Summary: Part Two of the Muddy Buddy World. Arizona and Callie go to see the Torres's.
Disclaimer: All television shows, books, movies, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work and the characters, events, and settings thereof are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
AN - ME: Wind-In-The-Trees tried to out do me by posting two updates on her LJ site... Well, we can't have that happen!
I take back my previous comment; I think this is probably my favorite bit to the story. Only this chapter came easy. This was the kind of chapter where you sit down, and twenty minutes later, you've got 3,000 words, with very little effort. Our girls return to high school here, so Callie gets to show off to the current generation of students, and also later on to Arizona.
The following morning, Arizona woke long before the alarm was set to go off, forgetting that she had turned it off before the two women had gone to bed. Knowing that Callie is likely exhausted from the events of the previous evening, she figures it will be awhile before the woman wakes; she slips out of bed quietly to use the restroom, dressing in running clothes while in there. Exiting the bathroom she's surprised to see Callie sitting up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and she goes to sit next to her.
"I didn't expect you to wake up so soon." Arizona leans in for a morning kiss, keeping it chaste.
"I never sleep well when you're not beside me, especially after a bad night."
"I figured you'd be so exhausted that you'd sleep awhile longer."
"So that's why you're dressed. You're feeling mean, making me wake up without you next to me." Arizona is pleased to hear the teasing tone coming from her girlfriend. Maybe she really is going to be alright.
"Actually, I've been feeling lazy the last few days; I'm in the mood for a run. Would you like to join me?"
"Give me five minutes." Callie gets out of bed, not bothering to cover herself up for her journey to the bathroom, with a stopover at the closet for clothes. Arizona has to restrain herself from grabbing the brunette and dragging her back into bed for some aerobic activities other than running.
Four minutes later, Callie exits the bathroom, fully clothed and retrieves her running shoes. By the time she's put them on and tied them, five minutes exactly have passed and Callie is dragging Arizona out of the bedroom.
The pair stops outside Aria's room on the way. Callie peeks into her sister's room to see that she's still fast asleep; clutching the stuffed bear she'd slept with in childhood, and quietly shuts the door, leaving her to get more rest. The previous evening had been draining on the younger Torres, both physically and emotionally.
Exiting the house, the pair spends a few minutes stretching before taking off. It's not long before they've exited the gated community and are heading toward the city. For the first few miles, the pair is silent, enjoying the time together. Callie halts the run after a point and points to a break in the buildings, where the sun is rising over the water fusing the sky with color and light. After that, the two women walk onward, chatting about nothing in particular. Arizona wants to question Callie further on what's going to happen with Jimmy, and Callie wants to tell her, but neither bring up the subject for fear of it ruining the moment between them.
Finally they stop at a cart and buy bottles of water before they return to the house. Arizona isn't used to running in the heat and humidity of Miami, and she has to restrain herself from guzzling the water.
"Callie Torres?" They look up to see an older woman, dressed for work, holding a cup with the logo of the coffee shop behind her. Callie stands to greet the woman with a bright smile, though she refrains from hugging her, given how sweaty she is.
"Dr. Grant! How are you?"
"Very well, how are you? Are you in town visiting your parents?"
"Yes. My grandparent's anniversary is on Friday," Callie turns, remembering Arizona, finding that she's standing behind her now, though she comes to view when Callie looks. "This is my girlfriend, Arizona; Arizona, this is Dr. Claire Grant, she was my science teacher in high school."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Arizona grins broadly, accepting the outstretched hand in greeting. "What subject did you have Calliope for?"
"Biology freshman year, AP Physical Science sophomore year, AP Chemistry junior year, and AP Anatomy and Physiology and AP Biology senior year. Every year the school changed the classes I taught and every year I managed to have this young lady in my room."
"Wow, my girlfriend was a nerd." The sight of the dimples lets Callie know that the blonde is kidding around, and she's quick to retaliate.
"Hey, Kerry showed me all of your report cards, I didn't take anywhere near as many AP courses as you did. And I wanted to be a doctor, the science classes were the best way to prepare me."
"And prepare she did. Most people take drawing and painting, or ceramics, or home ec for their extra electives. Callie here took every science class Miami High School had to offer. Except first semester her freshman year, she took auto shop. She wanted to learn how to rebuild a car. That fall her uncle took her to the junkyard, where she found the frame of an old t-bird. She rebuilt that thing from the spark plugs up; it took her all four years of high school, and the first few of college. Even when her father bought her a brand new convertible, she still kept working on that thing." Dr. Grant supplies.
"Hey, my t-bird lasted longer than the convertible. That convertible didn't even survive past graduation night."
"Because Max Reilly wrapped it around a telephone pole… you still have the t-bird!"
"Yup. It's back in Seattle. That car has lasted longer than any other relationship I've had – with a car or a person."
"Right. Well-," suddenly she stops, it's clear the older woman has an idea. "Do you have any plans for today?"
"I'll be at the school later on today. I saw Pat yesterday, he asked me to stop by and visit with his music class and the Glee Club."
"I don't suppose that you'd be willing to stop by and speak to a few of my classes also, would you? I've only got four, and you don't have to speak at all of them. It's just that, I just gave them all exams, and I'd rather not start on anything new right away, seeing as there was so much information on the last test. I was planning on showing them a movie, but if you're willing…" She trails off, hoping for affirmation from the young woman. Callie looks to Arizona to see if she'd be okay with it. The blonde has a ready smile.
"And miss the opportunity to see you in your old element?"
"I suppose I can be there, Pat said his music class is last period."
"Great. No need to rush; I've got planning the first period of the day, and department planning last period, so you won't be missing out on one of my classes. I'll be sure to let the front office know that you're coming. Now, I best get going, I've got a department meeting in 20 minutes."
The trio says their good-byes, watching the older woman jump into her car and take off.
"She'll probably be the only person this week that won't be shocked to hear I'm dating a woman." Callie sounds wistful at the spoken thought.
"Why is that?" Arizona questions as the pair start walking back toward the house, finishing their water along the way.
"She's kind of like Bailey – if you take away the 'take no prisoners' attitude – she doesn't care much for the personal lives and opinions of others. If she cares about you, you should count yourself lucky, because she will defend you until her dying breath."
"And she cares about you?"
"I'll never know, no one ever does, until they've experienced her defense." The pair tosses the empty bottles in one of the many recycling bins that line the street before picking up the pace for the return trip home.
Arriving home just after 8:30, Callie checks in on Aria again to find her still sleeping, so she moves on to her room to get cleaned up. She enters the bathroom to find Arizona undressing for a shower.
"I'm not going to have to clean the throw-up out of your hair again, am I?" Arizona is only slightly teasing.
"Not likely. These are kids; chances are they won't know what I'm talking about even if I do say the wrong thing."
"Would you have known if a guest speaker like yourself made a mistake? 'Cause you seem to have been the type of kid that would have."
"I probably would have, I just likely wouldn't have had the confidence to speak up about it."
"You? Not confident enough to speak your mind? That doesn't sound like the Calliope I know and love." Arizona boosts herself onto the counter, waiting for an answer. Callie moves to tuck herself in between the blonde's legs, wrapping her arms around the woman's waist.
"A lot has changed since high school. I had friends – a lot of friends – but I was never super confident." Callie retrieves a waterproof bandage from the bag of supplies they got yesterday after getting their tattoos and proceeds to apply it over Arizona's wrist. "Back then, I wasn't confident unless I was onstage, performing. And even then I couldn't speak in public."
"So you could sing and perform to a crowd of hundreds, but you couldn't lecture a crowd that same size for twenty minutes?" Arizona returns the favor, wrapping Callie's tattooed wrist after applying a fresh coat of antibacterial cream.
"I know. But it's true. I was the kid that loved to learn and probably could teach half of my classes better than the teachers could, but I never did have the confidence to speak up."
"Sports didn't give you any confidence?"
"I ran cross-country and track, I was on the rock-climbing team, the surfing team, crew… For the most part, those are silent sports. I played recreation league basketball, but even though I was good at the sport, I sucked at the communication aspect; I wound up stopping after the first season. Plus they weren't the kids I knew. It would take me awhile to make new friends; most of my friends were people like Jesse – the kids I'd known since kindergarten."
"Hmmm," Arizona leans in for a kiss, one that quickly deepens, until the two women are forced apart by the need for oxygen. "So 15 years ago, you never would have approached me like you did in Joe's to defend your newborn status?"
"Are you kidding me? I never would have had the confidence to approach you in the hospital to ask you out!"
"Well then, I thank whatever higher powers gave you that confidence. Otherwise, I would have missed out on the best part of my life." The two pull apart only to strip away the remaining clothing before they are back in each other's embrace. Eventually, Callie picks Arizona up to carry her into the shower.
"Good morning, girls." Callie and Arizona enter the kitchen to find Mama setting the table with a simple breakfast of fresh fruit, granola and yogurt. "I was just about to go wake up Aria, could one of you do it for me?"
"I looked in on her when we came down; she was still dead to the world."
"Really? I didn't think she went anywhere last night."
"She didn't," Callie attempts to cover for her sister. "But we stayed up late talking." Andromeda doesn't appear to believe her, so Arizona jumps in.
"It's true. I was there also. Aria tried her best to intimidate me while questioning my intentions toward Calliope."
"I think Erin was scarier." Callie quickly adds.
"Erin can be scarier than your father if she puts her mind to it."
"Anyways, we finally went to our own bed around two in the morning. And she seemed to have been busy yesterday, so let her rest some. Especially if you're going to be roping her into helping you supervise the set up for the party tomorrow."
"Fine." Callie whips out her phone and sends her sister a quick text, explaining the story she told their mother while her back is turned, so Aria won't be caught unawares later before sitting down to breakfast.
"So, what do you girls have planned for today?" Andromeda takes in the outfits the girls are wearing: Jeans, a white and blue patterned blouse, sandals and leather jacket for Callie; and a royal blue sundress and sandals for Arizona.
"We ran into Dr. Grant on our run this morning, she asked me to speak to her students today. And then we're going to stop by Patrick's music class and Glee Club afterwards."
"And then there's dinner afterwards." Arizona reminds her.
"Right, and then we've got dinner with Abuela and Abuelo."
"Both of them? Both of you?" Andromeda looks worriedly between the two. Callie immediately picks up on it and is quick to reassure her.
"I had lunch with them yesterday and I told them all about Arizona. They both wanted to meet her, and invited us over for dinner."
"They know? They know that you're…"
"Gay? Yes, they know. And they were fine with it."
"Okay." The older woman relaxes. Given that her parents live on the opposite side of the world, the Torres elders were quick to invite her into the family fold 35 years ago when Carlos brought her home for the first time. The two have been like second parents to her, and she would hate to see them in any sort of pain.
"Well, thanks for breakfast, mama, but we'd better get going if we want to be at the school in time."
"Okay, have fun, girls." She accepts a kiss from each of them on their way out the kitchen before moving to clean up the dishes.
"Well, well, well, as I live and breathe, Callie Torres has returned to MHS!" Callie looks up to see her favorite former teacher – but don't tell Dr. Grant that – exit the principal's office as she's signing her and Arizona in to the visitor's log.
"Dr. Fitz." She accepts the enthusiastic hug from the older gentleman before releasing him and introducing him to Arizona. "This is Arizona Robbins, Arizona, this is Dr. Fitzgerald, he was my music teacher and Glee coach. He snagged the position of top dog right around the same time Pat was applying to teach here."
"Pleasure to meet you, Arizona. You're a lucky woman to have snagged a woman like Callie here. I got the heads up from Claire." He elaborates at Callie's questioning look. She's prevented from commenting at the sound of a bell, followed by the collective sound of 4,000 students moving to their next class. "You had better get going if you want to make it to class in time."
"Are we going to see you at Glee practice later?"
"And miss the chance to see my two former superstars performing together again? Try and keep me away! I dare you." With one last hug, Dr. Fitz returns to his office, while Callie leads Arizona out into the madness that is a high school during class change.
"He's young." Arizona comments as they make their way through the halls.
"Yeah, the ink wasn't even dry on his Masters when he started teaching here when he was 25 – made it kind of difficult for the students to take him seriously when he wasn't that much older than most of us. He did his Ph.D. through an online school and finished it just as the previous principal was retiring. He's been in the front office for seven years now." They arrive at their destination, and Callie holds the door open for her, following her into the classroom. Dr. Grant looks up at their arrival.
"Hey! Perfect timing. Are you going to need the projector?"
"Nope. I didn't plan anything. I just figured I'd get up and talk."
"Any ideas as to what you'll be talking about?"
"My research is a good place to start. I published an article last summer about cartilage that I'd made from scratch, it's about to start its second clinical trial next week."
"Sounds good; I'm just going to be sitting in the back grading papers, but let me know if you'll need anything."
"Will do." The group falls silent as the last of the students trickle in seconds before the final bell.
"Alright kids," Dr. Grant grabs their attention. "Given how much information was on your test yesterday, I'm going to give you a little break before diving into the next unit. This is Callie Torres. She's an alumnus of this great institution, and she's graciously agreed to speak to you today." Dr. Grant steps aside, leading Arizona back to the back of the classroom, giving Callie an encouraging smile on the way.
"Okay, you all can call me Callie, please. I'm an attending orthopedic surgeon at Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital in Washington State. I'm going to start with a simple question. True or false: Cartilage can regenerate and heal itself."
"False." A young girl in the front row is quick to respond, though her tone is soft, shy even. "There's no blood supply to cartilage, which makes it impossible to regenerate."
"Very good. And the only way to fix it is to take tissue from another part of the body and move it to where it's needed. Which is dangerous… but there's a new way to fix cartilage degeneration. That is: fake cartilage." The girl in the front row laughs softly at the idea. "You don't think it's possible?"
"Making cartilage from scratch? Not possible."
"You're sure?"
"Yes." Callie digs into her bag, pulling out the issue of the American Medical Journal that published the article on her first clinical trial. She hands it to the young girl, who takes in the image of the woman on the front cover – the woman currently standing before her.
"If you'll open that to page 17, you'll find an article on the successful clinical trial that tested the cartilage for the first time last fall. It is possible, though there are still problems, so it is possible, just not 100%, not yet anyways."
The young girl slides down in her chair in embarrassment as Callie continues on with her lecture.
"It's alright; all the bioengineers told me it was impossible also. Difference between them and me? I was more invested in it, I wanted to see it happen, and succeed…"
Arizona smiles at Callie from the rear of the classroom as she continues to amaze her, reaching out and inspiring each of the students before her. Sure, all the guys were likely paying attention to her looks more so than her words, but after the first few intelligent questions posed to her girlfriend, she realized that they were still absorbing what Callie was saying.
Well, if she can't be a surgeon, she'd make one hell of a teacher.
"Thank you so much for this, Callie and you, Arizona." Dr. Grant thanks the two women profusely. When Callie's voice had begun to give half-way through her final AP Anatomy class, Arizona had been quick to step in with her own stories and lectures.
"Our pleasure. But we'd better get going. Patrick wanted me to show off to his current Glee kids."
"I know. And if I didn't have a meeting with a parent and Dr. Fitzgerald, I'd go watch. Have fun."
"We will." Callie gives the older woman one last hug, letting go so Arizona can drag her out the room after saying good-bye herself.
"Sooo," Arizona drags the word out. "Just how good were you in Glee?"
"Four time National Champions, good." Callie stops them before a trophy case near the front office, pointing out the State and National Show Choir championship trophies with the sequential years on the bases of them. Between each of the trophies is a group photo of the Glee Club that year. Arizona quickly picks out her girlfriend in each of them. The wide smile and bright-eyed look is the same now as it was then, and she's quick to recognize the deep dimples of one and the green eyes of the other boy on each side of her – one Jesse Cardoza and Patrick James each have their arms around Callie and they, like the rest of the team are mugging for the camera after one of their wins, evidenced by the trophy in front of the group. Surrounding each pair of large trophies are smaller individual awards for various members for songs. Several of them have Callie's name on them, Arizona notices.
"Well, let's get going then, your audience awaits you."
Walking back into the Glee room Callie felt 17 again. Any stress about Aria, any worries about her family dealing with her being gay, every worry and fear melted away. The room felt the same, gave her the same feeling deep down.
"I had forgotten how much I loved this room." Callie whispered, the room was empty except for Arizona and Callie. "I spent so many hours in here; it was like a second home." She walked over to the old piano, brushing her fingers over the white keys.
Arizona stood against the wall and watched as Callie walked around, rediscovering things that she had forgotten. She had never seen Callie's eyes sparkle so much outside of their bedroom or an OR before. She turned her head when Pat walked in, smiling warmly at him.
"She and I must have spent every lunch in here for four years." He stood next to Arizona, keeping his voice down so Callie could get lost in her memories. He was dressed like a respectable teacher, blue button up shirt and a tie with music notes on it. "She was shy in high school but when she sang, she glowed."
Arizona looked from the man at her side to her girlfriend. Callie had a grin as wide as she could on her face as she searched in the music files. "She gets that look in the OR now. Such pride and love in her work."
Callie pulled out a song and turned, smiling at Pat. "If it's alright with you I think we should sing this one." She handed him the song they won Nationals with their last year of school.
Pat chuckled. "Think you can keep up with me, Torres?" He challenged her, knowing that was the easiest way to get a rise out of her.
"The real question, Pat, is can you keep up with me." Callie laughed as the bell rang.
Twenty kids slowly trickled into the music room, all colors and sizes. Callie and Arizona walked over and sat at Pat's desk, letting him introduce them when he was ready. Callie took Arizona's hand, a little nervous and a little excited for this.
"Alright everyone." Pat said, standing in the front of the class room. "Today I brought in a guest to show you how a duet is done." A few of the students whispered, trying to figure out who it was, not seeing Callie and Arizona. "Now back in 1995 the female lead and I needed a song for the opening of our set. We wanting something where we could show off a little and everyone would know the words. So we picked A Whole New World from Aladdin."
Most of the girls and a few of the guys laughed and clapped at the song, liking it and of course knowing the words. It had been the song that won them a competition last year.
"Now to get the full effect of 1995 I have with me the female lead. Callie would you be so kind as to come up here?" Callie kissed Arizona's cheek before walking to the front of the room.
"Hey guys." Callie smiled out; she had seen most of these kids in the sciences classes she talked to. Pat walked over to the piano and put the music down. "I haven't done this in a long time so don't be too hard on me."
"Ready Callie?" He asked, cracking his knuckles. Callie took a few deep breaths before she nodded. She closed her eyes as Pat started to play and then sing.
"I can show you the world."
Those six worlds started the fire inside of Callie that she hadn't had to perform in almost 15 years. She and Pat traded lines back and forth, their voices blending just as they had the night of the final show of their high school lives.
"I can't go back to where I used to be!"
Callie looked over at Arizona as she sang that line, knowing the meaning deeper now than ever before. Arizona couldn't move, could barely breathe as she watched Callie and Pat. Callie was glowing, her voice like a siren song, drawing her in to die upon the rocks. She had seen that same look in Callie's eyes before, but only during love making and operations. It was a look that she loved to witness, one that meant Callie was at her finest.
"For you and me!"
As Pat and Callie sang the last line they looked at each other, grinning like children when the last note died in the air. They shared a hug when Pat stood, the Glee club standing and cheering for them; Arizona cheering right along with them, now knowing another side of Callie that she had not known before.
Arizona and Callie got back to Torres Manor just after 4 in the afternoon. They walked inside, both smiling and holding hands. The day at Miami High was well spent and put both in really good moods. Callie couldn't believe how good she felt after singing with Pat, she'd missed it and forgotten the rush of singing.
"Hey, Mama." Callie kissed her mother's cheek, grabbing two bottles of juice.
"How was going back to high school?" She took her glasses off and looked up from the menu she had been trying to plan for a party Carlos needed to have a month from now.
"I was a big hit." Callie grinned, handing Arizona one of the bottles. "Pat and I knocked our song out of the park and the science classes really had some good questions on my research."
Arizona smiled proudly at Callie, taking her hand back after opening her juice. "I hadn't heard Calliope sing before this, I have to say it was a treat." She kissed Callie's cheek softly. "I might have to ask you to sing for me from now on."
Andromeda watched the two young woman interact, seeing all the love between them. She couldn't have asked for anymore for her oldest daughter, anymore than true love. "What time do you have to go to dinner?"
"In about two hours." Callie looked down at her watch. "I think I'm going to take a nap before we go, wanna join me babe?"
Arizona finished off her juice, nodding. "I think that is a super idea."
The two women walked up to Callie's bedroom, both stripping down to nothing before they got into the cool bed. Legs and arms tangled as they always did when the two lovers slept together.
"You were really good today Calliope." Arizona whispered, stroking her lover's hair.
"I'm glad you think so." She kissed Arizona's jaw softly before she reached over and set the alarm. "That means as much to me as any of my trophies. But you mean more than anything to me."
Arizona cuddled to Callie, breathing in her earthy scent. "Love you, Calliope."
"Love you too, Arizona." Callie whispered, falling into a deep slumber.
Arizona groaned as the alarm went off, telling her she needed to get ready for dinner with Callie's grandparents. She hit it off before kissing Callie and going to the bathroom. She'd let her sleep a little extra while she showered.
She looked in the mirror after her shower, a towel wrapped around her. She knew tonight was a big step in her and Callie's relationship, that it meant a lot for their future. She used a second towel to dry her hair before walking out of the bathroom and over to where she hung her dress up.
When Callie woke up, the first thing she saw was a wet, naked Arizona. "If this is a dream, I never want to wake up." She chuckled, her voice still deep with sleep.
Arizona rolled her eyes playfully while putting cream on her skin. "Go take your shower. I don't want to be late tonight."
Callie laughed, sitting up in bed. The blankets pooled around her waist, leaving her chest bare. "Sure you don't need another shower?"
"Go, Calliope, before I am forced to put you on restricted sex intake." Arizona said, her face not showing the grin she felt. Callie stuck her tongue out before walking into the bathroom to get ready.
Almost an hour later the two women walked downstairs. Both ready as they ever would be for this dinner. Knowing that her grandparents didn't seem to mind helped Arizona from shaking out of her heals.
Callie was in a fitted black dress that showed off her figure but was modest because of who they were going to dinner with. Her hair was back in a tight bun; Arizona's Valentine's present around her neck, a ring she got for her sweet 16 and some simple make up completed her look.
Arizona was in a red dress, strapless, falling just below her knee. Her hair was loose and she had curled it, Callie always loved when she did that. She had on her Valentine's present as always, a tennis bracelet her father had given her when she finished medical school and just a little make up.
Aria walked out of the kitchen as they were putting their jackets on. She had jeans and a tank top on, she looked a little like she had been sick for weeks but was starting to get better. "Have fun tonight." Her voice was soft, not a trace of sarcasm in it.
"We'll talk when I get back." Callie kissed her forehead, giving her a hug. "I love you Aria, don't forget that." Aria nodded before watching the happy couple leave for the night.