A/N - Well folks, this is the end. No, there will not be a sequel. This was always meant as a one-shot story. A couple of author's notes at the end will explain some things about this future; the rest you'll have to imagine. As always, thanks for the reviews. Happy Ending? I wouldn't write it otherwise.

He could hear them before he could see them.

"Is that him?"

"For the seven hundredth time, no Jesús! Stop trying to "help". You suck at it."

"Callie-"

"I'm sorry Mama but he's been doing this for the last fifteen minutes and it's driving me crazy."

"I know. He's just-"

"I see him, I see him!"

Before the echoes of his son's voice faded, he found himself with an armful of Jude. "Hey buddy, how are you doing?" Donald hugged his son tightly while giving him a kiss on the head.

"I am so great!" said Jude. "It is so cool to see you out of-" he cleared his throat and looked at the ground a moment. "It's so good to see you," he amended, warmth in his tone as he looked at his father again.

"Me too buddy," said Donald giving him another hug. "Me too."

"Geez Jude, don't hog him," said Callie, suddenly at his elbow. "Some of us want to get our hugs in too."

"Hi baby," said Donald, giving her a hug and a kiss on her forehead. "Oh, it's so good to see you."

"Good to see you too," Callie said, brushing her hair off her face impatiently. "I can't believe you're actually here. It's the best birthday present ever."

"Well, a little late for your birthday. Sorry kiddo," he said, letting her grab his hand and pull him over to the small crowd of Adams-Fosters.

"Nope," Callie said cheerfully. "I told moms I wanted to wait for you. We're going to have my party this weekend at the house and you have to come."

"What, the whole weekend?" joked Donald. "That sounds familiar."

"Well," said Callie. "We're going to have the family party on Saturday. My party with all my friends is Friday night. Moms said I could invite pretty much whoever I liked as long as I didn't mind just having pizza and soda as the treats."

Donald smiled as he reached the rest of the family. He had seen them all at least once and of course he saw pictures of them whenever he received letters or saw Stef and Lena. They knew he couldn't keep all the photos they sent him so they circulated them regularly so he could see what his children's lives were like. What they hadn't told him was that they were keeping them in a photo album they were going to gift him upon his release.

"Good to see you Donald," said Mariana, trying to sound as grown-up as possible.

"Nice to see you again too, Mariana," said Donald.

"Good that you're out, man," said Jesús, patting his back with cheerful force.

Donald winced, "still doing the jock thing?"

"Yup!"

"Hey Donald," said Brandon, offering him a handshake.

"Whoa," said Donald, looking at him up and down. "Guess you got a growth spurt."

"About time," the boy agreed.

When Donald was finally able to reach the moms, a small face peered at him from Lena's arms. He bent a little to meet her eyes. "Hey sweetheart. I know you don't know me but I've seen all kinds of pictures of you that your brother and sister have shown me."

The little girl buried her face against Lena's chest.

"Say hello, baby. Remember? That's how we are nice," said Stef, patting the little girl's curly head.

The little girl poked her head back up. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hi Frankie. I'm so glad to meet you."

She gave him a tiny smile.

"Isn't she cute?" gushed Callie, elbowing in-between the adults. "I told her how cute she was."

"Except when she gets into your room," said Jude, giving the toddler a poke in her tummy. She giggled and batted at his hands.

Lena shifted the baby on her other hip. "I hope you don't mind, but we planned a barbeque at home. We thought maybe you'd appreciate that after…I mean we thought it would be nicer than being crowded in a restaurant."

"That sounds great," Donald said appreciably. Being in a restaurant again would be…weird. "I have to be to the halfway house by 8:00, but besides that I'm good to go."

Callie grabbed his hand again. "We fixed all of your favorite stuff Dad."

"I helped," said Mariana. "Callie and I made those lemon bar things you like."

"Lemon bars?" Jesús butted in. "I didn't see those. Why didn't I see those?"

"We hid them," said Mariana, turning sassily to her twin. "We knew if you found them, Donald wouldn't get anything."

"Mo-oms," complained Jesús. "That's not fair for them to hide food. They can't do that, can they?"

"Apparently they did," said Stef, hugging her son around the shoulders. "Buck up my friend, you will get your fill of food when we get home."

"You should have seen our shopping cart Dad," Jude said, coming over to the other side of him. "Mom was piling things on. Everyone was looking at us when we got to the checkout guy. As soon as Mom said she had six kids everyone in the whole line was like 'oohhhh'".

"Okay," Lena interrupted. "Jude, Callie, you ride in the other car with Mom and your dad. The rest of you can ride with me in the van."

"Mommy, Mommy," said Frankie waving imperious, chubby arms at Stef.

"Oh, I see how it is," said Lena, grinning at the toddler and making a funny face.

Frankie gave her a big smile and covered her face in kisses before she was handed to Stef. Stef gave her lover a quick smile and a kiss as she hefted the toddler onto her shoulders.

"I'll get the car seat from the van," Brandon volunteered as they got to the cars.

Like a river being divided by a fork, various family members streamed around Donald to get into the cars they'd been directed towards. Within moments, he found himself divested of his meager belongings and sitting in the front seat of a silver Toyota with his children peppering him with questions from the back.

"What kinds of things do you want to do Dad? Do you want to go to the park or something? There's some really nice ones here," said Jude from behind his left shoulder.

"Are you going to sell houses again like you use to?" asked Callie from his right. "Moms say the market is getting better than it was. You might be able to do pretty good."

"Pretty well," corrected Stef as she flipped the signal to turn and Frankie burbled a little song to herself in the background.

"There's a couple of houses for sale near us," said Jude. "Wouldn't it be cool if you could sell them? You could see us after school and everything."

Donald winced slightly as he turned to his children. "I'm not going to be able to sell houses for awhile kids," he told them. "I'm going to find some other kind of job."

"What kind of job?" asked Callie, frowning at him. "What else can you do?"

"Don't be a jerk, Callie," said Jude, pushing her a little over the car seat that was placed between them.

"I'm not," said Callie shoving him back. "It's an honest question."

"It's a good question," said Donald before they could escalate. "And the answer is I'm not quite sure yet. My PO said I might be able to do something with cars."

"You can fix cars?" asked Jude, sounding incredulous.

"Yeah," said Donald. "My dad-your grandpa taught me how. We fixed our car whenever it broke down and he helped me rebuild a Buick when I was sixteen so I could have my own car."

"Cool," said Jude.

"Hey, I remember that," said Callie suddenly. "You use to change the oil on our car. I remember I'd watch you from the sidewalk and you'd get all greasy and everything." She laughed. "Then you'd try to chase me around like you were going to grab me and get your big, old greasy hands on me."

"I don't remember that." Jude sounded a little disappointed.

"You were pretty little," said Callie, ruffling his hair. Just like that, their argument was over.

"Yeah," Donald agreed, looking out the window at the passing scenery. "It was a long time ago."

When they reached the house, the van was already there and Lena and the kids were inside. Jude and Callie almost simultaneously grabbed Donald's hands as Stef unhooked Frankie from her car seat and set her onto the driveway.

"C'mon Dad, you've got see my room," said Jude, starting to tug him up the stairs to the front porch.

"No, my room first, it's closer," said Callie quickly, also trying to tug him along.

"It's right across from my room," protested Jude.

Frankie stamped her tiny foot as she followed them. "My room first," she declared. She'd caught onto the fact that this new person was of some importance and she wanted in on the action.

Both Jude and Callie instantly released their father as they giggled. Callie swooped the little girl into her arms. "How could we be so dumb?" Callie agreed. "Of course our dad has to see your room first."

"No dumb," the little girl said, patting at Callie's hands. "Mama says."

"Sorry baby," said Callie. "You're right again. Nobody here's allowed to call themselves dumb," she said for Donald's clarification.

"My room, my room, my room," said the toddler, bouncing in Callie's arms and returning to the important matter at hand.

"Of course," said Callie, opening the door to the house.

Jude leaned towards his father. "It isn't really a room," he said, lowering his voice confidentially. "It's more like an alcove."

Donald grinned at him.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Donald had somewhat of an otherworldly feeling as he wandered the Adams-Foster house. Pictures filled the walls; and they weren't just on walls, but pretty much every available surface. There were group shots, individual shots, pairs of children, Lena and Stef, and every other conceivable combination under the sun. It felt as if every moment of their lives had been captured on camera…and he saw his children everywhere. They were smiling, they were mugging for the camera, and in one memorable picture, Callie was pouting furiously. It was adorable and he knew exactly why her mothers had framed it. There was a picture of Jude near a lake, holding a fish with a mixed expression of delight and revulsion as Stef stood beside him, beaming. Picture after picture showed the lives that his children were living…without him. Yes they had told him stories, but nothing they said could encapsulate everything that had went on. This…here was a record of their existence. He had wanted that for them, he had wanted them to be able to live without their lives being put on hold, waiting for him to be released…and they had. He felt the pain of the loss acutely, but it was mixed with happiness.

Lena caught him as he used his finger to trace his children's faces. They were in front of a tent, their arms around one another as they laughed hysterically. "Hey," she said gently, a whole world of meaning in her tone.

He drew his hand away a little guiltily. "Hi."

She followed his gaze. "That was our trip to the Redwood National Forest. Two-no three years ago."

"I remember that," he said quietly. "I mean I remember them telling me about that." He looked at the picture longingly. "They look really happy," he muttered.

Lena reached out to take his hand. "They are," she said, her voice full of nearly unbearable gentleness.

"I'm glad," he said, still looking at the picture, feeling an ache deep within his chest. "It's what I wanted for them. It's all I wanted for them."

"It's okay for you to feel sad about it," she told him. "It's even okay if you're angry."

"I'm not angry," he said, turning quickly. "I-this is what I wanted," he repeated. Did that sound hollow to her? It sounded that way to himself.

Lena took a deep breath, squeezing his hand in an unconscious signal to look at her. "I think-I think you should let yourself feel the loss you're feeling right now. Don't push it down. If you do you might find yourself avoiding the kids or treating them differently. That's not fair to them Donald. I can't let that happen."

He looked at her, blinking. "You really love them, don't you?" he said.

"With all my heart. With everything I am. They're still your kids Donald, but they're ours too." Lena gave his hand another squeeze, then let go.

He tried to give her a smile but it faltered a little. "Thank you," he said finally. "Thank you for being such good parents to them."

"You don't have to thank us," said Lena. "We're their moms. That's just what we do."

Donald took a deep breath and nodded.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The prison cafeteria was never quiet, but the Adams-Foster house seemed to rival it in sheer volume and movement.

"Brandon, bread me," Jesús shouted across the room when he saw his brother rise to fill the water pitcher.

"Me too," chimed Jude.

Two rolls went instantly flying into their hands.

"Boys," scolded Lena. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

"A least a million," said Jesús, grinning as he slathered butter onto the roll.

"A million and one," said Jude gravely, before breaking into giggles.

Lena rolled her eyes and gave her wife a look.

"Don't blame me," said Stef mildly. "I don't know where they get it from." Then she looked at her eldest son with a puckish expression. "Hey B, send some bread my way."

"Really?" said Lena as Stef caught the roll easily as it was lobbed to her.

Stef shrugged as the whole table broke into wild giggles.

The children were pretty good about not talking over each other, but they did tend to start as soon as someone else stopped so it seemed like an endless, seamless, drone of conversation. Every single one of them were involved with one or more activities that they wanted to talk about...in great detail. Donald wondered at this. Weren't teenagers supposed to be more close-mouthed? He was surprised when Stef teased Callie about being "Miss Popularity" and the girl blushed. Apparently there was a whole crowd of kids she hung out with. She never really indicated that she had a lot of friends, although she did speak of them on occasion. He was a little more surprised when Jude was teased for "primping" in the mirrors before "dates" with Connor. Jude had told him he was gay almost two years ago, but beyond that, he really didn't talk that much about it. Not with Donald anyway.

But when his brothers teased him, Jude just leaned back in his chair with great confidence. "You guys are just mad because I'm already a player way before you ever were."

Stef nudged Lena. "Listen to that. A player. Our baby boy, a player. I'm so proud."

Lena pushed her back as she rolled her eyes. "No official 'dating' before you're thirteen bubby," she said firmly.

Jesús meanwhile, was processing the whole 'player' argument. "I had dates before I was thirteen," he said. "You may be ahead of Brandon but not me."

"Hey," said Brandon.

"What do you mean you had dates, Jesús?" said Stef, raising an eyebrow at him.

He looked at his moms. "Oh, I mean. Well-"

Callie laughed. "Don't tell them about Lia," she advised.

"Or Abby," Mariana sing-songed. The girls gave each other high-fives over their brother's indignant look.

"Jesús-" Lena warned.

Jesús looked around the table for a minute. "Uh, maybe we shouldn't discuss this when we have a guest," he said weakly.

"He's not a guest," said Callie with a little grin in Donald's direction. "He's family."

Donald gave his daughter a genuine smile.

xoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

That night the family gathered around a fire pit in the back yard. The children eagerly kept it supplied with wood as they roasted marshmallows and made S'mors. Callie and Brandon took turns playing the guitar. Callie had improved remarkably from the last time Donald had heard her. Of course, she had only been ten at the time. Now her fingers glided over the strings with an easy, careless assurance as she sung. Apparently Mariana and Brandon sang as well and they joined together in a practiced chorus, their voices blending gently in the night air. The rest of the family joined in with more commonly known songs, but let the trio sing alone when they got to more unfamiliar melodies. Donald closed his eyes sometimes, just letting the music drift over him. It was the sweetest thing he had heard in five years. The album Lena and Stef had gifted him with sat in his lap. It was an immeasurable treasure and he still hadn't found the right words to thank them. When the music stopped, he opened his eyes and looked around. Callie was giggling with Mariana as they whispered to one another. Brandon was still strumming the guitar absently as Jesús tickled baby Frankie's feet with one of his fingers. Frankie, who was laying in Lena's lap, giggled and kicked her feet out at him. Jude was leaning on Stef as she stroked his hair and placed a kiss on his head. Lena had her head on Stef's other shoulder, one of her hands grasping her lover's with a possessive kind of love.

Donald smiled a little to himself. This was what he had wanted for his children. This family and their love for one another was something that should never, ever be taken for granted. He stood and stretched. "I think I better get going," he said. "It's already 7:15 and I want to make sure I get there on time." He couldn't call the halfway house, home. Not here, when he was surrounded by the real thing.

"I'll take you," said Stef, rousing herself and nudging Jude who was gazing at the fire with somnolent intensity.

Donald held out his hands. "No, that's okay. Really. There's a bus stop only a couple blocks away. It will take me right there."

"Are you sure?" said Stef.

"Positive," said Donald firmly. "You guys have already done so much. I want you to stay." He smiled somewhat wistfully. "You look really comfortable."

"Okay," said Stef, subsiding easily back into her wife's embrace.

"Do you really have to go now Dad?" asked Jude, coming over to him.

"Yeah. Sorry buddy."

Callie walked over to him as well. "But we're going to see you soon, right? Maybe even before my party next weekend?"

"Sure," said Donald, hugging both of them tightly. "Sure. If that's what you guys want."

"And we can call you anytime we want now, right?" asked Jude, his voice only slightly muffled by his dad's shirt.

"Pretty much. I gotta check on that. Might need to wait until after I leave the halfway house."

"Okay," said Jude, lifting his face from his dad's side. "I can't wait until you get to a place where there aren't so many rules, Dad."

"You aren't the only one buddy," said Donald, ruffling his hair.

Jude gave him another exuberant hug. "Bye Dad," he said. Then he went back to sit beside his mothers.

"Bye Jude," said Donald, still holding an arm around Callie's shoulders.

"I'll walk with you, a little ways, okay?" Callie asked. She turned to her moms. "Just a couple blocks? I'll be back right away."

"Bring your phone," said Stef.

"As if she doesn't always have it with her," snorted Mariana at their mother's faux pas.

"Sorry," said Stef in mock humility, holding her hands up.

There was a chorus of good-byes as Callie led the way across the yard to the gate that opened into the street.

"You sure you want to leave right now?" asked Donald as they closed the gate.

"Uh-huh," said Callie. "I like walking at night. Besides, this neighborhood is super safe. Mom wouldn't let us live here if it wasn't."

"You just looked like you were having fun," said Donald as they fell in step together. "I don't want to take you away from that."

"I was," agreed Callie. "And when I go back I'll still have fun. But right now I want to walk with you."

Donald laughed a little. He could hear echoes of Colleen in her words, but he could also hear Lena's tone, and see the tilt of Stef's head in his daughter.

"What?" asked Callie.

"I was just thinking that you reminded me of your moms," he said quietly. "All your moms."

Callie was silent for nearly a minute as their feet clapped along the sidewalk. "Do you think she'd be mad?" she asked.

"Your mom?" he asked, not needing her to specify which one. "Why?"

"Cause I'm living with my moms – with Stef and Lena. And I really love it. There. With them. I mean, I miss her but…not like I use to." Callie nibbled worriedly on her lower lip.

Donald stopped to face her. "Sweetheart, she would be absolutely ecstatic that you have such a great life; with friends and family...you know, I walked around your house today, looking at all those pictures and I was-" he hesitated. "Really happy," he finished quietly.

"Are you sure?" said Callie, looking at him keenly.

"Yes," he said firmly. Any sadness he felt was drowned by this particular conviction. "Do I wish your mom and I could have offered that to you? Of course, but since we couldn't…I'm so glad you've had a good life sweetheart. So glad. I hate to think what it would have been otherwise."

Callie nodded. "Yeah."

They began walking again. Callie reached out and took his hand. It still felt small to him.

"I'm glad you're here now," said Callie. "I'm glad you'll be with us."

"Me too."

They walked to the bus stop and Callie watched her father got on. He waved to her from the window as he sat down. She waved back. She watched the bus until it was out of sight, then turned, and walked home.

Author's Notes:

· Stef and Lena got married the first time CA allowed it. With five kids, they wanted to make the ties even more clear for legal reasons. I'm fudging with the timeline slightly to do that, but that's mostly because they are trying to compress three years of filming into one year "real time".

· Frankie was named for Stef's dad after he was hospitalized the first time and they thought they were going to lose him. He's still alive at this point in the story.