"Hey." Lena said as she stood outside the zipped up tent that the boys were sharing. She knew Jude was alone in there. Brandon was at the lake and Jesus had gone for a walk.

Seconds later Lena heard the unzipping of the flaps and Jude's head peeking out. "Hey." He said softly, knowing that Lena was disappointed in his outburst.

"Can I come in?" Lena asked, glancing around at the messy tent. Clothes were tossed around, sleeping bags were all bunched up, obviously left like that since the boys woke up and open chip packets in a corner. "Or maybe we can go for a stroll." Lena suggested.

Jude nodded silently and headed out of the tent. He'd originally zipped up the tent, planning on changing out of his swim shorts but had ended up just sitting alone in silence so he still had no shirt on. Quickly grabbing the first one he found littered on the tent floor he slipped it on and climbed outside to his mother.

The two began walking in silence for a few minutes until they were out of the camp site completely. They headed up the trail the way Stef and Lena had walked earlier talking about Jesus' news about Ana. Neither though it was wise to head towards the lake just yet.

"I'm not sorry I yelled at her." Jude finally said, uneasy with the constant silence. Just a year ago he would have much preferred the silence, fearing what would happen if he made that type of statement but now he was a completely different kid.

"Why did you yell at her?" Lena asked gently. She knew exactly why but she wanted Jude to be able to express himself.

"Because I'm not a baby." Jude said angrily.

"But Callie treats you like one." Lena added knowingly.

"And because of that everyone else does too." Jude finished. He was frustrated with how he was being treated.

"You know, that's not really Callie's fault." Lena said.

"I know, she's taken care of me since I was six and she's just looking out for me. I get that but I'm not six any more." Jude said. "I can go swimming and put on my own bug spray and toast my own marshmallows and go to the bathroom by myself."

Lena smiled to herself. All her boys were complaining about the bathroom rule, it wasn't just Jude but still, the fact that he'd included her and Stef in his rant just made her smile. "That's not entirely Callie's fault either." She said.

"It is." Jude argued. "She does it so everyone else does it too."

"No." Lena disagreed. "We would have done it anyway. You're our baby and like it or not you're the baby of the family so you automatically get stuck being treated like one longer than you probably should be."

"Great." Jude mumbled under his breath, just like a typical thirteen year old.

"It used to be Mariana." Lena continued. "Maybe not as much as you because she shared youngest with Jesus but still, she was the one everyone looked out for and kept an eye on. But you are quite a bit younger than the others and there are more of us now so maybe it's a bit much."

"It's not really that bad." Jude said. Now that his anger was disappearing he realized it wasn't such a big deal.

"It's done out of love." Lena added. "And especially Callie loves you and like you said she's been doing it so long it's hard to let go sometimes. Just like it's hard for you to be treated like the baby all the time."

"I don't want her to think that I'm not grateful for all the times she's tried to protect me." Jude said honestly. "I'm not stupid, I do know what she's done for me but she doesn't have to do it any more. The little stuff I can do myself and for the big stuff I have you and mom. She can take a break now."

"That may be the hardest part of all." Lena said. "My parents still worry about me and Sharon still worries about Stef and one day you all will grow up and have families and kids of your own but that won't stop us from worrying about you and maybe even nagging you to do the simple stuff too. It's just what we do for the people we love."

"I never had anyone do it for me besides Callie." Jude said frankly. "I guess my mom and dad did but I don't really remember them and now you guys are there for me too but mostly it's just been Callie."

"Then how about we talk to her and explain it to her without yelling at her and give her a chance to explain as well and maybe come to a compromise?" Lena suggested, knowing just how hurt her daughter must be feeling at the moment.

"Okay." Jude smiled. Much like Lena, he also didn't like conflict and now he was beginning to feel bad for the things he'd said to his sister.

"Let's go then." Lena said, reaching out her hand for Jude to take. "I think mom's talking to her right now."

"I didn't mean to hurt her." Jude said as the two made their way back down the path to the lake.

"I know." Lena said. "And I'm pretty sure that Callie knows that too. It's just not always easy to suddenly be unneeded."

"She's not unneeded." Jude said. "I do need her. I just don't need another mother." He added teasingly making Lena laugh.

"Two at a time is enough huh?" Lena grinned down at him.

"Yeah." Jude said. "Two moms, two sisters and two brothers, it's perfect. No one is unneeded."

Author's Note:

That's the end of that. Sorry it took so long - like I said things are pretty hectic around here.

Just for everyone's information Unneeded is a word, it's an adjective and it means not needed obviously.

On a completely different note I think Callie is a fool for calling Robert in stead of Stef and Lena when the detectives came to talk to her. Apart from just adding to her problems she's also being extremely ungrateful to the moms and if she chooses to stay with Robert for a while (which I have a sickening feeling she will do) I will dream every night of slapping her hard.

Thanks for the reviews. I will update Inconceivable in a few days and try and work on that more often. I kinda need to get back into the flow of it...

Keep writing, I love your stories.

Love Junebug.