Stef Foster is looking for the little girl she gave up for adoption twelve years ago. Lena Adams wants to adopt the young girl that has no one. What happens when both women come face to face in a battle for the same child?

(A story mildly inspired by the book The Gift by Danielle Steel. I am not a doctor so I apologize for any medial errors - the story is just for entertainment.)

Fifteen year old Stephanie Foster was every parents' dream - she was smart, talented and a born leader. Having skipped the sixth grade entirely she was the youngest in her class at Hillside Academy, San Fransisco and was well on her way to Yale Law School. She just had one more year and then her dream of studying law on the other side of the country - far, far away from her parents - would finally come true.

"It'll be fun Stef." Jessica said to her best friend as the two of them sat on Stef's bed with books open in front of them, studying for finals.

"I don't have the time." Stef argued as she concentrated on the calculous in front of her.

"It's on the last day of school, there won't be homework due for two months." Jess said giving Stef a look that told the blond that she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

"Fine." Stef sighed with a roll of her eyes, eliciting an excited squeal from her friend. "We can go to the party but we aren't drinking and I'm not getting in the pool." Stef warned firmly and sighed again when Jess seemed to just ignore her terms.

Two weeks later Stef was sitting awkwardly on a pool chair as she watched the kids from her high school make their way around the backyard of Lindsey Grant, the richest, most popular girl in school. She wasn't sure what she was really doing here or how she'd let Jess talk her into coming but one thing she was certain of was that she didn't belong. All about her kids were laughing and talking and drinking god knows what out of red solo cups and she was sitting rather rigidly hoping to catch a glimpse of her best friend who had abandoned her mere moments after entering the party.

"It's a party not a doctor's office." A voice pulled Stef out of her thoughts.

She looked up to find Ted Armstrong looking down at her with his piercing blue eyes and all she wanted to do was comb her fingers through his brown curls - much like every other girl in school.

"Here, have a drink, it'll loosen you up a little." Ted said, offering her a cup filled with the mystery drink.

Stef hesitated only a moment before she finally took the cup and took a sip letting the strong liquid burn her throat on it's way down. Two more cups later and all Stef could think about was the boy currently naked on top of her and the agreement that maybe, while she had been involved in every aspect of school life, she was still missing out on a whole lot more.

Stef was crying copiously as she watched her father drive away while an elderly but kindly nun led her into the church where she would be staying for the last five months of her pregnancy. One stupid mistake four months ago had completely ruined her life and as Stef lay in the strange, bare room at the Abbey she couldn't stop replaying the events in her head.

It felt like it was just yesterday that she held the stick with shaking hands willing the double lines to disappear but even after she'd wiped away the tears that blurred her vision the stick still read positive - she was pregnant. Telling her parents had been the most terrifying thing she'd ever had to do. The father didn't stop yelling for days and her mother wouldn't stop crying as she repeatedly mumbled her disappointment in how her daughter had ruined her life along with their reputation. Of course the prestigious scandal-free school Stef attended refused to allow a pregnant girl among their precious students and so Stef had to stop attending classes though they did agree to allow her to continue the work at home and give the exams in a private room.

Her father's decision about Stef's pregnancy and the baby's future had been the hardest for the moment he mentioned church she knew that nothing good could come out of it.

"Do you really think you are capable of looking after a baby?" Her father asked condescendingly.

"You could help me." Stef suggested back between sobs.

"Don't bring me into this scandal young lady." Her father warned angrily. "Besides, what about Yale? You think you can pass the BAR with a baby on your hip? Are you really willing to throw all your dreams away and destroy a child's life in the process?" He asked rhetorically.

Stef knew that her father's wasn't really looking for an answer, especially from her. Her opinion had no place at the moment and she just didn't have the guts to stand up to him.

"No, you will go stay with the nuns until the baby is born and then they will find the baby a good home and you can come back, finish high school and carry on with your life. You are really lucky that you're getting a second change so don't you dare mess it up again."

Stef knew better than to argue and so she nodded her head in acceptance and now, four months later she was here wondering if that night really was worth all this. If she were truly being honest with herself she would admit that she hadn't really even been turned on in the first place and whether that was due to the alcohol in her system or something entirely different - she didn't know.

Stef had cried a lot over the last nine months - more than she'd ever cried in her life but she was positive that even those nine months had nothing on this moment as she watched the nurse hand her beautiful baby girl off to a nun to be given away for good. She had been allowed a mere fifteen minutes with her and in those precious moments Stef tried to memorize every single detail of the tiny bundle in her arms; she whispered every dream, hope and wish she could have for her daughter and apologized to her more times than she could count but all too soon the time was up and Stef knew that once the baby turned the corner she would never lay eyes on her again.

The only saving grace Stef could draw strength from was the fact that the nuns had found a good family for her daughter. She wasn't ever given their name for it was against the rules but they had assured her that this family was good and would love the little girl as if they bore her themselves. If she dared to hope for just one thing it was that her daughter would grow up loved and happy - the rest, as the nun often told her, lay in God's hands.

~Ten Years Later~

Lena Adams smiled at the young girl that just entered her fifth grade class. The girl looked small for her age and wore a medical bracelet around her wrist but other than that she looked just like any other kid in the class.

"Welcome Callie." Lena smiled as she walked up to the girl and introduced her to the rest of the kids. "This is Callie Jacob and she will be joining us. I'd like you be friendly and show her around please."

Callie took a seat to one side and sat quietly as Lena continued on with her lesson on Number the Stars and soon Lena was pulled back into her lesson and basically forgot about the girl. It wasn't until the bell rang for recess that Lena's attention once again came back to the new child in her class.

"Aren't you going to play outside?" Lena asked when Callie was the only one still sitting in the classroom while all the other kids were out on the swings or climbing on the monkey bars.

"I can't." Callie answered. "I'm not allowed to exercise." She explained. She was used to it for every year - sometimes twice a year - Callie found herself in a new place; with a new family and in a new school - answering the same questions over and over again.

"Why not?" Lena asked as she took a seat beside the girl and smiled.

"My heart won't take it." Callie answered. "There's a problem with it." The lack of feeling with which the child gave her the explanation make Lena's stomach tighten. She couldn't imagine being ten years old and never being allowed to play or run or jump. She wondered what this girls life was really like and decided to find out for herself what really was going on.

Lena took Callie's hand and gently pulled her up. "You're allowed fresh air aren't you?" She asked teasingly and then led the girl out to the playground where they could at least sit and watch the kids play and even though Callie couldn't join in she was soon laughing and smiling at the comments that her teacher was making about all the silly thing the other kids were doing.

"Seventeen surgeries!" Lena said in alarm as she looked through Callie's file and talked with her social worker. It had surprised Lena to find that Callie was a foster child that was just placed with her twenty-sixth family.

"The walls of her heart are weak and thin and can can just barely pump hard and fast enough to supply blood to her body. Any kind of strenuous activity could result in anything from dizziness to a heart attack or even death." The social worker explained. "I'm doing the best I can for her but no one wants a kid with medical conditions this serious. I only ever manage to find her temporary homes but after a few months they want her gone."

Lena felt like crying as she listened to the social worker explain how Callie had nearly died twice - once when she was just two and her foster family took her to a playground and the second time when she was seven and was beaten by her foster father for being too needy.

"Finding her homes is not easy." The social worker justified. "I try to find good homes and make sure the parents understand the situation but it's hard. Every six months they have to go in and basically encourage the heart to grow more tissue. The bigger she gets the more dangerous it is. She's lucky she's a puny little thing."

Lena wondered if that was really true or if it was just a result of her homelessness and lack of proper care that kept the child from growing much. At least the girl seemed basically happy for the time being but she knew it wouldn't last long for the social worker had already informed her that the family was only keeping her till the end of the year - and that was just five months away. Lena vowed to make that time special for she had never seen anything more beautiful than Callie's smile.