Callie didn't try to hide her discomfort when Stef offered to give the siblings a ride home, and if Stef didn't know better, the facial expression the teen sported would almost be comical. But there was nothing remotely funny about the panic that filled Callie's bloodshot eyes at the prospect of having to spend more time with Stef than originally planned, in fact, it was the same look she exhibited each and every time Stef had asked a question that wasn't just general small talk, or offered her assistance to the siblings.

It was obvious that Callie feared Stef. At first glance, she looked like a hostile, trouble-making delinquent, but Stef could see past that front the moment her little brother came into the situation. The girl's life seems to revolve around him, and the idea warms Stef's heart as well as making her increasingly worried.

She isn't sure what to think when Callie downright refuses her request to take them home. She springs up out of her seat the second Stef asks if their parents are with them here, announcing that they have somewhere they need to be. Jude tugs on her hand, pleading up at her with desperation filled eyes as she bluntly denies Stef's offer, and the contact immediately causes her to soften her stature. "I mean, you don't have to do that. We have an all day bus pass, anyway," she says, covering up her nerves with jittery rambling.

Stef isn't quite sure what to think apart from the fact that she wishes she could get inside this girl's head, even just for a minute, to see what on earth has her so wound up. But Callie takes her silence as warning, and begins to wring her hands anxiously as she begins to stutter out another round of thanks. "...thank you for the juice. I, uh, I can pay you back. I just don't have money on me right now, but I'll get it to you somehow?"

The frown on her face as she speaks is the key to the realisation that she's just dug herself a hole that is going to be difficult to get out of. If Stef can account for one thing about Callie, it is that the girl can't get away from her quick enough each time they cross paths – and she can already tell that insinuating another interaction with the cop is troubling her deeply.

"No need for that. It's on me."

The relief in her eyes is palpable but before she can get away, Stef fishes in her back pocket and finds a pen, before quickly scribbling down her cellphone number on a folded napkin. Just because Callie would much rather drop off the face of the earth (or so it seems) than accidentally run into the blonde cop again, doesn't mean that Stef isn't desperate to know more about this intriguing, closed off girl and her sweet, curious little brother.

"What's this for?" Callie asks, eyeing the piece of tissue suspiciously, before a hint of worry crosses her features. "Did you change your mind about the soda?"

How many times is this girl going to doubt her trust? "No. But if you ever need anything, or if anyone's ever bothering you, you know you can call me."

"Really? You're doing this?" she questions, eyebrow raised, clearly unimpressed by the woman's courteous efforts.

"Just take it," Stef huffs, nearly exhausted with the girl's constant need to make snarky comments in response to her every word. "It'll make me feel better to know you can get in touch with me."

She studies the number silently, before slipping it into her pocket and surveying the area awkwardly. "Well...uh...I guess we'll see you around?"

"Yeah," Stef says, an expression halfway between a smile and a grimace painting her face, stunned at just how quickly the girl could go from a hostile, grumpy bear to vulnerable and wary sounding.

Jude lets out a mumbled bye, before his sister nudges him and he quickly thanks Stef for the soda, which brings a smile to her face. At least this little boy remains innocent to whatever trauma Callie has been through that has resulted in her bruised demeanor.

As they walk away along the boardwalk, Stef finds herself wanting to call after them, to insist that she drive them home. She wants to raise the issue of Callie's injuries and her horrific suspicions of how she got them with the siblings' parents, and to make sure these children are loved and cared for.

But as much as she wants to, Stef knows that she can't.

Lena always said she got too consumed with her work, and this is a prime example.

Lena.

She'd been away for over an hour now, and judging by Mariana's previous remarks, she knows Lena will be even less impressed by her excuses. This was supposed to be a family day out, and so far, she'd spent almost all of the time thinking about work and disappearing to chase after some kids.

She tells herself she had just been trying to do the right thing, but every reaction Callie has had only proves that what these kids want isn't help from her.

Stef knows she should give up, that she shouldn't be as fixated on finding out more about these kids and that she should give her family the attention it demands.

But even though these kids don't want her help, that doesn't mean they don't need it.

oOo

"Why haven't you been answering your cell phone?"

Lena is walking towards her tying her salty hair up in a topknot, eyes concerned, but her face tells a different story.

But before Stef can even think about replying, Lena's interrogation continues. "Mariana said you had to do something for work. Is that true?"

Pondering what she should answer, Stef glances over at Mariana who is sitting by the packed up beach bags. By the glare she receives from her daughter, she knows she can't lie, even if it would make Lena feel better.

"Yes; it's true."

"Did something happen? Are you alright? You didn't get hurt, did you?" Lena fusses, closing the distance between them and studying Stef, frantically searching for any sign of injury.

"Love, I'm fine. Okay?" Stef assures, knowing that one of Lena's greatest fears is her partner getting injured on the job. And while Lena's face fills with relief, it soon dissipates and is replaced with annoyance.

"Lena, listen. I'm sorry, okay. I know I should have called–"

"No, what you should have done was not be working in the first place. It's the weekend, Stef!"

She looks down at her feet, feeling like a small child being reprimanded by their mother. She'd screwed up – really screwed up. "I know," she mumbles awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot.

"Do you?" Lena retorts, before softening her tone a little. "What's going on, Stef?"

She isn't sure how to explain it, or if she should tell Lena about Callie and Jude at all. Lena won't get it, not like she does, and besides, hadn't she just vowed to herself to try and keep work and family separate? Wouldn't telling Lena about the siblings just make things even more complicated?

"You know what? Just forget it. I don't want to know," Lena says, letting out a frustrated sigh before turning on her heel.

Stef shakes her head and starts after her partner. "Lena, come on!"

"No, Stef. You've been distracted for days now. You clearly have something you don't want to tell me, something that's more important than the kids and me, but it's fine. You go to work and do whatever it is you do there and I'll be at home with the kids whenever you decide to show up."

Stef knows her wife is angry, and that in reality, she doesn't mean what she's saying, but the blonde can't help but answer back anyway. "Fine!"

Maybe they both need a little time to cool off, and by the looks she receives from all three of her children as they trudge to the car, she knows they think so too.

oOo

"I thought you said you weren't mad."

"I'm not," Callie replies, looking over to her brother as she loads the washer later that afternoon.

"Then why aren't you speaking to me?"

The question leaves Callie hanging. She isn't mad - not really. Sure, she's still annoyed at Jude for putting her in the situation with Stef, but really, she feels numb. Like she's in shock or something.

Because if I speak then I might say something I'll regret, Callie thinks to herself, but swallows the words before they can escape her lips.

"I'm not?" she asks, closing the door and setting the wash for an hour plus spin.

"No. You're doing that thing where you answer my questions with a question - like you did at the Olmstead's the weekend before they moved us."

Just the mention of their name makes Callie's blood run cold. She had hoped Jude had forgotten about that weekend, just as she had tried to countless times before, but of course, the memories still came back to her almost any time she closed her eyes.

"I'm...uh, I'm sorry," Callie says, voice wavering, caught off guard by Jude's comment.

They go back to their silence; Callie doing chores around the kitchen and Jude flicking through his comic book. For a moment, Callie can almost pretend that it's just like any other evening - that they live a normal life that doesn't revolve around being shifted around every few months and living in fear of when their foster parents will come home. But the way Jude shifts from side to side in his seat every so often, releasing little sighs of frustration, only makes Callie realise that no matter how hard she tries, today will never be normal - not even their version of normal.

"She isn't that bad, you know."

"I know," Callie replies, surprising both of them. Jude's eyes seem to light up at her confession as he waits for her to elaborate. She leans against the counter, her tailbone wailing as she eases her back into the hard wood, and watches as his face falls in realisation at her words. "I just..."

"You don't trust her, do you?" he sighs, looking back down at his comic book.

"I can't, Jude. She isn't giving me many reasons to trust her, and you shouldn't either. How can I trust her when she just seems to appear out of nowhere?"

"That's because you don't make it easy," he mumbles, deliberately turning his head so he faces away from her.

"What was that?" she asks, irritation filling her veins.

"You're not exactly the warmest person to be around. Why do you always have to be so...so closed off? She just wanted to buy us soda, and you made it into such a big deal. It's..." Jude pauses mid rant, as if he's unsure if he should continue.

"Say it," Callie mumbles, almost positive of where this is going to go.

"It's embarrassing! It's like you're deliberately trying to scare people off...to push them away before they even do anything wrong. And the worst thing is, you don't even know you're doing it."

Before, Callie had felt irritation towards her brother, so strong it was almost on the verge of anger, but now she feels empty. Because everything that Jude has just said is true, and now she isn't sure about anything.

When had her attempts to protect her brother gotten out of hand? Is the fear she has of Stef no more than just an extension of the grudge she holds on every cop she's ever met? The woman has never done them any harm, and has really only ever offered her help to the siblings. Is her judgement really that clouded by the recent beating she received from Lance?

Yes.

No.

Stef is a cop, and cops always equal danger.

"Callie...I didn't mean to upset you..." Jude looks up at her with solemn eyes, clearly at ends with himself for upsetting his sister.

Swallowing her emotions, Callie smiles tearily to her brother. "Go upstairs and take a shower, okay baby? I'll finish up down here."

As she watches the boy leave the table, Callie holds her head in her hands and let's out an exasperated sigh. Maybe she really does owe it to Stef to at least hear her out. Maybe if she cooperates, if she tells the cop what she wants to hear, then she'll get off their case. At this point, what could go wrong? Surely things can't get worse than they already are.

And who knows, maybe it'll even make her feel better, knowing there is somebody they can turn to if things do get worse, although just the idea that this isn't the worst of what's to come makes Callie shudder.

oOo

Stef arrives home from the beach past dinner time. She'd hung around for a while, trying to muster up some kind of condolence speech to present to Lena, but mostly to actually build up the courage to go back. She had not only an angry wife at home, but an angry daughter, and she bet her two sons felt the exact same way as their sister.

She admits that she has screwed up: big time. But if Lena only knew what she was dealing with, then surely she wouldn't be so in the wrong. After all, the couple have practically devoted their lives to their children, two of which didn't have the best of starts to life either, much alike the siblings she met today.

When she opens the front door she doesn't smell the aroma of Italian cooking that's a common occurrence on a Saturday night in the Foster household, in fact, apart from shrieking, animated car horns coming from Jesus's games console, the whole house seems oddly quiet.

Stef slips off her tennis shoes before heading down the hall, making sure to pop her head in the living room as she passes. As she suspected, Jesus sits on the couch, body tense as he crouches forward, his focus firmly on the screen before him.

"Hey," he says when he notices her watching, and pauses the game.

"Hi," Stef replies rather awkwardly, unsure of where she stands with the kids after she bailed on their beach day.

"Mama's sleeping - said she had a migraine and not to disturb her, but I think Mariana is in there too."

Stef sighs. While she hadn't expected everything to be peachy right away, she had been expecting to be able to resolve the issue sooner than tomorrow morning. "Oh. Well, what about B?"

"Probably doing homework or something, even though it's a Saturday. God, why do my siblings have to be such-"

"Hey now! You know, when you're an adult, there isn't much time for hanging out. Sometimes we have to work even when we have other things we'd rather be doing instead," Stef says, only half serious.

"Mom," Jesus says, placing his game controller on the coffee table and unfolding his legs. "is this is some kind of excuse for bailing out on us today...because that wasn't cool."

Stef's stomach flops. Just another reminder of how much she screwed up. "You're right, it wasn't cool. I'm sorry about that, babe. I just…I had something I had to take care of, and it was one of those things…" she explains, but by the look on Jesus's face, convincing him isn't going to be as easy as she'd like. "But that's no excuse for bailing on my babies, and I'm sorry."

Seeming to accept his mother's answer, Jesus nods his head solemnly before turning back around to resume his game. Taking this as her queue to leave, Stef stands and heads towards the hall. "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course," Jesus says, not really taking his eyes off the screen.

Figuring that was as good as she's going to get, she crosses the threshold and heads towards the kitchen. She had figured Jesus would be the easiest of her kids to get through to, but if his stony front shows anything, it was that she only had it worse to come when the time came to speak to her other babies.

Stef spends the rest of the night downstairs, only moving from the kitchen when she finally hears Jesus switch off his Xbox and head upstairs. She decides to take her son's advice, and doesn't bother Lena to go to bed, partly out of embarrassment and partly because she knows there won't be any room for her in the bed, anyway. She decides that this is the best option for everyone tonight, that they all need a night to cool off, and that things will get better tomorrow.

As she pulls out the woollen throw blanket – one that had been knitted by her own great-grandmother and had been passed down through many generations of Elkin's – Stef almost regrets her decision to sleep downstairs. In fact, she almost regrets her decision to leave her family at the beach and have soda with Callie and Jude, because none of this would have happened. If the day had gone to plan, she would be cuddled up with her wonderful girlfriend right now, legs intertwining and lips pressed together, not lying on the worn, leather sofa wrapped in itchy wool, alone.

With a family of five, it's a rare occasion that one member ever feels lonely. There was always someone around, doing who knows what, and often, Stef would find her self praying for just a moment of peace and quiet.

But now that moment – that night – has come, Stef wants more than anything to be surrounded by her babies. She'd sit through one of Mariana's overly juvenile dramatic rants that exhausted the hell out of her trying to keep up with. She'd even skip reprimanding Jesus for skateboarding in the house just so there would be some kind of activity going on. And what she'd give just to hear Brandon play the same piece on piano over and over…

Stef Foster had forgotten what it was like to feel lonely until now, and she can't even feel sorry for herself – after all, she was the one that got herself into the situation.

In order to subdue her guilty conscience, Stef finds herself thinking about the day's events. Of course, while her slight intrusiveness had many downfalls, it would be silly to ignore the positives that came out of it, and the new information she'd gained.

The bruises on Callie's face and marks on her wrists were an obvious cause for concern, and her eagerness to assure Stef that they were nothing more than just a clumsy accident just makes her all the more weary about how the girl obtained them. Could she be in an abusive relationship? It won't surprise Stef if that is the case; she's seen plenty helpless young women in such compromising and terrifying situations in her time as a cop. Even then, she knows there is still something off about the whole scenario, and no matter how hard she tries, she won't be able to ignore it.

Her brain is restless, and she still finds herself awake long after her first attempts to fall asleep. But, instead of thinking about Callie, her mind wanders to Thursday night and the call she and Mike had down to San Ysidro. She never did manage to check back up on that house, and the night has barely crossed her mind since her first encounter with Callie.

Maybe this is a prime example of why she shouldn't be getting so caught up on things that are out of her control – even if there was something going on in that house, it's not like she can arrest the guy for some discriminating words. Good one, Stef. If you keep up this creepy-overanalysing thing you've got going on, the next thing you'll be saying is that Jude was the little boy you saw peering out the window of that house in San Ysidro on Thursday!

Consumed in her determination to get to the bottom of the siblings she had met earlier today, Stef hadn't even considered the possibility until now. What if it was Jude she saw? What if he was the one who called the cops down? What if-

Stop, she tells herself. What if – that's all it is. Just another thing that she doesn't need to get herself involved in.

As her spinning thoughts calm, and she tries to dismiss her sudden breakthrough, Stef finds herself drifting off to sleep having made a pact with herself to fix things with Lena first thing in the morning. Even if that does mean reining back her 'extra-curricular' and over analysing activities a little, she is willing to do that in order to keep her family happy.

Though, as she's thinking it, Stef knows she won't really be able to keep herself placid when it comes to Callie and Jude – or the house in San Ysidro, for that matter – but it's the thought that counts, right?

In fact, as she lets her eyes close for the final time, Stef makes one last mental note to look up the siblings' names in the computer system at the station, and to see if they have a connection with the house in San Ysidro. If they don't, then great – it'll be one less thing she has to worry about. But if it turns out they do somehow, then Stef knows that she'll be wriggling herself into this case for the long run, and she'll have to somehow manage to keep her promises to her family along with investigating this new scenario.

Thanks for reading and for sticking with me throughout this story. I DO have the outline finished for the most part, but I hate rushing into things and I like to set them out at a thorough, realistic pace - I totally understand if that's not your style and I give permission for you to hate me for this filler chapter! The storyline may seem a little dragged out for some, but I assure you, there's a reason. I may seem awfully thorough, but I like to try and create as realistic a situation as possible as well as keeping it interesting. I don't think this situation is something Stef would rush into as such, as it bends many rules in her job title, but don't worry! We'll be getting some proper intervention in two chapters time and I have a feeling you Stef/Callie lovers are going to like it.

And to those of you who left kind messages last chapter - thank you! I wasn't expecting that and it really made me smile and helped motivate me to keep going with this story after neglecting it so much!

I'll try and get the next chapter posted as soon as I can! Please review and let me know your thoughts - K :)