Chapter 11

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Saturday continued to be a good day for the family. Mike dropped Brandon off just before lunch and Lena was in such a good mood that she told Stef to invite him to stay. She was making pot roast with potatoes and vegetables and roasted squash and cherry pie for desert. Everyone was laughing and talking and Brandon was telling them how excited he was about his first real gig. "We get paid and everything." He said proudly. He had come such a long way since he found out that he probably would never play classical music again. "As long as it doesn't interfere with your school work I'm happy for you." Stef told her son. "Yes, remember mid-terms are next month." Lena reminded him. "I know, we aren't gonna take any more gigs until they are over." Brandon reassured her. "Have you been offered any more gigs?" Mariana teases. "No." Brandon said but that's besides the point. They all laughed. This was a trial gig for them. Allan was Matt's friend and technically he was the guinea pig. "But hopefully after Allan's party we'll be overbooked." Brandon said optimistically.
"After mid-terms." Lena reminded him. The conversation moved to other things through the course of the meal and the only one remaining quiet was Callie. She had just a little of the potatoes and vegetables from the pot roast in her plate along with some squash and she didn't want to draw any extra attention to herself. After a huge lunch everyone headed off to do their own thing for a while. Jesus offered to teach Jude how to skateboard while Brandon when up to practice. Mariana convinced Callie to let her do her nails and Callie figured it was a better option than being watched by her mom's all day. This left Stef, Lena and Mike alone for a while. The three headed into the living room with a bottle of coke and three glasses. "So how's it been around here?" Mike asked. "Brandon said that Callie's doing better." "She seems to be." Stef said smiling. "She slept downstairs with the kids last night and it seemed to be a success." "Man." Mike laughed. "I definitely don't miss the days of a kid sleeping between us." He joked, remembering the times that Brandon would interrupt them. "Oh Brandon did that for a long time after too." Lena said. "He was almost seven when it finally stopped and by then we had the twins. Mariana was a frequent visitor." "We had to be so careful." Stef added. "She was so quiet that we never knew when she'd turn up." "Bet you thought those days were behind you." Mike laughed. "Yeah well not for long." Stef said stroking her hand over Lena's stomach. "Hey listen, why don't I take the kids out tonight." Mike suggested. "What?" Stef asked. "Yeah," Mike said. "They're great kids and I love them too plus it'll give you two some time to yourselves." "You don't have to do that Mike." Stef said. "No, no, no." Mike stopped her. "I want to. The last time we really had fun. We can go bowling and then stop for pizza or something. Tomorrows Sunday so they don't even have to be home early." "Are you sure?" Lena asked. An evening alone with her wife sounded like a wonderful idea to her and if Mike was offering she was gonna take him up on it. "Yeah." Mike said smiling. As much as he regretted that his marriage had ended, he loved Stef's new family as his own and he loved all the kids too. "Thanks Mike." Stef said giving him a genuine smile. He was so pleasant to be around when he wasn't drinking. She was glad that they had remained friends at least after the divorce, not just for Brandon's sake but for their own as well. Mike hung around for another couple of hours. After sitting with Stef and Lena for a while they all headed outside to watch the boys. Jude had fallen down about five times now and had scrapes on his elbows, knees and chin but he didn't seem to mind. "Come on in bud." Lena said. "Let me clean that up."
"I'm fine mom." Jude protested but Lena caught hold of his hand and dragged him inside. "Ready to shoot some hoops?" Stef asked Mike and Jesus as she grabbed a ball from a basket on the porch. "Bring it on." Mike said. He knew there was a good chance that Stef would win but it was fun to try and beat her. "Mike and me against you." Jesus said, knowing they had a better chance of winning as a team. "Done." Stef said. "Jude can be on my team when he gets back." "What about Lena?" Mike asked. "She can keep score." Stef and Jesus said together. "O-kay." Mike dragged out the word, realizing there was a reason behind their comment. "The last time she tried to play mom passed the ball to her and she screamed at her for 'trying to attack her' and didn't talk to her all day." Jesus explained. "Okay, 'hough with the chatter and let's start the game already." Stef said as she began to dribble the ball. By the time Lena and Jude got back from cleaning him up and checking on the girls Stef had already scored two points. "Hey buddy you're on my team." Stef called to Jude. "Alright!" Jude smiled as he ran to join the others, bandaids on both his knees and elbows. He had flat out refused to have one on his chin. Lena sat on the steps far away from the ball and cheered for whoever had it in had. "You gotta pick a side mom." Jesus said. "Yeah." Mike said. "Pick ours. We could use the support." Lena laughed. "I'm not even sure what's happening." She admitted. Soon Brandon and Mariana wandered down and sat on either side of Lena. Both Stef and Lena instantly noticed their missing daughter and the game instantly stopped, a worried look passed between both moms. "She's okay." Mariana said, reading their faces. "She's in the kitchen getting water. She'll be out here in a minute." Stef and Lena looked first at Mariana and then around at the faces of the other kids. They had grown so much recently and they were so proud of them. They did their part to help their sister and make sure that she was safe. Stef returned to the game but it was obvious that her head was no longer in it. She lost the ball twice for no good reason before Callie finally came out and sat down in front of Mariana, leaning back against her legs. Lena gently placed her hand on Callie's head, relieved that she was okay. Giving her this space and trusting her was harder than they had thought it would be. Soon everyone headed inside to shower and change before leaving with Mike. The kids had been thrilled at the plan, even they had enjoyed their last outing with him; he wasn't nearly as strict as their moms. Even Callie seemed glad with the plan - it was her first time in forever without either of her moms around and just the thought made her relax.
"Do NOT take your eyes off her even for a second." Stef instructed for the fourth time. "I promise." Mike said again. "I'll treat her just like the hardened criminal that she is." Stef punched him in the arm and Lena laughed. "Make sure she eats something too." Stef added. "I know you're worried honey but she'll be fine." Lena said as she wrapped her arms around her wife. "Everyone will watch out for her. She needs this and frankly so do we." Stef gave Lena a dirty look but then pulled her closer and wrapped her own arms around her. "Alright." She finally conceded. "But if anything happens..." "We'll call." Mike finished. "I promise." After about a million 'byes' and 'love yous' Mike and the kids finally left leaving Stef and Lena absolutely alone for the first time in over a week. The two sat down to dinner. They were having leftovers from lunch since it was just the two of them and neither of them were really in the mood to make anything fancy. "It seems quiet suddenly." Stef said as she took a bite of the roast. "Um." Lena agreed. "Peaceful." "I miss the noise." Stef said. "Don't worry. I'll be back soon enough." Lena laughed. "What's the plan for tomorrow?" Stef asked. "Just a lazy day." Lena said. "Everyones gonna be home most of the day." "No plans?" Stef asked. "Jesus is going out with some friends in the evening and Brandon is going over to Matt's to practice. I don't think Mariana's doing anything and Jude may go over to Conner's to work on their project but I'm not sure." "Wow. When did our teenagers all have time to spend the whole weekend with us?" Stef asked shocked. "Stranger things have happened." Lena joked. "Like what?" Stef challenged. Lena thought hard for a minute but then they both started laughing when she couldn't think of anything. Stef got up to clear away their plates. She was just about to start rinsing them out when she felt Lena's arms wrap around her. "Let's go upstairs." Lena said in a seductive tone. She had never admitted it but lately she had been craving Stef's touch constantly - when she wasn't worrying about Callie that is. She knew it was the hormones because of the pregnancy that caused this change in her but god did she need Stef to help her through it. Lena began unbuttoning Stef's shirt the moment they entered their bedroom. She was tantalizingly close to pulling it completely off when Stef interrupted her. "Should we just call and find out how it's going?" Stef asked. Lena sighed. This was not going the way she wanted it to. "I'm sure they're fine honey." She said softly, tugging at the ends of the green plaid shirt to pull it out of Stef's jeans, hoping to get Stef in the mood. "I know but she can be so secretive sometimes." Stef said, totally oblivious to Lena's efforts. Lena sighed again as she pushed away from Stef. "Go ahead." She said as she handed Stef the phone. "You won't rest until you do." She waited while Stef made the call though she only heard her side of the conversation she was able to decipher that Callie was in fact doing fine and all the kids were enjoying a round of bowling. Apparently they had made two teams and were having a competition. When Stef finally hung up the phone Lena pulled it out of her hands and tossed it on the nightstand. "Better?" She asked as she straddled Stef and pushed her back onto the bed. She began kissing Stef and reached down to the button on her jeans when Stef once again interrupted her. "I know we decided to wait until tomorrow morning to check her but do you think we should do it tonight instead?" Stef asked. Clearly her mind was elsewhere and Lena wasn't getting anywhere with her. "Stef would you please just enjoy this little time we have alone together." Lena begged. She had been waiting for this for so long and she really didn't want to miss a perfect opportunity. Not only was there no one in their bed but there was also no one in their house and with five teenagers that rarely happened. "I'm sorry love." Stef said, suddenly realizing what Lena was trying to do. She pulled Lena back down to resume the kissing but it was obvious to both of them that her head wasn't in it. After a few minutes of awkward, teenager-like attempts Lena finally pulled away. "Let's just forget it." She said as she headed towards the bathroom. "Where are you going?" Stef asked, wondering what had happened. "For a cold shower." Lena said as she shut the bathroom door. Stef waited a few minutes trying to figure out what had happened before following Lena into the bathroom. "What just happened?" She said opening the shower stall a crack to poke her head inside. She got splashed a little from the shower spray and squealed. "Lena, that's freezing what are you doing?" She reached across and turned off the tap. "Stef." Lena said exasperated. "We got one night alone in over a week and still all you can do is talk about the kids." Lena explained. "I'm just worried." Stef said. "I know you are honey but this can't be our whole life. Mike and the other kids are all with Callie and if she's going to do something then she would find a way to do it whether we were there or not. We have to just trust her at some point." Lena said, but Stef didn't agree. "I can't just let her be responsible for her actions Lena." Stef said. "We are her parents, it's our job to protect her." "We can't protect her forever Stef." Lena said. "I can't believe you." Stef said getting annoyed now. "Callie is having such a hard time and the only thing you can think about is sex?" Lena's face went hard at the statement. "That's not fair Stef." Lena said. "You know I worry about her but I also know that at some point we have to trust her to do the right thing as well." "I know you..." Stef began but Lena cut her off. "And as for sex..." Lena continued. "This is the first time I'm even suggested anything in over a week even thought it's been driving me crazy. We were given just a few hours to ourselves Stef and you couldn't just enjoy it." With that she pulled the stall door shut again and turned the water back on, effectively ending the argument.

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