Hahn for the Holidays
Summary: Callie/Erica. Callie and Erica plan to spend their first Christmas together as a couple. Callica; For Abi, Merry Christmas sweetie! XD
Not so long ago, Callie Torres has expected to be spending this Christmas with her husband, curling up on the sofa, unwrapping presents and drinking mulled wine. It was unbelievable how much things could change in such a short space of time. Her marriage to George O'Malley may have been spontaneous but Callie had never imagined it would end so soon. She had loved him so completely and so passionately that his betrayal had been even more hurtful. But even more surprising was the fact that she was considering spending this Christmas with another woman. She had been living with Cristina Yang while they both dealt with the breakdown of their relationships but this was totally different.
"So," Callie began, licking the last of the yoghurt off her spoon and placing the carton the table in front of her. She and Erica Hahn were sharing a table together in the canteen of Seattle Grace Hospital. Since Addison had left, months ago now, Callie had taken to eating her lunch with Dr. Hahn instead. "Do you have any plans for Christmas?"
Erica looked home from her salad and tried to determine the expression in Callie's eyes.
"I usually work," She admitted. "It doesn't seem fair taking the time off work when I don't really have a family to go home to."
Callie nodded, looking away as she tried to think of a subtle way of asking Erica if she fancied spending Christmas with her.
"And this year, will you be working this Christmas?" She asked.
Erica swallowed a forkful of salad and smiled. "It depends if I get a better offer."
"Okay, I've already secured the time off," Callie replied. "It was one of the few perks of my short reign as chief residents. So how about spending Christmas with me, Erica?" She asked, almost holding her breath as she waited for the blonde woman to reply.
Erica looked surprised; she hadn't been expecting Callie to be so quick to make the decision. Maybe things were finally changing at least.
"I'd love to," She finally replied, pushing her salad carton away. "If it's want you want, Callie."
Callie nodded. "It's what I want." She whispered.
"That's settled then," Erica smiled, but before their conversation could progress further both of their pagers went off simultaneously, summoning them to different areas of the hospital.
"See you later," Callie smiled, looking around before cautiously kissing Erica lightly on the cheek. It could be perceived as a friendly gesture but the two women knew it was much more than that.
"See you, Callie." Erica replied, heading towards the cardio wing with a smile on her face. Maybe, finally, she and Callie could be open about their budding romance.
"You look happy," Mark Sloan replied, stepping out of a patient's room and into the corridor. "You haven't been imagining me in the on-call room again, have you?" He teased.
"In your dreams Sloan," Callie replied, but it was good natured banter, she was in far too much of a good mood to let McSteamy bother her.
"You always are," He laughed at himself. "Any plans for Christmas, Callie?" He asked.
"Maybe," She replied, unable to hide the satisfied smile as she said it. "And you?"
"Working," Mark replied, looking decidedly less happy than Callie about his own holiday plans.
Callie tried to hide her surprised. "Really! Wow, Mark that's actually really nice of you!"
Mark made a face. "Thanks, I think." He paused. "It's not like I have any one waiting for me at home who wants to spend Christmas with me, so I might as well work and hope I get lucky in the on-call room."
Callie laughed, so many things had changed here at the hospital and in her own life, but Mark Sloan always remained the same. She was about to walk away when Mark's next words stopped her in her tracks.
"So, does this mean you and Hahn will be spending Christmas together?" He asked.
Callie thought of telling him to mind his own business but changed her mind. "Yes, that's right." She confirmed before turning around and walking towards the OR.
The next week or so passed with any major events in the hospital or amongst the staff. Of course, with it being the festive period, a few seasonal accidents occurred. The snow that had begun to fall caused problems too but the upcoming holidays put everyone in a better mood than usual. Even Bailey seemed to be happy; the thought of spending her second Christmas with her son cheered her spirits. Callie and Erica had also been making plans for their first Christmas together. After her initial invitation, Callie experienced a period of doubt wondering if she was doing the right thing in asking Erica to come and stay with her. It wasn't just that she was asking a woman; a woman whom she thought she loved, it was that she was worried about how serious they were becoming already. With Mark, their flings had been just that, casual sexual liaisons but with Erica there were real feelings involved and after George she wasn't sure she could take the pain of another bad break up.
"Are you okay baby?" Erica asked softly two days before Christmas Eve as they emptied their lockers at the end of their shifts.
"Huh?" Callie had so been lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Erica had spoken until she rested her hand lightly on her shoulder. "Oh sorry, yeah, I'm fine." She smiled but Erica wasn't quite convinced.
"If you're having second thoughts Cal, I understand. We can call this off, if you want?" She paused. "Our Christmas plans, I mean." She added.
Callie shook her head. "I'm not having second thoughts about Christmas Erica, I'm just worried about us, are we moving too fast?"
Erica reached out and cupped one of Callie's cheeks with her hands, looking directly into her girlfriend's eyes. "Personally no, but if you want to take things slower, we can."
Callie smiled, knowing she shouldn't have worried. "Thank you," She said and Erica dropped her hand. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for people to know yet," She confessed. "It's not that I'm ashamed, it's just that my private life has been made so public here in the past that I don't know if I can take the accusing looks and the gossip again."
Erica wrapped her up in a hug. "It's okay, I understand. Whenever you're ready we'll tell everyone, okay?"
Callie nodded, before resting her head on Erica's shoulder and letting herself melt into the embrace. Finally, they broke apart and gathered their things together.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Erica said as they made their way out of the hospital.
"See you at 7," Callie replied and they hesitated for a while before going their separate ways.
When Callie got home to the apartment she had recently bought she made sure she had everything she and Erica would need to last them through the next few days. She didn't fancy making any last minute trips to the inevitably crowded stores on Christmas Eve. After taking a quick shower and changing into her pyjamas, Callie set about decorating and preparing the food for the next day. She felt a small buzz of excitement in the pit of her stomach as she thought about how great it would be to have Erica here with her over Christmas. The idea had finally sunk in and now her doubts were gone, she could focus on enjoying herself now.
At seven the following evening Callie heard the bell ring and buzzed Erica in. She went to the door to greet Erica, throwing her arms around her girlfriend's neck and kissing her before she'd even had a chance to get inside and put her bags down.
"It's nice to see you too," Erica murmured, her fingers sliding into Callie's long dark hair and pulling her back to her mouth.
Callie finally broke away from the kiss, gasping for air and helping Erica to bring her things inside. Erica rooted about in one bag for a moment before coming out with a bottle of wine and a small gift wrapped package.
"Can I put this under the tree?" She asked, gesturing to the large Christmas tree in the corner of Callie's living room.
"Sure," Callie replied, taking the bottle from Erica. "And thank you, Erica, really." She smiled before going through to the kitchen to pour two generous glasses of wine. When she came back into the room, Erica was perched on one end of the sofa, admiring Callie's decorating handiwork.
"It looks beautiful in here." She compliment, turning to look at Callie. "And you look beautiful too," She added, taking in Callie's figure hugging black dress than exposed a decent amount of cleavage and her long, great legs.
Callie felt herself blush as she handed Erica one of the wine glasses. "Thanks, Erica."
"So, what do you have in store for us tonight, Cal?" She asked, sipping her wine.
"I got some DVDs I thought you might like, but we don't have to watch them." She replied a little shyly.
"It sounds good," Erica replied. "And dinner smells wonderful."
After they had eaten and consumed another large glass of red wine, Callie and Erica moved back to the sofa and began to watch one of the DVDs. As they became engrossed in the movie, Callie's head came to rest on Erica's shoulder and the blonde smiled. She had a feeling that this was going to be a very good Christmas indeed.
"Calliope Torres, are you crying?" Erica demand with a laugh as the movie came to any end. Callie shook her head but let Erica reach out and wipe away the tear that had slid down her cheek with the pad of her thumb. Erica laughed again. "You break and reset bones on a daily basis, yet this movie makes you cry?" She said and Callie laughed now too. Any doubts about inviting Erica to spend Christmas with her had completely disappeared now. She reached out for Erica and pulled the blonde woman closer to her, pressing her lips to Erica's in a sweet but intense kiss. As the kiss deepened and became more heated, Callie pulled Erica up from the sofa by the hand and led her towards the bedroom. She could think of nothing better than waking up on Christmas morning with Erica Hahn in her arms.
"Morning baby, Merry Christmas," Erica smiled, looking up at Callie from where her head rested on her girlfriend's chest.
Callie smiled sleepily as she stroked a strand of Erica's hair. "Merry Christmas Erica,"
She pushed the covers back and reached for her robe; throwing Erica's her way at the same time. "I want to open my presents!" She laughed, knotting the robe at the waist the leading the way to the living room.
Erica followed, laughing behind her. This was definitely the best Christmas she had had in a very long time.
Hope you liked it! And gosh there was no smut! What is the world coming too?! LY! Xx