A/N: I started to write this as a Valentine's Day gift for a friend.
It was supposed to be a one – shot, but some people talked me into continuing it.
Since most people left from the board I was posting it on, left, I decided to put it on here now.
Hope you'll like it.
Comments are very welcome :)
Disclaimer: All Characters belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC.
STAY by Raven
"Today I found out that I'm pregnant. With Mark's baby. How about now?"
Arizona Robbins was sitting on her couch in the living room, eyes closed, fighting the tears.
Callie's reply to her plea for another chance had smashed all her dreams. It was haunting her since her exgirlfriend had told her some weeks ago.
When she had been standing right in front of the latina, who she loved more than anything, telling her that she wanted another chance and that she would never run away again, she had expected a lot.
But she would have never expected was Callie to be pregnant.
The ortho surgeon had been looking at her and her eyes had shown so much.
Fear. Longing. Desperation. Joy. Pride. Hope. And love.
Love for Arizona.
Somehow the peds surgeon had thought she maybe even had seen the hint of forgiveness. The forgiveness she had been hoping, praying, fighting and begging for since her return from Africa.
But things had changed. Had changed within a heartbeat.
'Cause now Arizona Robbins was the one who couldn't forgive.
And although the blonde was aware of the fact that she had bailed out, had left the woman she loved at the airport to jump onto a plane to Africa alone, that they had broken up before Callie had slept with Mark - this was the one thing she would never get over 'cause her biggest nightmare had come true and she didn't know how to deal with it at all.
Arizona had changed her mind about having kids one day. Having kids with Calliope. But never like that. Not with Mark Sloan as the father and for sure not by the latina sleeping with him again. She knew that Callie and the plastic surgeon were the best friends and always would be and she had found a way to deal with it without the green eyed monster in her taking overhand.
It had worked 'cause she had counted on Calliope being able to keep the distance, had trusted in the latina's love for her.
And Mark Sloan had become a friend. A part of Arizona's own family.
So she had tried to give them all the freedom they needed 'cause Arizona knew how important they were for each other, how much they cared for each other and now that was the result.
Callie was pregnant. With Mark's baby.
Calliope Torres was sitting at Joe's, completely lost.
Normally she would drink loads of tequila, but since she was pregnant she couldn't. It was valentine's day and the latina was all alone. Mark and her had a big fight a day ago and actually he was planning some surprise to win Lexie back, Cristina had to work and Arizona was avoiding her since she had told her that she was pregnant.
Although she had been so cold, unapproachable and unforgiving to the blonde after her return, the peds surgeon hadn't given up and had kept fighting for another chance and when Callie was honest she stilled loved Arizona Robbins, no matter what had happened in the past. She simply hadn't found a way to forgive her yet, but deep inside that was exactly what she wanted and more than that Calliope Torres wanted to raise this baby with her.
So the latina had taken every risk by telling the peds surgeon the truth about her pregnancy, hoping that it wouldn't change her opinion about another chance for them, but when she had seen the hurt in Arizona's stunning blue eyes she had known better.
Callie wanted to work things out, wanted to work things out together with Arizona, but she had no idea how or where to start. And in her opinion it was the blonde's own fault that things had taken this way since she had dumped her right at the damn airport.
When somebody stormed into the bar, a furious expression on her face, the latina got pulled out of her thoughts within a second,"Where is he? Where is Mark? He said I should wait for him after my shift, but he never showed up. I waited for almost an hour."
"Lexie!" the latina blurted out in surprise.
The younger sister of Meredith Grey showed her anger, "Callie. Tell me where he is?"
"I don't know," the latina answered truthfully. Mark hadn't told her about his plans. He hadn't told her what he was going to do the first time in what seemed forever and she had been hurt, but what was she supposed to do? She couldn't force him, now could she?
"Sure, as if you wouldn't know where your best friend/manwhore father of your child is..."
"Now hold on. I'm sitting here all by myself as you can see. So why the hell should I know where Mark is?" Callie barked back.
"Aw, poor you. Pregnant and all alone. Really, I'm so sorry for you," Lexie couldn't hide the irony in her voice, not that she wanted to.
"Listen, Lexie. I'm sorry. I never planned on..."
"What, Callie? Having sex with Mark again? Bullshit. On getting pregnant with his child? I don't even believe that. You wanted to adopt his daughter's baby together, remember? You two never think about others, not even about the people you pretend to love so much. Consequences, who cares? When will you ever grow up?" little Grey glared at her expectantly.
"We made a mistake, Mark and I. And I'm sorry for that, but I'm pregnant and now we all need to find a way to deal with it," the latina tried to calm her down.
"Yes, we ALL need to find a way to deal with it. We need to pay for your egoismn. I never had a chance, nobody ever asked me if I would be okay with you two having a baby. And Arizona...well, I for sure won't trust you anymore...or Mark. And I bet she can't either. Which bring's your both' hopes for another chance to ZERO," Lexie gave her an intense look, "Z.E.R.O. You understand?"
That said Lexie turned round and left a somehow shocked latina at Joe's, hurring over to the hospital, even more furious than before.
Meanwhile Arizona Robbins was switching through the TV channels anxiously. She had avoided the whole valentine's topic all the time, but now it hit her even worse.
Getting herself some ice cream out of the freezer, wrapping herself into a blanket, the blonde snuggled up on the couch again and kept on zapping.
Since there was nothing, but romance stuff on TV she decided to watch 'The holiday' to cover the unbearable silence.
"Low point. Low point."
A frustrated Kate Winslet slapped herself on screen.
The usually perky peds surgeon looked down on herself, ice cream in one hand, spoon in the other, cigarettes on the couch table right in front of her.
'Yeah. Low point here as well.'
Arizona had planned on spending this year's valentine's day together with Calliope, but instead she was smoking and eating out of frustration all the time, drowning in self - pity.
That definitely was her low point.
Callie Torres was close to ordering some tequila when all of a sudden somebody touched her shoulder to hold her back, "Don't you dare, Callie! Don't you dare..."
By turning around, a little frightened, the latina stared right into the eyes of a very familiar person, and got up immediately to give her a heartfelt hug, "Addison! What the hell are you doing here?"
"Me? What the hell are YOU doing here?"
"What do you think I'm doing? I'm celebrating valentine's day..." the latina snorted.
"You look lonely, Callie. I'd even go so far to say broken," Addison Montgomery stated, looking worried, "I thought I'll find you all happy and at home, enjoying your pregnancy, but no. You're sitting here all alone, thinking about getting wasted," she continued looking Callie straight in the eyes, "Sweety, what's wrong?"
"Why are you here, Addison?"
"Well, I thought it would be a nice surprise to visit my best friend since it's valentine's day..." the red haired woman shrugged a little helpless.
Callie gave her a small smile, "It's good to see you, really."
"Good to see you too, but now tell me why you're sitting here all by yourself? What's going on, Callie?"
For a while the latina refused to say a word, but after a while and countless questioning and alarming looks of Addison Montgomery she finally gave in and keeping quiet simply became exhausting, "It's all one big mess. Arizona isn't talking to me anymore, Mark and Lexie are done as well I guess. And Mark and me...well, it's complicated 'cause he has been around 24/7 lately, trying to tell me what to do and everything," Callie took a deep breath before she continued, "He's so overprotective and he told me about all his plans for our baby, what school he wants to send it later and he drove me totally crazy. We ended up in a big fight 'cause I don't want all this. I mean it's great that he wants to be a good dad, but I wanted to raise this baby with Arizona, you know? Sure he can see the child and I thought about asking for his opinion in the big decisions like school and everything, but he doesn't give me air to breathe. And if Arizona will ever come back his behavior will cause a lot more trouble."
"I see. So what's with your little Miss Perky?" Addison wanted to know.
"She begged me to give her another chance and that she knows she always runs away. She said it probably was 'cause she grew up as an army kid and had to move a lot and everything. I get that, but I thought for another chance we need to tell each other the truth. So I told her that Mark and I are going to have a baby. That was the last time she has talked to me," the latina sat there, slouching.
"You just told her that you are pregnant with Mark's baby...out of the blue?"
"Yeah, kind of..." Callie mumbled.
"Have you completely lost your mind?" Addison stared at her in disbelief.
Arizona was still watching 'The Holiday' and she was crying 'cause she didn't know what to do anymore.
Calliope was pregnant. With Mark's baby.
But her thoughts had taken a different direction than before.
What if Callie already had a baby with Mark when she had gotten to know her? Sure, she would have had a chance to make a decision whether to get herself into that or not. But she would have needed to find a way to deal with it none-the-less, simply because the peds surgeon knew she wouldn't have backed down. She had been so fascinated by the beautiful latina from the first second she had ever laid eyes on her. She would have gone for it anyway. And Arizona realized something else.
She still loved Calliope Torres. More than anything.
And she wanted to be with her, she wanted to be with her and have kids with her. But Mark's baby? Would that go well?
Callie hadn't cheated on her, but somehow it felt like it though. Arizona had always been afraid that she wouldn't be enough for the ortho surgeon and in the end it seemed to be true.
Was it possible to have a relationship with the latina and raise a child together when Mark Sloan was around? 'Cause the blonde was very aware that Callie's best friend would never be satisfied with seeing the baby once in a while without having anything to say.
There was so much doubt, so much fear in the perky blone's life at the moment, but she had realized that she simply couldn't leave Calliope. Her Calliope.
She wanted to be with her, no matter what. She had begged for another chance 'cause that was all she wanted, the reason she had come back. Sure, things had changed, Calliope was pregnant, but they still loved each other.
Should it really end like that?
Arizona decided that she would talk to the latina the next day although she wasn't sure how to survive the night. Patience was not her strong skill at the moment.
But clearly she couldn't talk to her now 'cause she was a complete mess and Calliope for sure was having a great valentine's day with her friends or at least with Mark. No way she would ruin that.
Snuggling deeper into her blanket the blonde tried to get some sleep.
"On which side are you?" the latina barked again.
"Cal, I'm on nobody's side, but I can understand Arizona. I really do. You told me yourself that she was so afraid that you would fall in love with somebody else one day 'cause you like a lot of people.
And I know you never wanted to leave Seattle. I bet you didn't treat her that well 'cause you are so damn stubborn. Not to forget about your pride. You should have gotten onto a plane to Africa to show her that you love her, that you support her, that you can put her first for once, or should have fought to get her back at least, but what did you do? Out of your wounded pride? Jump into bed with Mark and get pregnant," Addison gave her a very serious look, "She came back. She gave up her dream and she came back. Arizona came back for you. And she fought for another changed, she forget about her own pride and begged you to don't give up on her. And what did you do? You told her you are going to have Mark's baby. God, Callie? Are you even aware of the fact that you screwed up. And I mean really screwed up," Callie's best friend countered admonishingly and since the latina didn't say anything in reply, Addison continued, "Arizona has always been there for you. Always. You know that yourself. She fought for you and your love from the beginning and the one time you should have shown that you can fight for her as well you got pregnant with your best friend's baby instead. Why should she forgive you? Tell me one reason, Callie. Have you ever taken the time to get to know her? Why she is how she is? Why she didn't want to have kids? Her past might have been a lot more difficult than you think. Don't get me wrong now 'cause I love you. You are my best friend. But you can be very egoistic. And virtuous."
For a while Callie Torres didn't say a word, but when she finally broke the silence it wasn't the blow up Addison Montgomery had expected.
"Thank you. I guess I needed that, Addison. You are right. I don't know a lot about Arizona, but what I know is that I love her. That she is the one for me and that I want to raise my baby with her. It's going to take a lot of talking and discussions, but I'll fight for it. And I need to talk to Mark. But first of all I need to get Arizona back," the latina stated, determinded to fight.
"Let me talk to Mark. I'll try to make him see things a little easier, okay?" Addison suggested.
"You're the best, Addison Montgomery!" Callie hugged her best friend tight.
"And now go and get your girl!" the red haired woman laughed.
"Already gone. Thank you, Addison. Really. Meet me for breakfast tomorrow?" the ortho surgeon asked over her shoulder.
"Sure thing. Let's say around 10 at your place?"
"Yeah. Happy Valentine's day!"
"Happy Valentine's day, Callie..."
Of course she couldn't sleep.
Arizona had spent the nights on the couch since her return from Africa 'cause she simply couldn't sleep in that huge bed alone, but tonight she wasn't even able to fall asleep on the couch.
Watching TV was no option anymore 'cause she wouldn't survive any more romantic movies or more sugar, so the blonde turned on the radio.
Whitney Houston's 'I will always love you' came out of the loudspeakers which caused a heavy sigh from the peds surgeon.
Of course it was all love songs on the radio. What had she expected? It was freaking valentine's day.
Followed by Mariah Carey's 'Hero' and Kelly Clarkson's 'A moment like this' Arizona decided to switch off the radio 'cause she felt even worse than before when she recognized the beginning of a song she didn't know yet.
Well, she hardly ever had time to listen to the radio or watch TV so it wasn't that big of a surprise.
'To tell you how I feel
And though I tried to tell you that I need you
Here I am without you
I feel so lost but what can I do?
'Cause I know this love seems real
But I don't know how to feel
We say goodbye in the pouring rain
And I break down as you walk away
Stay, stay'
Calliope.
'Cause all my life I've felt this way
But I could never find the words to say
Stay, stay'
Why on earth did she leave the latina right at the airport? 'Cause the only thing she had wanted from the very beginning had been to be with her.
'Alright, everything is alright
Since you came along
And before you
I had nowhere to run to
Nothing to hold on to
I came so close to giving it up
And I wonder if you know
How it feels to let you go?
We say goodbye in the pouring rain
And I break down as you walk away
Stay, stay'
Why did she run away? Why did she let Calliope go when all she would have needed to do would have been to say "Stay?"
'So you change your mind
And say you're mine
Don't leave tonight
Stay
We say goodbye in the pouring rain
And I break down as you walk away
Stay, stay
'Cause all my life I felt this way
But I could never find the words to say
Stay, stay
Stay with me, stay with me,
Stay with me, stay with me,
Stay, stay, stay, stay with me'
Was there a chance for them both or was it time to finally let go?
But deep inside her heart Arizona Robbins knew that she would never be able to let Calliope Torres go. She had never loved anybody like that before. They were meant to be together. That was what the blonde believed in, what had given her hope and the power to go on all this weeks.
Tomorrow would be a new day and then she would definitely talk to Callie and she wouldn't run anymore. Never again.
An unexpected knock on the door had Arizona out of her thoughts within a heartbeat.
It was past 11 pm.
Who on earth could that be?
Turning off the radio she hurried over to the door and opened it quickly just to meet the latina's warm brown eyes.
"Calliope!"
"Hey...uhm...can we talk for a second?" the latina asked immediately.
"Sure. What's wrong?" Arizona was all worried within a second.
Callie seemed to be a little insecure, "Nothing. I just. I wanted to apologize, okay?
All Arizona could do was nod.
"I know we had different plans for the next few years and although I wanted a baby I hadn't planned to have one right now. It's not like you left and I was all 'let's get pregnant'. I was so shocked when you got onto that plane alone, I couldn't even think."
"But you could have gotten onto a plane yourself..." the blonde countered harsher than intended.
"I could have done that and to be honest I don't know why I didn't. Me and my stupid pride. And then Teddy said you had called, but hadn't asked about me. I was so hurt that day and well...it simply happened. Mark was there and he was feeling bad and I was feeling bad...whatever. Afterwards, I felt even worse 'cause I had been thinking about you the whole time. I had never expected things to happen that way. But you ran away again and now it's all one big mess. Mark, Lexie...and you came back out of the blue. I simply wasn't able to cope with it. And then I found out about the baby.
So I can't just say 'Okay, let's get back together 'til you bail out the next time' 'cause it's not just about me anymore. It's about me and the baby. And to be honest. I don't know if I would survive it a third time," the latina stood there, all helpless, fragile even.
"I ran away, Callie. That's true. But you ever thought about why? You know I had my trust issues and then I gave up everything and came back, begging for a chance. I wasn't gone for that long, but you had nothing better to do than to have sex with Mark. You two never thought about consequences, neither you nor Mark. We weren't together when it happened I know. We even had talked about having kids one day, but we never talked about Mark being the father 'cause I would have never agreed to that. And you know why? Because he is your best friend and he wants to be a father so bad. It would never be our baby, it would always be yours. I can imagine that Lexie is mad as hell. I am too. Nobody ever asked us if we would be okay with it. We never had a chance to make a decision for our own. You say you love me as Mark loves Lexie and you want us to believe that and trust you and we should be okay with the whole baby situation and sit there and watch the happens if we fight again 'cause we will fight. Every couple fights at times. Who guarantees me that you don't run back to that manwhore and end up in bed with him again?" when Arizona finished her speech her eyes were sparkling furiously.
"And who guarantees me that you won't run off again?" Callie countered.
"See. That's the problem. We can't trust each other anymore," the peds surgeon stated simply.
"You are right. Well, that makes a new chance pointless I guess. Sorry for disturbing you. Good night, Arizona," and before the blonde could even react Callie was already down the hallway.
When it hit the peds surgeon what had happened a few seconds ago her brain finally kicked in and before she knew it she had put some shoes on and was already running after the latina. Not even a minute later she was standing on the street, wearing nothing but sweatpants and some t-shirt. Looking around she saw the latina walking down the street slowly.
"Calliope! Wait!" Arizona screamed as loud as she could. Hurrying over the blonde stopped right in front of the ortho surgeon.
"Calliope...I'm sorry. Please don't go," the peds surgeon said, her voice begging.
"It's okay. I got your point. Maybe it's better this way," the latina replied with a shrug.
"No. Listen, Calliope. I know I made some big mistakes and so did you. I'm aware that we have a lot to talk about and that we need to earn each other's trust again, but I love you. More than anything. And I want to raise this baby with you. Our baby," she looked at the latina, an expecting expression on her face, "Please stay. Stay with me."
The latina wasn't able to say a word, but she took Arizona's hand and they both returned to the blonde's appartment to take a seat on the couch in the living room.
Arizona couldn't stop herself from snuggling up to the latina under the blanket, Callie holding the peds surgeon close protectively and right then the blonde couldn't hold the tears back anymore.
Sitting there like that for a while, Arizona was finally able to cry her soul out and let go of the pain, the disappointment and when she finally felt better she started to kiss the latina passionately.
"I know we have a lot to talk about, but can we forget about that for tonight? Just tonight?" stunning blue eyes looked at the latina.
"I love you, Arizona Robbins."
"I love you too, Calliope."
Sealing their reunion with a long and intense kiss, the latina smiled at the woman who held her heart since their first meeting gratefully, "Happy Valentine's day."