"So we had a mystery kid ourselves today." Lena said as she cuddled up to Stef in their bed.
"You did?" Stef asked curiously, pausing her reading to listen to Lena.
"Umm." Lena nodded. "Nine year old just showed up and Jesus taught him how to shoot hoops."
"Wow." Stef smirked slightly, wondering what was so mysterious about this.
"I made them all sandwiches and he polished off three so fast you'd think he was starving." Lena commented. "I wonder what his family is like."
"What did he say?" Stef questioned, slightly curious but not too concerned. "I know you asked." She teased.
"Single mom, older sister, almost grown up watches him while mom works two jobs." Lena responded. "Nothing too shocking."
"Then don't read too much into it." Stef warned. "So he ate a lot. Remember Jesus at nine?" She questioned. "He could have eaten a horse and still had room for dessert."
"He still could." Lena laughed in response. "It's not fair that only you have a mystery to solve." She laughed at herself.
Stef smiled in response as she kissed Lena on the head as the two scooted lower in bed and she reached out to turn out the light. "You never know, maybe they are related and in desperate need of our help." Stef teased gently, amused at Lena's detective skills."
On Monday afternoon Callie was still thinking about Jude's encounter with Stef's family as she robotically packed bag after bag for each customer. She had grilled him on practically everything he'd seen or heard while he was there. She knew they had two kids who they had adopted but at the science fair Stef had mentioned boys in the plural so was there another son or was he a friend she was referring to? She was pretty certain that Stef and the darker woman were together. Maybe Stef wasn't at the house when Jude went in but the way the two of them were together at the science fair made Callie certain of that fact.
"Hey." A voice pulled Callie out of her thoughts.
Callie looked up and her eyes went wide at the sight of the one person who occupied her thoughts almost constantly. She was just too shocked and dumbfounded to form a response and so she just stared back at the woman.
"Stef." Stef reminded her when the silence continued, even though she knew the girl remembered.
Callie looked around nervously for she was in the middle of work and the person talking to her was dressed head to toe in a police uniform - badge, gun and all.
"And you are... Callie." Stef confirmed what she'd learned the week before.
Callie nodded and pointed to the name tag she had pinned to her apron. "Um, thanks for the macaroni." She said, trying to be polite.
Stef smiled. "It wasn't as important as the message." She said gently, hoping Callie knew just how serious she'd been.
"I'm okay, thanks." Callie assured, looking the woman straight in the eye to show her she was being honest.
Callie handed Stef her bag, expecting her to just say goodbye and leave but much to her surprise Stef moved over a bit to give the next customer some space and continued talking.
"How old are you?" Stef asked curiously, thinking this girl was way too young to be working. She should be in school and having fun.
"Sixteen." Callie answered easily. She knew she had to be at least that to be out of school.
"No school today?" Stef questioned, already knowing that Callie was a dropout.
"I dropped out last term." Callie answered unapologetically. "School wasn't really my thing."
"And your parents were okay with that?" Stef questioned, eager to know more about this child.
"It's just me and my dad." Callie answered, making up a new lie since Jude was now involved with the rest of the family. The last thing they needed was to put the two together and go looking for who they were. "He's okay with it so long as I stay out of trouble." She added with a laugh, hoping to throw Stef off track.
"Well, it was nice to meet you Callie." Stef smiled, even though she wanted to stay and talk some more.
"You too." Callie smiled back. She was glad that Stef was done questioning her but at the same time she wished the woman would stay. She liked talking to her and she wished she could ask a few questions of her own.
"Remember, I can help if you need it." Stef added one last time before walking away, hoping that Callie knew just how serious she was. The girl had come looking for her and kept an eye out for her so obviously there was a reason for it. She just wished that the brunette had the courage to actually ask for it.
The next day Callie kept a look out for Stef. Each time the door to the store opened she would glance up hoping to see the uniformed cop but she never showed.
"You in trouble?" The older man at the cash counter asked when there are no one in their line.
"No, why?" Callie asked with a surprised frown.
"The cop, yesterday." The guy responded with a shrug.
"Oh, no." Callie quickly dismissed. "I just ran into her one day, literally, I was getting late going home so was running and I banged into her and she thought I was in some sort of trouble." Callie replied, hoping she sounded believable. "I guess she just came in and saw me so she came to say hi."
"Cool." The guy accepted her answer as he turned his attention back to a customer who'd just walked up.
Callie once again turned to look towards the door, hoping to see Stef come by again but she never did.
Meanwhile Stef and Lena were busy packing a bag for Stef to take to Florida. Stef had called Lena at work to let her know that her mother needed her and Lena had excused herself from work for a few hours to help Stef pack and take her to the airport.
"So what happened exactly?" Lena questioned, still uncertain about the events.
"Some guy outsmarted her, that's what." Stef mumbled in annoyance. "Apparently they met at a yoga class and they went out for coffee. They were talking and, i quote, having a fantastic time, when she went in to pay and by the time she got back he had taken her purse and run."
"Oh Sharon." Lena shook her head, both in sympathy and amusement. Things like this only seemed to happen to her mother-in-law.
"I need to go down there and cancel her credit cards and change her locks and help her file a report." Stef said. "God knows I can't trust her to do it all herself."
Lena smiled slightly as Stef zipped up her suitcase and they headed downstairs to the car.
"I'll only be gone a couple of days." Stef promised, her thoughts already on what had to be done in Florida while the teenage girl was the last thing on her mind.