Chapter 2

Arizona drove out of the school parking lot, and pulled into a nearby park so she could pull herself together. She certainly could not walk through the door at home like this, she had been trying to maintain a resilient mom façade at home, but now her armor was starting to tarnish.

As the tears subsided, she remembered she needed to call Callie, who was waiting to hear how the meeting went. She was not sure how that conversation would go. She knew Callie would be upset; this was just one more problem to add to Callie's plate. Normally the two would have talked about a decision like that together, but Arizona needed to respond on the spot, the school was offering essentially a fresh start; the alternative would be summer school at the bare minimum and maybe repeating some classes. She knew Callie would be annoyed to have this thrown at her less than 48 hours before she was to go away, but Arizona also knew that deep down that Callie would have come to the same conclusion: Sofia needed to stay home. Plus, it was not fair for the other kids to miss their vacation because of Sofia. This was the only option.

She texted Callie, asking her to call her. Arizona sat in her car, hoping Callie would callback quickly. Within 15 minutes her phone vibrated, it was Callie. Arizona recounted the meeting, explained the solution the school offered as well as what she told Sofia. Arizona intentionally did not elaborate on what Sofia said to her, though Sofia's words still stung. Arizona told Callie she would talk to the Chief to make arrangements to take next week off so she could work with Sofia and help her get her outstanding work done.

Callie was shocked to hear that Sofia was on the verge of failing 10th grade; she wavered from angry to tearful over the course of the conversation. There was an unspoken understanding between the two mothers that Arizona was responsible to oversee Sofia's schooling. Callie took the lead when it came to the boys. Anna was only in kindergarten so neither one needed to manage her. Arizona dropped the ball on this and Callie was frustrated.

Finally, Callie angrily decided "This conversation needs to be finished in the morning. I can't do this right now!" Callie was working late, and she would not be home before 11:00pm. She knew Arizona had not slept in over 30 hours. Communication was not their strong suit, especially lately. Fatigued, Callie knew things might be said that could be disastrous. How had their lives come to this point? She knew deep down she could not take much more, so before she completely broke, Callie knew ending the conversation was best.

Arizona agreed sadly "0k. I'm going to the house now. I'll make sure the boys and Anna are packed. Is there anything else you need done?" Arizona sheepishly asked.

"Haven't I done, or more like it, not done enough already?" Arizona silently chastised herself.

Obviously flustered, Callie answered "I need to get to surgery, but I think I am set. Mrs. Gonzales was getting things taken care of." Mrs. Gonzales was their long-time nanny; she was invaluable. Her children loved her, they all loved her. The woman often stayed overnight when the doctors were on call, working late with surgeries or even just when they needed a night out, though Sofia was now old enough to handle some of the babysitting. With the family away, the nanny was also getting a well-deserved vacation. They were fortunate to have her and Mrs. Gonzales loved them just as much.

"Alright" Arizona said in a defeated tone and ended the phone call, realizing that she did not know whether or not Callie was going to support her decision regarding Sofia.

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Sofia slowly made her way to where the debate club was meeting. She sat down next to Lindsey, who asked "What happened?"

Sofia reluctantly acknowledged "I ah, I let my grades slip a little, actually a lot."

Lindsey stared wide-eyed "Really? You're like the poster child for a brainiac."

"Right now I am the poster child for disappointment." Sofia could not help but think back to the tears that she saw roll down her mother's face as she left the conference room. But she convinced herself that Arizona had it coming. Sofia was angry with Arizona and she had this coming.

"Did AZ freak out?" The girls always referred to their parents by their first names or nicknames behind their backs. Arizona was AZ, Callie was CT, and Lindsey's parents were affectionately known as Barb and Mike. However, to their faces, it was always Dr. or Mrs. or Mr.

"No, she didn't, she never does." Sofia appreciated this personality trait of Arizona's. Unlike Callie who was much more emotional, sometimes crying, or ranting when there was a problem – in Spanish no less, Arizona managed conflicts with a calmer, cool demeanor. "She said I can't go away next week. But I'll talk to CT, she's an easier touch. They already bought the plane ticket" Sofia confidently replied.

The family would have driven to California had Arizona been going. They would have made it an adventure, driving over a couple days. When it was determined that Arizona would not be going, Callie made the decision to fly. When possible, Arizona avoided planes. But it was just too hard for Callie to manage the 16 hour road trip with the small children, and one driver, so plane tickets were purchased.

Lindsey raised her eye brows and gave her friend a puzzled look, pitting one parent against the never ended well.

The debate meeting continued afterschool for another two hours with the team preparing for their next debate against Raleigh High the week after vacation. Once the meeting ended, the two friends took the longest walking route home. Sofia knew she would need to face Arizona alone; Callie was working late, as she usually did on Thursdays. She delayed as long as possible before entering her house.

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Arizona arrived at her house around 3:30pm. She could smell dinner cooking. Mrs. Gonzales was a good cook, almost as good as Callie. She was not two steps in when Carlos nearly tackled her with his hug. She was able to grab a chair to avoid tumbling over. Over the years her balance had become quite good using her prosthetic. The boys never gave it a second thought that she only had one leg. The twins were eight years old, named after their grandfathers. She looked for Danny but he was nowhere to be seen. A smile was plastered across Carlos' face; he simply said "I missed you!"

Arizona hugged him and said "I'm here now, and I've missed you too. Do I smell spaghetti? "

Carlos smiled, that was his favorite dinner, Danny's too. "Yes! And cupcakes for dessert, we made them for you!" Both boys knew their mother had a sweet tooth.

Danny, hearing his mother's voice, ran into the foyer, "You're here!" Arizona was greeted with another big hug and sloppy kiss.

"So what's the homework situation?" she asked her sons.

"I have a math paper" said Carlos. "I need to study for a spelling test" said Danny. Both boys were handsome, with striking Mediterranean features and beautiful brown eyes. Danny was slightly older than Carlos, by two minutes. Carlos was the taller of the two.

"Let me say hi to Mrs. Gonzales, and then we can play a bit before I help you with your homework. Deal?" Arizona happily proposed. She loved her children, her family, and her wife. In this moment of being happy, she forgot her insecurities.

Arizona made her way to the kitchen where five year old Anna was setting the table with the help of Mrs. Gonzales. Anna was the image of Arizona. Arizona loved being a mother, though she never felt the need or desire to bear a child, but Arizona had a change of heart six years ago. It surprised her. Callie was ecstatic. Thus Anna completed their family. Anna was the opposite of Sofia; one would know what kind of day Anna was having just by looking at her. This little girl wore her emotions on her sleeve. Anna blew kisses to her mother when she saw her entering the kitchen, which Arizona made dramatic gestures to catch. Then she went back to her chore of methodically setting the dinner table.

A comforting hug from the nanny captured Arizona. "Dr. Robbins, so good to see you." the older woman genuinely said. Despite many requests over the years, Mrs. Gonzales would never call either doctor by their first name. The doctors also respectfully referred to their nanny, really their godsend, by 'Mrs.'.

"Dinner is cooking, and will be ready shortly" the nanny replied. "The children's bags are packed, except Sofia's. She insisted on doing her own packing. You know teenagers. If there is nothing else you need from me, I will be heading out".

"We're good, please go and have a good night. Thank you for getting everything organized" Arizona cheerfully answered. With that Arizona went off to play with her children.

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Sofia walked through the door close to 5:00pm. Arizona was sitting around the breakfast bar quizzing Danny on his spelling words, and answering a math question here and there for Carlos. Anna had her 'homework', a coloring sheet from kindergarten. Anna was pouting when she realized she had slightly colored outside the lines. Arizona looked up when she heard the door close and simply said "Hey".

Sofia squeaked out a ""Hi", carefully avoiding direct eye contact with her mother.

"We're going to eat in a few minutes." Arizona eagerly announced.

"I'm not hungry." Sofia responded. "I have a ton of work to do. I'm just gonna go to my room".

Arizona gave a pleading look to her daughter. "We always have dinner together on Thursdays. I would really like it if you would join us. Please."

"Fine" Sofia said sullenly and plopped down at the table. Arizona hated that word since Sofia was anything but 'fine', but it seemed to be the typical teenager response for anything. If the response wasn't 'fine', then it was 'whatever'. Arizona thought both words were irritating.

Dinner was uneventful, the boys and Anna kept the conversation moving. They shared their day, chatted about their friends and excitedly talked about their pending trip. Sofia said nothing, except to ask to be excused once she had finished eating and Arizona did not push her. Arizona knew she would need to pick and choose her battles, so she excused her daughter and let her retreat to her room.

It was 10:30pm. The night was busy with baths and bedtime stories. Once everyone was tucked in, the house picked up and the kitchen clean, Arizona knew it was time to speak with Sofia. The light was shining under the crack of her door. Arizona knocked timidly, and then entered, not waiting for an invitation. "We need to talk" Arizona pronounced. Sofia just looked at her. "I know you're angry with me for a lot of reasons" Arizona continued "but right now the school problem needs to be taken care of. Once school is out in June, you can go to California." Arizona hoped that this small concession would help sway the mood of the surly teen. Of course, Arizona still had no idea if Callie was in agreement with the decision to not permit Sofia to go away next week.

Sofia dourly responded "Whatever".

Arizona could sense that the conversation would remain one-sided, so she decided to finish up, knowing that next week would provide ample opportunities to talk. "Mom texted me saying she would be back around 11pm. I'm going to go now, just call me if you need anything. Love you"

Sofia remained silent, returning her eyes to her book. With that, Arizona walked out of her daughter's bedroom, out the front door and into her car where she would drive to the room she had been renting from the perpetual bachelor, Alex Karev, since the end of January. Tears filled her eyes, as they did every Thursday night, when she left the house and family she loved so much.