AN: I tried to find celebrities that kind of matched the image of Aaron and Markus in my head. That was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Aaron - Bradley Cooper (picture a bit more rounder face, but the medium length hair, that is slightly curly is 100% match. And body a bit more...chubby. Just don't picture him as a celebrity in perfect form, but like an average looking man, who is too lazy to work out)

Markus - Sam Claflin (looking though google, I found this one pic of Sam Claflin, that matched the image of Markus in my head. It's a black and white picture, where he is looking straight at the camera, you can only see his face, his hair on forehead is to her left, not smiling. The chances that you see the same image of Sam Claflin are slim, but still...maybe some of you are lucky :D)

Oh, boy...this chapter came hard. I was struggling. Haven't struggled this hard since the "After the wait" chapter, where Amy's parents were flying in, when Stef and Amy where in the hospital. The chapter was not coming to me like it has before. I guess, I'm running on low gas right now.

I hope you enjoy :)

Amy POV

December 2nd

It was an early Monday morning. Aaron and I were sitting in the kitchen, enjoying our morning coffee, eating breakfast and talking about our plans for the day. I was already dressed in my uniform, though, my hair was not made. Time flew by fast, when Aaron and I were spending time together. Probably, because I enjoy his presence so much. When I saw that it was almost 7:15, the time when Markus usually wakes up for school, I started to make sandwiches for the kids.

"Are you sure you can work from home today?" I ask Aaron, when he goes over to fridge to get milk for the kids

"Yeah, it's perfectly okay," Aaron smiled back, when I started to cut the cheese to put on the sandwiches "It's one of the great benefits for working as a project manager for an IT firm! I can work from home!" He sets the milk down and goes to get two cups, to pour the milk in

"Yeah, but I catch bad guys and make the city safer!" I smirk back at him as I start to put the cheese on the bread

"That you do!" Aaron puts the cups down and walks to my back, he wraps his hands around my waist and kisses my neck "And you are sexy while you are at it,"

"Sexy you say?"

"I can't keep my eyes of you, when you are in your uniform," he whispers to me before he kisses me right behind my ear. It was my weak spot. I tilted my head, giving him more access.

We had to stop the flirting and teasing, because we heard Markus coming down the stairs. I knew it was Markus, because Callie in no way was walking that fast. Aaron walked around the table and sat back down at his spot.

"Morning, honey!" I greet him cheerfully, when he walked in.

"Mom?" Markus asked, skipping the morning pleasantries "Is Callie coming to school today?"

"No, she is staying home for another few days, till her ribs heal a bit more. Why?" I ask looking up at Markus

"Well, because I am pretty sure she thinks she is going to school today!"

"Why do you say that?" Aaron asks turning to where Markus was standing in the doorway, his pressed his left hand to the table, but other rested on his leg

"Because she is up...and getting ready to leave," Markus explains, pointing his finger over his shoulder, to where the stairs are

I glance to Aaron as I stop making the sandwiches "I will go talk to her,"

"Good luck," Aaron comments

"You, eat breakfast!" I pat his upper arm as I walk pass him to get to the hallway

As I make my way up the stairs, I hear how Callie was moving around her room. The doors to her room were open.

"Agh! Stupid hoodie!" I hear Callie groan out in frustration

"Callie!" I announced myself, right before I knock on the door frame. When I peak my head inside, I see that Callie's backpack was packed and stood on the end of the bed, but Callie herself was standing by the closet. She was wearing her jeans and her old converse shoes, and she hand managed to get a tank-top on. But by the looks, she had came to halt, at her hoodie. Her hands were in the hoodies sleeves, but her head wasn't through the hoodie. She hasn't managed to pull it over her head yet.

"What!" Callie snapped harshly back at me

"What are you doing?" I ask calmly as I take a step inside the room

"What does it look like!" Came another rude reply from her. I let her attitude slide for now.

"You are not going to school today, Callie!" I remind her

Callie stood by the closet, glaring at me "Yes, I am!"

"No, you are not!" I took two more steps inside in the room, Callie took few steps backwards, to keep the distance between us. I sigh and stop in my tracks "Callie, you heard what your doctor said yesterday at your check up! You need to take is easy! That means, no school for a couple of more days. You will stay home and rest!"

"Home?" Callie snarled back "My ribs are fine! I'm fine!"

"Oh, is that so?" I crossed my arms on my chest and raise my eyebrow "Then how come you haven't gotten your hoodie on, yet? Are you maybe having trouble lifting your arms above your head?" I could tell I was right, because of look in Callie's eyes. She hated that I was right.

"So, I won't raise my hand up in class!" Callie replied in a very sassy way, before she sucked in a breath and tried to get the hoodie over her head once again. As I watched her struggle with the hoodie, even I felt the pain the movement caused her. I have had broken ribs, I know how painful it is.

"Let me help-" I took a step closer to her, wanting to help the girl out

"I don't need your help!" she retorted, right before she finally managed to get her head through the hoodie. Callie winced in pain as she pulled the hoodie down. With her hand over her side, where the broken ribs are, she walked over to the end of the bed and picked up her backpack. She held the bag in her hand and turned to face me, because I was standing between her and the exit. By the look in her eyes, I could tell, the girl was ready to fight me.

I don't know what happened, but I gave in "Fine," I gestured my hand to the doors and took a step aside. I didn't want to fight with the girl. It wasn't like she was going for a run. She just needs to walk in classroom, sit for 45 minutes and then walk to different classroom. It's not like she needs to do much activity. She did rest over the weekend. It's not like she is right out of hospital, straight to school.

I walk with her together in the kitchen. The boys, both looked at us. First at Callie, then behind her to me.

"Change of plans. Callie's going to school. Aaron you don't need to work from home," I announced as I gesture Callie to sit down at the table. Aaron gives me a look over the table. I could tell, he was silently asking me - how did this happen? I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders a little as a response.

"You want cheese or ham?" Markus asked Callie with a smile on his lips as he pointed down to the two options

"I will walk you in-" I said as I reached for the belt buckle to open it

"Don't bother. It's not my first time at new school!" Callie replied as she opened the back doors and got out of the car. I sigh, when Callie slams the doors shut behind her. Markus next to me, in the passenger seat, was sitting very quiet the whole ride to school. We both watch how Callie makes her way to the school front entrance.

"Why is Callie so angry at you and dad all of the time?" Markus asked, when Callie had walked in the school "You are simply trying to help her, but she keeps on snapping at you and...treat you like you are the bad guys!"

"Because she is angry and hurting on the inside," I reply as I glance to Markus

"Neither Nathan, nor Grace were not like that!" Markus wondered out loud. Nathan and Grace were the last two foster kids, Aaron and I have fostered before Callie. They both were much younger than Callie and both were living with us temporary.

"Everyone is different, Markus. Callie has been in foster care a lot longer and she has been through some...stuff,"

"What stuff?" Markus asked curiously, when he unbuckled his seat belt

"I'm not sure yet," I say honestly as I look back to the school entrance. Markus nodded his head back understanding.

"You still need to talk to the principal, right? About her transfer?" Markus asked, when he was one foot out of the car

"Yes. Yes I do!" I pulled the keys out and got out of the car. While I lock the car, Markus starts to walk towards the school. I catch up with him.

"Can you do me favor?" I ask, when I was next to him

"What kind?" he glanced to me briefly. Being seen with your mother in school probably wasn't what he wanted, so I tried to make it quick.

"Could you keep an eye out for her?" I say jiggling the keys in my hand

"I doubt she will like that," Markus said as he pushed the doors open

"She doesn't have to like it. Her ribs are still broken. I can't check on her every hour. If you see her at lunch break or on some other break between classes and she looks like she's having a rough time – text me or dad. One of us will come pick her up and get her back home,"

"I will try, but I can't promise anything," Markus said right before we parted our ways in the school hallways "I might not even see her in the breaks,"

"If you see her, check on her, please! Have a nice day!" I wave at him, before I make my way to the principals office to get make sure her transfer between schools goes smoothly.

Stef and I were on a patrol. She was at the wheel. It was around lunchtime.

"What do you say we stop to grab a lunch?" Stef asksd, slowing the car down a little as we approached an intersection

"Lunch sounds good. Know any good place around here?"

"I do in fact!" She smirks at me "There is this one bakery not far from here. My...a friend showed it to me some while back," I didn't miss the slight hesitation there, where she clearly decided not to share something with me

"Freshly baked good?" I raised my eyebrow up, dismissing the previous observations. We were new partners. We haven't spent that much time together to go start sharing everything.

"They are delicious! And the coffee is great too," Stef said, when she made a turn in the intersection "I think you are going to love it!" she beamed at me, when she pulled the car by the side of the road

We both get out of the car and I follow her to the small bakery that was not far from where we parked. I looked up the sign above the entrance and read it out loud "Betty's bakery...never heard of it before,"

"It's better than Starbucks! Trust me," Stef said pulling the doors open

"Officers!" An older man with gray hair and beard greeted us from behind the counter

"Owen!" Stef walks up to the glass-case "What would you advise us to order today?"

"I would advise you to wait 5 minutes, till the new batch of pastry comes out of the stove!" He says back and winks at her

"Will do!" Stef turns around "5 minutes,"

"Yeah," I smile back at her, as we both make our way to the coffee machine, that was at the left side of the bakery "You two seem friendly,"

"Owen is a nice guy," Stef says as she starts to make herself a cup of coffee "He's always so sweet. Only gives us the best of pastry...like just now. It's hard not to like the old guy,"

"You come here often?" I asked looking around the place, while Stef added some cream to her coffee. Once she was done with her coffee, I started to make mine.

"Me and my previous partner stopped here few times a month. If we were on a patrol and in the region, we always tried to make it to here for lunch. Of course, it hasn't worked that way all the time. Sometimes the dispatcher ruins that," Stef says casually, with a slight shoulder shrug

"Damn dispatchers," I say with a laughter

"Right!" Stef grins back "Ruins a great lunch pause! How dare they!"

"It's very rude of them!"

"My kids love this place as well," Stef said as she leaned at the counter and looked around the place as well

"How many do you have?" I asked curiously, when I added milk to my coffee "Kids I mean?" I asked right before I take a sip of the fresh coffee

"Five!" I start to caught, when the drink goes down the wrong tube and almost spit all the coffee out of my mouth

"You okay there?" Stef asked worriedly as she pats my back lightly, while I was still coughing

"...Ye—Yeah...I'm good…went down the wrong pipe!" I say back in a hoarse voice and point to my throat, while I still caught time after time

"Did you say – five?" I ask shocked. It's not everyday, you meet a person, who has 5 kids. Usually you hear 0-2.

"Yup!" Stef said casually, without batting an eye, as she took a sip of her coffee

"How old are they?"

"Oldest boy is 14, our twins are 13, our youngest boy turned 11 few days ago, but our youngest daughter is 2," Stef replied with a smirk on her lips "And before you ask – yes, I look this good with 5 kids!" she ran her hand over her side and hip

I simply stared at her, because I didn't know if she was telling the truth or trying to pull a prank on me. I squinted my eyes a little as I tried to read the answer from her eyes.

"They are not all our biological kids. We adopted 3 of them - the middle three," Stef explained "It took us three years to adopt the twins, thankfully the adoption with our youngest boy didn't get dragged that long,"

"You...you are a foster parent?" I asked pleasantly surprised. It's not everyday, you meet a fellow foster parent.

"Technically, not anymore. Our license expired some 2 years ago, but we used to be," Stef said looking down to her cup in her hands. When she looked back at me, she asked me curiously "Do you have any kids?"

"Um...well, technically I have 2,"

"Technically?" Now Stef squinted her eyes and frowned her forehead at me

"One is a foster kid, who if you asked, would say that we are not her family," I explained as I walk pass her and lean with my back to the counter next to her

Now Stef looked at me pleasantly surprised "You are a foster parent! I would have never guessed,"

"We started to foster 5 years ago. We only did short term fostering. The longest time a kid has spent with us, was 3 months. It was till his parents recovered in hospital after being in car crash. Our foster license expired last year, but we renewed it early this fall. We started to foster a girl last Thursday," When I started to talk about it, I simply couldn't stop

"She kind of hates me...not, kind of – she actually hates me," I took a pause before I continued "And she is not talking to my husband or our son," I take a look at Stef, who was right next to me "Her talking to me is actually her snapping at me, all while hating my guts!" I nod my head few times and raise my cup up to my lips and say with a chuckle, suddenly being very amused by the fact "She really hates me!" I glance to Stef "Do you have any advice? You have obviously fostered kids longer than 3 months,"

"Give her some time. Foster kids are hard to trust, especially the one that have been in the system for a longer period of time. She is living with new family, in new home, new neighborhood, she goes to new school, probably has different rules than she had in previous home. Everything is new for her. It takes a while to get accustomed to everything. Be patient with her, that's my advice for you! " Stef says, right before the owner walks back with freshly baked goods

"Oh, it smells amazing!" I say when the scent hit my nose

"Wait till you taste it!"

"Officers!" Owen gestured to the pastry

Stef and I were back at the station, doing paperwork on the previously arrested guy, who tried to break into a car. It was two hours till the end of our shift.

I was writing my report, when my phone on the desk buzzed. Stef briefly glanced up to it, but then returned back to her work. I slide my finger over the screen and pick up the phone call, as it was Aaron, who was calling me.

"Hey, babe!"

"Are you on patrol?" He asked me, over speaking me

"No, in station. Doing paperwork," I say putting the pen down and leaning back in the chair "You sound worried. Is everything okay?"

"I went to pick up Callie up from school…" Aaron trailed off after that, making me very nervous

"And?" I sat up straighter, when he paused. My reaction, caught Stef's attention. She watched me closely, sensing that something was wrong.

"Callie is missing!" Aaron informed me the next moment

"Missing?"

"She was not at school. I spoke to Markus, he said he saw her at lunchtime. I spoke to her teachers, they told me that Callie was absent from her last class! I drove home, thinking maybe she skipped school and came home, but she is not here! "

Once he said that, I pulled open the drawer and got my car keys out. The next moment I was up on my feet, walking towards Captains office "Stay at home! I will talk to my Captain and then I will try to find her!"

"I should go out trying to find her as well!" Aaron insisted

"No! One of us needs to be at home, if she comes back! I will call you back. Call me if she shows up!" I end the call and walk in my Captains office, barely stopping to knock on the doors.