AN: Few people mentioned, they wish to see some more of Stef and Lena. Well, your wish was heard. It is only fair that you get to read some Stef and Lena loving, because I did give you some Amy and Cooper stuff.
The end of this chapter contains a light mature content!! It is not much, but you are warned. You can ready the Jude part and first part of Stef POV with no worry. After the break line - small warning for M!
Jude POV
Mom didn't ask a lot of questions on the way to Callie's home. This silence that was in the car, was perfectly comfortable. It wasn't awkward or weird, there was no tension. Mom was quietly humming along the song that was playing on the radio. She was tapping her fingers softly at the steering wheel in the rhythm of the song. I didn't recognize the song. It must be a song that the old people like. A group like the Beatles or something.
Time flew by fast. Before I knew it, we had arrived. Mom turned off the radio and stopped the engine. She turned to me with a smile on her lips "Ready?"
Few seconds later, we are by the doors. When I reached for the doorbell, the doors where opened by Amy.
"Hey you two! Lena called and said you two were coming," She stepped aside and welcomed us in
"We know this is a bit unexpected," Stef said after we entered. Amy closed the doors behind us.
"Ah, don't worry about. How many times has Callie showed up at your place uninvited or unexpected?" Amy smirked back as she walked deeper in the house. She now stood by the doors to the living room.
"You two are always welcomed in our home," Mom replied without missing a beat
"What about when she visited you while drunk?" Amy asked back raising an eyebrow at mom
"Okay, one unexpected visit," Mom said laughing
"How's Callie?" I ask looking to Amy and then to the stairs that lead to where Callie was
"Resting. She's not really feeling well right now, but she will be okay in few days"
Mom placed a hand on my shoulder. I look over my shoulder up to mom when she said "Jude wanted to talk to you" I glance over to Amy, to see her reaction
"Then let's go talk," Amy said walking to the living room, she gestured us to follow her
"Is it okay, if I go make tea?"Stef asked her and nodded to the kitchen. I was sure she asked that to just give me and Amy a moment alone.
"Um, yeah, sure. Help yourself," Amy replied when I sat down on the couch. Stef smiles back and walks to the kitchen. Once she is out of my sight, Amy sits down in one of the arm chairs. She rubs her leg, it must still be bothering her a bit.
"So," Amy said in a cheerful tone "What is it that you wanted to ask me?"
"It's about Callie," I was a bit wary. I wasn't sure if Amy was going to give me the answers I was looking for
"I already figured that Jude," Amy chuckles lightly and smiled to me
Nervously, I rub my hands to my jeans and look down to the floor, away from her gaze. I wasn't sure how to start this conversation, how to even bring it up.
"You want to know why Callie didn't come to when she first felt sick," Amy said, taking my by surprised "When Lena called me she did tell what she thought you wanted to ask me. Your mama does have Ph. D. in Child Psychology, don't be so surprised!"
I chuckle awkwardly at first "I just...don't understand"
"Well, your mama went to college and studied for many years and-" Amy said jokingly. I knew what she was trying to do. Amy was trying to get me to open up, to not be so tense and worried. It worked.
"No" I laugh back and then finally say what I wanted to say ever since I got here "I mean, I don't understand why Callie wouldn't tell you. Mom said something along the lines of – she didn't want to bother you. Why would Callie think she is bothering you? You are her mom after all."
Amy leaned forward and pressed her elbows to her knees "When you first met Stef and Lena, where you scared of them?"
Nervously I scratch the back of my neck "Maybe. I didn't know them. They were both strangers to me. And my mom had just died, dad was taken to jail and Callie was someplace...else. I was all alone" I stare back at Amy for few seconds till I admit it "Yes, I was scared."
"It's perfectly normal. It was a scary thing - being told to live with some strangers" Amy said tenderly "When did you start to realize that you were no longer scared of them?"
"Um..." I have to think real hard about this. It was such a long time ago, that I don't remember correctly "Maybe like 2 weeks in. I'm not sure" I added a little shrug at the end
"Can I ask you - why you were no longer scared of them?"
This was not a hard questions "Because they were nice to me. Everyone was smiling a lot. Whenever Stef and Lena went with the twins and B to the park, they took me along, with them. They played different games with me. One of them always tucked me in at night. Stef used to read this book to me, in different voices. When we watched movies, I could always snuggle up to them. They bought stuff for me, like clothes, school stuff, toys and even the snacks my mom used to buy me that i liked as a kid," I detained a little pause as I thought of a way to conclude it "They treated me like mom and dad used to. They care about me. They treated me like I was their kid. I felt safe with them. I felt like...at home."
Amy scooted a bit closer to me, she was now sitting at the very side of the armchair "Callie - she didn't feel like that, what you just described. She didn't have that" Amy said sadly "The homes she was in before, they were not good homes. The foster families she was placed with, were not good people. Callie learned to take care of herself, because no one else was looking out for her" Amy tilted her head to one side and watched me, trying to see if I am understanding what she is saying
"She didn't get the sense of security you did. Most of the time, when she had asked her foster parents something, she was ignored. When she wasn't ignored, she was either yelled at or she was told that she is disturbing them, bothering them. It happened so many times, that she started to believe it - that she was not worth anyone's time."
I swallowed back a lump in my throat that had formed while I had listened to Amy speak. It was incredibly hard to listen her talk about what Callie went through. While I was living in a safe home, Callie had to endure bad foster family. Now I started to feel bad for having been placed with Stef and Lena. It wasn't fair. Callie hadn't done anything to deserve that kind of treatment.
"When you are told constantly, that you don't matter, that you are a mistake, that you are useless and worthless, that you are bothering people -you start to believe it. There was no one else, who told her otherwise." Tears whelmed up in my eyes, when Amy said that
"Because of how she was treated, Callie learned to take care of herself. She became very independent, very closed off, wary, guarded." Amy tilted her head slightly to the right and interlocked her fingers together
"So to answer your question – why Callie didn't come to me-" Amy took a deep breath "Because of old habits. For 4 years she was on her own and sometimes she still thinks she is alone. Sometimes these old habits get the best of her. It is important to understand, that...that it's not her fault Jude. Callie grew up that way. She can't really help it. But she is trying, real hard, to let go of these old habits. But it is just not that easy. It takes time."
"But she isn't, right? Alone I mean" I said barley above whisper. Tears threatened to fall down my cheeks
"No, not anymore" Amy shook her head as she gazed back to my eyes
Once her look was too much for me, I looked down to my lap. I started to pick my own nails "There wasn't even a one good home, before you?" I ask dreading the answer
Amy tilted her head the other way and looked at me with the softest look. I knew what her silence meant. Now it hurt even more. Maybe this could have been avoided if we hadn't been separated after mom's death.
"If we had stayed together, if we hadn't been separated-" Amy stood up and walked to the couch to sit next to me "Maybe, if we had stayed together, she wouldn't have been hurt that much. She got hurt because of me. She wanted to protect me...she did protected me, but she got hurt in the process" two more tears fall down my cheeks. Amy softly, with her thumb, wipes the tears away
"This is not on you, Jude" Amy said and pulled me to her side "Your sister is very protective. Callie would never want for you to go through the same thing she did. That's just the way she is. No matter how many times you would ask her, she would not change the decisions she made 7 years ago. That's just how stubborn and protective she is."
Stef POV
When we got back to home, Jude headed straight to the stairs. I sight and just watch him walk up. He probably wants to have some time to himself, to wrap his head around what Amy told him. Because of that, I decide not to run after him. Lena and I will talk to him once he has had some time to think about it.
Instead, I head to kitchen and start to make dinner. Everyone else should be home soon and knowing our kids, they will all be hungry. The fact that I don't see Lena or Frankie downstairs, makes me think that Lena was giving Frankie the oatmeal bath.
I decide to go simple with dinner – pasta. It doesn't take too long to make and I have enough skill not to mess this meal up. Kids usually tease me about my cooking skill, because everyone is used to Lena's amazing cooking skills.
When the food is preparing and I was setting the table, the twins got home. Both of them walked in with smiles on their faces and they both greet me.
"Hey, mom! What's for dinner?" Jesus asks walking up to the fridge. He takes out a soda and opens it.
"Pasta!" I tell him and head to the cupboard to get glasses
"I will get them," Mariana drops her bag by the table and hurries to get the glasses for me
"Thanks, honey," I turn back to Jesus "How was school?"
Jesus takes a long sip of the soda before answering "School was okay. Nothing worth mentioning happened"
"It was okay. Pretty boring actually," Mariana agreed with her twin "Hey, is Callie okay?" she asks surprising me
"Why do you ask?" I look to her over my shoulder as I was now back to the stove, checking on the pasta
"I saw her and mama walk out of school. And I did not see either of them coming back to school" Mariana explained. Jesus stayed around waiting for me to answer.
"Callie has got chickenpox. Mama took her to hospital and turned out she pneumonia as well" Mariana's mouth dropped.
"Isn't chickenpox a kids illness" Jesus looked to me confused "Don't kids usually have it when they are like 5 or 7?"
"I remember that we and Jude had it together" Mariana reminisce "We stayed home for 2 weeks and payed all day long"
"Usually" I confirmed it "But Callie hadn't had it when she was a kid. And now she has chickenpox with worse symptoms. She will be home sick for some while. That reminds me..." I look to Jesus "Jude and Callie had planned to go Go-kart driving this Saturday. If Jude asks, can you go with him to the Go-kart driving this Saturday? So Callie hasn't spent all the money for nothing."
"I can go, if he wants me to" Jesus nodded back "But I am pretty sure he would better like to go with Connor" Mariana smiled when Jesus mentioned Connor's name. Everyone in the house knew there was something going on between the two boys.
"Well, Amy already told him he can go with whoever he wants to go with. I am just...giving you a heads up. If he asks you-"
"Yeah, sure. But my money is on Connor" He says with a smirk
"I smell pasta!" Brandon called the moment he walked in the house
"Mom's cooking" Jesus called back, when B closes front doors
"Can either one go check on mama, Frankie and Jude. Tell them dinner will be ready in 5" I say to the twins, before Brandon has walked in the kitchen
"I will go" Mariana says truing on her heel and walking out
After the dinner, after the talk with Jude, after the bedtime story for Frankie and after a shower, I was finally sitting on the side of the bed. My eyes closed, I was rubbing my left shoulder. I was dressed in my PJ pants and an old long sleeve shirt. Lena was in the bathroom, having a shower.
The day has been really long and I was exhausted. The talk we had with Jude, after dinner, took the last of my energy. Lena and I just tried to remind him, convince him, that what Callie had to endure after their mom's death, wasn't his fault. We will probably have to remind him few more times, before he actually starts to believing it himself.
The bathroom doors open and I hear Lena's light footsteps. She walks so lightly, swiftly. I feel the bed move under me, when I hear Lena sit on the other side. I feel her hand over mine. She was up to my back.
"Does it hurt?" She asks me quietly when she starts to gently rub my shoulder. I move my hand down to my lap, as she took over.
"No, just tense" I reply quietly when Lena starts to massage my shoulders
"Maybe we can do something about it" She whispered seductively in my ear. Her body was pressed up to my back, keeping us in close contact. With her right hand she moved my hair to over my right shoulder. I felt her soft lips on my neck.
I threw my head back, giving her more access to my neck. Her kisses were so tender, so gentle, so soft. My heart skipped a beat when she sucked on my neck just a bit longer.
"Lena" I moaned her name, when she pulled the collar of my shirt and started to kiss my shoulder
I let out a soft moan, when her lips touched the skin behind my ear. Her right hand, that was wrapped around me, found it's way under my shirt. She ran her hand over my stomach as she continued to place kisses all over my neck.
I had enough of this teasing. I turned around. One knee was pressed on the bed side, other was on the floor, I stood tall in front of her. I held my breath for moment, when I saw that Lena was just in her purple lace lingerie. She was breathtaking. Her slim body, smooth mocha skin and the purple lace underwear made me speechless. Lena could make everybody's heart beat faster, but she didn't. She only did it to me. She was mine, as I was her's. Lena's hair smell like coconut, making me completely lose my mind over this woman.
I moved my left leg up to the bed as well. Now I was on my knees, sitting right in front of Lena. Our gazes met. We locked eyes on one another. It was clear, we both wanted it. Badly. We craved it. I run my tongue over my lips, when Lena bit her lower lip teasingly, while giving me a look full of desire.
I placed my hands on her cheeks and looked deep at her brown eyes. We moved toward one another at the same time and our lips met for a passionate yet tender kiss. Our tongue's danced around. Lena placed her hand over my shoulder. As usually, one of her hands found my hair and she held on to it, gripped it momentary.
I broke the kiss only to tell her "I want you"
"I'm yours" Lena said back not missing a beat
I leaned closer and started to place kisses over her jaw line. She threw her head back and moaned out. I kissed her jaw, then moved lower to her neck. I moved down her neck, till I finally found her exposed collar bone.
Lena's hands moved down to the hem of my shirt. I broke the kiss only to allow her to pull the shirt off me. When I lifted my arms up, Lena pulled the shirt off of me, leaving me topless. She tossed my shirt away. Lena moved in for another kiss. Our lips met again. I placed my hands on her hips and pulled her closer to me and deepened the kiss.
Once she broke the kiss, Lena moved my hair away from my left shoulder. She looked to me, before she run her fingers softly over the the wound, where the bullet pierced my shoulder. Lena leaned closer to my shoulder and kissed the scar very gently. I felt her hot breath on my skin.
I moved my hands over her smooth skin. My fingers stopped at her bra's lace. Lena kissed my collar bone, while I moved the bra lace down her shoulder. Placing kisses on her collar bone and neck, I move to her other shoulder. I moved her other bra lace down as well, before I reached for the claps of her bra. Once it was open, Lena pulled her hand out. I discarded of her bra, the same way she did with my shirt, exposing her pert looking breasts.
I wrap my hand around her waist and I lean down, setting her down on the bed carefully. Our gazes met once again, before I pressed my lips to hers.
AN: Let me now if you want to read what follows after ;)