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"So, here we are," Barbara announced as she led the couple into their bedroom for the next few days. "This is Arizona's old room."
"Wow." Callie looked around. The room still had traces of childhood in it—the flowered wallpaper, the teddy bear on the bookshelf, the white bed-skirt lining the bed—but otherwise resembled a guestroom with a large dresser, double bed, and adjoining bathroom.
Arizona walked to the window and opened the curtains.
"Oh." Callie looked out and had a perfect view of the pier from between sparse trees. "That's beautiful." She turned back to face Barbara. "So, um, where will I be sleeping?"
"Oh, darlin'," Barbara laughed. "We aren't under any illusions that you two don't sleep in the same bed. I know you probably think we're some southern old farts, but love is love in this house. Ain't that right, Arizona?"
Arizona smiled at her mom. "Right."
"Daniel and I may not have 'felt the Bern,'" Barbara continued, "But we don't like that clown in the White House any more than you ladies do."
Suddenly, a cat came slinking into the room, and Callie took a step back. "Oh. Wait. Okay. There's an animal." She raised her hands into a makeshift shield.
"Is this Percy?!" Arizona walked toward the cat, careful not to scare it just as Richard walked in.
"Sorry about that. He must have heard you and gotten curious."
"That's okay." Arizona lifted the cat into her arms, and he began to purr as she petted him. "Look how cute you are," she cooed. She looked over at Callie. "You wanna hold him?"
Instinctively, Callie took a step back.
Arizona read her horrified expression. "Is Callie Torres afraid of cats?" she asked in disbelief.
"I didn't spend much time around animals as a kid," Callie defended.
Arizona laughed, and Richard promised, "He won't hurt you. He'll probably stay away from you. You just can't let him outside."
"That's true," Barbara confirmed. "The coyotes will eat him."
Callie's eyebrows flew up. "Coyotes?"
"Oh, don't panic." Arizona rolled her eyes. "You'll repel them with your perfume."
"Well, I better be heading home," Richard decided. "I'll see you all tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Richard," Barbara smiled, then walked over and grabbed the cat from Arizona and kissed her cheek. "Your father and I best be getting to bed, too." She began making her way toward the door. "Goodnight, you two."
"Goodnight, Mom."
"Goodnight, Barbara," Callie smiled, able to function again without the cat close by. "Thank you so much for everything."
As soon as the woman closed the door behind her, Callie and Arizona exhaled sighs of relief.
As Callie changed into her pajamas in the bathroom, Arizona set up her sleeping bag on the floor. She had originally intended to snuggle inside, but she soon remembered that Alabama was swelteringly hot in the summer, and she settled for lying on top of it instead.
"I guess it's been a while since you've been home," Callie began conversationally.
"Well, I haven't exactly had a lot of time off."
Callie poked her head out of the bathroom. "Hey, um, close your eyes, okay?"
"Okay," Arizona agreed.
"Are they closed?"
Arizona's eyes remained open. "Completely."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Arizona lied.
Callie scurried to the bed in a tiny silk nightgown, and Arizona followed her with her eyes. "That's what you decided to wear to a tiny town in Alabama?"
"I had been under the impression that I was going to stay in a hotel," Callie defended. "Alone."
Arizona sighed. "Let's just go to bed."
"Fine."
"Fine."
Early the next morning, Callie's and Arizona's sleep was interrupted by the blaring ring of Callie's phone.
"Arizona!" Callie whisper-yelled.
"Mmm," Arizona moaned.
"Arizona! Where's the phone?"
"Purse. Side pocket," Arizona answered through her teeth.
Fumbling through her purse, Callie finally located her phone and hurried to pick up. "Hello?" She paused. "Oh, hi! Cristina. Can you hear me?" Another pause. Callie paced back and forth across the room, the old floorboards creaking with every step. "Louder?" Her voice rose in volume. "Is this better?"
"OH MY GOD," Arizona exclaimed, losing patience. "Callie! Go outside!"
"Fine!" With that, Callie hurried down the stairs and flung open the front door without one look back.
She walked into the morning air that instantly disgusted her. How could it already be so hot so early in the morning?
"Cristina? Hello? Hello. I'm here." She paused, listening to the woman on the other side of the line. "Okay, so Random House is wining and dining you. You don't even like wine!" She waited. "Cristina, you're making the right call to publish with us. I care about your manusc-" Callie looked up to find a small grey cat making its way down the front steps and instantly cursed. "Shit."
She ran toward Percy, who had managed to get out. She supposed she perhaps should have closed the front door behind her. "Percy!" she called, unsuccessfully attempting to soften her hard tone. "Percy! Go back inside!"
The cat continued moving forward onto the grass, fearless despite the fact that he'd never been outside before.
"What? Sorry, Cristina. I'm here." She held the phone away from her lips. "PERCY. Get over here!"
The cat made no move toward her.
Callie attempted to keep her focus on her phone conversation. "What can I do for you that would make you feel more secure? Anything you need." She paused then hissed, "Percy!"
She began stalking toward him and a few seconds later responded, "Fine. Cristina, I will send you an endless supply of tequila once you publish. I promise." The cat began ambling toward the road. "I've gotta go!" Callie dropped her phone to the grass without one look back, cringing when she heard a loud cracking sound rather than the soft fall she had expected.
But it was too late. She instead raced toward the cat and, to her dismay, Percy bolted in the opposite direction. "Damn it."
Still half-asleep, Arizona walked downstairs to find her mother standing by the front window, giggling.
Arizona yawned as she came to stand beside her. "What's so funny?"
Barbara gestured toward the scene outside. Arizona watched as Callie stood frozen, entirely focused on a spot on the grass. It was only when she saw a small shape take off, with Callie sprinting after, that Arizona realized that it was the cat.
Barbara laughed. "She's playing with Percy!"
But Arizona knew better. With a sigh, she pushed past her mother and headed outside, walking toward Callie with her arms crossed over her chest. "What are you doing?" she demanded.
Callie at last managed to grab the cat and held him tightly in her arms as she answered. "He got out!" she exclaimed. "And your mom and Richard said the coyotes would eat him! So I tried to grab him, but he kept running off! And I think I broke my phone." She looked down at the grass, attempting to locate it.
Arizona moved closer. "Are you drunk?"
"What? No!" Callie defended. "I had to get the cat, so I dropped my phone, and-" She suddenly raced forward and picked up the iPhone she found at her feet. Shattered. It had fallen on the metal sprinklers and refused to turn on. "Damn it!" she swore. "Cristina's calling me on that phone!"
"Relax, okay?" Arizona countered. "We'll get you another phone in town tomorrow."
"Really?" Callie asked, still a little out of breath.
"Yeah."
"Oh. Okay," Callie exhaled, relieved. She saw Barbara standing in the doorway of the house with a can of cat food and set down Percy. "We're good, then."
"Actually, you need to go get ready," Arizona informed her.
"What? For what?"
"You're going out with Mom and Richard."
Callie made a face. "I don't want to go ou-"
"Shopping," Arizona continued as if she hadn't heard her. "Sightseeing. It's a surprise."
"I hate shopping."
"No, you love it."
"I hate sightseeing!" Callie whined.
"It's going to be great," Arizona lied, feeling a little smug.
"I'm not going!"
"Yes, you are," Arizona insisted. "Now, give me a hug. We don't want her to think we're fighting."
"I'm not gon-"
"Come on," Arizona insisted. "Hug time."
"I don't wanna, I don't wa-"
Arizona reached out and pulled an unwilling Callie to her.
"Arizona-" Callie complained.
"There we go," Arizona interrupted, looking to where her smiling mother was watching them from inside the house. "That's nice, huh?" She rubbed Callie's back, attempting to put on a good show.
Callie's arms remained at her sides. "Can we be done now?"
"Not yet." Arizona held the woman for another few moments then loosened her grasp. "Okay. Now we're done."
"Great," Callie clipped and headed for the house, muttering, "Time to go shopping."
Before Barbara left for the day's activities, she told Arizona that her dad was looking for her, so Arizona slowly made her way to the garage after eating breakfast. That had always been Daniel's sanctuary and the place he spent the most of his time.
When she walked in, Daniel looked up from his sawing.
"You wanted to see me?" Arizona prompted.
"Your mother wanted me to build a few more birdhouses," he began conversationally. He went back his work for a minute. "Anyway," he continued, "she's a little upset with me for not being more friendly yesterday."
Arizona waited.
"Of course it was a little bit of a shock to find out that you were getting married when none of us knew that you were even dating. But…" He paused to clear his throat. "I'm sorry."
Arizona offered him a small smile. "It's already forgotten, Dad."
"Still…" The man paused, looking down at his woodwork instead of at Arizona.
Again, Arizona waited. Her father didn't speak much and, when he did, he spoke slowly. She was well-accustomed to it.
"Arizona, what are you doing with her?" he finally asked. "I mean, you hated her. Every time you called us, you went on and on about how much you hated her."
Arizona shrugged, brushing off the comments—even though they were true. "Things change. We figured out that we were made for each other," she lied. "You know, with all the time we spent together, all the late nights, all th-"
"Book fairs, I know," he finished for her. "It just seems…out of character. I worry that things are getting bad for you, again."
Arizona knit her eyebrows together, already resenting her father's doubt in her. "What do you mean?"
His gaze on her tightened. "You know damn well what I mean. And your mother and I can't look after you if you're on the other side of the country." He paused, then made his point: "I think it's time that you move home."
"What?" Arizona snapped, instinctually taking a step back. "No way."
"Now listen here, young lady," Daniel countered. "W-"
"No." Arizona took another step toward the door, distancing herself from her father's authority. She was in her thirties, for crying out loud. She wasn't under her father's control. Not anymore. "I'm fine," she vowed. "I'm happy in Seattle. And with Callie."
"Arizona, I'm not going to stand aside and let you sabotage yourself and marry a woman just for a promotion."
"Oh, great, Dad," Arizona fought back. "It's great to see that you think so much of me. That's great. Thanks."
Daniel sighed. "Arizona, it's not that, it's j-"
Arizona cut him off before he could finish. "You know what? I don't have to listen to this. I'm leaving, Dad."
Callie was fingering dusty collectible spoons at the Olde South Antique Mall when Barbara came over to stand beside her. "What do you think? Neat spot, huh?"
"Very," Callie lied. "There are so many…antiques." She couldn't think of anything else nice to say.
Barbara smiled. "It's one of the treasures of this town. You should've seen how much Arizona loved it when she was a kid. She could've spent all day and night here, if we had let her."
A few yards away, inspecting a signed baseball, Richard said, "She did once. Remember that time she got locked in after hours?"
Callie's eyebrows flew up. "She got locked in? Here? At night?" Looking around at all the animal heads mounting the walls, she couldn't imagine how terrifying that must have been.
"Oh, yeah," Barbara giggled. "That sweet girl fell asleep in one of the old armchairs, so she didn't hear the closing announcement, and the shopkeeper didn't know she was here, so he just locked her in and left."
"What did she do?" Callie wondered, genuinely curious.
"She woke up terrified, as you can imagine, and called Richard here to come get her.
That confused Callie. "She didn't call you? Or maybe the police?"
That made Barbara laugh. "Oh, darlin', Richard was the police."
"I was the county police chief," Richard explained. "Just retired last year."
"Oh," was all that Callie said, but she was impressed.
A second later, a high-pitched voice prompted, "Barbara? Is that you?"
Callie made a face. She knew that voice instantaneously. She wondered whether it would be rude to ask the girl to speak differently. That was how annoying her voice was.
"April!" Barbara exclaimed, then noticed the woman following behind the redhead. "Carly! What are y'all doing here?"
"We were just doing a little shopping," Carly answered. "Izzie's wedding is coming up, and we were looking for something good to get her." She smiled at Callie. "Hey, Callie."
Callie smiled back despite herself. The woman was actually kind of charming.
"Are you giving Callie the grand tour?" she asked Barbara and Richard.
"We are," Richard nodded. "We're off to Mr. Gene's next. You two want to come along for some ice cream?"
As they began the short walk to the ice cream stop, Callie found herself walking beside Richard. Something about his presence was calming to her. He seemed like such a father-figure, and she sensed that he had lived a long life and had a fair amount of wisdom to impart.
"Hey, Richard?" she began. "Is there a reason The Colonel didn't come with us today?" She sensed that Arizona's father was suspicious of her, and that instantly had made her feel self-conscious.
"Don't you worry about Daniel," Richard promised. "He's always been more of a loner. Prefers to brood and build in his garage than interact with other people. Especially now."
"Oh," Callie nodded, though she didn't completely understand what the man meant. Still, she was glad to know that The Colonel didn't hate her. She hoped he didn't, anyway.
After ice cream, the crew walked down the main road, window-shopping and chatting about the slow Alabama life while Callie listened in.
As she stopped to cringe at a window display of hideous bathing suits, Carly stopped with her. "You thinking of getting one?"
Callie made a face. "I think I'd rather eat dirt."
The woman laughed. "I guess the styles here are a little different from what you're used to."
"No kidding."
Carly fixed her eyes on her. "This town's a little different from Seattle, huh?"
Callie nodded. "Little bit." She turned toward the woman as they began walking again. "You ever been?"
"No," Carly shook her head. "That was always Arizona's dream."
"You guys were pretty serious, huh?"
"Well, I mean, we dated in high school and all through college, but we were kids."
Gaining courage, Callie wondered, "Why did you guys call it off?"
Carly looked down. "Well, um, I broke things off after Tim died."
Callie gave her a questioning look. "Tim?"
Carly responded with her own surprised expression. "Her brother?" She searched Callie's face for any sign of recognition. "She didn't tell you about Tim?"
Callie shook her head.
"Man," Carly sighed. "Typical Arizona."
"What do you mean?"
"You knew she had a brother, though, didn't you?"
Callie nodded. "She's mentioned him. I didn't know he'd died."
Carly forced her lips up into a sad smile. "He was killed in action. It'll be ten years in a few weeks."
Callie didn't know what to say.
"She was just so sad, afterwards," Carly continued. "So…angry. But we were okay. We were good for a while. And she said she loved me and needed me, but…" She paused. "I was scared that if I kept being the person she fell on, she would never face her own demons and accept all the unfairness that had happened to her. That she'd never completely heal."
Carly had a faraway look in her eyes, and Callie stayed quiet. She found herself wondering whether the woman had hoped that she and Arizona would find their way back to each other one day. She wondered if the woman resented her.
"Well, anyway," Carly exhaled, refocusing on the conversation, "You're a lucky girl. She really is the best. Which you obviously already know." She laughed.
"Oh. Yep." Callie nodded. "Totally."
As they passed the waterfront on the car-ride home, Barbara regretted, "Oh no."
Callie looked out the window, wondering what the problem was. "What's wrong?"
Richard pointed to the pier, and Callie could just barely make out Arizona standing on it, pacing back and forth.
Barbara began driving faster. "Something's up. We better just give her time to cool off."
Once they got to the house, Richard went upstairs to go find Percy, and Barbara immediately found Daniel in the garage. "Why is Arizona out there on the pier again?"
"Oh, Barb, how should I know?" Daniel lied.
Within hearing distance, Callie stood still, not wanting the creaky floors to give away the fact that she was listening.
"What did you do?" Callie heard Barbara ask.
"I didn't do anything!" Daniel defended. "I was just…expressing some concern about her decisions."
"Well, that's a good idea," Barbara countered sarcastically. "That's a good idea, Daniel, because she will never come back home now. She is my daughter, and I only get to see her every three years because of you!"
"It's not because of me, and you know it!" Daniel fought.
"You remind her!" Barbara insisted. "You insist on reminding her how much she hurt after Tim. Of how much his death hurt her."
Callie began climbing up the stairs on her tiptoes, feeling a little guilty for listening in. The last thing she heard was Barbara's, "If we're not careful, we are going to end up in this big house, just you and me, alone. Just you and me and everything we're sad and angry about. And god forbid that they should have a grandchild that we never get to see! You are going to fix this, Daniel. I mean it. You are going to make Callie and Arizona feel welcome."
Once upstairs, Callie didn't go to shower right away, as she originally had planned. Instead, she found herself opening and shutting the doors, giving herself a little tour of the upstairs rooms of the house.
Barbara and The Colonel's room was easy to identify. Then there was a hall closet, a bathroom, and…
The next door Callie opened led to a boy's room. It was laid out like Arizona's, but it was masculine, with posters of sports teams and rock bands and dark, subdued colors. It smelled dusty, too. As if no one had dared enter in a long time.
"They still haven't been able to clean it."
Callie jumped in surprise, instantly slamming the door shut. She turned around to find Richard standing directly behind her. "I'm sorry. I was just-"
"You were just snooping," Richard answered knowingly. "That's all right. I'd be curious about him, too."
"Right," Callie breathed. So it had been Tim's room.
"Why don't you go see how Arizona's doing?" the man suggested. "It's a short walk over there, and I'm sure she'd appreciate you going."
She hitched her thumb over her shoulder. "I was actually, uh, going to shower," she informed him. Then, briefly looking back at Tim's bedroom door, she again muttered, "Sorry."
Half an hour later, Arizona walked into her room with her music blaring through her headphones, feeling appropriately recovered from her little chat with her dad.
At the same time, Callie shut off the water in the shower only to realize that she had forgotten to bring a towel into the bathroom. "Shit." She looked around her, but all she could find was a measly washcloth. She knew that alone would not suffice.
As Arizona stood in her closet and began stripping off her clothes to shower, Callie thought she heard movement nearby.
"Hello?" she prompted, waiting for a response. "Hello?" She opened the bathroom door and peeked out. The closet doors were wide open and obstructed her view of much of the room. Still, she didn't see anyone else in there. "Hello?"
She spotted a pile of towels on the dresser and began walking forward, sheltering her more intimate parts with the thin washcloth she had.
And then, suddenly, there was Percy, sitting on the carpet in front of her, glaring. Or, well, maybe the cat was only staring, but Callie felt that the expression was malevolent.
"Oh, no," Callie breathed. "You again." She backed away from him, too afraid to move toward him. Once she was back in the bathroom, she decided that if she could only lure Percy inside, she could lock him in the bathroom and safely away from her.
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty," she began, working to make her voice sweet. "Come here, Percy. Here kitty, kitty." The cat began heading toward her and, soon, he was in the bathroom, too.
Callie hurried to make her speedy escape, running forward and closing the door behind her, with the cat stranded inside. She didn't even look where she was going and, wet and naked, she ran directly into Arizona with a wet SPLAT.
Both women screamed in horror upon impact. "OH MY GOD."
"WHY ARE YOU WET?" Arizona wondered.
"WHY ARE YOU NAKED?"
"Oh my god, oh my god," Callie cursed. "Don't look at me!"
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Arizona screamed, her music still blasting. "WHY ARE YOU WET?"
"Don't look at me!" Callie commanded. She looked at Arizona. "Oh, god, you're showing everything, you're-"
Arizona quickly wrapped a towel around herself, and Callie grabbed a quilt from the bed to hide behind. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF," she demanded.
"'EXPLAIN' MYSELF?"
"YES. EXPLAIN YOURSELF," Callie demanded again.
"I was in the closet!"
"Oh, and you didn't hear me?" Callie asked in disbelief.
"I was listening to music!" Arizona defended. "What are you even doing home? And you're just going to…jump me out of nowhere? If you were that bi-curious, you could have just said so."
"Oh, please. For the record, I'm not 'curious,' I'm just bi, and I didn't mean to jump you! Your cat was going to attack me! And I had to run, and…I ran into you." Callie trailed off.
Arizona looked disgusted. "What is it with you and this cat?"
"Nothing! Just…go. Go take a shower. You stink."
"Well it's hot out," Arizona countered. She opened the bathroom door and Percy came running out.
"See!" Callie pointed at him. "He was going to attack me!"
"Oh, yeah," Arizona mocked, "He's deadly. I barely made it out with my life."
Callie just glared at her.
That night, as they lay down to sleep—with Callie on the bed and Arizona on the floor—they were silent, still feeling awkward after the events of earlier that day. Arizona was thinking about how Callie had revealed that she was bisexual (this was news to her—she hadn't thought that the woman had the capacity to love, much less love two genders), and Callie was thinking about just how…naked Arizona had been.
Finally, to break the silence, Arizona offered, "So, SO naked."
A little embarrassed, Callie cleared her throat. "Can we, uh, not talk about that, please?"
Arizona shrugged. "Just saying."
Callie exhaled a loud sigh. "So, um, what's the deal with you and your dad?"
Unwilling to answer, Arizona replied, "Oh, I'm sorry, that question is not in the binder."
"I thought you were the one who said we have to learn all this stuff about each other."
"Not about that."
"Well-"
"Not about that, Callie," Arizona interrupted with a harsh tone, hoping to put an end to the conversation.
Callie remained quiet for a minute, then braved, "Does it have anything to do with Tim?"
Arizona sat up from her sleeping bag, looking at the lump that lay on the bed. "How do you know about Tim?"
Callie bit her lip. "Carly told me." She paused. Then: "I'm sorry."
With a resigned huff, Arizona lay back down. She supposed she couldn't have kept that secret forever, so she confessed, "Yeah. It has to do with Tim."
Again, they lapsed into silence, with neither woman really knowing what to say.
Feeling awkward, Arizona cleared her throat.
Then, suddenly, she heard: "I used to have a pet ferret."
Arizona's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
"So I'm not afraid of all animals, just some," Callie continued. "And, um…I joined the Peace Corps after college. I like to play video games. If I have a choice between a sandwich and a slice of pizza, I'll always choose the pizza." She paused. "I don't like roses because they remind me of my parents' house."
Arizona remained silent, just listening.
"I read The Awakening at least once a year. It's my favorite book." Callie paused. "I haven't…slept with anyone in over a year and a half. And, um, I went to the bathroom and cried after Bob called me a 'poisonous bitch.'" She thought for a second. "The best concert I've ever been to was Outkast. And you're right. I have a big sister. Aria. And I haven't spoken to her in over ten years."
Callie took a breath. "I'm sure there's many, many other things, but that's all I can come up with right now."
Arizona didn't say anything, and the silence dragged on for long enough that Callie self-consciously wondered, "You there?"
"I'm here," Arizona breathed. "Just…processing."
Callie waited.
A moment later: "You really haven't slept with anyone in eighteen months?"
"Oh my god," Callie rolled her eyes. "Out of all of that, that's all you got?"
Arizona made a face. "That's a long time."
"Yeah, well, I've been a little busy," Callie defended.
They were silent for a minute, and then Arizona wondered, "Who's, uh, who's Outkast?"
"Outkast? You know." Callie began humming quietly. "My baby don't mess around because she loves me so, and this I know for sho…" She waited. "No? You don't know it?"
Arizona shook her head, lying, "Nuh-uh." Then, she began to laugh.
"What?" Callie questioned.
"Nothing." Arizona was still laughing. "I know who they are. I just wanted to hear you sing it."
Callie chuckled with her.
They fell into a comfortable silence, and then Arizona interrupted it, prompting, "I actually do, uh, have a question."
Callie gulped, bracing herself. "Sure."
"What happened…with you and your family?"
"What?" Callie asked, as if she hadn't heard the question. But of course she had.
"I've been your assistant for three years," Arizona continued. "And you've never talked about your parents. You told Ms. Bailey that you didn't keep in contact with them. And you just said you haven't talked to your sister in ten years. What happened? Did it have anything to do with…you being bi?"
Callie pursed her lips. Every part of the hard personality she'd built was telling her not to answer—to not let her guard down. But Arizona had already torn down her guard. Little by little, she had chipped away at the house of protection Callie had constructed around herself.
Well, she had to, Callie reminded herself harshly. It wasn't by choice. You're forcing her to marry you.
Still, after what Carly had revealed and Richard had confirmed earlier that day, how could Callie deny her? If anyone understood loss like she did, it was Arizona.
"I, um." Callie paused.
Arizona waited.
Callie cleared her throat. "Well...I was twenty-two. Just out of college," she began. "I went to Puget Sound. And, uh, while I was there, I figured out that I liked girls, too. Women," she corrected herself.
"Okay..." Arizona responded gently so that Callie would know that she was listening.
"And since I was dating a woman, I felt like it was time to come out to my parents," Callie continued. "So, when I went home to figure out my next step, I told them."
Arizona bit her bottom lip. "I'm guessing they didn't take it too well?"
Callie let out a dark laugh. "You guessed right. That's an understatement. They didn't talk to me for weeks. I had to stay at a friend's."
"Was that...the last time you spoke to them?"
"No," Callie sighed. She decided to skip over the part where her parents had invited her back home and she had found their priest sitting at their dining room table, prepared to tell her she was an abomination. She didn't need to share how her mother and father started yelling and quoting Bible passages that proved how "sinful" she was.
Callie closed her eyes and continued, "So I came back to Washington and waited for them to call, and they didn't. And I waited for Aria—my sister—to call, and she didn't. And then, finally, after a year, my dad called and said he'd had a change of heart—that he loved me no matter what."
Callie felt tears prick her eyes as she prepared to admit what had followed. "He had a heart attack the next day."
"Oh, Callie..."
"No," Callie countered, rejecting the pity as she tried to ward off the tears. "That's not even the end of it. The worst part was when my mom called to tell me he died. She said..." She attempted to swallow the bile in her throat. "She said it was God punishing our family for my sin. She said it was my fault that my dad was dead."
In spite of the three years Arizona had spent hating her boss, she felt her heart ache for Callie. She wanted to get up, walk over to the bed, and give the other woman a warm hug, but she didn't move.
"That was the last time I spoke to her," Callie concluded. "And Aria never reached out to me until a few years ago, and by then it was too late."
Arizona exhaled a shaky breath. She didn't know what to say. I'm sorry seemed lame. So did I'm so sorry for your loss—or was it losses? That's rough seemed somehow to minimize the experience's impact. Finally, she decided just to say what she was thinking.
"I'm so sad for you."
And it was that, more than anything else, that made Callie want to cry. Arizona's reply was just so true, so honest, and it was somehow exactly what Callie had needed to hear. Still, she attempted to laugh, uncomfortable in her vulnerability. "Yeah, well. Life goes on. And who needs people, anyway? I'm better off without them."
Arizona didn't answer. She easily saw through Callie's tough exterior, and Callie knew it.
After a few minutes of silence, Callie decided that Arizona had fallen asleep and closed her own eyes, hoping that she might be able to fall asleep—but knowing that it would likely take hours, after the conversation they'd just had.
Then, out of the darkness came: "Callie?"
Callie's eyes popped open. "Hmm?" she prompted, attempting to slow her suddenly shallow breathing.
Arizona bit her bottom lip. "Don't take this the wrong way."
Callie cleared her throat and squared her shoulders, mentally preparing herself for the criticism that was sure to follow. "Okay."
Arizona took a second to answer, silently replaying the scene from earlier in her head. Then, solemnly, she confessed, "You…are a very, very beautiful woman."
Callie felt herself blush, and her lips curled up into a slow smile. "So are you."
