TITLE: Pride

SUMMARY: No one should have to be ashamed of who they are. Third story in my series after 'Harm' and 'Marks.'

DISCLAIMER: I don't own, you don't sue.

A/N: Now that I'm back from my wonderful Canadian vacation, the saga continues! I wanted to try putting the spotlight on different characters, so this fic centers on Jude and Stef, but the whole family is definitely still involved. If you haven't read the previous two stories... go read! ;-) But in a nutshell: Callie is back home after the finale and trying to deal with her multiple issues while the moms are moving forward with making the Jacobs siblings permanently part of the family.

One Friday afternoon, after getting home from school, the Foster kids all decided to be good and get their homework out of the way without needing prompting from their moms. Jude wasn't home yet, since he'd had a dentist appointment, but everyone else spread out their books on the dining room table and got to work. Lena was extremely impressed when she saw them - and a tad bit suspicious.

"Which one of you is going to be in trouble later?" she asked with a grin.

"Nobody," Jesus replied. "We just figured we'd get this stuff out of the way so we could enjoy the weekend."

"Uh-huh."

"We swear, Mama," Mariana added.

"Okay, okay. I'll leave you to your work." She headed upstairs.

Callie and Brandon were in the same math class, so they could help each other with the assignment. They were halfway done with their third problem when Brandon's cell phone started ringing. He pulled it from his pocket and found Talya's picture and number on the screen.

"Are you going to answer that?" Callie wondered when he didn't immediately take the call.

Brandon gave her a sheepish look. "Do you mind?"

"No, go ahead. I don't care." He got up and went over to the living room for some privacy. Callie sat back in her chair to wait. There was still an awkward triangle with her, Brandon, and Talya. At least the other girl had become a real friend after she revealed how bad things had actually gotten for her at Wyatt's Foreclosure Party. But every now and then, there was a little reminder of shoved aside feelings or lingering jealousy. Brandon's attempts to keep everyone happy usually just added to the awkwardness.

The front door opened and Stef came in with Jude. "Hi, babies," she called to the rest of the kids.

"Hey, Mom."

"How'd the dentist go?" Callie asked Jude.

"No cavities," he replied with a smile.

"Awesome."

"Oh, Callie, remind me," Stef told her, "Is your session this weekend on Saturday or Sunday?"

"Sunday," she replied. This was her third week of attending a new therapy program that Lena had managed to get her into. The whole thing was aimed at kids who were struggling with self-harm; it mixed individual or family sessions with group therapy where the teens could give each other support. So far, it seemed to be effective and Callie actually liked it.

"Okay, good," Stef replied. "There's enough going on already tomorrow."

Lena came downstairs. "Hey, babe," she told Stef as she went to give her a kiss. "I was just about to start on dinner."

"Need a hand?" her wife wondered.

Lena smiled. "Sure."

Callie saw that Brandon was still talking on the phone, so she got up and followed the moms into the kitchen. Stef smiled when she noticed her. "Hey, love, what's up?"

Callie's eyes were downcast. "I had something that I'd been thinking about the past few weeks…"

The moms exchanged a look. "Should we be sitting down?" Lena wondered, assuming they were about to find out why the kids were all being so good.

However, Callie shook her head. "No, it's not bad... I was just thinking after we talked about me going to college. I think I know what I want to study. I'd like to be a counselor, for people who have been abused or assaulted."

Stef and Lena smiled. It was really encouraging to see the positive effect that finally dealing with her trauma was having on their daughter. "That sounds like a good idea," Lena told her.

"You really think so?" Callie timidly asked. "Even if I'm a head case myself?"

"You are not a head case," Stef told her. "And I think you will be an example for others that it is possible to work through their problems, just like you are doing. If you want, I can put you in touch with a couple of the counselors I know from work. They can give you a good idea of what they do day-to-day. Not to discourage you, but it is a challenging job. As I'm sure you can imagine, they see and hear some very tough things. So if you have any questions..."

Callie nodded. "That would be good, thanks. I've started looking at what the requirements are, so I know what I'd need to do in college."

"And also make sure you take any prerequisites you need in high school," Lena pointed out.

Callie frowned. "Oh. I didn't think about that."

She smiled. "If you want, I can help with research when you're picking out your classes for junior year."

"Okay."

Brandon came in the room, looking around for Callie. "Oh, hey, there you are. Ready to get back to work?"

She nodded. "Sure," she replied as she followed him back to the dining room.

Stef smiled at Lena once they were alone. "That girl is something," she told her wife. "She'd be perfectly justified if she decided to curl up in a corner and ignore the rest of the world. But instead..."

Lena nodded. "Yeah. Our little fighter doesn't quit. And speaking of her and Jude being ours, I got a call from Brianna Cole today." That was the lawyer that had handled the twins' adoption five years earlier and now was working on Callie and Jude's.

"What did she say?" Stef wondered.

"Things are moving along. She's thinking it will only be a few more weeks."

"Wow. She's working miracles."

"Well, it helps that this time parental rights for the kids have already been terminated." Callie and Jude's father had lost his rights to them years ago when he was convicted and incarcerated. It had been much more complicated with the twins.

"I'll be so glad when it's done," Stef said. "They're already ours in our hearts, but once everything's signed, nobody will have the ability to tell us otherwise."

"Exactly."

"Should we tell them at dinner what Brianna said?"

Lena's eyebrows knitted. "I don't know. I was kind of hoping we could surprise them when we finally get word about their court date. I know Callie, at least, is already pretty anxious about how things are going to go. I don't want to add to that."

"True. It could be a really nice surprise for them. For all the kids, really."

A little while later, the moms called everyone into the kitchen to help with setting the table and getting dinner together. Just as they were all finding a seat at the table and starting to fill their plates, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Lena said since Stef was in the middle of cutting up a pan of lasagna.

She left the room, but came back a minute later. "Who was it?" Stef asked.

Lena reached for the spatula she was using to serve the lasagna. "I'll take care of this," she told her wife. "You've got a visitor." Stef frowned, but Lena wasn't being any more forthcoming.

When Stef walked up the steps out of the kitchen, she was surprised to see her father waiting for her by the front door. She and Frank hadn't spoken since the wedding about a month earlier. "Hey. What's going on?"

"I, um…. I guess I should have called before coming over. Didn't mean to interrupt your dinner again."

"That's okay. Is something wrong?"

"No, no, I just… I got a few tickets for the Padres game on Sunday. I thought it might be something I could do with the boys. I know it's last minute, but…"

"Oh. Thank you; I'm sure they'll be excited to go."

Frank handed her three tickets. "I thought I'd take your advice, include everybody." Stef remembered telling him a few months earlier that he shouldn't just think of Jesus, their biggest sports fan, when he was planning to go to a game. She was glad to see that Brandon and Jude were invited, too, even if his attempt at inclusion had excluded all of the women in the family. Baby steps.

"Thanks." An uncomfortable silence lingered for a few moments. "Did you want to talk about anything else?" Stef wondered.

Frank shook his head. "I should let you get back to your dinner. I'll pick the boys up at 11 on Sunday?"

"Okay."

With a final nod, he turned and left. Stef sighed as she went to re-lock the door. She couldn't decide whether she was looking for something from her father or not. Would hearing the thought process behind his absence from her wedding make her feel better or worse? All she could tell herself was that at least he appeared to be interested in staying in contact with his grandchildren, even if he seemed to be abandoning his relationship with his daughter.

TBC...