AN: Just a little something that popped into my head this morning. A quick one-shot of Thanksgiving dinner. This is Penny/Callie-I can't help it, I kind of like them. Anyway, they're Shonda's creations; I'm just putting them into my own stories.
"Calliope. Stop. People are going to start showing up soon!" Penny halfheartedly pushed at her girlfriend, who currently had her pinned against the counter and was kissing her neck.
"It's just our coworkers. They've seen worse." Callie chuckled against the shorter woman's skin. "They've walked in on us doing worse."
"Calliope!" she whined. "It's not just coworkers. It your ex-wife and your daughter and all my bosses. I'd like to make a good impression!" It had been months since that fateful dinner party that almost ruined everything. Months since Penny started working at Grey-Sloan. Months since she had been berated on a daily basis and she had improved by leaps and bounds. Even Meredith had a grudging respect for the surgeon the woman had become.
Huffing, Callie pulled back and smiled at her girlfriend. "They love you. It's going to be fine. Now stir the gravy. People are going to show up soon, woman!" She turned Penny back toward the stove and gave her ass a little pat before sauntering out of the room to double check that the table was set. It wasn't going to be a very large dinner—most of her friends were on call this year—but Penny was right, it was still an important night and Callie wanted it to go smoothly.
Callie was straightening out the silverware at the head of the table when she heard Penny clear her throat behind her. She turned to see the red head leaning against the door jamb between the dining room and the kitchen. "What?"
"Are you okay with everything? I mean…with Arizona. You know, bringing someone?"
Smiling softly, Callie crossed the room and took Penny in her arms. "I absolutely am. Arizona and I are good now. We're friends, and I'm happy if she's happy. Okay? I've got you. I love you." The two women had only just started using the 'l' word with each other and it still managed to put a smile on both their faces whenever it was said.
Nodding resolutely, Penny leaned in for a quick kiss. "I love you too. Now I'll get back to the gravy."
As Penny turned away, Callie heard her front door slam open and tiny feet clomping across the house. "MAMI!"
Callie turned just in time to catch her daughter who had catapulted herself up at her mother as soon as she crossed the threshold. "Hey, pumpkin pie! Happy Thanksgiving, sweetie."
"Happy T'anksgiving, Mami," the little girl managed to mumble around the kisses her mom was peppering all over her face.
Callie looked up to see Arizona standing in the doorway. "I tried to stop her. She's pretty excited for your stuffing."
"Like mother, like daughter." The two women shared a small smile remembering how much Arizona used to rave about her now ex-wife's stuffing each year.
"Penny!" the little girl in Callie's arms started wiggling to get free after spotting one of her favorite people cooking in the kitchen.
Callie put Sofia down just as Penny walked in. "Hey, munchkin! High five!" Penny held up her hand and Sofia jumped to hit it. Just then, Callie noticed a woman standing awkwardly behind her ex-wife.
Noticing Callie's eyes raised at a point over her shoulder, Arizona turned and grabbed the stranger's elbow, urging her forward. "Callie, Penny, this is Sandra. Uh, my girlfriend. Sandy, this is my ex-wife Callie and her girlfriend Penny."
The new woman reached out to shake hands with her hosts for the evening. "It's nice to meet you both. I've heard a lot of good things."
An awkward silence fell, all four women glancing back and forth with Sofia standing between all of them looking up at the weird adults in her life before Penny finally piped up. "Well, Sandra, luckily this will have been the most awkward part of the evening. Come into the kitchen and I'll pour you a glass of wine."
The newcomer smiled gratefully and followed Penny out of the room. Callie turned to her ex-wife. "She seems really nice."
"Come on, Callie. She said all of two words."
Laughing, Callie shrugged. "I know, but at some point tonight I'll get a chance to really talk to her and I'm sure she's going to be wonderful. You like her, right? You've always had pretty good taste, I think."
Arizona hit Callie's arm and laughed. "Always so modest. Let's go join them for some wine." Scooping Sofia onto her hip, Arizona led the way into the kitchen with Callie trailing behind.
After all four women had a glass of wine in hand, there was a knock on the door. "That's probably Meredith. She left the hospital right after me, but she had more kids to wrangle," Arizona said.
Seeing her girlfriend take a deep breath, Callie ran a comforting hand over Penny's back. "I'll go let them in. Sofia, why don't you come with me? Zola's here!"
Before Callie had even finished saying the name of Sofia's best friend, she was out of the room like a shot, standing impatiently next to the door.
Penny turned back to the guests. "So, Sandra, what do you do?"
"I'm a book editor."
"Wow! Callie's an incredibly avid reader. I'm sure you two will have lots to talk about."
"Yeah, Arizona mentioned that too." Sandra glanced at her girlfriend and then back to the other woman. "Oh. That was weird. Right?"
Arizona nodded and smiled. "Yeah, but we're all kind of used to that here."
"The hospital tends to be a little incestuous, it seems," Penny explained to the outsider.
Meredith swept into the kitchen with Callie behind her and immediately poured a glass of wine. "Hey Robbins. Blake." Her eyes landed on Sandra. "New person."
"The kids are all set up in the living room. Maggie's in there with them now and I promised her we'd all take turns with kid duty," Callie explained. "Meredith, this is Sandra. Sandra, Meredith."
The two women shook hands and Meredith downed her wine glass. "Remember when holiday dinners just needed tequila? Now we have 'kid-watching duty.' What the hell happened to us, Torres?"
Callie smiled and wrapped around her girlfriend's waist from behind, resting her head on her shoulder. "We grew up, I think."
"Gross."
After the food had been served and drinks refilled around the table, Callie took a moment to take stock of just how blessed she was. She had gone through a lot of hurt and pain, but maybe all those things were working to bring her here to this moment. She glanced around the table, taking stock—Penny, her girlfriend, sitting directly to her left; Miranda Bailey making jokes with intern DeLuca; Maggie trying to explain to Alex Karev why his method was wrong in the O.R. that day; Jo trying desperately to look interested in the aforementioned conversation; Meredith Grey listening intently to a story that Callie's own ex-wife was telling; and her ex-wife's current girlfriend smiling and laughing with Penny. A small gathering, but each and every person at that table felt like family in that moment. Callie thought fondly to the children in the next room, sitting at the "kid's table." Her own daughter, Sofia, and all the struggles she went through just to come into the world. Her eyes flickered to Arizona again, watching how her eyes lit up and the way she had a protective and comforting hand resting on Sandy's forearm. Her ex-wife was incredibly strong and while Callie was, of course, sad that the strength that now oozed out of Arizona wasn't at capacity in time to help save their marriage, she had really come to respect Arizona these last few months. They'd become friends—pretty close ones, at that. She honestly meant it when she told Penny earlier that she just wanted Arizona to be happy.
Penny. Callie looked over to her girlfriend who was helping herself to a second portion of Callie's famous stuffing and caught her eye. Penny gave her a questioning look and Callie just shook her head, leaning over for a quick kiss. "So, Sandra…I hear you're a book editor. Tell me everything about that."
With Callie reaching out to her ex's new girlfriend for friendship, it seemed like everything fell into place. Callie was finally happy. Fully and completely content for the very first time in what felt like ages.