A/N: I have PICTURES on my profile of Aria and Isla. Just go to the photobucket link and find the title under the albums.
Chapter 3: Court
All the Torres woman and Arizona were getting ready a month or so later for the big court hearing. They had flown into Miami the night before, and were a little bit jet lagged, but too nervous to care. They were staying in one of Miami's finest resorts, that sat right on the beach, with 3 bedrooms, and a private pool. Under different circumstances, they would've been having the time of their life, however on this particular occasion, they were too burdened with fear to have fun.
"You ready, Mama?" Callie asked her Mom softly as she walked into the kitchen where her mother was sitting at the counter staring at her coffee mug. Callie must've startled her from her thoughts because she jumped slightly at the sound of Callie's voice. Maria nodded slowly as she emptied the contents of her mug into the sink and followed Callie out of the kitchen.
"Are the girls dressed and ready?" Maria asked her daughter as they entered the living room and began grabbing the essentials for the court.
"They're already outside in the car," Callie told her mother as she grabbed her purse and some of the paper work that they needed.
Maria shook her head and sighed, "Calliope, I don't think I can do this." Maria stopped leaned onto the back of the couch and began breathing in and out heavily.
Callie spun around, "Do what? Divorce dad?"
"No, not that, I just can't face him. I can't believe it's come this far." Maria let tears trickle down her cheek, so Callie walked across the room and pulled her mother into a comforting hug.
"Mama, everything will be okay. You're strong, and you can do this." Callie whispered into her mothers ear. "It's not too late, Mama. You can still go back to him with the girls."
Maria shook her head furiously, "No. I'm doing this."
"Then," Callie whispered softly as she helped her mother put a light sweater on, "let's get this over with."
Maria nodded and quickly wiped all her tears away, "We have no time for this nonsense. Let's get this done, and go home."
"Don't you look nice." Callie commented to Aria, who was dolled up for the hearing. Callie looked at her through the rear view mirror with a smirk as she pulled onto the freeway.
"Ricky's gonna be there." Isla teased as she nudged her sister playfully. "She just wants to make an impression after such a long time."
"Why's Ricky going?" Maria quickly turned in her passenger seat to look at her daughter.
Aria shrugged off her mother's question.
"He wants to be there for her in her time of need." Isla smiled. "I think it's sweet."
"Nobody cares what you think, Isla." Aria muttered.
"Play nicely." Callie joked.
"Who's Ricky?" Arizona asked suddenly interested in the conversation that they were having.
"Her boyfriend." Isla teased. Arizona's eyes widened as she looked over at Aria with a smile.
"Oh really?" Arizona asked Aria.
"He's not my boyfriend." Aria grumbled.
"He so is!" Isla pressed on, knowing that it she was getting on her sister last nerve. "They were always together back when we lived in Miami."
"Shut up, Isla. He's not my boyfriend." Aria replied a little louder and leaned across Arizona's lap to punch Isla in the arm. At that moment, Callie regretted renting the small car over the nice big Sports Utility Vehicle.
"What the hell was that for?" Isla shouted at Aria as she rubbed her arm.
"Language." Maria warned.
"You know what that was for. You're saying things that aren't true." Aria yelled back at Isla.
"Oh I'm sorry, So that wasn't Ricky who was in your bed that night a couple months when I walked in. Sorry must be seeing things." Isla asked sarcastically which caused everyones jaw to drop.
Callie looked in the mirror just in time to see Aria unbuckle her seat-belt and lunge across Arizona and punch Isla in the stomach.
"Stop, Stop, Stop!" Arizona attempted to pull Aria off of herself and Isla, "I bruise easily," Arizona told the girls as she covered her face for cover while Isla was as pale as a sheet, having the air knocked out of her.
"I bruise easily too, I bruise easily too!" Isla shouted as she repeated Arizona's actions and covered her face.
"Like hell you do!" Aria yelled as she punched her sister again in the stomach.
Callie immediately stopped the car sending Aria to ground of the car, laying on both Isla and Arizona's feet.
"Aria, get in your sear, right now, and shut up the rest of the way. You too, Isla." Callie said in a very stern tone that even made Arizona jump slightly.
Aria quickly got up and sat in her seat, folding her arms across the chest in a very pouty manner.
"Boys in her bed," Maria muttered, "You're starting to sound just like Callie." Maria yelled at Aria.
"Hey!" Callie said in offense.
"I am NOTHING like Callie." Aria yelled at the same time Callie had said, "Hey."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Callie asked turned around, leaving her eyes from the road to glare at Aria.
"Well, I'm just saying, it's a no wonder you're a lesbian, you already slept with every guy on this planet." Aria shot back, and as soon as she words left her mouth, she regretted them. Callie didn't even look at her in anger, her eyes just fell as she turned around to focus on the road, while everyone just got extremely quiet.
"Fantastic." Arizona sighed blowing her side bangs out of her face.
As soon as they walked into the building, Aria spotted Ricky sitting on one of the benches, flipping through something on his phone. She turned back at her family who was standing there awkwardly looking around, so she decided to over to Ricky to say hi.
"Hey." She smiled softly.
"Hi, long time no see." He grinned getting up from the bench and kissing her cheek, "How are you?"
"Well, this whole thing is pretty insane." Aria frowned.
"Listen, Aria..." Ricky looked down at his feet, "He called my dad last month asking for all my father's best lawyers. He's got 6 of Miami's best lawyers working on his side."
Aria'a jaw dropped, "How are we supposed to compete with that?" Aria ran her hand through her hair and looked back at Isla who was leaning on Callie.
"Would it really be so bad? You'd be closer to me." Ricky grinned.
"Ricky, I've told you before, we're just friends." Aria told him softly.
"Right, yeah, with benefits." He muttered in annoyance.
"Look, I don't think I ever heard you complain." Aria replied back rudely.
"I'm not, I'm not. It's just... Miami is your home."
Aria shook her head, "Not anymore. I just want to be with the people that love me for who I am. I mean what if I decide to become a gymnast. Is my Dad going to dis-own me like he did, Callie?" Aria asked. Her question wasn't really directed at anybody, but it did hang loosely in the air.
"He would never do that to you." Ricky rubbed her arm comfortingly.
"I thought he would never disown Callie, either. As much as Isla and I hate to admit it, Callie is his first born, and pretty much his favorite daughter. How can you just stop loving her just like that?" Aria asked softly.
Ricky shrugged, "He didn't stop loving her, he just stopped respecting her. I mean... what she is doing... It's just wrong. You can't blame the man." Ricky replied back honestly.
Aria glared at him, "What?"
"I'm just saying..." Ricky threw up his hands in defense.
Aria shook her hand, "My sister is an amazing, confidant, independent, caring, well respected surgeon, who's in love with another amazing person who just happens to be a woman. I don't see anything wrong with that, and if you and my father see that its wrong, then you need to pull your head out of your asses, shut the fuck up, and rot in hell." Aria shouted. "Oh, and another thing, my father may have the best lawyers on his side, but we have love, support, and family. Something that he will never know if he keeps acting the way he is." Aria turned on her heals and walked off in a huff unaware that there were other ears listening and watching her every move from the other side of the hallway.
"What was that all about?" Callie asked her sister as she waited for her at the entrance of the courtroom. Everyone had already gone inside, except Callie decided to wait for her sister.
"He's being an ass." Aria mumbled before looking up at her sister with sorry eyes, "Callie, listen, I'm so sorry about earlier. It just slipped out, and I didn't mean anything by it."
Callie put up her hand and smiled softly at her sister, "Say no more, it's already forgotten. Let's just get this over with." Callie pulled her sister into a tight hug. As they pulled away they finally noticed the pair of eyes watching them: their father.
Callie gave him a soft smile while Aria simply glared and stormed off. Callie slowly walked up to her father and opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out.
"I really hate all this." Her father spoke up.
"I do too, Daddy." Callie nodded sadly. "I'm sorry if I have disappointed you, but I can't change who I am for you. If it were something else, I would, but not this. I love Arizona way too much."
Callie's father lifted his hand to her cheek and smiled sadly, "When you were younger, I told you to always be yourself and never be a follower." Callie nodded sadly, "I would never want you to change, even for me." He paused as he dropped his hands to his coat pockets. "However, at the moment, I am still having a difficult time accepting it. I respect your decision, but I just can't accept it just yet." Callie's father stopped and looked down at his feet. "I don't want to divorce your mother. I love her too much, so I'm going to cancel the hearing and give your mother custody of your sisters. They can go live with you in Seattle while I stay here and get help with the situation. When I'm ready, I will someday move up there with you all. I want us to be a family again." He said softly.
"Daddy it's so great to hear you say that!" Callie let the tears trickle down her face as she ran into her fathers arms.
Callie's father nodded and pulled away, "You let them all know. I can't really face them all right now, and let's face it, they don't want to see me."
Callie nodded gratefully, "Please promise one day you will be okay with it, though."
"I promise." He agreed with a slight smile before walked out of the building. Callie smiled softly, wiping away all her tears, as she turned on her heals and entered the courtroom to tell them good news.
TBC...
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So yeah, go check out those pictures of Aria/Isla/Maria.
