Title: Wedding Bells
Author: Brittany
Tagline: "I'm a good man in a storm because of you. Everything I am is because of you. And I don't think you are even aware of it."
Summary: Today is the day their friends and family fill the local church. Today is the day golden rings symbolize their love for one another. Today is the day that Calliope Torres gets married the right way.
Pairing: Callie/Arizona. Brief, (and I mean blink and you miss it, brief) mentioning of Callie/George
Rated: PG-13
Author's Note: I'm in the Valentines Day spirit, and what better way to show my support than to write this. It's also posted on the Callie_Arizona community on LJ, so if you are a member there, you may be getting a double read of this. Anyway, this is probably one my favorites so I really hope you enjoy this. Happy V-Day!
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings and events thereof, are properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
I have nearly forgotten how to breathe as I stand behind the doors leading into the church, clutching tightly to the bouquet of flowers in my hands. My heart is racing in my chest, my mouth is dry, my knees are buckling below me as I watch my sister, Cristina and Lexie disappear behind the wooden doors in front of me. God, the last time I got married I wasn't this nervous. But then again, the last time I got married I think I was a little trashed and the last time wasn't real. This is real. Breath-taking, heart stopping, scary real.
This time, instead of getting married in some cheesy Vegas chapel where we were greeted by some silly Elvis impersonator, I am walking down the isle of the most beautiful church in the state of Washington. This time, instead of supporting my usual leather jacket and well fitting jeans, I am dressed in the most stunning white dress that looks as if it was just ripped out of a Verna Wang ad. This time everything is decked out to the nines, with white doves, roses, an actual musician playing the piano. This time is the fairy tale wedding that I have secretly been dreaming of since I was a little girl.
My heart is racing like a drum in my chest as my entire body begins to shake. Not of making the wrong choice by doing this, no, because I know this time is right, I'm simply afraid of making a fool of myself. I am afraid that she will change her mind, I am afraid that she will realize that she can do so much better than deciding to spend the rest of her life with me.
My father appears by my side, a perfect tuxedo adorning his body and I am forced to swallow the laughter my throat. The only time I have ever seen my father wear a suit was at my grandfather's funeral and I was only ten years old at the time; so seeing him here now, in a dashing tuxedo, was like seeing a fish walk out of water. He smiles at me and I pretend like I can not see the tears of pride in his eyes as he wraps his arm around mine with a sniffle.
"Ready, mija?" He asks and I can not control the smirk that is forming upon my lips. I never thought this day would come. Well, no, scratch that, I did know that I was going to marry Arizona Robbins. But what I never expected was the fact that my father, my strongly Catholic father, would be willing to give his daughter away to spend the rest of her life with a woman. Clearly, I underestimated the powers of Arizona's 'awesomeness', I chuckle quietly to myself.
"Dad, can I ask you a question? Were you scared when you married Mom?" I ask and he chuckles, diverting his gaze to the wooden doors in front of us before his eyes land back on mine and it is in that moment that I realize my father was a man that I barely knew. He is the man that I have spent pushing away my entire life because I thought he was too overprotective but in the reality of the situation, he was simply trying to protect me. And that made him a good man, even if he wasn't always so understanding.
"Oh, Calliope. I was terrified," He admits with a smile and a quiet gush of air escapes from me.
"Yeah?" The word trembles from my lips and he chuckles with a nod of his head, a smile beaming on his face so wide that I nearly thought his face was going to crack. Sometimes I forget that my father wasn't always the enemy, because after all, he is the one who has always wanted me to be happy. Always. Even if he didn't understand that I was happier with Arizona than I have been with any one else.
"Yes, I was. I threw up three times before I even made it to the alter. I was terrified. My friends thought I was making the biggest mistake of my life, and truthfully, I did too. But the second those doors opened and I saw your mother in her beautiful dress, I knew that I was doing the right thing. In that second, I knew there was no-one else I could ever want to spend the rest of my life with other than her," He explains and the gigantic elephant that seemed to be sitting on my chest moments before is slowly disappearing, which is making my breathing a hell of a lot easier.
"Calliope...were you scared when you married George?" He asks.
"Uh...no. No. Not really. I mean, I was afraid how you and Mom would react but I wasn't necessarily scared of marrying him," I admit and the smug grin on my father's face only causes me to mimic the same reaction. He stiffens at my side as the pianist begins to play the wedding march and I swallow the lump that has currently been present in my throat since I agreed to marry Arizona.
"That's how you know that it is right this time. If you weren't terrified, Calliope, then this marriage would mean nothing to you. But considering the fact that you are nearly on your knees, means that you really care about this marriage, you really love this woman and you really want this to work out for the two of you. When those doors open and you see her, you'll know. You'll always know," He explains with a warm smile as he places a kiss on my cheek. I sigh with a swift nod of my head as I close my eyes, keeping the burning tears from cascading down my face and ruining my make-up.
Suddenly the doors in front of us opens and the music grows increasingly louder. Suddenly, I have forgotten how to move when I see all the people who have turned out for our wedding, all the familiar faces who have experienced our highs and our lows together. My father chuckles as he slowly begins to move forward and that is when I see her standing at the alter, waiting for me. She is wearing a slimming blue dress, her blond curls dancing around her shoulders, tears in her eyes and a bright, warm smile calling me toward her. She must notice the tears in my eyes because the smile upon her face widens as she mouths 'I love you' and I half expect my heart to rip out of my chest, it is beating so fast.
"She's beautiful, isn't she, mija?" whispers my father in my ear and I struggle to make words. Trembling my lips form in a smile as I come closer to her, aware of all the warm, inviting eyes that are upon me and my father now and it nearly causes me to blush.
"She's perfect," I whisper in a cry. Suddenly we are at the alter and I am standing in front of her, tears, wedding dress and all. I sigh in happiness as my father chuckles beside of me, he slowly lets go of my arm, taking my hand within his own. I turn to him as I mouth 'thank you' and he simply nods his head with a smile, stealing another quick kiss before he turns to Arizona.
"You take good care of my little girl," He states and I watch as she smirks at him.
"I protect the things I love, remember? I love your daughter, sir," She smiles and he chuckles with a nod of understanding. He stares at me lovingly for a moment before he takes my hand and softly places it within Arizona's, intertwining our fingers around one another. He smiles sadly at the sight in front of him before he takes a seat in the first pew beside of my mother, leaving us be. I turn to Arizona who is fighting away the tears in her beautiful blue eyes and it steals my breath.
"You look beautiful," She mumbles, placing a kiss upon my cheek and I force the tears back in my russet brown eyes. Now was not the time to cry in front of a church full of people and ruin my make-up, there is plenty of time to ruin the make-up that Aria and my mother spent hours applying on my, what I thought was flawless, face.
"Oh, Ari. You have no idea," I cry with a chuckle.
The minister that my father had a hand in choosing, stands before us, a smile on his face as he watches us stare lovingly into each others eyes. I wonder if he is aware that suddenly I see no-one else in this church other than the beautiful, perky blond who is standing before me, willingly, and soberly, promising to spend the rest of her life with me. Did she not know that she could do so much better than me?
"So, Arizona, I have been informed that you have written something that you would like to share with Calliope. Now would be the perfect time to tell her how you feel," He instructs and Arizona's eyes break the gaze we share only briefly as she nods in the minister's direction, acknowledging his instructions before she pulls a piece of paper out of her bra. I chuckle deviously as she wrinkles her nose, both of us aware of the dirty thoughts that are racing through our minds, the thoughts that do not belong in a church.
"Dear Calliope," her voice is shaking as her blue eyes meet mine across the white wrinkled paper in her hands, a warm smile quickly forms on her perfected lips, "it's not really a letter." I chuckle with a smile of my own and a simple shake of my head.
"Go on," I laugh.
"You are not in my heart, because you are my heart. My brother told me that when he was deployed to Iraq, a war that he would never return home from. And I never understood it, at least not completely. I thought it was just some washed up, cliché saying that made it easier for him to leave me behind. But now, I'm standing here and I'm looking at you, and I realize what it means. Because you are not just simply in my heart, because you are my heart," She whispers, glancing away from the crinkled paper as her blue eyes delicately meet mine and I pretend not to notice the blistering tears in her eyes. Instead I sniffle with a nod of my head, encouraging her to continue and she does.
"I didn't come here expecting anything. I came looking for an out, to escape my brother's death, to find something worth holding onto, something worth fighting for. I wanted to find something that gave it all purpose, you know? And then...then I met you and you made sense of me. You are who I am fighting for, you are who I want to spend the rest of my life with," Her voice breaks as the tears fall down her face and I can no longer keep my own tears at bay.
"You are the reason that I try, Calliope. I know that things are not always easy, I know things are hard. Like with George dying and your family not always accepting you and the merger. I know it's complicated, I know that you have been hurt before by Erica and George and it makes you a little guarded but I'm willing to fight for you, every single day. I'm willing to fight for you, to prove to you that I am the one that you are meant to be with because I want you. Forever. Because you are my everything. I'm a good man in a storm because of you. Everything I am is because of you. And I don't think you are even aware of it. I'm in love with you, Calliope Torres and I want to spend the rest of my life being in love with the miraculously, stunning, amazing woman that you are," Arizona cries as she folds the letter, placing it back within her bra and her tear filled eyes meet mine.
"Calliope, is there anything you would like to say?" The minister asks and I am struggling to remember how to breath around her now. I glance over my shoulder to see my parents sitting in the first pew, tears within my mother's eyes and my father only smiles at me with a swift nod of his head. I look at Aria, Cristina and Lexie who stand behind me, each clutching a bouquet of flowers of their own, all three with a smile pressed firmly upon their lips, all three supporting me on the biggest day of my life. I sigh with a shiver before I turn back to Arizona who eagerly awaits me with a smile upon her face.
"Arizona...I don't...I don't even know what to say to you, except that I love you. When I married George, we didn't have this beautiful wedding that you have given me, we didn't do the vows or all of these amazing things. It was quick and dirty...as is a lot of things in my life," I laugh and she giggles with a smile. Gnawing on my bottom lip, I let out a whimper as the tears form in my eyes.
"When you came into the bathroom at Joe's that night, I was in such a bad place. I was dealing with the fact that I was suddenly a lesbian and my girlfriend, who also happened to be one of my very best friends, just walked away from me, without so much as a goodbye or an explanation. She looked at me and she told me that she didn't know who I was anymore and she left me. And I never thought...I never thought that I could ever feel this way...I never...could have imagined..." my voice trails off with a sniffle and she reaches forward, her fingers intertwining around mine as her warm smile encourages me to continue.
"But you stormed into that bathroom and you...you told me that people would be lining up for me and I didn't understand...so, you...you kissed me. Right there in Joe's without knowing a single thing about me other than what you heard from the nurses. And as I watched you walk away from me, I knew that my life was going to change forever, I just didn't know how much. But here I am, standing beside of you, in front of our friends and family, holding your hand and promising to be with you forever, to be in love with you forever and hoping that forever is going to be a really long time. Because you are the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with," I cry and she chuckles as she cups my face in her hands, brushing away the tears that are now slipping down my cheeks. In this moment, I realize, exactly how right this is, how much I truly am in love with her, in this moment, I know she is the one that I am meant to be with.
"Do you, Calliope Torres, take Arizona Robbins, to be your lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward? For richer, for poorer? In sickness and in health? To love and cherish from this day forward until death shall you part?" He asks and I swear, I can hear every one in the church practically hold their breath as they await my answer. With a chuckle and a warm smile upon my face, I swiftly nod my head.
"I do," I whisper as I slid the golden ring onto Arizona's small finger, my entire body trembling. Staring deeply into her innocent swirls of blue, I lose my breath and my heart. But I know that it was never my heart to keep, because it always belonged to her, no matter where I was at in my life. With George, with Erica, my heart always belonged to Arizona Robbins.
"Do you, Arizona Robbins, take Calliope Torres, to be your lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward? For richer, for poorer? In sickness and in health? To love and cherish from this day forward until death shall you part?" He asks and she smirks a grin.
"Death? Really? I mean, that could be a really long time from now!" She jokes and I shriek a gasp, watching as her eyes light up at the sound of my laughter. How could she not know that she was all I ever asked for? How could she not know that she is everything to me?
"'Zona!" I scold and she giggles, the blush curling in her cheeks before she nods her head.
"Of course. I do," She replies, before she pushes the golden band onto my left finger, the tears staining her beautiful round cheeks. I choke out a cry from the back of my throat as her hand slowly fits within mine and I can feel our golden bands softly colliding together.
"By the power invested in me by God and the state of Washington, I now pronounce you wife and wife," The minister states as he closes the Bible in his hands, and I can count the different colors of blue in my wife's eyes, the eyes that hold my future. She glances around the church that is full of our friends and family before a smirk appears on her face.
"So, are you going to kiss me now or am I going to have to get you slightly drunk and alone in Joe's bathroom again?" Arizona jokes in a whisper with a laugh and I can only roll my eyes with a laugh of my own. Suddenly her lips are colliding with my own and it is as if the entire world falls away around us. It is as if she and I are the only two people in the world as she cups my face in her hands, her bottom lip slipping discreetly under my tongue and I swear nothing can get better than this moment here with her.
"I present to you, Mrs. Calliope and Arizona Robbins," The minister states and the entire Chapel erupts in applause as we pull away with an embarrassed giggle. Looking around at all of our friends and family who are standing on their feet, I feel my heart flutter in happiness.
"I love you, Calliope. It's you and me forever, kid," Arizona whispers in my ear as she gives my hand a tight squeeze. My eyes meet hers and I can only smile as a stray tear cascades down my cheek, could today be any more perfect than it is right now?
"I love you, too, Arizona," I smile through the tears. She chuckles as she leans forward, placing a kiss on the bridge of my nose before we head down the isles that are full of applauding friends and family. And I know, that somehow, everything worked out the way that it was meant to, Arizona Robbins is the person that I am meant to share children with, she is the person that I am meant to grow old with, the person I want to be with when the world comes to an end. Because somehow, I find a new way to fall in love with her every day and when it all falls apart, it is her love that saves me every single time.
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