Title: Murphy's Law
Author: GreysAddictJ
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. No infringement intended. Also, I don't use a beta, so all mistakes are mine.
Summary: Callie has plans for a big romantic Valentine's Day – but everything that can go wrong, does.
A/N: For the Valentine's Day Challenge on the Callie_Arizona Live Journal Site
As surgeons, we're trained to hope for the best, but to plan for the worst. But what they can't prepare you for is the greatest threat of all – Murphy's Law, what can go wrong, WILL go wrong. You live, waiting for, dreading that day when the Earth comes crumbling down around you and hope, because it's all you can do, that you come out on the other side intact.
The Week Before Valentine's Day
"Don't you worry, Arizona. I've got this. I'm going to rock Valentine's Day. It's going to be a night you'll never forget. Just you wait." Callie smirked with confidence as her eyes met her girlfriend's.
Arizona laughed, her blue eyes twinkling with humor. "Okay, sweetie. If you say so. I'll sit back and let you, what was it? 'Rock' my Valentine's Day." She smiled and placed a kiss on Callie's lips.
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day was off to a rough start for Callie. The past week had been a miserable prelude to what was already shaping up to be a Valentine's Day far from the romantic evening she'd planned. A combination of losing two other ortho attendings to maternity leave and illness and a record breaking snow fall meant that Callie had been worked to the bone. The snow never failed to bring out the stupid in people and she was up to her ears in broken bones and torn ligaments. She loved her work, she really did, but it was hard to remember that when she'd barely slept in a week.
She silently cursed herself for bragging last week to Arizona about how she was going to "rock" this Valentine's Day. She'd barely had time to plan and had resorted to shopping for some of the items she needed for her plan online. She was worried because it was the big day and the packages still hadn't arrived. She silently prayed that they'd be waiting for her when she got home. Even as tired as she was, she smiled when she thought about what she had planned for the night. Arizona was going to be floored. Because she, Callie Torres, was an awesome girlfriend. Sleep or no sleep.
After scrubbing out of her third surgery of the day, Callie headed to the locker room to change. "Are you freaking serious!" She shouted as she saw the contents of her locker. She'd taken the time during a short break she'd had yesterday to go and pick up a box of Arizona's favorite chocolates, with fruit crème centers. Someone, probably Mark, who would be dead this time tomorrow, had poked a hole in the bottom of most of the candies, attempting to find the flavor they wanted. Note to self, she thought, interrogate suspects tomorrow. After picking up her sorry-looking chocolates, she headed out towards home. So what if the chocolates were ruined – it was a small part of her plan anyway.
She was halfway home when she pulled up short in her tracks. "Crap!" She said to no one in particular. She'd forgotten to get Arizona a card. Not that a card on Valentine's Day was anything that original, but she wanted to go all out, and that meant indulging in every Valentine's idea she could think of, overdone or not. Glancing at her watch, she decided that she had time to run into the greeting card store across the street, if she hurried. She had about 10 minutes until she was supposed to meet Arizona at the apartment. Half-jogging, she made her way to the store.
She made her way to the display of cards, overwhelmed by the selection. She didn't have much time to choose, but skimmed a few quickly. She found a possible candidate, but second-guessing herself, she put it back and perused a few more cards. Finally coming to the conclusion that her first choice had been right all along, she quickly picked it up again and headed to the cash register, grabbing a roll of wrapping paper as she went. As she paid, she saw a text from Arizona, inquiring as to her whereabouts. She handed the clerk some cash and typed out a response, letting her girlfriend know that she was on her way.
Callie made her way into the apartment and smiled apologetically at her girlfriend, who was lounging on the couch. Really, Arizona should have been the one planning, since she'd had the afternoon off, but Callie had insisted that despite the craziness at work, she still planned to live up to her boast. "Sorry I'm a few minutes late, babe. My last surgery ran long. Give me about 10 minutes and I'll make good on my promise for an unforgettable night."
Arizona nodded and smiled. "Sure, Calliope. Take your time."
Callie nodded and was relieved to see that the packages she'd ordered online had finally arrived, grabbing them, she took her armload of Valentine's Day ammunition into the bedroom to prepare.
Callie quickly changed clothes and proceeded to wrap the boxes, mentally making a quick note of which box came from which store, so she'd know when to give each present to her girlfriend. She then grabbed the card to add a message. She pulled up short. This was not the card she'd chosen. She silently cursed. She must have grabbed the wrong card in her haste. She deliberated for a moment and decided to go ahead and use it anyway. What was the harm? After quickly scrawling a sappy message and signing her name, she licked the envelope. She pulled back in pain. Damn it! She'd just gotten a paper cut on her tongue. This day was not going well. First the chocolates, then the card, and now a cut on her tongue of all places. Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed her frayed nerves. It was going to be fine – she'd still rock the evening. Just a few minor glitches. No big deal. She took a minute to call in a delivery order to their favorite Chinese restaurant and headed out to the kitchen. She'd whipped up a batter for Arizona's favorite cupcakes the night before and she quickly pulled it from the fridge and proceeded to pour it into the muffin tins before placing them in the oven. Finally feeling caught up, she sighed and poured two glasses of wine before heading to join Arizona on the couch.
She groaned with relief as she sunk onto the sofa. It had been a long week. Arizona looked at her sympathetically. "You know, we don't have to do this tonight, Calliope. I know you're exhausted."
Callie shook her head. "No, I want to. I told you'd I'd give you a Valentine's Day that you'll never forget and I plan to."
Arizona nodded and smiled. "Sounds good. Shall we start?"
Callie nodded.
"Okay, then. Since this is your night and I'm sure you want everything perfect, I think it's only fair that I tell you that your shirt's on backwards. Not that I don't find you sexy in everything, but that shirt is much better when that hot little v-neck is facing forwards." Arizona shot Callie an amused dimpled grin as Callie rolled her eyes and quickly fixed her shirt.
"You mean that wasn't just a ploy on your part to take your top off and have your way with me?" Arizona said in mock disappointment.
"All in good time, babe, all in good time." Callie smiled and placed a kiss on Arizona's pouting lips.
Arizona reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a wrapped package. "I figure I should just get my gift out of the way so that you can wow me with your amazingness."
Callie chuckled as she took Arizona's gift in her hands. Unwrapping it, she gasped slightly as she saw their heart necklaces, the ones they'd exchanged on a day just like this.
"I thought maybe it was time we put these back on." Arizona said, a little nervously.
Callie nodded fervently. "This is perfect, Arizona, thank you." She leaned in and kissed Arizona briefly before they helped each other put the necklaces back on.
Callie went and grabbed her presents for Arizona, figuring it was a way to kill time until dinner arrived. She handed the card to Arizona first.
As Arizona opened the card, she burst out laughing. "What is this, Calliope?" She tried to suppress her laughter as she read the card. "Congratulations on getting your driver's license! Not exactly romantic, sweetie."
Callie was not nearly as amused as her girlfriend. "Some mix up at the card store . . ."
By this point, Arizona had tears running down her face she was laughing so hard. "I didn't even know they made a card for such a ridiculous thing! This is great!" Callie's unamused glare did nothing to temper Arizona's humor and finally Callie couldn't resist and joined in. After they'd had a good laugh, Callie handed Arizona her first present.
"I hope it fits, I had to order it online." Callie said as Arizona unwrapped it.
Arizona pulled out an incredibly tiny blue sweater. "Um, Calliope? Are you trying to make me feel fat?"
Callie's heart sunk as Arizona held it up. Clearly there had been a mix up. "I . . . uh . . . I thought I ordered your size."
Arizona looked at the tag and laughed. "You did – in child size." She started laughing again. Callie was clearly trying hard, but the lack of sleep had clearly messed with her focus on detail.
"That'll teach me to wrap things without opening the box. But the next present should make up for it."
Arizona unwrapped the other present and gasped in surprise. She stared into the box, stunned, before finally looking up to meet Callie's eyes. "Uh . . . Calliope . . . is there something you're trying to tell me? I didn't think you were into this kind of stuff . . ."
Callie was confused. She took the box from Arizona and looked inside. The box held an assortment of rather scary-looking bondage items – whips, chains, leather, handcuffs, even what looked to be a horse's bridle. She looked up at Arizona. "This is so not what I ordered. I bought some scented massage oil. That's all, really, I swear." She shook her head as Arizona once again burst out into hysterical laughter. Could anything else possibly go wrong? Just then, the doorbell rang. Callie breathed a sigh of relief, thankful for the distraction.
She headed to the door and paid the delivery boy. However, as she opened the containers, she discovered that everything was covered in shrimp – which was not what she'd ordered. Arizona was allergic to shrimp. She groaned and quickly called the restaurant, who apologized, but said they were too busy to replace the order and offered her a refund. She explained the situation to Arizona and was about to suggest ordering a pizza when the kitchen timer went off. The cupcakes were done, so she pulled them from the oven to cool.
Impatient, Arizona headed over to the kitchen. "Those smell delicious, Calliope. Can I have one now? Please?" She gave Callie her best puppy dog look.
Callie relented and handed Arizona a steaming hot cupcake. Arizona took a bite, a look of anticipation on her face. The look of joy was quickly replaced by one of disgust, however, as she spit the cupcake out into the sink.
"What?" Callie asked, confused. She'd made this recipe many times before and had never gotten a reaction like that. In fact, she was usually rewarded with an overly thankful, very kissy girlfriend.
"There's something wrong with those, Calliope. Just taste one," Arizona said, her nose crinkled in disgust as she stifled a laugh.
Callie took a quick bite before also spitting out the food. Instead of the delicious sweetness she'd expected, this cupcake was decidedly salty. Callie let out a groan. The was total Murphy's law at work. Clearly, in her sleep-deprived state the night before, she'd added salt instead of sugar to the batter. This Valentine's Day was shaping up to be a fail of epic proportions. The only saving grace was that her girlfriend seemed to find the whole thing amusing. Yeah, it was funny, Callie thought. Like on big giant cosmic joke on her. Apparently she and her Valentine's Day bravado were being punished. However, it was hard to stay mad, considering the giant goofy smile that had been ever present on Arizona's face since Callie's first mishap of the evening. It was freaking adorable.
Callie picked up the Netflix envelope that was sitting on the counter, figuring now would be a good time to pop in the romantic movie she'd ordered – Valentine's Day. As she removed the disc, she cursed aloud. "Are you freaking kidding me? Instead of Valentine's Day was My Bloody Valentine. Not exactly the kind of movie to set the mood." She groaned and threw the disc across the room. Arizona smirked, unable to prevent herself from finding Callie's repeated failures both hysterical and endearing.
It was time to pull out the big guns. Callie decided to employ what had been her last item on the agenda and use it early. It was the only way she could salvage the evening. She took Arizona by the hand and led her to the couch. Arizona opened her mouth to speak, but Callie placed a finger over her lips and shook her head. She headed over to the iPod docking station and plugged in her device. She'd already queued it up to play a particularly sexy song. Pushing play she started to strut back towards Arizona, intent on giving her the strip show of her life. However, she immediately halted when an unexpected song came through the speakers. The Imperial March from Star Wars. Arizona giggled as Callie rolled her eyes and turned around to fix it. As she pressed the button on her iPod, nothing happened. She tried several more times to no avail, practically slapping the offending device in frustration. It didn't budge, as visions of Darth Vader ran through her head.
She groaned in frustration. "Unbelieveable!" The damn thing was stuck playing the most ridiculous song on her playlist – one that she didn't even like admitting she owned. Taking a few breaths to regain her composure, she turned to face her girlfriend, who was struggling not to laugh. She was Callie Torres and she was no quitter.
Deciding to work with what the rather mischievous Valentine's Day gods had thrown at her, Callie strutted towards Arizona, before slowly, seductively removing her shirt in time to the music. The smile slid from Arizona's face as Callie revealed a very sexy, very skimpy black bra. Next, she turned around and slowly bent over as she removed her pants, and Arizona struggled to focus, despite the ridiculous music. She had on matching panties with black garters and stockings. Callie swung her hips in time with the music. The fact that Callie looked like a very sexy, much less clothed, Darth Vader in her black ensemble was not lost on Arizona. Arizona swallowed the lump in her throat as Callie straddled her. Unable to resist, she leaned over and whispered in Callie's ear. "You know what would make this outfit complete, Darth Torres? A black cape."
Callie leaned back to meet Arizona's eyes, a look of aroused amusement on her face. "Oh, don't worry, young Jedi . . . I have plans for you. Give yourself to the dark side . . . I promise to show you my light saber . . . It's in the sock drawer."
Arizona laughed as she let Callie lead her to the bedroom. "Only if you promise to use the force."
Callie smirked. "Oh, the force will be with you . . . all night long."
Arizona smiled. Callie might not have gotten the night she'd planned, but she'd fulfilled her promise. This was a Valentine's Day that Arizona was never, ever going to forget. And she'd never be able to look at Star Wars the same way again. Who knew that the Imperial March could be such a turn on?