Hey! Still not English native (how weird?) so please, do tell me if (when really) you spot a mistake so I can correct it. Have a great day!
Still half asleep and eyes closed, Arizona blindly reached across the bed only to meet cold and empty space. Her hand patted around and still coming up empty, she opened one eye and was unfortunately forced to confront the fact that Amelia was no longer by her side.
She could hear the faint sound of rain drops outside crashing against their bedroom windows, the sky was a beautiful grayscale leaving her with a melancholic postcard feeling. The smell of pancakes being cooked and coffee freshly brewed came from the kitchen to rouse her nostrils.
The blonde stretched her limbs around lazily and sat up at the edge of the bed, not without some difficulties due to her growing belly. She slipped her prosthetic on, which took her more time than usual nowadays. When she walked in the kitchen, Sofia was standing on the stool next to her girlfriend, flipping pancakes with ease. Both brunettes were still in their pajamas, their hairs quite a mess and Arizona's heart melted at the sight.
"Mornin' ladies," she greeted as she rubbed her eyes, her voice thick with sleep.
Both turned around and sent her their biggest smiles.
"Good morning babe."
"Hola Mommy!" Sofia said happily.
The blonde pushed a few wild locks and kissed her daughter's forehead before snaking her arms around her girlfriend's midsection. She dropped a kiss on her clad shoulder and her head came to rest on it.
"How long have you guys been awake?"
Amelia glanced at the clock on the microwave as she intertwined her fingers with the blonde's ones. "A little over thirty minutes. You looked really tired so we thought best to let you sleep in since Banana is taking a lot of your energy. Sofia suggested we make you breakfast in bed, so here we are making you pancakes."
"That's really sweet of you, Sof'. Thanks," she leaned carefully and kissed the top of her kid's head.
Sofia looked at her proudly with a toothy smile. "You're welcome! I like cooking."
"And you're really good at it. I did absolutely nothing but giving you the recipe and some adult supervision."
Arizona grinned at the two of them. She liked how Amelia was always careful and tried to cheer Sofia on, no matter how small the task was. She pushed the neurosurgeon's crazy hair on one side and kissed her cheek for being cute.
"You're glowing this morning," Amelia stated.
"Haven't puked yet," she wiggled her eyebrows excitedly. "Just savoring the moment before it happens."
Amelia chuckled and squeezed her hands. "Keeping the romance alive I see."
"I do try me very best," Arizona replied with a wide grin.
She let go of her girlfriend and started to set the breakfast items down on the table and Amelia helped her out. Once Sofia ran out of dough and had flipped the last pancakes, they all sat down to share a big breakfast together.
"Sof and I thought it would maybe be a good idea to go to Ikea today, she needs a new desk. What do you think?"
"Sure. As long as you two behave," Arizona warned.
"Promise mommy!" Sofia squealed.
Arizona just shook her head, obviously doubtful but she was smiling. "Why don't I believe that?"
Sofia passed the blonde the strawberry jam and as soon as its smell reached her nose, a wave of nausea hit her. She quickly and miserably made her way to the bathroom. Barely had her knees touched the floor, her stomach emptied itself right into the toilet bowl and left her breathing harshly.
"Banana again?" a voice said from the doorway.
Amelia was leaning on the wall, an apologetic look on her face and kindness in her eyes. Not feeling quite ready to talk, the blonde nodded. The brunette flushed the toilet and knelt behind her and pulled Arizona's hair into a ponytail. She sat behind her, her head finding a spot on Arizona's left shoulder and her hands resting on the blonde's belly, wandering underneath her pajamas top.
"You have to stop to make mommy sick," she whispered and her thumbs slowly stroked the growing belly.
"Once I squeezed you out of there, we're gonna have one hell of a talk buddy!" she whispered grumpily.
Amelia laughed. "You don't know this yet because you're not born, but you don't want to make your mommy mad. Ever. Pissed off is not a good look on her. I mean, sure, she looks hot but it's not worth it, banana."
Arizona chuckled. "Shut up," she said playfully and softly hit her lover's arm.
"What? It's true!"
Barely had she parked the car, Arizona knew this morning trip to the Ikea store was going to be one hell of a show.
"Race you to the carts!" Sofia shrieked excitedly as she slammed her car door and broke into a run.
She ran as fast as her little legs would carry her, her free hair flying around wildly behind her.
"Oh, you're on kid!" Amelia replied, yelling.
She started to follow her, deliberately too slow to let Sofia win but fast enough to be close to her and watch out the cars. Almost there, the little brunette threw her arms in front of her and finally touched the carts.
"I won!" she turned around, a big grin on her face as she held her arms up proudly.
Amelia slowed down and walked up to her, pretending to be out of breath by putting her hands on her knees and breathing harder than necessary.
"No need to brag, Usain Blot," Amelia joked.
Sofia giggled. "Silly Amelia!"
"Mmh-mmh, you're right honey. Silly Amelia," Arizona agreed with a soft smile as she walked up to them.
The pediatric surgeon gently rubbed her lover's back in comfort and took a coin out of her purse to give it to her daughter so she could take a cart out. To Sofia's big disappointment, she still couldn't push it alone because she was too little and her trajectories were still too hazardous.
Amelia grabbed the handle and they all walked into the store. Not even 10 feet in, the troubles began. The brunette grabbed an Ikea wood pencil from the batch and propped it up behind her ear.
"Want a pencil Sof?"
"Yes!"
The neurosurgeon handed one to her and before she could say anything else, Arizona interrupted them.
"Only one by person! We still have plenty at home from last time," she warned them. And by plenty, she meant at least ten.
Amelia turned around, her hand hovering close to the pencils stack as she did her best pout, "But they're free," she argued, pointlessly because she already knew it was a lost battle for her.
Arizona gave her girlfriend a pointed look. "I thought Sofia was the kid."
The brunette raised her hands, as if to say she was innocent. "Mmh-alright. Can we at least take a paper tape measure, mom?"
Arizona squinted her eyes at the two brunettes. "One each," she said with a pointy finger, not trusting either of them to actually listen to her.
Sofia took her mommy's hand in one of her own and Amelia's one into her other, and they strolled down the aisles. But of course, Sofia and Amelia being calm didn't last for long. Not even five minutes later, they were back to their natural, all goofy and dorky-like state.
They both decided that the best way to go to the desk aisle that was located almost in the middle of the store was to cart-surf, because obviously they did, and Arizona couldn't help but roll her eyes. Sometimes, she felt like she had two kids instead of one and a girlfriend, it never felt to tingle her insides to see them so close though. It had taken the neurosurgeon a while to find her place into their family: she wasn't Sofia's mom but she still represented a parental and maternal figure to the little girl.
Finding the right balance had been tricky for Amelia but she wouldn't change it for the world. Sofia and Arizona were her quirky family and the reason she was smiling every day.
Sofia had her feet propped on the lowest metal bar, her hands holding tightly the handle bar next to the adult's ones. Amelia was right behind her, her front glued to the little brunette's back to prevent any falling as she power-walked so they were sliding fast with the cart, eliciting full-on giggles from Sofia. They stopped when they approached the desks.
"Okay, I think we're at desks. Let's have a look around and see what you like, baby," the blonde said. "We should leave the cart here," she said at Amelia, a serious look on her face.
The brunette sent her a soft smile and parked it between two desks. She bowed playfully towards the blonde and extended a hand.
"Mi lady," she said in a horribly fake British accent. "May I have the pleasure of holding your hand as we walk?"
Arizona couldn't help but giggled at the question and placed her hand into Amelia's delicate one. "Of course."
Amelia dropped a kiss on the back of it before lowering their intertwined fingers.
"Dork," the blonde commented joyfully at her girlfriend's attentions and kissed her cheek.
Arizona's thumb was leisurely stroking her lover's skin as they strolled behind their daughter. Sofia was analyzing each new desk she found eye-catching with a serious look, one of her hand on her chin and the other on her hip, her eyes narrowed as she used her paper measuring tape to be sure it could fit in lieu of her old one. The fact that she still had her pencil on her ear made the whole thing even more adorable.
"Should we snap a picture for Callie?" the pediatric surgeon whispered.
"We totally should!" Amelia whispered back excitedly and took her phone out.
She quickly took a snap and sent it to Callie before pocketing back the device. Sofia felt someone ruffled her hair and turned around to see her mommy and Amelia.
"You find anything interesting yet?" Arizona asked.
"Well, I like this one," she pointed next to her, "because it has drawers and it's big so I could spread homework all over and still have place. But I prefer this one," she showed them another, "because one, it's green duh, two, it also has drawers and three, it's smaller than this one but still big enough so I can overlay it with tons of homework."
"Did you measure it Sof?"
"Yep! It's supposed to fit."
"Good job dude!" Amelia offered her a high five.
Both adults read the sign and took a further look at the green wooden piece. Eventually they agreed that it was a good choice, and ordered one with the help of the seller. Since they didn't have anything else to buy, they headed slowly towards the checkouts, aimlessly checking out the other pieces of furniture.
A few minutes later, they stumbled upon the summer section and handed up surrounded by what seemed a thousands of hammocks. Amelia could see the yearning look in both her girlfriend and their daughter's eyes. They used to have one in their backward but after their neighbor's dog had broken loose into their garden and had chewed on it like it was its new tennis ball, it had been quite useless.
"Do you remember that Mr. Riggen's dog died a few months ago?" Arizona asked innocently, as if there wasn't any ulterior motive to this remark when they all knew what she meant by it.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Amelia teased her, smirking.
"No particularly," she shrugged nonchalantly. "Just, you know, thought you should have it in mind, honey."
Amelia laughed. "Oh, so we just happened to walk here when Oggy passed through your mind? It's just a coincidence?"
"Exactly."
They stopped next to the hammock Sofia had climbed in.
"This one is duper super comfortable!" she said animatedly.
"I'm sure it is. But I'm afraid we're gonna need a bigger one. There's only place for one, how are you and banana ever going to fit? We need more room."
Sofia's eyes almost popped out as she sat up briskly, "We're getting one?" she shrieked.
"Mmh-mmh," Amelia nodded.
"But I thought…" Arizona started but couldn't finish her sentence, instead staring at the neurosurgeon with an incredulous smile on her face.
"You're a really bad liar, babe," she kissed the blonde's forehead and squeezed her hand. "Come on, we have a hammock to find," she pulled her further into the aisle.
Twenty minutes later, a new hammock was on their order and they kept on wandering around, ending up into the kitchen area. Of course, the neurosurgeon grabbed the opportunity and opted to pretend she was a realtor selling a house.
"And over here, ladies, we have a beautiful kitchen," she said yet again with a fake English accent. "Beautiful floor as you can see, cedar wood with a perfect polish. Easy cleaning guaranteed. We also have a hundred and twelve drawers, approximately," she opened one and give it a kick with her hip to shut it but it slowed down instead of slamming shut, "Did I mention they were soft closing drawers? Ideal for children."
"Or loud girlfriend," Arizona commented and Sofia giggled.
"Hey! I'll have you know that, at least, I close them now!" Amelia argued. "Would you rather I leave them open like I used to?" she raised an eyebrow.
Arizona shook her head. "Uuh-uuh! I'd rather hear them slamming than having them wide open."
The last area they walked by before the checkouts was the bedding area. So they decided to stop to try some of them. Arizona was actually relieved because they had been walking for a while now and her prosthetic was starting to feel weird.
"Okay, but this is at least the size of half a white shark," Sofia said from where she was laid between the two adults.
"No way, dude! A white shark is too gigantic. This bed maybe big, but it's not that big, it's littler. More like half of a great hammerhead perhaps. Oh! I know! This bed is the size of a grizzly bear."
"No way Amelia! A grizzly bear is smaller than this bed. Have you seen how long it is?"
"Remember when we went to Woodland Park Zoo a while ago? The grizzly bears were quite big."
"Yes but this mattress is huuuuuge. Half a great white shark seems more accurate." Sofia said matter of fact-ly, like this debate was actually something serious. She turned around to look at her mom, "What do you think mommy?"
Arizona opened one of her eyes, "I think you guys are huge dorks and that apparently two minutes of silence is the best you can manage," she joked playfully. "But for some weird and obscure reasons I still love you."
Both of her brunettes giggled.
"We love you too babe," Amelia replied and turned her head to look at her girlfriend's eyes. She could see the small spark in mischief and honestly into the bright blue eyes. "Is your leg feeling better?" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice.
Being four months pregnant was hard, but being four months pregnant and having a prosthetic was ridiculously harder. The prosthetic would dig into her thigh, not enough to cut or pinch the skin but just enough to be uncomfortable. Amelia tried her best to make the blonde feel at ease and cozy by offering massages and warm towels to wrap around her limb but if she was being honest, the closer the date, the more worried Amelia was for the pediatric surgeon. She hoped they would not have to take Arizona's wheelchair out of storage, but as time passed and the belly grew, it seemed more and more likely that they eventually would.
After a late lunch, they started to clear out the table.
"Should we build the hammock or munchkin's new desk today?" the neurosurgeon asked as she cleaned the pans.
"It's a pretty Saturday afternoon, it stopped raining. It would be a shame to not make the most of the rare few rays of sunshine in Seattle. What do you think Sof? Can your desk wait a couple of days?"
"Sure," Sofia shrugged. "I don't have any homework this week end anyway."
"Hammock it is then. Wanna help me build it?" Amelia asked and looked down at the kid.
"Yes!" she said excitedly.
"Oh oh oh, wait. Why are you the site manager and not me?"
Amelia made an apologetic face. "Babe, not to sound insulting but you can't build Ikea furniture for the life of you."
"Not true," said Arizona petulantly, even though they all knew it was indeed, true.
"Yes, it is," Sofia said in her best duh tone. "Remember when you tried to built the self in the living room and you slammed your finger with the hammer and then we had to go to the ER?"
"Who's side are you on, traitor?" Arizona joked.
Sofia gave her an innocent smile and hugged her mother's knees.
Amelia made a cringe face, "You also hammered the nail wrong so the self was leaning," she snaked her arms around the pediatric surgeon's neck, her fingers tangling into honey blonde curls. "How about you and Banana catch a little nap while Sof and me do the work? I know you're tired from this morning and don't think I didn't see you yawning during lunch."
"As much as I hate to admit it, a nap does sound really nice."
The brunette gave her a lopsided smile and pecked her. "Wake you up in forty-forty-five minutes?"
The blonde nodded before collecting a cheek kiss from her daughter and going upstairs to rest.
Arizona's nap was turned short however, since Karev dropped by unannounced merely a few minutes after her head had hit the pillow with scans under his arms. While he and the blonde were talking, Amelia and Sofia were roaming the garden to find the right trees for their new bad boy. Sofia had her tiny pencil tucked safely behind her ear and she looked so proud and cheerful to be part of this project.
"Damn, that kid is cute," Alex said.
Arizona looked up from the scans, seeing her daughter with a screwdriver between her hands, her tongue sticking out in concentration as she tried to screw with all of her seven years old mighty strength. Amelia was working on another piece not far so she could keep a close eye and potentially help out.
The blonde felt a warm fuzzy feeling spread all around her chest. "She is. She gets it from her mommy," she joked playfully and Alex laughed.
It turned out the hammock was surprisingly easy to install and soon, Amelia and their daughter were cuddle up into it, Sofia softly reading her book aloud to the brunette.
"Don't you guys look cozy," Arizona commented as she walked up to them and gently started to rock them.
"We are," Amelia said lazily.
Sofia nodded, "Amelia said I was the bestest helper!"
"Do you have to go in?" Amelia asked, referring to Alex.
The blonde shook her head. "Nothing that can't wait tomorrow."
"Hop in then," the neurosurgeon patted the spot next to her.
Arizona looked suspiciously at her girlfriend. "I'm not sure the hammock would appreciate," she joked.
"Instructions said up to 700 lbs. I think we'll be pretty okay babe. I know you're pregnant and gained a little weight, but I don't think we're there yet," Amelia joked back.
"Fine, here I come," she climbed up with a little help. "Mmh, comfy."
Amelia felt quite all loved up, their daughter on one side and her girlfriend on the other. She kissed both of their foreheads.
"What are we reading Sof?" the blonde asked.
"Harry potter," the kiddo replied. "Can the baby hear me talking yet?" she asked.
"Not yet. Banana's ears are still getting ready," Arizona replied.
"Will you tell me when they're finished building?"
"Sure sweetheart."
Sofia got back to reading aloud but Arizona kept interrupting her since she couldn't remember half of the stuff that had happened into the previous books. Amelia blamed the pregnancy brain.
"Babe, will you just stop? I want to listen, it's a very Sirius book," Amelia said.
"Did you just…?" Arizona looked at her incredulously while Amelia was sporting a smug grin and Sofia was giggling.
The neurosurgeon extended her hand and the little brunette high-fived her.
Arizona gently rubbed her belly. "You're lucky you can't hear your mama's terrible puns yet," she whispered inconspicuously.
"Hey!" she looked down at the belly. "When you're born, your big sister and I are going to make you giggle so hard with all of our puns that mommy will feel a little foolish to even have thought we weren't funny in the first place."
Arizona eventually fell asleep lulled by Sofia's soft voice, finishing the nap she had started earlier. Sofia closed her book and asked the brunette help to get down so she could use the restroom.
The blonde could hear their hushed voices and the hammock swayed under their moves and half complained. "Shh, I'm body building here," she turned a little more on her side to burry herself further into the brunette's shoulder.
Sofia giggled as her feet eventually touched the ground.
"Thanks Amelia," she whispered and ran away to the bathroom.
Amelia placed a kiss on the pediatric surgeon's forehead and her hand strolled up and down her back while the other one rested onto Arizona's growing bump.
A little less than four months into pregnancy, and Arizona's belly was still a little shy, barely making itself known, instead looking more like a food baby rather than a real foetus. Most women by now showed, but most women were also not experiencing morning sickness anymore.
The sun was high but the surrounding trees prevented the women from getting hit too harshly by the rays of sunshine, instead leaving them to enjoy the freshness the trees' shadows offered.
"This feel nice," the brunette whispered, simply because talking any louder than that felt inappropriate and would potentially burst the calm and peaceful bubble they were in.
Arizona sighted happily. "It does. I love you," she murmured back and fell right back in that dreamy-like place between awareness and sleep.
A kiss was placed on her forehead. "I love you too."
