Title: Christmas Waltz, 1/2
Author: A. Windsor
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. My one semester of law school could allow me to legalese this a little more, but it also tells me it's pretty useless. So please don't sue; it's not mine, I'm just playing!
Summary: "Merry Christmas, may your new year's dreams come true. And this song of mine, in three quarter time, wishes you and yours, the same thing, too."
Author's Note: Christmas with the Robbins-Torres clan, two weeks too late. I hope you enjoy anyway.
"Altman! Torres! Let's go," Mark Sloan calls towards the bathroom in the attendings lounge, adjusting his tie in his locker mirror. The tie, last year's Christmas present from Susie, has a tasteful amount of holiday cheer, holly leaves and red berries. His companions are rushing through their last minute make-up applications, but they don't have time for this primping.
Owen Hunt rushes through the door, tie askew.
"Oh good. You're still here. Mind if I tag along?"
"Of course not," Callie smiles, grabbing her coat from her locker. "Plenty of room in the pew."
"We have seven o'clock reservations we can easily add two to if Yang wants to meet us afterwards," Teddy offers as Owen gentlemanly holds the door open for all of them.
Mark checks his watch (last year's present from Lexie) for the tenth time. They may have to speed a little, but they should make it on time.
The organ music has already begun as the four sheepish surgeons sneak into the back of the church. Their families, of course, have already expected as much, and have saved the last two rows of pews for them. The back row is occupied by Lexie, Arizona, and Matt. The one in front of them is empty except for a collection of winter coats, for now at least.
Mark never saw himself as the church kind of guy, but Lexie grew up going every Sunday with her mother, and he finds he's come to enjoy the comfort of the repetition. He slides into the pew behind Callie, who makes a beeline for her wife at the other end of the row. He pauses to shake Matt Tate's hand in greeting and then squeezes next to Lexie, leaning over to kiss her cheek hello.
"Everybody ready?" he questions at a whisper, interrupting her rendition of "O come all ye faithful".
Lexie nods with a slight eye roll, gesturing back towards the side door that leads towards the parish hall.
Mark grins in anticipation.
A hush falls over the sanctuary, but it's quickly broken up by the emphatic whispers coming from the back. There's a surge of scuffling and the occasional "Mommy!" and then attention is pulled forward to the pulpit and the lectionary. Sixteen-year-old Lena Robbins-Torres and fifteen-year-old Grey Sloan take their places as narrators. Lena has on a pretty red dress with a white cardigan, her pale blonde curls tamed with a curling iron and a fair amount of hairspray. Grey is wearing his pressed khakis and navy sport coat, crisp white shirt and deep red bowtie, brown hair swept to the side.
Lena takes a deep breath and flashes a pure Robbins dimpled smile before starting:
"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, called Nazareth."
Trading paragraphs with ease bred of a lifelong, inseparable friendship and a few mornings on the way to school practicing over and over, Lena and Grey tell of Mary, Joseph, and their visit from the angel Gabriel.
Twelve-year-old Caroline Robbins-Torres appears in front of the altar as Mary, like Lena two years before. Having already undergone a Torres growth spurt, she towers over poor little Johnny Wu, who plays her Joseph. Her best friend Susanna Sloan, twelve as well, emerges from behind the narrators. She's the angel Gabriel, complete with wings and a tilted halo perched on her dirty blonde braids.
Caroline and Susie try their very best to maintain their composure, but they each grin a little every time their eyes meet. Lena and Grey continue on to the trip to Bethlehem, and the whole congregation breaks into "O little town of Bethlehem" as Caroline and Johnny walk all the way down one side aisle and then back up the center aisle, this time with one of the little kindergarteners dressed as a donkey walking beside them.
Their trip to the back briefly draws everyone's attention to Asa Robbins-Torres, wrangling the miniature angels, shepherds, and sheep, trying to get them ready for their cues. The narrators continue to tell of angels appearing to shepherds and the ever-hilarious stampede of elementary schoolers in worn costumes passes with warm laughter from the entire congregation. Heartfelt renditions of "Hark, the herald angels sing" accompany the arrival.
Grey and Lena then narrate the arrival of the kings. Frankincense and Myrrh are played with aplomb by nine-year-olds Mateo Robbins-Torres and Nicholas Altman-Tate, in full regalia. They arrive to visit Caroline, Johnny, and the newest newborn of congregation as Baby Jesus (a role also once played by Asa, Lena, and Grey, all fall babies). Teo and Nicky also can't stop grinning and nudging each other throughout their entire part.
Once the annual pageant is over, the children hurry back to their parents. They scramble into the empty row but turn around to accept the hugs, kisses, and praise from their parents behind them. They all mix in together and sit, relatively well behaved, for the rest of the service. The presents sitting at home under the tree certainly help keep them in line.
"My favorite was the Christmas octopus!" Arizona exclaims around their Christmas Eve dinner table. All fifteen of them crowd at a long, long table in one of the nicer restaurants in Seattle. "Was that Reina Watson?"
"She absolutely refused to be a sheep, and she was an octopus for Halloween, so... Y'know, all the animals were there to celebrate Baby Jesus," Asa shakes his head, amused.
"I think you're getting that mixed up with Noah," Cristina Yang counters. At the shocked looks around the table, she counters, "Hey! That one's in my book."
"Baby Jesus was so well behaved," Lexie comments.
"Best one since Baby Blondie," Mark laughs.
"Hey!" Grey objects, choking on his water.
"You cried the whole time!" Callie exclaims, earning a disgruntled look from her godson.
"Lena was two-weeks-old," Grey pouts, even as Lena playfully elbows him. "She wasn't aware enough to be cranky."
"She was young," Arizona muses, turning to her wife. "What were we thinking, letting a twelve-year-old cart around our newborn as a prop?"
"We were sleep-deprived," Callie shrugs and then mocks, "'Here, please, someone else hold the baby.'"
"You did an excellent job directing, Asa," Owen praises with a clap on the teenager's shoulder.
"Yeah, I don't know how you handle all that crazy," Teddy's husband Matt notes.
"Uncle Matt, you teach seventh grade. It has to be worse," Asa grins.
"No, no. Elementary is definitely worse."
Over at the younger end of the table, Caroline, Susie, Nicky, and Teo are discussing some sort of gossip or the other. Probably something about poor little Johnny Wu's painfully obvious crush on Caroline, or some sisterly teasing about all the girls that crowd around those two handsome little boys.
"Tiny Dancer, do up your tie," Caroline mothers, fussing with her little brother's collar.
Teo rolls his eyes and haphazardly tightens his Santa tie.
"Cari, déjalo. Tu hermanito está bien." ["Cari, leave it. Your brother is fine."]
"It's Christmas Eve dinner; he can't look like a hooligan, Mami," Caroline complains.
"That's your doing," Callie levels at Arizona across the table, with a fork pointed to underscore her point.
Taking a sip of her wine, Arizona accepts the accusation with a shrug and raised eyebrows. "I completely agree with her. No hooligans on Christmas."
"Can we open one? Please, please, please," Teo begs as the six Robbins-Torres family members spill out of the garage and back into the house.
"Teo, we go over this every year. We always open one."
"One that's not pajamas, Momma," Teo sighs, tugging his tie loose and rolling it up. He shoves it in the pocket of his navy blazer and plops onto the couch in the living room.
Asa unconsciously mirrors his younger brother's actions as Lena strips off her low heels and Caroline leans sleepily against her mami. Callie slips an arm around Caroline's shoulders and pulls her close.
"Sorry, no dice. Christmas Eve is pj night," Arizona stands firm, scruffing his fuzzy little head from the other side of the couch. "No more presents until Santa comes."
"But Momma... That's so far away."
"I know. Let's get our pjs and go to bed, so Santa will come super quick! Wanna be the elf and go grab them from under the tree?"
"Yes, ma'am," Teo yawns, pulling himself up as the rest of his family collapses onto the two couches.
"Who picked them out this year?" Lena asks, cross-legged on the couch, dress hiked up. She cleans up nicely, but she's still a little tomboy at heart, and they've never had any room for modesty in the comfort of their own home. Teo tosses one wrapped package to her, and she catches it with ease.
"Mami did."
"Oh thank god," Caroline laughs, earning a glare from her momma as she grabs her flying present out of the air and sits down between her older brother and sister.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means when it's your turn to pick them out, we all end up in cartoon characters," Asa explains, as gently as possible, catching his own gift.
"I like cartoon characters," Teo speaks up, handing the remaining presents out to his moms more gently, walking over to their couch.
"Thank you, Tiny Dancer," Arizona smiles, grabbing her youngest around the waist and pulling him into her lap. Teo's always been a snuggle bunny, and she's amazed at how much he still lets her cuddle him, especially when he's sleepy.
"Yeah, well, Teo's nine," Asa points out.
"And a half!"
"And a half," Asa confirms. "We're all teenagers." He looks to Caroline. "Almost."
"Two months," the younger girl complains.
"Don't remind me," Callie groans. "I picked them out; no cartoon characters. But they do all sort of match. There's a theme."
"Can we open them, Mami? Por favor," Teo asks, fingers idly picking at the loose edges of the wrapping paper.
"Tear 'em up."
The kids are all appropriately (if obligatorily) thankful for their Christmas pjs, even if Asa rolls his eyes at the candy canes on his pants. The girls have matching sets with peppermint themes, but in a soft cotton blend. Teo's are the full-on flannel, with candy cane stripes around his whole body, turning him into their own little candy cane. He immediately strips down to his Rudolph briefs and pulls them on with a grin.
"Me gustan, Mami," ["I like them,"] he says earnestly, plopping a wet kiss on Callie's cheek. He pulls away and puts his hands on his slim hips. "I'm a candy cane!"
"That you are, m'ijo. Now go cepillarte los dientes [brush your teeth]. Santa's getting anxious to come drop off your presents, but he can't do it while you're still up."
As a nine-year-old who is the youngest of four, they're all pretty sure Teo knows the truth about Santa Claus. They intend to keep up the act until he says otherwise, though.
"Will you and Momma tuck me in?"
"Of course. Hurry, hurry. We'll be right up."
Teo sprints up the stairs, two at a time. His older siblings take their time, gathering their pjs and shoes and purses.
"Are all your presents under the tree?" Arizona asks the trio.
"Lena's are the ones that look like a professional did them," Asa nods. "Mine are all in bags."
"Mine are just normal," Caroline shrugs.
"Your OCDish tendencies are a little scary, Leni," Callie says.
"They're beautiful; don't complain," Lena defends with a shrug, leaning in to kiss both of her mothers. "Merry Christmas Eve."
"Bedtime for the older elves too?" Arizona questions, kissing them each in turn.
"We're gonna put our pjs on and watch a movie in Lena's room," Caroline informs. "We'll be quiet so Tiny Dancer doesn't wake up."
Caroline looks mighty impressed with herself to finally be invited to a little ritual her siblings invented when Lena was twelve. Callie and Arizona can't help but encourage it, since it includes the kids bonding of their own accord. Plus, they're too old to be sent to bed when Teo is, but it keeps them out of their parents' hair while they prepare Christmas. The deal is that they can stay up as late as they want as long as they stay upstairs. And get up when their ecstatic little brother bounces on them at six am.
"You guys did great tonight with the pageant," Callie calls after them as they head up the stairs. "Caroline, excellent work not dropping the baby."
Cari grins at the teasing praise.
"Lena, you did very well. And it's a Christmas miracle that we don't have to hear you practice your lines anymore," Arizona teases.
"And it came to pass in those days, that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be counted..." Lena recites with a twinkle in her eye. "And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria."
"I gotta say, Len', you really nailed the pronunciation on that one," Asa praises.
"Thanks!"
"And Asa, the whole thing was pulled off beautifully. Only one wandering sheep!"
"And one Christmas octopus," Asa acknowledges. "Goodnight. Love you."
"Love you all too. If that hermanito suyo [little brother of yours] is still running around, shuffle him off to bed; we'll be right up."
tbc
