Chapter 23.

Callie

"There you are, baby," Stef said, hopping up from her chair to hug me. That was just how she was; she always greeted us like she hasn't seen us in years. I'd only been in Rita's office for forty-five minutes.

"Hey," I smiled, hugging her back.

"Mrs. Foster, I'd like to speak to you," Rita said politely. "Please?"

"Sure," Stef nodded. "What about?"

Rita glanced over at me. "Honey, why don't you go ahead and take a seat? This will only take a minute."

"Go ahead, love," said Stef, winking at me. "I'll be right there."

I nodded, then crossed the waiting room and sat down next to Sophia, who was happily popping M&Ms in her mouth. "Where did you get those?" I asked, ruffling her hair.

"Mom got them for me," she told me. It was still strange hearing my sister call Stef and Lena 'mom and mama.' I wondered if our own mom would mind, but decided she wouldn't. She would have liked Stef and Lena. "She got you some too," Sophia said, handing me another bag.

"Shh," I whispered. "I want to hear what's going on." I had an idea of what they were talking about. I'd told Rita about The Brian Thing at my session; my eyes still burned from the tears I refused to shed in front of her. Now Rita knew just how messed up I was. I couldn't see how we could be in any more trouble than we were already in, though.

I put a blue M&M on my tongue and sucked it while I strained my ears to listen, letting it melt in my mouth while I strained my ears to listen. Rita was doing most of the talking. "I lead a support group for grieving teens," she was saying. "We meet every Saturday at eleven. I'd love to have Callie and Sophia in our group."

Stef gave her a thoughtful look. "Do you think a group like that would be right for them? When I hear it, I think of kids who have lost loved ones..."

"Well, there are different kinds of grief," Rita told her. "I work with young people who have gone through all kinds of emotional trauma. The girls certainly fit that criteria."

"It could be good for them," said Stef. "I'll talk to my wife about it. I think she'll agree."

My heart sunk. I'd been to group therapy before, when we were at the group home, and I hated it. Me, sitting in a circle, sharing my deepest thoughts with a bunch of strangers? I don't think so. I hoped Stef would understand, and she wouldn't make me go.

"I'd appreciate that," Rita said.

"What about PTSD?" Stef asked, lowering her voice. "Do you think they could have that? Callie has these night terrors..."

I leaned in to hear her soft, raspy voice, but I missed the end of her sentence.

"I haven't been seeing them long enough to make a diagnosis," Rita told her; her voice was naturally loud, so I didn't have to struggle to hear her. "But considering what they've gone through, it's a possibility I'd like to explore."

Stef thanked her and said goodbye, then came for us. "Well, my loves, ready to head out?"

Stef

The kids didn't talk much on the way home. Sophia had been especially quiet since we got a court date. When we got home, she went straight upstairs, probably to play with her dolls. I think they took her mind off of it all. I wished Callie had an escape like that. She played the guitar a little, but other than that, she didn't seem to have any hobbies she was passionate about. Sophia managed to find some joy in life. I just wished Callie could be happier...

I took some frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer and put them in the microwave to thaw. I was washing my hands, when I noticed Callie was still in the kitchen."Do you need any help?" she asked.

I smiled. "Not at the moment," I said. "But you're sweet for asking, slug-a-bug." I reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "Do you want a snack or something? It'll be a while until dinner."

"No thanks," she said. "I'm not hungry." She seemed to hesitate, then look up at me. "Stef?"

"What, babe?" I asked.

She swallowed hard, fidgeting nervously. "What's PTSD?"

I bit back a smile. "I should've known you'd be listening." I sat down, pulling out a seat for her. "Well, honey... PTSD stands for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. It's something that can happen when you've been through something as scary as you have. It can give you nightmares and other sleep troubles, anxiety, flashbacks to the event..."

"So, you think my sister and I have it?" she interrupted.

"I don't know, love," I told her honestly. "But you both show a lot of the symptoms."

She nodded. "Do we have to go to Rita's support group?"

I put my hand on her arm, rubbing it slowly. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, sweetheart. But at least consider it, okay? It could help you out a lot, meeting other kids who have been through hard times. Sometimes, it just helps to know you're not alone."

I reached out to hug her, when I remembered something that had been in the back of my mind for the past few days. "Hold on, love. I have something for you. I meant to give it to you before." I got up and went to the junk drawer, digging through it until I found what I was looking for. "I want you to have this," I said, handing it to her.

She studied it carefully. "A cell phone?" I thought I caught a glimpse of a rare smile in her eyes.

"It's one of my old ones," I said. "But it's still perfectly good. I put you on the family plan. A sixteen-year-old girl needs her own phone. You can text your friends..."

"You mean Emma?" she asked, raising her eyebrow playfully. "I kinda only have one friend."

I held back a smile. "Hey, we're friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah," she said. "We are."

"You can text me. Anytime you want," I winked. I took the phone back, and put my number in it. "There you go."

"Wow. I've never had a cell phone before. Does it have a camera?" she asked, sliding her finger over the screen.

"It sure does," I said, showing her how to work it. "Do you like to take pictures?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She tucked her phone in her pocket, then threw her arms around me. "Thank you, Stef."

I hugged her back, tears stinging my eyes. "You're welcome, baby." I pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?"

She didn't answer, so I just hugged her tighter.

Callie

The house was so quiet later than evening. Too quiet, now that I think about it. Until Mariana came downstairs. "So, I'm going to Lexi's for dinner," she told Stef and Lena. "Okay?"

I looked up from my new phone curiously; I'd been playing around with it all afternoon.

"Would you care to rephrase that, Miss Thing?" Stef asked.

Mariana rolled her eyes dramatically. "May I please go to Lexi's house for dinner?"

Stef and Lena looked to each other, and after a few seconds, they nodded. "Yes you may," Stef said. "As long as your homework is finished and you're home by a decent hour."

"It is, and I will," Mariana smiled. "Thanks, moms." She kissed them, then turned and went out the door.

After dinner, all hell broke loose, and the quiet evening was gone. Stef and I were clearing the table, and Lena was going over Sophia's homework, when the phone rang. "I'll get it," Lena said. She picked it up. "Hello?" Her eyes went wide with surprise. "Oh, hi Lexi."

She paused to listen, and Stef and I turned around, curious.

"You mean, she isn't with you?" Lena asked, frowning. "It's just that she told us she was going to your house for dinner. Do you know where she could be? Okay, honey. Let us know if you find out anything." She hung up and took a deep breath.

"What's going on?" Stef asked.

"Mariana's not at Lexi's. Lexi hasn't seen her all night, and didn't even know what I was talking about," Lena explained, rubbing her temples. "So where is she?"

"Call her cell," Stef instructed. Then, she turned to the stairs. "Jesus!" she yelled. "Can you come down here please?"

"She isn't answering," Lena said. "I'll try texting her."

Jesus came into the kitchen. "What's up?"

"Your sister told us she was going to Lexi's tonight," said Stef. "But she isn't there. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

Jesus shook his head. His face was worried. "I don't know."

"Are you sure," Stef asked him, narrowing her eyes.

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and he wrung his hands together. "Look, she might have gone to Ana's."

"Ana?" Stef half-shouted. "As in, your birth mother, Ana?"

He nodded, looking down. "She's kinda been seeing her. She didn't want you to know because she didn't think you'd let her if you did."

"She thought right," Stef said. "I need to go get her."

"Be careful..." Lena warned. Her face was creased with worry.

"I'll call Mike," Stef reassured her. She went out on the back porch, dialing her cell phone. I could hear her talking to Mike as she went to her car.

"Why didn't you tell us your sister was visiting Ana?" Lena asked Jesus. "You know she's not allowed to see the two of you."

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just, it was important to her, and she begged me not to tell."

"That wasn't a secret to keep from us, honey," she told him. "It was something we should have known about."

"I said I'm sorry," he repeated. "Do you think Mariana is okay?"

"I hope so," Lena said, sinking onto the couch. "But I won't be able to relax until they're home."

"I'll keep trying to call her," Jesus said, going back upstairs.

By then, my stomach was in guilty knots. I sat down, looking at the floor. "Lena?"

"Hmm?" She was rubbing her temples again.

"Um, Mariana might have mentioned visiting Ana to me a few times, too." I looked up. "I kind of forgot about it, with everything that's been going on. I should have told you guys. I'm sorry."

She ran her fingers through her curls. "Oh, honey," she sighed. "Thanks. Thanks for telling me."

"Am I in trouble?" I asked. "If I am, I understand."

"I'm very disappointed that neither you or Jesus told us what was going on," she said quietly. "But you're new to the family, Callie. You don't know about Ana's history with the twins like we do. And you've had more than enough problems of your own to worry about. I can't be too mad at you."

"I still feel like a I did something wrong, though," I said.

"We'll talk about consequences later," she told me. "Okay?"

When the phone finally rang, after what seemed like an eternity, Lena practically pounced on it. "Mike?" she said, breathlessly.

There was a long silence. Then, I heard Lena cry out. My stomach dropped to my feet. Something was wrong, really wrong. I felt panic building up inside me, until it felt like it would explode out of my chest.

Lena was sobbing when she hung up the phone. "Mama, what's wrong?" Sophia asked. Her little face was pale and scared. I went to her and hugged her to my side.

Finally, Lena set the phone down. Her hands were shaking. "Mom has been shot."

I closed my eyes. Time seemed to stand still. "No." Stef had to be okay.

To Be Continued