Stef and Lena stood at their foster daughter's bedroom door and found her in much the same way that Mariana had just a few minutes ago, only now she looked less concerned and more depressed for the word loser just kept rolling around in her head.

"LS huh?" Stef finally asked as she entered the room, drawing the girl out of her train of thought.

Callie looked up at them with sad, deflated look. "What does it mean?" She asked in a soft but desperate voice. She needed to know what it meant and why they would give her a secret name.

Stef and Lena walked further into the room and sat down on either side of the girl. Stef took Callie's hands in her own and turned the girl's body slightly to face her. Only then did she begin to explain.

"Mama came up with it." Stef began, holding on to the girl's hands tightly and giving them a little squeeze. "It means Little Stef." She said with a small smile.

"Little Stef?" Callie asked in confusion. "Why?" She questioned.

"Because you are a little Stef." Stef answered. "You are so much like me honey, it's unbelievable."

"Do you remember at Frank's funeral my mom talked to you about needing a family?" Lena continued the story.

Callie nodded. She remembered it clearly because she knew that Dana was right and she wanted nothing more than to have a family, this family. Only, she didn't realize that this family wanted her just as much.

"After you'd gone back to Girl's United and the other kids were in bed we were talking and my mom was telling us what you'd said and we were discussing how to help you see that you already had family even though you were so determined to do it all on your own." Lena said. "That's when Sharon said it was just like Stef - never accepting help from anyone and trying to keep them at arm's length whenever you felt like your vulnerability would show."

"When my parents got divorced I was seventeen and I was so upset with them that I refused everything from them." Stef told the story. "I said it didn't matter if they were splitting up because I didn't need them. I wasn't a little kid and I could do it all on my own."

"Even now, there are so many things you do that remind me of Stef, it's like I'm getting a chance to see what Stef was like as a teenager." Lena explained, the same way she'd explained it the day she'd come up with the term.

"That's what mama said that day." Stef continued. "'Callie's my time machine to Little Stef.'" Stef quoted as she smiled at Lena.

"It's not a bad thing honey." Lena smiled at Callie, lifting her chin. "You only give nicknames to the people you love."

"You okay?" Stef asked, as she watched Callie try to process everything she'd just been told.

Callie nodded but remained silent. She didn't know what to say. It was such a relief to know what the letters meant and to know it wasn't something bad. Thinking back she should have known it wouldn't be a bad thing - they weren't those types of people. But still, with her history and her luck, it was always a possibility.

"What were you thinking love?" Stef asked, knowing Callie's thought process. "What did you think it meant?"

Callie just shrugged. She didn't want to admit it. She didn't want to have this conversation because it would undoubtedly lead to a lecture on how she as worth much more than she gave herself credit for and while they could say it until they were blue in the face - it was hard to let go of something you'd been told repeatedly for over six years. If they were every going to truly convince her she was worth something then they had about five and a half years worth of catching up to do.

"I don't believe that." Stef dismissed Callie's shrug. "You were thinking something. I know that. And I know it's not going to be something nice, so tell me what it is." She demanded.

"Loser." Callie said very softly, a trace of belief still in her voice.

"No, that's what Mariana suggested." Stef pointed out. "What were you thinking? Before you asked Mariana?"

"I wasn't." Callie finally said out loud. "I couldn't figure it out." She answered honestly.

"But you didn't think it would be something good." Stef stated, already knowing she as right.

Callie looked away once again. Maybe she and Stef were a lot alike but one thing was certain - Stef possessed a power that she definitely didn't have - the power to see right though her walls and read her mind.

"Honey, I know you can't see it but there is so much about you that's good." Lena said as she gave Callie's hand a slight squeeze. "You are an amazing sister and you care so much about the people around you. You help everyone and even when people aren't the nicest to you you're willing to be there for them when they need you." Lena listed. "Besides all that you are beautiful, talented, smart and brave."

"That you are." Stef agreed wholeheartedly. "You weren't handed the easiest of lives sweetheart, but what you've done with yours; what you've become; is nothing short of amazing."

Callie looked away slightly embarrassed. She wasn't used to getting compliments and she wasn't comfortable with it either. She did like it, it was nice to be told things like this rather than being called a worthless foster kid all the time but still, it took some getting used to.

"LS is not a bad thing baby." Lena assured one last time.

"It better not be." Stef warned playfully. "Because, if you think Little Me is bad then you're in for a whole lot of trouble."

Callie finally smiled. It was bright and genuine and long overdue. "It's not a bad thing." She confirmed, liking being compared to Stef. Of everyone she'd ever met Stef was the one she'd like to be.

"Good." Stef said, satisfied. It was amazing just how much the girl could worry over a couple of letters. She could have avoided all this by just coming and asking them what it meant when she'd heard them use it.

"You know you could have come and talked to us." Lena said, voicing Stef's thoughts.

Callie hesitated slightly, not wanting to hurt them by saying she didn't feel comfortable enough to do that just yet, especially with everything that had happened.

Stef could see Callie's shrugged and gave her an out. "Then she wouldn't be me would she?" She teased lightly. "I'm not exactly one to open up easily."

"No you aren't." Lena agreed with a laugh, realizing that if Callie truly was a little Stef then she really had her work cut out for her.

"Do you have these names for all of us?" Callie questioned curiously.

"No, just you." Lena said. "It just came up in conversation and then stuck."

"It was a way of keeping you close even though you weren't here." Stef admitted. "We really missed you while you were gone."

"Sorry about that." Callie said. She hadn't realized it then but she did now, she'd grown on this family just like they had grown on her.

"Don't be." Stef stopped her. "I think Girls United was good for you." She admitted.

"You do?" Callie asked in surprise."

"I do." Stef confirmed. "It gave you a chance to decide what you really wanted without anyone pressuring you."

Callie thought about what Stef had said and realized that she was right. While Callie was away she'd realized what she was missing and for the first time in her life it wasn't all about being there for Jude. She'd wanted to come back because she wanted this family and she was lucky and immensely thankful that they wanted her as well.

"Breakfast?" Stef questioned as she watched Callie agree with her statement.

"Yeah." Callie smiled as she got up to head downstairs.

"Come here." Stef stopped her by grabbing her arm and pulling her back down for one last hug. "I love having a Little Me." Stef whispered with a smile as the two moms encircled their daughter.

"I like being you You're everything I ever dreamed of being." Callie admitted, surprising both of them. They never expected her to open up like that to them.

Neither mom said anything more, letting Callie have the last words but they did give her an extra tight hug and an extra kiss each before the three of them joined the rest of their kids downstairs for a noisy, lively, fun family breakfast.

Author's Note:

So obviously it wasn't too difficult to guess what LS meant ?ￂﾠThank's for all the reviews and guesses. I've never hand this many for one short chapter before. This was just a rough idea I wanted to put out there. If I had more time I would have tried to come up with something better but it was the fluff I was interested in.

You guy's are amazing readers.

Love,

Junebug.