when the honeymoon is over

by neolithicdreamer

A sequel to "Its a nice day for a white wedding" Arizona is worried, a bit of angst,a lot of sex and a smidgen of fluff. This was a multi chap fic but I've posted it here in one go, all 18,000 plus words!

TITLE: When the honeymoon is over

AUTHOR: Neolithicdream

PAIRING: Callie & Arizona

RATING: NC-17

SUMMARY: Still in the honeymoon stage -they are happy but will it last? Mostly angst and sex and fluff. Post 7.22 Sequel to "It's a nice day for a white wedding" as there is some references to that but can be read as a standalone. This is set about three months after the wedding and about one month after "Calzona: the Directors Cut". Also a prequel to "Heaven Can Wait".

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Calzona or any of the characters mentioned in this fic. They are the property of Shonda Rhimes/ ABC etc... This fic is purely written for enjoyment and without intent or prospect of profit. No copyright infringement intended.

WORDS: 17,770

CHAPTER ONE

Moving from sleep to consciousness was almost always a slow lengthy transition for Arizona Robbins. The bright and perky Doctor usually made a very good impression of Oscar the Grouch in the morning before her second cup of liquid caffeine. Her waking up process normally involving a lot of disbelieving groans and moans and "Ughhs" and "No's" and the pulling of bedclothes over her head until ultimately bowing to the inevitable evil of getting up.

The two exceptions to this normal wake up routine were the sound of her pager bleeping and more recently the sound of her daughter crying.

Today, however, when she woke up suddenly, she was not on call. By instinct she glanced at the baby monitor and smiled at the sight of an oh so quiet Sofia still fast asleep, her tiny chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. A sight that made Arizona's own heart soar.

No what had awoken her so suddenly this morning was sheer physical discomfort. That familiar ache in her every muscle, the good kind of ache caused by the build up of lactic acid due to the best kind of exercise. Yes and last night or was it earlier this morning (it was both) there was a lot of that kind of exercise. But there was a little more to it than that Arizona realised with a somewhat smug smile. Her discomfort was exacerbated by her most unnatural sleeping position. A joyously uplifting unnatural position.

She was lying entirely atop her wife - Callie, lying on her back, was bearing her wife's entire weight. When she had finally collapsed on top of the taller woman – her powerful final orgasm draining her of the last drop of energy- they must have both fallen asleep almost instantly. Too exhausted for Arizona to even slide off Callie in the few hours of sleep since.

Arizona's right arm was stretched out at almost a right angle from her body and her hand was still holding Callie's left one though loosely now. Her left hand was stretched out in the opposite direction still clutching the bunched up fitted sheet she had ripped from the mattress a few hours ago.

Arizona continued to rest her head in the crook of her wife's neck as she stared at the beautiful sight beneath her. Just as Sofia's little chest had risen and fallen in a steady rhythm so did Callie's ample and gloriously naked bosom. Inhaling deeply Arizona considered just how much she adored the scent - a scent that was exclusively theirs; it was that unique mixture of her and Callie; of their own natural fragrances intermingled and of sex and their sex induced sweat. It was a scent that stirred her own arousal yet again notwithstanding that she was bone tired.

She was draped on top of her wife - her right leg fully stretched and balancing almost precariously on top of Callie's left. Arizona's left leg was bent with her knee resting above Callie's protruding right hip. Her centre exposed to Callie's right hand which really had not moved far from its location of some hours before. Her hand rested limply between her own legs just millimetres from Arizona's now awakening centre. However, the most stimulating thing about their current positions, above all else, was the proximity of Arizona's hooded clit to Callie's. It would only take the slightest of adjustments on Arizona's part for her to align them perfectly.

And as tired as she was she felt that familiar dull ache between her legs, an ache that she knew, lying this close to her woman , would not go away but would rapidly intensify to almost an unbearable degree . She was torn. Callie was exhausted, not just from last night but from a hard long week of work and motherhood and sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation that until two weeks ago they might have blamed on their daughter but she had begun, at last, to get into a more settled routine. Anyway they both knew that Sofia was not the sole cause of their combined lack of sleep. Their seemingly and increasingly insatiable need for each other was also culpable.

Callie needed her sleep. She did. No really she did. But then so did Arizona and yet all the blonde could think of was touching her wife in a way designed to wake her up so that she could then touch her a lot more. She tried to rationalise it ; it would be doing Calliope a favour – she couldn't possibly be comfortable with Arizona lying on her like this – the longer she allowed that to continue the stiffer Calliope would be when she finally woke up. Anyway they both had the weekend off and Sofia was going to Mark's for only her fourth ever sleepover so they had all the time for sleeping tonight.

And sleep was overrated anyway. Arizona, trying to stem her growing arousal, started to do math in her head. Specifically calculating how much (or little) sleep there had been last night. Of course that didn't help matters as to figure that out she had to cast her mind back to their activities of the night before.

"That didn't take long" Arizona said as she saw Callie reversing out the nursery door and closing it oh so gently.

"Nope, she fought it a little but she just couldn't keep her eyes open...hopefully she'll be out for several hours"

"Wow, at 8.30 again, that's three, no four nights in a row..." Arizona said sounding awe struck "...looks like our little genius has got a sleep routine going"

"Oh, god I hope so...sleep deprivations a bitch" Callie said approaching her wife on the couch "so you going to tell me what's bothering you, babe?"

Unusually for these days Arizona had been late getting home- her shift had ended more than 2.5 hours ago but she'd only just made it home in time to see Callie putting Sofia in her crib

Arizona shook her head gently sporting a slight but definitely sad frown, scooting over on the couch to make room for her wife, almost whispering "Make me yours, Calliope...Please?"

Callie could hear and see the quiet desperation on Arizona's face. She had noticed something was wrong as soon as her wife had entered the Apartment this evening. She thought the previous evening too her wife had not been quite herself. In truth after the ordeals they'd survived they had both developed a type of sixth sense as to when the other was not quite ok. And while they gave each other enough space to deal, enough privacy- still neither were prepared to leave it too long or ever fall into the lack of communication trap that had been the root cause of so many of those ordeals.

Arizona pulled her into a needy rough kiss, dominating at first just enough and then almost subliminally allowing Callie to take control.

"You're already mine, Arizona" Callie said huskily as she ended the kiss and smiling as she began to stand up continued "but I need to feed my gorgeous wife now and find out what's wrong that has her sounding so sad, so come on, kitchen now"

"Callie, no, please, I need you...now...nothing's wrong honey I just..." Arizona had stretched out on the couch and pulled her wife back down on top of her "please Cal just... I need to feel you inside me, fucking me, please make me yours"

Arizona grabbed Callie's right hand forcibly pushing it up and under her shirt and onto her breast clearly signalling what she wanted. Then, while all the time peppering Callie's jaw and neck with sloppy wet kisses, with her free hand she undid her own button fly jeans and thrust Callie's left hand in under her panties simultaneously raising her hips to maximise contact.

"Jesus, Arizona" Callie gasped "...I want you too, but you need to talk to me, tell me..."

"No talking just fucking" Arizona began pushing Callie's fingers roughly against her own folds at an almost frantic pace as she pulled Callie towards her to kiss again

"Okay, okay but...just wait, Arizona, wait" Callie grabbed Arizona's hand with her right hand forcibly stilling her movements completely

"If you don't want me just say so Cal" Arizona said angrily now trying to push her wife off her but Callie was having none of it.

Laying her entire weight on top of Arizona she murmured loudly into her lover's ear "I want you, I'll always want you, the day I don't I'll be six foot under, babe" and this time she began to voluntarily stroke her fingers along and amongst Arizona's folds, her fingers gliding smoothly now through Arizona's wetness.

"I'm going to make you mine, okay?"She could feel some of the tension leave the body beneath her as she spoke gradually increasing the stroking "...but later we'll talk, okay, babe? I'm going to make you feel so good and...then we'll just chat, just me and you"

"Callie, please" Arizona begged "...okay talk later now please just take me now just I need you to fuck me please"

It was rare that Arizona vocalised her wants like this and even rarer that she sought to be dominated and God, even though Callie knew something had upset her wife, it was so hot. And she could tell from the words and her tone and the almost primal look on her face that Arizona needed her... now... and she was not going to disappoint.

Callie kissed her wife hard and long, forcing her tongue into Arizona's willing mouth and then without ceremony she thrust two fingers into Arizona. Arizona whimpered as her earlier desperate plea was answered. Callie quickly established a fast and hard rhythm thrusting in and out with two fingers of her left hand – occasionally varying the tempo, slowing then speeding up even faster than before then falling back to the original speed. Arizona breathing really heavily now... not capable of anymore than infrequent moans of "Cal, yes" and "please, Go- god, mo-more".

Callie thrust even harder deeper almost roughly into her wife but the harshness of the thrusts were tempered by her gentler kneading of Arizona's breasts and the soothing words she whispered in her ear; interspersed between kisses along her neck and clavicle.

"Your mine, baby, all mine." She dragged her tongue from Arizona's clavicle up her neck to her pulse point. "Always mine...honey...my baby, my love, always" Callie sucked hard on the sensitive spot just underneath and behind Arizona's ear, then releasing the flesh soothed the spot with her tongue "always, forever, I love you, my gorgeous girl"

Arizona arching her back as she thrust her hips forward dragging Callie's fingers into her almost impossibly deep "Don't stop, Callie...mark me" and to give added weight to her words she threw her head back giving easier access to her wife's mouth "...make me yours"

She was usually so careful not to leave a mark ...at least not anywhere visible...Arizona never wanting to have to explain to her inquisitive tiny humans the presence of bruises or other "boo boos". But God to hear Arizona beg for it...it was so Goddamn hot. This was about Arizona, giving her what she so clearly needed, for whatever reason, reasons to be investigated later but right now Callie was not thinking, was not capable of anymore thought than acceding to the plea. She resumed her earlier pattern of sucking and soothing and kissing but now the sucking was longer and harder...and as Arizona's breathing quickened she could feel every throb, every pulse.

Callie tried to concentrate on the rhythm of her own movements; trying to ignore her own increasing arousal. This was about giving Arizona what she craved- there would be time enough later for her own needs. Arizona had not even touched her yet and she was still fully clothed; hell Arizona was still practically fully clothed apart from the undone buttons of her jeans and Callie's hand underneath her half undone shirt. So she determined to bring her wife to the edge and plunged her fingers in again this time scissoring them...as she brought her fingers out each time she flicked her thumb over Arizona's engorged clit, hard.

She could feel the body writhing underneath her as Arizona involuntarily bucked her hips upwards; especially each time thumb made contact with clit and as Arizona's walls began to close around her fingers she knew it wouldn't be long.

Callie moved in for the kill. She whispered one last time, louder than before "Mine" then sucking and biting down hard on her neck she simultaneously pushed a third finger into Arizona's opening and then curling them dragged them out and pushed back in repeating the movements and one last time flicked at the blondes clit back and forth.

"Cal...li...opeee" Arizona could hear her wife's name being screamed unaware that she was the one screaming it. She came hard and fast and the emotion pent up inside of her all day and yesterday too poured out as she cried. Callie held her wife as she came down from her orgasm, still moving her fingers inside of her but oh so tenderly now, less about giving her what she needed than bringing her back to earth gently.

Arizona threw her arms around Callie's neck and held on in a tight embrace as Callie shushed her cries "I have you, babe, I have you, it's okay, I'm here, Arizona, always here"

It was several minutes before Arizona loosened her grip on Callie; still holding on just no longer desperately so. Her breathing calmed and a few remaining tears still evident in her blue eyes.

Callie shifted her weight and moving into a seated position pulled her wife up to cuddle her. She noticed the nervous way Arizona bit down on her bottom lip, not quite looking her in the eye. Callie cupped her chin with her hand and smiling just said "Hi babe how was your day? Feeling any better now?" and she smiled again as she wiped the last remaining trace of tears from her lovers face.

Arizona, forced into meeting those brown eyes with her own unique blue smiled hesitantly, embarrassment washing across her face "Hi to you too" and after a pause "thank you I needed you, I needed to feel...I love you so much Callie, I promise I do...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" and with those last words she averted her eyes from Callie's gaze by resting her head on Callie's breasts.

There was a time when an upset and apologetic lover would have sent Callie Torres into a tailspin but not when it was Arizona. More recently she might have worried that the 'not my dream' life she had to offer to the blue-eyed woman had finally proven not to be enough or too much but that was before. Callie had no worries now that Arizona was going to leave or that she had done something unforgivable. No, all Callie knew was that her wife was upset and that it was her job to find out why and make it better...because that was what being together was all about.

Callie got to her feet and pulled her wife to hers and then into a less than innocent hug before placing a chaste kiss on the top of her head. She pulled Arizona's somewhat dishevelled clothes together, smoothing down her shirt, pulling her panties back in place and buttoning her jeans. All the while Arizona stayed silent.

"Now I'm going to get you some food, Mrs. Torres...I don't want you wasting away on me...go check on Sofia and then get your bootylicious self to the kitchen"

Out of sorts or not Arizona couldn't help as she giggled involuntarily "bootylicious? Really" as she made her way to the nursery to check on their daughter.

CHAPTER TWO

Callie watched her wife as she moved from Sofia's room to the kitchen counter; sliding across the floor in her socks coming to a halt only by grabbing and holding onto the counter for dear life. Not for the first time Callie wondered why people thought she was the immature one.

"Well?"

Arizona's face lit up "Fast asleep like the little angel she is" and she hopped onto the chair Callie was holding back for her.

"This smells good, but then it always does... you look after me so well, Callie" Arizona played with the Pasta on her plate "what, why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Whenever you talk about her, whenever, whatever, your entire face lights up into this broad smile...you don't even realise you're doing it...she has you totally whipped, Mommy"

It was only an instant but Callie noticed the uncomfortable look that flitted across her wife's face being replaced in an instant by a narrow smile.

"Are you going to eat, Babe or am I going to have to feed you spoon by spoon like our daughter?"

When the plate was three quarters empty and after a lengthy silence

"Ok, now talk to me"

The silence seemed to go on forever.

"Arizona" Callie's voice had dropped to a mere whisper.

The blonde shook her head. "Please, leave it, it's not important, it's not...it doesn't matter, not now"

"It matters. When you're upset, when you're unhappy...it matters, it matters to me"

"I'm not unhappy, Callie" Arizona shook her head causing a single tear to meander slowly down her cheek. "I'm not...you make me so happy"

Callie moved her own breakfast stool so she sat facing Arizona. An Arizona not quite prepared to look her in the eye...Callie leaned forward; first placing her hands on Arizona's face raising her head gently so that blue eyes had no choice but to meet brown then placing her hands on Arizona's knees. Arizona was resting her feet on the bottom bar of the high kitchen chair but Callie gently pushed Arizona's legs apart causing her feet to fall off the bar and Callie deftly and quickly placed her legs between Arizona's resting her feet on the recently vacated bar.

"Hey" Arizona protested mildly.

"If I have to interrogate you I'm going to make myself comfortable first" Callie smiled back.

"Callie, I..." Arizona fell silent again.

"I have this wife, have I told you about her?" Callie asked with a cheeky smile determined to make Arizona open up and knowing that lifting her wife's spirit was the way to go.

Arizona couldn't help but smile as she quizzically raised one eyebrow.

"Well, this wife of mine she's pretty great...she would say awesome...so you can tell she's modest too"

The smile was weak but it was there.

"She's a workaholic, never met a pile of paperwork she could resist. She's always up to date on her charting and she practically runs the Peds Dept. because her boss is a lazy bastard.

That elicited an involuntary giggle from the blonde.

"And she oversees a clinic in Malawi too so when she's not in surgery or doing rounds there is always paperwork to occupy her. And she's a perfectionist too so all in all when we were dating I was lucky to ever see her"

Arizona frowned mildly at this.

"And then we had a baby"

Callie refrained from smiling as Arizona's face broke into a beam momentarily just at a mention of Sofia.

"And when our tiny little baby came home suddenly everything changed. My control freak girlfriend-now wife- learned how to delegate her paperwork...suddenly her "why put off till tomorrow what I can do tonight" became "it can wait - Sofia can't". My wife who has spent her life working and advocating and sacrificing for the tiny humans now rushes home so she can spend time with our tiny human. And when she gets home she drops her coat and bag and any worries at the door and she's not just an amazing wife she's an amazing Mommy too."

"You're the amazing one, Calliope"

Callie pretended she hadn't heard and continued on regardless.

"When we left together for work yesterday morning, my wife was in great spirits, looking forward to our weekend off but worried about Sofia's weekend with her Dad"

Arizona shook her head "No, no she'll be fine with Mark...all day tomorrow and..." with more hesitation and a nervous swallow "...all day Sunday"

Callie laughed at the woman in front of her "I think my wife was worried about how we'd cope without her not the other way round"

Arizona couldn't help but look a little sheepish at the truth of Callie's words.

"I was in surgery all day so I didn't get to see her again till last evening. As soon as my lovely woman came home I knew something was up"

Arizona stayed silent lost in contemplation at how well her wife could now judge her mood. She thought she had hidden her inner turmoil well last night...not like this evening.

"So what happened yesterday, babe?" the question was posed quietly but firmly.

"Callie...Calliope...I" She had betrayed her, betrayed them, betrayed herself, betrayed her family,...all she could hope for is that Callie would not see it that way...or that she would forgive easily even if Arizona could not.

She scrunched up her eyes to gain some control over her emotions but to no avail; the tender cross-examination was stunningly effective. She could no more hide from her wife now than she could hide from herself. Their relationship for so long built on beautiful but shifting sands of fantasy romance was now based on a stable foundation of truth and communication.

"You know I love you, right? So much. I love being her Mom and I'm so proud of being your wife, I want to shout it from the rooftops, I want to take out a full page ad in the Seattle Times so that everyone knows I'm yours"

Arizona stopped to breathe. Callie hearing the words echoing the desperate pleas of earlier and seeing the visible bruise she left in response to those pleas could not help but smirk and reaching over and running a finger along Arizona's neck she spoke softly "Anyone who sees this will know, babe"

"Good" she muttered the silence threatening to take over again but then a tsunami of guilt took over "Callie...I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...it just happened and I'm sorry...I love being your wife, I feel blessed to...I'm so sorry"

Callie trusted her wife...in her heart she knew Arizona would not cheat on her, would not deliberately cause her pain...she knew that absolutely...their relationship was strong and true now...to the outsider that might not always be so obvious...there were visible scars that didn't exist in the early magical days...but scar tissue was tougher. In her heart she knew that.

But her head heard the words her wife was saying and her head was at variance with her heart right now. Her head told her she was about to be wounded, that she needed to retreat, put on protective armour.

Head versus heart. Heart won. Callie hoped that when it came to her wife, her Arizona, heart would always win out.

Decision made Callie leaned closer and hands on knees moved to grasp Arizona's. "Just tell me, I promise it'll be ok, I love you and I'm proud to be yours too. So just tell me what you're apologizing for and you'll feel better I promise - I'll make you feel better" She leaned closer and placed a chaste kiss on her wife's forehead. "Arizona tell me"

Arizona nodded but first rested her forehead on Callie'sand breathed in deeply.

"I told you about my new patient. the little girl with the stage III aggressive abdominal neuroblastoma?"

Callie couldn't help but wonder if Arizona was talking about one of her tiny humans to deflect from their conversation.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Virginia from South Carolina, isn't it?"

"Uh, no, her name is Caroline and she's from West Virginia" Arizona shaking her head with an almost smile. Then she sighed "The tumour is really aggressive, it was resected before two months ago back home but now it's back larger and it's metastasised into Caroline's pancreas. She's five, Callie, five."

"This is why she's here - because you're her best shot. If anyone can go in and remove entirely both tumours in one go and give this kid a real shot at life it's you"

"They were so grateful, the McGraws...it was practically a pro-bono case. The insurance they have left just about pays for the scrub nurse and the gasman. They're nice people...guilty that they didn't notice something earlier but she's the eldest of four, they live in a trailer park –Kelly was a full time Mom until Dave lost his job at the local plant, now they both have part-time jobs. Good people, they believe in country and God. Rest of Dave's family have all enlisted at some point and her brother died in'03 near Kabul. Devout Christians too. They were like a mixture of my family and yours."

Callie love the way Arizona's care for her tiny humans led her to know every facet of their parents lives too. She said sometimes it helped when she had to advocate for them.

"What happened, you were supposed to operate today but I didn't see you on the board at all. I texted and emailed you a couple of times but..,"

"They were so grateful that I'd agreed to do the surgery. Their surgeon back home was a resident when I was at John Hopkins and saw that paper in JAMA about our two similar cases last year. Told me I had to have been sent by God to help their wee one. They both wore crosses and Kelly had a WWJD bracelet and..."

"A WWJD what?

"Callie, a "What would Jesus Do?" Bracelet"

"Oh-Jesus freaks!"

"Callie!"

"They were a nice couple but every second sentence was Jesus will help us and God has sent us to you and..."

Arizona paused, a very long pause. Callie had no idea where this was going but she knew they'd reached that moment. When she spoke again there was a tremor in her voice

"Dave noticed my ring and he asked me if my husband and I had kids"

She stoppedand removed her hands from Callie's entirely.

"I don't advertise my sexuality in the Peds ward...well not with my patients and their parents... But if someone asks if I'm gay I don't lie, I've never lied not since I came out to my parents, I haven't lied. But they seldom ask.

Everyone in Peds gets asked if they have kids by the parents. But until now for me the answer was no. And they don't ask about husbands or wives until they see a ring and until now I didn't have a ring. But he asked and I knew that if they knew then it would be a problem and I'm her best hope, she's five just five"

"Arizona?"

"If I said I didn't have a husband then they'd ask about the ring so..." Arizona looked away, head dropped, voice very small "...so I said yes. And he asked all the usual questions and I told him Sofia was almost nine months old and Kelly said I'd have to tell her how I'd lost all the baby fat because her youngest was 13 months and she couldn't lose it...and I didn't say anything...I led them to believe I'd given birth to Sofia and... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry"

Callie looked at her guilt ridden wife "that's it? That's everything? Why you're apologising?"

Arizona looked at her in disbelief "what do you mean is that it? I denied your existence Callie! I played the pronoun game. I pretended I was married to a man and had his baby. I lied about you and Sofia. Who does that? What kind of wife, what kind of woman does that? I've been out and proud since the nineties...out to everyone even when I didn't have to be when I didn't have anyone to be out with and now when I have you..."

"Babe...its"

"No, I betrayed you, I betrayed my daughter..."

"Arizona, are you ashamed of me, embarrassed that I'm your wife?" It was asked with a smile but Arizona only heard the words.

Tears streamed down her face "Callie, oh god, no, no, I'm so proud of you I want to shout it from the rooftops most days and..."

Callie cut her off abruptly still smiling "And Sofia, are you ashamed of her?"

Arizona was too far gone to notice the smile or the loving tone of voice, her face a master class in horror she was unable to speak initially just shook her head ferociously before croaking out "Sofia is..is my joy, my hope she's my little baby, no, oh Calliope please believe me"

"So you did what you did why? To help out a gravely ill tiny human, you sacrificed your own piece of mind for a tiny human, right?"

Arizona finally mustered up the courage to look directly at her wife and was simply stunned at the look of bemused adoration she found there "Why are you not angry, you should be so angry!"

"Why?"I love you."

"Because I'm like that dude from the Bible, Callie"

Callie couldn't help herself...she knew Arizona had kept this all in, letting it fester...if she was going to be mad at anything it would be that but right now she couldn't stop laughing- "That dude from the Bible? You're going to have to be a bit more specific, there's a lot of dudes in there- Noah, Moses, Job, Isaiah, Abraham...I hope it's not him cause he was going to sacrifice his first son on an altar...Solomon, Joseph, all the apostles, Jesus... You're not comparing yourself to Jesus now are you...because I know as surgeons we all have God complexes but seriously?"

It worked, Arizona laughed through her tears "I meant St Peter and the whole denying Jesus thing and..."

"Oh so you're comparing me to Jesus? Now that I can work with!" And with that Arizona felt lighter than she had in over 24 hours and playfully thumped her wife.

Callie just stood up and hugged her tightly "Why didn't you tell me last night instead of letting this build into a giant problem in your brain? She embraced her wife tightly "you did what you did for the tiny human and we are fine. Our family is fine. You love us and we love you and nothing else matters. How did her surgery ...wait you weren't on the board today, what happened"

Arizona looked devastated again as she clung to her wife "Chief Webber called me into the boardroom when I got in this morning. Dave and Kelly were telling their family about me on the phone and one of them remembered seeing a documentary about the hospital on ABC last year, the one after the shooting. They put two and two together and figured out I was and I quote "one of the deviants"

"And?"

"They'd rather Caroline die than risk me giving her the gay germ" Arizona said quietly. "They said God was testing them, putting temptation in their way like Adam and Eve and the serpent they said. I'm a bit vague on the bible stories but I reckon that made me the serpent?"

"Narrow-minded evil bigots" Callie muttered "sick prejudiced bastards"

"She's going to die because I'm gay, she's five Callie"

"No, if she dies it's because her parents are morons...what the hell do they think you operating on her will do to her except give her back her life?"

"Dave said they'd rather have her die and go to heaven than have me turn her gay and condemn her to eternal damnation. He said it wasn't personal and he thanked me for my time"

"Fools, homophobic idiotic..."

"Yeah they love her; they think they're protecting her. Arizona whispered almost impossibly quietly "I seem to be responsible for sending a lot of people to hell lately"

Callie knew Arizona was thinking of Lucia and she vowed silently to herself that even if she could forgive her mother for hurting her she would never be able to forgive her for the pain she caused and continued to cause her wife. Arizona hid it, but Callie knew she felt responsible in a way for the rift and Callie knew too that Arizona would be a good man in a storm for her if necessary and welcome Lucia back into the fold on whatever terms Callie allowed even at immense personal cost to herself. Callie vowed that her mother would never be her mother again unless she accepted Arizona as her wife wholeheartedly and without exception.

"You have done nothing wrong and I love you even more now than I did yesterday, Okay?"

"Promise?" Arizona asked the smile returning to her eyes.

"Promise! And speaking of promises..." Callie chuckled as she shuffled Arizona around so that her back was against the kitchen counter "...I think I promised to make you feel better" and she leant in and captured Arizona's lips and they shared a long languid kiss, their tongues tangoing in a glorious rhythm, a long and sloppy kiss that promised so much more.

"Mmmm..."Arizona moaned quietly "...you've already made me all better... and I think I may owe you after my behaviour earlier on the couch"

"We're not keeping score babe..." Callie pressed her body up flush against Arizona's effectively trapping her against the counter as she moved her lips downwards towards Arizona's clavicle. Arizona could feel her smile against her as she continued "...but if we were I'd say I hit a homer earlier...but right now I'm planning on hitting it right out of the ballpark"

Callie moved her hands to Arizona's shirt, slowly unbuttoning it, button by teasing button, as she continued her ministrations all over Arizona's exposed neck ...kissing and sucking gently then where there was the least flesh just at her clavicle she laid a series of tiny bites. Arizona hissed at the pleasure and the pain. At a particularly loud "Ow" Callie stopped, pulling back briefly to admire her work "they'll think you've been attacked by a pack of vampires"

Arizona made sure to make eye contact and said "Promise?" and then pulled Callie's head back in again. Callie moved down to Arizona's partially exposed chest; her shirt now open hanging loosely, Callie nibbled at the erect nipples still confined in a dusty pink lacy bra. Sucking first one nipple then the other through fabric that seemed so coarse to her compared to the smooth softness she knew awaited her.

Arizona's attempts at touching Callie were thwarted each time as Callie's hands grabbed her arms forcing them back. Now, however Callie needed her hands to access Arizona's delectable breasts. She gruffly said..."you topless now"...and Arizona first co-operated raising her hands to help Callie ease the shirt off but when Callie reached behind to unclasp the pink bra Arizona sought to assist her wife in removing some unnecessary clothes of her own. Callie would have none of it. She grabbed Arizona's arms roughly as she rasped out "No, you are mine, now do what you're told. Your hands stay here" as she forced Arizona's arms so that they were behind her torso with her palms laying flat on the kitchen counter. Callie dominating wasn't something Arizona always sought but she had earlier and Callie was bringing it to a whole new level now.

Callie smirked as Arizona capitulated without even a pout, noticing too that inadvertently Arizona's position meant her chest was pushed forward even closer to her; her breasts now standing to attention like sentries guarding an even greater treasure. She unclasped the bra at the second attempt and let it fall carelessly to the floor. Leaning backwards for a moment to admire them in their naked glory. Eyes meeting- unbridled lust turning brown to black and blue to navy. Breathing faster, Arizona's already laboured, her mouth dry with desire her pussy already drenched with want. "Calliope" she sighed "please, touch me, everywhere" The desperation from earlier now replaced by pure wanton lust.

Callie smirked as she placed a hand on each breast marvelling, not for the first time how gloriously they fitted her hands. Kneading them vigorously she leaned in and whispered again "All mine" before lowering her head to massage one breast with her mouth while the other made do with her hand and later she alternated. She sucked as much of each breast into her mouth as she could luxuriating in the feeling of being filled by them. Then she turned her attention back to just those impossibly dusty pink nipples. Licking then sucking gently at first then harder. Later nibbling then biting lightly then more firmly. Pulling at them; stretching them out as far as she could then releasing them. Callie used to tease Arizona that she would play with her Latina breasts all day if she let her, saying not even Sofia liked her chupo that much. That of course led to Arizona nicknaming Callie's breasts her Chupo No.1 and 2. Callie as much as she loved her wife's chest was more of an ass woman but right now as she played with them, played with them to the mutual exclusion of the rest of Arizona, as she tasted and bit and bruised and soothed them; as she heard Arizona's ever increasing moans and whimpers she idly thought she could play with them for eternity.

"Calliope" her wife breathlessly moaned "please go down, please" and forgetting the rule brought her hands forward to push her wife down her body. Again she would have none of it. "No, your hands stay there" and roughly put them back in their place. Callie fell to her knees now hands on slim jean covered hips but she wasn't ready to give her wife what she wanted just yet. She lavished her torso with kisses; following a pattern of light chaste-like kisses except there was nothing chaste about kissing the underside of her wife's breasts or kisses along the lines of her flesh covered ribs, or kisses just above and below the navel. Light kisses followed by stronger ones sucking on as much flesh as she could get purchase on. Yet another thing she adored about her lovers body; she was thin but not skinny, ample but not fat muscular but still soft; she was losing herself in this beautiful body as she had done so many times before. Harder kisses followed by biting gently, enough to leave temporary teeth marks then soothing them over with a caressing tongue, then just before leaving an area to travel further south she would bite harder, knowing there would be a mark, knowing she would be the only one with the privilege of seeing her artwork again. Tonight Arizona was her canvas and she was the artist and her mouth was the brush and palette combined. Together they would create a masterpiece for their eyes only.

"Uhaahohh, go down on me Calliope please I can't I..." Arizona whimpered and moaned at each change of pace as Calliope move slowly, painfully slowly down her body.

"Babe, I will have to start again all the way from the top if you start telling me what to do, remember you are MINE" she pretended to get off her knees smirking evilly as her wife cried out "No,no,you do what you like,oh God"..And the whimpering continued but now through clinched teeth

Callie dragged her teeth from Arizona's navel in a straight line down to the top of the denim fabric. She herself was wet through but was determined to make good her promise to Arizona before experiencing any release herself tonight. Right now she needed to take care of her wife; she knew her wife would take care of her later.

She licked a tantalising line along the top of the jeans from hip bone to hipbone holding Arizona firmly preventing her from bucking forwards.

"You smell so good baby, I can't wait to taste you"

"MMmm Oh, Yeah, kay" coherence no longer seemed an option to Arizona.

Callie released her grip on those hips and less slowly now opened the four buttons on the jeans revealing as she went Arizona's pink panties. Panties that had started of matching (by coincidence) the colour of her bra but now drenched by desire were a much darker shade. Panties that Callie's fingers had already worked inside earlier but it was only now that she was up close and personal that she truly saw them. Their true identity only revealed as she hooked her fingers in side Arizona's jeans and began pulling them down over her lovers hips.

As Arizona moaned not so silently "thank God at last" she felt Callie's head withdraw from her as she heard the unexpected and entirely unwelcome at this point in time sound of her wife giggling.

"Arizona, please, please tell me you have not been wearing those all day?"

CHAPTER THREE

"Arizona, please, please tell me you have not been wearing those all day?"

Arizona just about managed to pant out a disbelieving "Wh...What?"

I distinctly remember you promising me that you would never ever ever wear these!" try as she might to make her voice sound stern Callie could not keep her laughter at bay as she playfully ran a finger along the top of the offending item.

"Ca-al,please" Arizona was too distracted to know what her wife was talking about, why she was talking when she could be putting her tongue to much better use.

"Your panties, babe, the ones I bought you on our honeymoon"

It had been three glorious days of sex and making love and getting lost in each other as if for the first time. They really hadn't ventured out of the honeymoon suite at all...room service fulfilling the few needs they had external to each other. They hadn't ventured far from Seattle; just a few hours by car to a small coastal town. A town they decided reluctantly to spend an hour or two exploring on their last day. A decision prompted as much by a desire to prove that they had actually left the bedroom when inevitably their friends would tease them than any actual desire to see the town.

They had wandered hand in hand down its streets oblivious to anything and anyone but each other. If there had been any disapproving stares neither would have noticed but it would have taken the most churlish of people to notice anything about the couple that day other than that they were truly, madly , deeply in love.

"Our honeymoon is almost over, babe" a subdued Callie whispered to her somewhat still blissed - out bride.

"It's only over when we say it's over" countered Arizona chuckling "and I vote for that being never"

"I'm going to buy you a souvenir ,something you'll have when the honeymoon is over" a suddenly animated Callie tittered dragging her into a rather dingy shop selling the usual holiday fare of postcards and novelty key chains and tee shirts "you get me something too, something to always remind me of my wife and our honeymoon"

"Callieee" a protesting Arizona whined "this is all cheap tat, why don't we go back to our room and we can give each other mind blowing unforgettable multiple orgasms instead?"

"Because that won't be unique to our honeymoon, Mrs. Torres!" a smug Callie retorted and Arizona had to happily agree the truth of her words. "Now go buy me a unique meaningful and memorable memento of our honeymoon for fewer than twenty bucks, wifey"

Arizona muttered and pouted at the idea. Still Callie was secretly delighted with Arizona's souvenir rainbow adorned apron bearing the words "I'm not a lesbian but my brand new wife is". She promised to wear it unlike her laughing bride who point blank refused to wear her 'tasteful' new pink panties freshly adorned with the words "Property Of Calliope".

Somewhere in Arizona's lust-addled brain formed the realisation that to get her wife to stop using her tongue so that she could start using her tongue on her she would have to clue in to the panties conversation...which wasn't easy as the only word she needed to hear about her panties right now was 'off'.

Summoning the strength to raise her head to see her wife she repeated "What?"

Callie could tell by her wife's unfocused eyes and her gorgeously furrowed brow that she had no idea what she was talking about. Callie leant in again towards Arizona's crotch inhaling the musty sweet scent before tracing her finger delicately yet with just enough pressure along the words emblazoned on the saturated fabric spelling out the letters as she went. Then after the first word she said huskily "Property" then firmly swiped her tongue over the fabric covering Arizona's slit exerting just a little extra pressure at her entrance so that tongue and fabric ducked inside briefly. She repeated the process with "Of" the tongue swipe noticeably stronger this time then finally with "Calliope". Then she sat back again on her heels and looked up at her wife and smiled.

This time Arizona, still desperate for Callie's touch but now aware looked down and with an awkward smile quietly spoke "my panties don't lie"

"Are they your 'Truth telling panties' so?" Callie teased back.

Arizona nodded the smile replaced by a look of heart-breaking earnestness and spoke so softly her wife had to strain to hear "I needed to know, today; I wanted everyone to know today" Callie knew then that her wife had not yet entirely forgiven herself for what she, and only she, perceived as a betrayal of them and not for the first time tonight Callie felt herself infused by love for her beautiful complex woman.

She was ready to stop teasing, ready to give Arizona what she so clearly needed but she couldn't resist one last tease "and just who else did you plan on seeing your panties today, Mrs. Torres"

Arizona somehow gasped a response "You, Callie, only you, always, forever you"

Callie leant forward again, dragging the panties down firstly with her teeth and then using both hands pulling them roughly downwards. It wasn't just Arizona who wanted this; who needed this now.

Leaning backwards on her heels one last time now it was her time to gasp at the treasure before her; the fleshy mound of Venus covered in an immaculately manicured thatch of soft blonde hair; a few shades darker than the hair elsewhere, darkened further by the moisture of desire; the tiny but proud and visibly throbbing clitoris just peaking from its protective hood; those perfectly proportioned outer and inner labia that possessed that almost unbearable softness. Arizona's breath taking pussy and Callie knew it belonged to her and her alone. She didn't need Arizona's now discarded panties to tell her; it had been hers for a very long time; even when it seemed to them and the world that they were done.

And at that moment as she leant in and leisurely licked for the first time tonight her wife's barrier free slit Callie knew the truth-it was better to give than receive and "that in giving ye shall receive" was a universal truth.

Callie settled between her wife's thighs sighing in satisfaction yet sensitive to the increasingly trembling legs around her. She tightened her left hand's grasp on Arizona's waist, propping her up further with the pressure of her face against the now thrusting pussy. She continued to lick at Arizona's slit, lapping up the moisture continually being produced there, wallowing in the sensation as tiny droplets adhered to her face and chin. Then leisurely, almost ignoring the pleading yet wordless whimpers and moans from above she taunted her wife's opening by barely entering with her tongue then withdrawing to suck on engorged yet velvety soft lips. Nipping at them too then slowly entering Arizona a little bit more each time then withdrawing again. Whereas before she had fucked her wife this time she was making love.

Arizona thought she could hear her own clitoris independently pleading, screaming for attention. Callie had barely touched it yet. Arizona could hear the screams "Suck me Callie please take me in your mouth" but she couldn't tell if it was her or her clit or whether the screaming was silent in her head, all she knew was that if Callie didn't take her she would explode and that as soon as Callie would touch her she would explode too.

Callie could hold back no more she brought her mouth too Arizona's exposed bundle of nerves and suddenly taking the desperate clit in her mouth she sucked hard,oh so hard; then releasing it flicked it back and forward a couple of times.

"Callie, I can't...my legs...I'm going to fall..."

Callie reaching upwards with her right hand she pushed Arizona back against the counter placing her palm on Arizona's stomach and pressing gently "I won't let you fall, I have you, I will never let you fall" and Arizona relaxed slightly as her head fell back her legs now no longer contributing any support.

Callie sucked on the clit again before moving downwards. Her forehead now nuzzling the soft thatch, nose rubbing occasionally against erect clit and she plunged her tongue into Arizona; finally rewarding her for the wait. She withdrew and plunged again, harder this time, deeper. She could already feel the walls clenching around the now powerful muscle.

"Callie, CALLIE,aaahhhhhgghOhoooOhHHH" Arizona lost control as she came hard around Callie's tongue, shudder after mighty shudder, She had no control over her screaming vocal chords or the jellied legs that now flailed uselessly. Her hands, try as she might to force them towards Callie's head, to apply pressure to ensure Callie never ever stopped; her hands did not obey either. Her entire body was consumed by orgasm after orgasm as Callie continued to plunge into her, curling her tongue in a way that was uniquely her, finding spot after sensitive spot until she slowly and gradually decreased her actions all the while holding her wife in place.

Callie who was now too at such a heightened state of arousal could just about hear the screams muffled by Callie's own increased blood pressure deadening the sound of all but her own thumping heat. Callie too was vaguely aware of a thumping sound coming from below or was it above or was it both and smiled at the thought of a conversation to be had in the morning.

Finally as the strength and rapidity of the tremors racing through Arizona began to decline Callie shifted her body and loosening her grip she guided Arizona's spent form to the ground. An almost comatose blonde but when Callie went to move away Arizona grasped tightly, eyes still shut, probably not capable of opening "Stay, don't leave me"

"I'm just getting a blanket and cushion to keep you warm" and she retrieved a few cushion and a large throw from the couch to prevent her almost naked wife from catching her death on the tiled floor.

Arizona sighed as she felt her wife take care of her.

Callie, propped herself up on one elbow, and took in the sight of her prone wife. Her wife's beauty never ceased to astound her and the effect of seeing her like this had the usual effect. It was at times like these that Callie wondered in amazement why it had taken her so long to realise her attraction to the female form. And for someone who did not, might never adhere to labels, for someone who would in theory now always find the male form attractive too, she realised yet again that Arizona's wife or Mrs. Robbins were labels she would wear with pride and all others male and female would pale in comparison with Arizona's.

She knew that Arizona would take care of her in due course but as she stared she realised that she needed more of Arizona too. She traced her fingers along the almost flat abdomen, the soft outlines of an almost six-pack tempered by the tiniest of protruding bellies, wondering if she would ever persuade her wife to one day let that belly swell gloriously by pregnancy. She moved her hands upwards gently caressing those perfect breasts and imagined them swollen, almost painfully so with milk for a beloved child, almost visualising the wonder of a tiny human suckling on those dusky pink nipples.

Then diverting her eyes to slim muscular legs her attention was drawn once more to one of her life partners dorkier quirks and Arizona laughed out loud breaking Arizona from her orgasm induced nap.

"Did no-one ever tell you Mrs. Torres that it was a sign of disrespect to keep your socks on while having sex even if they are Tweety bird socks"

Arizona's eyes fluttered open in amusement and, as testing if her vocal chords still worked, she mumbled "Your fault Torres- you were in charge of undressing me, you left my socks on and any way Tweety bird rocks!" and as an afterthought "I tawt I saw a Puddy Tat"

Callie's eyes shone with laughter as she smiled but then the smile faded to something more inscrutable and her eyes darkened as she shuffled downwards a little and whispered "I just see pussy" and leant in and sucked gently on Arizona's clit just once. Arizona moaned and Callie knew that her wife needed a little more recovery time. She scooted back up and placed a long slow wet kiss on Arizona's mouth before saying "I love you, wifey"

Arizona smiled, glanced at her watch now showing 11pm and said "It's way too late and I'm getting way too old for kitchen tiles can we go to bed now?"

Callie helped her to stand -legs still a-tremble- and it was then Arizona noticed.

"Callie?" brow furrowed half in wonder, half in disbelief "How are you still wearing clothes? All of them"

"Well I have this very demanding wife, who just came home tonight demanding to be serviced, not thinking once of my needs" Callie just about got the words out before cracking up with laughter.

Arizona still unsteady on her feet and clinging to Callie looking entirely unabashed just grinned "take me to the marital bed, honey and I'll tend to all your needs and more"

Callie needed no further encouragement.

CHAPTER FOUR

(A)

"Stop staring at my pussy, Callie" Arizona smirked as she lay naked on the bed, propped up by pillows, legs falling carelessly apart.

Callie shook her head, slowly replying "if you want me to stop you should close your legs"

Arizona smirked and let her legs fall further apart. Callie gasped involuntarily and knelt down on the bed, intending to scoot up and lay down on her wife until she was halted in her progress.

"No! Clothes. Off. Now"

"Hey, I undressed you, aren't you going to return the favour?" Callie asked seriously.

Arizona shook her head wordlessly.

"You want me to strip for you, Mrs. Torres?" Callie asked playfully with a wink.

Arizona, still silent, nodded.

Callie gulped. This would be no playful striptease. As she removed her clothing, item by item, all hint of playfulness was gone. This was deadly serious, nothing left on either side but almost painful desire. The only sound that of increasingly heavy breathing. They only broke eye contact when it was strictly necessary as Callie removed her tee shirt. Even when she removed her black bra Arizona's eyes remained on hers for once not distracted by her breasts. And then she was standing there in nothing but black panties.

"Leave them..." Arizona all but gasped "...on"

Callie knew that as soon as Arizona touched her she would barely be able to hold on; she felt like a grenade whose pin had long since been pulled and discarded; explosion was inevitable and imminent.

"Tell me what you need, Calliope, whatever you need"

Arizona knew, as Callie crawled on her knees up the bed settling between her open legs, that she had seldom needed or wanted to bring pleasure to her wife as much as in this moment.

"You, just you" Callie husked finally reaching her wife and drawing her in to a passionate kiss. A kiss that continued even as Arizona flipped her over onto her back and straddled her. Arizona knew that Callie was already on the edge and at least this time would not tease. Running one hand through her blue - black tresses she brought her other hand down to run along Callie's fabric covered entrance. Saturated fabric.

Ending their battle of tongues momentarily "Jesus, Calliope, they're...you're so wet"

"I have truth telling panties too" Callie somehow managed to smirk before Arizona attacked her mouth again, demanding entry for her tongue just as she plunged two fingers underneath the black lace and deep into her wife. Arizona wanted to make love to her wife tonight for as long as could bear it but right now Callie needed to come and come hard and Arizona would not be found wanting.

"Ohhh, Ar...Ar...iz...oh...naaa" Arizona plunged her fingers in and out hard and deep and fast but there was nothing rough about it, Callie's copious wetness ensured that.

She tried desperately to hold on not wanting it to be over too soon but she lost complete control when Arizona broke their kiss and in her ear said "let go, baby, just let go". The orgasm ripped through just as she had known it would, forcefully, violently leaving her shaking and trashing in its wake. Arizona continued to thrust inside her but slower much slower now bringing her down gradually as the ongoing tremors began to subside and weaken.

"I love it when we come together but...God when I get to watch you like that, when you come hard for me, just because of me it's so amazing just to watch you; to know that I can do that to you it's better than..." Arizona broke off not really knowing what she wanted to say but needing Callie to know it anyway.

"Better than...surgery?" Callie teased as she struggled to regain some composure.

"Way better" Arizona replied with an earnest look that almost undid her wife all over again.

"Better than winning a Harper Avery?"

"Harper who?" came the reply with a smile.

"What about better than winning a Carter Madison grant?" they could finally joke about such things.

"Definitely better than that" Arizona smirked as she bent her head closer to Callie's chest and took an erect nipple in her mouth, sucking it gently in time with the now gentle movements of her fingers inside Callie "...you are my Pulitzer, my Oscar, my Nobel prize all wrapped up in one glorious packager"

"Nobel Prize, huh? For services to mankind?" Callie giggled even as she squirmed a little under Arizona's fingers whose touches were becoming firmer again.

Arizona rose slightly to look her wife straight in the eye and with a grin "Womankind, Calliope, womankind".

Arizona resumed her ministrations on Callie's breasts, gently sucking on one while kneading the other with her free hand. Then moving upwards again she took Callie's lower lip in her mouth biting down gently then releasing it slowly just as she removed her fingers from Callie's core. Callie moaned at the sudden withdrawal, Arizona laughed silently to herself. She knew that Callie would be able to withstand some teasing now and she intended to tease and tease till her wife begged for mercy.

Arizona moved quickly down Callie's body, just planting light kisses randomly as she went. When she reached her destination she hooked a finger of each hand into the sides of Callie's arousal soaked underwear and then with the assistance of her teeth dragged the lacy item away from her body; shuffling down the bed until the panties were off. Arizona moved back up the bed until her knees were outside Callie's then looked up and down her wife's body for what seemed to Callie an age.

Callie bucked involuntarily in anticipation of what her wife's next move might be.

"You are so beautiful, Calliope" Another age passed. "And you're mine, my beautiful, beautiful wife"

"Arizona, please" Callie's voice faltered as she saw Arizona move closer to exactly where she wanted her. Arizona leant down and softly licked her wife's pussy, dragging her flattened tongue slowly along the entirety of her slit, gathering juices as she went before finally reaching the now throbbing clit. Arizona paused, glancing up at her wife before bending down again and taking it in her mouth, sucking tenderly for a moment or two.

Callie anticipated that Arizona would move downwards and settle between her legs so to comfortably continue her current action, so she sighed loudly as instead Arizona straightened up once more and moved upward to suck on breasts once more.

About to register her dissatisfaction loudly Callie's complaint transformed into a silent "Oh" as Arizona began caressing her folds ; massaging them with her long agile fingers, teasing along her entrance, barely entering her with one then two tips then running those same fingers along her entrance once more, Finally Arizona began to massage the now desperate clit, running one finger along it in a circular motion then flicking it harshly then gently again and finally Arizona entered her fully with two fingers immediately setting up a fast pace, pushing into her hard, and in no apparent pattern sometimes curling her fingers as she withdraws, knuckles gliding along moistened walls, then other times scissoring fingers as wide as possible. The only obvious pattern was that as she scissored she bit down hard on whichever of Callie's nipples was receiving attention at that exact moment.

As walls began to clench around fingers Arizona removed them completely again scooting up a little further again so she could easily kiss Callie but yet did not.

"Arizona! What are you...oh,mmm,okay" Callie did not hesitate to accept the proffered treat, tasting herself on Arizona's finger having watched as her wife had first sucked one finger clean. Then removing her finger from Callie's mouth replaced it with her tongue, wanting to taste her again this time in Callie's mouth.

Callie pulled Arizona closer to her now, the kiss deepening, mutual moans being swallowed up; her hands tangling in Arizona's long blonde hair, before moving down her body, her slender back down to that ass she loved so much. Always with the intent of pulling her wife closer, impossibly closer, grinding into each other's bodies now. Arizona shifted her body so that her right knee pressed hard against Callie's centre as she ground her own now drenched again core against the strong thigh now raised to meet her. Arizona determined to retain control however so every short while she would lessen the friction, breaking the rhythm so Callie had to reposition herself underneath in search of contact once more. It was a game they had played before and Callie played along, squirming, writhing 'neath her wife seeking maximum contact, finding it, grinding, trying to hold Arizona in place with two firm hands on a perfectly round ass. Playground Arizona would appear...she didn't just know how to play dirty she knew how to cheat, she would wait for the perfect moment and then strike – an opportunistic and firm bite to the neck here or an unexpected squeeze of a nipple there- always just enough to distract the captive below so she could breakaway once more and the game began again.

It was a game with ultimately no losers, played out to a soundtrack of gasps and moans and whimpers and giggles.

"Arizona, please don't tease..."

As aroused as she was herself Arizona fully intended that Callie would have to beg a little louder than that before she would give them both what they wanted. Still she slid down Callie's body again, this time kissing as much of Callie's abdomen as she could, paying due attention, as she always did now to the much faded but still visible scar that began just at Callie's sternum and ended just above her navel. Even in a state of near demented arousal Callie managed a smile at this one, maybe only, predictable aspect of her wife's love-making...well that and the fact that Arizona always knew how to make her scream.

Arizona arrived at her destination and this time wasted no time before getting to work- massaging Callie's hips with her strong thumbs she lowered her head once more to her wife's throbbing centre and without ceremony dove straight in with her tongue. As much as she wanted this, had expected it sooner, the suddenness in the end took Callie by surprise

"Oh god, Arizona" it was a guttural moan followed by many more as Arizona thrust her tongue again and again into Callie; she began to feel the wonder of Callie's walls clenching around the muscle as she continued to enter her forcibly, finding new spots of sensitivity each time.

Callie just wanted Arizona never to stop, she just wanted to come; could focus on nothing else now, both her hands fisted into bed sheets as the rest of her body moved instinctively in time with Arizona. She was so close now and ..."Arizona, no, nooo, please. please" she begged without shame as Arizona seemed to abandon her yet again. She looked down in despair just about noticing, in an abstract way, how gorgeous her wife looked from her position between her legs staring up at her with a look that was half smile half smirk; staring up at her though her long blonde hair was dishevelled and covering most of her face.

"Arizona, I need...please. I need you to...please" Callie practically cried.

Arizona's smile/smirk transformed into a super magic smile "I adore you, Mrs. Robbins, I really do" she smiled again, a more sheepish one this time "thought you should know"

Callie managed to just mutter out a strangled "I know, you dork," amid a grimace that was really a smile and "please, baby, focus".

Arizona needed no more and she returned her tongue to Callie's centre plunging in again and again with renewed vigour. No more teasing as she moved her right hand to caress Callie's distended clit and stretched her left arm up just reaching one full breast kneading it firmly before scraping her nails down the length of Callie's abdomen and then reaching up to knead and scrape again.

Callie screamed Arizona's name just once as her first orgasm ripped through her body hitting her forcibly as she came hard around the blondes tongue; her entire body shuddering uncontrollably.

The sensation of Callie coming hard and fast in her mouth, around her tongue, the feel of Callie's clit under her hand; of Callie's hips thrusting again and again at her head; of Callie's chest rising and falling in a syncopated rhythm, of her own thrusts against Callie's raised shin it was too much for Arizona as her own arousal became unbearable. She withdrew from Callie gasping for air and moving slightly upwards grabbing Callie's hips tightly towards her, resting her head against her wife's heaving chest, her own core now rubbing freely against Callie's now slick thigh once more but there was no time for games now and she followed Callie over the edge as Callie was beset by a second then third orgasm.

It was probably only minutes but they had lost all sense of time by the time both of them had regained a semblance of normal breathing, in each other's arms now. Breasts still moving against breasts but gently now almost soothingly.

"Callie, I..." Arizona was cut off by a smiling wife "I know, babe, I know, but we need to sleep, you know she's due to wake up soon, so let's sleep while we can" and sleep took them both.

In reality it was just over an hour before the third member of the household let her screams be heard through the small apartment. Both women stirred but it was Callie's night to care for their daughter and she did her duty, taking nearly an hour to turn the screaming hungry wet and thoroughly disgruntled Sofia into sleeping beauty Sofia once again. Callie was exhausted, after tending to Sofia and her earlier exertions and undoubtedly sleep would have reclaimed her soon had the sight before her as she re-entered their bedroom not re- awakened her desire.

Arizona was fast asleep but, sometime after Callie had left, had rolled over partly onto Callie's side where she now lay on her back a bed sheet covering her naked body from the waist down. Gentle snores meant she was asleep but not deeply so and as Callie removed her dressing gown and climbed onto the bed she whispered "Arizona" lowly just once telling herself that really if that woke her wife she hadn't really been asleep at all.

"Mmhmm, Calliope"

(B)

"Mmhmm, Calliope"

Callie laid a wet kiss on her wife's lips as she gently removed the bed sheet from her wife, replacing it with her own body, propping the bulk of her weight up on her elbows.

"Mmhmm, Calliope" less muffled this time but still sleep bound.

Callie laid another kiss on Arizona's lips before moving sideways to work on Arizona's ear. Feather-light kisses along her outer ear then many lowly whispered "Arizonas" followed by gentle puffs of air all combining to successfully drag Arizona to consciousness- somewhat unwillingly.

"Callie, sleeping" then as consciousness pervaded her thoughts "...the baby, did you get So back to sleep ok?" Eyes still plastered shut.

"Took her ages, Babe, lots of screaming but she's sound asleep at last"

"Sorry" a sleepy Arizona yawned "I'll do the screaming next"

Callie knew her wife had meant she would take the next 'Sofia Shift' but the sleep induced Freudian slip made her giggle as she leant in replying "I'll make sure of that, my love"

Arizona tried to find her wife's comfortable arms to snuggle into as Callie continued her gentle assault now on one of Arizona's most erogenous spots just a few millimetres behind and below her ear. This would wake her from the grave never mind.

"Cal-lie! Slee-eep" she drowsily whined even as she battled against the beginnings of her awakening arousal. Callie barely suppressed her laughter at the look on her wife's face, a sleepy determined pout, not all that dissimilar to one Sofia had sported as she fought against sleep not long before.

"Arizona, I'm wide awake" Callie said throatily, the whispers louder now "I'm wide awake, and I'm naked and..."

She heard Arizona swallow hard. "...I'm horny and you're hot and naked..." Arizona's breathing quickened and Callie could feel the body beneath her move involuntarily. She was not the only one wide awake now.

"...and it would be rude to turn down your naked horny wife when all she wants is to make you come"

"Oh God Calliope...you're killing me" Arizona sighed as she pulled her wife down on top of her and into a feverish kiss. Callie waited for the perfect moment and then, catching her wife totally off guard, flipped them over so that Arizona lay on top.

"Calliope?" Arizona gasped. Their battles in bed tended to be fought for dominance not submission.

"This way I can make sure you don't fall sleep on me" Callie giggled back, her wife's indignant reply being swallowed by an even deeper more passionate kiss. Then Callie's tone changed to something undeniably more serious whispering huskily "I want to make you come, baby, I want to watch as you come...for me" pushing Arizona off her a little as she spoke so that she ended up straddling her hips, their centres almost vibrating against each other, intense heat emanating from them "...I want to see every movement your body makes..." Callie shifted Arizona's hands back so that they lay passive behind her, resting on Callie's legs "I want to hear every sound you make..." Callie stroked her hands over every inch of Arizona's front, gentle caresses interlaced with not so gentle tugs and pinches, massaging breasts, tweaking nipples, running her fingers along her rib cage, horizontally between each rib, as if she was committing Arizona's body to sensory memory.

Arizona listened, as if in a trance, her body already moving of its own accord, already rocking against Callie's centre, her breathing already faster than normal "I want to make you come too baby"

"NO!" it had come out harsher than Callie intended so much lower and sensuously "I want to do this, I want to watch, see, feel, hear everything you do, everything I make your body do?"

Arizona nodded silently wondering if Callie's words alone might be enough, right now it felt like it, as she felt her arousal intensify to an almost painful level.

Callie shifted Arizona's body slightly, raising her up so to have easy access to her perfect folds, to her very core "I want to watch as you ride my fingers, baby, can you do that for me?" All the time Callie stroked her gently, covering her own fingers in Arizona's juices, strokes gradually becoming firmer, fingers teasing her clit and her entrance, her eyes noticing the changes already- Arizona's eyes darkened, her breathing shallow, her breasts rising and falling in accordance with it. All the time too Arizona re-positioning herself to do her wife's bidding. All the time anticipating the glorious moment when Callie would plunge her fingers into her. And then she did. Deep. And hard. And fast. And again. And again.

Their bodies moved in time with each other- every upward thrust of Callie's hand and fingers met with a downward grind by Arizona. They quickly established a rhythm as Arizona rose off and then ground down on Callie's strong but agile fingers. Callie maximising the friction between them by scissoring her fingers as Arizona rose upwards, bringing them together again as she ground down.

There was little they had not done to and with each other in the time they had been together- they were uninhibited when it came to exploring and enjoying each other and yet, right now, Arizona was holding back. Usually they both got caught up equally in their passion; be they making love or pure and simple primal fucking. The knowledge that Callie was observing her every movement, almost scientifically made her uncharacteristically restrained.

"Arizona" She closed her eyes, the intensity in Callie's stares and now her voice too much. Involuntarily she shook her head, all the time riding the fingers now buried deep inside her, but always holding back, enough to come but not to let go.

"Arizona" Callie brought her free hand up to roughly squeeze a breast. It had the desired effect as Arizona opened her eyes and looked into Callie's once more. "It's just me baby, let me see you, let me make you feel so good, let go baby, let go."

This time she kept eye contact with Callie, even when her head fell back as she felt the ecstasy slowly grow inside of her, she quickly found Callie's face again. Callie, using her free hand, kneaded Arizona's ass firmly. Every movement Arizona made different from the last; getting stronger, each time pushing Callie's fingers deeper into her; each time the friction increasingas she ground down on Callie's up turned hand, her clit rubbing against Callie's thumb, her folds against her knuckles. As she pushed down also she would swivel her hips, one time clockwise, the next anti-clockwise.

"Cal... oh ...God...mmmmnnnnaahhh" Barely able to vocalise now; mostly strangled moans.

"C'mon babe" just watching Arizona, her face contorting, the rise and fall of those breasts, the movement of her abdominal muscles, was bringing Calliope close too. She found herself repositioning her body under the writhing blonde so that each swivel of those hips meant the back of her hand or wrist would roughly glance off her own clit and drenched folds. She found her own body arching upwards in conjunction with her hand as much as she tried to prevent it. She wanted to not miss a thing, didn't want to get caught up in her orgasm but, oh, just the sight of Arizona riding her now, increasingly wildly, with abandon; it was all she could do not to come herself.

And Arizona was undone now; head thrown back, blue eyes rolling in her head, moaning uncontrollably- seemingly oblivious now to anything other than her coming orgasm. Oblivious even to Callie's presence. Her left hand grabbed the fitted bed sheet underneath them, grabbing if forcefully pulling it away from the mattress, fisting it to bring relief. Her right hand clawing at her own breasts, like a crazed feral beast, angry red marks appearing as she did so. Callie all the time watching awestruck was nearing her own climax. She reached up and grabbed the clawing hand, Arizona suddenly becoming aware of her existence again. Then it hit her. Her entire body stiffening, her back arching, hips rising high off Callie, the intertwined hands clutched tightly and stretched outwards and a lone scream piercing the silence. A muffled thumping sound from above just audible again. Collapsed now, lying entirely atop of Callie; incapable of movement or sound, tremor after mind-blowing tremor coursing through her spent body.

Callie, bearing the dead weight of her wife, just managed to flick her own clit a couple of times; the slight actions enough to get her off. Callie could feel Arizona's body still shuddering above her even after Arizona succumbed to sleep. Callie followed her into oblivion shortly afterwards.

Yes, calculating the amount of sleep they may have achieved the night before did absolutely nothing to dampen down her growing arousal; nor did the somewhat inevitable calculation that followed as to just how many orgasms Callie had given her last night and how many had been reciprocated. No, none of these thoughts were conducive to stopping the ache between her legs and so back to the question –to wake her wife or not?

"Arizona, are you doing calculations in your head?" She had been watching her wife since she had woken up a few minutes ago, in increasing bemusement, so much so she had not alerted her to her presence or moved her off her sore tired body. Arizona's brow was furrowed, eyes scrunched closed as if in deep concentration, mouth clearly counting and then she would smile and a faint blush would appear followed by the most delicious of gentle thrusts and then the process would begin again.

Callie thought that she may have been thinking of her but the counting part did not add up, no pun intended.

"You're awake, babe" she practically hummed in satisfaction reaching up to capture Callie's lips in a sloppy and long kiss, before lowering her head again to lay a series of soft kisses on Callie's neck.

"So, Counting?"

"Mmm-maybe" the smirk easily heard in the reply

"Sheep? Hospital budgets? Days till your next escape from the madhouse your life has become?"

"Huh?"

"Your next trip to Malawi, babe"

She looked up, wide-eyed, and solemnly shook her head, then heaving a heavy sigh "nineteen days and I'd rather be in the madhouse" and an even heavier sigh "sixteen nights away"

"We'll miss you too, babe" and determined to restore the previous mood "... the counting?"

Arizona buried an embarrassed giggle into Callie's shoulder muttering an indistinct "orghsmm"

"What?" "Orgasms" "Oh"

They were both quiet before simultaneously erupting in laughter. When it subsided Callie chuckled "better than sheep" before Arizona tittered in reply "not if you're trying to sleep, counter-productive" before both laughed again.

Callie began to move the hand trapped between their bodies but Arizona ever so subtly moved over her causing their clits to kiss off each other. A jolt of electricity shot though them. Callie removed her hand more carefully than before, ensuring that their relative positions were undisturbed. Arizona repeated the gentle movement with the same result.

Both women gasped. Arizona removed her hand from Callie's and placed it between their almost touching centres, rising off Callie to do so. Callie grasped her shoulders with both hands "No, stay" a plea.

Arizona managed to rasp out "Not going anywhere babe" but moved her hand between them again, running her fingers through her own folds, marvelling at how wet she was so soon. It was obvious to Callie what she was doing, but damnit Arizona needed to be touching her that way, not herself "Arizonaaa" a whine.

Arizona just smirked repeating her action, this time gathering as much of her own juices as she could. Then pausing, staring into Callie's eyes, rising off her slightly again as if to touch herself again.

"Arizonaaa...ohhh,yeah" her wife's demand quickly transformed into a moan as Arizona began to massage Callie's now throbbing bundle of nerves, coating it with her juices. Then withdrawing her hand from them she began to lick her fingers clean, offering one to Callie who eagerly took the proffered treat. When they had licked the fingers clean Arizona placed her hand between them again, this time to Callie's delight running fingers through her folds, slowly, softly as if they had all eternity. All the time their bodies remained intertwined in almost the same position as when they had awoken. Now Arizona returned her hand to her own body, this time massaging her own clit, covering it in Callie's juices. When done she again allowed herself a taste before letting Callie lick the fingers clean once more.

Breathing quickened, as each woman moved slightly against each other, their moisture laden clits now gliding against each other, just as their mouths met too. Tongues mimicking clits.

All hands free now they softly caressed each other's bodies, Arizona's hands somewhat inevitably ending up on Callie's breasts; equally inevitable Callie's on Arizona's ass. All the time their torsos moved against each other, minimally so that their clits continued to waltz against each other. Movements so slight that they were barely visible but the sensations of each touch were epic.

Both women, physically exhausted from the marathon of the night before, probably incapable of anything more than minimal thrusts bit nothing more was required. They moved as one now. Brown eyes meeting blue; neither able to tear away from the others sight, everything in unison now, in complete harmony. Each breath, each gasp, each moan mirrored simultaneously in the other. Heartbeats utterly synchronized. Moving against each other timelessly, their clits as one. It was if they could read each other's minds; both recognising this as significant, momentous, epic. It felt never-ending, an infinite union of body, mind and heart.

Trying to vocalise something, anything, their names "Ar..." "Cal..." but unable to do so. Yet no words were needed, they knew. There was no rush, their orgasms grew, or maybe it was their orgasm for it felt as if they were one now, conjoined by invisible tissue, inseparable. And still they rocked against each other, silently now, wordlessly; the tears falling from Arizona's face merely joining those streaming down her wife's cheeks.

Eventually, it could have been days, years or minutes later as time had ceased to exist, they climaxed with each other, as one again; their clits exploding into the cosmos, and fell into an abyss of ecstasy and euphoria.

Eventually speech returned, accompanied by joyous tears.

"Arizona, I...I have never felt anything like..." "Me, neither, babe" "Really?" sometimes the insecurity of the newborn still came through. "No-one has ever compared to that, to you, to us...Callie, I..." she swallowed to try and compose herself so she could put into words a fraction of what she felt, knowing that no words were adequate "I will love you till the day I die" the best her scrambled brain could come up with, shaking her head at the triteness of the phrase.

"It felt...I think our..." Callie shook her head.

"What?" "No, it's stupid, you'd think it ridiculous, you'd laugh, no, no" she shook her head again.

"Say it"

"Like our souls had become one...forever...for eternity"

"That's not stupid, it's..."

"It's stupid if you don't believe in souls and an afterlife and eternity, and you don't" Callie smiled softly "but I do and I will love you for eternity"

Arizona snuggled in her wife's arms now stayed silent, as she lay her head in the crook of her neck; moving one finger softly up and down along Callie's scar. "If I get to spend it with you then I can believe in eternity"

Then later, much later, not even sure if Callie was still awake "I don't want this to end, the way we are now, it's too good, what happens when the honeymoon is over?"

"Are you...Arizona...why are you crying?"

"I hurt you. I've caused you so much pain and...I don't want to be the reason for your pain ever again but..."

(C)

...but what if I do?" Arizona paused, sniffled, glancing at her bemused wife who was just shaking her head as she snuggled in closer to Arizona. They were facing each other now, legs lightly entwined, Arizona cuddled into Callie's side, held in a strong yet gentle embrace

"You're not going to..."

"You don't know that, you know I get things wrong and I bail and..."

"You don't bail, that was never who you were...are"

"But Malawi..."

"We've talked about that, we both know that was about so much more than you bailing"

Arizona stayed silent.

"If it hadn't been Africa, it would have been something else, we were living in...what did you call it?"

"A pretty pink bubble" Arizona sighed quietly

"Yeah, that, God and to think I used to be all dark and frowny and badass"

Arizona poked her in the ribs for that one.

"We got back together for the wrong reason...because of fear...fear of losing each other...but we ignored the reasons we had broken up in the first place- your trust issues, your fear of needing someone, my fear of being alone, being abandoned"

"Our complete inability to talk" Arizona chimed in.

"I was so happy to have you back, so happy that he hadn't hurt you, I didn't want to do or say anything to risk us again, didn't want anything to change."

"Not even the colour of the walls"

They both giggled at the memory but then were silent for a while thinking back to that day when death came to their hospital.

"When I was in Malawi I used to wonder would it have been any easier if we had never gotten back together. I mean if the shooting hadn't happened and we'd stayed broken up."

"And?"

Arizona just shook her head "When we were apart, before... before Mr. Clarke... I couldn't breathe...so I'd go and find you, just so I could see you, and watch for a while and then I could breathe again, I'd watch you in surgery and the cafeteria, being near to you was enough"

"You always seemed fine, carefree even, as if our breakup, as if we meant so little that...I know now that wasn't true but we never really talked about that after so when you went to Malawi it really did seem like I was never all that important to you at all...that hurt even more than you leaving me"

"I couldn't breathe in Malawi either but you were thousands of miles away so I couldn't even see you to make it better...I can't breathe without you, Calliope Torres...coming home was the best decision I ever made..." she sighed deeply, burrowing into Callie's arms "...for me...but..." Arizona stroked the length of the scar again then replaced her finger with her lips, moving her hand down to Callie's second largest scar, the c-section, then running her finger along its length too "...sometimes I wonder, if you and So"

"No!" Callie sat up staring down at her, unsmilingly, just shaking her head "you don't get to say that, you don't get to even think that...ever...not ever, you hear me...that little girl is so lucky to have you as her Mommy and me...I can't breathe without you either, ok?"

"Ok" They reached for each other and kissed, short wet sloppy kisses and smiled at each other again.

"I get scared because this..." Arizona waved her hand between them "...is so incredible...I didn't know I could be this happy and...I get scared because I have so much to lose now and I couldn't survive if we...sometimes I wonder is this just the biggest prettiest pink bubble ever and is it going to pop when the honeymoon is over and..."

"Oh, Arizona" Callie's sigh was part exasperation, part love- like a mother wondering what do with a bold but adorable child. "The honeymoon is over; it was over when we got back to Seattle, this, everything since then, is not our honey moon. This is our life and we should be grateful for it and enjoy it.

"We. Are. Amazing. Together. Together. We. Are. Great."

Every word punctuated by a kiss, each one more loving than the one before. The reward was a broad Arizona- super- magic smile, letting Callie know her words had worked.

"Were you just being a moron or did something start you worrying about this, wifey?"

"Don't call me that"

"You love it when I call you that" Callie smirked.

Arizona grinned sheepishly "Well, just don't let anyone else hear you call me that...Our wedding video"

"Calzona? How is that responsible for getting you all worried and, and...moron-like?"

"They're all happy in it and now look at them"

"What?"

"Cristina and Owen... Teddy and Andrew...Meredith and Derek...Richard and Adele..."

"Now MerDer weren't even there"

"Who?"

"Meredith and Derek, babe...apparently Calzona are not alone, there's all these other names too, MerDer, Crowen..."

"Crowen?" Arizona shook her head, thinking not for the first time that John Hopkins was never like this "Mered...MerDer...weren't at our wedding because they were so loved up they were getting married themselves so their absence proves my point"

"Huh! They just had to get married on our wedding day, seriously?" Big wedding gift notwithstanding Callie was not impressed by their no-show.

"The point being they were so happy and now, weeks later, Derek's back in the woods and Meredith's a single parent and..."

"Meredith destroyed his clinical trial, babe"

"So? What about for better for worse? They have a baby now, he can't just go off and leave them, and he's a parent now, Callie!"

"They've been through worse than this, Arizona; they make us look like a stroll in the park, they'll be ok"

Arizona was silent for a moment before grinning "I'd sabotage a clinical trial for you, babe"

"Yeah?" "Yeah" "In that case I'm not letting you near my cartilage testing"

Another poke in the ribs.

"And Owen and Cristina aren't together either..."

"Yeah, well, they've some major issues" Callie shook her head...Cristina had blurted it out to her, whether in confidence or not, but the issue seemed a little close to home... "I'm telling you in confidence, not very many know" and so she told her wife.

"Should I...talk to her? I mean I could talk to her tell her I never wanted to be a mother either and..." Arizona paused to kiss Callie once more "...and it's the best thing to ever happen to me" This time Callie did the kissing.

"I think Cristina needs to make her own choice here, honey, if she wants to talk she'll talk"

"The Chief was there and..."

"Alone, Callie, it's so sad and it made me think if something happened to you..."

"I can't promise that I won't ever get sick or die but I'll do my best not too because I don't want to leave you at least not for 50 years or so because I love you too much"

"Fifty years, huh?" "Yup, I'll be all old and wrinkly with saggy boobs and..."

"I'll still love your boobs when we're 85" and never needing an excuse she bent her head to kiss and suck both nipples.

Callie lay back contentedly "As far as Teddy and Perkins are concerned that was never going to work, he was way too dull and righteous and besides Henry..."

Arizona broke away from Callie's breasts just long enough to say "is seriously hot, like really hot"

Callie just shook her head "you do know you're a lesbian, right?" She earned another poke for that. "Should I be worried when you start talking about all that hotness?

Arizona gave her a playful shrug in reply.

"Maybe you'll start liking boys now, you might be having a mid life crisis"

She earned a punch for that one and a "Hey! I'm only 35"

Callie grinned from ear to ear "early menopause?"

"Hey, I have plenty good child bearing years in me yet, I'll have you know" Arizona said it with a playful smirk but then swallowed thickly and the grin faded. Suddenly the air felt a lot thinner.

"Yeah?" Callie croaked into the heavy silence.

"Maybe, not yet, but maybe" it was barely a murmur "if...if you still want that with me, I mean..." the insecurity of not being a good mother still lingered "...if not, if Sofia's enough that's ok too"

Callie's smile answered the question.

Arizona took a deep breath as if conscious that new vows were being made "then maybe, just not yet, but maybe...definitely"

"Definitely, maybe?" Callie smiled as her hand went involuntarily to stroke Arizona's belly imagining a bump once more.

Arizona didn't smile just swallowed and said "Definitely, definitely"

They were almost asleep when Arizona spoke again; Callie internally wondering if sleep was something she had only dreamt about.

"You believe in life after death and heaven and God, right?"

"I do" Callie sighed

"Then why don't you believe in the rest of it too?"

"Huh, babe...it's a little late or early for a theological discussion"

"Hell and damnation and... the fires and ... the, the brimstone? What if they're right and you end up...because of me..."

"Arizona, please, you can't be worried about stuff you don't believe in" she tried to hide the exasperation.

"But you do, you believe in heaven and hell and..."

All she could do was hold her wife tightly and try to explain "I do... I see glimpses every day of hell on earth, on the news, in our hospital, so it's easy to believe it exists in the afterlife too. But mostly I believe in heaven and I believe because I want to believe, especially now that I have you, but I know that if there is something after this, then the way you love me, the way I love you - that wont sent me anywhere bad"

"I'd like to believe in a heaven, I'd like to think Timothy is there, that I'll see him again, that I get to spend forever with you because I don't think fifty years will be enough but..."

"Then do"

"But all that God stuff and...It's not logical to me and..."

"Just believe in heaven, just in that, nothing else"

"Doesn't it come as a package deal, all or nothing, heaven and hell, God and religion, Church and Bibles and rules and sin and..."

"Only if you want it too but a la carte suits me just fine"

"I see glimpses every day too..." Arizona leaned in and placed a very tired very sloppy kiss on Callie's lips "...of Heaven" she stroked her wife's face as she spoke "so I guess I can believe it exists too" and finally they slept.

Sofia's screams rang out once again just after seven. Her emerging sleep pattern made no allowances for weekend lie-ins. Arizona, as good as her word, tended to her, allowing Callie precious sleep. When she finally plodded into the kitchen, showered and dressed, at nearly nine, her heart leapt, not for the first time, at the sight that greeted her. A freshly laundered Sofia, jet black hair still damp from her morning bath sticking up Mohican-like, resembling a miniature badass rock star, was contentedly sucking on her pacifier, bouncing gently on Arizona's knee. One tiny hand firmly holding Arizona's finger; the other arm being held by Arizona to prevent her death grip on Arizona's blonde hair. Like all babies Sofia would grab, with surprising strength, anything that dangled in front of her, hair as often as not would be the object. Still it seemed to Callie that she had a particular fascination for Arizona's blonde locks - like mother like daughter - so to prevent losing clumps of hair Arizona usually tied her hair in braids or a tight ponytail when with Sofia. This morning Arizona had clearly just scraped her hair up carelessly giving her an adorably messy look.

"Hey baby" planting a gentle kiss on the top of the blondes head "Hey Sofia" planting another on the top of the damp black hair. Sofia gurgled in satisfaction kicking out her legs but making no attempt to leave her current sanctuary. Withdrawing from a sloppy kiss from her wife Callie noticed the fruits of her labour from the previous evening and quietly gulped.

"Have you looked in the mirror yet babe?"

Arizona looked at her, dark circles under narrowed eyes "Cal, I poured a mug of coffee for myself an hour ago, I started drinking it-cold- five minutes ago...looking in a mirror comes way down my list of priorities this morning- somewhere after changing our daughters diaper, for the second time- and before brushing my teeth, so that would be a no" with a hint of sarcasm followed by a more insecure "oh God do I look horrendous and, oh, oh I smell too, don't I?"

"You look gorgeous and...well...yeah you do smell..." she over dramatically covered Sofia's ears " of me and sex .." with a smirk "...and sex with me" then with a nervous grin "...but just remember you love me, ok, like really, really love me and that you said you never wanted to hurt me and just go and look in a mirror"

A bemused Arizona stood up and went to hand over Sofia but Callie stood back saying cryptically "no, no, less dangerous if you're holding her" 'for me' she thought silently.

"C'mon Sofia lets go look in the mirror and see what silly Ma...omigod, CALLIE!" Arizona twirled around before returning back to the mirror, hoping somehow that what she had seen had been a mirage but nope it was still there. It being a huge haematoma on the left side of her neck surrounded by a series of very obvious bite marks moving southwards and disappearing under her tee-shirt and not at all balanced out by a couple of smaller, but still significant, bruises on her right side.

"Make-up will cover it, babe" Callie lied unconvincingly "and it'll all be gone by Monday" and as a last resort to offset the glare bearing down on her at speed "and you asked, no you begged me to mark you and..." The last words seemed to do the trick as the glare softened to a stare then to a smile as Arizona approached and with Sofia between them leant in for a slow long and very sloppy kiss ending only when she whispered "I'm yours babe, I'm yours"

None the less Callie was taking no chances and when Arizona went off to shower she texted Mark "Sloan, if you say one word, one syllable about Arizona's neck or even glance at her funny I will personally see to it that your balls are cut off by a very large sweaty man using only a rusty blunt razorblade"

It always took longer; the handover of the most precious cargo. Sofia was to be collected at noon. It should be simple. In theory it was. The baby bag was packed with extra bottles and pacifiers and diapers and wipes and clothes and distracting thingamajigs. All that a baby could ever need. And anyway Mark's apartment was already fully baby stocked and just across the hall. The same crib, basket, blanket...her room in his an almost duplicate of her room in theirs. Only the aroma was different. They both smelled predominately of baby and baby things but Daddy's Sofia room was tempered with the unmistakeable smell of aftershave and something distinctly masculine; Mommies' Sofia room smelt of vanilla essence and strawberry and tulips and fragrant, but not overpoweringly so, femininity.

So it should have been a simple matter of "Hi Mark, bye gorgeous, bye Mark, close the door on your way out, Mark" but it never was. He was always early and he always lingered. They did the handover like a shift changeover. Detailing everything that had happened, all medications, warnings about every eventuality, goodbye kisses (Sofia not Mark) and inevitably a warning to "bring her home safe, Mark" followed by a final round up of "you're sure you'll be ok" and more kisses (still Sofia).

This time followed the same pattern (even if Mark, threats or not, found the time to whisper "Blondie's neck looks like it was the dessert at a vampire banquet") and then she was gone. This time for almost two whole days- noon on Saturday till Six p.m on Sunday. Only across the hall but to Arizona it might as well have been to the Dark side of the moon. It was the stillness in the aftermath that got to them, to both of them, even now, after three previous sleepovers and countless day visits. The calm after the storm, the silence felt eerie; no crying, no gurgling and no Sofia.

The first time she had gone for a sleepover Callie bustled about the apartment keeping herself busy cleaning not wanting to breakdown, not wanting Arizona to see her upset. Not wanting Arizona, who had so obviously looking forward to their first night alone since the honeymoon, to notice for fear that she would think that she was not enough anymore. In her anxiety to conceal her emotion she had failed to see Arizona's. It was some minutes before she realised that her wife was standing stock still staring at their entrance door. She watched for a little longer before walking around to stand between her and the door. The sight was an unexpected one - Arizona just standing there oblivious to her presence, silent tears streaming down her face. Finally noticing Callie her face crumpled and she sobbed out "our baby's gone" and the rest was indecipherable or at least to Callie whose own facade of stoicism was immediately replaced by a waterfall of tears and a crescendo of sobs.

It had taken at least an hour before the two were cried out. They had held onto each other for dear life, finally making it to the sanctuary of the sofa, where they lay in each other's arms. Arizona would be almost fine but then a stifled sob from her wife would start her off again and vice versa. Callie would re-assure Arizona that just because Sofia had gone to overnight at Marks' it did not mean that she was all grown up and didn't need them anymore – "Arizona, she's just seven months old...and, no, she won't be leaving for College any day now" Arizona would re-assure Callie that Mark would not drop Sofia on her beautiful little head "Callie, he's a trained Doctor and as much as I hate to say it, he's a good Daddy"

And now they were getting better at coping with her absences and hell they were only human so after a week of interrupted sleep the promise of one night sans baby screams was always welcome. Still her absence was bittersweet and they both knew that by six on Sunday they'd be staring at the door willing her return.

So lunch was partly a sombre affair and partly a peaceful one. No food was splattered about the place and no helicopter noises of persuasion were necessary either. They ate in silence as in truth neither had caught enough sleep last night. After tidying up they both sat on the couch; Callie dramatically flopping down with a loud sigh beside her smiling wife.

"So what you want to do now, watch a movie, go for a walk or catch some zzz's or..." the last word was accompanied by Callie's fingers creeping up under Arizona's shirt.

"Or?" the smile was audible in her voice as she pulled Callie on top of her by her shirt collar

"We could re-watch that RomCom that April Kepner gave us?" Callie joked "the one named after the pizza?"

"I'd rather see something a little less PG actually"

"Oh...ok, Yeah" Callie tried to hide her disappointment cause watching a movie really wasn't what she hoped for right now, especially the way Arizona was running her fingers across her left breast squeezing her nipple hard.

Arizona held in her giggle as with a straight face she said "yeah I was thinking about a double bill..." she hesitated for effect "From here to Eternity' with 'Calliope Uncovered."

She let the giggle escape on hearing the palpable relief in Callie's voice "So you think that wouldn't be PG?"

"Are you kidding me? Your breasts alone, Calliope, make this an R rated feature" nimble hands already making made short work of Callie's shirt and bra. "Really? I hear it's the activities of my co-star on my breasts that makes it NC-17"

"The blonde always get the blame" muttered Arizona pushing aside Callie's shirt before she began sucking contentedly on her "chupo No.1"

Hours later they lay in their bedroom sated and exhausted in each other's arms.

"This isn't wrong, wifey" Callie whispered gently to her wifecertain sure that sleep had captured her, not intending her to hear "none of this, us, Sofia, our family, we're not wrong. No matter what they think...any of them, this love, our love isn't wrong, it's not sinful, it's pure. You won't be responsible for sending me to hell. You lying in my arms, after we make love, this is my heaven"

Arizona's eyes fluttered open and with a look of unadulterated love and reverence whispered back "It feels like heaven for me too but if it isn't then Heaven can wait"

And then they slept.

The END