Title: If you love somebody...
Author: lilyme
Summary: "If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were". Everyone has probably heard this saying before. How could it apply to Calzona? Let's find out.
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Grey's Anatomy". They were created by Shonda Rhimes and belong to her and the ABC network. No copyright infringement intended!All mistakes are mine.
The doorbell rang, and Arizona hurried to greet the people waiting outside. For the first time in a long while certain that she'd be greeted with not only one but two smiles on her family's faces.
One on her little girl's, who was just almost always a ray of sunshine. Despite everything that had happened in her young life. A real trooper, never one with a sour look for long.
And presumably also a smile on her grown-up lookalike's face.
For almost one and a half months Callie had been depressed. Wounded. Defeated. By the circumstances of life.
They both had made mistakes. Had handled this custody situation all wrong.
But they had come to an agreement now. A friendly one. And certainly one they should have made before dragging all this out in court. It would have saved them a lot of additional sorrow.
However, she was willing to look past this.
They all deserved to be happy. Even if they had to split their happiness in two. And if starting a new life is what made Callie happy, then she'd let it happen. Even though she knew... she'd have a hard time without her. But that wasn't Callie's concern.
It shouldn't be.
Callie had moved on.
And she deserved to.
Brushing her own feeling aside, she opened door. And as expected she was greeted with two smiling faces. One as bright as expected. The other one a little more cautious, but it was still more than she had seen in recent months.
"Hey, you two," her own smile grew as Sofia came crashing into her arms, hugging her tightly after a long week of not having seen her mom. Arizona didn't even want to think about the near future when there might be months she'd have to handle with not seeing her little girl. But she knew that this had been the right decision.
"How was New York?" she asked Sofia as she held the door open for Callie to enter as well.
"Awesome! We saw the statue of Liberty and Empire State Building," Sofia stepped out of her arms to raise her arms way above her head. "It's this... tall! Taller than the Space Needle. And we made a boat tour in Central Park. And we went to see The Lion King musical!"
Both moms stood side by side, followings their daughter's excited explanation amusedly. The retelling ending only ending when Andrew Deluca made his way down the stairs.
"Andrew!" Sofia squealed and ran to greet him as well.
"Hey, munchkin," he tousled her hair a little, fully aware that Sofia ha-a-ated this. And as expected, the little brunette grumbled in disagreement but kept on grinning nonetheless. "Hey, Dr. Torres," the man greeted Callie as well, but Sofia was quick to recapture his attention.
"Andrew, can we go play in the backyard?" she tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. It was one of her favorite things to do when she was at Arizona's. She and Andrew often played ball together when he had the time.
"Oh, sure," he looked at the mothers to check if that was okay or if they had other plans. But they just nodded in agreement. "Come on," he led her out. "We bought some material for the tree house. Wanna go see?"
"Yeah!" Sofia exclaimed and the two of them were off within the blink of an eye.
"Tree house?" Callie wondered, turning her attention to Arizona.
"Uh, yeah," Arizona nodded and cleared her throat. "Sofia asked about this about half a year ago. And I thought why not? The backyard is big enough. Deluca volunteered to help us. But it's still in the planning stages. Sofia keeps changing the designs. The little architect is not fully satisfied yet," she laughed and Callie actually joined in.
Of course Arizona now knew that the tree house would see limited use once Sofia's temporary relocation to New York went down. But that would never stop them from going through with Sofia's actual plans.
She'd always have her own little house when she stayed with her.
"You want some coffee? I just made some," Arizona queried.
"Yeah, uh, thanks," Callie nodded and followed the blonde into the kitchen. "Um, I-I've been meaning to talk to you anyway".
"Right, sure," Arizona returned, more than happy to busy herself with preparing their cups of steamy hot beverage.
Truth be told, she didn't want to have this conversation.
Sure, she had given Callie the opportunity to leave Seattle and start a new life in New York. And had laid down the basic custody rules that actually made this possible.
But talking out the details... it would make this final. And Arizona was not ready for this.
Never would be.
She had her back to Callie and couldn't see that the brunette had yet to sit down. Right now standing about uncertain, biting her lip.
Arizona added one piece of sugar and a droplet of milk to Callie's coffee, still remembering how her ex-wife liked it. She herself needed a little more milk and a lot more sugar. Especially today.
"So, uh..," she spoke after it became clear that Callie wasn't about to begin this conversation herself, "did you... did you talk things out with Penny?"
"Um, I... we... didn't exactly go see her...," the other woman answered slowly, unsure how to really approach this topic. Which was a little more complicated than Arizona might expect.
Or a lot easier...?
But apparently a slowly presented answer didn't help in in the not startling Arizona department anyhow. With the two mugs in her hands, the unexpected reply made the blonde turn too quickly and she ended up spilling a good part of the contents on the floor and over her hands. "Wha-ow," she hissed, putting the mugs down and rushed to cool her hands under cold water.
"Oh, God, here, let me...," Callie instantly helped to clean the floor with kitchen towels before Arizona might slip and fall in this mess she had just brought forth.
Meanwhile the blonde recovered enough to let out a confused, "Come again?" She dabbed her hands dry with a towel and scrunched her eyebrows at the woman still wiping the floor.
"Um, we... didn't go see her...?" Callie reacted accordingly to Arizona's command, refusing to look up.
The blonde pursed her lips and cocked her head to the side, "Callie..." It sounded almost exasperated, but there was a hint of amusement, albeit uncertain, given the sudden turn of events.
"Okay, listen...," Callie slowly got up and wiped her hands before discarding the kitchen towels in the trash, "when we got on the plane, I was excited to go to see Penny. To start a new life with her," she smiled a little before she shook her head. "But then I looked at Sofia sleeping beside me... and I realized we would be starting a new life. In a new city, a new job, another woman."
"So... you got cold feet and came back?" Arizona ventured and crossed her arms before her chest, not wanting to believe that this was where Callie was going. This is what Callie had wanted. A new life in New York with...
It's what Callie had wanted. It's why Arizona had bought these tickets, putting her own feelings last to make Callie happy again.
The other woman pondered this for a moment. It was true that her nerves had gotten to her. It would have been a big step. A big change. And sitting there on the plane, she had had enough time picturing the coming years.
And the result had been just...
She looked Arizona in the eyes. "I didn't get cold feet. I... I tried picturing my life with Penny. I could see us being happy together one year from now. Two years..."
Arizona looked down, not able to actually watch Callie talk about her life with Penny. But apparently this wasn't what Callie was trying to say... right?
"But I realized... we wouldn't be enough," the brunette continued and Arizona looked at her once more.
Callie saw the doubting, insecure look, and knew that she had to erase that. "When I'm 90 and all wrinkly and gray-haired, I want you sitting beside me on the porch of our house. I want you to be snuggled up to me in a blanket, watching our great-grandchildren play in the yard. Cuddling our poor old dog and feeding the chicken."
There was the ghost of a smile on the blonde's face at that. So she continued, "I... I wanna have that with you. And all the stuff in the middle".
Then silence befell the room as Arizona eventually pressed her lips together and put their newly refilled mugs to the table, her back to Callie.
The brunette became uncertain due to the lack of response. And when her ex-wife turned with a shake of her head, her face crumbled.
She had feared that she would come back only to be rejected. And Arizona had every right to. They didn't have the prettiest of divorces, despite all the effort to separate on good terms. And the custody battle that... in hindsight... now seemed so unnecessary... might just have been the nail in the coffin. But her heart refused to let them be over for good.
"I... I know we did this all wrong. We had a chance to do it right...," she started , repeating Arizona's words from a week prior. And they still had the chance. She was sure of that. "We haven't been good for each other in a really long time. But... I can see it. I can see us be great again. We just need one more chance".
Arizona sighed. This... This was what she wanted. A new chance... A new start with Callie and Sofia. But she knew that it would not be that simple. They had a past. A really checkered one. And recent events hadn't helped.
Her heart was aching for Callie who was almost trembling in nervous anticipation. "We... We hurt each other deeply," she returned and noticed how Callie wanted to retreat back into herself at this seeming turn-down. However, she wasn't done, and gave her ex-wife an encouraging smile. "But I want this too, Callie, I really do. But we have a lot to figure out before that can happen."
Callie nodded, but for the first time since her return to Seattle a little relieved.
They had a chance. It might not happen now or tomorrow. But it would at some point. She was sure of it.
Arizona put a calming hand on Callie's arm and led them to the kitchen table to have a seat. And to process what exactly was just happening.
"Can I ask you a question?" she finally asked as they both had sipped their coffees in silence for a few minutes. Callie nodded. "What did you do then? One week..."
"Well," Callie smirked a little, still a little overwhelmed by the honest, yet positive words they had just exchanged, "you heard... Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building..."
Arizona shook her head in disbelieving amusement. "So, you two basically had a week of sightseeing. Holiday at my expense".
"Well, I paid for the hotel myself, and...," she protested until Arizona raised a quick eyebrow. "Sorry," she stopped with a cringe, but just a little, since Arizona didn't seem too mad about it.
"Maybe... we could go and see all this together someday," Arizona suggested and looked expectantly at Callie. "I always wanted to stand up there on Empire State Building." The brunette raised her eyebrows at this, and Arizona knew why. "I... I know I'm not good with heights, but if you're willing to hold my hand, I might just try it," she winked and gripped the brunette's hand as a promise.
The other woman smiled in anticipation of this trip that might happen someday.
Not because of the trip itself. But because it was a prospect of a life together.
"I'd love that".
END