Summary: Callie and Arizona's Spain wedding! Part 5 of the Muddy Buddy World.
Disclaimer: See previouse stories... because copy/paste isn't working.
AN: So… after a great and many requests, we decided to alter our timeline marginally and write the Calzona wedding for your reading pleasure! I do apologize for the time that it took, but hopefully it will all be worth it!
"So," Callie stands by her patient's bed after running through the post op instructions. "If you have any more questions after tonight, tell the nurse and she'll page someone from ortho to answer them."
"You won't be here, Dr. T?" The twenty-something in the bed had been flirting with Callie since the moment he first entered the ER and was declared a surgical case. Callie had taken it all in stride, knowing that he was joking.
"Afraid not, Sam, I leave for Spain first thing tomorrow morning for two weeks, and then I'll be out and spending time with some family for another couple days after that. I'll be back in for your one month post-op check up though."
"Spain? Sounds exciting," Sam's mother speaks up from her post next to her son. "Been planning this trip for long?"
"My mother has spent every spare minute planning it since Memorial Day."
"Why would you have your mother plan your vacation?"
"Because I work 100 hours a week, and my mother is a party planner, so who better to plan my wedding?"
"Wedding?" Sam fakes a crushed look. "And here I thought you and I were going to run away together, Dr. T."
"Sorry, Sam, but you're really not my type, even if you weren't 15 years younger than me." She grins broadly at the young man in the bed, handing the chart off to a resident before exiting the room.
"Now that's a crazy-happy face for someone that is about to sign her life away."
"I'm getting married, Mark!"
"Also known as the last legal form of slavery," the plastic surgeon continues to tease his best friend while she makes her way towards her next patient. She hasn't had any new patients this week, but does need to make certain that all the residents are squared away on all her current patients before she leaves the hospital tonight.
"This will be you and Little Grey one of these days." She teases him. The two had gotten back together just before the current intern class had started and they were stronger than ever. According to Mark, the two had sat down and spent a weekend talking through all the issues that had led to their break up and all the fights that had ensued and were now stronger than ever.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… listen, you speak Greek, right?"
"And that's got to be the craziest segue way you've ever made."
"Sorry, I've got a patient in the pit that doesn't speak English-,"
"So you presume that out of the thousand known languages on this planet, she speaks Greek. Please, tell me how you came to that conclusion."
"The last name is Zervakos… that sounds a tad Greek to me… plus I've heard you speaking with your grandmother once or twice these last few months and I did manage to recognize a few words. Speaking of the original Calliope… I can't wait to meet her." Ever since the pair had returned to Seattle in June, Arizona had plenty to say about the elder woman that had given Callie her name. In Arizona's words, the two Calliopes are 'two peas in a pod'; despite one of them nearing her centennial, she is entirely capable of keeping up with her granddaughter.
Entering the pit, Mark steers Callie toward the curtained area housing the burn victim he was tending to earlier. Pulling the curtain back, he sees that his patient is now conversing with an older woman that wasn't there previously. Callie immediately recognizes her grandmother, though stays silent toward Mark, jumping into the conversation with the two women, immediately letting her grandmother know to not reveal their relationship to Mark. She reaches for the other woman's hands, noticing the second degree burns covering her palms and the back of one hand, asking the woman a few quick questions before turning to Mark with the answers.
"She said she was cooking dinner – or attempting to, apparently her daughter is marrying an Italian and she was attempting a pasta dish for him, since it would be the first time she meets him. So, it's a hot water burn." The woman speaks up and whatever she says causes Callie to burst out laughing. As soon as she's calmed down, she looks to Mark, and bursts out laughing again. Her grandmother shares a soft chuckle with her while she calms down and turns then turns toward the patient, quietly reassuring her. Callie pulls Mark to the side while her grandmother spends a moment more with the woman.
"No allergies, just try and keep your tone soothing; just because she can't understand your words, doesn't mean she won't understand your tone."
"Right. And what did the three of you say that had you laughing so hard?" Callie smiles mysteriously, not answering him, when her grandmother walks up to the duo, speaking to Callie in her native Greek. Once again, Mark is left in the dark while Callie chuckles at whatever was said by the older woman and his best friend's response. Finally, Callie turns toward her best friend for the introductions.
"This is Mark Sloan, he's our head of plastic surgery, and my best friend; Mark, this is my grandmother, Calliope." Excitement briefly shows on Mark's face at the introduction, but it's quickly replaced by worry, horror, and fear. He knows how close Callie is to her grandmother and knows that she tells the older woman everything. She was one of the few people that continued to speak to Callie during the period when the rest of her family was giving her the silent treatment. Knowing that, knowing that the older woman standing in front of him knows just about everything about him has him more than slightly worried. The fear comes from something else entirely… the fear in his eyes is because he now knows what Arizona was talking about when comparing the two women earlier in the summer… the two women really do have that similar twinkle in their identical brown gaze. Mark knows just what can happen when Callie gets that twinkle in her eye, he's terrified to know what it might mean when the original Calliope gets that same twinkle… and what it could mean with the two of them together with that twinkle in their eyes.
Oh the horrors that could occur! Mark thought to himself as the two women exited the room on the return trip to the surgical floor.
"And why is everything here?" Calliope motions to the two portable hang bars taking up space in the corner of the ground floor guest room she's been assigned. One of the hang bars has four dresses that she recognizes as the ones the female attendants will be wearing while the second holds the four suits that the male attendants will be wearing. The dresses for the brides are being kept at Erin's so neither woman is tempted to sneak a peek before the big day.
"There was a minor issue with dress whites the week of Matt's wedding, so Arizona wants to keep everything here and transport it to the airport herself, rather than rely on everyone to bring it themselves." Her grandmother merely arches an eyebrow at her vague explanation and Callie sighs, further explaining the story while she finishes changing the sheets on the bed. "Apparently – and this is all second hand to me – there was a mix up with the dry cleaners and Matt's dress whites were sent home with a male stripper while he got said strippers biker costume. He wound up getting arrested the night before his wedding in his attempts to retrieve his uniform. Arizona and I had to bail Matt, Jamie and two of his groomsmen out of jail less than 12 hours before his wedding." By now, the two women are laughing at Matt's misfortune.
"I'm sorry that you have to share your room with the clothes, but it was the only place we had to put everything." Calliope waves off her granddaughter's explanation with the flick of her wrist.
"It's perfectly fine, Callie, don't worry the slightest." She moves to examine the outfits, as she's only been privy to the color schemes, and nothing else. Each clothing hanger is tagged with the name of each attendant and hanging next to the clothes are separate bags holding shoes and jewelry. The men have each been measured and fitted for cream-colored Irish linen suits with white linen shirts. Carlos refused to have any wedding photos with men wearing sandals, so he supplied the appropriate footwear, knowing full well that they would only be worn for the formal photos, and then they would be swapped out for sandals, or even bare feet for the ceremony and reception.
The women will be wearing knee-length silk chiffon in a Sophia cut in varying shades of blue. Erin insisted on a darker navy blue, with the hope that it would help hide her 7 month pregnant belly a little; Aria will be in vintage blue, dark enough to go with her complexion, but not as dark as Erin's; Addison fell in love with the bright blue of the tropical aqua; and Mac decided on the blue sapphire – not quite as sunglasses inducing bright of Addison's, but still brighter than the other two. All the women will be in low white wedge sandals for the photos while sticking to bare feet or flip flops for the ceremony and reception.
The single strand of seed pearls for the women and the platinum cuff links for the men would be doubling as their gifts from Callie and Arizona, while the moms had stepped in and arranged for the women to receive matching earrings and bracelets for the ceremony.
Hanging on the end of the rack holding the women's dresses are two other hangers, holding a dress and suit in miniature. Arizona had immediately suggested and asked the young Sophia Torres to step up as the flower girl; she would be wearing the same dress style as the older attendants, but hers would be a much lighter blue, more of a dusty shale color. Sophia's younger brother, Justin, would be escorting her down the aisle in a miniature version of the suit the men would be wearing. He refused to be seen carrying a lacey pillow with the rings and most of the women were worried that the six year old would lose the rings, so rather than have the title and job of ring bearer, he would merely be his sister's escort.
Calliope takes a seat on the bed, motioning for Callie to join her, who does so eagerly, making herself comfortable on the bed lying down with her head in the older woman's lap.
"So, what kind of flowers will there be?" She knows of her granddaughter's tendency to stress out over things and knows that keeping her talking about all the details will help keep her calm.
"The men will be wearing tiny bunches of lavender, I'll be carrying a bouquet of lavender and lily of the valley, while Arizona will be carrying orchids."
"It sounds beautiful dear. You both are very lucky to have found each other."
"You don't have to remind me of that, yia-yia. I thank the stars every day that I've found her."
"Have the two of you discussed children anymore?" She was one of the few people that Callie had spoken with about Arizona's previous fear of children, but since the two had gotten back together, all that Callie had said was that they'd gotten past that and had agreed to one day start a family.
"We've got an appointment right after we return from Spain with a fertility specialist."
"You've already selected a doctor?"
"Addison? She's one of my bridesmaids, you'll meet her later… her best friend in LA is one of the best, so we'll be using her."
Further conversation is halted by the sound of the front door opening and the sound of Arizona calling through the house. Callie lets her know where they are and seconds later, the blonde enters the room and joins the pair on the bed at Calliope's insistence. The talk shifts to the antics of their friends at work while they wait for everyone else to arrive.