Part 4
Saturday, October 8th, 2016
Callie was proud of herself. Her wife was the planner, the one who got things done. She was the one that went along for the ride and did what she was told whenever Arizona planned something. For her to pull this off without any help, and without Arizona knowing… well, that was a major accomplishment. Sure, she'd needed a little help with some of the logistics, but for the most part, she'd done it all. The only thing that was causing her some trepidation was if Arizona would be happy with what she'd done.
She remembered the calls she'd made a few months earlier – Teddy, her in-laws, her family and her friends. All of them were surprised to hear about Arizona's resolution to run and finish a 5K race. And all of them were onboard for what Callie had planned. A few calls to the race officials and everything was set.
Here it was now, race day; Arizona's race day. Callie was both nervous and excited, and equally proud for her wife. After parking the car, the family of three walked toward the starting line.
"Do you need anything?" Callie asked.
"Just stand still for a minute," Arizona ordered, her hand landing on Callie's shoulder.
"What?"
"I need to stretch my leg." She kicked her right leg behind her and grabbed it. Balancing herself by hanging on to Callie, she carefully stretched her thigh muscles. "Well, there's one good thing about having only one leg," she commented. "I only have to do one set of stretches." She smirked. "Unless taking my leg in for a tune-up counts."
Callie snorted once. Even now, all these years later, she still marveled that Arizona was comfortable enough to make jokes about having only one leg. The jokes didn't come often, but she was making them, even if some of them were so dark and sarcastic Callie wondered if her wife was channeling Cristina.
Stretches done, Arizona planted a soft kiss on her wife's cheek. "I've got to sign in. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"We'll be right here," Callie responded, squeezing Sofia's hand.
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Callie and Sofia waited at the car while Arizona registered for the race.
"Do you remember Mama's resolution, Sofia?"
"To run a race. Is this the race, Mommy?"
"It sure is. And we're going to be waiting for Mama at the finish line."
"I'll cheer, just like you told me to, Mommy."
"We both will, Sofia."
Arizona returned to her family a short time later, race number in her grasp. She handed the paper to Callie.
"Well, I've got to get to the starting line in a few minutes," she said, sitting down in the backseat of their SUV, facing out. She unzipped the legs of her warmup pants and quickly peeled them off, taking care not to snag them on her prosthesis.
To say that Callie was surprised to see Arizona baring her legs, was an understatement. She'd never seen Arizona run outside in public without her legs fully covered.
"You're not going to wear your warmups?" the Latina asked.
"No, it's a little too warm today," she replied, turing around to throw the pants, then her sweatshirt into the interior of the car.
"Oh, I was just wondering. I don't think I've ever…"
As soon as Callie saw the tight, black spandex shorts covering her wife's firm ass, she stopped. She was suddenly incapable of speech. The shorts Arizona was wearing hugged every curve, leaving little to Callie's imagination.
Arizona spun around as best as she could. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Callie?"
It took the blonde a moment or too before she recognized the look on Callie's face. "Calliope?"
"You are never going to throw those shorts out," Callie said, her voice lower and full of lust.
"What?"
"Those are probably the sexiest shorts I've ever seen," she whispered against Arizona's neck. "Hot," she stammered. "Really, really, hot."
"Callie." Arizona said with some exasperation, even though she was flattered.
"I can't help it, honey."
Arizona smiled at Callie. "Help me with the number?"
'Right. Sure. Of course."
Callie carefully attached the number to Arizona's hot pink singlet. She leaned in and gave Arizona a quick but still loving kiss. She spotted an unfamiliar necklace lying next to the heart on the chain necklace that Arizona never took off.
"What's this?" Callie asked, her fingers trailing over the gold chain.
"Um… It belonged to Lexie. I asked Meredith if she had something I could borrow that belonged to Lexie."
Callie looked down, hiding her tears at her wife's thoughtfulness. It was then she noticed the large clunky watch that adorned Arizona's wrist. It had been previously hidden by Arizona's sweatshirt.
"Is that Mark's watch?" she choked.
"Y-y-yes," Arizona stuttered. "I hope you don't mind."
"No, not at all," she replied, wiping a tear away.
"Are you sure? I know we're saving it to give to Sofia someday, but I wanted something of Mark's with me today, too."
"It is so okay," Callie said, hugging the blonde close to her. "You're amazing, you know that?"
"Only with you, Calliope. Only with you." She held the hug for a few more minutes, before reluctantly pulling away. "Well, it's time for me to get over there."
"Are you nervous?"
"A little," she admitted.
"You can do this, Arizona," Callie said, giving her another quick hug.
"I know I can," Arizona replied, her voice not as confident as Callie's.
Callie pulled back from the embrace and placed her hands on Arizona's shoulders. "Don't ever forget. You. Are. Great."
Arizona nodded, grateful for her wife's steadfast belief and confidence.
"Good luck, Mama!" Sofia said, giving her Mama a hug of her own.
"Thank you, Sofia," she said, her hand cupping her daughter's cheek.
"Will wait for you at the finish. Listen for us!" Sofia said.
"I'll be listening for you the whole time I'm running."
After one last not-so-chaste kiss, Arizona left to join the other runners.
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Callie opened the box Bailey had brought.
"Did you get the shirts… did they get their shirts?" Callie asked.
"Relax, Torres, I took care of them. Those that need them right away, have their shirts."
"Thanks, Bailey."
"You need to hand out the rest so Kepner and Avery can get to their spots."
The Latina carried the box over to their family and friends who'd gathered for the race. Setting the carton down, she immediately hugged her mother-in-law.
"You don't think she'll be mad, do you?" she asked after greeting Barbara Robbins.
"Maybe a little embarrassed at first, but not mad."
"Is everything set at the house?"
"Yes, Carlos and Aria were a big help, and Alex came with some interns to unload the food and drink."
"Good man, that Karev," Carlos Torres said as he approached his daughter. "Mija."
"Daddy, Aria."
Callie hugged her father and sister, grateful for their support. "We'll talk later. I need to hand out the shirts to everyone."
She reached into the box and started taking out the bright pink shirts. Across the front of each shirt, in big block letters was "TEAM ROBBINS".
Not everyone was thrilled to be wearing pink. Alex made a face, but pulled it on after receiving a 'Torres' glare from both Callie and her father. Little Tuck (though he was no longer so little), balked at first, but after seeing Ben put his on, quickly followed suit.
The one person Callie dreaded giving a shirt to stood in front of her with churlish look on her face.
"Pink, Cal? You expect me to wear a pink shirt?" Cristina Yang scoffed.
"It's magenta."
"No, it's hot pink. Which is still pink."
"Cristina, you promised."
"Yeah, but it's going to cost you," she grumbled.
"There's a bottle of tequila back at the house with your name on it."
"Good." The Cardio surgeon looked down at her feet. "You know you don't have to bribe me to do this," she said quietly. "What Robbins is doing is… badass."
It was the closest Cristina could come to verbalizing her respect for what Arizona was attempting to accomplish.
"I know, Cristina. And thank you."
"Yeah, well, whatever," she muttered, reluctantly tugging the t-shirt over her head.
"Crissina! Look. Me and Zola and you have matching shirts!" Sofia said, beaming, softening the Cardio attending.
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It wasn't until the pack of experienced and able-bodied runners broke away from the main pack that Arizona finally relaxed and settled into her steady, albeit slow pace. She was heartened by the words of encouragement from her fellow runners as they passed her. A few years ago, she would've been angry and resentful. Now she found their words sincere and she felt some sense of camaraderie with them.
As she trudged along she could hear the murmurs from the bystanders. She overhead snippets of "doctor" and "plane crash". She sighed, resigned to the fact that she would always be known as the doctor who lost her leg in a plane crash. She couldn't help but be annoyed when she heard people say "lost"… like she'd misplaced her leg instead of having it cut-off. She snorted to herself, thinking that now she could literally lose her leg, though actually losing a hunk of metal would be difficult.
Lost in her thoughts, she became aware of someone running beside her, keeping pace with her. She knew she'd just passed the 1000 meter mark and also knew there weren't many other runners this far back with her.
"You're doing great, Robbins," said a familiar voice. "Don't stop."
She glanced to her left, surprised to see Owen Hunt jogging next to her, the bright pink shirt clashing with his rust-colored hair and beard.
"Owen?"
"Keep running," he huffed, sensing that she'd started to slow down. "Whatever you do, don't stop for anything until you cross the finish line."
"Why… why are… running?"
"Thought you could use the company." He waited a few minutes before speaking again. "I won't be able to run the whole way with you," he panted. "I'm… I'm really out of shape." He smiled at his fellow doctor. "You're probably in the best shape of all the attendings," he complimented her.
"I don't know…"
"Think about it." He grinned. "Yang. Grey. Shepherd. Karev. Bailey. Webber. Kepner. Avery. None of them can keep up with you."
Arizona gave a pride-filled smile back to him. "Thanks, Owen."
They ran together in companionable silence. At the 2000 mile mark, Owen spoke again.
"Here's where I have to drop out. I'm really, really out of shape. Keep going, Arizona."
"I will, Owen. Thank you!" she called out to him as he veered off the road and into the crowd.
A short time later, Arizona heard footsteps slow behind her.
"Not bad for a Marine brat," a feminine voice said from behind her. "Now if you were Army and running this slow, I'd be all over your ass."
Arizona turned her head just as Teddy Altman jogged up next to her.
"Teddy!" she exclaimed, almost coming to a stop.
"Keep running, Arizona. Don't stop."
As tired as Arizona felt at the halfway mark, seeing her friend running beside her gave her a burst of energy.
"Where… how… did you know?" Arizona panted as she continued to run.
"Who else? Callie."
It was then Arizona noticed that Teddy was also wearing the same brightly colored pink shirt.
"Teddy, I'm just… I can't believe… you flew out here…"
"I wouldn't miss it for anything, Arizona."
"Teddy…" Tears welled up in Arizona's eyes.
"We'll talk after the race, Arizona… I promise."
"And I'm going… to give… you the biggest hug…"
"Save that one for your wife," Teddy grinned. "I'll take the second hug."
The two women shared a smile and continued to run for the next thousand meters.
"You'll be hitting the homestretch soon, Arizona," Teddy gasped, now feeling winded. "It's time for me to drop out."
"Do you have to?"
"Yes. I'll see you at the finish line."
Teddy nodded once and then slowed her stride until she came to a complete stop. Once Arizona was out of view, Avery came up to her.
"Did you get a good shot?" Teddy asked, accepting the water bottle from him.
"Yes. I got one at the start, April took one of Dr. Robbins and Dr. Hunt, and she'll get the next shot."
"Who's covering the finish line?"
"Everyone else," he laughed. "Everyone brought a camera."
"Well, let's get there. I want to see the big finish."
A short while later, after running by herself, Arizona sensed another runner approaching her from behind.
"Soldier on, Marine," came a gruff voice.
"Dad?" Arizona whipped her head around, stumbling once when she saw her father.
"Don't stop, Arizona."
"I won't, Dad," she replied, regaining her balance.
"Do you mind if I run with you for a little bit?" he said, his voice gentle.
"Of course not!"
"You've only got another five hundred meters or less."
"That's good… I'm getting a little tired…"
Her father looked down at the ground as they ran, trying to hide the emotions that kept bubbling to the surface.
"Arizona… we're both… I'm so proud of you," he said, his voice almost cracking.
Both of them became uncomfortable at his uncharacteristic display of emotion. Arizona found his hand and squeezed it once, never breaking stride.
"I've always wanted to make you proud, Dad."
He cleared his throat and when he finally caught her eye, he saw the twinkle in it, as well as a broad smile.
"What?" he asked, his breaths coming a little harder and closer together.
"You're wearing… pink…"
"Yes… well… my daughter-in-law can be… very persuasive…" he grumbled.
As out of breath as she was, and as tired and in pain as she was, Arizona laughed. Seeing her father wear pink gave her a boost and she knew she could finish the race.
"I love you, Dad."
"I love you, too, Arizona." He cleared his throat again. "It's time for me to drop out."
"Can't you… aren't you going to finish… with me…"
"It's your race, Arizona… Keep your head high," he said as he slowed down.
Arizona continued running. Despite the pain in her leg, and the burning she felt in her lungs, she also felt invigorated. Her friends and family were with her and her wife… Callie was making this possible. Tears filled her eyes as she neared the finish line.
Familiar voices called out to her, spurring her on. With the finish line only meters away, she saw the line of bright pink shirts lining the road. Bailey, Ben and Little Tuck. Meredith, Derek and Zola. Her mother. Carlos and Aria. Owen. Addison. Teddy. Alex. April. Jackson. Shockingly, even Cristina was clad in a pink shirt.
As she crossed the finish line, she saw Callie and Sofia, also in pink, waiting for her.
"Callie!" she gasped, falling into her arms. "I did it! I did it!"
"You did, Arizona!" Callie hugged her close. "I'm so, so proud of you." She kissed her temple. "We're all so proud of you."
"How… when?" she asked looking over at their family and friends.
Callie shrugged her shoulders, dismissing her wife's questions.
"You're amazing," she said, repeating Callie's words from earlier in the day. "I love you." She planted a kiss on Callie's lips.
"Mama!" Sofia yelled, tugging on her mother's singlet. "Mama, you finished the race!"
"I did, sweetie, I did," she replied, awkwardly squatting to hug her daughter.
"You kept your rezlution."
"I did."
After giving the two women some privacy, "Team Robbins" joined them in congratulating the Peds surgeon. Surrounded by her family and friends, Arizona had never felt so loved.
