The Fosters - Aftermath

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Alright, I can't do a slow burn to save my life.

Lena sighed and nodded. "I'm sure she'll be fine home alone tomorrow," Lena said. Callie had been left home alone before, it wasn't like she was going to cause any trouble. She had grown past that stage.

Callie was standing at the top of the stairs, panicked. She was hoping that now that she was home she wouldn't have to be alone but obviously, that wasn't the case. Callie quickly walked into her room when she heard Stef coming up the stairs.

Callie sank onto the bed and thought about how much tomorrow would suck.

It was three hours later, and the house was quiet. All the kids were home and in their rooms, moms were on the couch when Mariana came downstairs.

"Moms?" she called. "I think Callie is having a nightmare," Mariana told them. "She keeps whimpering and tossing and turning."

Stef and Lena look at each other, faces reflecting each other's concern as they silently agree for Stef to go up and check on her. Stef rushed up the stairs, taking them two by two and rushed into the girls' room. She saw Callie tossing and whimpering when she entered, and her heart dropped. She had no idea what was going on with her daughter and felt helpless.

Stef walked over to the bed and gently shook Callie's shoulder. "Callie," Stef tried with no luck. "Cal, wake up for me, bug." Stef tried again and shook her harder.

Callie shot up in the bed and looked around, panicking, breathing heavily before her gaze landed on Stef and her eyes teared up when she realized she was home. Her eyes teared up and she allowed the tears to fall. Stef's heart broke when she saw the tears roll down Callie's cheeks, so she climbed onto the bed and pulled Callie into her arms. She tried to comfort her, but Callie's tears turned into sobs and Stef just whispered sweet nothings in her ear and continued to hold her tight.

"Callie girl, breathe for me, Cal. You're going to make yourself sick," Stef tried but her daughter just continued to sob. Stef's heart hurt with how broken her daughter seemed to be since coming back from juvie.

Stef continued to hold Callie when she heard her sobs calm down and Callie began to sniffle before silence overtook the room, Callie clearly falling asleep. Stef looked down at her daughter and gently wiped the tears off of her cheeks. She saw that Callie's hair was slightly frazzled, so she pushed it back. Stef hated this. She wished Callie would talk to her but since they were so similar to each other she did understand wanting to keep things to herself.

Stef, tired from the day she had at work, felt her eyes closing and while she wanted to stay awake she found herself falling asleep.

TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

It was 10 minutes later when Lena and Mariana made their way upstairs and to Mariana and Callie's room. Lena's heart melted when she saw her wife and eldest daughter cuddled together. Lena turned to Mariana.

"Mariana, you okay being in here with them or do you want to sleep in my room tonight?" Lena asked, wondering if her daughter would be able to keep quiet more than anything. She knew Callie was exhausted and wanted her to get all the rest possible before returning to school on Monday.

Mariana continued to look towards Callie and her mom. She knew she would have to keep quiet in her bed to not wake them up, so she decided to take up her mama's offer to sleep in her room tonight.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay with you?" Mariana asked, hesitant to accept the offer because she knew she was the cause of all the trouble in the family lately. "I know I've been a pain lately."

Lena sighed. She was frustrated with how her youngest daughter had been acting lately but she loved her and would always care for her.

Lena pulled Mariana into her arms. "I'm sure, Mariana," Lena tried to reassure her. "No matter what we will always love you, okay? Please never forget that."

Mariana nodded and they turned around, closed the door and made their way towards her mom's bedroom.

TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

It was an hour later when Callie began to whimper again and woke Stef up. Stef shook her and Callie woke up a few seconds later. Shooting up she began to sob, and Stef felt helpless. She tried to calm Callie down and it took her 15 minutes to do so.

"Callie," Stef started. "I need you to talk to me. Please tell me what has you having such intense nightmares," Stef paused and wiped Callie's tears away. "Did something happen in Juvie?" Stef asked, worried that something awful had happened and her fears were confirmed when Callie let a tear fall down her cheek and answered Stef.

"It happened again," Callie whispered. Stef looked at Callie, confused.

"Cal? What happened again?" Stef asked. Callie opened and closed her mouth, trying to answer but wasn't able to get the words out. "Callie, you can talk to me, I promise," Stef tried to reassure.

Callie looked down at her hands. "I was placed in solitary," Callie rushed out.

Stef looked taken aback and held her daughter tighter. "Oh, Callie. I am so sorry," Callie shook her head.

"That isn't all that happened," Callie told her and got up off the bed.

Stef furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?" Stef froze. What would Callie have done to end up in solitary? Stef questioned in her head. "Cal, how did you end up in solitary?" Stef asked and Callie looked down. "Callie, please talk to me," Stef begged.

"A guard got mad at me because I figured out they had drugs in there when a girl was OD-ing in the bathroom. I called for a guard to come and help and that's how they figured it out."

Stef was confused. "Wait, why would you end up in solitary for that?"

Callie's eyes teared up and a couple of tears fell down her cheeks. "I was moping the floor when he came up to me, he got mad at me about him having to get rid of drugs and he threw the mop bucket into a window and he blamed me," Callie explained as a few more tears fell. "I don't know how they believed him. There's no way I would be strong enough to lift the bucket, let alone throw it," Callie said, and she let out a sob.

Stef rushed up off the bed and pulled Callie into a tight hug, never wanting to let her go. She agreed with her daughter. There was no way she would have been able to lift a bucket filled with water and throw it into anything. After several minutes Callie pulled back and looked down. Stef felt like there was something else. Stef pulled Callie back towards the bed and held her tightly in her arms. "What else is there, Cal?"

Callie rested her head against Stef's chest, listening to her heartbeat. "He came into the solitary room with me," Was all Callie said and Stef's heart dropped.

"Cal, what happened?" Stef asked, she needed confirmation before jumping to conclusions. Instead of answering Stef, Callie gripped Stef's shirt. She just wanted to stay in her mom's arms as long as possible. "Callie, please answer me."

"It happened again," Callie repeated, and Stef's suspicions were confirmed. She held Callie tighter than before and kissed her forehead over and over again. She felt her own eyes welling up with tears at what her daughter had to go through.

"Callie, I love you so much, okay? I'll help you through this." Stef tried to reassure her.

Callie nodded her head, and Stef ran her fingers through Callie's hair, trying to lull her to sleep. It took several minutes but Stef heard Callie's breath even out and exhaled. She felt a couple of tears fall down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away. She had to be strong for her daughter right now. Stef looked down at her beautiful daughter and felt her heartbreak even more than before.

"I'll protect you from now on, Cal. I promise no one will ever hurt you like that again," Stef kissed Callie's forehead softly one last time before closing her eyes and falling into a light sleep, ready for her to be woken up by Callie having a nightmare again.