The Fosters: Anxiety

Breakdown

9 years earlier

It was just another day in the life of Stef Foster, Lena Adams and Brandon Foster when a young girl was invited into their family. She had been abandoned by her latest foster family as they realised that they would not be good parents. The foster father had dropped the child off at the local police station with a handwritten note. Scared out of her mind the poor 5 year old girl cried her eyes out, only to be held by Stef who sang a little song to calm her down. At that moment Stef had fallen in love with the little brunette. After a few days of begging, her wife by heart Lena had agreed to foster her.

A year later a similar situation occurred. The twins, Jesus and Mariana, had been left at the same station for the same reason. Their foster family had given up caring for them both. Stef, being her usual cheery and motherly self, gave the twins a lollipop each and realised they needed a stable and loving home. Going through days of begging once again, Lena agreed to foster the twins as well as they were the same age as their foster daughter, but with a condition. No more foster children. Stef happily agreed and their family grew from four to six overnight.

Present day

"MARIANA! I need a shower before school! You had one last night!" Jesus yelled at the bathroom door. He dropped his head in defeat and went into his room in frustration. Downstairs Lena and Stef shared a laugh at the daily struggle of four teenagers sharing a bathroom. The eldest child, Brandon, was digging into his bowl of cereal as if his life depended on it. "Hungry, there brother?" Daisy asked with a giggle. "Ha, ha, ha," he mocked before joining in with a giggle himself. Stef and Lena took a moment to look at their beautiful children. The two had a wonderful relationship and often spend hours practicing the piano and guitar. Brandon had a love for the piano and worked hard to get the recognition that he deserved. Daisy on the other hand just enjoyed playing the guitar and found an interest in spending time with her older brother. They could not be happier with their "little" family and never regretted taking in anyone.

"MARIANA! JESUS! Get down here and eat something before we have to go!" Stef yelled from the kitchen. A lot of noise and running around upstairs indicated that the twins was on their way. Satisfied, Stef sat down next to Lena and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

Once the twins had landed in the kitchen and taken a few bites of their breakfast, Lena noticed the time and hurried everyone out the door.

Both Mariana and Daisy was stuck in the same class at the end of Mondays, Mr. Timothy's literature class. Daisy had always struggled in his classes as she could not understand texts, whereas Mariana was really good at it. She would never admit it, but she enjoyed reading between the lines. At home the two would always do assignments together. Daisy often felt like a burden when it came to school, the only subject she enjoyed by now was art and craft, but she still enjoyed Timothy's classes as he always gave her an extra chance and helped her out in class and after if needed.

Today the class went over a book they had to read a few pages of during the weekend. Sadly, Daisy had spent hours and hours on reading the pages and had forgotten the majority of it. So, when Timothy called her name, she visibly shrunk in her seat.

"Daisy, what do you think of the two main characters behaviour?" Timothy asked in his usual accent. Daisy send Mariana a pleading look, asking for help as she could feel anxiety rise within her. Her sister looked at her with sympathy before raising her hand.

"Mr. Timothy, I believe that Adam brings out the worst in Josie and is ultimately forcing her to do criminal actions," Mariana said before giving the teacher a chance to dismiss her. Timothy loudly sighed and shifted to face her.