Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.

Quick A/N: The Grey's timeline confuses me greatly, so I tweaked it to fit my own purposes. If Sofia was actually born at the end of March and three months went by before she left the hospital, and then let's say at least another few weeks went by before Callie and Arizona got married, the wedding would've been in June or July. After much internal debate as to whether I wanted to change Sofia's birthday or the date of the wedding, I ultimately decided that Callie and Arizona got married in the summer, and Sofia was actually born on March 31. Also, many super-thanks to Jess/Hylen, my beta, who is not only crazy fast but who also just generally wins at life. 3

Part 1
September 2011

"Ugh!" Arizona groaned, flopping onto the couch in the attendings' lounge. "This is the worst day ever!"

Owen Hunt quirked an eyebrow from the coffee maker in the corner. "Rough shift?"

"I got paged here at three yesterday morning and I haven't left yet."

Looking at the clock, Owen saw that it was almost noon. Arizona had been at work for over thirty hours. "Ouch."

Arizona nodded. "The child I was paged here for didn't make it through his surgery."

"I'm sorry," Owen said genuinely, sitting down across from Arizona. Losing patients was never easy; he knew that. Even when you knew there was nothing more you could have done, as a doctor, you still ended up shouldering far more than your share of the responsibility. Owen also knew that Arizona was the type of person who took it personally when she lost a patient. She prided herself on being an excellent doctor and performing miracles. Unlike other surgeons whose patients had at least had a chance to live a little, Arizona's patients were just starting out in life. She took it upon herself to see that those lives would be carried out in full. Add to the equation the fact that she was a relatively new mother and that she was currently functioning on less than the bare minimum of sleep, and Owen knew she had to be hurting. "Anything I can do?"

Arizona sighed. "Can you get me a cup of coffee? I don't think I can get up."

Owen chuckled. He definitely knew what that was like, and he was happy to oblige. He poured another cup of coffee, handed it to Arizona, and sat back down.

"Thanks." Enjoying the warmth in her hands, she blew on the coffee. "Then, if that weren't bad enough, I have an eight-year-old on the transplant list for a new heart and if she doesn't get it soon, she isn't going to make it to her ninth birthday. And of course in order for her to get it, another child has to die, so I can't really feel good about it either way, can I?" Owen could sense that Arizona wasn't looking for him to respond, so he let her keep talking. "I've performed seven surgeries already and I am nowhere near done, and yet I'm so tired I can't even imagine standing up again. And I haven't seen Callie since I got paged, and she has the day off today and gets to play with Sofia all day while I'm stuck here. God, I miss them." She paused to take a sip of coffee. "And this coffee tastes like chalk."

Owen smiled sympathetically. "How much longer are you on?"

"Four hours. I can make it four hours, right? Tell me I can make it four hours."

"You can make it four hours," Owen promised. "You're good for at least two if you hide out in here. And hey, I'm sorry about your kids. But just remember when you get home, you've got a wife and daughter waiting for you. If I'm really lucky, Cristina might make toast."

The mention of Callie and Sofia never failed to make Arizona smile. Six-month-old Sofia filled her heart with joy. She was at the age now when grabbing things – usually people's hair and jewelry – brought her infinite happiness. Arizona also loved the way Sofia's eyes would fix on her whenever she was in the room and would follow her every movement as long as she was around, no matter who was holding her. Even at such a young age, it was clear she recognized Arizona as her mother. While she loved Mark and positively adored Callie, there had been several nights now when Sofia just wouldn't go back to sleep unless Arizona held her.

Sofia was still small for her age and she hadn't reached all of her developmental milestones yet. She wasn't sitting up on her own, crawling, or making any attempts at words. Arizona knew it worried Callie, but she almost didn't care. To her, Sofia was absolutely perfect. If she never spoke a word in her life, Arizona knew she wouldn't love her any less. Sofia knew all of the important things. She gurgled and smiled when she saw any one of her parents. She had a special affinity for grabbing Cristina's hair, and for reasons no one could discern, she greatly enjoyed patting Miranda Bailey's face whenever she got the chance. Maybe she didn't do most of the things other babies her age did, but Arizona could tell that even at six months, Sofia loved more profoundly and more purely than a lot of adults she'd met.

Arizona's reverie was interrupted when her pager went off. Sighing, she forced herself off the couch.

She could make it four more hours.

"Come on, you can do it." Callie sat on the floor of the apartment she and Arizona shared, propped up against the couch with Sofia in her lap, facing her. "Ready? Let's try it again." She removed her hands from Sofia's back, encouraging the baby to sit on her own. Callie reached out to catch her when she started to flop to the left. "Come on, baby. Just sit for ten seconds. Five seconds, even. You can do it." She tried again and sighed as Sofia pitched backwards. Callie picked the baby up and kissed her stomach. "Maybe tomorrow, hmm?"

Sofia gurgled and flailed a hand at Callie's cheek.

"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you didn't just punch me in the face." Callie adored Sofia with everything she had. While she'd been conceived during a dark time in Callie's life, and while the circumstances of her entrance into the world weren't what she'd hoped for by any stretch of the imagination, that baby was the absolute light of Callie's life – followed closely, of course, by Arizona. Callie and Sofia shared a special bond, one she could tell would only strengthen as Sofia got older. Sofia had gotten into the habit of holding her arms out for Callie when she saw her. She responded with smiles to the sound of Callie's voice over the phone. Her favorite place to fall asleep was squarely in the middle of Callie's chest.

So, it was out of love that Callie worried. She desperately wanted Sofia to have a normal life, one that wasn't forever defined by the complications of being born so early. The doctor in Callie knew that it was perfectly normal, expected even, for Sofia to be a couple months behind in her development. She was happy, as healthy now as any other baby, and downright adorable. The doctor in Callie also knew that Sofia was more than likely to catch up eventually. But the mother in her wanted her to catch up now.

Callie kissed Sofia again, on the cheek this time. "We should eat something," she said. "Get your strength up. Build up those sitting muscles."

She was standing in the kitchen waiting for Sofia's bottle to warm up, bouncing the baby in her arms to the rhythm of a song in her head, when Arizona came through the door.

"Hey!" Callie said brightly. "We missed you today. She's still not sitting up, but I think tomorrow maybe –" Callie stopped talking when she saw Arizona's face – tired, drawn, and forlorn, with just a touch of red around her eyes. Callie reached out with the hand that wasn't holding Sofia and laid it on Arizona's arm. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

"I'm fine. Just…" she let out a shuddering breath. "Long couple of days." She turned her attention to Sofia. "Hi, baby girl." Sofia smiled and gurgled, and Arizona managed a small smile of her own.

Callie drew Arizona in for a kiss. "I'm sorry. I love you." She kissed her once on the lips and once on the forehead. "Better?"

"Getting there," Arizona said. She bent down and kissed Sofia's head. "I'm gonna take a shower. I won't be long."

"We'll be here," Callie promised. Once Arizona was out of earshot, she turned to the baby in her arms. "Mommy's sad," she said matter-of-factly. "What are we going to do about that?" Sofia smacked her lips and kicked her feet. "Oh, eating is your answer to everything."

Feeling much more human after her shower, Arizona suddenly couldn't get back to Callie and Sofia fast enough. She slipped into a pair of sweatpants, a tank top, and a pair of hot pink socks. She reached for the place her favorite sweatshirt would normally be, but it wasn't there. Callie must have washed it and not put it back. She bounced into the living room, where Callie sat on the couch, watching Sofia on a blanket on the floor in front of her.

"Callie, have you seen my – whoa!" Callie looked up just as Arizona slipped mid-bounce in her sock feet and fell gracelessly on her backside.

Callie bit back a laugh at the affronted look on Arizona's face and made her way over to where she'd landed. "Oh my god, are you okay?" She hoped she sounded sympathetic.

Arizona was about to answer when they heard it: a giggle, quickly transforming into a deep belly laugh. Sofia, lying on her stomach, was grinning widely and shaking with laughter.

"Sofia, oh my god," Callie whispered, suddenly breathless. "Are you…you're laughing! You've never done that before!" Arizona was too awestruck to get up off the floor, but Callie immediately left Arizona's side and picked Sofia up, peppering her face with kisses. "It was funny when Mommy fell down, huh?"

"Oh, sure," Arizona said. "Laugh at Mommy's expense." But there was no hiding Arizona's smile, lighting up her whole face. She would gladly fall on her ass every day for the rest of her life if it meant she could keep hearing that sound.

Sofia giggled some more as Callie continued kissing her face. It seemed that now that the flood gates had been opened, there'd be no closing them again. Callie gently placed her back down on her blanket on the floor, encouraging her to sit up one more time. For a moment it looked promising, but then Sofia flopped to the side and landed in a heap. She laughed again, a sound like the pealing of a bell coming from deep within her.

Callie gazed reverently at her for another few seconds before turning back to Arizona. "Seriously, are you okay?"

"I definitely am now," she said softly. "Now help your wife up off the floor, would you?" She extended an arm, imploring Callie to pull her up, which she did.

"Now do you see why I'm skeptical about the Heelies?"

"The floor is slippery!" Arizona defended. "Heelies are shoes. They're much safer."

"Right," Callie said. "Sure they are. You know, Sofia's never going to sit up now that she's realized how funny it is when people fall over."

"Don't worry," Arizona said reassuringly, placing a hand on the small of Callie's back. "She'll sit up when she wants to. She can. She will. Right now it's just not on her list of priorities. Look at her. Obviously eating her hand is much more important."

Callie laughed, which in turn encouraged Sofia to remove her hand from her mouth and laugh in response. She put her arm around Arizona's shoulders and hugged her gently. "I'm sorry you had a bad day," she said, kissing her temple.

"Mm," Arizona murmured, leaning into Callie. "It's all better now. Thank you. I love you." She turned to Sofia. "Thank you, baby." Moving away from Callie, Arizona bent down and scooped Sofia into her arms. "Mommy's little cheerer-upper. But don't think I'll be falling on my butt for you every day. That's just for special occasions." She blew a raspberry on the baby's stomach.

Nestled in Arizona's loving arms, Sofia looked up at her, pumped her feet, and laughed.