really good principal" Jesus said.
"No honey it wasn't because of what you said. It would just be a lot more work outside school hours, longer days, not as flexible." Lena told him
"Well we can help out around the house more, and I can do more driving to pick everyone up and take them places" Brandon said.
"That's very nice B, thank you for offering" Stef said.
"Well why not then! I thought you wanted this?" Jesus said. Lena opened her mouth not sure of what to say glancing at Stef. Stef looked at her and shrugged.
"where's Noah?" Lena asked.
"soccer" Mariana said.
"ok guys, well I guess we should tell you" Lena said. Stef sat down at the table next to her as Callie and the kids gathered around.
"So momma and I have been talking about extending our family a little bit more" Lena said.
"Like fostering more kids?" Brandon asked.
"No, we thought… well we talked about Mommy maybe carrying a baby" Stef said. Callie was surprised when she said it.
"Wait you want to get pregnant?" Jesus asked.
"Yes" Lena nodded.
"How?" Brandon asked.
"We would use a donor, we have not picked one yet, it might be one we know it might not. but the donor would not really have a part in the babies' life" Lena said.
"Mom never had a chance to carry a baby and be pregnant, and we never raised a baby together. You kids were all older when you came to us. We thought it would be something we could try" Stef said.
"I think that's cool" Callie said.
"Yeah me too" Brandon nodded.
"thank you" Lena smiled. Mariana suddenly turned on her heels and ran up the stairs they heard her door slam shut. Lena winched at the bang.
"I will go deal with…" Stef said standing up.
"No, i'll talk to her" Lena sighed getting up.
She climbed the stairs knocking on the door to the girls room. Mariana was laying on her bed and didn't look at her when she came in.
"Hey, sweetie you got to talk to me" Lena said softly sitting on the foot of Mariana's bed. Mariana turned to her.
"You always say DNA doesn't make a family" Mariana said.
"It doesn't" Lena agreed.
"Then why do you want a baby?" Mariana asked.
"I…I wanted…" Lena started
"A real kid" Mariana finished for her.
"Honey, you are my real baby" Lena told her. Mariana shrugged
"But I will always be adopted, Anna will always be my birth mother. And I hate that I come from her, Why couldn't I come from you" Mariana said a tear falling down her cheek Lena wiped it away with her thumb gently.
"Aww, my baby, I wish with all my heart that I could have carried you inside me. Sometimes I feel guilty that I wasn't there for you from the minute you were born. But I realized something when momma and I started talking about this. You only carry a baby in your belly for nine months. But you carry a child in your heart forever, that's the only place that it counts. Princess, you do come from me, and from momma. And giving birth to you, that wouldn't make me love you anymore then I do." Lena said softly.
"Are you sure?" Mariana asked.
"Would it make you love me more?" Lena asked.
"no, that's crazy" Mariana said with a little laugh.
"ok, then how about we both stop acting crazy, come here" Lena said pulling Mariana into a tight hug.
"I love you" She whispered.
"I love you too" Mariana said.
"Hey mommy?"
"Yeah baby?" Lena said releasing her
"I hope your baby is as pretty as you" Mariana said. Lena smiled softly kissing her forehead.
"The tuition for Brandon's school came in" Stef said as Lena came into the kitchen the next day.
"Oh yeah?" Lena asked.
"Even with the scholarship, Lena, I don't think we can swing it" Stef said. Lena took the paper from her, her eyes widening at the numbers.
"Ok well we cut back, I can still take that job, I don't…" Lena's voice trailed off.
"Lena, weather you have a baby or not we can't cut it. I would love for him to go but we can't we have to start saving for collage and court fees so we can adopt the kids and retirement" This is like all that money combined" Stef said.
"He worked so hard, he deserves this" Lena sighed.
"It's not fair" Stef agreed.
"Hello" the front door opened and they heard Brandon come in.
"Hey B can you come here?" Stef called. Brandon came into the kitchen.
"What's up?" He asked.
"Your bill from school came in today. B i'm really sorry but we just can't afford it" Stef said. Lena saw Brandon's face fall.
"We're sorry buddy. We really wanted to do this for you" She said.
"It's ok" Brandon nodded.
"We were talking about it we just can't do it. We need to keep putting money away for everyones college, it wouldn't work buddy" Stef said.
"No really it's ok, I knew it was a long shot. It's a really expensive school. And I didn't even know if I really wanted to go." Brandon said.
"But we are so proud of you for getting in and all the hard work that you do you deserve this B we wish we could give it to you" Lena said.
"It's ok, really it's ok" Brandon said. He gave them both a hug and went upstairs.
"It's not fair" Lena sighed. Stef nodded.
"That sounds cool" Callie said standing in Brandon's doorway as he sat at his keyboard.
"Thanks, I wrote it"
"You wrote that" Callie said surprised.
"Yeah, it's about the day the twins were adopted"
"How, there are no words" Callie asked.
"look see this is me". Brandon said hitting a lone middle note.
"This is my moms" He said hitting two notes a little lower.
"And this is the twins" He his a few notes higher up.
"Now see alone, they are not much" He said playing a few bars.
"But together…" He said starting to play them all together and the beautiful song started again.
"That's really pretty" Callie said.
"Thanks, I haven't played it in a while but I thought I would add you and Noah to the end"
"Oh yeah, what do we sound like?" She asked
"Well this is Noah" Brandon said playing a high note a few times.
"And this is you" He said slamming his fingers on the lowest keys making Callie laugh.
"You must be excited to start your fancy music school in a few weeks."
"Yeah turns out…turns out I'm not going"
"Why not?"
"Moms were talking to me earlier it's a lot of money, to much money"
"But your scholarship…"
"Doesn't even make a dent." Brandon shook his head.
"I'm sorry"
"It's ok, I figured, It would be a lot of work, it's to far to walk moms would have to pick me up and drop me off every day but they both have work. plus what if one day I get tired of Piano. It would be a waste" Brandon said.
Callie left Brandon's room knocking on Jesus's door.
"Can we talk?" She asked. He got up following her to the girls room where Mariana was sitting on her bed.
"Brandon can't go to the music school because there's not enough money." Callie said.
"that sucks" Jesus shook his head and Callie could tell he meant it.
"What if we raise him the money?" Callie asked.
"really?" Mariana asked.
"Yeah, he's like our big brother right, he gave up a lot so we could be a part of this family, we should do something for him" Callie said.
"Like what?" Jesus asked.
"Momma i'm going to Troy's to play ball" Jesus called the next morning.
"Ok" Stef said.
"Can I go to Lexie's today? like all day?" Mariana asked coming down the stairs with a bag of stuff.
"Umm yeah just be home for dinner, what's in the bag?" Stef asked.
'Oh just stuff i'm giving away"
"Voluntarily?" Stef asked surprised.
"Why is Jesus walking down the street with our lawn mower?" Lena asked walking in the front door.
"What? he told me he was going to play basketball. Callie do you know what he's doing?" Stef asked as Callie was finishing her breakfast.
"What? oh no, i'm going to the library" She said putting her bowl in the sink.
'Oh sweetie will you return my book on the coffee table?" Lena asked.
"Umm, no it's another library, i meant bookstore" Callie said clearly frazzled
"Well how are you getting there?" Stef asked giving her a look
"Amanda's mom is picking me up i'll be home soon" Callie called going out the door Lena had just come in.
"what is going on around here?" Lena asked.
"I don't know but I'm glad school is starting soon" Stef shook her head as Noah came down the stairs.
"Hey little man your the only one home today! What do you want to do?" Lena asked.
"Can I have this can?" Noah asked. holding up a soda can
"Umm sure bub" Stef said. Noah went over to the trash can and started pulling thing out.
"What are you doing there bubby?" Lena asked.
"If I can find ten things to recycle everyday and bring them to the recycling center I can make $10 dollars" Noah said.
"Yes, you can, why do you need ten dollars?" Stef asked. Noah shrugged. Stef and Lena shared a questioning look.
"You know you could do some chores and make $10 its probably easier" Lena offered. Noah shook his head.
"I need to make my own money I can't use any of yours" He said.
"Alright, which one of them put you up to this? Was it Jesus?" Stef asked leaning close so her face was even with his.
"No momma" Noah said laughing
"Mariana?" Stef tried again.
"Can you take me to the recycling center?" Noah asked.
"Yeah, yeah get your shoes" Stef said and he took off into the entryway.
"Something is going on around here" Stef said again. Lena nodded.
"It's 9:00 pm and everyone is asleep" Lena said surprised walking down the stairs.
"Your kidding!" Stef said surprised.
"Mariana was cleaning out her closet, Jesus was gone all day with the lawn mower again, Callie asked if they could have a yard sale, It's been a week of this they are up to something" Lena said.
"You don't think it's bad do you?" Stef said.
"No, one of them would have ratted the rest out by now, besides if they are getting into trouble they don't usually drag Noah into it, it's just weird" Lena said sitting down in the reading nook next to Stef.
"So I know we talked about someone we know…" Stef started.
'For the Donor?"
"Yeah"
"I don't know if that's such a good idea anymore. You were right we have been through enough custody battles with the kids. And seeing Callie's relationship to her father. We're probably better off going with someone we don't know" Lena said pouring her and Stef a glass of wine.
"I'm glad you said that, I was just looking at some profiles" Stef said pushing her computer back so Lena could see the screen.
"Oh look at you!" Lena said surprised handing Stef her glass.
"Look at this guy, mixed race, runs the Boston marathon, Harvard grad" Stef read
"Mixed race huh?" Lena asked.
"Yah, I just made that one of the filters, I thought if you were going to carry a baby, any baby would be lucky to look like you, just like you" Stef said. Lena smiled
"Oh look at this guy he's a scientist and model" Lena read the next one.
"wow I didn't even know those people existed" Stef joked.
"So tell me, will I like being pregnant?" Lena asked.
"Oh god it's been 16 years, and I was so young. But yeah, It's amazing feeling the little kicks and the first time you hold them" Stef sighed remembering.
"Those fat ankles though… and no booze" Stef said.
"No booze" Lena whispered suddenly remembering.
'Nope" Stef shook her head
"Oh I will miss you most of all" Lena sighed talking to her glass of wine
"What is going on? Stef cried as she pulled up to the house with five cars sitting in their driveway.
"Are they having a party?" She asked.
"No, no look they are washing them" Lena said as Jesus came around one car spraying it with the hose. Callie and Noah were sponging off another car.
"Ok this ends now" Stef said parking her car on the street
"Adams Foster kids. Rinse those cars and inside" Stef called walking up the front lawn.
"Where is Mariana? oh god don't tell me she's in a wet white t-shirt somewhere" Lena sighed covering her eyes.
"She's inside" Jesus said.
"Thank god" Stef muttered as she and Lena went inside.
"Brandon, Mariana come down please" Stef called. When all the kids were in the living room Lena addressed them.
"Ok guys we know something had been going on here, it's been three weeks you are gone all day, random things are happening, you have your little brother digging through trash what's going on?' Stef said. Everyone looked at each other without saying anything.
"I have no idea what they are doing" Brandon said putting his hands up. Stef figured he was right, he had been the only one not acting weird and was gone all day at music camp.
"Anyone else?" Lena asked.
"Come on, now! Or i'm going to start collecting phones" Stef said putting her hand out. Callie sighed.
"We should just tell them" she said turning to Jesus.
"Yes you should" Lena nodded at her.
"Brandon said you didn't have enough money to pay for his music school" Jesus said.
"But we felt bad, It's because you guys have us he can't go, even though he deserves to" Callie said
"And we didn't want momma to have to start working more, or mommy to not be able to have a baby" Mariana added.
"So we started taking jobs, and started a collection" Callie said.
"You..you were working to pay for my school?" Brandon asked surprised. Neither Stef or Lena knew what to say.
"Yeah, we put a video of that song you wrote on youtube and asked for donations. Mariana had a rummage sale and her dance team raised money, Jesus got a bunch of people from soccer to mow lawns and clean pools and stuff. Noah was collecting recycling and selling lemon aid. I got a job at the library for a few weeks, and some dog walking. we had the car wash and the yard sale at Amanda's" Callie said.
"I'm sorry we went behind your backs, we just wanted to help Brandon, we wanted it to be a surprise" Jesus said.
"you…you spent the last weeks of your summer vacation working so your brother could go to school?" Stef asked shocked. Lena was still speechless.
"Yeah look" Callie ran upstairs coming down with two jars full of money handing them to Stef
"We made eight thousand dollars" She said. Stef's mouth dropped
"Eight thousand! You guys made eight thousand" Lena cried.
"Well when we told them why a lot of people donated too, we played your song B, they think your really good" Jesus said.
"Oh my god, You guys this is…" Stef's voice trailed off.
"This is amazing you guys" Lena said making the four younger kids smile.
"Did we make enough? Can he go?" Noah asked. Stef looked up at all the kids watching her. Ten little eyes were on her as she glanced at Lena.
"Yes, yes he can go" Stef said.
"Yayyy!" Noah cried as Brandon hugged each of his siblings tightly.
"I can't believe you guys did this, this is amazing" Stef said pulling Jesus and Mariana into a hug.
"It was Callie's idea, we just helped out" Mariana said.
"Thank you Callie" Lena said giving her a big hug.
"Listen listen I added you guys" Brandon cried running over to the piano he sat down and Callie listened to him play. First himself, Then His mom's, Then he added the twins, Then Callie heard two new notes. Two notes that weren't there last time.
"That's us" She realized looking at her brother.
"It sounds perfect" Lena said
"Ok I have meetings all day today so you guys are on your own" Lena announced at breakfast. With school starting again Lena or Stef had started going through a rough schedule for the day while they all sat down to breakfast again.
"So that means Brandon is in charge, no fighting" Lena added looking pointedly at Mariana and Jesus.
"Yes you guys please, and if you could all do a chore or two, now that mom is going back to work we all need to step up around the house. I will be home early this afternoon and I will take you all school shopping so print out your list at some point this morning to please, and Callie you have group tonight" Stef said.
"We are having Salmon for dinner at 6:00. Jesus it is your turn to do the dishes" Lena said
"When is the first day of school?" Noah asked.
"In two days" Lena said distracted as she checked off her list
"What school are we going?" he asked.
"Umm Anchor Beach…duh" Jesus told him.
"Jesus, please" Lena said gently
"We're going to the same school?" Noah asked.
"We have never actually, been to the same school for more then a few months" Callie tried to clarify for her brother.
"Yes, bub from now until you graduate you will always go to the same school" Stef said.
"Wow! that's good" Noah said
"Well we're glad you like that idea" Stef chuckled at his excitement.
"So what do you think?" Lena asked as she and Stef stared at the papers scattered around their bed.
"I think that they all sound wonderful, they are both so close at this point" Stef said.
"So what like close our eyes and pick one?" Lena asked making Stef laugh.
"well which one would you want to be friends with" Stef asked. Lena thought for a minute holding up one paper.
"This guy, he seems nice in a not bragging kind of way" Lena said.
"Alright then, that's it" Stef said throwing the other papers off the bed.
"So this is it" Lena said
"This is it" Stef nodded.
"So we just call and get the…stuff and…."
"Yeah, we just…" Neither of them could finish their sentence.
"And we really want this?" Lena asked.
"More then anything" Stef whispered.
"Ok, well then, I can take a long lunch Thursday, It's the first day of school but it won't be busy. If the kids are all at school and you can come home early we could…." Lena started.
"Yeah, yeah i'll sanitize the turkey baster" Stef joked.
"Stef"
"I'm kidding, It won't be about the medical stuff, it will be about you and me, and baby number 6375 here" Stef promised.
"Ok, we're really going to do this, we're going to have a baby" Lena smiled.
"Ok B, Momma is taking you in five minutes eat up please, the rest of you my car is leaving in 20. Lunches are on the table with your names on them, Noah yours is peanut butter free, Callie I did not put mustard on your sandwich, Mariana you have an extra apple to eat before dance and Jesus you have your two sandwiches, do not forget you will be hungry! I am leaving for lunch today but I will be back to pick you up" Lena yelled over the commotion of the noise as everyone rushed around the kitchen.
"Are you sure you want to get them love, you should stay and keep your feet up, i'll pick them up" Stef whispered.
"I guess, if you can"
"Yes" Stef said.
"Ok change of plans mom has the afternoon off, from everything, So I will be picking you all up from school, and we are going to get some take out so mommy doesn't have to cook" Stef called. Everyone stopped and liked at her.
"Why?" Brandon asked.
"We never get take out!" Jesus added
"Mom are you sick?" Brandon asked.
"No" Lena said.
"We're giving mom a day off, she deserves it don't she?" Stef cried
"Yeah" Everyone nodded.
"Ok, no more questions, B let's go everyone else have a good day!" Stef called.
"Ok Jesus, Mariana, Callie, head on over to your building please home room is in a few minutes, you will get all your classes then, remember I'm only here for the morning so if you need me you have to come before lunch ok" Lena said. The older kids nodded.
"Ok, have a wonderful day, I will see you when you get home Love you." Lena called after them a little to loudly.
"Oh my god" Mariana moaned taking Callie's hand trying to hurry out of sight.
"Mom!" Jesus said giving her a look.
"that was to loud huh?" Lena laughed looking down at Noah.
"Yup, it's ok, momma says it's good for them" Noah shrugged making Lena laugh again
"Come on bub, let's get you to class" Lena said. She steered Noah down the hallway into one of the forth grade classrooms.
"Lena how are you" The teacher smiled.
"Great Becky how are you?"
"Good, this must be Noah i'v heard so much about"
"Yes, Noah this is Mrs Gray"
"It's nice to meet you Noah. I'm so glad your in my class this year, your mom has told me so much about you, you can go hang your stuff on your hook over there, it has your name" Mrs Gray smiled to him. Noah went over to the hooks while the two women chatted.
"Mom" He called.
"Yeah sweetie?" Lena turned to him.
"My name is wrong" Noah said. Lena looked at his name tag.
"Oh did we spell it wrong is there a dash?" Mrs. Gray asked checking her notes.
"We actually haven't changed Noah's name yet" Lena said seeing the Adams Foster last name on his name tag.
"Oh i'm sorry I just assumed…"
"No that's ok, it might be better for him and the other kids if he starts the year with the same name. It's going to change in a few weeks anyway. Bub, that's going to be your new name when you get adopted. So you can be like momma and I and your brothers and sisters, ok?" Lena said. Noah nodded but she could tell he was not totally on board with the idea. She made a mental note to talk to him about it tonight.
"Ok love have a good day, momma will pick you up" Lena said giving him a quick hug she left the room making her way to her office. When she closed the door behind her she took a deep breath. She had hid the butterflies in her stomach all morning from the kids, she doubted she would be able to get any work done but she sat down at her desk anyway. 4 more hours she thought checking her phone.
When the bell for lunch rang Lena jumped up. she grabbed her bag and made her way into the busy halls. As she walked by the kids sitting outside to her car Mariana offered her a small smile as she chatted at a table with a group of girls. Lena returned it, pleased to see Callie among them happily talking and chatting with her sister and the girls. Jesus made eye contact with her and ducked his head. She was so used to it she didn't take it to heart she knew she would probably do the same thing. she got into her car making the short drive home happy to see Stef's car already in the driveway.
"Stef" She called opening the door.
"Upstairs" Stef called.
"Guess what, I walked by the kids at lunch, Callie was sitting with a big group of girls and Mariana, it was so sweet. She's really making friends I'm so happy. Oh and heads up we have to talk to Noah about the name change, it caught him by surprise this morning and we will need to talk him through that…" Lena said as she climbed the stairs and entered her room.
"Ok, well we should talk to Callie about it too then, What about Jesus was he with the right crowed?"
"Oh you know Jesus, I'm sure Mariana is on top of it. I'm more worried about Noah though, he didn't seem like he liked the idea" Lena said
"Oh i'm sure he will, he's so excited to get adopted, they both are….wait, love look at this!" Stef cried
"What?"
"We both took off work to have some alone time and all we're doing is talking about the kids" Stef said.
"Your right, your right, forget the kids" Lena cried throwing her hands up.
"that's right, because it's just you and me and an empty house" Stef said pulling her in for a kiss.
Did we have to get Chinese? Those people eat cats" Mariana said from the back seat.
"What!" Noah cried.
"Nice one" Jesus said.
"They do not eat cat's Noah, don't listen to your sister this is 100% chicken" Stef said.
"Or something processed to taste like chicken" Brandon whispered.
"If you do not like what's for dinner you can make your own, that's the rule that has always been the rule, someone tell me about school, how was your first day?" Stef asked.
"good" Everyone said preoccupied.
"Good, thanks for all the detail" Stef sighed pulling into the driveway.
"ok guys go wash up. Mariana, Noah set the table please, backpacks in your room, I don't want to be tripping over 5 of them on the stairs. Callie grab the mail please" Stef said said as they piled out of the car.
"hi we''re home" Stef said following the kids inside.
"Hey, hi guys, guess who I just got off the phone with" Lena said from the living room.
"Who?" Brandon asked.
"Callie and Noah your Social worker called. The papers are signed we can officially apply for adoption" Lena said.
"Finally!" Jesus cried as everyone cheered.
"So how long?" Callie asked.
"we have a court date that's about 3 weeks away" Lena said.
"Is that why we had to change my name?" Noah asked. Lena hesitated,
"Can you guys give us a minute" Stef asked. Brandon and the twins nodded going upstairs.
"Sit guys we wanted to talk to you about that" Lena said as Callie and Noah sat on the couch and she and Stef sat across from them.
"Callie, I'm not sure if he told you but Noah's teacher didn't realize the adoption was't final yet and she had our last name on his name tag" Lena said.
"I guess we should have talked to you guys about it, If you don't want to change your name, you don't have to" Stef said.
"I don't want to" Noah said firmly surprising everyone a little.
"Ok, do you want to talk about why?" Lena asked him.
"It's my name. I like my name!" Noah said.
"It's hard, when you look at it from our perspective, sometimes our name was the only thing in the world we owned" Callie said.
"You are right, we did not think about that. We were just trying to make you guys feel included. If you don't want to change your name we will not do it" Stef said.
"I…I might want to change my name" Callie said. Lena and Stef looked at her surprised.
"It's a fresh start you know. I feel like I kind of got a second chance, and I want to take it, name and all" she said.
"Well love, we are so glad you think like that, Noah, you don't have to change your name" Stef said.
"Why is it so important anyway?" Noah asked.
"Well, your last name is your family name. The parents start the name and then all the brothers and sisters have. It kind of just says that you are in the family. But no matter what you are part of this family. And you do not have to change your name that is your choice" Lena said. Noah glanced up at Callie.
"I want people to know i'm part of this family. I'll change my name" He said.
"Are you sure bubba?"
"yeah, I want to be like everyone else" Noah nodded.
"Good, we like that choice you made, go ahead and wash up." Lena smiled at him. He raced off to the bathroom. Callie stood up too.
"I really liked what you said Callie, about a second chance, we really support that and appreciate that you are giving yourself and us that chance" Stef said. Lena nodded.
"You know you can come to us with anything and anyway we can help you we want to do that" i She added.
"I know, thanks" Callie smiled
"And I also want to say love that we are very very proud of you" Stef said.
"Of what?" Callie asked blushing a little.
"You came to us 6 short months ago a very defensive, closed up and hurting girl. and you have allowed yourself to grow and open up and you are becoming this happy, open kid, with friends and doing well in school, you are in recovery from some self harm. we are so proud of the work you have done on yourself" Lena said.
"Thanks, but for the record…that's on you guys" Callie said giving them a smile and heading up the stairs.
"We did pretty damn good with that kid" Stef said watching her go up the stairs.
'We did pretty good with all of them" Lena said.
"And maybe, maybe we can do it again" Stef whispered.
"Oh no please don't talk about it, i'm shoving it into the back of my mind until I can take a test" Lena said.
"Fair enough, alright let's do this thing" Stef said.
"Mariana, Noah set the table please! Jesus! my sweet knuckle head, I know that's not a backpack I see on the stairs" Stef called and the house came to life again as the kids ran around.
"This gym is smelly" Mariana wrinkled her nose as they all walked into the gym at Anchor Beach.
"Alright Miss. Thing, we are here to support your brother this is his first wrestle meet ok" Stef said.
"When I get big can I wrestle like Jesus?" Noah asked holding Lena's hand skipping along.
"Sure bub, but you have to be strong like your brother so you better start eating your green beans" Lena told him as they sat down in the front row.
"Wow those guys are really big" Callie said looking at the other team.
"So does anyone actually know how scoring works in this?" Brandon asked.
"Oh..no we should have looked into that" Stef said
"I'll google it" Lena said pulling out her phone as the first match started.
"Oh my gosh, look at those guys they are huge" Stef said as the first two stepped out onto the mat.
"Well it says that contact sports are good for focus, and that with the proper training they can be very positive" Lena read.
"Not to mention the outfits" Mariana added high fiving Callie both of them getting a dirty look from Stef.
"So why do i feel so nervous" Lena asked watching the boys throw each other to the floor with loud bangs.
"Because we allowed our son to go into mortal combat, Noah stick with soccer" Stef said
"What happen to good focus and positive influence?" Brandon asked as there was another loud bang.
"Screw that the brain cells are more important" Lena winched.