Title: Third Times a Charm
Pairing: Arizona/Callie
Rating: PG
Summary: Three accidents lead to a life neither ever imagined... And it's better than anything they could have thought possible.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I do not intend to profit in any way, shape or form by posting this story. It's for fun, nothing more, and nothing less.
A/N: This was written for the LJ Callie_Arizona community triathlon event with brittlovesher and xena_and_gabby. They are seriously the best partners ever and I think we had a blast writing this and choosing songs and watching the amazing video Brittany made! Hope you all like it. :)
"Life is an accident. It's an accident based around luck, because you have one sperm and one egg and all the rest of it is just pure accident and chance," Callie states nervously, her eyes glancing around the room but refusing to make contact, knowing that her nerves were already getting the better of her, "Life is pinpointed around a series of accidents, whether it be tripping and hurting yourself, or accidentally falling in love with someone you never expected. Accidents shape us; they mold us into what we are. There will be accidents that you forget because they are so small, and there will be accidents you remember for the rest of your life as if they just happened yesterday. My life has been a chain of poorly thought accidents, a lot of which I can't really remember. However, there are three very pivotal accidents that got me to where I am today, three accidents that I can never forget. No matter how much I wish I could at times." Callie sighs, biting her bottom lip as she struggles to keep the pickling tears at bay. To say that Calliope Torres is a basket of nerves would be the understatement of the century, but an irony that she really hopes nobody else can notice.
"I was never a normal kid, you know? No matter how hard my parents really wanted me to be," She chuckled, wiping the sweat from her brow with a disgruntled sigh, "I was the kid who sat in the back of the classroom, chewed on my hair, always got picked last for gym class, played with my ferret and studied… a lot. I was groomed to be in the Miami elite though, so I knew people. I went to parties. But I was pretty lost until I went to Africa with the Peace Corps. A decision that nearly gave my mother a hernia," Callie pauses with a fond chuckle before she finds the courage to continue, "That was when I decided that I wanted to be a doctor. But as much as I loved being a doctor, and the fact that I had made that decision on my own, the real dream that I've really had since forever, was to have a child." Callie smiles brightly, her eyes locking with that of her daughter. The girl manages to keep growing the more she sees her, she swears one day she is just going to blink and she is going to be thirty five with kids of her own.
"Sofia, my beautiful daughter, was a happy accident. She was conceived when I was in a not so happy place, by two people who were thinking about other people. Not exactly the most romantic way to make a baby, if you ask me," Callie scoffed with a gentle laugh, glancing up to the ceiling in thought before she continues, "But I don't regret those actions at all, and I never will, because it is how my daughter came to be and I have wanted her since before I can even remember. But it wasn't easy. I was hurting and missing Arizona and I didn't have anything. No girlfriend, no job, and no apartment. Mark saved me. Just like Mark had always saved me, and that wasn't exactly a good thing." Callie laughs, licking her dry lips as she begins to pace, more out of habit than actual nervousness.
"We were in the misery loves company phase and bad decisions were made. Really, really bad decisions in which we did not even remotely think through. But out of those ill faded decisions came a beautiful little girl. My rendezvous with Mark had been an accident that I thought would cost me everything, including the woman that I love most. But as fate would have it," Callie stops sharing a gentle smile with her wife, "the accident made us stronger. Sure, those were some really challenging times, but we made it through, together. We grew together as a couple and as parents. We loved each other as hard as we could and none of the rest of it mattered. Looking back now, Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres may have been an accident. But she is, and will always be the happiest accident of my life." Callie sighs as she wiped a tear from her eye, gazing back at the little girl who reminds her so strikingly of herself.
"However, the way that she came into this world was anything but a happy accident," Callie exhales, those ever so prevalent tears prickling in her eyes once more as she glances between her darling wife and her ever so beautiful daughter, "Five years ago, I almost lost my life and Sofia did too. We were all involved in a terrible car crash. The truck came out of nowhere… it came out of n-nowhere." Her voice is barely audible as she swallows the lump in the back of her throat.
"I know Arizona blamed herself for the accident, because that is just the person that she is. She was the one who was driving when the truck appeared and she was the one who was talking. I know that she thinks it is her fault, the accident and the whole… fight about Mark and how involved he was in my life… in our life. And I was trying to avoid the entire situation; I let her fight about it because it was easier to fight about Mark rather than to admit the truth," Callie breathes deeply, batting her eyelashes to keep the tears from sliding down her cheeks. If there is one thing Calliope hates more than public speaking, it is crying in public. And she knows that now is certainly not the time for this.
"Which was that I still blamed her for Africa and I was afraid... afraid that it would happen again; that she would leave me again. So I kept Mark in our relationship as a buffer… like a safe place… a safety net, I suppose. I knew that if anything went wrong with Arizona and I, Mark would be there, just like he had always been there. And I wasn't ready to admit he was the problem, that he was the reason our relationship was barely surviving. But when Arizona proposed to me in that car… It was so… heartfelt. And spontaneous, which is nothing like Arizona, at all. She wanted commitment and rings and I… I was the one who forced her to do that in our car, in the middle of nowhere, while we were fighting about Mark infringing on our time. So if there was anyone to blame in that situation, surely it would be me, or even the both of us. But it was never Arizona's fault. Ever," Callie exclaims her hooded eyes meeting with Arizona's bottled blues and the curly haired blonde sucks in a hard breath at her wife's sudden emotional giving's.
"We made mistakes. And we're still making them," Callie chuckles softly, "But that accident changed something inside me. I realized how much I loved Arizona, and how much I really wanted to be with her, without the buffer between us. I don't know why it took this accident for me trust again, but it happened." Callie laughs at her own insecurity about the accident and smiled widely, her eyes still fixated upon her darling Arizona.
"She still laughs at me for this, but I swear, it must have been the head injury, or the really good drugs or something, but people were singing to me as they were operating on me. Yeah, singing, and pretty damn good too! Who knew the doctors at Seattle Grace-Mercy West had such great voices?!" Callie teases with a nervous chuckle.
"Yet, in the middle of all this sadness… of this terrible tragedy that was happening to me, to us, there was this bright spot of sunshine. There was just this beautiful moment where my entire consciousness came to the realization of how much I love Arizona and that I couldn't keep going on that way. Now in my head, we were in a flying car with a beautiful blue sky and bright white puffy clouds with rays of golden sunshine beaming down at us while I serenaded Arizona and maybe that was the kick in my pants that I needed, but I woke up and couldn't think of anything other than saying yes to Arizona, so I did. In fact, it was the very first thing I said. I wasn't giving her any chance of backing out on this one," Callie laughs as she looks up at Arizona who simply shakes her head lovingly at her wife's antics.
"In the following months, things for me seemed to be coming together. I had the woman of my dreams, the child I always wanted, things were going great. Super, even!" Callie winks at Arizona and watches her laugh before continuing, "But as my life was finally, after years, coming together, Arizona's life seemed to be falling apart. First, learning about Nick's cancer and then the possibility of losing her best intern to John Hopkins, things were really going downhill for Arizona. And that was before the worst of it. Because she was in an accident too, an accident…" Callie pauses as the cry thickens in the back of the throat, a tear spilling past the dam of strength she had been so desperate to keep together.
"Her plane fell out of the sky," Callie's voice cracks and Arizona gently attempts to stand, but Callie quickly reprimands her wife's compassionate gesture with a shake of her head, swallowing the cry, "While I was home, waiting in our bed for her to come home, she was in the middle of the woods, fighting for her life. While I was telling the world how great and super and awesome my life was, my best friend and his soulmate were losing their lives and my wife was at threat of losing her own." Callie voice cracks again and this time, Arizona only watches on with tear filled eyes.
"How, as a wife, can you not know something like that is happening? Shouldn't I have felt something? Shouldn't I have…?" Callie rambles off with a heavy sigh as she sucks in a hard breath, "when you're in a situation like that, you automatically think the worst of things and I began wondering what my life would be like without her. And let me tell you, it wasn't…. good. I pictured what it would be like without Arizona, and there are … no words. No words for that kind of hurt or pain or absolute misery. Because Arizona… she's everything. And losing her… I couldn't live through that. Ever." Callie sniffles at the harsh reality of what her life would be like without her wife as a cry tickles just at the base of lips. Swallowing deeply, her eyes flicker up to her wife where she gazes at her lovingly, trying blissfully to ignore the tears in her wife's eye as well.
"Thank you for not dying. Thank you for coming back for m-me and Sofia. I will never be able to thank you enough," Callie whispers, her eyes solely locked upon Arizona's, who only nods her head in response to her wife's statement. Smiling softly, Callie gestures for her wife to stand with a flick of her wrist and at first, Arizona is reluctant with a shake of her head. Grinning wider, Callie gestures again with a hushed 'come on' and the blonde hesitantly does so. Gently, she laces her fingers with Calliope's, who practically beams at their gentle gesture. Callie takes a moment to swoon at her wife before she holds up the small flute of champagne, a movement that Arizona soon mimics.
"Life is full of accidents and a lot of people like to complain about them, they like to blame them for the reason their life turns out the way that it does, but personally, I like to thank the accidents in my life. Sure, I've had a lot of them, like more than the average human being. I've slept with the wrong people and I've flew through a windshield, and my wife's plane fell from the sky. But in retrospect, all those things, all those terrible accidents, brought Arizona and I even closer together. All those things made my love for Arizona stronger," Callie grins, looking at her wife who is fighting the tears in her eyes.
"I love you, Arizona. And it's about time we did this legally, because even though we've been married for five years, some blissful and others turbulent, the state of Washington didn't recognize it. Now they have no choice," Callie beams with a chuckle, as does the audience, who all take a swig of their champagne after Callie's speech comes to a close.
"That was really beautiful, Calliope," Arizona whispers breathlessly, a remark that creates a warm blush in Callie's cheeks. Smiling at her beautiful wife, the blonde gently caresses her cheek as she pulls her in for a soft kiss, an action that receives wolf whistles and loud clapping from their audience. Blushing quietly, Arizona pulls away with a giggle as she turns to face the audience, scanning through the crowd of familiar faces. Her parents are sitting with Carlos and Lucia, who finally, after two long years came around and apologized to her daughter for her blatant disapproval of the one thing that makes her truly happy. Since then, Lucia Torres has not only accepted Arizona as her daughter-in-law, but has stepped up and became a full time dotting grandmother. Glancing over, Arizona can't help but smile at Mama O'Malley, who was sitting at the same table, watching Sofia and her little sister, Madison Riley.
At first, Arizona felt that a second wedding was too much and completely unnecessary, but Callie eventually wore her down. They agreed to have a large party and invite their friends and family to celebrate the renewing of their vows and their newly printed marriage certificate, despite the fact they've been happily married for five years and have two gorgeous children. While looking out at the sea of familiar faces, Arizona feels an intense sense of pride and happiness. She smiles brightly as Alex steps behind three year old Madison and tugs on one of her blonde ponytails, making her erupt in laughter. Though Sofia, the ever watchful big sister gives him a look and tells him not to pick on her sister. The entire scene sends a feeling of warmth over Arizona. To think that Alex almost left for Johns Hopkins, but the plane crash made him change his mind. Instead, he continued his fellowship with Arizona and now is an attending pediatric surgeon working as part of her staff at Seattle Grace-Mercy West.
"Come on, dance with me," Callie says softly while pulling Arizona to her feet and leading her to the dance floor. Arizona goes along willing, though playfully dragging her heels. She glances over Callie's body, the pretty black dress looking beautiful on her wife and hiding the barely there baby bump. Number three is growing there and Arizona couldn't feel prouder or more excited. Once safely in the middle of the dance floor, Callie pulls Arizona against her and kisses her temple gently.
"See, I told you this was a good idea," Callie states, holding her head up high in pride, as a beaming grin plays upon her lips, practically blinding Arizona in brilliance.
"Yes, but don't let it go to your head," Arizona laughs, rolling her eyes in good nature. Smiling at her wife, Arizona slides her arms around her waist, pulling her closer to her as her gentle blue stare into Calliope's hooded brown, "You are even more beautiful today than the first time we got married. You just have this glow and aura of pure happiness."
"I think that might be number three making me appear that way," Callie laughs, shaking her head slightly. This time around, they had decided to not know the sex of the baby, but secretly, they are both rooting for a boy. They had settled on calling the baby number three, at least for the time being, a habit started by Alex when Calliope was pregnant with Madison, also affectionately known as number two.
"No, Calliope, you… you just take my breath away," Arizona smiles widely before kissing her wife softly, "And the fact you're having my baby again just sweetens the pot." She winks playfully, her blonde curls framing around her dimpled smiling face.
"I hope he has pretty blonde hair like Madison does," Callie says with a grin.
"Well, I hope he has your pretty brown eyes then," Arizona counters.
"He's going to be perfect, regardless of what traits he gets," Callie says before laughing softly, "but if he gets the dimples like you and Maddie have, then I'm in trouble."
"We'll just have to have another one then, use your egg this time, even the score, huh?" Arizona tilts her head slightly and gives Callie a dimpling smile, her tone of voice teasing lightly, but Callie can tell she is totally serious.
"I think I've created a baby monster," Callie says, her voice breaking slightly at the realization that she finally has everything she could ever want with the woman she never knew she wanted and now knows she never wants to live without. Arizona can't help but giggle softly as she shakes her head lovingly.
"I've always loved kids, Calliope. Having my own just scared the crap out of me. I know all the things that can go wrong. I watch some children wither away and others die in a sudden accident, I see the ends of both spectrums, but what most other doctors don't consider is watching the parents and their reactions. Seeing families fall apart and others come together and try to give all their strength to this little body. I have watched that all through my career and it just scared the bajeebus out of me…" Arizona pauses as she takes a moment, swallowing the lump in her throat before a beaming smile begins to appear on her face.
"But with you, Callope… I'm not as scared. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm still scared to death, but I've never had a partner like you. And with your support, I know that we can handle anything, I mean, look at that speech you made tonight. All that stuff we went through, and here we are, as strong as ever, as in love and in awe of one another as we've ever been. It's just amazing, Calliope. And you're the one that gives that feeling to me. Sofia made me realize we could do this which is why I wanted Madison so bad. And this little one…" they both look down to Calliope's stomach, "I might be a monster for our kids," a shared laugh before Arizona continues, "But it's only because of you that I was able to face that fear and shove it away and truly live." The wide grin on Arizona's face is practically blinding Calliope who cannot help but look at her wife with misty eyes. Gently, the raven haired beauty reaches out to caress her wife's cheek, pulling her in for a soft kiss.
"Yeah, I knew I made the right decision when I said yes, I'd marry you," Callie teases and Arizona laughs, wiggling her eyebrows as she leans in to respond, but is interrupted by two sets of scampering feet, running around her.
"Mami! Mama! Awunt Baywee says she eats all da cake if we don't cuts it soons!" Madison states in excitement, her cutely incorrect English practically stumbling over itself as she runs an arm length in front of her sister, who is in dead pursuit to catch her.
"Sorry, Mami, Uncle Alex told me I should stop her, but she's just too fast for me," Sofia says as she catches up to her sister, panting for a breath as she bumps into her playfully, an action that causes Madison to erupt in heartfelt giggles.
"Wike supagirls?" Madison holds her arms up wide, her blue eyes glistening with imagination as she jumps playfully, attempting to fly. Sofia nods with a grin, grabbing her younger sister's hand as she squeezes it lovingly.
"You are a super girl, Maddie," Sofia beams. With a crooked grin, Madison throws herself on Sofia, wrapping her in a hug and both parents stand, watching their daughters in awe as adoring smiles curl upon their lips.
"We have the best kids, Calliope," Arizona says with a grin. Callie nods in agreement as she grabs Madison in her arms, poking her sides playfully as Arizona does the same with Sofia, the family lazily making their way toward the cake.
"No eats it, Awunt Baywee!" Madison yells sharply, gathering the attention of all the surrounding friends and family, everyone laughing in the happy and warm environment and basking in the glow of a loving family.