Author: lilyme
Summary: They had learned new things, explored, and she could say for herself that she had rediscovered some things that she had loved and missed about herself. But now with a vision cleared from the fog of years of disagreements, fighting and pain, she had also gained some new perspective about what else she loved and missed.
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Grey's Anatomy". They were created by Shonda Rhimes and belong to her and the ABC network. No copyright infringement intended!All mistakes are mine.
It could have been awkward.
But they had decided not to let it.
And why should they?
In recent months they were getting along far better than in the years before.
And so the decision had been easily made.
Arizona had managed to get the days around Christmas off and thus had not sent Sofia to New York by herself, but had accompanied her to spend the holidays in the winter-y Big Apple as well.
Of course the little girl was over the moon about it. And even Callie was excited to have her over for a few days.
The brunette had to admit that New York could be a pretty lonely place. Especially since Sofia was staying with Arizona for the year, and also because her and Penny had not worked out the they she had hoped. At some point they had recognized that they were at different places in their lives and had decided to split up and remain friends instead.
But despite the fact that the end of her most recent relationship still saddened her, she was determined to not think about that for now...or the fact that she often found herself missing her life in Seattle. Because the most important factor... factors of her life were with her for Christmas. And there couldn't be a better feeling.
The three of them had decorated the tree together – topped with a Christmas star Sofia had made in school and which luckily had survived the flight from Seattle to New York. And of course they had baked some cookies, visited the tree at Rockefeller Center – where Callie had enjoyed a good falling on her butt in the skating rink, much to Sofia and Arizona's amusement - before heading home to enjoy a delicious home-cooked Christmas Eve meal.
Now it was the morning after, the big day, and most of the presents were unpacked.
Sofia had given her mothers handcrafted paperweights. Which were stones with molten crayon colors decorating them – Arizona's more colorful and flowery, Callie's with a more abstract pattern in fairly darker, not to say badass, tones. Also some bookmarks made out of felt and embroidered with notes saying 'I love my Mom'. Additionally each had been given a little jar of carefully hand-picked pralines.
She in her turn had received a Barbie, equipped with astronaut gear, an 'Operation' game and a kids' anatomy book, because right now she really wanted to be a doctor like her parents. But maybe she would switch back to wanting to be an astronaut when she grew up.
The biggest surprise, however, had been a photo camera the two women had picked out for her via various Skype sessions.
It was easy to handle and also fairly robust should it happen to experience a fall. And it could store up to a thousand pictures.
The first of which were already being made as Sofia walked around the apartment excitedly, capturing everything she could, her favorite being the view of early morning Central Park they had from up here.
Her parents let her be for the time being, they themselves not entirely done with exchanging gifts.
"So, I know you said I shouldn't buy you anything, but you know that's not an option for me," Callie laughed as she retrieved a medium-sized box from its hiding spot in a drawer of her living room dresser and handed it to the blonde. Albeit being a last minute gift, it was no less thoughtful.
The blonde one accepted gift with a cheeky, "I know you wouldn't be able to resist," and opened the proffered item. She soon discovered that it contained a frilly Christmas sweater – in red, of course. Callie had always loved Arizona in red. And Arizona loved frilly, silly sweaters. The brunette remembered her having several of them she used to wear around the house and to the occasional informal party. And she loved this special holiday – well, in most years, anyway.
Accompanying the sweater was a box of Hershey's kisses, because the blonde sweet tooth also had a fondness for those.
"Awww, thank you!" Arizona grinned, holding the sweater to her chest to get an idea how it'd look on her. "I have a feeling I will be wearing this for the remainder of our stay".
"You better, " Callie returned challengingly as her heart warmed at the joy she saw in the blue eyes. That'd be eight more days. It would be a difficult task and she doubted the blonde would really follow through with her announcement. But that was less relevant.
To her it was more important that Arizona completed her Christmas in a way she thought would be lost forever.
She still remembered their first Christmas together. She had worked the night shift on December 24th, which, with so many emergencies coming in had dragged into nearly a double shift to last until early afternoon. Putting a stop to their very mundane plans of Callie coming home on the 25th to wake Arizona and see what their respective Santa Baby had put under the tree for them before the blonde had to be at work at 9 am.
She had informed the blonde of this in an disappointed voice message. Stunned beyond belief when sometime in the early morning hours, just when she had retreated to an on-call room to get a couple of hours of rest, a blonde, dimpled figure with Christmas hat had snuck into said room to lay down beside her. Nothing much had happened, except for soft exchanges of 'Merry Christmas' and 'I love you' before they had managed to catch a little sleep snuggled together before each getting back to work.
In that year they had exchanged their presents on the evening of Christmas Day. But it had been no less special than all the holidays that had followed. And definitely one she wouldn't forget. Because it was spent with the love she would never forget.
"Uh, I hope Sofia hasn't told you anything," Arizona worried and Callie, being consumed by her thoughts, only now realized she had disappeared into the girl's room and now quickly emerged with something held behind her back. "It's nothing special. But I hope you like it," she nodded as she sat down on the couch next to Callie again.
"You shouldn't have...," this one remarked with an amused pout, which was immediately countered by a look that clearly spoke, 'You neither', and opened the box to reveal a beautiful little ensemble of woolen scarf, gloves and a bobble hat. Each item black with dark red trim.
Callie actually used to hate hats of any kind, insisting that her head simply wasn't made for them. But moving to New York had taught her differently. That it was better to have your head and ears covered than to freeze yourself to death. Well, at least that was how Arizona had perceived some pictures she had from Sofia and Callie's first winter in the Big Apple. And Callie - against all odds – could even wear a bobble and still look hardcore.
And overall... "I thought you'd look..."
' Beautiful', 'cute, 'amazing'.
... all of these fit Callie, Arizona wagered. But instead she said, "I thought it'd suit you".
The brunette looked at her, and there was a hint of a smile, albeit sad, to be seen on the full lips. Arizona knew Callie had an idea of what she had intended to say. Even without actually producing her thoughts, the other woman could could still read her. Just like she could her. And so she could not miss Callie's expression or what it might mean.
Was Callie having regrets about what had happened? About how they had ended? About moving across the country to be with a love that sadly hadn't lasted? Was she struggling with the turn her life had taken?
She shouldn't.
Arizona knew she had needed time to heal.
They both had needed that time.
And despite all the falls they both had had since then, it had done them good.
They had learned new things, explored, and Arizona could say for herself that she had rediscovered some things that she had loved and missed about herself. And she was certain Callie had similar experiences.
But now with a vision cleared from the fog of years of disagreements, fighting and pain, Arizona had also gained some new perspective about what else she loved and missed.
And it was Callie.
She could never not want Callie in her life. As more than Sofia's mother and amazing friend.
She hoped someday it could happen.
"It's good to keep you warm in frosty New York".
Maybe not today or in the coming months.
"And, well, Seattle can get pretty cold too, if..."
'If you decide to come back someday', Arizona thought and gave Callie an encouraging smile. She would be ready when Callie was. Welcoming her with open arms and an open heart.
She was not surprised when the brunette, "Thank you," engulfed her in a grateful embrace that was about so much more than just the gift.
It was a promise of someday.
And each knew this time they'd be better.
END