A/N: I know you won't be excited by the idea of Arizona being with someone else but trust me there's a lot more of this story. Stay tuned! The idea came to me way before the season 10 finale of Grey's has aired which is quite ridiculous. It's like Shonda is reading my mind.
Also this is more like a test chapter and I might not update for a while but I will continue this story eventually.
Arizona turned off the lights and walked to the bed to her girlfriend Julie. She lied down and turned on her side. Julie was reading a book like she did every night before sleep. "Maybe we should have a baby."
Julie turned the page and laughed. "Yeah, what makes you think that?" She never thought she would be hearing those words coming out of Arizona's mouth.
"Well we've been together for 4 years, we have a house together. We have more than enough space for dozen of tiny humans running around." Julie placed the book down on her nightstand. "Please," she said battling her eyelashes.
Giving in like usually Julie nodded. "But we'll talk about it in the morning."
Arizona cursed under her breath. "I can't. I have this important surgery in the morning that I've been telling you about for weeks now. But how about after I get home?" As a surgeon who didn't have children her schedule was filled from the early hours until evenings, when all she could do was fall in the bed.
Now it was Julie's turn to look at Arizona. "This is what I'm talking about babe. How are you going to raise a child if you're never at home? Do you remember the last time we went on a date?"
"I know. I know," Arizona said sighing. "If I tell the Chief that I plan on having a baby he will lower the hours of my surgical schedule. But it needs to be happening before I do that."
Julie turned her night light off and pulled the covers over herself. "Fine. But let's just go to sleep now and talk tomorrow."
Arizona sighed. She really wanted to talk now but couldn't force her girlfriend to do that. At least she didn't get a no as an answer. She turned her night light off and nuzzled deep in the covers. She wanted to cuddle for a bit but Julie always turned on her side. Beside she was told at the very early stage of their relationship that Julie couldn't sleep if someone cuddled her duo to the extra warmth.
When the next morning came, Arizona was getting dressed while Julie was still asleep. It was just 6 am and Seattle was still pitch dark at that hour. Arizona never wanted kids. At least that's what she told her 20 year old self that was going through medical school. But ever since she turned into an attending she realized that maybe kids wouldn't be such a bad idea. Her brother died and her mother wanted nothing more but a grandchild and now it was just Arizona.
Like usually her day at work was stressful. The important surgery was pushed back for a few hours which meant she would be in the OR longer than she thought. It sucked sometimes and yet, the adrenaline, the rush she got from the surgeries was what kept her through most of the day until tiredness came over and she just crushed in her bed. She understood Julie's concerns. She wished she would be at home more as well but most of the surgical staff already had children and families.
"Robbins," Derek yelled after Arizona. He was holding his daughter Zola and a big diaper bag. A year earlier she would have laughed at him but he turned out to be an amazing father.
"What do you need?" she asked cheerfully. Her surgery was a success and they managed to stitch him up an hour earlier than she thought.
Derek hated doing this but Meredith was in a surgery and multiple trauma was coming in. "Would you mind taking Zola with you? I know it's really late but both me and Mer are on night shifts and she's running a slight fever from teething."
Arizona carefully took Zola in her arms. "Say no more." Derek passed her the diaper bag and a very grateful smile. "You're gonna have a blast with auntie Arizona won't you?"
Zola just buried her face in the crook of Arizona's neck. "She's really tired. I'm so sorry," Derek apologized for his little girl.
"It's fine. Go." Arizona laughed at him and rubbed Zola's back. She was so happy that the little girl found an amazing family after she was rescued from Africa. Arizona was done with her shift anyway so she walked to her car. "I'll get changed at home," she told Zola as if the little girl would care.
But she did realize she has a tiny problem. Car seat. She couldn't buy one because Julie would kill her and she didn't know anyone who would simply lend it as well. "You're going to help me drive but don't tell anyone okay," Arizona whispered and placed the diaper back on the passenger's seat and sat on the drivers's seat with Zola on her lap. "Your auntie is in big trouble if you blubber that someone." While Arizona was in the good mood, Zola obviously wasn't and started whimpering before the car would even start. Arizona rocked her side to side and then reached over to the diaper bag and pulled out a pacifier. She just needed to get home and then she could give Zola a bath and some proper cuddles.
The drive home after she put pacifier in Zola's mouth was calm and the little girl just fell asleep on her lap, not caring where she was. Arizona parked the car in the garage. She slowly turned Zola in her arms trying not to wake her but failing. Before Zola could start a fuss Arizona spoke to her, calming her down. "Do you want a bubble bath Zo?" She grabbed the diaper bag with other hand and walked to the front door. She was glad Julie left it unlocked. Her girlfriend was a writer so she spent most of her day in the office behind her laptop. The bad side of it was she sometimes left the town for from few days to even a month.
Zola whined softly. "Are you hungry?" Arizona asked her. She must have been. She wished she knew her schedule more. "So bubble bath and a bottle then?"
"Arizona is that you?" Julie's voice came from the office. "Are you on the phone?"
Arizona walked in Julie's office. "Hey babe. No, but look who I got with me?" She took the pacifier out of Zola's mouth and tickled her tummy to get a toothy smile on that cute face. "Show auntie Julie your best smile."
Julie took her reading glasses off and rubbed her temples. Which either meant she was tired or mad. And Arizona sensed it was both. "You know I don't mind her here but you could have at least told me that's coming."
"But I didn't know," Arizona argued, keeping her tone calm to not startle the toddler. "Derek passed her to me in the last minute. And I thought she could be a great practice, you know."
"I live here too. A call wouldn't kill you," Julie snapped back. She wasn't even sure why she was arguing. Or maybe it was because it was late and she wanted to spend some one on one time with her girlfriend instead of with a screaming toddler.
Arizona could tell that it was the best to move away from Julie before they would start screaming at each other. She walked up the stairs and entered the guest room. They had two of them, though one was completely empty. She gently laid Zola on the big bed and went through the diaper bag. Zola stuffed a hand in her mouth and smiled at Arizona. She reached up and pulled on the blonde hair. Arizona laughed and gently untangled Zola's hand from her hair.
There was a bathroom attached to the guest room. Arizona was glad that there was a rubber duck already in the diaper bag. She undressed Zola and carried her in the bathroom, praying that she wouldn't pee over her. She ran the water in the bathtub making sure the temperature was just right and placed Zola in the warm water. She was immediately splashed and rewarded with a toddler's laugh. "Aren't you a good splasher huh?" It was just a simple bath, making sure that she used soft baby soap. Julie always had it in stock because she loved how soft it made her skin and Arizona didn't mind.
Arizona wrapped Zola in a soft towel and dried her. She went back to the bedroom and placed her on the bed. After a diaper she went through the clothes. "What should we wear Zo?"
Zola was holding her feet with her hands and turning from side to side. Arizona pulled out a purple onesie with a bear in the middle. "You'll look so cute in it." She dressed Zola and sat her down on her lap. "I still need to get you fed don't I? Well auntie Arizona is very bad at cooking and making baby food so a bottle should do for now." She was glad to see that Derek had packed the bottle with formula and another bottle with juice. There was also a children book in there.
Arizona pulled down the comforter and climbed in bed with Zola on her lap. It was the safest choice to give Julie some space, at least through the night. Then Arizona realized that she should turn off the lights and placed pillows around Zola before turning on the lamp. Now the light was coming just from the lamp. A baby blanket was in the bag and Arizona passed it to Zola who cuddled it. She sat back down and pressed the bottle to Zola's mouth. She immediately begin eating and after a few minutes her eyes started drooping. When the bottle was finished she gently burped Zola and laid her over her chest. The toddler was already asleep and she didn't even get to the book. Her chubby hands were clutched tightly on the baby blanket and she held on the pacifier with her other.
Spending a night with a cute toddler was a lot better than Arizona expected. Meredith came in bright and early to pick her up since it was Arizona's day off. She knocked on Julie's office door. "Can I come in?" she asked poking her head through the slightly open door.
"Sure," Julie replied with a smile. She took her glasses off and closed the laptop lid which meant she was ready to talk. "Did Zola go home?"
Arizona nervously sat down on the office couch. This would either turn out into a yelling match or... Well that was her only option. "I'm really sorry that I didn't call last night," she started. "It's just, Derek passed her to me right before I left the hospital and I forgot about calling."
"Or maybe you forgot that you have a girlfriend living with you," Julie stated. She knew Arizona always had a hard time saying no and she understood, really but after she dropped the baby conversation she at least felt like Arizona would take her time to talk with her.
Arizona gasped. "I didn't, I swear." Maybe she did, just a little. "I'm really, really sorry. I promise I will call you the next time unless you mind having Zola here." She didn't know how Julie felt about Zola.
"Don't be silly, babe. I love her and she's really cute. Just give me a heads up next time okay?" Arizona smiled. That could be easily arranged. "So do you want to talk about the baby thing now?"
Arizona's smile only grew. "Unless you're busy."
Julie stood up and and took Arizona's hand leading them to the living room. "Definitely not busy. Now what do you have in your mind? And don't be scared of telling me, I'm all for baby loving."
Arizona had a lot on her mind. "Okay I was thinking well I know we already talked about how none of us wanted to carry so we could like hire a surrogate mother and we could use one of our eggs or the mother and we could pick a sperm donor. Or maybe we could adopt I don't mind either way," she rambled, half nervously half excitedly.
"Breathe," Julie said. She could tell Arizona was incredible excited just by the sparkle in her blue eyes. "I'm all for the sergeant mother. It's a pretty good idea actually."
"Really?" Arizona thought her face might explode from the smile.
Julie smiled back. "Bring it on."
"So I was thinking that we would clear the guest room and let the woman live with us for a while. We would get to know her and once she would get pregnant we would be here all the time. And I was kind of thinking we would use the surrogate mother's egg and pick our own sperm donor. If that's okay with you of course," Arizona rambled. She was a little nervous but very excited.
Julie's eyes went wide. "Woah it seems like you did quite a lot of thinking already."
Arizona shrugged sheepishly. "I had time. I don't want to do it unless you agree though."
"I do babe. We've been together for four years and we're ready to take the step. So how about we check the clinic next weekend and talk to the people who have already done the surrogacy and the doctors there."
"I'm all for it," Arizona replied excitedly.
