Homecoming, part 1

By jodief1

A/N: This fic is my (slightly AU) version of what happens after Callie is released from the hospital post-7x19. Now, of course, we know that Sofia went home at the same time as Callie at the end of 7x17, but I really didn't buy that version myself: Callie looked way too healthy to still be an inpatient by week 12, and anyone who's been at the mercy of U.S. health insurers knows that they send people home ASAP. I definitely prefer a version that emphasizes the "coming" part. Thanks in advance for all reviews – like all writers, I really, really appreciate them.

PS: If you haven't already read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, RUN! (don't walk) to your nearest bookstore or library, read it, and then check out my Fingersmith fanfic as well. Thanx! :)

The blue door flew open with a bang, and a few seconds later, two sneakers glided in a few inches above the floor, followed by fleece-clad ankles, knees, and thighs. Even though their owner was being pushed in a wheelchair, she certainly was not taking it easy.

"Hey! What's with the bumps? Do I have a giant sticker on my back that says 'Jostle Me'? or, you know, 'Watch Me Wiggle, See Me Jiggle'?"

The blonde woman who emerged from behind the wheelchair rolled her eyes; she was clearly out of breath from pushing the chair over the threshold. "...Cool and creamy. Yep, that's you, Callie." She pushed the chair next to one of the living room couches and flopped down on it, her chest heaving, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. "I'm sorry about the bumps, okay? Now you'll be able to commiserate with Sofia when we take her out for walks in her stroller." Callie merely snorted in response. "Alright, then," Arizona sighed, "how 'bout this: the next time you have to push me around in a wheelchair, you can make it as bumpy as you like. Okay?" She weakly reached over to grab Callie's hand.

Callie laughed and pulled the hand up to her mouth for a kiss. "All right, all right, I was just saying! But, you know, thanks for pushing me around anyway." She graced Arizona with a high-wattage smile and then cast her gaze about the room. "God, I feel like it's been forever since I've been home. Wait. What? You painted? What the hell?"

Arizona furrowed her brow and sat straight up. "Yeah, sure I painted, during those few-and-far-between hours when I was supposed to be getting some sleep and showering. And reapplying deodorant." Then she lightly hit Callie on the arm and grinned evilly at her. "No, silly, I paid somebody else to come in and paint. I figured it made sense to get it done while neither of us was here much. I hate the smell of fresh paint, so better to do it now than wait and have to stay at a hotel or something later. Sorry I didn't consult you."

"Huh." Callie scrunched up her face, and Arizona braced herself for the response. "...Y'know what? I like it. It's nice and bright. And smiley. Not so dark and frowny." She leaned toward Arizona and waggled her eyebrows. Her voice dropped to its sultry pitch. "You have great taste, honey."

"Oh, do I ever!" Arizona returned the compliment along with a light kiss, but she stayed close instead of pulling away. Her voice dropped as well, and she bit her lip playfully. "It's called 'Barley Fields,' glad you like it." She gestured with her head and raised her own eyebrows. "Wanna see the bedroom?"

"Are you propositioning me, Arizona Robbins?" Callie touched her fiancée's face gently and then let her fingers slide down Arizona's neck, just teasing the inside of her shirt. She smiled when she felt Arizona shudder.

Arizona closed her eyes and let her head drop back. "Mmmmmmmm..." was her only response, coming from deep down in her throat.

Callie lightly brushed her lips over Arizona's and whispered affectedly, "Then you'll have to help get my gimpy, lame self over there, my darling." Arizona laughed and tilted her head forward, taking a moment to look deeply into Callie's sparkling eyes. She couldn't believe that she had nearly lost this woman, the love of her life, the woman she would soon marry. She felt self-conscious about her own corniness, but ever since Callie had woken up after her surgeries, Arizona had genuinely felt that every day was like a dream come true; and anyway, corniness was way underrated, dammit. She caught Callie's hand on her chest and squeezed it, trying to convey how she felt without words, because a lump had formed in her throat and she was momentarily speechless.

With Callie's hand still firmly in hers, Arizona stood up, locked the wheels of the wheelchair and stood at Callie's side to act as a support. Callie had been regaining strength in her legs quickly, but she could still be unsteady on her feet when she first stood up: Arizona thought that she still seemed to have a little trouble coordinating all her limbs at once, but Derek had warned her that these sorts of things would take time, and of course Callie would be continuing outpatient physical therapy for several weeks. This time, however, Callie was looking strong, and she proceeded to walk slowly but steadily across the room. As they passed the breakfast bar, Arizona asked whether Callie wanted anything, but she shook her head no, and Arizona decided not to push it. She knew that Callie had been doted on in the hospital by nurses and doctors alike and had enjoyed an excellent brunch of assorted offerings from the coffee cart, delivered to her room by a gaggle of well-wishers, before she'd checked out that morning. She must be exhausted, Arizona thought, with a pang. I'll just get her situated and let her rest. She knows she can ask me if she needs anything later.

Callie leaned against the doorframe while Arizona opened the bedroom door and bustled inside. She looked up at Callie just in time to see the wonder on her face as she entered: Arizona had not only had the walls painted a really lovely shade of blue, but she had ordered a new bedding set with window valances to match. The overall effect was, again, quite smiley, but Callie smiled as though she approved. Pleased, Arizona proudly fluffed a pillow. "You like?"

"Of course I like. You really outdid yourself this time, Arizona."

"Wait'll you see Sofia's nursery." Arizona beamed. "That's where I really had fun."

Callie stretched her neck to look longingly out the door. "Aw, why didn't you say something? I'd love to see it, but I'm already in here now..." She looked frustrated, and Arizona immediately regretted having said anything.

"No, no, please don't worry about it for now. We'll see it later. I know you must be, just, on beyond tired." Arizona came around the bed to fold down the covers to that Callie could sit down on it. "Here, let me help you lie down so you can rest."

Callie sat gingerly on the very edge of the bed, but then looked up at Arizona and made a pouty face. "Why are you so eager to get me to rest? Is there something else you need to do?"

Arizona felt her cheeks redden as she looked down at Callie. "No, Calliope. I just don't want to push you too hard. I know you need..."

"No." Callie tugged at Arizona's hand, gesturing for her to sit next to her on the bed. "What I need is to be alone with you. Finally!" She rolled her eyes. "God, everyone tries to be so nice there, but I just felt like people were constantly watching me. And you..." Callie trained her brown eyes on Arizona's blue ones. "You were so busy, going back and forth between me and Sofia all the time, I really started to..."

Callie blinked rapidly, and she coughed to clear her throat. Arizona's heart constricted to think she might have done anything wrong. She caressed Callie's hand. "What?"

Callie sighed and laid the back of her other hand on Arizona's cheek. "I just really started to miss you. Alone. With me. Like this. That's all I've wanted since I came out of the surgery, just this and time with Sofia." She looked down and inhaled sharply, clearly fighting her emotions. "Sofia. I wish she were home with us..."

Arizona leaned forward to take Callie in her arms, resting her chin on Callie's head. "She'll be home soon, she just needs two more weeks," she breathed into Callie's hair. "We're already a family, but I know what you mean: it won't feel real until she's home."

Callie nodded and wiped away the single tear that had escaped. "I feel...guilty leaving her behind at the hospital. I hate that the insurance made me leave before she was ready."

Arizona sighed. "I think Webber pulled something to keep you there as long as he could. I've seen other mothers in way worse shape discharged long before you were, probably for insurance reasons. And they are almost never well enough to come back to see their babies." She cupped Callie's chin and pulled back to look at her. "Two weeks. Everybody agrees with me: Stark, Field, I even called Addison. Our baby will come home in two weeks. For now, you need to keep working on getting better. God knows we won't be getting much sleep after we bring her home."

"I know." Despite her exhaustion, Callie's face lit up at the prospect of having someone interrupt her sleep every two hours. Baby Sofia was being closely monitored at the hospital, and Arizona had already warned Callie that she was not a big sleeper, or not very interested in sleeping for long stretches, anyway. Arizona couldn't help but return Callie's warm smile, and she leaned in for a quick kiss.

When Arizona pulled back, Callie was looking surprised — and flirty. "What was that?" she asked, in exactly the same tone of voice she had said "Your baby, huh?" several months before, after Arizona's now infamous "We. Are. Together." speech. Flustered, Arizona stammered, "You...you just looked so happy, even though you're tired. I couldn't help myself."

"Tired. Right. I'm very tired." Callie spoke in measured tones, but she kept her eyes locked with Arizona's, even as she gestured at her fleecy sleeve. "Can you help me get out of these things? It's so warm today, and it's so nice to be out of that place, I'd really like to strip down so I can enjoy the feel of these nice, new, soft sheets that haven't had the bejeezus starched out of them."

Arizona swallowed. She'd helped Callie get dressed in street clothes at the hospital that morning, because Callie still couldn't bend over or lean down — but that had been in a clinical setting. This, however, was their own bedroom, in private, and Arizona's senses were starting to tingle at Callie's closeness. She really didn't want to overtax Callie on her first day back, though, so she willed her heart to stop racing.

Arizona stood up and moved around to face Callie, who had slowly started unzipping her fleece sweatshirt. When it was undone, Arizona reached forward to help peel it away from Callie's shoulders; when her fingers touched the flesh of Callie's upper arms, she felt a nearly electric jolt and jumped a little. Callie looked up at her, a wicked smile playing across her lips. "You okay?" she said softly and a little huskily.

Flustered, Arizona said something sounding like "yeah, uuhhyeah, uuhhhkay," before she felt a blush shoot up her neck to her cheeks. Callie smiled even wider, and started pulling up her own tee-shirt. "You just look a little...red, there, babe. You sure?" Arizona gulped and reached forward to pull Callie's shirt over her head, not trusting herself to respond.

Finally, the sight of Callie shaking out her sexy, short hair broke down whatever barriers Arizona was attempting to maintain, and she swiftly ducked her head to capture Callie's lips in a surprise kiss. She smiled a little herself when she felt Callie gasp into her mouth. When Callie tried to deepen the kiss, however, Arizona pulled away just long enough to ask, "You're up for this? Really?" The only answer she received was a low growl as Callie reached around her ass and pulled her toward the bed, nearly throwing her off balance.

"Whoa!" Arizona laughed. "Let's finish up here first!" She knelt down next to the bed to grab Callie's shoes, hurriedly pulling them off and tossing them across the floor, then reaching up to peel off Callie's pants. Callie, meanwhile, had started trying to take off her own soft cotton bra but still didn't quite have the full range of motion to do it, so Arizona popped up to help her. She felt her mouth suddenly fill with moisture and realized, weirdly, that she felt more awake and energetic than she had in a long, long time...or really, ever since she could remember. It's the adrenaline, spoke the little doctor-voice in her brain, but she shut it down as quickly as she could. Her last coherent thought was, Adrenaline? Who gives a crap! She's ALIVE, and so the hell am I!

Perhaps a little too energetically, Arizona threw back the bedcovers even more. Then Callie lay down on her side, and Arizona helped lift her legs up, since Callie still wasn't supposed to be using her abs. Once Callie was situated, Arizona tore off her own clothing, focusing her attention on Callie's gorgeous — and very lustful — expression. She wanted to fling herself on Callie's body the way she used to, but she forced herself to climb gently over Callie to lie on her other side, snuggling up as close as she could and kissing Callie passionately.

Callie raised her free hand to cup Arizona's face and groaned deliciously again, before suddenly wincing in pain. "Ahh!" she gasped, and Arizona pulled away.

"What? Did I hurt you?"

"No…no, I just can't move the way I want to…! You're so hot, I want to move, but it hurts."

Arizona knitted her eyebrows in concern. "Is there anything I can do differently?"

"Yeah." Callie hit her playfully on her bare shoulder. "Stop…just stop being so damn hot, will ya? NO, you moron, for God's sake, DON'T do anything differently, and just touch me already!"

Arizona grinned and reached her hand, without much preamble, down to Callie's thigh. As she inched her fingers down to Callie's folds, she emitted an involuntary groan of her own. "Oh my God, you're soooo wet." She felt her pelvis start to move against Callie's hipbone, and she realized what Callie meant by not being able to move the way she wanted. She pressed her mouth against Callie's ear. "Don't worry, Calliope, I'll take care of you, just the way you like it. You just lie back and enjoy." As she descended, she saw Callie bite her lower lip and push her head further back into the pillow. Arizona smiled inwardly and prepared to put on a long overdue display of the Robbins Method. Fortunately, it was one skill that never got rusty.