Author's Note: Wow, it's been a while. Sorry, guys. I hope you're all healthy through this craziness!

CMA: I don't own The Fosters, Freeform, but I do own the cats currently trying to sleep on my bed. Every…single…one…of…them.

Chapter 2

She felt uncomfortable. She tried to move, but her pants stuck to her. And then she felt it.

Wetness.

She bolted upright in the bed, her heart racing. She'd learned early on in this new world called foster care that wetting the bed meant serious consequences.

She needed to hide. She didn't know this new person well enough to k ow what she would do. How hard would this new person hit her? For how long? She needed to hide…quickly.

Under the bed?

No. Too easy to see.

Bathroom?

No. Too obvious. Plus, she'd have to go out into the hallway. Lena would see her for sure.

Closet?

Perfect.

Callie slowly climbed off the bed, trying not to make any noise. She didn't want to disturb Lena – or alert her to anything going on, for that matter.

After shedding her wet clothes, she carefully opened the closet door, climbed inside, and dug a haven out of the couple stuffed animals on the floor. Once she was sure she had a good hiding spot, she slowly closed the door, shrouding herself in animals and darkness.

The child had just gotten comfortable when she heard the door to the room open. She held her breath, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Another few seconds, and the footsteps quickly retreated, making their way down the hall. Her breathing eased slightly, but she felt tears begin to prick the corners of her eyes.

Terror gripped her as she listened to the sounds in the room, trying in her best four-year-old way to protect herself. However, the footsteps returned to the room, but rather than leaving right away, they came further inside. They seemed to be making their way around the room, and every so often, she heard one of the objects being moved, and Lena's soft voice calling her name.

She wasn't going to answer, though. She was tired, and if she could put off any kind of punishment, even for a few extra minutes, she would.

Lena may have seemed nice, but she knew better. She'd heard other grown-ups use that voice, and it never ended well for her; it usually ended with black and blue marks on her back and sides.

"Callie, honey," Lena's voice came softly as the bed seemed to creak under her weight. "I see you've found a hiding spot, and I'm guessing it's a safe place for you. However, I need you to come out now, Sweetheart. It's very late, and you should be asleep." Lena paused a minute while Callie held her breath. "I'm not upset about the bed. Is that why you're hiding?" Another pause. "Tell you what…I'll close my eyes and count to ten. That way, you can come out of your hiding spot, and I won't know where your safe place is. Okay?" Silence. "One…"

Maybe she's telling the truth.

"Two…"

Maybe this one won't hit her.

"Three…"

They're usually only nice the first few hours…

"Four…"

Stay quiet. She doesn't know where you are…

"Five…"

Now you listen to me…

"Six…"

This is your fourth home in just as many months…

Tears began forming, and the little girl's breath began to quicken.

"Seven…"

You'd better behave, or so help me, I will put you in a group home…

She gasped.

A slight pause.

"Eight…"

And no one will ever want you.

The tears began flowing as she cried into the animal under her head, trying to muffle the sound. It was a skill she'd learned in her first foster home.

"Nine…"

No one will ever want you…

Callie buried her head into the animal, hoping to lose herself in it, and if Lena opened the door to the closet, she wouldn't be seen.

"Ten…"

No luck. She felt two hands lift her up and turn her into a body and just held her there. Callie wrapped her arms around the woman's neck, a sudden instinct taking over her four-year-old judgement.

"Shh…" Lena softly cooed into her ear. "Shh…shh…shh…You're all right. It's going to be okay."

Callie wrapped her legs around Lena's middle as the older woman made her way out of the closet and over to the bed. Lena sat on the corner and began rocking the young girl slightly.

"Okay," Lena whispered into the young girl's hair. "Calm down, Honey. You're okay; you're not in trouble."

Eventually, Callie felt her eyelids get heavy, and through a few hiccupping breaths, she moved her thumb toward her mouth, placed her forefinger against her nose, and quieted to sleep.

~*THE FOSTERS*~

Sunlight lit up the backs of her eyelids. She shifted slightly, trying to get comfortable under the weight on her lap. She blinked in the early morning light and looked down. The little girl looked so peaceful, and Lena hated to move her, but the glider she was sitting on was much more comfortable before she redressed Callie and fell asleep. Now, she just needed to move around a moment.

Cradling the child against her, she slowly stood and moved toward the edge of the bed, where she laid the girl. When she stood back up, she looked down into the bleary brown eyes of the four-year-old.

"Good morning," Lena said quietly as she knelt near the girl's head. "You hungry? I was going to go and make some breakfast. You wanna come help?"

Callie nodded slowly, almost as though she was unsure of Lena's intentions. She sat up as Lena stood and held her hand out to the girl, inviting her along.

"So," Lena gently pulled her closer as they made their way down the hall and into the kitchen "what shall we have? Do you want eggs, pancakes, or cereal?"

Callie shrugged once she was seated on a stool at the table.

"We're back to that, are we?" Lena took a seat across the table from her. "What do you like for breakfast?"

Callie shrugged again.

"Honey…"

"I'm sorry," Callie said softly as she tucked her chin into her chest.

Well, that was unexpected.

"Sorry for what, Honey?"

"I messy, and I don't want to go."

"Go?" Lena had to keep herself from smiling. "Where, uh, exactly would you be going?"

"Away."

"Away? Where's that?"

She shrugged.

"Okay, well, since you don't know where 'Away' is, why don't we just decide on breakfast, and we'll worry about it all later, hm?"

Callie shyly nodded.

"Okay. Now, what's for breakfast?"

"Pizza?"

Lena smiled and let out a small laugh.

"No, honey," she answered gently. "We had that for dinner last night. You need something else for breakfast."

"Why?"

"It's a rule."

"Oh." Callie seemed to lapse into deep thought for a moment (well, as deep a thought, Lena supposed, as a four-year-old got) before perking up. "We go to Dina's?"

"Dina's?" Lena was a little confused. "What's Dina's?"

"A rest-ont."

"A restaurant?"

"Yah."

Lena thought a moment. "I suppose, but you need a bath, and I need a shower, and we can't go in our pajamas."

"Why?"

"It's a rule."

~*THE FOSTERS*~

Lena hadn't ever been so ecstatic over modern technology as she was that morning. After taking her own shower while Callie played in her room (Thank God for baby monitors!), she drew a bath for the little four-year-old. Once the girl was washed clean, she refilled the tub with clean water and some bubbles to give the new foster mom a chance to find out where this "Dina's" was.

However, no matter what she tried, she couldn't find a "Dina's" anywhere, so while the little one played with the bubbles for a few more minutes, she searched for anything that sounded like "Dina's", finally pulling up a picture of a Denny's® restaurant logo to show the small child.

Holding her phone toward the bathtub, she asked, "Is this where you want to go?"

Callie stopped rearranging the bubbles to look at the picture before nodding shyly.

"Okay, then," Lena said matter-of-factly. "Denny's it is!" She reached over to grab the towel she'd brought into the room. "You, little mermaid, need to get out of that water, dried off, and dressed so we can head out." Lena winked at her. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Then, afterwards, what do you say we go shopping for a bit?"

Obediently, Callie nodded and stood, reaching up to be lifted out of the tub. Lena wrapped her in the soft towel as she hefted the girl into her arms. The woman nuzzled her nose into the girl's cheek, whispering about her smelling like strawberries, which elicited a soft giggle from the child. Lena walked from the bathroom with the bundled girl's head on her shoulder to get her ready for the day.

~*THE FOSTERS*~

She liked this mommy. She let the young girl pick out her own outfit – more like let her pick between two different outfits – neither of which came in her suitcase. She could sit in a big-girl seat in the back of the car and could even see out the window. At Dina's, she could even pick her own food (choc-chip pancakes with eggs – the kind you dip, not the hard kind)!

It was after breakfast that Callie got quiet. When the two left Dina's (Denny's?), they drove to a shopping mall, one where her last mommy left her, and the four-year-old suddenly felt scared. Was this mommy going to leave her here, too? Was she going to go into a store and leave her standing in the hallway alone?

Lena found a place to park the car, but when she turned it off, Callie couldn't bring herself to unbuckle the seat belt. She just sat there, staring out the window, thinking that maybe Lena would forget she was with her and not take her out of the car.

However, when Lena came to the door to open it, she reached over the child to unlatch her. Callie didn't want to move.

"No," she whispered as she felt tears prick at her eyes.

Lena immediately stopped and looked at the small girl.

"No?" she questioned. "No what, honey?"

However, all Callie could mutter was, "No."

Lena leaned back. "No, you don't want to go shopping?"

A tear escaped Callie's eyes, and Lena reached up with one of her hands, causing the young girl to squeeze her eyes shut and flinch, letting out a small whimper. She thought, for sure, this mommy was about to hit her for crying, but the girl couldn't help it. She didn't want to go inside this building, no-how.

Just like the night before, though, she felt herself lifted into the woman's arms and cradled against her.

"Hey, hey," Lena's whisper came to her. "You're okay. What's the matter? What happened?"

"No," was all she could answer as Callie reached around the woman's neck, gripping her as though her life depended on it. "I be good. I promise!"

"That's good to know, Callie, but honey, I need to know why you're so upset."

Callie felt herself shifted so she was sitting on Lena's lap on a bench outside of the mall entrance. She just shook her head into the woman's shoulder.

"Honey, I really need to know what happened. You were fine when we were at Denny's and all the way here." Lena leaned her back slightly to look her in the eye. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The young girl couldn't say anything, but she kept glancing between Lena and the doors. How did she explain to this woman why she didn't want to go inside? Would that get her in trouble? Would she be sent back? Would she be able to go home? Would this mommy leave her here, too?

Lena turned her head to look at the doors and then back to the girl, a look of knowing falling on her features. "You're afraid to go inside." Lena sat back and shifted the girl again. "Can you tell me why?"

The little one just looked at her hands in her lap, covered by one of the woman's. She watched as Lena's thumb rubbed gently across the back of her hands. It was nice.

"I be good," was all that Callie whispered.

Lena's face never left the girl's when she said, "Okay." Lena stood, taking the girl's hand and holding it in her own. "I'll tell you what. We need to get a package in one of the stores that they're holding for me, but afterwards, we'll find somewhere else to go shopping. Can we do that? Fifteen minutes, in and out, and we'll go somewhere else to shop. Deal?"

Slowly, Callie nodded, and the two of them began walking towards the doors. However, the closer they got, the slower Callie seemed to want to walk and began pulling away slightly, her fear taking over, blinding her to the fact that she was with a completely different woman. She felt her legs begin to shake slightly, and when they were a few feet from the entrance, the young girl yanked her hand away from Lena's grasp yelling, "No!" and bolted back toward the parking lot.

She didn't see anything – where she was going; who was standing in her way; what was coming at her…

She didn't hear anything – Lena's calling her name; the screech of the brakes…

She felt something, though. She felt a solid body collide with her own, knocking her to the ground…