Epilogue

Stef remained true to her word and slowly but surely she helped Callie climb out of the hole she'd dug. First she'd reregistered Callie and Jude into the foster system and then pulled every string she could and used whatever influence possible to get custody of them. Next she had Callie checked out completely by their family doctor to make sure that she hadn't picked up anything during her time on the streets. They went to Jude's school and officially enrolled him in for the rest of that year, planning to have him transferred to Anchor Beach for the next. She then took Callie back to the grocery store so she could officially quit her job and then straight to Anchor Beach where Lena was waiting for her with a placement test. Lena worked tirelessly with both kids to get them caught up in school to ensure both their spots at her school where she could have them both close. And last, but definitely not the least, Stef had given Callie the love and care that she had so desperately needed. She would remind Callie over and over again that she was important and that no matter how many mistakes she'd made she was worth the trouble. For the first time in five years Callie was the one getting goodnight kisses and pleasant surprises instead of only giving them.

Things hadn't gone completely smoothly right from the start though. When they did get home Jude had first hugged her and cried into her clothes and then yelled at her with a rage that she didn't know he had. He had told her in no uncertain terms just how much he hated her for leaving him and then he refused to go anywhere near her for the better part of the week until Stef and Lena were able to help him understand what Callie was going through. Stef had kept Callie on a short leash, refusing to let her go anywhere unaccompanied until she was sure that Callie wasn't going to run and Lena had made Callie work extra hard at school work to avoid having to put her in a lower grade. She was determined to get Callie through school whether Callie liked it or not. And apart from that Callie had community service as a court appointed punishment, group and individual therapy to help her cope with all she'd been through and a personal punishment from Stef to volunteer at Urban Angels; the local soup kitchen where Callie could really get an idea of what her life would have been like had she continued on the path she was on.

The three kids were more welcoming than Callie had expected. Jude already seemed like one of the family by the time she got there but they were warm towards her as well although they each took it upon themselves to describe for Callie just how scared Jude had been during her absence. It felt more like he was their brother instead of her's and they were angry with her for hurting him.

But slowly, as time went by, things settled down. Jude once again learned to trust her though he confidently went to Lena and Stef when he needed something. Callie learned that she wasn't the decision-maker anymore and that she had rules to follow and obey. It was a task, especially when it came to something they were used to doing their own way but with guidance and firmness she learned to do as she was told, especially when they gave her legitimate reasons to do so.

And by the end of the year, just eight months after she came to live with them, Callie's life had completely turned around. She was happy and more free than she'd ever been. When she had run away from her last foster home she had thought that they would be free to live their own lives, make their own decisions and do things their own way but she hadn't realized that she would be giving up her freedom to be a kid and now Stef and Lena had given her that freedom back and Callie was cherishing ever minute of it.

"Thank you." Callie said that night just like she did each night when Stef came by to say goodnight to her. And just like every other night Stef replied, "I love you." Then she kissed Callie on the head, did the same to Mariana and left the room, content that all her kids were safe and sound under her roof.

Author's Note:

So I wanted this story to be different and I think I managed to do that. It wasn't always easy for each time I found myself making Stef approach Callie instead of the other way around but eventually I got it to go the way I wanted.

I wanted to point out that Stef didn't just look at Jude and realize that he looked like Callie because by the way the show is written they can't look alike. If Callie looks like Sophia then she obviously got her looks from Robert's side of the family and Jude is not biologically related to Robert so by that definition he doesn't look like Callie. It added to the drama and made it a bit of a bigger puzzle for Stef. Plus, I liked the idea of using the macaroni box to make the connection. It was just a simple box picked randomly off a shelf but it held so much importance.

I really enjoyed this story because it was quite a challenge. Creating the balance between the Callie had had to protect her life vs the Callie that wanted to be near Stef was hard and making the decision to have Callie literally abandon Jude was harder. Each time she'd done it before, they had already been living with the Fosters but this time she was taking a chance but I wanted to show just how much she trusted Stef while doing that. She knew the woman would come through for her and that's why she did it.

Thanks so much for all the amazing reviews, it makes writing so worthwhile. My next post will be a story I'm helping someone else write and I hope you like that too because it's amazing and different but alongside that I'll be getting back to HISTORY and working on another story of my own. I'll post as soon as possible.

Hope you enjoyed this journey as much as I did. Keep writing cuz I love reading your stuff.

Love Junebug (And 14 month old Babybug)