A/N: Incredibly grateful for the patience and the wonderful reviews that you guys gave me. This is why I love writing. I hope it will live up to your expectations.
Happy 4th of July for Americans and for the rest of you lovely readers a wonderful day.
A lot of typos are made because I usually write around midnight when I have most ideas and also when I'm half asleep. Sorry. Also Julie's the girl that Arizona was on a date with in season 5 in case someone forgot.
The next weekend couldn't come fast enough for Arizona. Even if she spent most of her days inside of the OR, performing four surgeries per day unless any trauma came in. Arizona was exhausted and barely made it to the bed on Friday but when Saturday rolled around and she almost jumped out of the bed the second her alarm clock made a noise. "Julie," she said and roughly shook her girlfriend. "It's Saturday."
"The day when we sleep longer," Julie mumbled her reply. She was tired from waiting for Arizona to come home last night but fell asleep before she could see her. She expected they would talk some more about their baby plan but apparently Arizona still wanted to go to the clinic without talking about it first.
Arizona shook her again. "Come on. It opens at eight and it's already past seven." She tied her hair in a loose pony tail as she started preparing for the day. She started with a bowl of oatmeal and vanilla yogurt. She had an unhealthy obsession with it. As she quickly munched on her breakfast she heard the shower running in the bathroom. She thought a lot about a baby in the past year. Where his or her room would be. Where a play space would be. Even in which corner of the kitchen a high chair would stand. And where exactly in the backyard a small slide could stand. When she first started dating Julie it was because she was attracted to her body. She told her she loved her once she realized they connected on a mental level as well. They both agreed to not have a wedding. It was a waste of money and they didn't really have time to plan it.
Arizona dropped the bowl in the sink and washed her hands. As a pediatric surgeon she loved children. At first the thought of taking care of one for 18 years was scary as hell but after each child she saved she saw the joy on their parents's faces. She wanted that. She knew Julie liked kids but was never passionate about them. Maybe this would be a bad decision but either way Arizona was ready. Even if she didn't want to carry. And it wasn't because she feared stretch marks and weight gain. She was just scared that she would expose her child to some disease and never be able to cure them. Arizona sat down on the bed and took a deep breath. This could be the day her life changes forever. And she was more than ready. She entered the bathroom not caring at all that Julie was in there showering and started brushing her teeth. In a few years she could be standing here at the same spot with tiny little hands grasped in hers as she would help the child brush their teeth. Her stomach fluttered with butterflies as she thought about it. "Perfect," she said quietly to herself.
"Since when do you talk to yourself?" Julie asked and tied a towel above her chest. She smiled at Arizona through the mirror.
"I'm not really, I'm just thinking," Arizona replied back. She spat out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth. "I made you a cup of coffee if you want," she called after her girlfriend who was in the bedroom getting dressed. Brushing her hair Arizona smiled at her reflection. She wanted this. So badly. And she knew Julie wasn't halfway as excited and it should worry her but she didn't care much at this point.
"Hey do you know that we're gonna need a legal attorney to talk to first before we start the process?" Julie asked as she buttoned her shirt with one hand and used her other to scroll down the website she searched for.
Arizona opened her closet. She wanted to look modest and grown up. "I know I already contacted my lawyer. He said he'll meet us at the clinic and we'll go through the whole process together." She ended up choosing red pants, a white blouse and black jacket.
"What about my lawyer? It's still gonna be my kid," Julie said a little irritated. It seemed like Arizona was forgetting who she was going to have a child with.
"Of course I know that! I just thought it'd be easier if we only had one lawyer. It's gonna be a full room of people anyway. I'm sorry. You can call your attorney if it will make you feel better," Arizona said and sat down on the bed. In a year a baby could be laying there, cuddling with them. "Do you want this?" she asked with some hesitation.
Julie knelt down in front of her girlfriend. "Of course I do," she said and kissed Arizona's knuckles. "Now get up because we still have to drive there."
Arizona smiled and got up. She was so excited. She grabbed her purse while Julie started the car and drove it out of the garage. Arizona locked the house and almost skipped down to the car. She sat in it with a huge smile on her face. "So we're doing this huh?"
"Yes," Julie replied with a laugh as she started the car again and drove down the street. "But we're not going to get a baby as soon as we get there. You said it yourself we have to talk about it with our lawyer and the people there and they'll see if we're even suitable for doing this because technically nothing's wrong with us. It just seems kind of unfair that none of us gets stretch marks and we still end up with a baby."
Arizona shrugged. She knew Julie was right. "True, but it's not like they would say no just because of that right?" When she first mentioned children she was hoping Julie would offer to carry. Arizona knew she was being selfish as she could carry as well but she was exposed to diseases and radiations all the time and it felt too dangerous to her. She could hurt the baby.
"We'll see. Just hold tight Zona. We'll get our baby," Julie said and rubbed Arizona's leg.
"And if this doesn't work we can always adopt right? Zola's absolutely adorable," Arizona gushed. She was there when Zola first arrive in the hospital and she was there during her surgery and she watched her get better and adopted by great parents.
Julie nodded. "We can adopt."
Arizona nodded and leaned her head on the window. People always complained about rain in Seattle but Arizona loved rain. The sound of rain drops against the window calmed her down. "Do you have any names picked out? Like I knew if I ever had a boy I would name him after Timothy or at least give him some connection with my brother. Now for a girl I never really thought about it. You?"
"I've always liked the name Anna. No special reason I just liked it. But for a boy I think Luke's cute. And Timothy's not that bad either."
"Well we have a long time to pick names since the baby isn't even made yet," Arizona said and smiled to herself. "Do you think we'll like having a woman in our house carrying our baby for us?"
Julie cracked a smile. "I think you're gonna kiss up to her ass so hard because you're going to feel guilty about not carrying our baby. And I'm telling you now that women who do end up being surrogate mothers they do it by their own choice. Beside you'll get up at 4 am and buy her cheeseburgers or something. I know how you're like babe."
Arizona laughed. "That does sound like me. But no cheeseburgers. Only healthy food."
"Oh she'll hate you," Julie said with a playful smirk. She parked her car in front of the surrogacy clinic. "This is it." She grabbed all her legal documents that Arizona ordered for her to take with them. "Do we need anything else?"
"Maybe paychecks? To see if we're financially stable enough to pay this woman and later take care of our child?" Arizona wondered with slight fear. She didn't bring those documents with her.
Julie faced Arizona and took her hands in hers. "You are a surgeon and it's known that surgeons make a lot of money. I am a writer and my last book was very succesful which is written in Times newspaper. We have nothing to worry about. You're gonna be a great mom."
"You too," Arizona replied honestly. She looked at her reflection in her phone to check herself out. "Okay, I'm ready." Picking up her belongings from the back seat she exited the car and looked at the clinic. "I wonder if my lawyer's here already." Dialing his number she let it ring a few times before his secretary picked up. "Hi, I'm Arizona Robbins and I have an appointment with Matlock and I'm just wondering if he left his office yet," she said politely. "Oh okay, thank you. Good day to you too."
Julie looked curiously at Arizona. "So?"
"He's already waiting for us so hurry," Arizona said excitedly as she rushed to the entrance. She walked to the front desk with a wide smile she couldn't even get rid off. "Hi. I'm Arizona Robbins and this is my girlfriend Julie Cortez. We're here to talk about options of surrogacy."
A friendly lady behind the desk scrolled through her computer. "They're in the conference room. It's right down the hall on the right," she said and pointed out the way.
"Thank you so much," Arizona said.
"I wish you the best of luck," the lady called after her.
Arizona looked at Julie who gave her a nod. "Okay," she said and took a deep breath before knocking on the door of a conference room and letting Julie step in first. Honestly her authority issues were getting the best of her and she preferred standing in the back. "Hi," she said almost shyly.
"Cartez and Robbins right?" A man in his early 50s asked. He was sitting at the end of the oval table which meant he was in charge. "I'm Frank and I'm the director this clinic," he said.
"Julie Cartez. Very nice to meet you," Julie said first and shook Frank's hand.
Arizona offered a smile first. "Arizona Robbins," she said and shook his hand as well. She nervously sat down between Julie and her lawyer. "Oh uhm this is my lawyer Ben Matlock by the way," she added.
"Yes, I am aware. We've been discussing your case for almost half an hour now. Just really excited to meet the actual couple. I'm surprised though. Most lesbian couples just use a sperm donor. But you want a surrogate mother. Why is that? You're both healthy and still young."
Arizona knew this question would come up eventually but it surprised her that it was the first question asked. "I'm a pediatric surgeon so I get exposed to a lot of radiation and illnesses that the hospital offers so it just didn't feel right to do that to a baby."
"And I travel a lot. I'm a writer so I'm often gone for a few months a year. If I got pregnant it wouldn't be fair to Arizona to miss out on the whole experience just because I had to leave," Julie explained herself.
Frank nodded. "Very well. But parenting is a two person job. If you decide to start a family with a surrogate mother it is still expected for you to show up at few appointments and make regular check ups here."
"I'm aware sir. And if I told my agent about expanding my family my traveling days would cut down for some amount. And Arizona and I," she paused to take Arizona's hand in hers. "Thought it would be the best if the mother would live with us for that amount of time."
Arizona nodded. "And we're financially capable of having her in our home and to raise a baby after."
Frank chuckled. "Yes, your lawyer explained that already." He pushed two files in front of Arizona and Julie. "Before you take this it's my job to explain what surrogacy really is. There are different types of it. There is traditional surrogacy where a surrogate mother offers her egg and we use the father's, or in your case, donor's sperm to fertilize it. The child isn't genetically related to parents. Other option for you is gestational surrogacy and donor sperm which means that the surrogate is inseminated with embryo using the in vitro fertilization. The embryo is made from either one of your eggs and a donor's sperm."
Arizona nodded getting the informations. "We'be been thinking about traditional surrogacy. Which means the baby technically wouldn't be related to us at all. So once the baby is born how does it work?"
"Usually at the beginning when the parents and the surrogate meet at the clinic for the first time there's a whole bunch of legal documents to sign. But with traditional surrogacy, once the baby is born adoption papers have to be signed as well," Frank explained.
"What if the mother doesn't want to give up the baby or sign the papers?" Julie asked.
Frank smiled. He has been expecting that question. "This is why we first do legal documents here at the clinic. It happened before that the surrogate refused to give the baby to the parents but it's not that common anymore as most mothers already have families and just want to help others."
Arizona looked at Julie who gave her a smile. "Okay, so we decided that traditional surrogacy is our plan."
Frank nodded. "Okay. The files I gave you are our list of sperm donors. You can pick your own, it's not uncommon for couples to pick a friend, but if you don't feel comfortable with friends you have our list. Sperm is available all the time."
Julie nodded. "So how do we pick a surrogate mother?"
"Do you have any wishes on looks or genetics?" Frank asked.
"Not really," Arizona replied. "Well I wish she would look more like Julie," she admitted. "But as long as the woman's healthy that's all that matters."
Frank smiled. "Good. We have your numbers so when I find a perfect surrogate mother I will give you a call. You'll be getting a check up from a social worker soon too so that they'll check the house and see if it's baby appropriate and in your case friendly for the stranger that will carry a child for you. Also if you don't like her don't be afraid to say no. After all she will be the one that will carry your child and live in your home."
Julie stood up and politely shook Frank's hand. "It was very nice meeting you," she said.
"You too. Best of luck," Frank said and shook Arizona's hand. "You'll make a wonderful family."
Julie laughed as Arizona practically ran out of the clinic and to the car. "What's the rush?" she asked and quickened her pace to keep up with Arizona.
"I really want to go through the list," Arizona said simply with a shrug. "Frank seemed nice didn't he? And this all looks like it has all legal rights. Because I heard that some clinics are fake and just looking for money. Disgusting if you ask me. I wonder what kind of woman he will pick for us," she rambled excitedly. The second she sat in the car she opened one of the files and turned the page and then cringed. "JJ. His name is literally JJ," she read. "Who names their kid JJ?"
Julie started the car but didn't drive right away. Instead she placed her hand on Arizona's leg. "We have a lot of time to figure this out. Together. Beside we have 2 very long files of sperm donors and as weird as it is to judge guys by the movies they watch we're gonna do this together. Like Frank said. We don't have to like the first one."
Arizona leaned over and pecked Julie's lips. "You're right. I'm just so excited. I can't even explain it. My mom's gonna have a heart attack when she finds out." Arizona paused with her eyes wide. "Shit. My mom. I have to tell her soon. And dad."
"Wow speedy. Look why don't we wait for a couple of weeks and see when they call us before you tell your parents. It'll be easier that way anyway. Let's just go home order some Chinese and maybe go through the list because I can see how impatient you're being," Julie said sweetly and glanced quickly at Arizona.
Arizona laughed. "I'm sorry I just... I can't wait. We're gonna have a baby."
"We're gonna have a baby," Julie confirmed.
