Title: Kiss the Girl

Author: A. Windsor

Pairing/Characters: Callie/Arizona

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. My one semester of law school could allow me to legalese this a little more, but it also tells me it's pretty useless. So please don't sue; it's not mine, I'm just playing!

Series: AU!verse

Summary: Lena's girl-kissing causes drama in the Robbins-Torres household. [March 2032]

Author's Note: Wow. You guys are sooooo excited about this. Hope I don't disappoint! Beta'd by the absolutely wonderful, terribly snarky roughian.


Callie watches her family instead of watching the television. Only her blondes seem affected by the ongoing tension; the others have either not picked up on it or are purposely ignoring it.

Caroline probably can't bring herself to care. She's thirteen now, and apparently being a teenager is a full time job involving a newly acquired cell phone glued to her hand. She sits tucked in next to her momma, cold little feet sneaked under Arizona's thigh, and even manages to look up once in a while to laugh at the tv and add commentary.

Asa and Teo, having their boy snuggle time (don't tell anyone), are tipped back in the recliner. Teo is of course oblivious to any tension now that he's been reassured that Lena is in fact alive. On the other hand, Callie knows her oldest son is completely aware of the fighting, both between his sister and mother and his mother and madre. He's a perceptive kid. No, make that perceptive young man, and she couldn't be more proud. Knowing he cannot keep the many women in his life from fighting, he's choosing to distract Teo instead. The way Asa has continued to be inextricably attached to the younger brother he begged for warms his madre's heart.

Lena has taken the safest spot available to her, on the other end of the couch she shares with Callie. She has her knees drawn up to her chest and barely cracks a smile throughout the show. Callie finds it so very hard to stay mad at her Lena-bug, just like she has trouble staying mad at Arizona. Although, she's working on that last part right now.

Around nine o'clock, Teo is bundled off for bedtime. Caroline heads upstairs to shower, and Lena retreats to her room. Asa lingers a little longer but really doesn't want to be stuck in the middle of a Momma/Mami fight. He makes up an excuse about a test in the morning and hightails it up the stairs while Callie and Arizona lock up for the night.

"So... We're gonna fight about this?" Callie asks in a last ditch effort to avoid said fight.

"Yep. We're gonna fight about it."

They make their way back to their room, turning off lights and checking door locks as they go. In the bedroom, they begin the rituals of getting ready for bed.

Arizona lets out a heavy sigh as she grabs her pajamas. She bumps the drawer shut with her hip, eliciting a loud thump.

"Will you at least concede that you would have a different view on this if it were Asa?"

"No. I don't think I would," Callie counters, headed for the bathroom.

"That's not true and you know it," Arizona complains. "You'd be all concerned about him being a gentleman and not respecting girls. He wouldn't be a 'cute' teenager."

Callie takes this all in as she washes her face, really, really hating this fight on the one hand, and really confused about what is setting her wife on edge on the other.

"Sure, he would. Besides, it isn't Asa, and it never has been. Asa just kisses Katie in closets, which has its own set of issues. Like me stapling condoms to his jeans."

"Okay, fine. Bad example. If Caroline were kissing all the boys in school-"

"Assuming she's straight," Callie puts in, just to be irritating, as she squeezes toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

"She's so straight. But seriously. If Caroline were kissing all the boys in school in a few years, you would lock her in her room and hunt down every single one of those punks. I know that for a fact."

"So you're accusing me of treating Lena differently because she's gay," Callie says, mouthful of toothpaste. She spits as Arizona rolls her eyes. "Is this because I kissed boys in high school?"

"Oh come on," Arizona groans, pulling the water on and scrubbing at her face. Drying it off, she continues: "Every fight is not about your bisexuality, Callie."

Callie glares and ignores that comment in hopes of ending this fight sooner rather than later.

"I kissed lots of boys in high school and beyond. And I've kissed a lot of, well, you. So I'm very well acquainted with both situations. And yeah, maybe you're right about Cari, and maybe even Asa, because one thing is different: I don't need to staple condoms to Lena's skirts. She's not having sex, and even if she were, I couldn't accidentally become an abuelita from it, so yes. I'm treating her a little differently, because the facts are different. And I guess... because she figured everything out so soon. I don't know what to do with that. But it really doesn't upset me the way it upsets you."

Callie moves into the bedroom to change, Arizona close at her heels.

"It's awesome that she's come out at a young age, it really is, but that doesn't mean she has anything figured out. It just means she's recognized that she likes boobs a helluva lot more than the rest of her girl friends. Which I totally get, but it doesn't mean she's learned how to be in love, how to balance all the pressures of that stuff, how to handle relationships... These experiences are important."

"Okay sure. But, this is just normal teenager stuff, Arizona. She's just figuring it all out. Relationships will come later. There's no need to rush anything."

"I don't agree," Arizona counters, hands on her hips. "So you what? Wouldn't punish her at all? She took a girl's shirt off in a hospital supply closet, Calliope. That is not acceptable behavior!"

"Arizona, you're being ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? My completely valid concerns are ridiculous?" Arizona demands, and Callie knows she's in trouble. That's even worse than telling her she was overreacting.

Eyes flashing with anger, Arizona picks up Callie's pillow and shoves it into her arms.

"Oh, come on. Really?"

Arizona raises her eyebrows and points upstairs.

"This is the stupidest fight we've ever had," Callie sighs, knowing that's clearly not true. They have pretty silly fights. She pauses in the doorway. "Wait."

Arizona turns around and waits, obviously expecting an apology.

"How long is Lena grounded?"

It kills Arizona to break the silence that's supposed to be signaling how not okay with this she is, and Callie knows that. However, their commitment to presenting a united front to the kids has never waivered, and this part does need to be settled.

"Three weeks."

Callie pulls a face.

"One."

Arizona sighs, pulling back the covers.

"Fine, two. School, home, errands for us, and only the cafeteria at the hospital. Well lit, very busy sections of the cafeteria."

"Okay. Can I please-"

Arizona points silently and firmly upstairs, and Callie rolls her eyes. Maybe Lena deserves the grounding just for this alone.


"Hey, Lena-nena. Still taking Tiny Dancer to his lesson?" Callie asks the unusually subdued sixteen-year-old.

Her beloved mini-Arizona is leaning against the wall outside the scrub room of OR3, patiently awaiting the end of her madre's surgery. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and her soft blonde curls are tamed into two neat French braids. She'd be pretty as punch were it not for the hangdog frown that dulls the shine of her blue eyes and pulls persistently at the edges of her mouth.

"Yes, ma'am." The teen checks her oversized watch. "He and Nicky are having a vicious Crazy 8's game in the Peds waiting area. Grey is supervising."

"Didn't want to hang out in Peds?" Callie questions gently, a warm hand on Lena's shoulder.

Lena shakes her head and then asks pitifully: "Are you still mad at me?"

"No, but you're still grounded for two weeks."

"But..."

"Don't. You know better."

"Yes, ma'am," Lena sighs. "Momma is still mad at me..."

"Your momma doesn't think you're hearing her. Or at least, not listening to what she has to say."

Lena pouts a little more but doesn't contradict.

"I'm sorry I got caught at the hospital, I really am, but I just don't understand why she's so upset about kissing. I mean, I know she didn't run around kissing lots of girls in high school, but it's not that serious."

"One, being sorry you got caught is probably not going to cut it with her. She's going to need you to be sorry you actually did it, because this is our place of business and you know how your momma feels about her reputation. Two, she kissed a few girls in high school, but getting caught had a few more serious consequences when and where she was doing the kissing. But I don't think that's the only reason she's upset."

"Then why?" Lena begs.

Callie sighs, pulling the girl into her arms. She drops a kiss onto her crown. She obviously can't tell their daughter that she doesn't quite understand herself where Arizona is coming from, but she does feel for the pobrecita.

"Tienes que hablar con ella, m'ija. It's entre ustedes. No se va a mejorar until you talk to her." [You have to talk to her. It's between you two. It's not gonna get better until you talk to her.]

"I know," Lena admits, defeated. "But I don't wanna."

Callie laughs and rubs her back.

"I know, Casanova."

"You don't think it's a big deal, right?" Lena asks, pulling back.

What a loaded question. They have to maintain a united front, but she also doesn't want to lie to her baby girl, and she definitely doesn't want her to stop talking to her about this kind of stuff.

"It's natural to be curious, but it's also maybe not the best for you to always be caught in the act. I know girls have always liked you, mi amor, but you don't have to kiss all of them."

Lena smirks.

"What do you mean 'girls have always liked me'?" the teenager asks playfully.

"You always had a girl or two hanging around, wanting to hold your hand, even in pre-school. You always had a new 'best friend' every few weeks. It was cute."

"Did you know, Mami?"

"Did I know what, m'ija?" Callie asks, keeping an arm around Lena's shoulders as she starts to walk them towards the Peds floor.

"That I was gay."

What an even more loaded question.

"Oh, Lena-bug, I don't know. You were just a little kid. Plenty of girls have lots of close little girl friends. That they insisted on holding the door open for. Quizás sabía un poco? [Maybe I suspected a bit?] You're so much like your momma, though, I thought maybe I was just projecting. I didn't want to push you one way or another, you know? That was for you to figure out."

"Yeah..." Lena says thoughtfully.

"You were always the daddy when you played house with your girlfriends," Callie teases. "Or you would insist that there could very easily be two mommies. Freaking adorable."

"I let Grey be the daddy sometimes," Lena laughs.

"That's true. You two would cart Teo around and dress him up and re-enact all these silly sitcom family stereotypes. Very Lucy, Ricky, and Little Ricky. Mark was pretty sure you kids were gonna grow up and get married."

"If I had to marry a boy, I could marry Grey," Lena allows. Then she makes a face. "We couldn't have sex, though."

Callie lets out a loud laugh, drawing odd looks from passing hospital staff.

"You're just like your mother," Callie murmurs with a kiss to her baby girl's temple. "'Ew, boy sex!'"

Lena giggles, dimples on full display, and it lifts Callie's heart to see her a little less burdened.

She really wants peace restored in her household.


Miranda Bailey pauses to watch half of the Robbins-Torres kids cross the bridge.

Lena and Teo walk close together, seemingly sharing a set of earbuds, bouncing to the same song. Knowing these two, it's either some of the derivative R&B/hip-hop/pseudo-rap that currently passes as pop music or her godson's idol, Stevie Wonder. They're not holding hands like they would've been just a few years ago, since he's nearly ten and trying to act a little more grown-up, but their sibling connection is palpable.

"Aunt Miranda!"

"Hi, Chief Bailey."

Teo gives his sister a confused look at her sheepish, formal greeting.

"You can stop 'Chief Bailey'ing me," Bailey sighs, smiling when the teenager visibly brightens. "How are you, Mateo?"

"I'm good. Leni's taking me to my dance lesson. Are you coming to my recital next week?"

"What kind of godmama would I be if I didn't?"

The boy laughs at her playfully reproachful tone.

"Not a good one," he admits.

"Tuck might even be in town; if he is, then he'll come with."

"Really?" Teo asks, clearly excited at the prospect of seeing his much older godbrother, second only to Asa in his hero-worship hierarchy of older boys (young men?).

"Yes, really."

Her pager interrupts, but the kids are used to it.

"We have to get going," Lena says checking her watch. She smiles widely. "Bye, Aunt Miranda."

"Goodbye, you two. Stay out of trouble!" she directs pointedly to the blonde.

"Yes, ma'am," they chorus.

As they duck around the corner, Bailey hears Teo say:

"She was talking to you."

"Yeah," Lena laughs.

"'Cause you kissed that girl. And got in trouble."

Bailey smirks as Lena groans in exasperation.

"Yes, Teo!"

"But you're always kissin' girls..."


tbc