A/N: I have found that I need to reiterate my disclaimer that I added to my stories when I first started writing this pairing - if you don't want to read an Alex/Arizona story then please stop reading now and use the back button on your browser. I have no problem receiving negative feedback but at least be critical of my writing, not just the fact that you dislike what I write.
For those of you that are still reading, I thank you and hope that you enjoy! I know many of you have been waiting for this story for awhile!
Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.
...
Arizona was surprised to wake up to her alarm clock going off, signaling that it was time to get up for work. She rarely woke up to the alarm clock anymore. She had a different alarm that woke her up most days; it was in the form of her infant daughter. But Arizona kept the regular alarm set just in case a miracle happened and Abby didn't wake her up an hour before she needed to be out of bed. The infant was very much a morning person and hated to sleep past six in the morning. The baby girl had no concept of sleeping in or days off, which was quite annoying for her parents who often worked late and overnight shifts. But, early morning wakes up were a part of being a parent. While Arizona loved her sleep, waking up to seeing her daughter smiling up at her from the crib was an acceptable reason to get up early and she adjusted to the early morning wake up cries - but that didn't mean that she had to like them.
Arizona rolled over in bed when the alarm started buzzing and turned it off before rolling back and pulling the comforter tighter around her body. While she was surprised that her daughter had let her sleep in, she wasn't going to turn away the gift. Arizona figured she could get a few more minutes of rest before having to get up and face the day. It was as she was nestling her head back into the pillows that she heard soft voices coming from the kitchen. A year ago she would have freaked out that someone had broken in but she had gotten used to waking up to another person in her home. Alex would often take the stairs two flights down from his condo to join them for breakfast. Realizing that Alex must have been the reason for her extra hour of sleep, she decided that she could forego the five extra minutes of sleep she was trying to get and join them in the kitchen.
The soft whispers got louder as Arizona exited her bedroom. She could hear Alex going over each step he was doing as he made breakfast.
"Look! Mama's up!" Alex whispered into his daughter's ear as he held her in one arm while he worked on cooking breakfast with the other.
Arizona smiled when she saw walked into the kitchen and saw her daughter in her father's arms. Seeing Abby always knocked the grumpy morning blues out of her and made her happy - even more so because of what day it was.
"Happy birthday, Sweetheart," Arizona cooed as she made her way around the breakfast bar and scooped Abby out of her father's grasp. She was welcomed with a slurry of babbling including something that sounded like mama and hello from her daughter as she gave the baby her good morning kisses. Once she was done saying good morning to her daughter she turned her attention to the man behind the stove. She leaned up to give him a soft good morning kiss on the cheek, "And good morning to you, Alex. How long have you been here?"
"About an hour and a half. I wanted to intercept her before she woke you up," Alex finished scrambling the eggs and put them on a plate. He turned away from the stove and toward Arizona and tugged on Abby's pajama clad foot, tickling the bottom of her toes causing a belly laugh from the little girl. "We wanted to give you the gift of some extra sleep today."
"A gift for me?" Arizona acted shocked at the baby who was happily chewing on her own first but gave Arizona a toothy grin when she saw her mama smiling at her. "Thank you for giving me a gift on your special day, Abbs."
Alex grabbed the plate full of eggs and pancakes and made his way toward the table that he had already set for breakfast. "Well, you did go through ten hours of labor to get her here." Alex took Abby from Arizona's hands and placed her in her high chair, "The least we could do for you today is give you an extra hour of sleep, right, Ladybug?"
Arizona leaned over to kiss Abby's chubby cheek, "Well thank you for that, Miss Abby. That extra hour felt heavenly."
Having a family breakfast was a relatively common occurrence in both of their homes. Depending on which day of the week it was and where Abby was spending the night, the parent that didn't have custody the night before would often show up for breakfast in the morning. It was a nice time for Alex and Arizona to talk about what had happened the day before with their daughter and if there was anything coming up that day that needed to be discussed. Plus, they liked to do things as a family. They were a non-traditional family but still a family and Alex and Arizona wanted Abby to know that. But this family breakfast was special because it was Abby's very first birthday.
After all the pancakes and eggs were gone, Arizona stood and started to collect the dirty plates from the table. "Time for a cupcake!" Arizona exclaimed as she finished clearing the plates and headed for the kitchen.
Arizona returned a few moments later with a chocolate cupcake decorated like a ladybug (after one of Abby's many bug nicknames provided to her by her father) with one candle stuck in the middle.
"You know it's pretty crazy that for growing up so completely different, we have the same birthday tradition," Alex commented as he grabbed a camera to capture the moment.
When they first started planning for Abby's birthday, both were shocked that they shared the same tradition growing up - eating birthday cake for breakfast. Alex thought he was going to have to fight Arizona to get her to let him feed their daughter cake for breakfast. Arizona was all about the health foods so he was sure that cake for breakfast would never fly with his baby's mother. But, as it turns out, Arizona also grew up eating cake for breakfast on her birthday.
"I know," Arizona agreed as she placed the cupcake on the tray of Abby's high chair. "It was the only time The Colonel let us eat dessert without cleaning our plates first."
After a quick family picture with the help of a tripod and self timer, Alex and Arizona sang the happy birthday song quickly to their little girl whose hands were itching to get the tasty treat in front of her. Abby didn't know what to make of the candle. She tried to touch it but her hands were quickly stopped by both of her parents. With some help from her father, Abby blew out the candle and the parents watched and took pictures as Abby destroyed the cupcake - using her tiny hands to shove bite after bite into her mouth. After a few minutes the cupcake had been turned into a mess of crumbs and frosting that covered both the baby and the high chair. Not wanting to leave her parents out, Abby offered each of them a handful of smooshed cake, which they both accepted.
"I'll clean the little lady up, if you want to go ahead and get ready for work," Alex offered as he lifted Abby out of her high chair. He was careful to hold her out at a distance so that her icing covered hands didn't get his shirt messy.
Arizona leaned in and pretended to gnaw on Abby's cheek as she licked a little icing off of her face, "Yummy baby. I'll be ready in a few."
...
"Fancy meeting you here," Alex hip checked Arizona who was standing outside the daycare doors, watching the babies play through the glass windows. "She still flirting with Jack?"
Arizona groaned as she watched her daughter play with the blocks with Jack Kline, the son of an anesthesiologist at the hospital. The two babies were born within days of each other and had become fast friends in the daycare - as much as one year olds could be friends. "I'm not sure hitting him with foam blocks counts as flirting."
Alex turned around so that his back was leaning against the glass wall and looking at Arizona, "Oh, it totally counts. I used to punch the girls that I had crushes on in elementary school. It's the Karev in her."
"She is definitely your daughter," Arizona finally took her eyes off of Abby and looked at Alex. "She definitely has your quick temper. I am not looking forward to her teenage years."
Alex laughed as he pushed off the wall and slung his arm around Arizona's shoulder, "She just turned one. You have twelve more years to teach her the Robbins' perk." Alex swiped his id into the door for access and held it open for Arizona, "Now let's go get our girl. There's more cake to be had. And presents."
Arizona went to grab Abby's bag while Alex went to get their daughter. As soon as Alex entered the room, Abby knew that he was there. She was a total daddy's girl and always knew when he was in the room. Abby threw down the block she was playing with and started waddling toward her father. She had been walking for about a month and was pretty steady on her feet unless she was excited. When she got excited it was like the excitement took over her brain and she forgot what she was doing - like walking. And Abby was always excited to see her daddy. Alex kneeled down to the floor and held his arms out to catch her as she toddled into his arms.
Arizona stood back at the doorway and watched as Alex and Abby talked in their own personal language. Abby was only speaking a handful of words but Alex was great at encouraging Abby to talk and responding to her like he knew what she was saying. At first Arizona was jealous of the bond that Alex had with their daughter but she quickly got over it when she realized that Abby loved her just as much, she just showed it in different ways. While Alex's voice was the only one that could get Abby to sleep, Arizona was the only one that could calm her down when she was upset. Arizona understood that daughters had a special bond with their fathers and she treasured the fact that her daughter was able to have that with Alex.
"Mama, we're ready to go," Alex drew Arizona out of her thoughts as he held Abby out for her to hold.
"Mama," Abby parroted as she laid a wet, sloppy kiss on Arizona's chin.
"Right," Arizona smiled at Abby as she gave her own wet, sloppy kiss in return. Arizona nudged Alex, "Let's go. We've got cake. And presents!"
Instead of going home for the evening, the family spent the early evening at their neighborhood park enjoying a pizza picnic and some playground time. Normally, they kept a pretty strict routine and schedule for Abby during the week. Even though she split her time between two houses, they wanted to make sure her daily life was still the same no matter which parent she was with; and a strict routine helped them do just that. But since it was her birthday, a little mid-week fun was allowed while still being careful not to wear her out too much because they did still have cake and presents to enjoy at home.
...
"She's going to crash hard from all of this sugar and junk. And we still have her party tomorrow afternoon," Arizona commented as she watched Abby dig into her second cupcake for the day.
"At least your parents are babysitting after the party," Alex said with his mouth full of his own cupcake.
Arizona grimaced as a piece of cupcake flew out of Alex's mouth and hit her in the cheek, "You are not in charge of teaching her manners."
"What?" Alex said as he wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand, refusing the napkin that Arizona held out to him. While he had grown up a lot in the past year, he still hadn't grasped waiting until he finished eating before speaking.
Arizona just rolled her eyes and snatched the rest of his cupcake from his hand and finished it for herself.
"And you are so much better to teach manners?" Alex scoffed at the theft of his cupcake.
"Fine. We both suck," Arizona said with a wave of her hands as she shoved the remnants of the cupcake in her mouth. "Let's do presents now before she falls from the sugar high."
The family migrated from the kitchen toward the living room where Arizona had arranged the gifts earlier. Neither one of the parents knew what the other bought but between both of them their little girl was sure to be spoiled.
"Me first!" Alex exclaimed as he grabbed Abby and pulled her into his lap. "Happy birthday, Love Bug," he whispered into her ear as he put her hands on the wrapping paper.
For it being her first birthday, Abby did really well in the unwrapping department. Arizona blamed it on Abby being passed down her father's destructive gene. She was always willing to destroy things - folded clothes, towers of blocks, her food. It was not a surprise that she took to tearing the wrapping paper as easily as she did. With a little help from Alex, Abby successfully uncovered a red wagon full of toys.
"Did you buy out the toy store?" Arizona asked as her daughter squealed when Alex handed her a plush toy designed to teach colors.
Alex leaned his chin on Abby's head as she played in his arms, "Only the very best for my baby girl." Alex pressed the toy in Abby's hands, causing the toy to light up and make sounds. Abby squealed and started clapping at the toy. "Plus, I loved my wagon when I was a kid and now she's big enough to go on rides in it. It's way cooler to ride in when we go to the park than her stroller. But a wagon would be a pretty lame gift so I figured I couldn't go wrong with some toys too."
"The wagon is pretty cool," Arizona agreed. She had her own fond memories as a kid in a red wagon. "But all the toys that make annoying sounds are totally staying at Daddy's house."
"Fair enough," Alex acquiesced as he watched Abby continue to pull toys out of the wagon and play with them.
"Mama's turn now," Arizona announced. "Come to Mama, Abbs."
Abby reluctantly tore her gaze away from the toy she had in her hands and wobbled over to her mother, toy still clutched in her tiny fist.
After learning from opening her father's gift, Abby easily tore open her mother's. She was only slowed in the process because she refused to drop the toy so she had so she had to unwrap her gift with one hand.
"Okay, so I get her a wagon full of toys but you get her that," Alex gestured to the pink rocking horse that Abby was eagerly climbing on. "When she wants a pony, that's all on you, Robbins."
"Unlike you, Karev, I can say no to her," Arizona laughed. She was pretty sure that if Abby asked her father for a pony, Alex would find a way to try to make it happen.
"I don't know how," Alex pouted and crawled on the floor next to Abby to help her get on the horse. "When she looks at you with those big eyes and chubby cheeks. She's impossible to say no to."
Abby continued to squeal and laugh as she rocked on the pink horse, still not releasing the toy that her father had given her either. Arizona and Alex were helpless to do anything other than watch her play. Eventually, with the combination of coming down off a sugar high and all of the extra play time in her day, Abby wore herself out. When she started getting cranky, Arizona knew it was time to get her to bed. Their daughter had had a very busy first birthday and she needed to rest up for her birthday party the next day.
Alex and Arizona went through their normal bedtime routine. When their schedules allowed them, they tried to put her down for bed together - no matter whose house she was sleeping in that night. Arizona handled bath time while Alex read her to sleep. Arizona attributed the fact that while pregnant she always fell asleep while listening to Alex's recordings to their daughter's inability to fall asleep without hearing his voice. Arizona even had to play the recordings for her on the nights that Alex couldn't call or be there himself.
Arizona watched as Alex gently lifted Abby up and put her in her crib after she fell asleep in his lap while they were reading in the rocking chair. Once she was settled in the crib and still asleep, Arizona leaned down into the crib and ran her hand through her daughter's wispy blonde hair.
"Sleep tight," Arizona whispered quietly before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
Alex wrapped his hand around Arizona's waist as they watched their daughter sleep soundly, "Not too much longer until we move her into a toddler bed."
Arizona turned in his arms just enough to swat him in the chest, "Bite your tongue. There's no way she'll ever be old enough for that."
Alex let out a little chuckle and rested his head against Arizona's. "That's what you said about her turning one, too."
Arizona sighed and reached into the crib to run her hand over Abby's arm, "It seems like she was born just yesterday. How is it possible that it's been a whole year?"
"I know what you mean," Alex sighed. "She's growing up way too fast. At least she hasn't learned the word no yet."
"I can't imagine what she'll be like then," Arizona glanced up at Alex. "She's exactly like you so she'll love driving me crazy by telling me no over and over again."
"I'm pretty sure that you tell me no all the time too," Alex fought back. "So it's not all my fault."
"I still claim that her fiery attitude is pure Karev," Arizona stated while still staring at their little girl. "Not that that's a bad thing," she added when she could feel Alex gear up to defend himself. "I happen to like the Karev genes."
"Nice save," Alex chuckled as he pulled Arizona in closer to his body.
Since Abby had come along their personal boundaries were long gone. They had both seen each other at their best and worst over their year of co-parenting. Arizona was a touchy-feely person by nature so it was only natural for her to be that way with her closest friend. And Alex learned to accept the touchy-feeliness and after a short time even reciprocated it. It felt nice to be hugged and to give hugs. And they wanted their daughter to know that they did love each other - so hugs, innocent touching and kisses on the cheek were common for the two friends. They were just comfortable with each other. They knew that with each other they didn't need to hide anything. They could be themselves without any masks.
They stood in their daughter's bedroom, watching her sleep while embracing for quite awhile. They were both going over a year's worth of memories in their minds as they watched her sleep. At the same, time they both realized that if it weren't for the other one, they wouldn't be there. They wouldn't have their precious daughter and a year's worth of memories and a future of unlimited ones.
"Thank you," Alex mumbled as he lifted a hand to caress Arizona's cheek. "For her."
Arizona shook her head lightly, "No, thank you." It was Alex who had given her Abby. It was his kindness to help out a friend that had given her their daughter. Without him, Abby wouldn't be Abby.
No other words were said as they both stared into the others' eyes. After a moment, Arizona leaned up on her toes and ran her hand across Alex's throat to hold him by the neck. "Thank you," she whispered again as she captured his lips in a kiss.
When Alex saw Arizona coming in for a kiss he assumed it would be a simple peck on the lips. He was wrong. Arizona immediately parted her lips and moved their lips together so that she could explore his mouth. Instinctively, Alex wrapped one arm tightly around her waist and ran the other hand through her hair. His body responded naturally to the kiss. He was too stunned by what was happening to actually think about what was happening. And Arizona didn't show any signs of slowing down.
When she finally broke for air, she remained close to Alex. She didn't move, she only shifted her head against his so that she could breathe.
"What was that?" Alex whispered, having no idea why Arizona had just kissed him. Over the course of the past year he often thought that they two shared moments that could become something more but neither of them ever turned them into something more. Arizona just turned that moment into something more.
"A kiss," Arizona stated the obvious right before planting her lips on his again. The truth was she wasn't sure what it was either. She just knew that while looking into his eyes she had the urge to kiss him. So she did. And it felt good so she kept doing it.
This time Arizona took control of the kiss. She grabbed Alex by the shirt and pushed him out of their daughter's room, all while not breaking the kiss. She continued to move them into the living room where she pushed him against a nearby wall.
"Again, what was that, Arizona?" Alex asked when she finally took a break. He wasn't one to complain about making out with a woman but Arizona wasn't just any woman to him. She was his closest friends and the mother of his child.
"Alex," Arizona moaned as she opened her eyes to look at him. She didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to enjoy the feeling of comfort and love that she was getting from him. She couldn't keep her eyes from darting back and forth between his lips and his eyes. "Just let me kiss you. You kissed me a year ago today and I didn't ask you any questions. So just stop thinking and let me kiss you."
The tone of Arizona's voice was almost begging him to keep going and even though they might regret it later, he was going to give her what she wanted. Alex wrapped his arms back around Arizona as he gently lifted her off the ground and started making his way toward her bedroom. "I'll kiss you, but not against the doorknob. That hurts," he said as he gently fell back against the bed and pulled Arizona on top of him.
Arizona was the one to start the kissing so Alex wanted her to have the control. He did that by letting her be on top. Arizona gave him a sly smirk as she stretched her body out against his and captured his lips again.
They spent the next hour making out on her bed like teenagers. Neither one made an attempt to take it past first base. It took a lot of effort but Alex was able to keep his hands from roaming too far. He didn't want to push Arizona into anything she didn't want. So he kept one hand tangled in her hair while the other rubbed up and down her side. He wasn't sure what had prompted the make out session but he didn't want to do anything that would make her feel uncomfortable. Arizona also kept her hands in fairly chaste areas. Her hands mainly stayed in Alex's hair. But just because Alex was keeping his hands chaste didn't mean that the rest of his body was unaffected. It didn't take long for Arizona to feel Alex's excitement. It had been a long time since she had felt a man's erection but she knew that was what it was. She felt oddly turned on, knowing that she turned Alex on. Alex for his part did his best to ignore the throbbing in his pants and ignore the desire to grind his hips up into Arizona's body. Even if Arizona wanted to take their making out to the next level, Alex wasn't going to let that happen.
It wasn't until they heard a pager going off in the living room that they tore their lips apart. Arizona sighed as she fell onto her back on the bed while Alex went to see what was going on.
"I've got to go in," Alex held up his pager as he walked back into the bedroom. "Emergency with a NICU baby. Looks like it might take awhile."
Arizona bit her lip and nodded, "Go save some lives."
Alex walked toward her on the bed and ducked his head down to give her a kiss on the cheek, "Tomorrow we're talking about this."
"Drive safely," Arizona nodded meekly. She knew that he was right. They needed to talk about it.
Arizona couldn't take her eyes off of Alex as she watched him leave her bedroom. Once she heard the front door shut, she grabbed a pillow next to her on the bed and threw it on top of her head. She had no idea what had happened over the last two hours. She knew what had happened but she didn't know why it happened. All she knew was that she was looking at Alex and she wanted to kiss him. So she did. Over the last year she and Alex had gotten close. Very close. And occasionally she found herself looking at him and thinking about being with him. She didn't linger on those thoughts because she was a lesbian. She thought she was just making up feelings for him because he was her father's daughter. She didn't think that she could actually have feelings for a man. But when she thought about the year she had with Alex and Abby she felt a surge of love. Love toward Alex. Not friendly love but love love. And she simply had to act on it.
Maybe their daughter wasn't the only one taking after Alex as Arizona decided to act first and think later when she started kissing Alex. Now, after kissing him she was more confused than ever. And she knew that Alex had to be confused as well. Arizona fell asleep hoping that she didn't just mess everything up.
...