Hi All!

I feel the need to introduce this story. I have been writing it ever since watching 420 (So canon from 1-4 but nothing from 5). More and more it doesn't feel that we Outlaws are going to get our happy ending. And as sad as that may be, it is okay. I don't know how I feel about it really. I honestly watched the Fosters from the very beginning because I truly loved the show and the characters. But, I really connect to Brandon and Callie's story. Not because it is forbidden love or teen love or anything. But, because for the first time in a long time it really felt like I was watching a story about two people falling in love. And under really interesting and different circumstances. But, the fandom seems to have become a war on both sides. Anti-this and Pro-that. Honestly, I am Pro everyone on the show: Pro-Brallie and Pro-Adoption. But, only if could have been done right. The way that it was done? Realistically? I don't feel that Callie could ever be happy like that. That Brandon could ever be at peace like this. That either of them should be forced into roles that are not theirs. So, that's what I am writing about. How things could have gone for Callie and Brandon if the truth came out. And everything wasn't swept under the rug but dealt with. REALLY dealt with. Would everything change for the worse? Or would the tagline still be true? That DNA doesn't make a family; love does. So this is my story of that. If you like it please say so. Or if you don't. Just please be constructive and recognize that whether you agree or don't: 'Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love.' –Lin Manual Miranda

Prologue:

What's. In a Name.

The room was too silent. Almost as if everyone, including the judge, was afraid to speak.

"I will allow arguments." The judge said. To say that his facial expression was stern would be an extreme understatement. It had been clear whose side he was on from the moment he saw Callie's face again.

Callie glanced to her right at Stef and Lena. They had taken her in and officially adopted her less than 6 months ago. And yet, she was repaying them with numerous court dates, lies, deceit and reckless behavior. They loved her. This she knew. But the lines near Stef's eyes hadn't seemed as deep a few months ago. And Lena's usual peaceful demeanor was now erased. Replaced with a deep frown that seemed a scar on her beautiful face.

Callie then glanced to her left and there sat Robert Quinn. Her birth father. He had been nothing but a decent father to her. Hired the best lawyers and tried to protect her at all costs. He had even, although extremely hesitantly, agreed to sign the papers that dissolved his parental rights. All because this was what Callie wanted. So to see the disappointment that washed over his expression now? Callie was more than a little ashamed. She could feel her own heart breaking as the tears began to slowly stream down her face.

The judge was staring at Callie now and she knew that this was her chance to speak; to try and explain. But, she just couldn't. She had broken into someone's house. She had followed Diamond to the pimp. All because of wanting to distract herself from her own pain and inner turmoil. Now, she was finally going to have to face the consequences of her actions.

Callie's lawyer looked at her, seemingly waiting for her personal statement. At this point, it would be more of a plea. But Callie knew that she was done talking, there was nothing that she could say now. Nothing that anyone could say. All that was left was acceptance. This, she knew. She'd known it before she even entered the court room.

2 hours Later.

The judge returned to the room and sat back down in his seat. He shook his head as he looked over the papers and it was clear that he was disgusted by what he'd read.

Callie looked straight ahead. She couldn't look at Stef and Lena or her father. She tried not to think of her little brother Jude or her sister Mariana sitting towards the back of the courtroom. She tried not to picture Jesus, her brother, who was already going through so much right now back at home waiting. When he'd talked about wanting to come with everyone else to the hearing earlier, his Mothers had put a stop to it, saying that they didn't think he couldn't handle this right now. And more than anyone else, she tried not to think of Brandon, whose eyes were no doubt trained on her. Callie simply stared straight ahead and awaited the verdict.

The judge took a sip from the glass beside him and clearing his throat he began in a stern and bewildered voice.

"To say that this young woman has not had a fair shake in life is nowhere near the half of it. In all my years on the bench, I am usually not hard-pressed to find sad, shameful cases of children, young adults, adults and infants whose only crime was that of circumstance. And this case in particular seems to rank high on the list of traumatic cases, which I am sadly very accustomed to. According to what I am reading here, you have been sexually assaulted, traded from home to home, abused, beaten in juvenile detention, a witness and participant in a hit-in-run with a now confessed murderer and in this latest skirmish with this thug "Daddy", emotionally and physically violated in unimaginable ways that are truly distressing."

Callie could hear the breathing in the room intensifying and against her own instincts she glanced briefly at Robert, who was visibly fighting back tears at hearing the horrors his child had been through.

"That said, however," the judge continued "This tale of misfortune is far from the worst I have ever heard and it could truly have had a different ending. For the past 6 months, things have seemed to be on the right track for you. Doing well in school, steady friendships and relationships, volunteering for those less fortunate and you have become, from what I can see here, quite the advocate for those in the foster care system. All things that are quite commendable.

"From the outside looking in, it might seem that you are finally working your way towards having a very positive life and putting these demons behind you. But this latest behavior surely suggests otherwise.

"And what is even more distressing than the recent behavior-a high school senior spending time investigating a murder case and placing herself in highly dangerous and downright reckless situations-is the fact that this behavior took place within the home and under the noses of those who claim to be maintaining a positive and safe home environment for you."

Callie's tears almost took her voice but she couldn't let this go without saying something "None of this is Stef and Lena's fault!" she screamed as she leapt to her feet. Her scream was disrupted however, with the judges' gavel banging harshly against his bench desk.

"Please be quiet, Ms. Adams Foster! I understand and appreciate that you have been through a lot, but this is still my courtroom. Another outburst like that and I will not hesitate to have you thrown into jail for contempt!"

Callie bit her lip and looked down at her hands angrily. She knew that there was nothing she could do at this point, but she could never sit quietly and allow these two women to be blamed for her mistakes. And there were so, so many. None of which Callie would ever be comfortable having blamed on Stef and Lena.

"Now," The judge continued in a measured tone. "As I have said, all of the many situations leading up to this case, which have been presented to me have been deeply troubling to say the least. However, even in light of the many precarious choices that have been made by Ms. Adams Foster recently, it is still possible to see that perhaps you are just the kind of young woman who would behave in this manner, no matter the influence. No matter the environment. So for this reason, I would not use any of what I have mentioned as a reason to pass judgment on you or on your mothers."

Callie looked up at the judge with something that felt like fear and hope fighting for dominance in her chest. Could she possibly be relieved? Would he really allow her to remain as she was now? Not allowing the one anchor that she had been holding on to for years to break away?

"So, what I am saying is that the court recognizes and understands that Callie is at this point, very nearly an adult and therefore she is perfectly capable of taking responsibility for her actions. There is no parent who can be pointed to, to bear the brunt of the decisions that she has made. As is the case, I will not now nor will I ever hold the Misses Adams Fosters responsible for this behavior. Nor will they be made to suffer for it."

What he was saying sounded positive. It sounded as though Callie would be able to remain with the Adams Fosters and there would be no need for goodbyes. No need for anymore suffering. But…then why did she still feel so unsure? So weighed down by the thought of nothing changing?

"Regardless of all of this, however," the judge continued and again Callie stared up into his eyes, this time not allowing her stare to shake from him, "I still cannot suppress the plain and simple fact that this entire adoption was founded on and approved through pretense and lies."

The judge stared hard at Stef now and as stubborn as she was she would not look away. Callie saw Lena fiercely gripping her hand and noted how she seemingly steadied her wife, as if actively helping her maintain her defiant glare. "You, Mrs. Adams Foster, blackmailed a man, who, while maybe not a completely blameless husband, was certainly at no fault in being a father wanting to gain custody of his before unknown child. And then, adding insult to injury, you followed this up with an underhanded attempt to get his daughter emancipated. Not only was the blackmailing a despicable act in and of itself to say the least. But to do this so as to force and coerce him into giving up his custody was more than despicable; it was truly heinous."

Finished with Stef, The judge glanced at Rita Hendricks, who sat near the two women with what could only be seen as an accepting, glazed look in her eyes. "And you allowed a known and clearly conflicting issue of importance to remain hidden and suppressed the witness, all in order to aid these women in taking someone else's child from them. And I must say, Ms. Hendricks, I question your motives more than anyone else's in this matter, as to my understanding, you had no particular stake in this. But ultimately, I must still say shame on you, Rita. I have known you and your work for many years and it is safe to say that you should certainly have known better."

This time his gaze turned to Callie and although there was a hint of sympathy in his eyes, he was clearly disappointed in her as well. "And you…I cannot pretend to understand why you would even want to go through with this adoption after having been…intimate with someone so entrenched and deeply rooted in this family. I cannot begin to understand it and I will not try. I do however understand that it was a consensual act and by no means intend to shame you for it."

Callie refused to look away and she tried not to blink, because she knew that if she did, the tears would begin again and never stop from that point forward.

"With all of that said, however, what I can do is to undo some of the damage that I helped to cause in breaking up a family that should never have been broken up to begin with, in light of all of the aforementioned revelations."

Callie knew him so well that she knew without looking at him that Brandon's eyes were now honed in on the floor. He wouldn't look at her now. He couldn't. She also knew how much he would blame himself for what she was certain was coming next.

Judge Jeffrey Ringer picked up the sheet in front of him and after putting on his glasses, said in an official and resounding tone, "The petition to the court by Robert Quinn to overturn the adoption of Callie Adams Foster on the basis of fraud and coercion is hereby granted. From this moment forward, your parents of record are once again, Colleen Jacob and Robert Quinn and your name is reinstated to that of Callie Quinn Jacob."

Callie could hear the sobs breaking from Stef and they pained her ears to an extent that she had to zone them out. Mariana was screaming and it seemed as though Jude was too. But Callie couldn't fully tell as their sobs and sounds seemed to diminish and lessen until she could hear nothing but the sound of her heartbeat pounding through her mind. She was vaguely aware of Robert gripping her left hand, but even this felt foreign, as though she were a stiff doll being handled by a curious child.

Tuning back in to the judge, Callie heard him saying, "With this said, effective immediately, all legal and parental authority is awarded to Robert Quinn and sole custody is also granted to him. The court will allow 30 days for Miss Jacob to be remanded to her father's care and until such time she may remain with her current caretakers."

Caretakers…that's what he was calling them. Her Moms. The women who had taken Callie in and loved her as their own from the very beginning. Callie almost felt as though she were in a nightmare of some kind. And she prayed for an awakening that didn't seem to be coming.

With a final look at Callie and a thin grimace, Judge Ringer finished by saying, "It is so ordered." The sound of the gavel banging brought an end to the hearing and the judge stood and walked away, as though he had not just devastated several lives with his few sentences.

At the sound, Callie felt herself suddenly surrounded by and encased in multiple sets of arms. Whose? Robert's? Sophia's? Her stepmother, Jill's? Maybe even her lawyer's. Callie wasn't sure and in this moment she didn't care.

Callie was hearing them, hearing them saying they loved her and how happy they were and how amazing it was that they could finally be a family, but she wasn't listening. Not to them. Instead her eyes searched the room. Landed on Stef and Lena. Lena and Stef…Mom and Mama…could she still call them that? What would she call them now? Who could they be to her if not her mothers?

Stef was engulfed in Lena, her head buried in the woman's chest as Lena gazed at Callie with a longing that Callie had never seen. It was clear that she was aching from deep within and guilt began gnawing at Callie viciously.

Next, Callie swiveled her head from the gripping arms to look at Jude and Mariana. They too were hugging and Jude was looking at her. His face was awash in disappointment but he seemed calm, resigned. The only proof of his pain was the tears that slipped silently down his face. Mariana was silent as well, but her face was dripping and her eyes were laced with what Callie could only read as an unforgiving anger. She was angry. As Hell. Callie had no time to wonder at whom exactly, but she knew that she would find out soon enough.

Last of all, Callie searched for those eyes. His eyes. The greyish green ones that pierced her with every glance. She had to see his eyes. She had to know what he was thinking, feeling in this moment. She had to.

But his seat, nearest to hers of anyone's was empty. His eyes and he were gone. And she wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Callie breathed in deeply as she steadied herself and allowed the hands that were gripping her to become tangible. She allowed herself to slowly materialize into this moment and instead of worrying about those who surrounded her, or Stef and Lena, Jude and Mariana or even Brandon, she thought about how she felt. What was encompassing her at this moment? What was she feeling at the realization that it was over now? She would not be now, nor ever again an Adams Foster?

And when Callie felt it and when she recognized the feeling, she began to gasp for breath, to cry and wail and sob uncontrollably. She felt so pained, so betrayed by her own feelings in that moment that it was all she could do not fall into the floor in despair. "What is it, Callie? Sweetheart, what's wrong?" her father said but Callie's sobs continued as she waited for the realization to fully wash over her and let her breathe finally.

Moments later, finally consoled, Callie breathed deeply beside Robert and listened to his words as he sat with her on the small wooden bench outside of the courtroom. "What do you want, Callie? What can I do to make it better? To make you okay?" Callie looked at him and tried to think for a moment. What could make this better? What could make it okay. But no answer to that question came. So instead, Callie just said the only words that could form in her mind "I…I just want to go home." She said and she knew that Robert would take her.

That Night

Callie lay on her pillow staring at the ceiling and waiting for the tears to come again at the remembrance. The remembrance was of what she had felt in the courtroom that morning when she realized that it was finally over and she would no longer have to lie about herself, her feelings or her past. She felt it rising up in her again and fought the tears that welled with the realization once more and instead just allowed the tears to come as she felt the sting of the betrayal she felt for her feeling in response to knowing that she was no longer to be an Adams Foster.

What Callie had felt in that moment, was…relief.