Thank you for your patience! I know I am taking this chapter in a little bit of a different direction, but I am struggling with ideas. Please let me know where you would like to see this story go. Thanks!

Stef hurried out through the electric doors of the hospital- hoping that her children would be within sight. She scanned the entrance and parking lot. When she spotted her son, she signed in relief and began walking over towards him.

"Where's Mariana?" Stef asked after pulling her son into a hug. She knew whatever was going on with his twin was hard on him too- she needed to make sure that he was being taken care of as well.

Jesus looked over his shoulder, "She walked over there. All mad at me. I'm sorry I should have gone after her." He replied, hanging his head down in shame.

"Hey" Stef said, lifting his chin up with her finger. "None of that. Let's go find her and we can all talk about whatever is going on, yes?" She finished as she looked in her son's eyes for an answer.

When he nodded, the mother squeezed his chin lightly "Ok, let's go." she added and turned towards the direction of her daughter. She had no idea what had gotten her sweet girl into such a state, but she was determined to find out why.

Lena watched as her oldest son's eyes began to close ever so slightly. She knew that he was exhausted, but was trying to keep himself awake- in order to be of whatever help possible. Smiling as he once again forced his eyes back open, she squeezed his hand and waited for him to look at her.

"Take a little nap, B." She said and kept going even after he shook his head. "There isn't much going on here anyway. Might as well get some sleep while you can" She explained.

"I need to be here to help when Callie wakes up or when the twins come back up. Or with Jude..." his voice trailed off as they both looked over at the still sleeping boy.

Smiling once again at her eldest son, she kissed his forehead. "How about you rest your eyes and if mom comes back with the twins and they of Jude need something, I will wake you up?" She purposely left out Callie's name- she didn't want to get any hopes up about the girl before she really knew what was going on with her.

Brandon looked over at his brother and sister who had so quickly become a cemented piece of his family. He yawned for what felt like the hundredth time and nodded. "Promise to wake me up if something happens?" He asked.

"Promise." Lena responded as she brought a blanket over to her son while he leaned his head back against the top of the chair he had been sitting in.

Lena sighed and looked at her three sleeping children. In any other situation, she would have relished in the fact that her not-so-little babies were all napping. Today, though it reminded her of the hardship that her family was going through- and she didn't like it at all.

"Mariana?" Stef called out as she turned the third corner of the hospital. She and Jesus had followed the path where her son had seen the girl leave, but upon reaching it, they saw no sign of her. They continued around to the next side of the hospital, but when the girl was still nowhere to be found, Stef began to worry. "Damn it, Mariana! Where are you?" She mumbled to herself as she pulled out her cell phone. She clicked to her Find Me App and scrolled to try and find the icon that would tell her where her daughter was.

Jesus continued to search a little further. He was cursing himself for not going after her when she stomped away. He knew he was mad at her for what she had said, but now it seemed like such a minor thing compared to her missing.

"Got her!" Stef yelled to Jesus as she took off in the direction that her phone was telling her to go. She winded in and out of some plants and trees until she came to a secluded area with a few benches and a small pond of water. She looked around until she spotted her daughter sitting on one of the benches, her knees pulled up to her chest and her he'd resting on them. Stef sighed as she turned to her son. "Stay here." Was all she said as she quietly walked towards the girl.

Stef walked slowly towards her daughter, trying to use the time to figure out what she was going to say. She didn't know what was bothering the girl or what was going on between her and Jude, but she knew that this reaction was not normal and she needed to tread lightly.

When she finally made it to the bench, she heard soft sobs, which broke her heart. She sat down next to the girl and waited a moment, hoping that her daughter would hear her and look up. She didn't want to scare her by starting to talk.

Mariana was lost in her thoughts. I'm so selfish. Jude is right. I need to start thinking of other people. I hate myself. I need to get out of here! Her thoughts swirled around in her head as she shoved her face further and further into her knees. She was so concentrated on her intrusive thoughts that she didn't even realize someone was sitting next to her. At the last thought of needing to leave, she lifted her head up and took a few deep but shaky breaths. As she prepared herself to stand up, she felt a hand on her back and jumped away in response.

"Woah!" Stef said, holding her hands up to show that she wasn't going to hurt her. "Mari, it's mom. You're ok" She explained as she saw the girl's already tear-stained cheeks become flooded with new tears.

The Latina had been taken by surprise. She didn't think her mother would find her all the way in the little garden that she had found to hide in. She really was not in the mood to talk to anyone, so as best as she could, she pushed past her mother and walked towards the exit opening.

Stef, seeing the girl throw up walls to protect herself, quickly caught up to her daughter and stepped in front of her. She reached out her hands and placed them on the girl's shoulders, halting her movements. "Hold on there, baby." She said as she tried to gain eye contact. "You aren't going anywhere."

Mariana tried to squirm away from her mother, but failed.

"Mariana!" Stef said out loud as she wondered what had been so bad that her daughter was pushing her away. "Baby, we need to talk about what is going through your head." The mother explained. After getting no response, she continued. "Either we can talk about it here and now, or we can go back inside and you can take a nap and we can talk about it in a little bit." She explained. "But we will talk about it." She made sure to add at the end.

The young girl looked slowly up at her mother, tears pooling in her eyes. She shook her head and yanked her shoulders away from her mother. The Latina began to walk towards the hospital- clearly making up her mind that they weren't going to talk at that moment.

Stef sighed as she watched her daughter move slowly past her brother, without even looking at him, and continue towards the main entrance. As she made eye contact with her son, she gave him a small smile and followed her daughter's path. She knew this was far from over, but she was glad that she was getting all of her children to stay in the same place for a while. This is what she needed in order to keep sane and to be able to keep tabs on all of her babies at once.

Please let me know where I should take this story. Thanks =]