Really? LOL Ok so you all want to know about our little "Danny". Some of you asked for a look at him too, so here we are. This will also be a one-shot as I have other stories out that need my attention. I am so grateful for the feedback and interest. I am truly glad that you all like the stories so much. So now where we…..
Callie's POV
"You know that means your paper is on me, right?"
"Sure mama." Callie heard as he closed the door. She couldn't help remember his story too.
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12 years earlier
"I am not saying no, but it's soon. Sofia's only a year old." Arizona said as she sat Sofia in the high chair at the end of the table.
"You're nervous. I get that."
"Callie, my greatest fear of being a parent played out quickly; immediately. We survived it. She survived it." I watched Arizona look down and smile at Sofia. "We made it." She then looked at me. "It's not that. We would have 2 under 3 years old. That would be a lot for two surgeons."
"Look at her, Arizona. God love her, she is a replica of me. If you didn't know who her father was, you won't guess it. You get to look at her and see the person you love in her. I want to look in beautiful blue eyes and see these big dimples smiling back at me?"
Arizona laughed and sat in the chair with her face close to Sofia's. In a child like, playful voice, she laughed. "Mama is crazy. If I could get her pregnant, you would be about 3 already and we would have been on Good morning America at least twice." Sofia giggled at Arizona causing Arizona's nose to wrinkle. "Yes she is. Mama's crazy."
I loved seeing them this way. Arizona had fallen head over heels in love with Sofia from the first day. I will never forget the stories I heard from the people I work with of Arizona fighting for Sofia's life. "That isn't what I meant."
"What does mama mean, Sofia? You know?" Arizona said while putting on Sofia's bib that read 'If you think I'm hot, you should see my other mommy'.
"I mean that we could find a donor. One with your features. Most of those places do a match test. You send them a photo of the partner or the dad, and they find someone that comes the closest to that. Or I mean, you could…..you know….ummm."
Arizona was now looking at me with raised eyebrows. "Me? Me? Me and labor will never mix." Arizona stood and walked over to where I was at the bar. "I promise, we will talk about this more, but she is so little and she'll miss some attention."
"Her dad and step-Grey live across the hall."
"Stop calling her step-Grey you know she doesn't like that."
"She has four parents that adore her. Most kids only have two, if they are lucky. Sofia will be fine. You are the one that spoils her anyway." Arizona looked at me and turned away. "What's wrong? Really?"
"We were in the car one morning and we argued over Mark. Then I asked you to marry me and you woke up 3 days later." Tears started to fill her eyes. "I lived those 3 days. I got out of that car and saw you almost dead laying on the hood. I dealt with Mark. I watched your heart stop twice. People, our friends, surrounded her and there was no pulse. I understand that you have no way of knowing just how close that we came to losing her, but I do, Callie. Ok, you're right. I'm scared. My worst nightmare was playing the second we came parents. You told me that our kids wouldn't be one of those kids in my NICU, but that is exactly what I got. I looked away from the road. What if it happens again? What if this time there are two kids in the backseat? What if….."
"Ok, stop." I walked over and placed my hands Arizona's shoulders. "Just stop." It hadn't been heard from me to believe what she was saying. The aftermath was awful.
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1 year earlier
Teddy walked into my hospital room and made a very good attempt to make me believe that she was working. "You look good Torres."
"What?"
"What, what?"
"Teddy, you were here an hour ago. You said that I was good then. What's up?"
"You need to talk to Arizona."
I sat up in the bed to get a full look at Teddy. I noticed that my mama and daddy were now closely listening too. "What's wrong with Arizona?"
Teddy took a deep breathe and sighed. "She isn't sleeping Callie. She hasn't slept nearly all week. She is either working or in here or in the NICU. She isn't sleeping. She's starting to look bad." Teddy looked down.
"What else?"
"She made a mistake this morning on a patient. Thankfully Karev caught it and hide the fact that she would have over medicated a child."
"I thought she was going home at night and sleeping."
"She sleeps in the on-call room. One day I walked by the room and heard this awful scream. You can never tell about those rooms, so…" Teddy stopped and looked at my parents. "Sorry. Anyway, I went in and she was in the middle of the bed in a full sob. I asked her about it and she got up, put her lab coat on and told me to mind my own business. That was actually yesterday."
"I thought….I thought she was fine."
"Remember after the shooting how everyone was? She's going through the same trauma now. Callie, I think she needs to talk to someone."
Before I could respond a, what seemed to be, chipper Arizona entered the room. "Thanks Teddy, but I'm fine. You don't have to check on me every five minutes." I smiled at her.
"You're a special patient Doctor Torres. By the way, how's that name thing gonna go? Anyway, I have rounds. See you later."
After Teddy left, Arizona placed the charts she had in her hand on the table and pulled up a chair. "So how are you?"
"I'm fine. Teddy, Cristina, Derek, Lucy and Alex have been in her every 10 minutes and they all say the same thing. 'Look good'. So I am assuming that I'm doing fine." I watched Arizona do her charting. "Arizona?"
"Huh." She said without looking up.
I just realized that she hadn't looked at me in the eyes much over the last couple of eyes. Her eyes were always told so much. "Arizona?"
"What Callie?" She still didn't look up.
"Look at me."
She took a deep breath and looked over. "What is it, honey?"
"You look exhausted."
"I'm fine." She returned to her charting.
"You work your shift, then you're either here or the NICU. Some days I am first and others Sofia is. When could you possibly be sleeping?"
Arizona dropped her pen and looked at me. "What did Teddy tell you?" She was angry than I had seen her in a long time. I didn't answer her. "Answer me, Callie."
I noticed my dad tense and Arizona's tone toward his daughter. "This.." I pointed up and down Arizona's body. "This, says enough. You aren't an angry person. You're tired. You need sleep. Maybe you should talk to someone about….."
Arizona shut the chart with a thud. "I don't need to talk to someone, Calliope. I watched you laying, whimpering and broken on the hood of my SUV. I watched you almost die and why? Because I took my eyes off the road. It was my fault."
"Wait. We aren't playing the fault game here. It was just as much my fault as yours. Look at you. You have a few scratches and that's it. I took my seat belt off. I'm the reason I was hurt so badly. Not you."
Arizona's anger subsided as she sighed. "I see it every time I close my eyes, Callie. I don't want to talk about it while I'm awake too. Please. Drop it."
I watched her finish her charting. She mostly sat in silence. It was obvious that she just wanted to be in the room. To make sure that I was alright, even though she knew I was. When she was done, she kissed me, said good bye to my parents for the time being, and left the room.
My dad was the first to speak as she left. "You aren't going to leave it at that, are you?"
"Nope."
Arizona's shift had ended an hour ago. I knew that tonight, Sofia was first. I was right as she walked into the room. We had food laid out on the table that dad had ordered from a restaurant near the hospital. Me and my parents were talking and eating when Arizona came in.
"Hey." I smiled as she came over to the bed. "How's Sofia?"
"She's good. Amazing actually." Arizona beamed at the mention of our daughter.
"Ok. Your food is over here." I moved the plate beside. She walked over and took the plate and her drink. "So how was the rest of your day?"
"Busy." Was the only answer I got. She was physically and mentally exhausted.
The rest of the meal was spent with small talk. When we were done I gestured to my mother and she quickly handed me a duffle bag that lay at her feet. "Thank you." I quickly handed the bag to Arizona.
"What's that?"
"Clothes. Well night clothes. While mom and dad were out, they stopped at the apartment and picked them up."
"Callie…."
"No, you're going to listen to me. You are going in there and changing, then when you are done you going to come back here and lay down."
"Where?"
"Here." I pointed to my bed. "I am moving over and you are sleeping here. With me."
"I don't need…."
"Arizona, this isn't up for discussion."
"I can barely sleep with you in a king size bed. I can't imagine that bed."
"I am not asking you. You are sleeping with me. You're exhausted and when you wake up tonight screaming my name, because you think that I am still laying on the hood of that car, I'm going to be here to tell you that I'm fine. And we're doing this every night until it stops. You don't want to talk to someone again, that's fine, but I am not backing down. You are Doctor, for children, and you need sleep."
Arizona lowered her head and smiled. "You saying I look bad?"
"You're beautiful, but exhausted." I smiled. "Now say goodnight to my parents and go change."
"You don't have to leave because of me." She told them in a whispered voice.
"They're going down to see Sofia then they're leaving for the night. They're sleeping at the apartment in the extra room for the remainder of their stay."
Arizona walked around the bed and gave both my parents a huge. "Good night."
"Good night. Sleep well." Lucia whispered.
"Thank you."
Arizona hugged daddy. "No, thank you." He gently kissed her cheek. She finally walked into the bathroom and changed.
When she returned, my parents were gone. I smiled at here and moved over in the bed. "Come here, Arizona." It came out a lot more sexy than I meant.
"Ok, I think I need to draw the line at doing anything sexual here." She said climbing in the bed.
"Yet you quickly get in my bed." I laughed. Arizona laid on my arm that was wrapped around her. Her head was against my neck and I quickly wrapped my other arm around her. "I love you."
"I love…" Immediately, without finishing the sentence, I could feel the heavy breathing on my neck that indicated she had fallen asleep.
She woke up three times that night. I reassured her that everything was ok and she would finally return to sleep. After a week, she dreams had stopped. Or maybe they just weren't as bad. We got through it together, like we did everything else.
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1 year later
We finished our meal, but not before Sofia had started a food fight with Arizona. We were talking when food hit the side of Arizona's head. Sofia giggled. "I think that means that she wants some attention from you. Maybe it works." I said as I raised my fork that was aimed at Arizona.
"Don't you dare, Calliope." Arizona had barely gotten the words out when food it her in the face. "Nice."
Arizona dipped her hand in the mashed potatoes that were on her plate. "So you wanna play?"
"You wouldn't."
Arizona stood and walked slowly around the table. "Oh, I wouldn't?" Just as she said it, she smeared them on my face.
"Not fair." I laughed. I jumped up and ran her down and rubbed my face to hers wiping the food onto her face.
"Mama" Came quietly behind us. Arizona and I both stopped and turned to Sofia.
"Did she just say Mama?" I looked a stunned, but smiling Arizona.
"Yeah, yeah I think she did."
We walked back to her. "Say Mama." I tried to get her to say.
"Mama." That without a doubt was the sweetest words that I have ever heard. And the words that broke Arizona.
As a tear ran down her face, she spoke. "We'll talk about it."
Over the next 6 months, talk we did. The older Sofia got and things seemed to settle into a pattern around the house, our schedules and when Mark and Lexie got Sofia, things were calmer. Arizona had agreed to try one more.
We spent 3 months with a fertility clinic and in contact with a sperm bank that offered anonymous donors. Mark had offered to give Sofia a full sibling, but this time, it was about me and Arizona. We had been sent several profiles on donors that matched Arizona's features. There was one that stood out. We saw his baby picture and it amazed us how much this kid could actually look like Arizona. Now was the hard part. I really wanted Arizona to experience pregnancy, but she was completely against it. So it was me again.
After talking to Addison and some soul searching on both our parts, we decided to do the obvious. I wanted Arizona to have a child. I wanted to look into her blue eyes and not someone else's. I was on the couch waiting for Arizona to return from work. She walked in the door and huffed in exhaustion. She walked over to kiss me and Sofia.
"I hate 36 hour shifts now. It seems like I'm away from her for a week."
"I know. We missed you."
"And I missed you." Arizona placed a kiss on my check.
"Can I talk to you about something?"
"Umm, sure." Arizona seemed shocked that I would ask. "Should I sit for this one?"
"I talked to Addison today. Arizona, I want to have a child that is yours. Not that Sofia isn't, but…."
"Callie, I am not going through pregnancy and maternity leave and…."
"I'll do it."
"What?"
"Addison said that we could come next week and she could do a procedure on us."
"What are you talking about?"
"We could use the donor that we have because he is perfect and has your features, but what if I carried your baby?"
Arizona was stunned. "Like a surrogate?"
"Yes. Arizona, I would have a child that was biologically yours. Do you know how awesome that would be. A kid that came from both of us. Your child with my blood running through it's veins."
I will never forgot the look on Arizona's face. It was a concept that we hadn't considered before, but it made perfect scene. It took a minute for the shock to wear off, but when it did, she loved the idea.
The pregnancy went smooth. No problems. No complaints. I went into labor just 2 weeks before my due date and gave birth to a very healthy baby boy. He weighed 8 pounds at 2 ounces. We joked that we didn't know what to do with one that was a normal size. We had waited 6 months for Sofia to get to his birth weighed.
We had crossed our fingers for months, or I had, that he would have Arizona's features. It took about a month before you could really tell what color his eyes would be, but from the moment you could, they were Arizona's exact blue eyes. Even when Danny was only days old, he would move his mouth and all you could see were dimples. The older he got, when he would smile, they would just sink in his cheeks.
He arrived 2 years and 5 months after Sofia and from the moment he came home, she was his protector. They had their moments, like all sibling, but they always got along well. When Danny was about 5, Arizona had made the comment that he looked just like her brother had. Barbara had emailed pictures of Danny at Arizona's request and when I saw them, I had to admit the resemblance was scary. Our friends told us that we 'hit that one out of the ballpark'. Arizona never made a difference in Sofia and Danny. They were ours no matter what anyone could ever say.
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Present Day
Arizona's POV
I knocked on the closed door and wait until I heard 'come in' come from the other side. "Hey, the paper was nice." I said as I returned her work.
"Thanks."
"That was really sweet."
Sofia chuckled and looked over at her nightstand. She smiled at the framed picture of us the day after she was born. Alex had made a copy and gave one to me. I had framed it and when Sofia was 6, it went missing off the nightstand in my room. I knew where it went and was happy to let her have it. She stopped looking at the picture and looked at me. "They said our hero. You're my hero." She was getting to the age that compliments were rare.
"Thank you." A tear come out of my eye.
She chuckled. "God mom, don't be such a girl."
"I'll show you a girl." I said as I tackled her on her bed and tickled her until she begged for mercy. "Who's the girl now?" I laughed.
After leaving her room and telling her goodnight, I made my way to Danny's room. He was always on the computer looking up things. Danny was smart and was reading on an 11 grade level, so for a 5th grader, he could read well. He was interested in science. The donor was also a Doctor, so we had high hopes for him. I looked at him and smiled. He was my baby. "Hey, you about done, kiddo?"
"Just about. I am reading the effects that sleep deprivation can have on the body."
"Huh, funny you should be reading that. It's bedtime, champ."
"Can I just finish this article? Please, Mom?"
"Ok, but go brush your teeth and tell Mama goodnight first."
He jumped up to do as I asked and hugged me on his way out. "How am I ever gonna tell Mama my paper will be on you too."
I laughed. "Suck up. Isn't that what you just called your sister?"
"Cuz she is." He said and ran out the door.
"Well, we will just keep this between us. Mama really needs a paper too." I smiled down into his eyes as he still had his arms wrapped around my waist.
"Ok, I will think about it." He giggled. "So I will call mine, My Mama the Ortho Surgeon."
"Sounds perfect. Now go tell your Ortho Mama goodnight."
As he ran out of the room, I beamed with pride. As I left his room, I turned to look down the hall. I looked at those 2 bedroom doors and wondered to myself how I could ever been so wrong. That was my life behind those doors. How could I have ever thought chickens would be better than this.
The End.