AN: Almost 1 year ago, on August 25th 2014, I posted the first chapter to my first ever fanficition story "Waiting for someone like you". Without a doubt it was a start of something incredible. Your response to my first story was so incredible, it knocked my off my feet :) When I posted the first chapter for "Waiting for someone like you" I had never imagined that I would write another story, let alone a story that would reach 100 chapters.
But as it turned out the story was not done. There were many more stories to be told in this Fosters AU. A month later on September 27th 2014 "After the wait" was born. It took only 11 months to reach this huge milestone.
359'264 words (~780 pages)
More than 89'000 views
711 reviews
122 followers
65 favorites
1 community
That's what "After the wait" has achieved in the statistic part before the 100. Some of you may think that it's not too impressive, because after all there are stories on this site, which have ~200 favorites or followers. There are stories who have had ~500 reviews just for 30 chapters.
But I think it is impressive. I am proud of myself and I am proud of what I have created. When I was in school - literature and writing essays and stories was not my strong suit. But here I am. Not only I have written story with more 300'000 words and created an AU for the Fosters where many of the stories are connected to one another, but I also have done it in a foreign language.
In a way, I see myself as a rebel. I went against everything that the foster fans wanted to see/read. I made an AU that wasn't your typical Fosters fanfiction. It wasn't Brallie story, it wasn't a story, where Callie was living with Adams Foster, it wasn't a story where the Jacob siblings were together, it wasn't a story where Callie needed to be saved by Stef and Lena from an abusive home, it wasn't a story focused on the whole Adams Foster family, it was a story with an OC in one of the main roles. The chances that someone would actually like my story were slim. I knew that even before I posted the first ever chapter, but I decided to risk it. And I am glad I did! It most definitely paid off!
This would have never happened if it wasn't for you. I would have never written this story, if you hadn't received the prequel so well. You helped me write this story and you guys are part of this story. You cheered me up and supported me, when I felt like I wasn't doing a good enough job. You gave me wonderful story ideas. You felt for all of the characters, even the ones you have never seen on the TV screen. You got angry with me and called me evil, when I left you hanging with cliffhangers :D I hope you laughed and cried reading this story. I can honestly say - I think you are the best readers! Without your support, your nice words, feedback and response, I would have never done this.
Huge thank you for everyone who has ever read a chapter or two. Even bigger thanks, for those who have stuck with me from the very beginning. I hope, you will stick with this story till the end.
I hope you have enjoyed this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it :)
Story line that I had enjoyed writing the most - Callie growing closer to Stef and Lena! They went from being strangers to saying - I love you - to one another. It took me a long time, but it was all worth it in the end.
I hope you enjoy :) A lot of happens in this chapter - so prepare yourselves!
Callie POV
December 27th
I was sitting on my bed, texting with Gavin, when mom appeared in the doorway. She was all dressed up. Mom was looking gorgeous like always. The tiredness was still visible on moms face. Something was still bothering her. Not only her, but Cooper as well. I don't know what exactly happened with Cooper and mom when I was not home, but I had a bad feeling it was still going on.
I heard them whispering about something, when I had walking to the kitchen this morning. But once I was in, their conversation stopped. I saw them exchange glances, but neither one said anything. They pretended everything was like usual.
Maybe they had an argument about something. Maybe they are going to break up. I would hate to see that happening, because I could tell mom was happy with Cooper. He made her happy. It drives me crazy that I don't know what is going on. I was pretty sure, even if I asked them, neither one would tell me anyway.
"Okay, Callie. Cooper just arrived, we are leaving," she informs and briefly looks down to her purse, that she was holding in both of her hands in front of her
"Okay," I say putting my phone down on the bed as I stood up "I'm gonna walk you out!"
When I walked up to her, I had expected for us to head downstairs together. But mom remains still. She was watching me very closely for few seconds.
"Gavin is coming over, isn't he?" she asks me as I look down, because I started to feel slightly uncomfortable by the eye contact, that had lasted two seconds too long for my liking.
My head snaps up to her. I hadn't told anyone, not even mom that he was coming over. But I guess I was wrong to assume that mom would let something like this slip pass her.
"I take that as a yes," Mom says very calmly after my fast head movement and surprised look on my face. She cleared her throat and looked down to her hands. "I assume you two will try it again...so" I felt my cheeks turn red
"In case, if you two actually go through with it today, I want you to be safe!" Mom says and suddenly in her left hand she was holding up a condom
"Oh my god!" I cover my face with my palms
"I know how teenagers think, love. I was a teenager as well, you know!" Mom says with with a small chuckle, I can already picture the small grin on her face "So, take it! Use it, if you need it. I am not encouraging you to have sex tonight, Callie, I simply want you to be safe if you do it. Remember - it's okay to say – no! It's okay if you still need time. It's okay if you don't feel ready!"
I can't believe I was doing it, but a moment later, I found myself reaching for the object mom was holding up.
"Do you remember the talk we had about how to-"
"Yes! Yes, I remember!" I almost shout out as I didn't want mom to continue that sentence "Can you please leave now?"
Mom laughs back softly, she places her palm on my cheek and gazes right to my eyes "I love you, my sweet girl!"
"Love you too," I reply still slightly embarrassed and shy
"Please be smart Callie," Mom says before placing a kiss to my forehead
"Don't worry, I will!" I reassure her as she leans away
"Okay, I'm going. See you tomorrow!" Mom says when I hear the front doors open and Cooper announcing himself
"Bye! Have fun!" I say to her as she walks down the stairs
"I brought food!" Gavin said the moment I had opened the doors for him. He was holding a box of pizza in his hand.
"Why?" I ask as I let him in
"What did you think I was going to do? Come to have sex and then leave the next moment?" He sounded a little bit offended
"Um..no, I just...I already ordered Chinese," I tell him as I hold my left hand up in which I was still holding the menu
"Oh!" Gavin breathes out "Well in that case - pizza is late lunch and the Chinese will be late supper or our breakfast!" Gavin smiles as we walk towards the kitchen. Gavin sets the pizza down on the table. As he get glasses, I walked over to the fridge to get us a soda.
"I got us your favorite," Gavin says opening the box
"You didn't have to," I say walking back to him
"Hey, maybe it's my favorite as well!" Gavin smirks back and slowly leans towards me to get a kiss
"It's not," I say between small kisses "You like your pizza with mushrooms!"
"And yet again, you are right," He says leaning out "You got me all figured out!"
"I'm just good with details," I smirk back and grab the two glasses, soda and napkins "Take the box, let's go eat in living room."
"Yes ma'am!" Gavin says obliging
I look over my shoulder to him as I walk towards the living room "Did you just call me – ma'am?"
Gavin just follows me with a smirk on his lips, without saying anything. We sit down at the couch, turn on TV so something is would be playing in the background and we start to eat our – late lunch - as Gavin called it.
I had gotten slightly nervous and worked up after our lunch was over, because I had no idea what would happen next. I had told him, I wanted to try again. He came here today, expecting it to happen. So yeah, I was worried and nervous, and anxious, and also scared, because I didn't know how it would happen. Was he going to initiate it or should I?
But Gavin did the best thing ever. He didn't make a big deal out of it. There was no pressure coming from him.
"What do you say we just cuddle for a while?" he asks laying down and stretching his legs out to the couch "I feel stuffed!"
"Cuddling sounds nice," I say laying down next to him. I turn so my head would be to his chest. Gavin wraps his hand around me, keeping me close to his chest. As I listened to his hear beat in his chest, I realized that I feel very safe with him.
It was about an hour later, when I leaned a bit further away from Gavin, so I could see his eyes.
"Everything okay?" he asked quietly as he gazed right back at me
My reply was non-verbal. Slowly I leaned towards him to kiss him. Our lips didn't part for a while. Our tongues danced together as Gavin's hand started to roam over my body.
"Are you sure?" Gavin asked between kisses "We don't have to if-"
"I'm sure," I reply with certainty as I continue to kiss him. The longer we remained on the couch, the more passionate the kissing became. I pulled away and got up from the couch. Just like when we were at his apartment, I held my hand out, waiting for him to take it. Gavin got up and reached for my hand. We walked upstairs to my bedroom.
Lena POV
"Wow...you look amazing!" Stef says as she walks out of the bathroom. I was wearing a black, tight fitting cocktail dress. I left my hair as it was, down and curly, as I simply didn't want to straighten it or make a hairstyle. Knowing that Stef already had reserved us a room at the hotel we were about to have dinner, I knew my hair will get messy once we hit the bed.
Turning around, I find Stef walking up to me in her tight, red fitting dress. It compliment her perfectly, especially her back. My breath got caught somewhere in my throat when I first laid my eyes on my wife.
"You like?" Stef throws her arms up a bit and looks down to her dress
"Like it? I love it! You look breathtaking, my love!" I say placing my hands on her hips and pulling her closer to me
"We should dress up for each other more often," Stef whispers to me before she leans in for a tender kiss. Stef's hand roam around my back as we kiss.
When my hands move down to her ass, Stef reaches for my hand and places them back on her lower back and whispers to me seductively "Save it for the hotel, my love..."
When Stef kissed my neck she breathed out "I love this perfume on you!"
"I know," I tease her "You got it for me on my birthday. I know this perfume drives you crazy!" I smirk back at her
"Mooooms! Cooper and Amy is here!" Mariana calls from the downstairs
We pull apart. Stef slides her hand in mine and we walk out of our bedroom and down the stairs holding hands. When we reach the first floor, all the kids compliment us on our outfits. Well, maybe I should say, all but one. Frankie was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Frankie?" I ask as I check my purse, if I took everything I need
"She was out in the backyard. Playing," Jude nods towards the kitchen
"Can you go get her in just for minute, please?" Stef asks him. Jude hurries out to the backyard. "Okay, so mama and I will be home tomorrow. Probably in the first half of the day. We expect the house to be standing, when we return"
"Yes, we know!" Brandon nods back "Don't worry."
"Yeah! We are not babies, we can stay alone for a day!" Mariana reasons back. Stef and I share a look. There was of course a chance that they are going to have a party while we are gone. A chance like this, when they are home alone, comes around once in maybe 2-3 years. I had assumed they would use it in their advantage.
"Money is on the counter" I look over to the kitchen "Order something. Pizza, Chinese, Mexican...Just please eat something and make sure Frankie eats!"
"We will!" The three kids said together almost like they have rehearsed it. The back doors open and Jude and Frankie walk inside.
"Mama and I are leaving for the night. We will back tomorrow, okay?" Stef says to Frankie when she crouches down to her eye level
"Please take care of Frankie! You are all responsible about her till mom and I return!" I tell the 4 other kids while Stef was talking to Frankie "If you are having a party – please don't drink!"
"We aren't having a party, mom!" Mariana replies and weirdly, I believed her.
"Give mommy a kiss!" Stef says to Frankie. She quickly places a kiss to Stef's cheek. I crouch down to her as well "Watch your siblings please! If they aren't behaving, show them who's in charge!" I smile at her
"I will, mama!"
"Okay, sweets. Love you!" I kiss Frankie right when there is a knock on the doors. Jude quickly opens the doors. Cooper and Amy both were standing on the other side, dressed up.
"You both look very beautiful!" Cooper says politely when he sees us. He gives both of us a kiss to our cheeks.
"Love the dress," I say to Amy as I walk out to the porch with her
"Thank you. You look great as well!" Amy returns the compliment
"How are you feeling?"
"A little bit tiered, but otherwise fine," Amy smiles back
"Okay, kids! Love you all, bye!" Stef says to the kids before she comes outside "Love you!" I call to the kids as well. They all wave back at us.
"Shall we!" Cooper gestures to the car. Stef and I get in the back, Amy sits up front, but Cooper goes behind the wheel.
On the ride to the restaurant, this strange feeling, that something has happened, kept bugging me. Amy seemed way more quieter than usually and her voice was...well, it just wasn't as cheerful as it used to be. Maybe it was because she was sick the last two day. A sickness does take out of sometimes, but that wouldn't explain why Cooper seemed to be acting way more cheerful than he usually was. Almost like he was pretending that everything was okay. I think Stef felt that as well. She gave me more than one look that suggested that she saw and sensed it too.
Jude POV
When moms left, the twins and Brandon scattered upstairs. I had no idea what they had in minds. I was simply going to slump down on the couch, watch some movie and text with Connor, who is visiting his mom in LA this week.
"Jude," Frankie pulls my arm, when the others had gone upstairs
"Hmm?" I look down to her
"I found something!"
"Found something where?" I raise eyebrow at her
"Behind the dumpsters! In the back alley!" Frankie says in a hushed voice as she looks towards the kitchen
"When were you in the back alley? Frankie you are not suppose to go outside the backyard, without anyone watching you!" I say in a very brotherly way. I am her older brother, it's my job to watch her.
"But I heard this whimper coming from the back alley. I went to look and I found something," Frankie says pulling my arm towards the back doors "You have to come see!"
"Fine," I agree and follow her out to the back alley. She lets go of my hand and runs to the dumpsters that were few steps away from the gate. The dumpster emitted a bad smell, but I did hear a whimper like Frankie had mentioned.
"There...behind the dumpsters. You have to help them!" Frankie says as she hurries in front of me. She drops to her knees on the ground "They needs help, Jude!"
"What needs my help?" I ask slowly walking up to Frankie. When I turn to see what was behind the dumpster the sight shocked me.
"Oh my gosh..." I drop to my knees as well. There were three puppies there. They all looked like they hadn't eaten for days. I could see their ribs. And their fur wasn't looking so great. I bet they all had fleas or some sort of insects on them. They were all cuddled up together, trying to stay warm. It looked like they were just tossed here. Someone didn't want to deal with puppies and left them here to die. By the looks they couldn't be older than 3 months.
But Frankie was right – we had to help these little guys. My heart just broke when saw them.
"Go get the others, Frankie!" I tell Frankie. She instantly jumps up and runs back to the house.
"It's going to be okay, little guys" I say and slowly reach for them. The puppy whimpered when I touched it.
"What is it Jude?" I hear Brandon's voice from the gate a moment later. The twins appears in the alley with Frankie the next moment.
"Someone had left three puppies here. They need help. We should get them inside and wash them and feed them," I say as I stand up. Brandon walks up to me to see them.
"Who would do this?" Mariana's voice broke when she saw the puppies and the condition they were in
"Do we have milk?" I ask when I crouch down again "I bet they are hungry. Who knows when they ate last?"
"Let's get them in the house first. Then we can think what we can do next," Jesus says as he crouches down "Come here, little guy. I'm not going to hurt you buddy," Jesus waits till the puppy comes to him and then picks him up and keeps him close to chest as he starts to pet him "You are going to be okay, buddy!"
"Jude take the last one," Brandon tells me as he gently and carefully picks up the second puppy
We carry the puppies inside. Mariana and Frankie had found bowls and poured some milk in there. We place the puppies down on the floor by the bowl. The little puppy, which I had carried inside, walked up to the bowl first. Once he started to lick the milk, the other two joined him.
"What are we going to do with them?" Mariana asks after we had watched the puppies eating for few seconds
"Can we keep them? Please!" Frankie asks us as she softly runs her hand over the puppy's back, petting it, while it licks the milk
"I don't think that's going to happen," Brandon says "Moms already have to feed 7 mouths and they still have mortgage to pay. They don't have the money or time to raise puppies!"
"We can't just leave them!" I join in the discussion
"We won't. We will figure something out," Brandon says
"So what do we do now?" Jesus asks looking down at the puppies "I don't think that we should take them to pet shelter. They are just going to euthanize them!"
"They don't euthanize puppies!" Brandon argues back
"I'm pretty sure they do if no one takes them. There are already a lot of dogs without homes and they can't feed them all," Jesus argues back
"They don't euthanize puppies!" Brandon repeated
"How sure are you?" I ask him back and then glance down to the three puppies that weren't in the best condition "Do you really want to risk it?"
"Because we can't keep them ourselves and the pet shelter is out of option -we should find them a home on our own! That way we will now for sure they are safe and homes where they are loved," Mariana suggests as she pours some more milk for them
"Okay, but do any of you know anyone who wants a puppy?" Brandon asks watching the puppies
"Thomas in my wrestling team said his family was looking for a puppy," Jesus says after a little while of thinking
"Didn't you say yourself that Aidan's family was looking for a family pet as well?" Mariana turns Brandon. Now that Mariana mentioned, I do remember him telling us that at one dinner some 2 weeks ago.
"Huh!" Brandon thinks for moment "I had forgotten about that,"
"Tia's cousin has a big house. He already has like 4 dogs. One more couldn't hurt," Mariana says "It could be a third home!"
"4 dogs...really?" Jesus looks to her twin skeptically "I think we need a back up plan as well, if either one says no!"
"I know someone who could take in a puppy!" I say excited as one of the puppies crawl to my lap. Everyone looks to me, waiting for me to continue. The home I had in plan was the perfect home! I couldn't think of a better one.
At first we visited Brandon's friend – Aidan. The visit of course was a little bit out of nowhere, but thankfully, his family was still looking for a family dog. We told them their story and it resulted in them taking the biggest puppy. I could tell it was going to be a safe home for the puppy.
After that we went to Jesus friend Thomas. Unfortunately, they already had found a puppy. A chocolate brown Labrador. So, we said our goodbyes and went to Mariana's friend Tia and she called her cousin. He agreed to meet us, but said he can only take in one puppy. We met him at a park 30 minutes later. Tia's cousin had his other dogs with him and they all seemed to take in the puppy he chose.
Now, about 2 hours later the 5 of us were standing on the porch of Callie's house with only one puppy. Callie opened the doors, but this time it took her a lot longer than it usually does.
She was genuinely surprised to see us "Hey—what...what are you doing here?" As I took in her appearance, I noticed that her hair was a little more messed up than usually and her shirt on the wrong way – the back to front.
"Where you sleeping?" Mariana asks her as she points to her hair "Your hair is all messed up!"
"What...oh..um, yes..." Callie tried to somewhat comb her hair with her hand
"Your shirt is on the wrong way," Jesus points out
Callie quickly looks down to her shirt "Uh...I was in the bath…"
"I thought you said you were sleeping," Brandon comments looking more suspicious than before
"Cal! Who is there?" we all heard a guys voice from the house. I knew to whom the voice belonged – it was Gavin. Callie nervously looks over her shoulder and calls back "The Adams Foster clan!"
As her brother, I really did not want to know what they were doing, but sadly, I had connected the dots, when I heard Gavin's voice. I tried to shake the image out of my mind, but for now it was engraved in there.
"Giiirl!" Mariana calls out and grabbed Callie's hand, making Callie blush badly "You will tell me everything!"
"Did we just ruin your private time?" Jesus teases her
"Home alone...might as well seize the opportunity, right" Brandon says teasingly as well and laughs quietly
Callie rolls her eyes at us "Why are you all here?"
"We found puppies!" Frankie calls out
"Puppies?" Callie looks down to her
"Yeah...they were behind the dumpsters in the back alley," I said walking from the back to front, holding the puppy in my hands "There were 3 of them. We already found home for 2. This little guy is the last one..."
"He looked the worse of the 3 of them," Mariana gently petted him in my arms "We fed them at home and gave them a bath. Brandon went to get a shampoo and we gave them a bath already. We also got them some anti-flees pills."
"We know he isn't the most handsome dog right now and that this is totally out of the blue," Jesus reached to boop the puppy on it's muzzle softly "But that doesn't mean he hasn't deserved a good home. He just needs a little bit more care than other puppies would for a little while..."
"We would keep him ourselves," Brandon spoke up next as he looked to his siblings "But our house is full. Moms already have to feed all of us and...we can't ask them to keep a puppy as well"
"We thought you could take him," Frankie says in her most sweetest voice "Jude said you used to have a dog!"
Callie walked up to me and petted the puppy "Yeah...we used to have a mongrel. He died like year before our mom died. A car hit him."
Callie reaches for the puppy and takes him out of my hand "Hey, little guy..." the dog whimpered in her hands "Let's go inside!"
Lena POV
Once we are all sat down at the table the waitress hands us the menus.
"Would you like anything to drink? Wine perhaps? We have an excellent selection," the waitress tells us. Stef and I share a look. We defiantly wanted one. It was our day off and we are not going to hold back
"Yes, please. Wine sounds good!" Stef replies "Can you suggest a bottle?"
"Not too expensive though," I quickly add so we don't go too much over our budget "But not on the cheep as well. Something in the middle."
"Would you prefer a white or red wine?" He asks looking around the table
Stef and I both preferred red, so we glanced over to Cooper and Amy, to see what they would want.
"Which one do you want?" I ask them
"Thanks, but, I'm going to pass!" Amy says and looks back down to the menu in her hand. The first thought that popped in my mind was that Amy was still on some meds and she didn't want to mix it with alcohol. Amy was not looking to her 100%, I could tell by her eyes that she was still a bit tiered.
Cooper smiles at us "I'm gonna pass as well. You two can take whichever you want,"
"Really? Guys?" Stef questions them "I thought this was going to be our night off!"
"Cooper you told us yourself, that you have booked a room for you two. You don't have to drive back. You could have one glass," I say clearly surprised that neither one wanted wine. Few days ago neither one could stop talking about this double date thing and now both of them were acting so strange.
"We are just not feeling it," Cooper says back trying to sound as casual as he could
"Coop, you should have a glass," Amy tells him when she places her hand on his
"I will come back later once you have decided," The waitress informed us before he walked away, giving us some time to decide
"Well, I don't want to if you are not drinking," Cooper whispers back to her
"Don't be silly, Coop. You don't have to do this!"
"Well, sorry, but it's what I am doing!" He insisted
"Seriously, what's going on?" Stef asks getting slightly tiered of it "You guys have been acting very strange lately. And since when you don't drink?"
"Nothing is going on! I'm simply don't want wine," Amy replied and put on a fake smile "Can we please order?"
"Sure," I reply seeing how desperate Amy was to change the subject
Cooper next to her sighs, but picks up the menu "So, appetizers..."
"What bout the wine!" Stef interjects like a little kid "I really want the wine!"
"Let's get a bottle of red then?" Cooper places the menu down and calls the waitress back
We order our wine, Amy sticks with just glass of water. After we order our appetizer, we all raise our glasses to toast. The evening after that went by smoothly. The food was delicious, we were in a good company, the place itself was amazing. In the end Cooper and Stef split the bill half in half. At first Cooper had insisted that he would pay for everything, but when Stef saw the sum, she simply couldn't allow Cooper to pay for it all.
We all went to the elevator. Amy and Cooper had a room in the 8th floor, but Stef and I had a room in the 7th floor. We parted our ways, when the elevator stopped at our floor.
"You first, Mrs. Adams Foster" Stef says as she opens the doors for me. When the lights turned on, I saw rose pedals on the bed and a champagne on the nightstand.
"You did this?" I turn back to Stef, pleasantly surprised
"40 dollars here or there doesn't matter after I paid for the room," Stef smirks back as she comes up to me
I place my hands over her shoulders as she places her hands on my hips "What do you have in mind, Mrs. Adams Foster?"
Stef pulls me closer to her "There is this one thing..." Stef whispers before she starts to kiss my neck "...I know we both would enjoy"
"Oh..." I smirk back and toss my purse away, so I would have free hands "Would I be allowed to do this?" I ask as I lower my hands to her ass and squeeze it
"I advise you to do that," Stef grinned back as we walked to the bed and fell down in it
Cooper POV
For a while, I had been gazing out the window, looking at the view to the city. The view out the window was quite amazing. It was already dark outside and the city looked amazing with all the lights on.
When I heard Amy sigh, I turn around to see her. Amy was sitting on the side of the bed, with her back turned to me. Her shoulders were slumped down a little. I had a feeling that this night won't go the way I had thought it would go, but I don't mind. As long as I am with her, togethr, I don't care what we do.
I have never loved anyone like I love Amy. She was everything I have ever wanted and more. And the situation we are in right now it made me realize something.
"It was a good night!" I say as I take off my watch
"Yeah...it turned out very nice," Amy replies as she takes her hands to her face. When I place my watch down on the nightstand I walk around the bed to Amy. I kneel down in front of her.
"Amy..." she slowly takes her hands down to her lap
"I love you" I tell her when I look to her eyes
"I love you too," she replies and tilts her head to one side a little. Her hand goes up to my face and she gently caresses my cheek "What is it?"
"Marry me?"
"...what?" she blurred out shocked
I place my hand on her stomach "If you truly are pregnant, I want us to be a family. Will you marry me, Amy Scott?"