Addison had flown in that afternoon and by the evening we were all sitting on a blanket in the park. Meredith had let Connor sleep most of the day so he was excited and energetic. We were sitting around on this spread of blanket eating a dinner of pizza and sodas. Mark and Addie were feeding Zola and Connor was sitting with Jane eating so I sat next to Maura, taking her hand.

"This is great," Maura smiled, "even if the food is horrible for you."

"Don't lie, you loved the food," I laughed.

"After years of being friends with Jane I'm accustomed to such things."

"Mama," Connor called, now standing with everyone else a few yards away on the foot path. "Aunt Addison and Uncle Mark are taking Zola to play, can me and Jane go too?"

"Jane and I," Maura corrected.

"I'll watch him," Jane assured me.

"If he starts to get tired, dizzy, or nauseous bring him back here immediately," I informed her as a huge smile took over my son's face. "If he gives you any trouble let me know."

"Come on, Jane," Connor said, excitedly pulling Jane down the path after the others.

"She's really good with him," I observed, scooting closer to Maura now that we were alone.

"She asked me why you were so protective of him," Maura sighed, laying her head on my shoulder. "I hope you didn't mind that I told her about his condition. She said it made everything make sense. I think working with kids at work helps her with him."

"He likes you both. I think he likes being around people that aren't doctors."

"Do you not know anyone who isn't a doctor?"

"Not really, I either spend all of my time at the hospital, with Connor, or at the hospital with Connor. All of my friends are doctors and Connor doesn't really interact with normal kids because he's too sick to go to school."

"You're incredibly strong, handling his illness so well."

"He's adopted, you know?"

"Really? I thought…"

"The blues eyes, and dimples threw you off, didn't they?"

"Yes, I just assumed he was biologically yours. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's a common misconception."

"When did you adopt him?"

"Three years ago, when he was diagnosed with cancer. The social worker brought him in and he was in my ward. He was there maybe a month when I filed for adoption. I had fallen in love with him and he with me. I think we were always meant to be together. People think I'm crazy because I knowingly took on a sick child but he's everything to me."

"That's amazing, Arizona."

"Amazing? I don't think so."

"You have such compassion, it's captivating."

"This is pretty heavy stuff, tell me something surprising about yourself."

"I own a motorcycle."

"You're kidding?"

"No, I can take you for a ride some time, if you'd like."

"You just don't seem like the type to ride a motorcycle."

"Tell me something about you."

"At the hospital I wears these shoes with wheels in them so that I can wheel around. The kids love them."

"That sounds horribly dangerous."

"Says the woman that rides a motorcycle. Don't judge the wheelie shoes."

There were kids a few yards away popping fireworks. They started off with little ones but a large bang went off and I jumped, flattening my body against the ground. I buried my face in the blanket and let out a strangled sob, images from the shooting flashing in my mind. I was vaguely aware of Maura lying down next to me and rubbing my back soothingly but it was several minutes before my heart rate started to settle.

"Arizona," Maura whispered softly. She was laying on her side beside me and I turned into her, burying my face in her neck. "You're okay, Arizona. You're okay."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled after a minute, sitting up. Maura sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my waste, pulling me into her side. I laid my head on her shoulder and sighed, trying to release the tension from my body. "Last year I was rounding on patients when the hospital went on lockdown. I didn't know why and I didn't really care at the time, I just gathered all of the kids, including Connor, and put them in one room so that we could safely watch them all. Everything was fine until a little girl who had just been rushed in needed an immediate appendectomy. My best friend Callie was on the floor with me and we took her to another room and were preparing to do emergency surgery when a man came down the halls with a gun. We had sent a nurse to retrieve supplies and he killed her right in front of us. She was the only one to die on our floor. He came to the door and Callie gave him medical supplies for a wound he had and he left. He would have killed every single one of us if she hadn't done what he wanted. He shot dozens of people that day and I just…"

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, most commonly associated with veterans, is a very understandable thing to be dealing with in this situation."

I looked up at her and giggled a little at the strangeness of her statement.

"I'm sorry," Maura chuckled. "I'm not very good at interacting with people so sometimes I say the wrong things."

"It's endearing," I smiled at her, snuggling my face into her neck. The scent of fresh roses filled my nose and calmed the remainder of my nerves. "People usually don't like to get close to me when I'm like that so thank you for not being scared away."

"You can't help it, it's not your fault."

"I guess if anything was going to scare you off it's the son with cancer, that usually does it for women."

"I could never not pursue you because you have Connor, he's a sweet boy."

"Maura…" I whispered, tilting my head up and bringing my lips to hers in a gentle, loving kiss.

"Ewww," Jane said, causing me to sit up. Maura's face blushed a deep red as we looked up to find the rest of our group looking at us. Connor came forward and plopped down in my lap, snuggling his face into my chest.

"Mommy, I'm tired," Connor said weakly. My arms went around him and held him to me while Maura leaned in to rub his back soothingly. Tears welled up in my eyes at seeing my son looking so fragile and small and Maura wrapped her arm around my waste with her free hand to bring both of us closer.

"He started swaying and feeling light headed when he was chasing Zola around," Mark said. "Zola was getting tired too so I went ahead and brought them back. I figured I'd go ahead and take the girls back to the hotel. I'll stop on my way and get some sugary snacks and energy drinks since it seems like it's going to be one of those nights."

"Thank you, Mark," I sighed, watching him and Addison take Zola towards the car. Connor had fallen asleep in my arms so I was very careful standing up. Maura started cleaning things up but Jane just looked at me.

"What did he mean," Jane asked.

"Connor's condition takes a toll on him. He got plenty of sleep so he shouldn't be this tired. He's taken a turn for the worst and will need constant supervision tonight. If he doesn't show signs of getting better in the morning we'll take him to the hospital."

"He- is there anything we can do to help?"

"It's going to be a long night for all of us, you can pray if that's your kind of thing."

"You can stay with me," Maura offered, placing her hand on my arm. She had packed everything into the backpack I brought it in and was smiling at me warmly. "I'm sure he can't be comfortable in a small hotel room. I live in a rather larger house and have quite a few spare rooms, it'd be no inconvenience. I'm close to Mass. Gen. so if you need to take him in the morning we can. I know a few people there and it's an excellent hospital."

"Besides, if you guys stay with her I can stay over and that's two extra people to watch him," Jane pointed out.

"Is it okay if I bring Derek," I asked Maura. "He's Connor's primary physician and he's already done his part for the convention so he'll be the most willing."

"Of course," Maura said soothingly.

"I'll take him," Jane said, sliding Connor from my arms into his. She took him to my car, setting him down gently in the backseat as not to wake him, and then went to Maura's and climbed in, starting the engine. To my surprise Maura got in the drivers seat of my car and held her hand out for my keys. I took the hint and handed them to her before sliding in the back and taking my baby in my arms. With a quick text to Derek we were off.