Lena POV
October 23rd
"Get dressed and then come down to kitchen for breakfast" I tell Frankie as I leave her room, carrying her small backpack in my right hand. When I reach the top of the stairs, Jude disappears into the bathroom, with his towel over his shower. I guess he overslept and now was rushing through his morning routine.
I hear the kids chatting in the kitchen, when I walk down the stairs. The moment I walk in, the chatter and laughter stopped.
"Good morning everyone!" I say cheerfully to the three oldest kids as I place Frankie's bag on the island table. They all muttered something back, but I couldn't understood one word they said. When I turn around to look at them, I notice they all were sitting with head down, staring down at their food.
"Isn't this a good morning?" I ask them walking to the coffee pot. As I pour the coffee in my cup, I hear nothing, but silence from them. Not one of them answered me. I place the pot down, turn around to see them and lean back to the counter, while holding the cup in my left hand.
I tilt my head to one side as I continue to look at them. They were all acting weird. Before I entered the kitchen, they were talking, I heard laughing as well. But now - nothing but dead silence. They aren't even looking up to me. There is no eye contact.
Stef walks in the kitchen a moment later "Morning!" She says to the kids and walks towards me, to where I stood by the coffee pot.
"Something up," I lean closer to Stef and whisper to her, when she is pouring her morning coffee in her light blue cup
"What do you mean?" Stef screwed her face up in confusion
"The kids," I whisper back again and nod my head to the table, where the three of them were sitting
Stef's approach was blunt. One she finished pouring the coffee, she turned around on her heel and asked them bluntly "What's up with you guys? Mama is worried. Spill it!" She walks over to the table, places the cup down on the table and sits down on one of the stools
"It's nothing!" Mariana said with a hint of attitude in her voice
"Don't lie to us. We know when something is wrong!" Stef shot back not missing a beat. She studied the three teenagers in front of her, when neither one replied to her. No one even looked up to her. Stef glanced to me over her shoulder and gave me a look that said, that I was right. Something was wrong.
"Guys, come on," Stef said more softly "What's wrong? You can tell us, mama and I just want to help!"
Jesus stood up, pushing his stool back with his legs. It made a sound when scratched against the floor.
"Where do you think you are going?" Stef points to him, stopping him in his spot
"School!" he grabs his bag from the ground
"No!" Stef stated sternly and shook her head "Not until you tell us what is wrong!"
"You wanna know what is wrong?" Jesus said in frustrated tone, throwing his hands up
"Yes!" Stef and I say in unison. When I walk up to Stef's, I place my free hand on her shoulder.
"This is super uncomfortable for us!" He stated, pointing between himself and us. Jesus gripped on to his backpack strap as he started back at us "There! I said it! Can I go now?!"
"No, not yet!" Stef stopped him again "That wasn't much of an explanation. And watch your attitude, young man!
"What do you mean? Why are you uncomfortable? Do we make you uncomfortable?" I inquire and look to the other two kids. The kids were now looking at one another.
"Because you were really loud last night!" Mariana said because the boys both stared at her till she spoke up
"In what way?" Stef asks back not understanding what she meant by that. Weirdly enough, nothing came to my mind as well. And I was usually good at figuring this stuff out, connecting the dots. But right this moment - nothing. I was coming up blank. Maybe because it was an early morning and I haven't had my usually morning coffee yet.
"Sex way!" Mariana said back warily and shy. Her cheeks turned in the color of bright red the moment she said it.
"Oh!" Stef and I breathed out together
"Oh?" Brandon said back in disbelief "That's what you are going to say – oh?"
"Well, the deed is done," Stef said shrugging her shoulders "It's not like we can turn back time and fix it!" Stef looked over her shoulder to me and smirked to me and added to the horror for the kids "And it's not like we want to. Last night was amazing, wouldn't change it for anything!"
"Ew! Did not want to hear that!" Jesus covered his face in his palms, while Mariana turned to even more brighter red tone
"Seriously? Seriously, mom?!" Brandon shook his head at her response, more like the last comment Stef made
Stef said back with a chuckle and pointed out to the kids "At least the lesbian death bed has not reached us! And that's a good thing!"
"Oookay! Too much information! Don't want to hear it!" Brandon said grabbing his sandwich and standing up "Come on, you two can drive with me!" he told the twins and they both hurried after Brandon
"We are sorry!" I apologize for both of us before they leave the kitchen "We truly are sorry!" I repeat myself as I call after them, when they have reached the front doors
"I'm not sorry" Stef grinned at me when she turned around on the stool. She grabbed my hips and pulled me closer, with a naughty look in her eyes she asked me "Are you...sorry?"
"They heard us, Stef…again! If we keep going this way, we will scar them for life. The damage will be irreversible!" I say worried as I look down to my wife
"Eh, we can always get new batch of kids," Stef joked and moved her chin up, telling me to lean down and kiss her
"I kind of like the one's we have right now," I say thoughtfully looking to some imaginary spot on the pantry behind Stef
"I kind of like them as well," Stef grinned back, moving her hands down to my ass "but sometimes, I do wish we could have sex, without 5 pair of ears hearing us!"
"What if I come home for lunch?" I suggest with a naughty look in my eyes
"I like the way you think Mrs. Adams Fosters" Stef grins back, before I lean down to kiss her
Amy POV
It was a late evening, when I once again heard Callie coughing. It was killing me that I couldn't help her. If she had a cut, I could clean it, put some healing cream on, place a bandage on top of it. But Callie didn't have a cut or a scrape on her knee. I already gave her all of her medicine. There wasn't anything else I could do to help her, except for giving her lots and lots of hugs, cuddles, kisses and overall love. In time, she will be okay. I just hate to see my baby so sick.
Her cough was still pretty bad. Callie's temperature had dropped a bit, but it was still high. The oatmeal baths and Calamine lotion was helping with the itching. At least she wasn't complaining about it. But who knows. Maybe it was bothering her, just less than her fever and cough and that's why she has never brought the topic up.
Placing the book I was reading on the nightstand and tossing the blanket off of me, I sit up in the bed. I just had to check on her. Before I could swing my legs over the side of the bed, I hear a weak voice, coming from the doorway.
"Mom, can I sleep with you tonight?" Callie says weakly standing in the doorway. She was standing there, barefoot, with her hands wrapped around herself, to keep warm.
"Come here" I say without hesitation, patting on the bed next to me as I reach for the blanket I just tossed aside
Without hesitating Callie made a B line to my bed. The bed creaked when she crawled on it. I waited till she laid down next to me and then placed the blanket over her, tucking her in, to make sure she is warm. Scooting lower in the bed, I laid down next to her. Callie cuddles up to my chest right when the cough caught up to her again.
"I'm cold," Callie says quietly once she stopped coughing, she was trembling a little
"Let's warm you up then" I reply quietly, before I wrap my hand around her. The moment I lay my hand on her back, to pull her her even closer to me, I feel her wet shirt. She was sweating a lot because of the fever. Just yesterday, she changed out of 2 shirts.
"Your shirt is all wet," I say sitting back up in the bed. That could be one of the reasons, why she was so cold.
"Where are you going?" She asks me, when I get up from the bed. Callie was covering her eyes with her palm because of the sudden bright light
"I will get you a dry shirt. Be right back!" I reply as I make my way over to my closet. I open the second from top drawer and pull out one of my PJ long sleeve shirts. But from the top drawer I grab pair of socks. When I turn back to the bed, Callie has pulled the blanket back to her chin, keeping warm.
I toss the shirt on the bed, when I kneel on the bed right next to her. I moved the blanket off her feet, for short moment, till I pull socks on her feet. After tucking the blanket back around her feet, I grab the shirt I tossed on the bed a minute ago.
"Sit up for a minute," I tell her and spared the shirt over my knees, for an easy and quick grab. When she was sitting up, I reach for the hem of her shirt and pull it over her head. Her messy bun still stands tall on the top of her head.
"You are sleeping in your bra?" I observe when I toss the wet shirt to the ground next to the bed. I will pick it up next morning and put it to wash, next with the others shirts
Callie just shrugs off, her eyes closed. She looked really exhausted, the cough kept her up last nigh. Callie hasn't really slept for a long period of time, just 1-2 hours of sleep and then she is again woken up because of her cough. It was slowly getting to her. She had bags under her eyes. What made it look worse, was her pale skin and the rash and blisters that she was covered in.
"Let's take it off. I don't think gravity is affecting you that much, honey," I reach for the claps on her back. Callie doesn't protest. Her eyes are closed, she was breathing in shallow breaths.
"You will be more comfortable and the metal wire won't press to your body," I say when I open the claps on her back
Gently and carefully, I move the laces down her arms, till I pull the bra off. Weirdly, Callie doesn't try to cover her naked breast from me. Callie is a young, beautiful girl, she shouldn't be embarrassed about her body. I knew sometimes she is still very self-conscious, because of what Liam did to her.
She just runs her right hand over her left arm, once goosebumps appeared on her skin. She was really cold and I needed to get her dressed up and warm up as fast as I could. I toss the bra on the nightstand and reach for the dry shirt on my knees, the next second. I help her guide her hands through the sleeves and then pull the shirt over her head.
Right now, I felt like I was dressing a toddler. Markus used to fall asleep by the TV a lot when he was just a little kid. Aaron always carried him to bed, but I always dressed him in his Spiderman PJ. This was pretty similar. I was dressing Callie like a toddler. But I don't mind. I would do anything for this girl.
"Okay, much better, yes?" I kiss her forehead when she finally has dry shirt on
Callie gives me one nod an then mumbles back to me sheepishly "Can I sleep now?"
"Yes, we can sleep. Lay back down, let's get you warmed up" I reach for the light on the nightstand and turn it off. Once the room is dark and I am laid down next to her, Callie snuggles up to me again. I pull her as close to me as possible, wrap my arms tightly around her.
"My back itches" Callie mumbles in my chest
"Let's see if I can help with that" I kiss her head and start to move my hand gently over her back "Better?" I ask quietly in the dark, making sure I was covering the itching part of her body
"Mm-hmm" Callie hums back as her breathing evens out a bit.
Cuddles and love - home remedy that every parent can give to a sick kid.
Callie POV
October 24th
I once again woke up because of the cough. When the cough dimmed down, I poured myself another glass of water and drank it down. Pulling my blanket up to my chin, I lay back down to the bed. My head hit the soft pillow and I pulled my legs closer to my chest, to keep warm.
I liked how the pillow smelled like mom, like the shampoo she uses. I was still sleeping in mom's bed after I went to her last night. Now she won't let me leave. I don't know if I will ever see my bed again.
The house was really quiet. In some 5 minutes of listening to complete silence, I heard mom's voice. She was in my bedroom, talking to someone on the phone.
"What I want to know, is why in Callie's medical file there is written that she already has had chickenpox? When in fact she hadn't and is having them now!" mom asked the person on the other end of the call in a loud, frustrated tone of voice. I bet she was talking to my former social worker – David.
After some quiet from her side, mom spoke up again "I am fucking looking at the goddam file DAVID! It reads here: age 10 - had chickenpox! It doesn't get any clearer than that!"
I hear mom pace around her room as I continue to listen to the one sided conversation "What do you mean you don't fucking know! Who the hell will know if not you! You were here social worker for years! You were her active social worker when the information was written in her goddam file, DAVID!"
Wow, mom was really pissed at him. It was kind of like, when she yelled at him, when she was driving me to the Juvie along with David, after the judge gave me my verdict "Yeah, yeah...sure, whatever! You know what...I don't even know why I called you. You have never really known one thing about her, even when you should have! Goodbye David!"
I was surprised she hadn't ask me anything about this falsified information. Usually, I would be the first person she comes to. Maybe she was planning to, when I will get better, because she didn't want to worry me while I was sick.
Mom was taking this thing way too seriously. I had a feeling she will turn the city upside down, only to find who and why falsified the medical information. It felt like she has made it her mission - find out who did it. Mom desperately want's to find out the truth. And knowing mom, she will get to the bottom of this no matter what it takes. It was only matter of time before she figures everything out.
If only she knew it was my fault. If only she knew, that David had nothing to do with it or anyone in the foster system had nothing to do with.
I am not scared of telling mom the truth. Mom would never hurt me, I knew that. But I am scared to disappoint her. That is my worst fear right now – disappoint mom. It has been this way for some 2 years now. I think it started after the adoption. It has happened before, she has been disappointed me in me before. And I have to say, it is the worst feeling ever. Hearing her say those words me - it hurts. But all of the times, only I am not blame. No one else. And this time, it was no different.
I am brought out of my thoughts when I hear and see mom walk in with a small smile on her face "Hey, you are up!" She was coming towards the bed "How are you feeling?" Mom sits on the bed and places her hand on my hip
"Like before – like crap" I say weakly looking to her, not moving from my spot on the bed
"It is almost lunch time. Do you want me to make you something special?"
"No, I'm not really hungry" I reply and it was the truth. I had no appetite what so ever.
"You have to eat something. I will make you the same Chicken soup, okay?" I give her back a small nod, she smiles at me and stands up
"Mom?" I call her before she leaves
If I won't tell her now, I don't know if I will have the strength and courage to tell her later. Mom had to know the truth. I needed to take a responsibility. I can't let someone else be blamed for something I had to find out from me. She would be more disappointed in me, if she finds out from someone else. I needed to be the one to tell her.
"I have to tell you something," I say and sit up in the bed a little
"What is it honey?" Mom takes few steps back to the bed
"Just...promise me you won't be mad"