Chapter 6

Other than the few times she'd visited with her older cousin and their children, Arizona couldn't claim to have much experience with babies. Yet, a fierce need to protect and care for the infant in her arms overtook her. Callie just watched the two with a smile on her face. Apparently nobody could resist her daughter's charm. She was a Torres after all.

Without saying a word, Callie turned and headed out the door. "Come on, baby girl, looks like we're following your mom," Arizona told the cutie in her arms. She tried to keep pace with Callie, but didn't want to walk too fast, afraid to jostle Amelia too much.

The blonde had always been full of energy. Her parents told her she didn't learn to walk, she learned to run, and she couldn't remember a time when she hadn't taken the stairs two at a time. So, for the first time in her life, Arizona was careful as she moved down every step, taking them slowly.

Callie watched from the bottom, with an amused smile. It warmed her heart that Arizona was so careful with her daughter, but at the same time she found it funny that her friend treated the baby like she was made of glass. No sooner had the twosome hit the landing before Callie was off again, heading for the back of the house.

Arizona tried to keep up with Callie, briefly wondering if her friend remembered she wasn't familiar with the house. "Callie, wait up," she finally called out when the taller girl turned a corner and she could no longer see her.

"Sorry, I'll have to give you a tour later. I forget how big this place is to other people. To me it's just home. The kitchen's this way," Callie finished, pointing to the end of the hallway they were currently standing in.

"I figured we'd be eating in the dining room," Arizona said. She couldn't imagine that people living in a house this size would be so informal as to eat in the kitchen.

"Oh we are, I just have to make Amelia's dinner first."

Now Arizona was confused. "I thought you said she didn't eat food yet."

"Well, she can't eat what we eat, but she get's nummy baby cereal, don't ya baby?" Callie asked the baby in a cute voice, leaning down so that she was face-to-face with her daughter. Seeing her mommy caused Amelia to bounce up and down excitedly in Arizona's arms. "She loves the stuff."

Callie led them into the kitchen, pulling out a box of Gerber rice cereal and a container of formula. Next she moved to grab a small pink bowl and a bottle. Arizona watched in fascination as her friend easily made a bottle and used some of the formula to make the cereal.

"We just started her on cereal last week. Her doctors wanted to hold off on food for a little while because she's a preemie. The average is three to four months for full term babies though when they start them on cereal and baby food."

Callie sure seemed to know her stuff. It wasn't a surprise to Arizona though. Knowing what she did about Callie, and how much studying the girl did, it wasn't hard to imagine that she'd learned everything she could about caring for a baby.

It did surprise her that Callie was doing this all on her own though. "Why doesn't your cook just make her cereal as well?" she asked quietly so the man in question, who was a few feet away, didn't hear her.

"There are many reasons I do all this, but I won't go into all that right now. The biggest reason I choose to do it myself is to make sure it's done right. When they start on fruits and veggies, it's best to introduce them one at a time so if they have allergies you'll know which one it is. I want to make sure she doesn't get green beans when she should be getting peas," Callie explained.

It made complete sense to Arizona. She had a hard time believing the girl in front of her was only eighteen. Callie spoke with such maturity and wisdom it was hard to believe she wasn't older and that this was her first child. "You sure know your stuff," she told her sincerely.

"I did a lot of reading when I was pregnant. Asked my doctor and her's a lot of questions. Didn't want to screw this up, ya know?" And Arizona did understand. She couldn't imagine being a parent in high school, but if she was, she hoped she'd be half the mother Callie was.

Grabbing the bowl and bottle, Callie led them through the far end of the kitchen to the double doors separating them from the dining room. The places were already set and waiting for them on a table that held eight to ten people with ease. One of the chairs had been taken out, however, and set to the side, in its place was a wooden high chair that matched the dining set.

Callie set the items in her hands down on the table, then lifted the high chair's tray off. Taking her daughter into her arms, she gently sat her down in the chair, making she sure was secure and could sit easily inside it before buckling her in.

"How's my angel doing today," a kind looking older gentleman asked upon entering the room. He walked over, running a finger on his granddaughter's cheek.

"She's doing good today, no fever or anything," Callie told her father.

"Good. And who do we have here?" he asked with a look to Arizona.

"Dad, this is my friend Arizona, Arizona, my father, Carlos Torres."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Torres," Arizona greeted with respect, holding her hand out and giving his a firm shake.

"A firm handshake says a lot about a person," Carlos stated, already liking Callie's new friend.

"My father is a Marine, sir," she told him, knowing that often enough that was enough information for people to understand how she was raised.

"Well then it's definitely a pleasure to have you in our home," the elder Torres stated. Callie had brought a lot of friends into this house, a lot of them children of his own friends, but not one of them had shown an ounce of respect the way this Arizona did. He was impressed.

"Thank you, sir."

"Your mother decided to go to dinner with friends," Carlos told his daughter. "So it's just us tonight.

Callie just sighed. On one hand she was grateful that she could enjoy her meal with Arizona without her mother around. On the other she was disappoint that her Lucia Torres had opted once again to avoid spending time with her family. A habit that had become more frequent since Callie announced her pregnancy.

"I'm sorry, mija. I do not understand it myself," Carlos admitted. He couldn't understand why his wife was acting this way. He hadn't wanted this for their daughter either, but it had turned out alright. Calliope clearly loved her daughter and she was a wonderful mother, and still as focused on her studies as she had always been.

"It's alright, let's just eat and forget about it," Callie told him, taking her seat next to her daughter. Taking the bib that was hanging on the back of the high chair, she wrapped it around Amelia's neck. The young mother began making faces at her baby, trying to get her to open her mouth and take a bite from the spoon.

Arizona took her seat across from the two and watched them both as Callie fed the baby. It was quickly going to become habit to watch the wonder of mother and daughter. As soon as Carlos was seated at the head of the table, the cook began bringing in their meal.

Arizona dived right in, not ever remembering having such a decadent meal before. But when she noticed that Carlos was in no hurry, she realized why. Callie hadn't moved to even take a bite of her own yet. Maybe it was just that these people ate at a slower pace than her own family did, but Arizona believed it was because Carlos was simply waiting for his daughter.

The babe almost seemed to have a disappointed look on her face when her mother finally sat down the empty bowl on the table. It didn't last long though. Once Callie wiped her daughter's face, she pulled her into her lap, settling her so she could help the baby hold her bottle but still eat her own dinner.

"She really does love it," Arizona observed.

"Yes, she does. The first day I tried giving it to her, she kind of gave me a 'What the hell, mom? Where's my bottle?' look," Callie started telling the blonde, ignoring the look from her father for swearing. "As soon as I got the first bite in her mouth though she gummed it down. I can't wait to start giving her fruits and veggies and see her reactions."

"You were like that as a baby," Carlos spoke up. "We knew right away what you liked and what you didn't."

"Aw," Arizona said, trying to picture Callie as a baby. She figured she probably didn't look much different than Amelia, since the baby shared so many of her mother's features.

Callie on the other hand, just rolled her eyes, really hoping her father wouldn't get into telling embarrassing stories about when she was a baby. She was grateful when the conversation moved to him asking Arizona what she wanted to study and how her grades are. Typical Carlos, wanting to make sure the people around Callie were as serious about making something of themselves as she was.

Once dinner was over, the two girls made their way back upstairs. "You're welcome to stay if you want, but for the next hour it's all about Amelia, isn't it? It's mother/daughter playtime," Callie told her. From the day Amelia came home from the hospital, Callie reserved the hour before bedtime to focus solely on her daughter. Either just sitting and talking to her, or now that she was a little more alert, rolling on the floor, or playing with one of the baby's toys.

"Is it alright if I play with you?"

"Of course," Callie smiled.

Mostly Arizona ended up watching, every now and then taking part. At quarter to eight, Callie got them both off of the floor and moved to the changing table. "Will you grab me a onesie out of the second drawer in the dresser?"

"Sure," Arizona responded, glad to finally have something to do. She grabbed the first one she saw, it was a light pink and said "If You Think I'm Cute, You Should See My Mom." She definitely had to agree, both girls were beautiful.

"Thanks," Callie told her, taking the offered article of clothing. "Do you remember where the kitchen is?" Arizona nodded her head, thinking she could find it again. "Will you run down and make her a bottle?"

"Um…"

"It's easy," Callie laughed, seeing the look on Arizona's face. "Just turn on hot water, let it run for ten seconds so it gets warm enough. She likes her milk hot, but not too hot before bed. Fill the bottle to the six ounce mark and then add three scoops of formula."

"Ten, six, and three. Okay I think I got it." The blonde tried to reassure herself that she could handle this tiny task as she made her way to the kitchen.

By the time she got back, Amelia was wrapped up in a soft, fuzzy blanket. Callie was sitting in the rocking chair with her, carrying on a conversation with her daughter as if the girl was participating. Arizona had to pause at the door and just take it in. There was no doubt in her mind that she could easily fall deeply in love with Calliope Torres.

She must have made a noise, because Callie looked up and starred at her. The two seemed to have a silent conversation as they looked into each other's eyes. Finally the younger of the two made her way into the room and handed Callie the bottle. Taking a seat on the floor, she leaned back against the dresser and just watched in silence as Callie began to sing a lullaby to her daughter in Spanish.

"Sweet dreams, mija. Mommy loves you," Callie whispered to her daughter, placing a kiss on her forehead once the baby was sound asleep. Placing her in her crib, she checked to make sure the monitor was on, before signaling for the two girls to exit the room, shutting the lights off as she did so. A nightlight left enough of a glow to still see the baby on the small screen.

"Now that she's asleep we can work on your paper," Callie told her as they entered her room. Arizona had forgotten all about their assignment the second she saw the baby for the first time. "I've been hiding her for so long, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. But I think I'm finally ready."

Arizona knew what she was saying. She wasn't just talking about Arizona finding out about her daughter. If the blonde wrote a paper on Callie becoming a mother, it was possible people would soon find out. Especially if they had to do any kind of reporting to the class, which sounded like that might be the case.

"We can come up with something else if you want," she offered. She didn't want Callie to feel as if she had to do this. If Callie didn't want her to tell anyone about Amelia, then she wouldn't.

"No, I'm ready. I spent the last week really thinking about. I don't want my daughter to someday feel like I was ashamed of her and that's why I hid her. That's not why I did it."

"You were trying to protect her, I get it."

"Yes, I was. I don't want anything to hurt her, ever. I know I can't protect her from the world though." Callie sighed, taking in a deep breath. "You know why I insist on taking care of her? Why I do it all alone when I'm not at school?"

Arizona shook her head, she had a few ideas, but she wasn't sure if she was right about any of them. "Nannies, cooks, and various other servants raised me. I don't doubt my parents love me, and I love them. But I don't have that bond with them that other kids have. Not like what I saw at your house that day I was there. I don't want the same for my daughter, I want that bond with her that I never had with my parents."

She thought it before, but she'd think it a million times more. Callie was amazing. She came from a wealthy family, and could easily just hand her child off to servants and live the life of a teenager. Instead she was choosing to be in her child's life every minute that she could. "You're amazing."

"That's the second time you've said that," Callie smirked.

"Well it's true."

After that, the two girls just sat on Callie's bed while she went into more detail about what it was like being pregnant and having to spend every day in the hospital for eight weeks, not sure if she'd ever get to bring her baby home.

"She had several surgeries in those early days. I was so scared, but she pulled through. She's my little fighter. I've wanted to be a doctor for as long as I could remember. After seeing what I felt were miracles on my baby, I knew then I wanted to be a surgeon. To make that same kind of difference in other people's lives."

"You know what day I finally got to bring her home?" Callie asked with the biggest smile on her face. Arizona just shook her head no. "It was my birthday. Definitely the best present I've ever gotten." The emotion in her voice was a testament to how true that statement was.

As Arizona drove back home that night, she felt as if she'd just live through weeks, not just a few short hours. Her entire view of the world had changed in ways she didn't yet understand. At the very center of it all was a young mother and her very cute baby.