This is a continuation of Building a Future, the sequel to Love Will Lead You Back. For any newcomers to the storyline, this is Callie and Arizona's journey through marriage and motherhood. This installment will pick up right where volume I left off, after the birth of Timothy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy or any of the characters/story lines. Sadly, those all belong to ABC and Shonda Rhimes.

Chapter 18

Arizona's POV:

When I wake up this morning, she is gone. Timothy is no longer wrapped up in her arms. Sophia isn't lying in between us. I am alone. In the distance, I can hear our baby girl's quiet laughter. I can smell the coffee brewing. I look at the clock. Noon. After the horrible night my wife just had, she let me sleep until noon. And I didI slept. I slept off the vile flu that was the cause of her heartache in the first place. If Callie didn't have to go out and get me meds, she would have never been accused of kidnapping. Our son would have never been ripped away from his mama. My wife would have never been treated like a criminal and thrown behind bars. It all leads back to me.

I creep slowly down the hall, my head returning from the fog it's been in for the past few days. There they are…my beautiful family, sitting in their respective seats around the kitchen table. Sophia is dipping a long strip of French toast into a puddle of syrup, her sticky fingers oozing everywhere. Timothy is in his bouncy seat, watching his mama's every move, smiling just for her. And Calliope…my Calliope- she's just carrying on like it's any other morning. I stand back and watch her for a moment. She's gorgeous. Absolutely radiant. But there's something sadly different about my beautiful woman this morning. Her smile is forced. Her eyes don't have that amazing light behind them. Her body is here, but her soul is somewhere else.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper from my stance beside the refrigerator, unable to help the frown that is tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"Hey. Um, good…g-good morning," Callie stammers, closing her eyes so she doesn't have to look at me. When those big, round saucers open again, she stares right through me. "Look how much better someone is feeling today, Mommy," Callie says, gesturing to our peanut. "She's managed to eat almost a whole piece of toast."

"I see that. Glad you're feeling better, sweetie," I tell Sophia as I make my way around the table. I kiss the array of raven curls adorning our daughter's head and smile down at our little surprise, who is still enraptured with my wife. "Hey, little man…guess Mama fed you already too?"

"Yeah. There were still a couple bags left in the freezer. Hope you don't mind," Callie says, once again refusing to look in my eyes.

"No…n-n-o, that's okay," I mumble, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I was just surprised to see how late it is. Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because you were sick and needed the rest," Callie spits out, as if the answer should be obvious. "And, and because I…I just didn't want to, okay?"

"Okay," I whisper, not wanting to get into it in front of the kids. "Well, thanks. I guess it was good to sleep. I do feel much better. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Me?" Callie asks, furrowing her brow in confusion. "I'm fine. I wasn't the one who was sick, Arizona." I guess this is how she wants to play the game…pretending as if everything is right as rain.

"I'm not asking about your physical health," I tell her, raising my voice in frustration. "Although, I am a bit worried about your cheekbone. Looks like a pretty good cut there. Maybe you should have Mark take a look…"

"I said, I'm fine," Callie yells under gritted teeth, her tone causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. "Would you like some more apple juice, peanut?" she asks Sophia, turning her back to me.

"Callie," I whisper, following her as she goes about her business as if it's just any other morning. "Callie. Calliope," I finally scream after being ignored over and over again. "You can't just act like nothing happened. You can't just pretend that everything is okay."

"Why not? You've been doing that for over twenty years, haven't you?" she mutters under her breath, although I can hear her loud and clear.

I take a deep breath and decide to back down for a moment, letting Callie hide behind the pile of dishes in the sink. Without another word, I grab a mug and pour myself a cup of coffee. There is already a plate of French toast in front of my chair, and I can't help but smile at my wife's thoughtfulness. No matter how stubborn and angry the woman may be, she never ceases to take care of me. She takes care of us all.

"Good morning, everyone," a familiar voice bellows, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Hi, Mom. How are you doing?" I ask, pulling a chair out for her.

"Well, I think the worst is over. I stopped getting sick around two or so. Don't remember much after that," she chuckles as she runs her fingers down Sophia's back. "Looks like this little lady is all better today."

"Uh huh," Sophia says, nodding her pretty little head. "Mama's yummy toast make me all better."

For the first time since I entered the room, I see a genuine smile on my wife's face. I'll do anything to get those smiles back permanently.

"I'm sorry I didn't wait up for you girls to get home last night…or, or should I say this morning?" my mother says, glancing back and forth between me and my wife.

"That's okay," Callie chimes in before I can go into any detail about what occurred the previous evening. "Do you feel up for some toast, Barb? There's plenty here."

My mother stares at me for a moment, concern filling up her big, blue eyes. But she doesn't dare ask. She doesn't dare raise any more questions about what happened last night. Guess all the time she's spent here has taught her a thing or two about her daughter-in-law. "No thank you, sweetie," she replies, her eyes leaving mine to meet the beautiful, brown ones across the room. "I think I'll just make myself some tea."

As my mom makes her way to the stove, Sophia's fork falls off the table and lands on the floor with a heavy clang. My mother nearly jumps out of her skin at the loud noise behind her, and Timothy begins to cry. "Sorry, Gramma. Sorry, Tim Tim," Sophia whines, her bottom lip sticking out as tears fill her eyes.

"Hey…it's okay, peanut," I whisper, reaching across the table to grab her tiny hand. "It was just an accident."

My mother laughs and tells Sophia not to worry, but she is clearly still upset. As is our little man, whose startled cry has turned into a desperate wail. Once I wipe the tears from my daughter's eyes, I move to pick up my son. "It's alright, buddy. Mommy's coming," I assure him.

"No. That's okay. I've got him," Callie tells me, her eyes finally meeting mine. The look in them says not to argue with her. So I don't. I let her take care of our son because I know that is what she needs right now. I know that she got up and fed him, and made breakfast for everyone, and went right on being the amazing wife and mother she is so that she wouldn't have to think about last night. She did it all, like she always does, because that was easier for her than facing the heartache.

I watch as she lifts Timothy out of the seat, their eyes meeting like two lost souls. Callie cradles the baby in her arms, more tightly than usual, almost hugging him. For the first time, I can really see the pain that what happened last night is causing her. "Oh, mi pobre bebé," she whispers, bringing her perfectly plump lips down upon his forehead. Her soft touch radiates love, and our little boy is at once calm and happy again.

"Mama es aquí. Estoy aqua. Y no voy a dejar que alguien le tome lejos de mí nunca más," Callie continues as she lightly trails her mouth over the top of his head, promising she will never let anyone take him away from her again.

Timothy's big, blue eyes study every speck of the decadent chocolate before him, his tiny baby mouth working on overdrive to form a smile for her. She is the love of his life right now. She is his whole world. He loves me, I know that. Just as Sophia always loved Callie. But the sparkle that our peanut's eyes save just for me, Timothy's eyes give unendingly to my wife. The little person that I carried inside of me fell in love with her, just as I did again, during my pregnancy. The touch of her protective hands…the sound of her voice…the lullabies, sung just for him. How could he not be in love with his Mama?

My heart breaks as I watch my wife comfort our son. Although, in reality, he is the one comforting her. She is the one crying out for him…begging him to be okay, so that everything she went through is worth it. His safety and happiness can heal the hurt-both physical and emotional, that she is experiencing. The love of our precious baby is the only thing that can help her erase the memories of accusation, and racism, and hatred that were so unfairly created. It's the only thing that can help because she won't let me. She won't let me help her…comfort her…love her.

"I'm here too, you know?" I blurt out unknowingly, too caught up in my own mind to realize that thoughts were becoming words. Callie lifts her tear-filled eyes and looks at me with surprise. I'm not sure if she's surprised at what I said, or the fact that I said anything at all. "What?" I whisper, forcing her eyes to remain with mine as I take a step closer.

"Barbara, can you take him?" Callie says unexpectedly, causing my eyes to widen. My mother looks at me first, but I nod my head. "You're gonna get to watch a movie with Grandma," Callie tells Sophia as she helps her out of her booster seat. "Me and Mommy need to talk."

"Okay, Mama," our peanut says, happily agreeing to any extra T.V. time. "Come on, let's go watch Lady and da Tramp."

My mother offers me a weak smile as she passes me, her arm nearly being ripped from the socket by the anxious three year old attached to it. I manage to stop her just long enough to place a kiss to Timothy's little hand, my eyes expressing sincere gratitude and hope.

As I follow my wife down the hall, all I can do is hope…hope that we can not only weather this storm together, but come out on top.

"Okay, Arizona. Let's just get this over with," Callie says as she closes the bedroom door behind us, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "What exactly do I need to do to make you feel better here?"

"This isn't about me, Calliope," I say with a heavy sigh, desperately trying to reach her eyes again. But she won't look at me. Not now anyway. "Something terrible happened to you. And I know you are hurting. Seeing you in that kind of pain and not being allowed to do anything…it's, it's unbearable," I whisper, my heart pounding inside my chest.

I reach out and touch her arm, but she pulls away. "Yeah, well…at least I'm still here," she mutters, her eyes never once leaving their fixed position on the floor. "At least I didn't just disappear this morning."

There it is. I guess I should have seen this coming.

"I hate what happened to you last night," I tell her, refusing to give up. I may have bailed on myself, tuning out my own pain for what felt like an eternity. But I am not going to bail on her. She's been helping me through the worst trauma of my life, and I'll be damned if she doesn't let me help her.

"I hate that people mistreated you, put their hands on you, hurt you. I hate that you, even for a second, had to feel like less of a mother to our son. I know what that's like, Callie. I understand. You know I do. And I want to make it better. I want to be here for you, whatever you need. It's okay, baby. It's okay if you're angry…o-or, or upset. It's okay if you want to scream, or cry, or just fall apart…"

"No. No, it's not okay," Callie yells, cutting me off. "There's no room for me to fall apart, Arizona. How can I be broken when I haven't even fixed you yet? How can we fight another battle when we're still in the middle of one?"

"Is that why you didn't press charges? Because of me?" I yell back, my emotions getting the best of me. "Just because we're working through my problems doesn't mean we have to ignore yours."

"I don't have a problem," Callie says, still trying so hard to convince us both that she's okay. "At least…at least, not anymore. You and Jennings came and worked everything out. We got the baby back. End of story."

"No. That is not the end of the story," I tell her adamantly, ducking down to try and reach her eyes. "You're hurting, Callie. You can pretend all you want, but I see it. I don't know exactly what happened last night. And maybe I'm afraid to find out. But I need to know. You need to let me in. I know that you're trying to protect me, but…"

"But, what?" she screams, throwing her hands up in the air. "What am I supposed to do, Arizona? Huh? Am I supposed to give you all the awful details, so I can watch your heart break the way mine is? You think I want you to know how they slammed my face into the cop car, calling me a liar and a bitch? How they fastened the cuffs so tight and yanked me around until my wrists were bleeding? Do you think I wanted to tell you that? Or that our son was crying for hours? That he was probably just as terrified as I was sitting in that jail cell."

Callie is really screaming now, all of her pain coming through in the form of a violent rage. Her fists are clenched as she turns away from me, and before I know it, she is punching the wall. I can tell she has hurt herself by the way she retracts her hand, but the physical pain seems to only fuel her anger. She picks up a vase off of our dresser and throws it, shattering it and the mirror it was launched into. When she turns to face me with another heavy object in hand, I can't help but flinch. My eyes close on instinct and I cower before her, like the frightened little girl she was so afraid to hurt.

"See. That's why I can't fall apart. That's why I can't cry, or scream, or get angry. Because you can't handle it," she whispers, placing her hands down on the dresser. "And I can't handle the thought of losing you again, Arizona. I can't take that chance. I won't."

"You are not going to lose me," I assure her, my voice cracking with emotion. Callie turns to face me again, tears streaming down her face. "Okay, so I'm not the most stable person on earth these days. But I'm your person. Maybe everything is a little harder for me to deal with right now, but I can deal with it. I will happily deal with it for you. Because I don't want to lose you either. I can't lose you, Calliope. And if you don't talk to me…don't let me be there for you, then that's what will happen. You may not walk out like I did, but you'll disappear. I saw you disappearing on me this morning…the distance in your eyes, the way you avoided me. That's how it started for me, remember?"

I can see my wife's mind working to process everything I just said, her chest heaving with the labored breaths she is taking. For a moment, she is silent, her eyes once again cast down to the floor. Then, she looks up at me, the light in those rich, chocolate orbs finally starting to shine through. "Guess we're a lot more alike than we ever thought," Callie whispers, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She looks around at the mess she's made and shakes her head, silently reprimanding herself.

"They're just things, honey. We can replace them," I remind her, smiling at her through the cracked mirror. She lets out a little chuckle…and finally, I can breathe again. "Everything is going to be alright," I promise my love, slowly inching my way towards her. "We'll get through all of it…together, okay?"

In the broken glass, I can see her nodding slowly. I come up behind her, tentatively reaching a hand out to touch her shoulder. When she doesn't pull away, I go for broke and just wrap my arms around her. She leans into my embrace, finally willing to let me take care of her. The deep breath she takes in is soon followed by tears, and for a few moments, I just stand there and hold her while she cries. "Shhh. Shhh, it's okay," I whisper, running my hand along the inside of her shirt to touch the beloved place over her heart.

"I'm sorry, Arizona," Callie says, turning in my arms. Those sad, brown eyes break my heart a little more with every tear they cry, and I find myself choking back tears of my own.

"What do you have to be sorry about?" I ask her as I wipe the liquid sorrow from her cheeks.

Callie opens her mouth to speak again, but before she can even utter a word, there is a light rapping on the door. "Everything okay in here?" my mother asks, nudging the door open ever so slightly.

When she sees the broken glass and the vase shattered on the floor, her eyes nearly bulge out of her head. "It's alright, Mom," I assure her. "No one was hurt and…"

"It was my fault, Barbara," Callie interjects, bending down to pick up the larger pieces of glass. "I was just so angry about what happened last night, and I…"

"No need to explain, dear," my mother says, offering my wife a compassionate smile. "It's turning out to be a beautiful day. If you ladies don't mind, I'm going to pack the kids up and take them for a walk."

I look to Callie, wanting to be sure it's okay with her. I don't blame her if she doesn't want to let our son out of her sight, especially when she doesn't have to. "Timothy will need to be nursed in about an hour. Can you…can you be back by then?" she asks my mom after a moment of silent contemplation.

"Of course, Callie. I can have your little boy back here whenever you want me to," my mother tells her. Callie gives her a weak smile, then gets back to cleaning up the broken glass.

"I'll go grab the broom," I say, following my mother out of the room. We quickly work to get the kids ready for their walk, each of us wanting to give Callie and me some alone time. "Thanks, Mom," I whisper as she is leaving with two kids and a dog in tow. "We really need this."

"Your very welcome, sweetheart," she replies, cradling my face in her hands. "I've really needed all of you the past few months. It's the least I can do." I smile and kiss the tender hands that held me as a child, so thankful for my mother's presence in our lives, no matter what the reason.

I stand at the front door and watch as my mother pushes the stroller down the driveway, playful barking and sweet laughter filling the calm and peaceful air. My family is safe and sound again. Everything is okay…or at least, it's going to be. I am going to make sure of it. I am going to collect myself, gather up every ounce of strength and courage inside of me, and be the good man in this storm. I am going to heal my wife, the way she's been healing me for so long now. I take a deep breath, grab the broom, and head down the hallway…ready to pick up the pieces of my life.

A/N: So excited that I got to finish this chapter. My baby girl took a loooong nap today (poor thing was up half the night with her teeth) while my big girl was at Pre-K! Totally excited about today already, being that Grey's is on. Having time to write was an amazing bonus! Hope you all liked this chapter. I know that some of you were upset that Callie didn't have her moment to "freak" about everything that happened. But I really see her character in this story behaving like this…trying so hard to protect AZ after all she's been thru that she would desperately try to deny her own feelings. But of course, Arizona is an amazing wife too and wants to comfort her partner. I really believe that people can care for one another this deeply. I know, I do. Anyway, there will be a bit of happiness & maybe some sexy time? Then a bit more drama on all fronts. Don't want to give too much away, so just please keep reading and give me your input. I love hearing from all of you! Have a great night & an amazing weekend! The semester is over for me soon, can't wait to sleep in on a Saturday!