"Alright Adams Foster family we are looking for the biggest, the greenest, the best smelling most prefect tree you can fine" Lena said as she pulled her car into the lot.
"I can't believe we get to pick one out!" Noah cried as they all unpiled from the back of Lena's car.
"Ok guys coats zipped hats on it's cold out I don't want anyone sick for Christmas" Stef called handing Noah the pink scarf he had asked her to wear and wrapping it loosely around his neck. She reached out and zipped the front of Mariana's coat a little higher.
"So how tall is too tall? Like how high is the ceiling?" Callie asked as they walked across the parking lot onto the tree farm.
"Oh you can never have a tress that's to big, no no come on now" Stef smiled taking Lena's hand.
"Wow I could get lost in here" Noah cried running in-between the trees zig zagging in front of them.
"Not what that big mouth" Jesus teased him.
"How do you find a good tree? They all look pretty much the same" Callie said.
"You have to find one that not to many needles fall off when you pat it and one that doesn't have any bald spots like this one" Brandon said.
"And it has to smell good, that's like the most important thing" Mariana added
"Look mommy it's a tree for me!" Noah cried holding up a tree about his hight
"Oh look at that! let me take a picture" Lena pulled out her phone.
"Hey Moms what about this one?" Jesus called. They made their way over.
"Hey dude that looks like a good one" Lena nodded
"What do we think guys, could this be our next tree?" Stef asked
"Yeah I like it" Callie said.
"The star would look nice on the top it's a good shape" Mariana said.
"Alright this one then" Stef said picking up the tree and carrying it to the car.
"Mommy can we decorate it today?" Noah asked holding Lena's hand skipping along beside her.
"We have to want a few days for the branches to go down, but I bet momma will let you help water it" Lena told him taking his gloved hand in hers
"Wow. it is true what they say, gay parents make gay kids" Callie heard a women mutter to her husband. Callie and Mariana turned around to look at her. Stef froze in her tracks.
"Stef keep walking" Lena whispered pulling Noah along beside her.
"Yeah, and there's the butch one and the girly one too" The husband said. Callie felt her anger growing.
"Hey! we can hear you!" Mariana yelled. The women turned away.
"Hello i'm talking to you" Mariana called again.
"Just saying it like we see it sweetheart" The man said. Callie saw Stef drop the tree. Brandon and Jesus had ran ahead to get the car ready but now they came walking back to see what was going on.
"First of all, don't you dare call my daughter sweetheart. At least she had more balls then you to actually address you. It's people like you, people with low levels of education that are making it hard for other people to just live their lives" Stef yelled walking up to him.
"listen lady…" The man started again.
"For your information my WIFE and I both have two straight parents and we turned out gay so apparently it's your kind that are making our kind what do you have to say about that?" Stef interrupted him. Before he could open his mouth again she started talking.
"Not everything falls into your stereotypes. I'm carrying the tree this year because my wife is 5 months pregnant. That's called having respect, but for the record, yeah I am pretty butch" Stef said pulling out her wallet and flashing him her police badge. Callie was surprised, she had certainly never thought of either of the women as butch, with their long hair and thin figures and how they usually dressed so nicely. Stef and Lena didn't seem to fit any of the stereotypes she had thought of before coming to live with them. Callie was now at the point where she forgot having two moms was even anything to notice. To her they just felt like a family, she forgot they looked different to other people.
"Anymore comments?" She asked. The man shook his head.
"Glad to hear it" Stef said putting her wallet away and picking the tree up again.
"Go momma" Jesus said.
"Was that really needed? Lena asked as the boys were tying the tree to the car.
"I know love, I know but I just couldn't deal with it today, we are having a great family time picking out a christmas tree and they have to go and have a comment, and they way he attacked the kids…" Stef said. Lena nodded.
"Your right, no your right, I'm glad you said something" Lena nodded she reached for Stef's hand but then second guessed herself and quickly pulled away. she hated being in a place where she didn't feel safe enough to hold her wife's hand
"Who want's hot chocolate?" Stef asked giving her a sad smile understanding how she felt.
"That sucks, what happened at the tree place" Callie said as she sat with Lena on her bed helping her fold the laundry that night.
"Yeah, It doesn't happen much anymore. but when it does it's bad. It makes both of us angry you know, of course your momma shows it more then me. But I get angry too. I get angry when I can't drive through a certain neighborhood with you kids in the car because you don't look like me. Or how sometimes it's not even safe for me to hold momma's hand in public because of where we are. Or when the kids were little and we would be somewhere and they couldn't call us both mom." Lena nodded.
"Do you think…do you think Noah will face stuff like that?" Callie asked. Lena turned to look at her.
"I hope not, I have hope that by the time your brother is old enough to date, whomever it is he wants to the world will be a more accepting place for it. We have come so far I think it will be better, but it will never be prefect. When momma starts talking to the man today it took everything I had to not walk away with you kids, especially Noah. But I wanted him to see that it's ok, that people don't always agree with our choices but that doesn't matter. I wanted him to see that he can stand up for himself and he deserves that." Lena said.
"Do you think he's going to be gay? I mean with the painted nails and everything?"
"Well I think it's to early to say. Just because he doesn't conform to gender stereotypes doesn't mean that he will be gay. He loves watching Mariana do her nails but he also loves playing video games with Jesus. He likes the pink scarf but he like to play basketball with momma. There is no defining him, on anyone Callie, we just are who we are. We won't know if he will be gay of not for quite a few years, and even then he might bounce around from boys to girls" Lena said.
"Well, how can we help him?"
"We just let him be, make sure he knows he can talk to us and that it's ok to not be sure. Let him know that we love him no mater what, It will be hard as he gets older but he will be ok." Lena said.
"My friend John said his sister is getting baptized" Noah announced at dinner a few nights. later.
"Oh yeah?" Stef asked.
"John said if your not baptized when you die you don't go to heaven"
"Well that is not true, some people believe that, however we don't" Stef said.
"Why?" Noah asked.
"Well the people who baptize their kids believe in a god who lives up in the sky, and they say if you are good and do all the things you are supposed to you go to heaven, but if you don't then you can't. But in this house we don't really believe that we believe in just doing good for ourselves and each other" Lena told him.
"Am I baptized?" Noah asked turning to Callie.
"No, I'm not either" Callie shook her head
"But what if we can't get into heaven?" Noah asked.
"Wow this is a heavy conversation for dinner" Mariana said.
"Well bud we think that baptism doesn't matter, to some people it is important and that is fine, but to us we think that just by being good people you can go to heaven" Stef said
"So no one here is baptized?"
"Well I am, and Brandon is, but I didn't have a choice, I was just a baby, and Brandon, well I made that choice but I didn't make it for me, I made it to make my father happy" Stef said.
"Are we good?" Noah asked.
"yes, we are" Lena nodded.
"Was my mom good?"
"Yeah, she was" Callie assured him.
"John said when we die we see all the people in our family who died already" Noah said.
"Who is this John kid?" Jesus asked Stef quieted him
"That is true" Lena nodded.
"So I will see my mom again?"
"Yeah bubba, she's watching over you" Stef agreed
"Are you guys going to die?" Noah whispered looking between Stef and Lena.
"This is getting morbid" Brandon muttered Mariana nodded pushing back her plate.
"Someday momma and I are going to die, but not for a very, very long time so it's nothing to worry about now" Lena said.
"If you do die, what happens to us?" Callie asked.
"Not you too!" Mariana cried
"I just want to know" Callie shrugged.
"No Callie asked a good question. If something were to happen to mom and I both. Gram and Gramps would move in here and take care of you guys," Stef said.
"They would come here?" Jesus asked.
"Yeah, that way Mike can help out and you guys would still have your house and friends and school" Lena said.
"For the record if something happens to you I don't want to go to Anchor Beach" Jesus said all the other kids nodded in agreement
"Why not?" Stef asked surprised
"It's to weird without mom there, and to see who would get her job, it's to sad" Mariana said.
"Yeah it's not school without you" Callie nodded to Lena who was looking surprised.
"I thought you all hated having mom at school" Stef said.
"Well yeah, but it's something we love to hate, for every time I was mad that she yelled at me for being late in the hallway I was thankful she was there when I was sick, or even just needed a hug because I was having a bad day" Mariana said.
"Yeah, it's comforting, even if I only see you for a second during the day, it's nice knowing your there" Callie nodded.
"I know I miss it this year, I have never not had mom at school. I really miss it actually" Brandon added.
"And it's nice when I forget my lunch too" Jesus shrugged.
"Oh you guys!" Lena said jumping up putting her arms around Mariana and Brandon a tear trickling down her cheek as she smiled.
"That was very sweet" Stef smiled around the table.
"Well nothing is happening to mom and I until we are all very old and gray and can't think straight so no more worrying about that, yes?" Stef asked looking at Noah.
"Ok momma" He nodded going back to his pasta.
"Ok" Stef nodded
"So how's everything going with the baby?" Mike asked driving their police car as they made their rounds.
"Oh it's good, she's getting bigger we get to see her again in a few days again we have anther ultrasound." Stef said.
"And what's it like not being the pregnant one?" Mike laughed.
"Oh it's good actually, I get all the booze and none of the swollen ankles, but Lena is feeling really great right now, she's very happy I'm sure by the end we both won't be as relaxed" Stef said. Mike smirked.
"And the other kids?"
"Mariana and Noah are really excited, Brandon and Jesus seem kind of indifferent but I think that is to be expected. And Callie…it's still so hard to tell what goes through Callie's head" Stef sighed
"Yeah she sounds a lot like someone else I know" Mike said glancing over at her.
"Oh quiet, what about you, no girls huh?" Stef asked.
"Oh no, you were girl enough to last me at least 5 more years" Mike said making Stef laugh as a voice came over the radio.
"Two car collision corner of Pine and Wills reported injuries" It said. Stef grabbed the radio
"Foster and Adams Foster we're right near there" Stef said as Mike turned on the sirens and rounded the corner pulling through growing traffic. He parked the car away from the accident behind a fire truck as Stef got out adjusting her belt as Mike walked out. She rounded the firetruck and surveyed the crash when suddenly her heart dropped. It was her car.
"Mike!" Stef yelled as she ran into the middle of the group of people that had gathered She looked around her heard pounding and suddenly Callie was running up to her before Stef could register anything Callie threw herself into her arms and Stef held her tighter then she thought possible.
"Oh baby, are you ok? Are you hurt?" Stef asked pulling back to look Callie over.
"I'm ok" Callie said
"Where's mom?"
"She wasn't with us, Brandon was driving with Me and Mariana" Callie said pointing Stef over to the ambulances. Mike ran over and Stef took Callie's hand holding her firmly. She spotted both her kids, Brandon was sitting in the back of one ambulance but Mariana looked to be laying down. Mike ran over to Brandon while Stef pulled Callie to Mariana.
"Oh baby!" Stef cried.
"This is my daughter!" Stef told the EMT
"Momma I'm ok" Mariana said. Stef could see the tear marks on her cheeks and Mariana gripped the front of her uniform tightly
"Is she hurt what happened to her arm?" Stef said running her fingers through Mariana's hair. She still felt her heart going crazy as the EMT was wrapping her arm.
"She has some burns from the airbag but nothing serious" He assured her as Stef pulled Mariana into a tight hug still holding Callie's hand.
"Stay with your sister. I'm going to go check on B" Stef said taking Callie's hand and placing it in Mariana's and hopping down and going to the truck parked next to it.
"B!" She cried seeing Brandon with a cut on his forehead.
"He's ok he's not going to need stitches, and no concussion how are the girls?" Mike asked.
"They are ok, B what happened?" Stef asked
"I don't know, he came out of no where" Brandon said.
"Ok it's ok baby" Stef said pulling him in for a hug.
"Where's the other driver?"
"He was talking to the police" The EMT said.
"I'll be right back" Stef said giving Brandon a kiss hopping down from the truck. She spotted some officers from her force talking to a man.
"Jefferson, is this the driver?" She asked.
"Yeah, those your kids right?" He asked.
"Yeah, what's the story?" Stef asked.
"He seems to be impaired"
"My kids were hit by a drunk driver?" Stef said. She felt her heart pounding fast again and she scrunched up her fists she couldn't believe how mad she was
"Stef, Stef, come on" Mike was suddenly behind her holding her shoulders.
"He's drunk Mike! he could have killed my kids!" Stef cried.
"Ok listen, take the kids home alright, I'll take care of the car and give this guy hell I promise, come on, just get the kids home, before Lena worries ok they need their moms" Mike said. Stef looked over at the kids. Callie had her arm around Mariana sitting on the side walk. Brandon stood protectively over them strips on his forehead over his cut.
"Take them home" Mike said again. Stef nodded she walked over to the kids gathering the three of them up in her arms. She was surprised that it was Callie who held her the tightest.
"Let's go home ok? See mommy? ok, it's going to be ok" Stef asked. They all nodded as Stef put them in the back of the police car driving them home.
"He came out of no where, I had a green light I don't know what happened he just swerved and slammed into the side. I don't…He must have had a red light…" Brandon said again.
"I know baby, it's not your fault he was drunk" Stef said
"He was drunk! It's 3 in the afternoon" Mariana said.
"I know, don't worry Mike is going to give him hell for it, he will be going to jail" Stef said pulling the police car into the driveway. Noah and Jesus were playing basketball and Lena was sitting on the porch watching.
"Oh wow!" Noah cried running up to the car.
"What happened?" Lena asked coming over a concerned look on her face as Stef got out.
"They are all ok" Stef said
"The kids? Stephanie what the hell happened?" Lena asked as Stef opened the back door and the three kids crawled out.
"Oh my god, baby what happened?" Lena asked looking at the cut on Brandon's head and Mariana's arm.
"It was a car accident" Mariana said as Lena opened her arms and she launched herself into them Lena reached up running a thumb over Brandon's bandage gently before pulling Callie into her other side holding both girls close.
"It looks like they were hit by a drunk driver, Mike is there taking care of it but I just had to get them home" Stef said.
"Of course, come on let's get you inside" Lena said as everyone went in. Brandon sunk into the couch as everyone sat around the living room. Callie sat on the arm of Stef's chair and Stef reached out rubbing her back
"Let's just be thankful you are all ok, today could have been a lot worse" Lena said sitting down as Mariana sat close to her putting her head on her shoulder. Noah sat close to Brandon as Jesus handed him as ice pack for his head.
"Let's use this as a life lesson yes? How dangerous drinking and driving can be, you are all ok we were lucky. Today could have turned out a lot worse. Let's be thankful you are all ok" Stef nodded. The living room was quiet while everyone was thinking.
"Come on sweetie, I can get you something for that arm" Lena said getting up with Mariana leading her upstairs.
"I can make dinner tonight, come on man" Jesus said leading Noah into the kitchen.
"thank you baby" Stef called after them. She put her arm around the two oldest children left in the room.
"Your ok" She said again, as much for their benefit as hers
"That was scary" Callie said as Stef felt her curl into her side.
That night Stef double checked all the kids twice before climbing into her own bed. Lena woke up a little and scooted over to lay her head on Stef's chest.
"I have seen a lot of bad things on my job, but today was by far the worst and scariest day I have ever seen" Stef whispered.
"They are ok, we just need to be thankful for that" Lena said.
"I never ever want to find one of the kids like that again, when I saw that car, my heart stopped for a full minute, everything went in slow motion I couldn't find them. everything was running through my mind." Stef said. Lena looked up placing a long kiss on Stef's temple pulling Stef to her.
"They are ok" Lena said again running her fingers through Stef's hair until she felt her relax.
"Were you freaked out?" Finn asked Callie the next afternoon as they sat in the big windowsills having lunch.
"Yeah, I mean my mom dies in a car accident because my dad was driving drunk. It's scare because Brandon is a good driver, but there was noting he could do. By the time we saw it it was to late" Callie said picking at her grapes.
"Well i'm glad you guys are ok" Finn let out a breath running his hand through his hair.
"Yeah, we were lucky. Thats what Stef kept saying last night how lucky we are and I kept thinking that, I am not a lucky person. Good things don't happen to me" Callie said
"Well apparently they do now" Finn shrugged.
"Let's talk about something else, what are you doing for Christmas?"
"My mom is making me go down to Texas to visit my grandma, What about you? do you have any court appointed time with Robert during the holidays?"
"No, I have dinner with him a few days before but luckily I don't have to see him on Christmas or anything"
"I'm surprised your not happier about that" Finn said.
"I just feel bad. I mean I know he just wants to get to know me, I get that and it's not that I don't want to get to know him. I just, I just really want to get adopted, I really want the Fosters to be my family. But he's my birth father." Callie sighed giving up on her lunch and tossing it into the trash near by.
"Why don't you go eat with your friends, theres still 20 minutes left of lunch" Finn offered.
"And what will you do?" Callie asked putting her arms around his neck.
"I am going to go see my buddy's, you know seeing your sister and friends will make you feel better" Finn smiled leaning down to kiss her.
"Your right" Callie smiled kissing him again before breaking apart and making her way to the gym where he friends ate on the bleachers now that it was to cold to eat outside.
"Hey, what's up?" Mariana asked as Callie sat between her and Lexie.
"I don't know, I just needed my sister" Callie said offering her a smile and Mariana put her arm around Callie's waist.
"Oh that's a pretty one" Stef said as Callie hung a decoration on the tree.
"there's a lot here with your names on it" Noah said handing Jesus one.
"It's a tradition, every christmas Mommy gets us one so we all have our own collection" Mariana said.
"Will I get one?" Noah asked.
"There may be two more then last year yes" Lena smiled at him slyly. Noah beamed.
"That's right, and next year even more" Stef said kissing Lena her hand falling to her growing stomach.
"Oh my let's just get through this year first" Lena smiled handing Brandon a bag as the doorbell rang. Stef went to answer it.
"Mrs. Adams Foster?" A voice asked.
"Umm yeah?" Stef said. Callie saw a women in a suite on the other side.
"May I come in, I have to talk to you about something regarding your fostering license" The women said. Callie felt her eyes get wide as everyone stopped turning to the new women in the house.
"Yes come in, umm Lena" Stef said showing the women into the kitchen.
"We'll be right back" Lena said giving Callie's shoulder a squeeze following them into the kitchen
"Are we leaving?" Noah asked as they kids watched them go.
"No, your fine your adopted, your never leaving again" Callie tried to assure him as she took a shaky breath. Mariana stood next to her holding her hand, no one said anything for what felt like a long time.
A few minutes later The three women came out of the kitchen.
"Guys can you sit down please" Stef said as the kids gathered around the couch.
"Callie I am so sorry to tell you this but apparently our foster license expired. We were notified a while ago but we were sure your adoption would be done by now so we were not going to renew it." Stef said.
"What does this mean?" Callie asked.
"We just have to redo some paperwork, but while we are doing that you can't be in our home" Lena said gently. Callie felt her face fall.
"That's not fair! it's almost christmas" Mariana cried.
"I know sweetie, It will be ok Callie, we will get an extension first thing tomorrow morning and you will be right back in your own bed tomorrow night" Stef said pulling Callie into a tight hug.
"You'll come right back to us" Lena promise.
"I know" Callie said trying to sound brave.
"Go on upstairs and pack some clothes ok love, Mariana go help her please" Stef said letting Callie go as she trudged up the stairs. Callie grabbed her backpack and started throwing cloths and her school work in it.
"This isn't fair" Mariana said helping her pack things.
"it's ok, Your moms said I would be right back" Callie told her.
"Take this then" Mariana said reaching onto her bed and pulling off the bear that sat by her bed.
"Mariana no that's yours"
"Your going to be right back right? I can live without it for a night" Mariana said.
"Thank you" Callie smiled understanding her gesture.
"Callie i'm really sorry about this" Stef said as she and Lena came in.
"It's ok really" Callie said again trying to sound brave.
"Take this" Stef said lowering her voice taking Callie's phone from her nightstand and handing it to her.
"I can't, we're not supposed to bring stuff like that" Callie shook her head.
"Take it, and keep it hidden, leave the tracker on. call us if you need anything but don't get caught with it" Stef whispered slipping it into the bottom of Callie's bag. Callie nodded.
"As soon as we get approved we'll come get you, even if is the middle of the night tonight" Lena said putting her arm around both girls while Stef carried her bag down.
Brandon and Jesus gave Callie a hug.
"Where's Noah?" Callie asked looking around as the little boy can thumping down the stairs his backpack over this shoulder.
"Here, i'm going with you" He said looking up at Callie.
"Buddy no, you stay here" Callie said.
"No, i'm not letting you go alone" Noah said. Callie bent down so she was even with him.
"Noah your adopted now, You can't come with me, you live here. I will be ok, I promise, and I will be back by the time you get home from school tomorrow ok? It will be just like when I sleep over" Callie said.
"You have to stay with us bubby" Lena said gently. Noah's face fell and Callie gave him a big hug.
"You be a good boy, Listen to your mom's I'll see you tomorrow ok" Callie said messing his hair. He nodded and Brandon put a strong arm around him.
"I'm take care of him" He assured Callie.
"Ok my love, we will see you soon ok, sleep tight" Stef gave Callie a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Miss you already" Lena whispered as Callie hugged her then followed the social worker out the door with a last wave to everyone.
"Where are you taking me?" Callie asked as they pulled out of the driveway.
"To a group home in El Passo"
'That's 30 minutes away" Callie said
"It was the best I could find on short notice, your foster mom's are right, It probably wont be for long" The women assured her as Callie sighed looking back at the house
The drive was long and silent. Callie longed to look at her phone but didn't dare take it out.
When the car stopped the women who had said her name was Megan led Callie to the front door knocking. A women in her 50's answered, she had a hard look to her and looked Callie up and down not smiling.
"This is Callie, Callie this is Donna."
"Hi" Callie offered.
"Come on then it's late" Donna said as Callie walked in.
"There's 7 girls in this house. You are expected to go to school, do your chores and nothing else. From 8:00 pm to 6:00am you will be in your room. there's no entering the other girls rooms. breakfast is at 6:30, lunch at 12 and dinner at 6:00. if you aren't there you don't eat. This is your room. Any questions?" She asked stopping in front of the door. Callie shook her head.
"Alright, in you go then see you in the morning" She said as Callie entered the room turning on the light.
"Oh and lights out at 10, but i'll let you leave them on for five minutes to get settled this once" Donna said she left the room closing the door behind her and Callie heard her lock it. Fighting back tears Callie sat down on her bed digging out her phone. She was relived to see a text from Stef.
'Tracked where you are, sleep tight princess we will be back together soon, call if you need anything' it said. Callie changed and turned off her light crawling into her hard bed. She put her head down trying hard not to cry. She got up again fishing in the dark and pulled out the bear Mariana had given her and crawled back into bed with it.
"This is Callie, Callie this is everyone, eat up you can't be late for school, if your going to school. I don't force anyone." Donna said the next morning as seven girls were gathered around the table. Callie scooped her cold cereal longing for Lena's home made breakfasts. She didn't want to go to school, but knew Lena would want her to so she packed her bag and followed the other girls as they walked the few blocks to the inner city public school. It was nothing like Anchor Beach. She had to walk through a metal director to enter. It was dirty with graffiti everywhere. She was handed a class schedule and nothing else. When she got home that night she checked her phone again.
'What happened?! Mariana said a social worker took you last night?' Finn had asked. As well as a text from both her moms and all her brothers and sisters checking up on her. She assured them she was ok before rushing to finish her chores. She was beginning to see a little of how the house was run. Donna sat in the living room smoking while the girls cleaned, cooked and ran the house. That night she was locked in her room again at 8:00 pm. she took out her phone calling Lena.
"Hi sweetheart I'm so glad you called" Lena said answering it on the first ring.
"Hold on everyone want's to say hi" She said Callie heard the phone beep as she switched to speaker.
"Callie! Noah yelled.
"Hey buddy" Callie whispered excitedly.
"Are you ok?" He asked.
"Yeah I'm fine, just missing you guys."
"We miss you too" Mariana said.
"We sent in the paperwork this morning love hopefully we hear from them tonight or tomorrow" Stef said.
"That would be good" Callie said hearing her own voice crack.
"Hang on sweetie" Stef said taking the phone off speaker. In her head Callie saw Stef and Lena walking away from the kids into their bedroom.
"Are you ok?" Lena asked again Callie caught her breath trying not to be loud.
"Yeah, I just miss you guys" Callie said.
"We miss you to baby" Stef said.
"I went to school today" Callie said.
"Thank you for doing that" Callie heard the sad smile in Lena's voice.
"I wish I could come home tonight" Callie said.
"I know, we do too. Tomorrow I'm going to go to the court and try to get a rush on the paperwork" Stef said.
"Are you ok sweetie?" Lena asked again.
"The girls here are tough, they get into fights a lot" Callie said.
"Fist fights?" Stef asked.
"Yeah"
"Callie don't get involved in that ok, it could stop you from coming home if they think you are violent. Just keep your head down and do what you have to do to get by" Lena told her.
"ok" Callie said taking a deep breath.
"We love you" Lena said
"I love you guys too" Callie said
"Good night sweet heart" Stef whispered as Callie hung up.
"Mommy. Is Callie going to be home soon?" Noah asked after they hung up the phone walking back downstairs.
"I hope so baby" Lena said as he wrapped his around her growing waist.
"We should all go to the social work office tomorrow and stand outside until they put your paperwork through" Mariana said.
"I don't think that would help, I'm going to go down there tomorrow first thing and see if I can get some strings pulled" Stef said.
"This is so firkin stupid, if Robert would just sign those papers she would be adopted by now and none of this would be a problem" Jesus cried.
"Jesus language" Stef said gently not having the heart to correct him fully, she felt exactly the same.
"Robert has his reasons for not wanting to sign them, and we just have to deal with it. But we will get Callie back, soon." Lena told all the kids.
"Christmas is in like a week, what if the people in the office are on vacation, what if she's not back by Christmas" Brandon asked.
"She will be" Stef assured them all strongly.
At breakfast that morning three of the girls got into a fight. Callie found herself running from the room as the other girls cheered them on. A few months ago she would have been one of the girls in a fight, but now she just tried to listen to Lena and keep her head down. now she just did what she was told and kept her head down.
"So your telling me there is nothing you can do?" Stef said aware that her voice was cold and demanding.
"I'm sorry miss that is not my department" The bored looking older man said shaking her head.
"I have been sitting in the office since 7am being passed all around and they told me to come here! I just need an emergency extension to get my daughter back into my house" Stef said gritting her teeth.
"If your trying to apply for an extension you have to talk to a judge"
"Ok how do i don that! Where can I find a judge?" Stef asked.
"Most of them are working holiday hours now so they leave around noon."
"You would have to make an appointment and…"
"I don't…I don't have time to make an appointment! If I had that kind of time I would not be applying for an emergency extension I would just wait for a regular license renewal. I don't think you understand what I am telling you" Stef banged her hand on the desk fully aware she was getting out of control and not caring.
"Miss do I have to call security!" The man asked.
"Ugh even they could probably help me out more then you!" Stef yelled throwing up her hands and walking away before she got thrown out of the building. She sat down on a bench in the hallway trying to figure out what to do next.
That afternoon she came home to a bunch of text messages again. One from Brandon with a picture of Noah holding up a math test with an A on it. Mariana has sent her a very long one about all the things that happened at school. Lena had sent her a few xo's throughout the day saying she was thinking about her. Finn said he missed her and took a picture of him pouting over having lunch by himself. Even Jesus had sent her a smily face and a picture of their friends Amanda and Lexie giving a thumbs up. The last one was from Stef asking her to give them a call. Callie looked over the messages again and wrote back quickly before going into the living room to start her chores. She was surprised when the door bell rang.
"Alright girls to your rooms" Donna said.
"What's happening?" Callie asked one of the other girls while everyone rushed to their own bedrooms.
"We get locked in our rooms when someone's at the door" The girl said. Callie went into her room and it was locked. She ran to the window opening it and heard Donna answer the door.
"Hello?" Callie heard her voice.
"Hi, I'm Stephanie Adams Foster I'm Callie's mom" Callie gasped when she heard Stef's voice.
"Hi" Donna said.
"I just umm… I just wanted to come check on her see how she's doing" Stef said.
"She's doing good"
"Ok, ok good, I don't suppose there's any way I could see her?" Stef asked
"No, no i'm sorry, I can't let random people into a group home" Donna said.
"Right, if I might ask, where are the girls?" Stef asked.
"They get locked in their rooms when strangers are at the door"
"You..you lock them in their rooms?"
"We have some violent girls, it's for everyone's safety, I have permission to" Donna said.
"Right, right ok, well thank you" Stef sighed Callie heard the front door shut. Suddenly Stef's blond hair pulled into the tight bun she wore to work came into view as she walked back down the walk in her police uniform.
"Momma!" Callie suddenly yelled out the window. Stef turned searching the house as Callie franticly waved her arms. Stef spotted her and blew her a kiss
"Love you baby" Stef called. When her door was unlocked Callie raced to the front door but Donna stopped her.
"You know you can't go outside."
"I just, I need to see her" Callie said.
"I can't allow that" Donna said.
"Wow what a mommy's girl" One of the girls smirked.
"jeez it's like she still changes your diapers too" Another girl added.
"Shut up!" Callie cried running to the girls.
"hey hey!" Donna yelled while the other girls pulled them apart.
"This is stupid I don't belong here, I want to go home!" Callie yelled.
"Anyone else think they don't belong here and want to go home?" Donna asked. All the girls raised their hands.
"That's what I thought" Donna said.
"Did you get to see Callie?" Noah asked as Stef came into the house.
"I, I did, she looks good" Stef said as everyone else gathered around her.
"She's ok?" Mariana asked.
"Yeah, there's a bunch of girls there and they hang out together, she misses everyone, but she's ok" Stef said. She started climbing the stairs to her room and Lena followed her closing their bedroom door behind her.
"So what are you not telling them?" Lena asked as Stef locked up her gun in the safe.
"I saw her, through the window, the women…that foster mom for now I guess, didn't want to let me in. The girls get locked in their rooms" Stef said.
"Locked in? Callie didn't say anything about that" Lena cried sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"Well it's..it's not uncommon in group homes. The women said that it was for their own protection so i'm guessing Callie also didn't tell us quiet how dangerous the kids in there are either" Stef said.
"We have to get her out of there, I am calling Bill" Lena said reaching for her cell phone.
"They will just move her to another home Lena, at least this way we know exactly where she is. She had a record she's not going to get into a good place" Stef said gently taking the phone from her hands putting it back down.
"Ugh i'm sick of hearing about her file! That little girl is so much more then a few sentences on a piece of paper and for her to be diminished to feeling like that all over again…" Lena started pacing the room.
"I know, I know" Stef agreed.
"What if she goes back, what if she stays in there to long and we don't get Callie back we get back the scared and defensive Callie who came to us at first." Lena said.
"Well I don't think that will happen, she knows we love her and this is a safe place, She just want's to come home. And if we do get that Callie back. We'll deal, we'll work her though it again" Stef said. Lena sighed rubbing her belly sinking into the arm chair.
"I just…I want her home" Lena sighed.
"I know, me too, but she knows we're pulling for her, she saw me there today, she knows we're not just leaving her" Stef promised.
"If Robert would just sign the damn papers.."
"I know love, I know"
"alright…dinners in 10 minutes" Lena sighed getting up.
"Hey, don't say anything to the kids right? I know we don't do lying to them but, I don't want Noah to get upset and they don't need to know how bad it is, at least until she is back home safe."
"Yeah, of course" Lena said.
After they were locked in their rooms Callie quickly dialed.
"Hey Callie girl, mom's here too" Stef answered. This time there were no kids in the back ground.
"Hey, I wish you could have come in" Callie cried.
"Yeah, Yeah I just wanted to check on you and say hi but, I guess she wasn't comfortable with that" Stef said
"Any luck with the paperwork?" Callie asked.
"No love i'm sorry, I was there all day it got stuck in the precess somewhere, but mom is going tomorrow"
"It's ok, you guys don't have to take days off work to sit there" Callie said although she was grateful they were doing it.
"Well we want you home, it's worth it" Lena said.
"What, what if I can't come home?" Callie said.
"you will" Stef said firmly.
"But what if I can't" Callie said again and was grateful when she heard Lena start to answer it. Lena always told her the truth no matter how hard it was to hear.
"Callie I promise we are never going to stop trying to get you back into our home. you belong here with us but, It may take longer then we would like to think. But you are going to school, and you are not getting into fights, you are doing ok. Sweetie I don't know how long it will be until we get you back. If It was up to us in anyway we would drive down and get you right now. But you will always, always, always have a place here, no matter what" Lena said. Callie felt a lump rising in her throat.
"I…I may have gotten into a little fight today?" Callie offered.
"Over what?" Stef asked Callie almost felt herself smile. Even over the phone Stef's stern voice was enough to make her feel like she was home
"Umm well after you left and we could leave our rooms I tried to catch you by running out the front door. Some of the girls started calling me a momma's girl or something. I was so mad that I couldn't see you, I got so mad at them." Callie said.
"Well sweetie, you are a momma's girl" Stef chuckled making Callie smile
"Did you get hurt?" Lena asked.
"No, it didn't turn into a real fight"
"Good, Callie please don't let them get to you sweetheart. I know your stressed out but just take a deep breath and just do your own thing ok" Lena said gently
"Ok, I'll try harder. How's the baby?" She asked.
"She misses you" Lena said.
"But not as much as your other sister, all we hear all day is how much Mariana misses you, there's no one to help pick an outfit, or talk to about your friends, she's lonely at night…" Stef said making Callie laugh again.
"We all miss you, very much" Lena added.
"I miss you guys too, give everyone a hug for me" Callie said.
"We will, hugs from them too. they are probably all at the bedroom door listening" Stef said.
"Go to bed soon love ok? it's getting late" Lena said.
"I will, good night" Callie said
"Good night Callie girl, sweet dreams" The both said before hanging up. Callie sighed reaching into her back pack and pulling out her books from Anchor Beach. She was choosing to believe Stef that she would be home soon and didn't want to fall behind.
Callie jumped up a few hours later as an alarm was going off. She strained her eyes in the dark sitting up in her bed and saw smoke filling her room from under the door. She ran to it trying to force it open but it wouldn't budge. Sirens sounded in the night and Callie felt the room heating up as she backed away from the door. She picked up Mariana's bear throwing it out the small window onto the front lawn. She saw some of the girls already standing outside flagging down a firetruck.
"Help! Help!" Callie yelled waving her arms out the window. She picked up her chair and started ramming it into the door handle until it broke off. Panicked Callie grabbed her phone and backpack and pushed on the door again. The fire was spreading fast as she raced down the hallway and out the front door coughing so hard her lungs were burning. All the girls were accounted for as they are gathered on the front lawn. Three social workers showed up and Callie saw Megan was among them. They started taking a few girls at a time into the cars. Callie sat on the neighbors steps watching. She wanted desperately to pull out her phone and call her moms but knew it would be taken away from her the minute someone caught her. It was cold out and she could feel her face covered in dirt and smoke, a tear fell from her eye as she whipped it away angry at herself and how soft she was becoming. Suddenly a familiar car pulled up behind the fire truck.
"Callie!" Stef yelled jumping out the drivers seat her eyes searching the chaos on the lawn across the street
"momma!" Callie yelled and jumped up running to her.
"Oh baby! oh my gosh thank god" Stef said running to her catching her up and hugging her tight.
"Are you ok! are you sure! does anything hurt? are you ok?" Stef said pulling away holding Callie's face in her hands searching her over.
"I'm ok i promise" Callie said holding onto Stef who pulled her in again and Callie felt herself clinging to her back not wanting to let her go.
"ok, I got you now come here, come on sweetie" Stef said as she pulled Callie over to the social workers where they were talking to the fireman.
"It looked like it was started by a cigaret fallen on the carpet" A fireman was saying.
"she must have fallen asleep smoking" Callie said. Megan looked up noticing Stef was there.
"You shouldn't be here" She said pointedly to Stef.
"This is my daughter, she was just in a fire i'm not leaving her, send her where ever you want i'm going too. Even If i have to camp out on some strangers lawn tonight. Stef said her arm tightly around Callie. Megan was silent for a minute then nodded to her.
"Take Callie home. I'll make sure your paperwork gets pushed through first thing tomorrow morning" She said.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Stef said squeezing Callie and taking her bag leading her back to the car.
"Here sweetie let's clean you up" Stef said sitting Callie in the passenger seat wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. she took out a bag pulling out a wet rag and started cleaning the black off Callie's face.
"How did you know?" Callie asked.
"I heard it over the scanner and recognized the address. Mom threw the first aid kit in the car and I rushed over, Let me see your hands did you burn them?" Stef said finishing with Callie's face and starting to inspect her palms
"I think they are ok" Callie said her voice still shaking. She felt Stef's eyes search her face before she pulled her in for another hug.
"Does anything else hurt? How's your breathing?"
"I'm ok I swear" Callie said.
"Ok love, let's get you home ok, mommy is waiting, let's just go home" Stef said as Callie buckled and she went around to the drivers side. Callie looked out her window at the other girls left on the grass watching her with wishful eyes. Callie knew how they were feeling and knew she was lucky. A few months ago she was one of those girls, so tough on the outside but inside she would give anything to have a mom to come running to her in the middle of the night no matter how far away she was.
Despite it being the middle of the night everyone was still awake when Stef lead Callie in the front door. Everyone rushed to her with hugs and Lena pulled her in tight kissing her all over.
"I'm ok" Callie laughed assuring them.
"Oh my goodness we are so happy to have you home, your never leaving again" Lena said.
"Look, we paused christmas for you" Mariana said and Callie followed her finger to the living room where everything was exactly the way it was when she left. Tree half decorated, ordainments scattered around the table and floor. No one had added another direction, no one had cleaned up, It was like she hadn't even left. The living room was unusable with the mess around it. That meant Jesus and Noah had not played video games, no one had sat on the couch or even watched TV. Callie smiled wiping a tear away.
"Can we press play now, I want some eggnog" Noah said.
"alright a glass for everyone then we all have to go to bed" Lena laughed leading the way to the kitchen leaving just Callie and Stef in the entryway.
"We didn't want you to miss a single minute, and it didn't feel right without you" Stef said as Callie again looked over the living room.
"Thank you" Callie whispered.
"You are right where you belong" Stef said hugging her. Callie hugged her back tightly and knew it was true.
"Your back!" Finn cried as Callie passed him in the hallway. She smiled as he caught her up in his arms. It was almost lunch but Stef had just dropped them off at school. Their moms had decided to let them sleep in for the morning.
"Yeah" Callie laughed as he put her back on her feet.
"I was freaking out, Brandon said you were pulled out of the house, he didn't know when you were coming back" Finn said taking her hand in his. She loved how he always made her feel so safe.
"There was a fire at the group home they put me in last night, or else I might not be back"
"Wait a fire?"
"Yeah, it was scary but Stef came to get me and they gave my moms emergency clearance"
"Oh my god, thank god your ok" Finn said pulling Callie into another hug.
"I'm ok" She laughed. She forgot how good he smelled.
"So your good now?" He asked.
"Yeah, but I'm still not adopted, I can get pulled out again at any minute for any little thing, it sucks being on the edge all the time" Callie sighed opening her locker and putting her coat away as Mariana came up to them.
"Maybe if you tell Robert about the fire" Finn offered.
"That's a good idea, he might see how dangerous it could be" Mariana added putting her own coat away.
"Bully him into it" Callie thought to herself.
"Momma would be proud" Mariana smiled at her.
Robert came to pick her up a few days later for a visit. Stef answered the door bell when it rang.
"Hi, please come in" She said
"Callie" She called letting Robert in as Lena came in from the kitchen.
"You have a lovely home" Robert said politely looking around, usually he just sat in the driveway and honked
"Thanks, we like it" Lena said trying to be polite in return
"And so does Callie" Stef mumbled ignoring the look Lena shot her.
"Hi" Callie said coming down the stairs hardly looking at him
"Hey, you look nice" He said.
"Here sweetie take this coat love it's cold" Lena said handing her her winter jacket.
"Thanks" Callie said giving her a smile and putting it on.
"So i''ll have her back by 8?"
"That would be lovely" Stef said Callie could hear the hardness in her voice.
"Ok girly have fun" she suddenly got soft as she gave Callie a kiss.
"I will, see you soon" Callie said giving Lena a kiss as she followed Robert out. Robert drove to a restaurant and they sat down.
"How's school?" He asked.
"Still there" Callie nodded
"What's your favorite subject?"
"Hard to say" Callie said.
"I umm, I get the feeling your not happy with me today?" Robert said putting his menu down.
"Did you know I was in a fire a few days ago?" Callie asked.
"No..what? are you ok? What happened?"
"My mom's foster license ran out, I had to be removed from their home and sent to a group home. It was awful and the women fell asleep smoking and lit the house on fire" Callie said.
"But your ok were you hurt?" Robert said.
"No, my point is I should not even had been in that house! I should have never been removed from Steph and Lena's house because I should have been adopted by now" Callie cried.
"Look Callie…" Robert started.
"I'm not feeling well will you take me home?" Callie asked.
"We haven't even eaten yet" Robert said.
"I'm not hungry" Callie said
"ok…ok i'll take you home" Robert said not knowing what else to say. Callie followed him back to the car and they drove home in silence.
"Callie?" Lena said surprised then she came in.
"Your home early?" Stef questioned from where they were sitting curled up on the couch.
"Yeah I umm, I just couldn't deal with it today" Callie said sitting down as the two women made space for her between them.
"I know it's hard sweetie, but the only way we can do this right is if we do everything the judge wants" Lena said gently.
"When does what I want matter?" Callie asked.
"Love look at me. We will keep fighting for you no matter what, we don't care if you turn 18, if Robert wins It doesn't matter, we will always fight for you, but love if you are tired of the fight, If you want to go live with Robert you can. Don't feel like you would be letting us down or anything like that. We will always love you, and you will always have a place in this family. But if you are sick of the fight. It's ok" Stef said. Callie nodded.
"I'm not ready to give up" she said shaking her head.
"Ok, glad to hear it" Lena said giving her a kiss.
"Are you hungry?" Stef asked.
"Starving" Callie smiled.
"Good, go grab your brothers and Miss Thing we will have dinner" Stef smiled. Callie smiled giving Stef then Lena a hug and going up the stairs. She knocked on the boys door first Jesus was sitting at his computer doing homework and Noah was sitting on his bed reading a book.
"moms said dinner" Callie said as both boys jumped up heading down the stairs.
"Your home early" Brandon said coming out of his room finding Callie in the hallway.
"Yeah, I tried the fire guilt trip thing" Callie said.
"Did it work?" Mariana asked standing in the doorway of the girls room.
"Well, I'm here aren't I, that has to count for something" Callie smiled as they went down the stairs.
The morning of Christmas Eve the house was in full blow holiday mode. Everything smelled like evergreen, there were lights all over outside and candles in every window. There was Christmas music on as soon as Stef woke up and the kitchen smelled like baked goods as soon as Callie came down the stairs.
"Morning Callie girl, Candy cane pancakes?" Stef asked as Callie came down the stairs.
"Those sound disgustingly good" Callie smiled taking her seat at the table.
"They are" Mariana agreed.
"There is hot chocolate too" Lena said pouring everyone a cup.
"Alright guys since this is Callie and Noah's first Christmas with us let's fill them in on our traditions shall we?" Lena asked waving Noah and Brandon over from the reading nook. They all sat at the table.
"So during the day we bake cookies and everything for the big dinner tonight, we set the table all nice and have this big meal in the dining room. Then mom's light the fire place and open our presents from our secret Santa's. After we have hot chocolate and candy canes and watch the christmas carol. After mom reads the night before christmas and we all go to bed. We all sleep in moms room" Brandon said.
"And then it's christmas!?" Noah cried.
"Yes in the morning we have to wait until everyone is awake but then we come down and open presents and Mom makes cinnamon rolls, we just hang out all day in our pi's watching christmas movies and do nothing" Jesus said.
"That sound good?" Stef asked.
"Yeah!" Callie smiled.
"Ok well I have to go do some secret Santa thing, Noah buddy you wanted to come get that thing right?" Stef asked.
"Yeah" Noah nodded.
"What thing?" Brandon asked.
"I can't tell you!" Noah said
"That's right, come on buddy we will be back in an hour" Sted said giving Lena a kiss as they headed out the door.
"Ok, Brandon your on the salad, Mariana and Jesus you guys are in charge of the pie directions are on the box and Callie, you my girl get to help me with the turkey this year and learn the secret" Lena said.
"Mom is always trying to teach us her secrets, Someday she will just have to accept we are not all good cooks like her" Brandon said.
"Hey I am not ready to give up on Callie and Noah yet. Jesus find us some fun Christmas music please, let's get this Christmas dinner on the table" Lena smiled
By 4:00 the house smelled like heaven. The turkey was almost done as Brandon and Jesus set the table. Callie placed her present under the tree by the other boxes.
"So who did you get?" Mariana asked.
"I can't tell you! This is cool what you guys have, traditions" Callie said
"yeah well they are yours now too" Mariana said sinking into the couch.
"The last family we stayed with were Jewish, so we skipped Christmas last year" Callie said.
"Good I think I would die, I love Christmas" Mariana said.
"because of all the presents?" Callie laughed.
"No, I mean yeah those are great but because, I remember a christmas with our birth mom, it sucked and then we came here, and it was amazing, my favorite part is tonight when we have dinner and then when we watch the movie and momma reads to us. That's my favorite"
"Coming through" Brandon said walking through with an arm full of fire wood dropping it in front of the fireplace.
"Dinner" Lena called from the kitchen. They had all dressed up for dinner. Stef wore a green sweater Lena wore red. The boys all had on sweater vests and the girls were in dressed.
"This looks wonderful" Stef said carrying the turkey to the table as they all sat down.
"Callie did a lot with the turkey this year, I think one day we will all be attending a Christmas dinner at her house when she's older" Lena winked at Callie.
"Alright guys it is Christmas so please bow your heads" Stef said. They all held hands bowing their heads.
"we thank you for the many gifts we have received, we are grateful especially this year that we have Callie and Noah in our family now. And we are grateful for the sweet baby you have blessed us with, we look forward to having it this table with us next year. We thank you for the food we have and the home we live in. Merry Christmas" Stef said. they all raised their heads and Lena started passing around the food.
"Well i'm thankful for these mashed potatoes" Jesus said spooning a big heap onto his plate.
"Then that thanks goes to mom" Steph told him.
"When we all move out will you guys still have the same tradition?" Brandon asked.
"Well, now we have 18 more years at least" Stef chuckled.
"Of course we will always do the same thing, and we expect you all to come back! every year" Lena nodded.
"Oh yes and all sleep in our old rooms with our husbands or wives and all ouf kids" Mariana laughed.
"Sure, why not?" Stef smiled
"Cool!" Noah cried.
"Or maybe one of you can host the holidays, give your moms a break" Lena said.
"I vote Callie" Jesus said.
"What? Why?" Callie asked.
"You seem the most hospitable, plus Mariana would burn the dinner" Jesus said.
"Hey!" Mariana cried making them all laugh.
"Yeah right like I could afford to feed you" Callie shot back.
"Ohhhh" Mariana cried pointing to her brother
"Dis" Brandon agreed.
"Alright alright let's be civil here" Lena smiled
"do you kids remember our first Christmas in this house?" Stef asked.
"How could I forget" Mariana said.
"What happened?" Noah asked.
"Well mom and Brandon and I had moved in maybe 4 months earlier, and we had just started fostering Mariana and Jesus we had only had them maybe three weeks. And out of no where we had a terrible wind storm and the power went out" Stef said.
"We had cold soup for that Christmas dinner" Brandon nodded.
"It was not our best year" Lena laughed
"And at that point the twins were only eating the spanish food Lena cooked for them so I think they both went hungry that night" Stef said.
"You? no way!" Callie teased Jesus again.
"that's right, I used to be picky" Jesus nodded.
"It was dark and cold, the only thing we could do was light a fire in the fire place and sleep in the living room to keep warm and have some light" Lena sighed.
"That's the night I felt like we were finally becoming a family" Mariana smiled.
"And that's also where most of our Christmas Eve traditions come from" Brandon said.
"That's why we all sleep in moms room tonight" Jesus said.
"Wait we do?" Callie asked.
"Yes, but thats not why, it's because that was the only way they could keep Jesus from waking up at like 3 am and going downstairs and opening all the gifts himself" Brandon said making them all laugh again.
"You did that?" Noah asked looking at Jesus his eyes wide.
"He tried!" Lena smiled.
"Luckily momma is a light sleeper she caught him! After that he had to sleep in their room, and I didn't like being left alone so of course I slept in there, and Brandon didn't want to miss out on the fun so he came in too" Mariana said.
"And thats how it all started" Stef smiled.
"Oh wow the last Harry Potter book" Noah cried holding it up for Callie to see.
"Yeah, I saw you guys were reading the one before it, but I know you finished it a while ago, it's good you should read it" Brandon said.
"I guess we haven't needed to, I used to read to him every night before we came here but moms started tucking you in, I guess we never did finish" Callie said.
"Well I want to read it, maybe we could all start reading it together" Stef offered.
"Wow that's a lot of bonding time" Jesus said.
"Well it's not mandatory, but it would be nice" Lena chuckled.
"Thanks, I love it" Noah smiled at Brandon.
"Ok this one says Callie" Mariana said handing her a gift. Callie carefully opened it.
"A telescope!" Callie cried. She looked around the room. Jesus was looking at his feet he shrugged.
"Yeah well you said when we were camping you like stars and stuff" He shrugged.
"Ahh your the best!" Callie said pulling him into a hug.
"Aww look who pays attention" Stef laughed clapping her hands.
"Yeah well, sometimes" Jesus shooed her away.
"This is for you" Callie said handing a gift bag to Brandon. he pulled it out a metronome
"I saw your other one was getting old, it's like the most important thing you need when your composing right?" Callie asked.
"Yeah, yeah it's perfect thanks" Brandon said pulling her in for a hug.
"ok, Mommy" Stef said handing Lena a box.
"what, no we said we were not going to get each other anything!" Lena cried
"Well it's not for you so don't worry" Stef said. Lena took the box opening it.
"AWWW" She cried pulling out a little baby bath towel with a lion head as the hood.
"I saw it and couldn't resist" Stef whispered.
"Thank you" Lena smiled as they gave each other a kiss.
"Ok everyone matching Jammy time!" Lena smiled handing everyone a box. They all tour them open. Stef had a green shirt that said momma, Lena had a red one that said mommy and they had matching red and white striped pants. The boys all had reindeer shirts with red bottoms and the girls had green night gowns.
"This is crazy" Callie laughed as they ran up to their rooms to change.
"It's corny yeah, but it makes for good memories" Mariana said as they changed and all gathered back downstairs.
The fire crackled keeping them warm as Stef carried in a tray of hot chocolate and candy canes. They all cuddled onto the couch under blankets to watch the Christmas Carol. It was almost midnight when it ended and Callie could tell everyone was starting to get tired.
"Ok momma" Lena said handing Stef the Night Before Christmas book.
"Alright everyone, B get my glasses would you? Ok can everyone see?" Stef asked opening the book as they all squished onto the couch.
"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house…" Callie closed her eyes for a minute and found herself sucking it all it. The smell and crackle of the log on the fire, all cuddled under the blankets her head against Lena's shoulder and Mariana pressed close against her other side. Stef did the voices of the characters making everyone laugh. When it ended Stef and Lena sent all the kids upstairs with a hug and Callie followed her siblings up. There was a mash up of pillows and blankets on the floor in the moms room as they all settled into a space taking up most of the floor. Callie and Mariana lay on the floor near Stef's side of the bed. The three boys lay at the foot of the bed.
"Just make sure mom can get through, she can hardly see her feet anymore she will probably trip over you." Mariana said making them laugh.
"This is so crazy" Jesus shook his head.
"Oh come on it's nice, and it makes moms really happy" Brandon said. Downstairs Callie could hear the murmur of Stef and Lena talking quietly, the fire was still snapping as she lay down close to Mariana looking for some body heat.
"I'm glad you aren't stuck in that group home anymore" Mariana whispered.
"Me too, it would have sucked to miss this" Callie said.
"You both know damn well moms would have gone down there and taken you back for christmas even if they had to kidnap you" Jesus said
"Shh if we don't go to sleep Santa won't come!" Noah cried.
"That's right! quiet up there" Callie heard Lena yell pretending to use a mad voice and they all laughed. Her eyes got heavy as she heard everyone's breathing slow as they fell asleep She listened to the quiet noises downstairs and was soon asleep herself.
"Shhh it's to early" Callie heard Stef whisper.
"But can't we wake them up!" Noah said a little to loud.
"Not yet, come up here lay with me, shh don't wake mommy up" Stef said and Callie heard Noah climb up onto their bed.
"Do you think Santa got home ok?" Noah asked. Callie smiled to herself, leave it to her brother to worry about stuff like that.
"Oh of course" Stef told him.
"Morning, hey bub Merry Christmas!" Callie heard Lena wake up.
"Oh boy now we can wake up!" Noah yelled
"Shhh" Stef laughed.
"We can't wake them up, if you wake teenagers up to early they turn into grumpy bears" Lena whispered.
"We have to be very quiet or we're going to have 4 big bad bears in our house" Stef said.
"Will you read me the night before Christmas again?" Noah asked.
"Well i don't have the book up here, but I can tell you the story" Stef said. Callie smiled rolling over closer to Mariana and falling back to sleep.
"Wake up! " Noah yelled jumping off the bed. Callie felt her eyes pop open again not sure how much time had passed.
"Ok guys if we wait any longer there is a little boy in this room who is going to explode." Lena said. Callie sat up wrapping a blanket around her shoulders.
"It's cold" She shivered.
"I'll go get a fire stated downstairs" Lena said pulling on a sweater and going down the hall
"Me too!" Noah cried jumping up.
"No no you stay here, come guys wake up" Stef called in the direction of Jesus and Brandon. Mariana sat up looking around.
"What time is it?" She asked
"7:00, Noah has been up since 5" Stef said.
"Wow getting Christmas started early" Brandon smiled
"Ok come on down" Lena called up the stairs.
"Yay Christmas!" Noah yelled running down the hall, everyone else not far behind him.
Callie stopped short at the bottom of the stairs, there were countless presents under the tree, by the fireplace they each had a stocking with their name on it she had never seen so many gifts in her whole life.
"Christmas!" Noah yelled jumping into the pile Stef laughed settling onto the couch with Lena.
Callie looked around as everyone started opening their girts set in different places around the living room so they could keep them straight.
"Callie, start with that one" Lena pointed her to the smallest package. Callie took off the wrapping opening a box and pulled out a christmas ornament. She smiled it said Babies First Christmas and was clearly intended for a baby picture but instead had a picture of Callie smiling soon after she had come to live with them.
"Because your our baby and this is your first Christmas with us" Lena said.
"I love it" Callie smiled giving her a hug.
"Look we all have one" Mariana said as Noah held up his own. She pointed to the tree where there was one of her and Jesus at about four. Brandon was the only one with an actual baby picture in his. Callie smiled hanging her's up.
"Ok come on Callie girl your behind everyone" Stef said pointing her back towards her pile. Callie smiled sitting down on the floor. She unwrapped some nail polish, clothes, shoes, a camera and some new drawing stuff. She also got some books on sketching and a few guitar music books. Noah got a skateboard and a bike, some books, new lego sets, clothes and other random toys. When everything was opened they headed into the kitchen enjoying each other's company while helping Lena make Cinnamon rolls. They ate their fill retreating back into the living room to be together and look over their new things. Callie saw Brandon wave her over.
"I'm going to get moms gift" He whispered Callie nodded. He went upstairs and she sent the message to the rest of the kids. Brandon came downstairs the box behind his back. They arranged themselves in age order like they had practiced. Stef put her coffee cup down smiling knowing what was coming
"So moms we all chipped in to get you a gift this year" Brandon said.
"Because we wanted to show you how thankful we are to you for always being there for us" Callie said.
"And for showing us love, kindness and the true meaning of family everyday no matter what." Jesus went on.
"We wouldn't be here without both of you and we know we don't say this enough but we all wanted to say thank you for everything" Mariana said.
"And that we love you both so very much!" Noah yelled to finish. Lena had tears in her eyes and Stef was smiling at them all sweetly. Brandon handed them a package and Lena took it unwrapping it pulling out the card.
"It's a photo shoot, we planed it for the summer after the baby is born, we can get a bunch of family pictured done, we don't have any professional one we thought we could get a big one to hang over the fire place" Jesus said.
"We were going to get it for sooner but then the baby wouldn't be in it" Callie said.
"It's perfect" Lena said whipping away tears.
"Oh come here you guys" Stef smiled opening her arms as all the kids gathered around the couch hugging their moms.
"So you like the idea?" Brandon asked.
"Yes we do! look at your mom she can't stop crying" Stef said planting a kiss on his cheek.
"Shut up i'm hormonal!" Lena sobbed as Callie wrapped her arms around her.
"Oh my goodness you all are getting to big for this couch" Stef said shifting Noah in her lap.
"This is the best Christmas ever" Noah said
"Let's watch how the grinch stole christmas!" Mariana cried jumping up to put the movie in.
"No we watched that last week we need to watch it's a wonderful life" Jesus cried getting up to follow her.
"Brandon let's take my bike outside" Noah yelled running over to his new bike pulling Brandon with him Callie got up to help pick a movie. Lena turned to Stef smiling.
"Merry Christmas my love" Stef whispered running her hand over Lena's belly.
"Merry Christmas" Lena smiled giving her a kiss