Chapter 4
Callie and Arizona entered into Sofia's school and immediately Arizona's jaw dropped. There seemed to be history within this building. The walls of the hallway were lined with glass bookcases filled with awards and black and white pictures of former students. The walls were made of dark wood and the floors had beautiful tiling. Arizona had seen pictures on the website but it had not done the school justice. It was definitely not on par with Sofia's previous elementary school. Even she could admit that. First of all, Sofia had gone to public school back in Seattle. It was a decision Arizona and Callie had agreed upon very early on because the school in their neighborhood was actually really good. Also, Arizona felt very strongly about public education. Her mother and a few of her aunts were public school teachers and she felt she would be going against everything she valued if she sent her daughter to a private school. That is... until the move to New York. Arizona continued to marvel at the architecture in the building as Callie guided her into the school office and toward the receptionist.
"Pretty remarkable, huh?" Callie smirked. Arizona just nodded silently.
"Dr. Torres," the young woman smiled brightly. She had long curled brown hair, olive skin, and beautiful green eyes. "How are you today?"
"Hey Ellie, I'm doing well. I told you to call me Callie," Callie responded with an equally large smile.
"But I like Dr. Torres. I like powerful women, remember?" Ellie winked. Callie let out a giggle that made Arizona eyes dart over at her suspiciously. Callie met Arizona's narrowed eyes and stooped giggling immediately.
"Oh, this is Sofia's Mom, Arizona Robbins. Dr. Arizona Robbins. Arizona, this is Ellie," Callie introduced the two awkwardly.
"Dr. Robbins," Ellie gave her a tight smile.
"Ellie," Arizona nodded back, her eyes darting between Ellie and Callie. What was going on here? Arizona asked herself in confusion.
"So, what can I do for you today?" Ellie asked leaning forward, revealing what Arizona assumed was an expensive boob job. Arizona shook her head, No, she's just young and perky. Arizona quickly averted her eyes to the bulletin board on the wall. The girl was half her age, she imagined.
"I just came to pick up Sofia a little early today. Could you buzz her down?"
"Sure thing, Dr. Torres," Ellie grinned. "We've missed you around here. Where've you been?"
"Work has been pretty crazy," Callie trailed off.
"I figured. I haven't seen you at Evolve recently either…"
"Ah, yeah," Callie murmured awkwardly. "It's just been so busy…"
"Well, we'll have to figure out how to get you out one of these nights."
Callie coughed awkwardly and nodded, "Oh, uh yeah. That'd be awesome..."
Ellie shot Callie one small smile before she got up from her desk and walked into a PA system room.
"Oh my god," Arizona finally let out a laugh, "Did you sleep with her?"
"What?!" Callie whispered harshly back, "NO!"
"It sure seems like it!"
"It does not, stop," Callie protested with a harsh eye roll.
"But you went clubbing with her?"
Callie rolled her eyes, "No! I'm not 21. I've run into her at this bar I occasionally go to for happy hour."
"Oh, but she wants you!" Arizona accused pointing her finger at Callie.
"Sh, stop that. She does not," Callie replied softly slapping Arizona's finger down.
"She so does!" Arizona lifted her pointed finger back up at Callie. Callie brought it back down again.
"And you're looking at her like a piece of meat! Calliope, Calliope!" Arizona teased, "She's a baby! You should be ashamed of yourself," Arizona giggled.
"Oh my god," Callie groaned. "Please stop, she's coming back."
"Alright, she should be down in a moment," Ellie smiled leaning against her desk, the slit in her skirt revealing the lower part of her thigh.
"Thank you," Callie replied awkwardly, feeling the narrowed eyes of her ex-wife on her. Arizona lightly bumped Callie on her hip with her own hip. Callie shut her eyes. She felt mortified by this entire situation. She truly did not feel any attraction toward the young girl. I mean, of course she was beautiful, but Callie knew she was too young. It did not hurt that the young girl was obviously smitten with the older doctor. It was mostly embarrassing to have Arizona catch this interaction.
"So, Ellie, are you in school… or?" Arizona asked curiously, pointing at a text book on her desk.
"Finishing up grad school at NYU right now. This is just a part time gig," Ellie explained.
"Grad school," Arizona grinned, "Hear that Calliope?"
"I want to be an actress," Ellie elaborated lamely.
"An actress!" Arizona crossed her arms grinning. She was eating his up. She looked over at Callie with the largest smirk.
Callie was about to respond when she heard, "Mommy!" Sofia came storming into the office and right before she reached Arizona she quickly stopped running so that she did not run into Arizona and knock her over. She gave her a big tight hug.
"Oh Monkey! It's so good to see you," Arizona responded pulling away and running her hand down her daughters hair. "I swear you've grown 3 inches since I have last seen you."
"I've been eating my veggies," Sofia responded proudly.
"I can see that! You're so big and strong!"
"I am! Can we go to the Zoo today?"
"I think we are saving that for tomorrow, but tonight I thought we could go to Serendipity?"
"Oh my gosh, yes! I want a huge bowl of ice cream" Sofia nodded enthusiastically. "Bye Ellie!" Sofia waved as she grabbed both her Mom's hands and pulled them out of the school office. "Will you come too, Mama?" Sofia asked Callie.
"Awe, hon, I wish. I have to get back to the hospital tonight. You are going to have so much fun with Mommy, though," Callie smiled as she bent down and kissed her daughters cheek. "I'll see you Sunday, okay?"
"Please?" Sofia pouted. "You love chocolate!" She protested. She looked up at Arizona, "Mama loves their chocolate ice cream. It's her favorite," she whined.
"Sweetie, I really have to go to the hospital. We can go together another time, okay?"
"Okay," Sofia nodded sadly. Callie gave one more sympathetic glance at Sofia before standing back up straight.
As they walked out to the front of the school, Sofia guided Arizona back to the car and Callie paused at the street.
"Callie, why don't you take the car? Sofia and I can grab a cab…" Arizona offered.
Callie waved her offer off, "No, no. The car is Sofia's. It will be a lot less stress for you if you take it. I'm just going to catch a cab back to the hospital."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. You guys can pick me up on Sunday from my building and Sofia and I will go with you to the airport," Callie offered.
"I'd like that," Arizona smiled looking down at Sofia and running her hand through her hair.
"Okay. I'll see you two sunday. Have a good time. Bye, Sof," Callie waved, but Sofia was already dragging her Mommy toward the black car.
"What about Alex?" Sofia asked as they sat in the ice cream shop. They had been going through all the doctors at the hospital and Sofia wanted to know all the gossip. Of course, Arizona had to give her the most innocent run down of the hospital.
"Alex is good. He misses you, of course. He's looking forward to coming and swimming with you this summer."
"What about Eliza?" Sofia asked in a sing-song voice.
Arizona took a bite of her ice cream cone to hide her small smile. "She's good, too," Arizona responded simply.
Sofia rolled her eyes. It was the classic Callie eye roll that Sofia had perfected so well. Arizona knew her daughter was fishing for more information. Sofia was not a clueless girl. She was very intelligent and was curious about everything. It was a quality Arizona and Callie admired in their daughter. She loved reading and learning more about everything. It did have it's downfalls. She was curious about EVERYTHING. Especially juicy gossip that involved their mothers.
"and?" Sofia pleading her mom to continue. Arizona had to hold back from laughing. She could not believe her 7 year old daughter was actually expecting Arizona to discuss her relationship with her.
"And what?"
"Is she your girlfriend?" Sofia asked seriously. Arizona could tell by her tone she meant business. Arizona never lied to Sofia and she did not want to start now.
"Yeah, baby, she is," Arizona nodded softly. Sofia took a couple more bites of her ice cream. Her eyebrows furrowed and Arizona could tell her daughter was deep in thought.
"Is that okay?" Arizona asked tentatively.
Sofia shrugged, "Does this meaning you're moving?"
Arizona shook her head vigorously, "No, no. I'm staying in Seattle."
"What if Eliza moves away?" Sofia asked.
Arizona paused. Of course, Arizona had thought of that possibility. Eliza's contract's end was approaching fast and the realness of situation had started hitting the couple. They had not sat down and talked about it yet because they had only barely confessed their love for each other. The truth was, Arizona had not thought about what would happen if Eliza decided to move. Arizona loved Seattle, she loved her co-workers, and she loved her position at their hospital. She also loved Eliza. Arizona observed her daughter carefully as she waiting for her mother's response. Arizona could tell there Sofia was desperately hoping Arizona would tell her she was staying in Seattle.
"I would stay in Seattle," Arizona confirmed softly. Arizona did not lie to Sofia... and she was not about to start now. Arizona knew by saying this she was committing to staying in Seattle.
More silence as Sofia twirled her spoon around in her sunday. It was quickly melting.
"And I'm going back to Seattle?" Sofia asked unsurely, locking eyes with Arizona. She could tell her daughter was obviously anxious about this topic. Hard hitting questions, Arizona thought.
"You know, your mom and I still need to talk about that. You'll be the first to know, okay?" Arizona responded reaching over and rubbing her thumb over her daughters little hand. "I hope you do. I sure miss you like crazy."
Sofia nodded softly. "You promise you won't move?"
"Pinky promise," Arizona responded linking her pink with her daughters. This made Sofia grin and giggle, releasing her mom's pink and taking another bite of her ice cream.
The two continued to eat in silence for a couple more moments when Sofia chimed in again.
"It's okay that Eliza is your girlfriend."
"Thank you, sweets," Arizona smiled. Arizona looked down at her ice cream almost sadly. What if Eliza decided to move?
Arizona hopped out of her shower and threw on a white robe from the hotel. She quietly walked out of the main bedroom of the hotel, closing the french doors without waking Sofia. It was just about 8 o'clock in Seattle and Eliza should be out of surgery so she decided to give her a call on FaceTime. Within 5 seconds, Eliza's face was on Arizona's laptop screen.
"Babe!" Eliza grinned.
"Hey," Arizona waved shyly.
"Mm," Eliza raised her eyebrows suggestively, "You look pretty good in that robe."
"I miss you," Arizona admitted softly.
"I miss you, too! The hospital is not as much fun without you. I had to be on a PEDS case and let me tell you, Karev is not fun to look at across the OR."
"I'll be home soon enough," Arizona giggled. "How are you?"
"I'm good," Eliza shrugged lamely. "I'm just finishing up some paperwork before I head back to my apartment. How was your evening with Sofia?"
"SO good," Arizona replied with a content sigh. "I missed her so much, I cannot imagine going another year like this. I really can't do it…" Arizona shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "She asked me today, and I didn't know what to say to her. She seems really anxious about all of this and I hate that she is feeling this way... because I'm feeling it too-"
"Hey," Eliza whispered softly cutting her girlfriend off. "You won't have to, right? It was just a year…"
"I know, that's what Callie and I agreed to, but now I'm not so sure..."
"You need to sit down and have this conversation with Callie," Eliza smiled sadly. "Otherwise, you'll make yourself sick with worry."
"Yeah," Arizona nodded with a sad smile. "I know. We'll see." Arizona paused wondering if she should bring up Sofia's other question. Eliza must have caught on because she quickly asked Arizona what was wrong.
"Nothing," Arizona responded quickly.
"Let's try this again," Eliza laughed softly, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong exactly. Sofia asked me today what would happen if you decided to move away from Seattle..." Arizona admitted.
"Oh," Eliza responded. There was a long pause. Longer than Arizona would have liked. "Well, I guess it's getting to that time where we should start talking about this. We've avoided it for long enough..."
"I think it is," Arizona admitted softly.
"I'm not sure it's something I want to talk about over FaceTime..." Eliza bit her lip nervously.
"No, no, I'm sorry," Arizona waved her hands, "It's not the time or the place..."
"No, don't apologize. I am glad you brought this up. We can talk about it... when you get back?"
Arizona agreed, "That'll be good." Arizona looked down at her hands.
Eliza could sense the worry from the Blonde from across the country. "Hey," Eliza whispered, making Arizona look up at the computer screen. "We are going to be okay, okay?"
Arizona nodded. "We went to Serendipity today!" Arizona said, putting on a smile and changing the subject. Eliza knew this wasn't the right time to talk about their future, so she took the bait.
"Ugh, so jealous!" Eliza pouted, "I am in such a mood for something sweet right now," Eliza winked.
"Babe!" Arizona laughed.
"Mommy?" Sofia called out as she opened the french doors to the main bedroom of their suite.
"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Arizona bit her lip turning away from the computer screen.
Sofia didn't respond, she just walked over and crawled onto her Mother's lap and rested her head against her chest. Arizona leaned down and kissed her head.
"Hi Sofia," Eliza said softly with a wave. Sofia just waved back and buried her face into her Mom's neck.
"We had a long day today," Arizona told Eliza. "Do you want to get back to bed?" Arizona asked.
Sofia shook her head, "Can I sit here with you for a little bit?"
"Just a little bit…" Arizona smiled.
"Your Mommy told me you went to eat ice cream today!"
Sofia perked up and smiled, "I got two scoops."
"Wow!"
"And tomorrow we are going to central park… and the zoo!"
"That sounds like it is going to be such a fun day!"
"It is!" Sofia grinned. The three girls continued chatting for about 10 minutes about their plans for the rest of the weekend. At some point, the older women noticed they were the only one's talking. Arizona glanced down and noticed Sofia had drifted off in her arms.
"She's beautiful," Eliza admitted.
"She is," Arizona smiled proudly. "I should get her to sleep," Arizona gently woke Sofia up. "Sofia, let's get to bed, okay?" Sofia opened her eyes and nodded.
"Ladies, I'm going to let you two get some beauty sleep. Arizona, I'll call you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, you two!" Eliza smiled waving good bye.
"Goodnight!" Sofia yawned as she hopped off her Mom's lap and walked to the bedroom.
"Goodnight!" Arizona responded before closing the laptop and ushering Sofia back to bed. They both climbed into opposite sides of the bed and faced each other.
"I love you, Sofia."
"I love you more," Sofia smiled. "Eliza is so pretty, Mommy."
"Yeah, she really is," Arizona whispered, a smile forming on her face. Sofia smiled back, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.