It happened one day.
Callie snuggled deeper into the covers of her bed and smiled contently to herself. The bed was perfectly soft, the blankets were perfectly warm, and her body was perfectly relaxed. It also didn't hurt that there was a perfect, dimpled, blonde lying next to her. Smiling just a little more, Callie stretched her arm behind her, searching for her girlfriend. Her hand came back empty.
Just as she was about to open her eyes and grumble curses at the world, she felt the weight shift on the bed, indicating someone had joined her. Her smile sprung back onto her sleep consumed face, at least, until she heard the very unwelcome words, coming from the very welcome lips.
"Calliope, babe, it's time to get up," Arizona sang sweetly into her ear, placing a light kiss below her jaw.
That smile slunk away, defeated. "No."
Arizona grinned, "Yes. You have surgery in an hour."
"No. No surgery today. Just you and me in this bed." With that, Callie reached behind her, clasped Arizona's wrist, pulled her down beside her and looped Arizona's arm around her own waist.
Arizona leaned over, found Callie's lips, and kissed her softly. "And, what would happen to those people that need you or I to help them, if we spend all day in bed?" She added when she pulled back.
"Mmm…all day in bed…" Callie mumbled, dreamily, as she started kissing Arizona again.
After several minutes of making out, Arizona reluctantly retreated. "Okay, I see your point, but, really, you're going to be late." She giggled as Callie pouted at her.
"But, I like what we were doing better," Callie whined, "Wait…I'm going to be late? What time do you have to be in?"
"Not for another couple of hours."
"Then, what are you doing awake? Only freaks get up this early when they don't have to." Callie smirked as if she had just made the most brilliant point.
"If I didn't get up early, I couldn't have made you pancakes and coffee, and still had time to come in here and give you a proper good morning," Arizona winked as she skipped out the door.
Callie groaned at the loss, but yelled after her as she slid out of bed, "Why didn't you say so in the first place?"
After a routine shower, Callie shuffled into the kitchen and was greeted with a sight that made her stomach flutter, just a little. There was a elegant stack of pancakes (yes, when you are starving and love pancakes, pancakes can be elegant), a wonderful smelling cup of coffee, and a beautiful woman wearing a fluffy, pale green robe. Callie couldn't remember the last time she had felt so comfortable, happy, or right. The vision of Arizona so seemingly at ease in Callie's world, made Callie unexpectedly joyful.
As Arizona fiddled around the kitchen, she paused, taking in Callie's dazed and satisfied look, "Callie, are you okay?"
Blinking, Callie grinned, "Yeah, I'm good." Still slightly hazy, she plopped down in the chair and took a huge bite of pancakes. That's when the morning comfort smile reappeared. Callie swallowed and licked her lips, "God, I love you."
And…the smile made another, faster, exit.
Arizona had been retrieving the cream from the refrigerator, but froze with her hand outstretched.
Callie had been elevating another forkful of delicious food toward her mouth, but froze with her mouth agape and fork hovering.
Both stayed motionless for what probably wasn't more than a few seconds, but felt much longer. Arizona moved first. She slowly straightened and turned on a heel to face the table, where Callie still acted as a statue. With a quizzical expression, she was able to utter, "Uh…was that to me or the pancakes?" Arizona managed the sentence with only two vocal wavers.
Callie hesitantly laid down her fork, "Um…well, you know how much pancakes mean to me," and upon seeing Arizona's furrowed brow, added, "but…that was to you."
Arizona's bright blue eyes sparkled, but she wouldn't quite allow herself to smile just yet. "Did you mean to say it?" Her voice was quiet.
Both caught their breath, both unsure of how Callie was going to answer. "Uh, no," Callie paused, "But, I meant what I said." It took Callie several seconds of staring down the table, before she dared look up into her eyes.
Arizona slowly grinned, her dimples adding an element of child-like glee, "Good, that was the answer I was hoping for." She quickly bent down, cupped her face and kissed her passionately, then walked around the table to take her seat across from Callie.
They talked lightly as they ate, discussing a couple articles in the paper, what surgeries they had scheduled for the day, even a few amusing anecdotes provided by colleagues. Even as the conversation flowed easily, Callie grew more and more anxious, confused by Arizona, and by her own feelings. She knew that she truly loved her, but it was a very new realization. And, she wasn't sure what to make of Arizona's reaction.
When they finished their meal, Callie brushed her teeth and put on her coat. She didn't know if she needed Arizona to say it back, she was fairly certain that Arizona loved her. But, she started to feel just a little insecure. As she grabbed her keys, Arizona walked up behind her.
"Oh, Calliope?"
Callie turned to face her.
"I love you, too." She stated it not as a grand declaration, but as a fact, much like stating that she disliked peas. In fact, had it not been for the dazzling smile that followed, Callie might have written it off as a polite reciprocation, rather than a genuine admission of love.
Callie smiled warmly as she grasped Arizona's waist, pulling her against her body, and whispered triumphantly, "I knew it." Callie kissed her slowly and deeply, savoring the feeling that accompanies the first utterance of those powerful three words. As Arizona tightened her arms around Callie's neck, Callie snaked her arms under the fluffy robe to rub gentle circles on her back. Slowly, she moved her hands down to Arizona's ass, kneading it enticingly. When she heard Arizona's low moan, she moved her mouth from her lips down to her neck, and nibbled. After a few seconds of that, Arizona whimpered, which Callie responded to by announcing she had to go.
"Seriously?" Arizona exclaimed in a breathless whine that was colored with the husky tone of arousal.
Callie laughed, amused by how cute she was when she was turned on and pouting. Just before she closed the door, she looked back with an arched eyebrow and devilish grin, "That's for making me wait so long to hear you say it."
The smile from the first moments of the morning returned, and this time Arizona wore one to match.