AN: I had mentioned on my tumblr that I had already kinda imagined the baby's name as something other than Sofia like the spoilers have indicated. Don't get me wrong, Sofia is a pretty name and I like it. However, since I could see the scene in my head I decided to just put it down and share it with you lot. This'll be my only Grey's fic so I hope you enjoy :-)
This isn't betaed so any mistakes are mine. If you point them out to me, I'll gladly fix them. Reviews are appreciated too :-)
Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing. All the characters used belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC, etc.
Symbol of Love
The pregnancy itself had been easy. After that initial scare it had been almost entirely too easy. The only hardships had come from the tensions between herself, Arizona, and Mark. Eventually, though, even those kinks had worked themselves out. Everything seemed to just magically fall into place. Of course, she was being punished for that now. She should have known that her luck wouldn't hold out. It never did.
It had been thirteen hours. Thirteen grueling hours. Filled with tears, cursing, and stress. Arizona and Mark had watched, feeling helpless as Callie suffered hour after hour through the delivery. Neither left her side. Even through the yelling and claims of hating Mark, and the bone-crushing grip she had on Arizona's hand. Thirteen hours, and she was exhausted. Finally, just when she felt she couldn't take any more, she was granted her reprieve. The shrill cry of a newborn pierced the air.
"It's a girl," Mark announced from where he had been standing next to Dr. Fields.
"You stole my line," she told him with a mock glare. "I should've known, though, with all the doctors in the room. Well, be useful Dr. Dad and cut the cord."
Mark carefully did as he was told while Callie looked over at Arizona, who was still holding her hand. Tears were streaming down her face. Unbidden, fear immediately settled into Callie's mind. Maybe things really had been too easy, she thought. Afraid of the answer, with a slightly strangled voice she asked, "Arizona, are you okay?"
Arizona nodded and offered up a watery smile. "She's so beautiful, Calliope," she whispered, before leaning over to and giving Callie a sweet kiss. The kiss was interrupted by Lucy.
"Callie, meet your baby," she said, handing over the infant.
Callie smiled down at the little bundle. She was perfection. Ten little fingers, ten little toes, a full head of brown hair, a cute little face, and the Sloan nose. Well, according to Mark anyways. She had to tear her eyes away because she felt as if she could just lie there and stare for an eternity. Mark was on one side of her, Arizona on the other, and they too were smiling down at the baby in awe. This moment was pure perfection. It wasn't meant to last, though. The nurse needed to take the baby for awhile for her newborn tests, but she promised to have her back as soon as possible.
With the distraction of the newborn gone, Callie's fatigue once again hit her full force. Noticing this, Mark made his way towards the door. "Well, looks like it's time for me to go start passing out the cigars. Everyone's been camping out in the lounge, waiting for news. I'll be back in a little while."
Callie's eyes were already closed, but she called out weakly, "Mark."
"Yeah," he answered, coming back to Callie's bedside.
"I'm sorry that I yelled at you, and told you that I hated you."
"It's okay, Torres. I know you didn't mean it, it's not possible for anyone to hate me," he said with a laugh. "Just get some rest. You let me know if you guys need anything, okay Robbins?"
"Of course, thanks Mark," Arizona answered.
With a nod and a smile to Arizona, and a kiss on the forehead for Callie, he was gone. As Callie laid there, with her eyes closed, Arizona just stood there and drank in the sight of her. She was certainly disheveled, and looked exhausted, but Arizona still stared at her as if she were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Repeating Mark's action of kissing her on the forehead, Arizona moved to sit on the couch across the room while Callie got some of the rest that she so desperately deserved.
"Where are you going?" Callie murmured, her eyes fluttering open.
"Just to the couch over there," Arizona answered, patting her hand. "I'm not leaving."
"I would rest a lot better if you laid here next to me."
"Calliope..." she sighed in a slightly disapproving tone.
"Arizona..." Callie answered, mocking her in the same tone. "Come on, just lay here with me for a little bit. Pleeease... I love you..." she whined.
"Fine," Arizona said as she got onto the bed, "but only because I know you're not going to give up, and you really need to rest some."
Sighing contently, Callie snuggled into Arizona. "No, it's really only because you love me."
"That too, now sleep." She commanded. She needn't have answered though, because wrapped up in her arms, Callie had already immediately fallen into a peaceful sleep.
Sometime later the door opened. Arizona hadn't been asleep, so she quickly shushed the nurse who was entering with the sleeping baby. Carefully disentangling herself from Callie's sleeping form, she rose to meet the nurse. Quietly she strode to where the nurse had wheeled the baby's bassinet.
"How did everything go?" she asked in a hushed voice.
"Perfectly, Dr. Robbins. Everything is perfect," the nurse answered.
Releasing the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding, Arizona beamed at the nurse. "Awesome," she whispered, "I knew she would be."
"Should I take the baby back to the nursery since Dr. Torres is resting?"
"No, she'll be fine in here."
The nurse smiled and nodded once at Arizona, and then took her leave. Wheeling the bassinet closer to the couch, Arizona was content to just sit and stare down at the baby. Suddenly, the newborn's eyes opened with a couple of slow blinks. Looking into her eyes, Arizona had the overwhelming urge to grab the baby out of the bassinet. Looking over and seeing that Callie was still sound asleep, she decided to do just that. Cradling the small bundle in her arms, Arizona leaned back onto the couch. The baby looked steadily at her, and she felt her heart swell with love.
"Hey there," she started, talking to the baby. "You are a super mini tiny human. So precious, and so loved already."
The baby continued to look up at her, and Arizona continued her monologue. "Phoenix Marie Torres. I know that seems like a strange name to you now, but you'll grow to love and embrace it. As you get older, people will always ask you if you were named after the city. Or even if you were named after me, seeing as how my name is Arizona, and well, we all know that Phoenix is the capital of Arizona, and..."
The baby yawned at her. "Sorry," she continued, "I ramble sometimes. Anyways, back to your name. You weren't named after the city, or after me. Your name is so much more than that, because you are so much more than that. You are a symbol. I know that's a lot off pressure to put on a mini tiny human, but it's the truth. Like the mythical bird, you symbolize rebirth, and a new beginning, and immortality."
Over on the bed Callie cracked her eyes open just a bit. What she saw melted her heart. Arizona was on the couch, speaking gently to the baby, while Phoenix seemed to be gazing up at her in rapt attention. Not wanting to break this beautiful moment, she decided to feign sleep a little longer. She realized at that moment that she had still been a little worried about how Arizona would take to the baby. Sure everything had seemed like it had worked itself out, but it wasn't until right then that she was one hundred percent sure that it truly had. Arizona was in, completely in, and Callie would never fear otherwise again.
Unbeknownst to her that she now had another audience member, Arizona continued. "You see, you changed everything. You made us all grow up. Me especially. I realized that I needed to let go of all my fears. I love your mama, and I can honestly say that I love your daddy now too. He's a good man, but don't tell him that I like him. It'll be our little secret. You caused the rebirth of Arizona, and I can't speak exactly for your mama and daddy, but I know that after they found out about you they were reborn in a way too. It was tough at first, very tough, but you opened us up our new beginning. We all started fresh. We trusted each other more, loved each other more, and overall just treated each other better. You made us better people. As for the immortality, well, I know that my love for you and your mama, and yes even your daddy, will never end. No matter what, I will love you forever." With that she placed a small kiss on Phoenix's nose.
"Are you speechifying to our baby already?"
Startled, Arizona looked up at the bed. She had been so caught up in her own little bubble with the baby. She wondered how long Callie had been listening because obviously she was wide awake, smiling over at her with unshed tears glistening in her eyes.
"Just having a little discussion," Arizona answered with a blush and a grin as she stood to walk over to Callie. Lowering her voice a little she turned her attention back to the baby. "That's your mama. You're lucky to have her because she is totally awesome."
"No, she's lucky to have two totally awesome mamas, and an amazing rockstar dad," Mark called from the doorway.
"Hey, I'm the rockstar of the family, Sloan," Callie called out.
"Fine," he shrugged, "you can be the rockstar. I guess that means I'll just have to take god-like."
Callie just rolled her eyes, and muttered something under her breath.
Cutting off the banter before they could really get going, Arizona asked, "How long have you been there, Mark?" as she handed the baby over to Callie. She wondered if he too had been listening the whole time.
He shrugged, leaning against the doorjamb, "Not long, I actually have a shift right now so I just wanted to check in on you ladies and see if you needed anything before I started."
"We're good here," Callie responded, "come back on your break so you can spend some time with Phoenix."
"Of course, will do," he said, pushing off of the door to leave. Right before he exited the room completely, though, he turned back. "Oh, and Blondie..."
"Yeah?" Arizona questioned.
"I love you, too," he said with a wink and smirk, and then dashed out into the hall.
"Oh. My. God." Arizona groaned, while Callie laughed.
"Well, you are pretty loveable."
"I am never going to live this one down."
"Just think of how lucky Phoenix is. She has one mom that's awesome, one that's a rockstar, a god-like dad, and they all love each other. It doesn't get much better than that."
"You're right. I love you," Arizona said, bending down to give her a quick kiss.
Before Callie could return the sentiment, Phoenix decided that she had had enough of her parents silliness, and let out a wail.
"Looks like our little princess is hungry," Callie said, quickly positioning her to feed.
While Callie carefully fed Phoenix, Arizona watched from the couch. She sat there just drinking in the magnificent sight of the love of her life and their child. Callie felt her gaze and looked up. Their eyes met and Arizona could see the love pouring out from them. After a moment, Callie returned her attention to the infant. No, Arizona thought as she continued to watch, it definitely does not get any better than this.