Prompt: "Callie goes to Mark's apartment after American Bake-Off. She takes Sofia's baby monitor with her. Sofia wakes up in the middle of the night and Callie prepares to go to her when she hears Arizona entering her room… so she sits and listens instead… (I like angst/drama+romance but with happy endings.. ;) )"

Callie sat with her head braced on her fist. Every once in a while she glanced over at Arizona to see if she might know what her wife was thinking. Every time Zo's face was as neutral as before. There wasn't the resentful glare as usual, but still she was missing that perky glow Callie fell in love with. It was depressing to live with someone who used to be the love of her life. Arizona was not herself yet Callie was waiting… holding on to her physical presence hoping to get her love back one day.

Her deep thought caused her glance to linger too long and Arizona caught her looking.

"What," she snapped, unwilling to except Callie's pity in any way. "You didn't have to stay. If you just want to stare, you can leave."

And there it was. That anger came bubbling up like destructive lava, burning through the little bit of hope Callie had when she was invited to stay. She rolled her eyes and huffed with frustration. She hadn't done anything but try to save her marriage and here Arizona was, yelling at her again.

"Fine! I'm going..." she got up and trumped towards the door. With the knob in her hand she was going to leave, but stopped in her tracks. She didn't get it. How could her gaze, loving and concerned, be so off-putting to the woman who was supposed to love her most?

"...I miss you. Do you hear me Arizona? I miss you and us and our family. What we're doing now is... is nothing. This whole house is empty and it's killing me!"

Arizona bit her lip in efforts to stay calm. She knew all the truths and wasn't interested in recanting all her wrong-doings. She had left the hospital ready to move on, but suddenly she felt more morbid than ever before.

"I know that! You think I like being so broken. I'm some raging bitch Callie. This mangled version of myself and I... hate it." Her voice broke from all the emotions she constantly suppressed. The guilt, the remorse, the sorrow. "I hate myself," she finished in a whisper.

Callie turned back toward the couch and watched as silent tears rolled down her wife's hardened features. "We can be happy again Arizona. Sofia misses you so much. She never sleeps and it's because she can't find her momma. We have to try and be happy for our little girl." Callie stepped forward, hoping the blonde was going to soften, and listen, and embrace her maybe.
Instead the blonde whipped her head around and shot a vicious look at Callie.

"Don't tell me how much Sofia misses me. You think I have to be reminded that I'm the only one that can get her to sleep. I'm supposed to be there for her but I can't be. I can't do anything! You don't need to remind me." her words were dripping with venom and disgust. Her daughter was her whole world and not being there for Sofia sent Arizona into a manic fury.

The night was clearly headed downhill. Callie clenched her fists and clamped her jaw shut. She was not going to retaliate because she was still being the bad guy, accepting that role so that her wife might one day become her old self again.

"You know what... Just… good night. I have the baby monitor and work at 6. Me and Sofia will be gone by the time you're up. So yeah..." Callie let her hands fall and smack against her sides. She was giving up for the night. There was no winning this one.

As the door slammed shut Arizona flinched at the loud crash. The sound reverberated through her body, pounding out the misplaced anger she was harboring in that moment. She was unimaginably conflicted. How could she want to do one thing, but end up doing something else… something worse?

Xxx

Sofia's soft cry is enough to wake Callie from her shallow slumber in Mark's bed. Never will she have a good night's sleep in his place, but she and Arizona aren't there yet, at a point where they can sleep together. She had lost hope too, because tonight was the first time in a long time they spent time together without Arizona being angry… and even that was a fleeting experience. One episode of American Bakeoff wasn't enough to get them back in the same room, especially not the way it ended.

Since her girl wasn't too fussy Callie tried to see if the baby would put herself back to sleep. After about 10 minutes however, she gave up on that and dragged herself out of the bed. She was walking to get her robe when she heard something else on the monitor.

"Arizona," she whispered out loud into the darkness of Mark's room. She thought maybe she mistook some static for the sound of her wife's movement.

"Shhh," she heard someone whisper over the monitor. It had to be Arizona. There was some rustling that Callie couldn't identify but assumed is was her wife trying to maneuver on her own.

XXX

Arizona wheeled her chair into the nursery and tried to talk Sofia back to sleep, but she knew all too well what the pitchy whining meant- she just wanted to be held. All Sofia needed was for her momma to scoop her up and hold her.

It took all of the blonde's will not to cry right along with Sofia, but she knew it would only wake Callie. Instead she furled her brow and looked around the room thoughtfully.

Somehow she was going to get her girl.

She went about dragging the rocking chair over by the crib and practically wore herself out doing that alone. Still, she grabbed onto the bars of the crib and pulled herself up onto her only leg. She ignored how her muscles trembled with exhaustion and leaned over the railing to lift Sofia out. As soon as she had her, she turned a bit and let her weight fall into the rocking chair. There was really no way of her standing back up with the baby in her arms, but she didn't really care.

XXX

Callie sat as still as possible so she didn't make any competing noise. She was sure after a few minutes that Arizona was trying to get Sofia. Initially she considered going to help but figured it would only lead to an angry wife and a fussier baby.

Nervously she sat listening, hoping against hope that nothing went wrong, that Arizona wouldn't fall. She let out a sigh of relief as she heard her drop into the creaky, wooden rocking chair in the nursery.

xxx

"Hey sweet girl," Arizona sighed into Sofia's beautiful black hair. "Hi… momma missed you. I missed you so, so much." Already Sofia's eyes drooped with fatigue, her mind infinitely calmer whilst in her momma's arms.

"I'm so sorry for leaving you. I didn't mean to baby. I was just-just…so angry and scared. I'm a little messed up." Arizona's tears fell unashamedly as she spoke softly to her daughter. It was freeing for her to finally confess to someone, and even better for it to be the little girl who'd stolen her heart.

"I love you Sofia. I love you, I love you, I love you. Okay? You hear me sweet girl? I love you. And I promise to never leave you again."

Sof's gentle snores brought a smile to Arizona's face but only spurred her tears on further. As she gazed down at her precious girl curled up in her arms, she remembered why she was so in love with Sofia in the first place- Calliope.

"I did something bad today Sof. I yelled at mami for…well I don't even know why. And she loves me so much, I know, but I just feel so angry sometimes. But… that's no excuse, I know baby." She let her head fall back against the chair and stared into the night's stillness. She felt terribly lonely in that moment. She knew she had pushed her wife away and feared she might have pushed too far.

"I miss your mami. I guess I... I left you both…"

xxx

Hearing all of this was simply overwhelming for Callie. She couldn't sort out her emotions as she listened attentively. Every word was like the apology she'd been waiting for, except Arizona wasn't telling her, she was telling Sofia. Was that fair? Didn't Callie deserve to have her wife back as much as Sofia deserved her mom?

Xxx

Arizona feels sleep taking her away as she rocks in the old chair that used to be her mom's when her and Tim were little. The silence was sickening almost. Every time her mind fell into a dream the loneliness yanked her back to reality.

She sighed solemnly. Surely sleep wouldn't come tonight.

She propped her foot onto her wheel chair and sunk into her seat. Leaned back far enough Sofia could practically lay on her chest without being held. The little girl was deep into her resting unconsciousness, happily nestled against Arizona's body. Soon her snores weren't enough to keep her momma from going crazy in the silence. Instead she kept on talking to the sleeping baby.

"What should I say Sof? Huh sweet girl? Should I tell the truth? That I blamed her. It wasn't mami's fault but I blamed her. Then I hated everyone, especially myself, because I thought… well you don't need to hear that. Do you boo?" She sighed into the darkness and thought some more before continuing.

"I'll skip that maybe… I'll get right to it. I'll say 'Calliope Torres, I am very undeserving of you, and your heart. I vowed to love you unconditionally then turned my back in a time of need. But I'm willing to admit to that and say sorry. Sorry for hurting you, and leaving you, and breaking all my promises too'."

Sofia shifted a little and wrapped her tiny fist around Arizona's shirt. "You think that's good Sof? I think that's good…"

"I think it's perfect," Callie suggested from the doorway. Arizona was surprisingly unfazed by her presence. Maybe because before, this had been their routine with Sofia- Arizona arriving first, then Callie.

"You don't have to remind me. I know you love me Arizona." The very words the blonde had used earlier were twisted into an expression of love and loyalty. It tore her apart to feel so guilty about hurting her wife.

"But you should feel it too," Arizona said, barely able to keep her composure. Her walls came crumbling down as she stopped fighting it. She let her guard fall for good. "I want you feel loved, Calliope. Be… because you're my… my heart. And I can't stand to keep hurting you."

Callie rushed over as tears turned to heavy sobs. She leaned down and kissed Arizona without thinking. She kissed her until her tears stopped and her breathing calmed. She kissed her until Arizona kissed her back. As she tilted away to speak she closed her eyes. She had missed those lips.

"I don't care where you've been. I don't care that you left, and blamed me, and everything else. I don't care! All I care about is getting you back. I want you back."

Arizona placed a hand on Callie's cheek and guided her into another quick kiss. "I'm here. I promise I'm right here." They couldn't disconnect if they wanted to at this point. "I love you, Calliope. Please believe me."

Their lips grazed by each other lightly, familiarizing themselves again.

"I know, Arizona. I feel you, I know you're here. I love you too."