A/N: As promised, I'm going to upload every other friday, and I thought I might as well start it off by surprising y'all with a chapter today/tonight since it's friday! (It's night here in Denmark, so...) I hope you all like the next chapter. You probably all know from my other stories that I hate writing suspense, so I'll probably never write a story where they're apart for like, ten chapters. But as some of you suggested, Callie WILL work to get Arizona back. For sure. And thank you for all your sweet words about my last chapter!
"Alright, eat up girls" Arizona said to her daughters as they sat on a picnic blanket in the middle of the park. It was Saturday, and she always took the weekends off to be with her daughters.
They happily ate when Emma spoke up. "Hey, is that Callie?"
Arizona looked where her daughter pointed. Sure enough, Callie was walking towards them. "Hey" Callie said when she stood in front of them.
"Hey" The Robbins women said in unison.
"I was just walking by and saw you sitting here. Can I join you?"
"Sure" Arizona said, gesturing for Callie to sit down. Callie sat down and Arizona smiled shyly at her. "Thanks for the flowers. They were beautiful"
Callie smiled a heart-stopping smile. And that was what Arizona's heart did. It stopped for a couple of seconds before kick starting again. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and her palms were sweating. This was bad. Very bad. "You're welcome. I meant every single word"
"I-I know. I just, uh…"
"Why the stuttering?" Callie asked confused.
Arizona laughed nervously. "You know you've always had that effect on me"
Callie smiled. "What did I do?"
"You smiled with that smile reserved for me…"
"I sure did"
"Aw…" Emma and Mila said in unison.
Arizona rolled her eyes and laughed. "You watch too many romantic movies" She told her daughters.
"That's because you watch them all the time while crying your eyes out" Emma teased.
Callie laughed. "You don't changed at all, did you?"
"Only for the better. I fell in love with my kids"
"Do you have kids, Callie?" Emma asked.
"No" Callie said, shaking her head. "One, because my dream was to have kids with your mom. And I ruined that. Two, I got cancer and they had to take all my eggs out to save them"
"You had cancer?" Arizona asked in shock.
Callie nodded. "In my brain. We caught it fairly quickly. I've been healthy for five years now. But no kids. I'm having surgery soon to put the eggs back in place, though"
"I wish I could have been there" Arizona said softly.
"Me too" Callie said with a small smile before looking at the girls. "Do you all want to hang out with me today? My treat"
"What are we doing?" Mila asked.
"Well… We could go to the zoo or go swimming. I'm up for anything but camping, because I know your mother would kill me"
"You got that right" Arizona giggled.
Emma and Mila looked at each other. That was the first time they'd heard their mother giggle when she wasn't being tickled. "I'm in" Emma said.
"Me too" Mila piped in.
"Me too" Arizona said softly.
Arizona was sitting on a blanket with Emma on the sand by Percy Priest Lake in their bikinis, Arizona smiling widely when she saw Callie throwing Mila over her shoulder and running for the water while Mila squealed with laughter. "CALLIE, NO!" Mila squealed.
Emma looked up at her mom. "You should give her a chance. She's great"
"I know she is, sweetie. But she still broke my heart" Arizona said before looking down at her daughter. "Do you and Mila like her?"
Emma nodded. "She's amazing. We really like her"
"I'm just afraid she won't like it here and then you two get attached and she'll leave"
"Mom, she clearly learned from her mistakes."
Arizona nodded. "I know. I just need a little time before I can give her another chance." She said as Callie walked back with Mila on her back, both with blinding smiles on their lips. "God, she's beautiful" She whispered to herself.
"Good luck trying to be friends" Emma giggled.
"I'm screwed."
"LANGUAGE!" Mila said.
"You have very good ears, honey" Arizona giggled as Mila dried her body off before getting on the blanket, cuddling into her mom.
Callie sat down across from them, putting her beach sweatshirt over her body, covering down to below her hips, leaving the rest bare. "I heard you're playing tonight." Callie told the girls.
Emma smiled. "Yes. Are you coming?"
"Of course I'm coming!" Callie said excitedly.
Emma decided to interrogate Callie a little. "Do you like Nashville?"
"God, I love it here. I always have. Before your mother and I split up, we used to visit your grandparents sometimes and I used to love it. It's so cozy. I know I've always loved Miami because it's so warm, but I also love that it's seasonal here. Here it's sun, snow, rain, storm. Miami is just pure sun. I like to not dress up every day. I love being cozy. I'm in love with Nashville and the people here"
That was all Emma wanted to hear.
Arizona simply couldn't take her eyes off Callie. As soon as Callie walked into the family bar in a long red flannel with a plain, white dress underneath, her hair straightened and her makeup light, Arizona felt like she couldn't breathe. When they locked eyes, Callie smiled that megawatt smile, walking up to Arizona. "Hey, you look good" Callie said, wrapping Arizona into a hug. It was their first hug in sixteen years. Arizona clung to Callie desperately, burying her face in a tanned neck.
"Hey" Arizona said. She quickly realized what she was doing and pulled away, blushing as she looked at her smiling daughters. "And thank you" She said, looking down at her mint blue swing dress with long sleeves. "You um… You look beautiful" She said when she looked up again.
Callie grinned. That was the first compliment she'd gotten from the love of her life in sixteen years. "Thank you" She said, placing an innocent kiss on Arizona's cheek. The kiss made Arizona's heart threaten to beat right out of her chest. "Are you ready, girls?" Callie asked.
"Yea. We're just waiting for it to be our turn" Emma said.
Callie felt eyes on her and looked at Arizona who was staring at her. "What?"
"N-nothing." Arizona stuttered, snapping her eyes away.
Callie grinned widely and leaned back in the booth next to Arizona, putting her arm on the back and hoping Arizona would soon lean back. Suddenly a voice on the stage was heard and it was the owner of the bar. "And now to every other Saturday's highlight. Our very own Emma and Mila Robbins!" He said, people cheering all around the bar.
"Go kick some ass" Callie said.
"Callie" Mila sighed. "Language!"
Callie laughed and Arizona giggled, the girls moving to the stage. Emma adjusted the microphone to her mouth after plugging in her guitar, Mila holding hers in her hand. "Hey. We're Emma and Mila and we're going to play some original songs and a couple of covers. This one is 'Ho Hey' by The Lumineers." Emma said before starting to play.
As soon as Callie heard their voices, she dropped her jaw. "Holy shit, they're good"
Arizona smiled. "They're amazing. Emma has been singing ever since she was six and I taught her to play the guitar. As soon as Mila could, she started joining her all by herself." Arizona said, leaning back in her seat and watching her daughters play.
"This next song is written by our mom and a friend of hers. Here comes 'A life that's good'" Mila said.
Callie snapped her head to Arizona. "What?"
Arizona bit her bottom lip. "Emma found the song a week ago or so, apparently." She said as Emma started singing.
Sittin' here tonight,
By the fire light,
it reminds me I already have more than I should.
Mila joined and the sound was breathtaking.
I don't need fame, no one to know my name,
at the end of the day,
Lord I pray, I have a life that's good.
Two arms around me, heaven to ground me,
and a family that always calls me home,
Four wheels to get there, enough love to share
and a sweet sweet sweet song
Callie swiped Arizona's hair on one shoulder, Arizona looking up at her ex-girlfriend as she started drawing patterns along the back and the base of her neck.
At the end of the day,
Lord I pray,
I have a life that's good.
Sometimes I'm hard on me,
When dreams don't come easy,
I wanna look back and say,
I did all that I could,
Yeah at the end of the day, Lord I pray,
I have a life that's good.
Callie let a tear slip. It was hers and Arizona's song and it was sung so beautifully.
Two arms around me, heaven to ground me,
and a family that always calls me home,
Four wheels to get there, enough love to share
and a sweet sweet sweet song
At the end of the day, Lord I pray
I have a life that's good
At the end of the day, Lord I pray
I have a life that's good
The music faded out but Callie didn't stop her ministrations, and Arizona let her continue. She grabbed Callie's free hand in hers and held it before looking up at her. "This doesn't mean a second chance. I just need some time."
Callie nodded. "I get it" She said as Arizona leaned her head on her shoulder. "I still hope you'll give me that second chance, though"
"Me too" Arizona whispered to herself.
"You were amazing up there" Callie said as Mila plopped down in her lap after their little gig. Arizona had moved a little away from her when the girls were done.
"Thank you" The girls said in unison.
"What about we all go back to the house and watch a movie?" Arizona offered.
"All of us? Callie too?" Mila asked.
Arizona smiled. "Callie too"
