Lena cheats on Stef on a weekend away for a school conference. This story is the struggle they go through to move past it.

(A request by Fostersfanaticcc1 - who has also written a story with the same theme. Takes place instead of the camping trip in Girl's Reunited and Leaky Faucets.)

"Lena." Lena said as she extended her hand to the woman who had just introduced herself as Kate.

"Nice to meet you Lena." Kate said smiling. "What brings you to San Francisco?" She asked.

"Work." Lena sighed tiredly. She had just driven for more than seven hours to get to San Francisco for a conference for all heads of the education department of California. Since Monty was currently very new to the education system she had suggested that Lena go instead and Stef had thought it was a good idea - giving Lena some time away to take her mind off Frankie. She was now sitting in a noisy little cafe across the street from her hotel and staring into a rather unhealthy looking salad.

"What do you do?" Kate asked, trying desperately to engage the beautiful woman in some conversation.

"I'm the Vice Principal of a school in San Diego." Lena explained. "There's a conference at the Ritz-Carlton."

"Fancy." Kate said impressed. She was working long hours for minimum wage as a secretary to two-bit law firm that rarely ever won a case.

"Yes." Lena said dejectedly. "Though I wish they'd use that money towards school programs instead. They keep saying that they can't afford to fund the music and arts programs but always find the money to stay at places like the Ritz." Lena complained, not realizing that she was basically venting to a complete stranger.

"You sound like a very dedicated Vice Principal." Kate said, slightly amused.

"Sorry." Lena said. "We just had budget cuts and had to cut both those programs along with quite a few of the sports programs as well and our school isn't taking it well."

"Good thing they've got you here to fight for them." Kate said.

Lena turned to the younger woman and really looked at her for the first time. She was definitely a beautiful woman with ivory skin and dark brown, wavy hair but too much makeup and a dress that was just a little too tight. The smile on her face and the twinkle in her eye told Lena that the woman was flirting with her.

Lena's thoughts instantly went to Stef, the only woman she ever had eyes for and suddenly she missed her. She missed her strong arms around her, her whispered 'I love you's' and her frequent kisses. But as Lena thought about it she realized that she didn't just miss it today, since she'd left for San Francisco, she'd been missing it for two months now - ever since they lost their daughter. Something had come between them that suddenly made Lena feel like they'd been hundreds of miles apart for ages.

Lena knew that it wasn't really true but that's how she felt. Between losing Frankie, Brandon's confession about Dani, Callie's struggle to fit into two families and Mariana's search for her own identity things had drifted for Stef and Lena.

She turned back to the woman who was still smiling at her, making her feel like an actual woman for the first time in months and without really thinking things through she smiled back - an equally suggestive smile that led to a night that she would later regret tremendously.

Lena sat in her office, staring at a piece of paper for over twenty minutes but she still had no idea what the paper said. She couldn't get her mind off the huge mistake she'd made almost three weeks ago. In that moment she had let go of Lena the wife, Lena the mom, Lena the grieving woman and just been Lena. She hadn't told Kate that she was married and had a family, she hadn't told her that she'd recently lost a daughter, she hadn't even given her a last name but she had slept with her and cheated on Stef, something she never ever imagined herself doing.

"Hi Love." Stef dragged Lena out of her thoughts. "I brought lunch."

"Good, I'm starved." Lena said, smiling and hoping that her face wouldn't give away what she'd just been thinking. She had decided on her drive back home not to tell Stef about Kate. It was a one-time thing that would never happen again and there was no reason to hurt Stef so much with something so insignificant.

"You always say that." Stef laughed as she pulled out a box of fried chicken and fries and another of potato salad. "But then you eat three bites and you're full."

"I eat more than three bites." Lena laughed as she spooned some salad and grabbed some chicken and fries for a plate for herself, leaving more than half of it for Stef. "I just don't eat as much as you."

"Hey now." Stef said, forging offense. "I run around all day, I get to be hungry." Though she was pretending, the playful smile never left her face.

Lena smiled back at Stef as she watched her take a bite of chicken. This was what she loved and what she wanted and nothing else. She knew she'd made the right decision by not telling Stef what she'd done. What she didn't know couldn't hurt her.

"Come on, let's go." Stef bellowed up the stairs when none of the four kids were ready at the door at the time she'd given them. "We don't want to be late."

"Okay, this was fun when he first started out but now watching Jesus tackle some guy to the ground is growing old." Mariana complained and she came down the stairs.

"I agree." Callie added. "It's not like anything ever changes."

"Hey now." Stef chastised. "That's no way to be supportive. Your brother's working really hard."

"He is and he deserves our support." Lena added. "He's worked hard to get his ADHD under control and we are all going to be there for him."

"And it's Saturday. Since when do we have school stuff on Saturdays?" Mariana continued, ignoring what her mothers had just said.

"With only one gym we now have to spread things out over Saturdays as well." Lena explained with a sigh. None of the staff had been pleased with that either but they had to support all the clubs and this seemed to be the only way.

"I'm in." Jude said with a smile.

"Kiss ass." Brandon teased him, pulling him back by his belt loop.

"Everybody in the car now." Stef ordered, glaring at Brandon and giving each of the older ones a whack on the butt and Jude a kiss on the head.

"That's why I kiss up." Jude teased back with a grin.

Lena couldn't help but smile at her family. They had all grown so close and Callie and Jude had fit right in. She was glad that they all treated each other just like any other siblings would.

"God they drive me nuts." Stef mumbled to Lena as she shut the front door.

"True, but you love it." Lena pointed out teasingly.

"I do." Stef agreed as the pair climbed into the car to head to the school where their middle son was already practicing for his match.

"You guys go on ahead and I'll join you in a bit." Lena said as they entered the gym. She walked off to talk to some of the teachers while the rest of her family found a spot on the stands.

"There aren't that many people here." Brandon said, taking a seat.

"Because it's Saturday." Mariana pointed out.

"All the more reason for us to support your brother." Stef said. "How would you like to dance with no audience, Miss Thing?" She asked.

"At least every dance is different." Mariana grumbled. "Here I feel like I'm watching the exact same thing time after time."

"At least we get to go out for a family lunch after this." Brandon pointed out optimistically.

"Look, this is important to your brother, alright." Stef said, watching as the two teams started walking into the gym. "If you can't count on your own family to support you then you really have nothing."

None of the kids argued. There was nothing they could say to their mother – she was right and especially in this family they knew how important it was to feel accepted and loved.

Soon cheering and clapping filled the gym as the coach announced the first two wrestlers, distracting the family from their arguments. Lena also headed towards the stands to her family but someone calling her name made her turn around.

Kate stood a few feet away from Lena, a huge smile on her face but Lena could only stand and stare back at her, her mouth open, unable to do or say anything.

"Surprised?" Kate asked, walking closer to Lena.

Lena quickly turned to see whether Stef was watching her or not but the blond was busy cheering for the Anchor Beach wrestler, just like everyone else around them – she had not reason to be keeping an eye on Lena and Lena knew it was just her guilty conscience that was making her so paranoid.

"Didn't expect to see me here did you?" Kate teased at Lena's shocked face, bringing her back to reality.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" Lena asked, her heart pounding hard in her chest.

"I quit my job." Kate said proudly. "I just couldn't take it any more so I thought I'd come down and surprise you and I just looked up the list of Vice Principals in San Diego schools and you were the only Lena." She explained, though her excitement died a little when she noticed that Lena still didn't look happy.

"I'm surprised alright." Lena admitted, still with a frown on her face. She regretted ever giving Kate her real name and where she'd come from, but more than that she regretted ever sleeping with the woman at all. Sudden cheering caused them both to turn and see that Anchor Beach was in the lead after the first round. "I should get back. I need to be there." Lena said quickly, hoping that Kate would just leave it at that and leave.

"I can wait." Kate said, realizing that Lena may not have been free to just drop everything because she showed up.

Lena thought for a moment, wondering if she could just get this over with while Stef was busy watching the game, though she knew that wouldn't be fair to Jesus. "Um, okay." Lena finally said, realizing that she'd have to just skip lunch and finish this conversation. "I'll meet you after the match, my office is down the first hallway on the right. You can't miss it."

"Okay, I'll see you then." Kate said happily before she turned and walked away, leaving Lena to head towards her family.

"You're just in time." Stef said as Lena took a seat beside her. "Jesus' up next."

Stef was smiling at the two boys in the center of the gym, completely oblivious to Lena's thoughts.

"Oh good." Lena said robotically, though she couldn't focus on the match – not even when Jesus was up and won.

"You okay love?" Stef asked when Lena failed to even clap when Jesus earned seven points for his team, putting them in the lead.

"Yes." Lena said, pulling herself out of her daze. "Sorry, I'm just thinking."

"Everything okay?" Stef asked, concerned. She wondered if this had something to do with Lena going to talk to the teachers before the match - up until then she had seemed fine.

"Yes, it's just that I can't make it to lunch after this." Lena said. "I have a quick meeting but I can't put it off."

Stef could hear the remorse in Lena's voice and she felt bad for her. It wasn't often that Lena had to cancel plans for work - that was more Stef's job description. "It's okay love." She said. "We can maybe do dinner or just wait and do a late lunch."

"No." Lena said quickly. "The kids were looking forward to it, just go and have lunch and I'll meet you back home later."

"Are you sure?" Stef asked.

"Yes, this way you can go to one of those greasy places that you all love and I won't even enter." She tried to tease, hoping to convince Stef to continue with their plans. The last thing she wanted was for Stef to wait around for her or come back to pick her up.

"Okay." Stef finally said, grinning back at the thought. "We'll bring you back a nice greasy chicken and egg roll." She teased.

"Sounds great." Lena said with a half-hearted smile. Her thoughts were still focused on how to get this conversation with Kate over before Stef found out what happened.

"You were great." The kids said as Jesus met them at the stands. "No one scored as many points as you."

"Thanks." Jesus said smiling. He was proud of himself and glad that his family was proud of him too.

"You did great babe." Stef said encouragingly. "You've really been working hard at this."

"I love it." Jesus admitted. "I didn't think I would when I first started but it's actually more strategic than I thought."

"It still looks like tackling some guy." Mariana laughed, though she was proud of her brother as well.

"You better be careful." Jesus teased, flexing his muscles at his twin. "I could take you out like a fly." He moved closer to her to prove his point.

"Can you shower first." Mariana said, pushing him away with one finger on his chest. "You really stink."

Everyone laughed as they turned to head out of the gym. Lena was going to walk her family to the car, to make sure they leave before heading to her office but when she turned her heart sunk for there stood Kate, waiting for her.

"Ready Lena?" Kate asked.

"Just a couple of minutes." Lena said walking over quickly before her family made their way over. "Why don't you wait in my office." She suggested, wishing Kate would just disappear.

"I'll wait outside." Kate said. "The weather's great down here." She was completely clueless to Lena's predicament herself so she had no idea that she was putting her in such an awkward position.

By now Stef and the kids had also caught up to Lena. They were all aware that Lena wasn't joining them but they wanted to say bye to her before they headed out.

"You did great young man." Kate said, smiling at Jesus. She had come back into the gym soon after going to Lena's office and finding it all closed.

"He did." Stef agreed proudly, pulling Jesus close and kissing him much to his embarrassment, despite his sweaty face and body.

"Are you his mom?" Kate asked, seeing the proud look on Stef's face.

"I am." Stef said. "Are you new here?" She asked, having never seen the woman before.

"Oh no." Kate answered extending her hand. "I'm just visiting. I met Lena in San Francisco and came down here to see her."

"Oh." Stef said, realizing that this was the woman that Lena had to meet with. "You from the board of education?" She asked, thinking that the woman looked a little too young for that.

"Just a friend." Kate said and before Stef could introduce herself Kate faced Lena and reached for her hand and said, "Hoping to be something more though."