Sorry Won't Cut It
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fic, they belong to Shonda Rhimes.
There were so many things unsaid.
But there were also things that didn't need to be said.
Like the fact that it was unanimously and silently agreed that Callie would give their baby her first name.
It had come out as a whisper after Arizona had told Callie about their baby.
"Sofia."
"Hmm?"
"Baby… her name is Sofia."
And just like that Callie had fallen asleep again. It was no surprise, flat lining twice took a lot of energy.
Arizona had squeezed her hand, reached over and kissed her forehead as gently as she possibly could and stepped outside.
Mark was lounging around the nurses station, having just come from the NICU he thought he should go see his best friend.
Arizona makes her way to him and without facing him, says, "Callie's named the baby Sofia."
She didn't need to look at him to know that he was smiling.
Silence took over them. It wasn't awkward, but it wasn't the most comfortable either.
Mark's apology hung out in the open, but Arizona, try as she might, couldn't completely forgive and forget just yet.
"I'm going up to the NICU to check on her."
Mark watched her leave and decided he should give Callie some company now while she was gone.
He slid the door to the room open as quietly as he could and sat down.
"Sofia huh? It's a beautiful name Callie."
"And much less of a mouthful than Calliope or Arizona."
"Hey you, I thought you were asleep." He reached over and kissed her temple.
"Nope, been awake all this time, all I can do around here is sleep. I just had to pretend to be asleep so Arizona could take a break. But I'm pretty sure she went straight up to see Sofia."
"Yea, we've sorta been taking turns."
"Something's upset her."
"You flew out of a windshield."
"And I'm alive and talking and I can move my toes. There's something else."
Guilt was eating him up. He could either shut up and wait for someone to let Callie know what he said to Arizona and get shouted at for it later… or he could man up and tell Callie himself and get shouted at for it now…
"What do you know Mark?"
He looked up at her, and the guilt continued gnawing at him.
The guilt must have come through because suddenly Mark could see a hint of anger in Callie's usual compassionate eyes.
"Oh God, what did you say Mark?"
He couldn't keep it in any longer, whether now or later she was going to find out.
"I was an ass but I apologised already?"
"What. Did. You. Say."
"Calm down Callie!"
"Don't tell me to calm down. While everyone was busy taking care of me, only Alex was taking care of Arizona. So what the hell did you say to my fiancé Sloan?"
"Fiancé?"
Callie couldn't help but smile broadly when she realised what she had said. But just as fast as it had come, it had gone, "Don't change the subject."
"I... I said she was nothing."
Callie's eyebrows shot up as high they physically could, silently demanding an explanation.
"We were arguing about what to do, whether to save the baby, which meant compromising your heart, or to save you by delivering the baby early… I wanted you to come first but Arizona kept saying that it wasn't that simple. That what if you woke up and your baby was gone. But your life was the most important thing to me Callie. We could always just make a new baby!"
When he finished his explanation, he dared himself to look up at Callie. He really wished he hadn't.
The look on Callie's face was almost murderous. Actually no scratch that, Callie looked as if she wanted to murder him.
And if looks could kill. He would most certainly be lying dead on the floor.
She opened her mouth to probably shout at him but she restrained herself and instead took a very large breath of air.
"If I wasn't hooked up to so many machines Sloan…"
She didn't need to finish her sentence because her eyes said everything. There was anger in those eyes that really said she wanted to kill him.
"I said I was sorry!"
"Look Mark. You're a douche. You never understand anything unless it happens to you. So I'm going to give you a scenario. And you're going to shut up and listen until I am done."
Mark doesn't even dare to say okay and opts for a nod to show he was listening.
"Let's say Lexie is pregnant with Avery's kid. And Avery wants to be a dad. But Lexie is in love with you."
Mark furrows his eyebrows. Where was Callie going with this?
"And since you're in love with Lexie, the two of you miraculously get back together and you and Lexie decide that you can raise the child together with Avery."
Callie takes another breath, makes sure that Mark is looking right at her while she says it, "But one day, Lexie and Avery get into an accident. You're Lexie's boyfriend/fiancé whatever. But Avery is the father. And Avery uses the 'I'm the father' card in every single conversation you have together. How will you feel when Avery tells you that he's the father and that you're nothing. Will a simple 'sorry' cut it?"
Mark's chest feels constricted and the guilt that was gnawing at him in his gut comes out with full force.
"How the hell will you feel when Avery tells you that they can just make another baby if this one doesn't survive!"
Tears start to fall from his face before he can even register that he's crying.
"Oh God, Callie. I am so sorry."
He shifts uncomfortably in the chair as he brings his palm to his face to wipe the tears away.
Callie sighs, and sits up the best she can while lifting Mark's chin up to look her in the eyes. She's no longer angry because she knows that he now understands what it would feel like if he were in Arizona's position.
"You have to stop using the 'I'm the father line' Mark, because Arizona has just as much of a right to use the 'I'm the mother line', and that will just get us nowhere. You have to do better than just a 'sorry' I'm afraid."
Out of nowhere, Mark gets out of the chair and makes his way out of the room.
Confused, as Callie thought she managed to get into that thick brain of his, he walks back into the room, but this time holding a sheet of paper.
"What's that?"
Mark winks at her while taking out a pen and starts scribbling something on said piece of paper.
His eyes are still red from crying but there was a hint of happiness in them when he had glanced over at Callie
"I get to give Sofia her last name."
Callie slaps herself on the forehead. Just when she thought she was getting through to his thick skull, it was as if they didn't even have the conversation they had together just mere seconds ago at all!
Before she gets to lash out at him, the paper is thrust to her face.
And just like Mark, she didn't even register the tears that were falling freely until she tasted them on her lips.
"What's going on?"
Arizona had stepped in on a rather awkward atmosphere.
Callie was crying in front of a piece of paper held by Mark, and when Mark heard Arizona, he had turned his head and she could tell that he had been crying too.
Mark held on to the paper he was showing Callie and made his way over to Arizona.
"Arizona, I can keep telling you how sorry I am for being such an ass. But I think I have something better."
He held out the piece of paper for Arizona to take.
Arizona scrunched up her eyebrows as she read the document.
The shock and surprise was evident on her face as she looked up. After crying constantly for more than 24hours she thought her tear glands would be unable to give out anymore tears.
"I think it suits Sofia perfectly."
"Are you sure? I mean, Callie, baby I love you so much, I can't thank you-"
"Actually-" Callie cuts her off with a soft smile, glances at Mark and looks back to Arizona, "Mark gave Sofia her last name."
Mark gives Arizona a shaky smile, hoping with all his heart that she'll accept his new form of 'sorry'.
What Arizona does next was totally unexpected by either party, clutching Sofia's birth certificate tightly in her hands, for the first time in her life, she gives Mark Sloan a genuine hug from the bottom of her heart.
Taking the hug as a sign of acceptance, Mark wraps his arms around Arizona's small frame and starts laughing out loud.
Now all three of them are crying but laughing out loud simultaneously.
Callie can't believe it. It was already the most difficult journey so far, from finding out she was pregnant, to telling Arizona, to the doctor's appointments and the accident, and yet it was still only the beginning.
But it sure was a great way for baby Sofia Robbins to start her life.