Title: Perfectly Imperfect

Author: HandsThatHeal

Pairing: Callie/Arizona

Rating: M/NC-17 (For Future Chapters)

Summary: Big changes bring big upheaval as Callie and Arizona find themselves alone for the first time in years. Will they be able to happily adapt to this new life without their children under their roof or will they now find that they have nothing in common in the absence of the ties that bound them together for so many years? Sequel to Clarity.

Disclaimer: All television shows, books, movies, songs, 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: To clear up a little confusion...there were ten chapters of this story posted when I took it down. So, anything past Chapter Ten will be all new! Not much further to go until we get there! Thanks for bearing with me through these reposts.


Chapter Four


An hour after their hasty, but incredibly satisfying and romantic tryst on the couch in Arizona's office, Callie sat in the passenger's seat of their grey Range Rover, her body bouncing up and down in delight as she continued to stare at the typed words on the letter she held in her hands.

"The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons would like to extend its personal congratulations to you on the selection of your research study entitled Septic Arthritis of the Spine in Children: An Evidence-Based Approach to Improving Clinical Effectiveness as this year's recipient of the Winston-Lanier Award for Research Excellence. . ." Callie read from the sheet before letting out a girlish giggle as she did a ten-second happy dance in her seat. "Can you even believe it, Arizona? They picked our research. We won!"

With her hands on the steering wheel, Arizona glanced sidelong at her wife, the infectious smile that was consuming the other woman's face, completely impossible to not reciprocate. "We make a good team, Calliope. You know that," she teasingly replied with a quick wink.

Callie once again giggled like a schoolgirl as she reached out to rest her hand atop her wife's thigh. "Of course I know that, but the fact that others think so, too is just. . ."

"Amazing, Calliope. It's amazing," Arizona quickly continued for her as she brought the vehicle to a halt at a stop sign only a block from their house.

Fully turning to face the other woman, she then reached out, brushing a wisp of dark bangs back from a caramel face. "You and I are. . .amazing."

Callie laughed excitedly before leaning across the center console to press an adamant kiss against perfect pink lips. "Mmm. . ." she hummed against her wife's mouth. "This is going to be great. You and me. Key West. For five days. Alone," she suggestively husked, one perfectly manicured eyebrow seductively rising before its mate joined in to begin comically wagging up and down.

Arizona playfully rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Alone. With hundreds of other surgeons," she scoffed as she turned from her wife, placing her foot on the accelerator to navigate them safely down the street and into their driveway. Pulling the car into the garage, she then turned the key in the ignition before looking back toward Callie, a sigh leaving her lips.

Studying the look of uncertainty in stormy blue eyes, Callie's face slowly fell, her megawatt smile morphing into a look of sincere concern. "Hey. You okay?" she asked, meticulously folding their award letter and placing it back in the envelope it had arrived in. "You don't seem very happy about all of this."

Arizona shook her head, reaching over the gear shift to take both of Callie's hands into her own. "It's not that. I swear," she immediately contended. "I'm happy, Calliope. So, so happy. The two of us winning an award for a successful research study that we worked on together. . .that's awesome, honey. So, so awesome," she replied, her lips tugging into a slight grin. "It's just. . .I don't mean to be a downer, but I need to talk to you. About Olivia."

Callie immediately felt all the happiness and pride she'd been feeling for the past two hours leave her body in one fell swoop, her face draining of color at the uncertain tone of her wife's voice. "What happened? Is she okay?"

Waving her off, Arizona nodded her head. "Yeah, she's fine. She's safe. It's nothing like that," she quickly replied, mentally chastising herself for how her initial statement concerning their daughter may have sounded. "She called me earlier today, and I. . .well, I have to admit that I was a little surprised by what she said."

Sighing, Callie swallowed hard. "What? What is it?"

Relaying the conversation she'd engaged in with their daughter mere hours before, Arizona found herself feeling much better just by getting all of it off her chest. ". . .so, then I told her that she has a beautiful heart just like you and that she needs to follow it."

Callie smiled at her wife's sentiment, adjusting herself in the seat of the SUV when her back began to ache from the awkward angle she'd been sitting in for far too long. "That sounds like a very Robbins-esque thing to say," she replied with a smirk, chuckling when Arizona rolled her eyes. Glancing at the digital clock on the dashboard, she then did the quick mental math necessary to realize that it was way too late in Italy to call their daughter that night. "I'll call her tomorrow to hopefully reassure her of everything you said. I know I was a little harsh when she told us about med school, and. . ."

"No. You weren't harsh. Just surprised. We both were," Arizona immediately replied in their defense.

"Either way, I want to talk to her," Callie stated, grabbing her purse from the floor of the car. "But, for now, can we go inside? You and I have a lot more celebrating to do."


After depositing their purses and work bags on a shelf near the door, both women made their way through the foyer and into the living room. "Hey, bud," Arizona called when she saw Sam seated on the couch, stacks of papers and folders strewn out on the coffee table in front of him as he typed on his laptop.

Turning around, Sam smiled to greet his mothers. "Hey," he replied.

Taking a seat next to him on the sofa, Callie picked up a sheet of paper with the University of Washington's logo on the top. "What's all this?" she asked, quickly scanning the page.

"It's my UW admissions stuff. I just wanted to make sure I have everything ready," he replied, closing the computer and setting it to the side.

Arizona's hands immediately made their way to her temples, attempting to rub away the tension that had been gathering there for most of the day. "Ugh. . .can we please not talk about you leaving?" she begged, throwing herself down on the opposite side of their son. "I still have another month with you before you leave for college, so we're just not going to talk about it. At least not tonight."

Callie tipped her head to the side, regarding her wife with an empathetic smile. "Nope. Not tonight. Because we're going out to celebrate," she insisted, pushing her son's big feet to the floor from where they rested on the coffee table. "Go get changed. We're leaving in fifteen minutes."

Sam glanced between his mothers, a curious gleam in his chocolate brown eyes. "What are we celebrating?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Callie and Arizona shared a look of love and adoration, but before Arizona could speak, Callie beat her to it. "Life, love, success, and. . .transitions," she spoke, her eyes never leaving the bright blue ones of her wife.

Sam's brow furrowed in confusion, his head rotating from side to side to thoughtfully regard both of his moms. "You two are being weird," he said with a coy smirk before dodging the arms that came flying toward him. "Okay, okay! Stop!" he beseeched with a deep laugh, ducking and covering his head to ward off his assailants.

Finally jumping up off the sofa, he ran toward the stairs, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he watched his moms topple onto each other in his absence. "I'll be right back," he stated before turning to jog up the steps.

Callie and Arizona watched as the young man disappeared, each woman's heart and soul filling with a profound sense of proud, but afflicted nostalgia as they considered the fact that in just one more month, their once amorously full and lovingly boisterous home would essentially be empty save for themselves. "God, I'm going to miss him," Arizona breathed out, leaning back agaisnt her wife's front.

Callie sighed, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman to hold her close. "Where has the time gone?"


(Flashback: 19 and a Half Years Ago)

Sitting in the middle of their living room floor surrounded by boxes and gift bags and shreds of tattered brightly colored wrapping paper, Arizona picked up a pile of torn tissue paper, stuffing it to the bottom of a large black garbage bag. "What are we going to do with all this stuff?" she groaned, wadding a bunch of Disney Princess wrapping into a ball and tossing it into the trash.

"This is what the playroom is for," Callie mused, adding another item to her list so they could send thank you cards to what seemed like the one million people who had attended Olivia's first birthday party earlier that day. "That's one of the reasons we bought this house, right?. Tons of room."

Continuing to clean up the mess the now sleeping birthday girl had made with the wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows of the colossal amount of gifts their guests had showered upon her, Arizona smiled brightly as she looked through all the 'Big Girl' toys and clothes Olivia had received.

Holding up one ridiculously cute teal dress with white polka dots and a matching headband, she inspected it for several long moments and, before her brain could catch up to her mouth, she excitedly turned toward her wife. "Let's have a baby," she happily blurted out, a large dimpled grin consuming her entire face as her eyes twinkled with delight.

Callie's own eyes immediately went wide upon hearing her wife's statement, her mind going completely blank. "What? Wait, wait. What?" she exclaimed in astonishment, wholly unable to prevent a megawatt smile from lighting her own face. "Are you serious?"

"Sofia's already six, Calliope, and Olivia's one. They're not babies anymore. They're growing up so fast, and wouldn't it be nice to do it at least one more time?"

"Yes! Yes! But umm, I. . ."

"And, you know, I could carry this time," Arizona offered without a second thought upon reading her wife's hesitation. "I'm not comfortable with, nor do I think it would be safe for you to be pregnant again, anyway," she added, her mind now working in overdrive, the thoughts in her brain soaring a mile a minute.

Tipping her head to the side, Callie studied her wife's face in complete shock and awe. "Arizona. . ."

"So. . .you want to?" she cheerfully questioned.

"Yes!"

"Yeah?"

"Oh my God! Yes!"


With the hustle and bustle of life as two working moms with two darling little girls, nearly two weeks passed before Callie and Arizona had a decent amount of time alone to sit down and actually talk about the prospect of having a third child.

Neither woman was sure of the other's true thoughts on the issue; Callie was worried that Arizona had only spewed out her want for another child in the midst of suddenly realizing that Olivia was no longer a baby, and Arizona was worried that Callie may not have actually taken her seriously in the first place. But, Arizona was determined to settle the issue tonight and, after tucking Sofia into her bed and Olivia into her crib, she quickly made her way through the master bedroom and into the bathroom.

Starting the water in the large garden tub, she then grabbed a bottle of Callie's favorite bubble bath from the shelf on the wall, pouring more than enough of the intoxicating eucalyptus and vanilla scented liquid into the stream of flowing water.

Placing and then lighting several candles around the lip of the tub, she turned off the overhead lights before removing her t-shirt and pushing her yoga pants and panties down her legs. Taking a seat on the edge of the tub, she removed her prosthesis before slipping down into the lusciously scented water below.

Lounging with her back against the wall of the tub, she waited for Callie to come upstairs from cleaning the kitchen after dinner, allowing herself this time alone to gather her thoughts.

"Arizona?" Callie called into the bedroom after Arizona had spent several long moments of silent contemplation considering all their options for having another baby. "Hey! There you are," Callie spoke, entering the bathroom door.

Arizona smiled, reaching forward to turn off the spray of water from the faucet. "Care to join me?" she asked, extending her arm to reach for her wife's hand.

Callie returned Arizona's smile, one eyebrow quirked high in the air and, without a word, she immediately removed her clothing, bending at her waist to peck at inviting lips before sliding down into the suds.

Settling her back against Arizona's chest, she shimmied her hips backward until her bottom came in contact with the welcoming apex of two ivory thighs. "This was a good idea," Callie said as a sigh left her lips, the warmth of the water penetrating her tired muscles as the soothing scent of the bubble bath worked wonders to relax her soul. "I knew I married you for a reason," she teased, running her palm down the length of the slim leg that tightly wrapped around the right side of her body.

"Twice," Arizona jokingly replied, her arms snaking around Callie's breasts to envelope her slick body from behind.

"Best decisions of my life," Callie whispered, turning her head to press a gentle kiss against Arizona's mouth, her tongue immediately sweeping against a delicious bottom lip, requesting entrance in order to deepen the passionate joining of their lips.

Allowing her the intimate privilege, Arizona's tongue joined that of her wife, engaging in the intrinsically personal dance they'd perfected years ago. "Mmmm. . ." the smaller woman hummed, reluctantly pulling away from the most glorious mouth she'd ever had the privilege of kissing. "I've been thinking. . ." she husked, nuzzling her nose against a flawless cheek.

"Mmmhmm?" Callie huskily hummed, her lips and teeth nipping at the side of Arizona's neck.

"I think I should be implanted with your eggs," Arizona spoke without pretense.

Callie leaned back in surprise, aroused chocolate eyes searching serious bright blue and, finding nothing but honesty, love, and conviction in those beautiful cerulean pools, she hesitantly nodded her head. "Okay," she simply replied, realizing their conversation had quickly changed from sexy to serious.

"And, if it's possible, I think we should use the same donor we had for Olivia."

Callie's brow furrowed in question, unsure of why Arizona would make such a request.

Sensing her wife's hesitation, Arizona shifted in the tub, her leg releasing Callie from its confinement, allowing the other woman to move to the opposite side of the tub to better see her wife. Skimming through the warm water and mountain of bubbles, Callie then reached forward, taking two alabaster hands into her own.

Feeling ready to have this conversation, to voice her thoughts, Arizona scooted forward, a splash of water hitting the tiled floor. "It's just. . .if we artificially inseminate me, we will always have that one child who is a little different, and while as a mother I know that would NEVER change the way either of us feel about our babies, the doctor and scientist inside me wants them all to be genetically related. For medical reasons. That way, they will all three share your genetics, because if a new baby would be biologically mine, he or she wouldn't have any genetically related siblings. . .in the event any medical problem would arise," Arizona explained, her eyes suddenly welling with unexplained tears.

Callie tipped her head to the side, studying her wife's face and, gently wiping at a trail of moisture that escaped Arizona's eye with the pad of her thumb, she smiled thoughtfully at the amount of earnest attention and devoted introspection the woman in front of her always put into every decision they made about their kids.

And this woman seriously thought she wasn't cut out to be a mom?

"I'm not going to argue your logic, sweetie, but what about Sofia? If Olivia and a new baby have the same biological mom and dad, won't that make her that one child who is a little different?" Callie asked, gently squeezing Arizona's hands.

Arizona nodded in appreciation of Callie questioning remark. "Yeah, but Sofia's always going to be different, not that we treat her that way, but. . .she actually had a dad, Calliope. At least for a little while, and well. . .any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad," she affectionately stated, biting the side of her jaw in an attempt to hold further tears at bay. "We can't change the fact that Sofia is Mark's, nor would I ever want to, it's just. . ." she trailed off, shaking her head as she tried to gather her thoughts.

Clearing her throat and then swallowing hard, she finally organized the words swarming in her head enough to continue. "DNA certainly doesn't make a family. Love does, Calliope. Our perfect little family is proof of that, but. . .the overprotective mom in me just doesn't see why - if we can - we wouldn't use the same donor for in vitro this time around."

Callie once again searched Arizona's face, in complete amazement that she was having this conversation with her wife, that they were actually considering the prospect of adding another child to their family, and that Arizona was insistent upon carrying the baby, nonetheless. "So. . .you really want to do this?" she finally asked, overjoyed by the thought of bringing a new little life into the world, but completely at a loss of what else to say.

Arizona smiled, reaching forward to rest her palms against the sides of Callie's face and, tugging her forward, she answered her with a hard kiss. Pulling back only far enough to gaze into now tearful chocolate eyes, she smiled, continuing to hold on to her wife. "Yes, Calliope. More than anything."


Standing at the table in the center of OR2, Callie took the leg of her patient into her hands, flexing the knee, torquing it and stressing it to assure that the femoral and tibial prostheses she's just implanted were sufficiently placed for a successful knee replacement. Satisfied that everything was in its proper position, she held out her right hand, ready to close. "5-0 Monocryl," she requested, her right palm up to await the needle and suture combination.

"Dr. Torres, your phone is vibrating," the circulating nurse stated, glancing down at the iPhone on a surgical tray.

"Who is it, Melanie," Callie asked, her voice calm and steady as she began suturing the deep tissue of her patient's knee.

"It's Dr. Robbins," Melanie replied.

At that response, Callie's eyes twinkled behind the goggles she was wearing. "Put her on speakerphone, please," she beseeched, finishing the deep tissue and beginning to stitch the superficial layer of skin. "Hello there, Dr. Robbins," she teased, looking up at the nurses standing around her, a smile obvious behind her surgical mask. "Can I help you with something?"

A soft chuckle echoed through the speaker before Arizona's voice filled the Operating Room. "Are you in surgery? You sound funny," she replied, the muffled sound of Sofia singing in the background resonating through the phone.

"Yeah, but this is my last one of the day. Almost finished, too. Stapling the knee, now," she informed, the unmistakable sound of staples shooting from a skin stapler meeting Arizona's ears.

"Okay. . ."

Callie narrowed her eyes upon hearing her wife's ambiguous response and, tugging off her surgical gown, she made her way closer to her phone. "Everything alright?" she asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yeah, umm. . .everything's great, but I just got a call from Dr. Roberts. It looks like today is the day."


After making sure that Sofia was picked up from school and that she and Olivia were safely settled in the daycare of Grey+Sloan Memorial, Callie and Arizona quickly made their way to OB.

Callie protectively held Arizona's hand as they walked and then while they waited, only letting go long enough to allow her wife to change from her street clothes and into a hospital gown.

Once Arizona had hopped up onto the examination table and positioned herself comfortably on her back, her hand immediately gravitated back into that of her wife. "God, I'm nervous. I can't believe I'm so nervous," Arizona breathed out, azure eyes flicking to dark brown.

Callie leaned in and, with her lips lightly brushing Arizona's skin, she soothingly whispered into her ear. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm here for you, and I'm not going anywhere."

Arizona closed her eyes, swallowing thickly as she gave a tight nod.

"Good evening, ladies," Dr. Roberts greeted as she made her way into the room. "Are we ready for this?" she asked, taking a seat on the stool at the foot of the exam table.

Callie looked toward her wife, searching her face for any ounce of hesitancy that may be present, but finding none, she pressed a gentle kiss against an ivory cheek. "You ready?" she asked.

Arizona smiled and reaching up to wipe at a tear that dripped out of the corner of her left eye, she adamantly nodded her head.

Returning her wife's smile with a megawatt grin, Callie then turned her attention toward their fertility specialist. "We're ready," she declared with a nod of her own head.

The doctor too nodded, her gloved hands now moving over the accouterments necessary for the procedure. "So, we've obviously already harvested the embryos from you, Dr. Torres and then we fertilized them in the lab," she began, looking up toward Callie and Arizona. "We actually had a number of good quality embryos, so right now, it's up to you to decide how many you'd like to implant."

Arizona turned her head, cerulean eyes meeting chocolate brown. They'd talked about this at length and after researching the procedure and reading case study after case study, both women finally decide that two was enough, but three was too many. "Two, please," Arizona finally replied after seeing the affirmative nod of her wife's head.

"Two it is," Dr. Roberts replied, her hands expertly working to draw up the most viable embryos before passing a long thin catheter into Arizona's body. Once she was finished, she cleared the area of her instruments before settling herself back down on a stool next to her patient and her wife. "I want you to limit your activity for the rest of today, and continue to take your prescribed medications," she instructed, handing a sheet of paper with recommendations to Callie. "In five days, we'll do a blood test to monitor your hormone levels, and in about a week and a half, we'll do a pregnancy test."

Callie and Arizona both nodded their understanding, Arizona's hand grasping her wife's as if it was somehow tethering her to the earth. "Thank you, Dr. Roberts," Callie spoke when the specialist stood from her seat.

"It's no problem," she replied, making a notation in Arizona's chart. "Be careful getting off the table, and take as long as you need. If you have any questions, you know where to find me."

When the doctor was out of sight, Callie leaned down toward Arizona's face, placing a slow and lingering kiss against pink lips before she moved downward, lifting the hospital gown to expose her wife's flat belly. "Listen up in there," she stated before pressing gentle kisses against the smooth skin surrounding her wife's belly button.

Chuckling softly, Arizona glanced downward, glistening brown eyes twinkling with mirth when they met her own before looking back toward her abdomen. "Just so you know, I'm your Mami, and I would really like for you to do what you're supposed to do in there, and grow big and strong. I love you, sweet baby, and I promise to always protect you."


"It feels pretty nice to have a chauffeur," Callie commented from the back seat of their SUV, her hand firmly held in Arizona's as Sam navigated the vehicle through the streets of Seattle on their way home from A La Bonne Franquette. After enjoying a meal with their son at their favorite French restaurant, Sam had requested the keys to the car, stating that his award winning mothers definitely deserved to be chauffeured around town at least for one night.

Slowing the vehicle to a stop, Sam glanced into the rear view mirror, rolling his eyes and clearing his throat. "Do you really have to do that in my presence?" he asked upon seeing Arizona lean closer to Callie, their lips coming in contact for a series of gentle kisses.

Pulling back, Arizona glanced toward the front of the car, catching Sam's chocolate brown eyes in the rear view mirror. "Why, yes. Yes, we do," she commented, turning back to once again peck at plump lips.

Glancing up at the light that remained red, he shook his head. "So gross," he grumbled, placing his foot on the gas pedal to accelerate the car when the light finally turned green. Carefully moving through the intersection, the flash of bright lights to the left of the car caught his attention, the sound of a truck's engine not ten feet away from his window penetrating his mind.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl when Arizona and Callie too realized that the truck's lights were way too close, and as their bodies stiffened in anticipation of the metal on metal impact, Sam slammed on the brakes, their tires squealing as the truck swerved around their SUV, narrowly missing them before speeding away.

Swallowing hard, Sam nervously squeezed the steering wheel and, glancing in his mirrors and out the windows to make sure there were no other vehicles coming his way, he once again pressed his foot against the gas. "You okay?" he asked when he heard one of his mothers let out a shuddering sigh.

Callie and Arizona shared a poignant look, both overwhelmed by a haze of fear and over-protection for their little boy. With a silent, but overwhelming message transferring between them, they both nodded, ultimately realizing that their only son whom they vowed to love and protect for as long as they lived, was actually now a grown man and that somewhere along the way their roles had reversed.

Sam was, in fact, the one who had just safeguarded them. . .


(Arizona's POV)

As a pediatric surgeon, I've witnessed a vast array of parenting strategies and techniques from the thousands of parents I've come into contact with during my career. While some parents are rigid, ruling with an iron fist, others are more lenient, creating a unique style of parenting from a combination of factors that evolve over time as children develop their own personalities and move through life's stages. Parenting styles are usually effected by both the parents' and children's temperaments and are largely based on what we've learned from our own parents; some of those strategies we value and hold onto for dear life, while others we completely discard.

As parents, Calliope and I have generally leaned more toward effective communication, routine and structure when it comes to parenting, and while we've always vowed to love and protect our kids, we learned a long time ago that all the love, wisdom, affection, and preperation in the world can't always keep them out of harm's way. Through some trial and a few errors, we also learned that sometimes we had to let Sofia, Olivia, and Sam fail in order to allow them to find out who they really are, to allow them to gain independence, and to live up to their highest possible potential.

Callie and I have always chosen to deal with our children together as a team, and thank God because sometimes without the presence of the other to talk us down, we would have been a complete mess. At times, when one of us may have tried to be over-protective in certain situations, the other thankfully was there to rationalize the circumstances and talk it out, preventing the other from jumping the gun out of irrational thoughts or fears. But, sometimes that was more difficult than it seemed, because we love our kids and want to protect them from every danger.

I mean. that's our job, right? To keep them safe, while somehow finding a balance of not rescuing too quickly?

By over-protecting, we inadvertently remove the need for our children to navigate hardships and solve problems on their own; we give them a crutch so they never have to learn to solve their own problems and, thinking back to all the 'firsts' our children have achieved and our reactions to the situations, I can't help but chuckle at some of our behavior.

Like, Sofia's first time jumping off the diving board. I wanted to climb that ladder right along with her. I wanted to hold her hand the entire time to assure her safety, even though she'd had swimming lessons for the entire three years prior. Or, the first time Olivia wanted to take off the training wheels on her bike at the age four. Callie was a total wreck; she didn't want to chance it with our baby being so young, but just like with most things she'd ever tried, Olivia was a total natural.

Even though these may seem like silly 'firsts', they were all steps in our children's growing process, all proof that they were no longer dependent upon Callie or me for every single thing, and tonight, in the blink of an eye, I witnessed another harrowing 'first'.

When I saw those headlights careening toward us, I wanted to somehow transport myself into the front seat to take the wheel. But, in the end, Sam handled himself like a pro in a scary and life-threatening situation for the first time ever and, in that moment, I realized that he didn't need help from either Callie or me. He behaved with a cool head, a clear and concise mind. Somewhere along the way, Sam had became our protector and, just thinking about that, leaves me at a complete loss for words.

When exactly did our baby boy transition into a man?