Lena lay awake for hours just watching Stef sleep. She looked so peaceful - almost like the past week had never happened and in that moment Lena realized just how much Stef truly loved her - enough to forgive her so completely for what she'd done, with absolutely no consequences.

The the thoughts just wouldn't stop spinning through Lena's mind and more than once she found herself itching to reach out and comb her fingers through Stef's blond locks, shining golden in the pale moonlight. She decided to get out of bed so that Stef could sleep without being disturbed.

She headed downstairs and reclined on the couch with a mug of milk and honey - something her mother would give her as a child when she couldn't sleep.

Callie couldn't sleep either. It was a habit that had lessened in the year she'd lived with the Fosters but still, occasionally, sleep eluded her. She headed downstairs to get some fresh air in the back yard that would help her go back to sleep but a voice distracted her.

"Callie?" Lena whispered into the dark when she saw her daughter head down the stairs.

"Um, yeah." Callie said, a frown on her face when she saw Lena.

"Can't sleep?" Lena asked, knowing that Callie had these nights.

"I thought you guys worked things out." Callie said, completely oblivious to Lena's question.

"What?" Lena asked confused.

"Why are you sleeping on the couch?" Callie finally asked. Through dinner things had seemed completely normal between her mom's and she had honestly believed that they were fine but now, seeing Lena on the couch made her wonder if it wasn't as okay as she'd imagined.

"Oh." Lena said in understanding. "I couldn't sleep and I didn't want to wake mom."

Callie looked skeptically back at her until Lena held a hand out for Callie to sit beside her.

"We're okay sweetheart." Lena assured her daughter. "She didn't kick me out. She wouldn't anyways. If she didn't want to sleep in the same bed she'd have taken the couch."

"That sounds like her." Callie smiled, finally relaxing a bit into her mother.

"You are so much like her you know." Lena said. "I sometimes look at you and imagine Stef as a feisty sixteen year old."

"She said that to me once." Callie said, loving that thought.

The two sat in silence for a few moments just enjoying the quiet and the comfort of each other until Callie turned to Lena.

"I'm glad you guys worked it out." She said. "I've never met anyone like you. You belong together."

Lena smiled. She liked that - belonging to Stef. The girl in front of her amazed her so much - supporting her even when things were difficult.

"You've been a big help this past week you know that." Lena said to her daughter. "You really helped me out. I know you were upset and angry but you did it anyways." After a moment she asked the question that had been plaguing her for a while. "Why?" She asked.

"You're my mom." Callie answered with a shrug.

"I'm everyone else's mom too." Lena pointed out.

Callie sighed. Lena was always one to dig until she got to the bottom of things. There was really no use in even trying to drop it.

"You took a chance on me when I kept making mistakes." Callie said. "I know Stef loves me with all her heart but you brought me home." Callie explained. "You took a chance on me even though everything pointed to just leaving me there. You knew Stef would be upset for a while and that I wouldn't be the easiest to handle but you took a chance anyways."

"There's more to you than just your past you know." Lena answered. "You may try to show a tough exterior but your eyes tend to tell a different story."

"My eyes?" Callie asked, having never heard something like that before.

"Yes." Lena smiled. "You looked like you didn't care if you went to a group home but your eyes begged me to give you a chance. Even when you were sitting in my kitchen, upsetting everyone with your comments we knew it was just your way of protecting yourself."

"Not many people would have looked that hard." Callie said, remembering how she'd basically labeled everyone in the house that night. "And even if they did see it they wouldn't do much about it."

"That's their loss." Lena told her. "Because all those foster parents missed out on getting to know a wonderful, loving, beautiful girl and I for one am thankful because it means that I get to keep you."

Callie didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry. She wanted Lena to be able to keep her but she knew that her biological father was also fighting for custody and with all his money there was a good chance he'd win.

Lena could sense what her daughter was thinking. "Whatever happens you'll still be our daughter." She told the girl. "Just like Brandon is still Mike's son even though he doesn't live with him. You can come and live with us and come to us for absolutely anything and I can also promise you that we will keep fighting because we want you honey, we want you with us just as much as you want to stay here. I can't promise you that it'll all work out but I can promise to be there for you for the rest of your life. You will always have a family here and even if things don't go your way it's not too long till you're eighteen and then no one can ever tell you what to do."

"I used to dream of having a family and no longer being in the system." Callie admitted. "Now I just wish I was still a foster kid so that no one could come and claim me and take me away. When I got sent to Helen's I though I'd find this guy and he'd be more than happy to sign me away. I never imagined he'd be someone who'd want me and want to take me away from my family. Now I just wish I'd left it alone and continued to be a foster kid like I'd planned when the adoption was denied."

"You never know." Lena said. "We never expected them to take you away, even for a night. At least now we know you'll go to a home that will love and care for you and can provide you what you need. If you have to go I'd rather it be a place like that rather than a home like Helen's where you're locked up or even worse."

"At least for now I'm still here." Callie said, determined to enjoy every bit of it as she could. "She never knew when things would change."

"That you are." Lena smiled.

"Thanks." Callie said.

"For what?" Lena asked.

"Taking that chance." Callie answered. "Looking past the defenses."

"It wasn't hard." Lena answered. "We gained a lot from it too."

Callie smiled back as she snuggled into Lena's arms while Lena handed her the half full mug of milk.

"What's this?" Callie asked, taking it from her.

"Milk and honey." Lena answered. "My mother would give it to me when I couldn't sleep."

Callie smiled and took a sip, loving the fact that she was now the daughter that couldn't sleep with a mother to give her a mug of milk.

The two sat like that for a few more minutes until another pair of footsteps were heard on the steps.

"There you are." Stef said entering the living room to find her wife and daughter curled up together. "What are you two doing up so late?"

"We couldn't sleep." Callie answered, smiling at the fact that Stef had come looking for Lena.

"Milk and Honey huh?" Stef asked sitting down on the other side of Callie. "Mama's favorite."

Callie smiled up at Lena as Stef leaned into both of them to join the cuddle.

"It's late and a school night so I think you need to get back to bed." Stef said after a few minutes. "Come on, I'll tuck you in."

Lena took the mug back from Callie and went to rinse it out while Stef took their daughter upstairs and back to bed.

"Mama told me how supportive you've been this past week with the housework and letting her know what the kids were up to." Stef whispered to Callie just outside her door. "I know it wasn't easy for you either but I'm so proud of you. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Callie answered, hugging her mom, glad that she was back now.

"Get some sleep love." Stef said, pulling back the comforter for Callie to crawl in. She leaned down to give her daughter a kiss before heading back to her own room.

Soon Stef and Lena were both cuddled together, falling asleep in each other's arms just the way that they were meant to be.

Author's Note:

So that's the end of the entire story. I really hoped you liked it. Thanks again for all the reviews and PM's. I love getting them.

Happy New Year to all of you...

Love Junebug.