Everyone was still upset over Adler's death, but they couldn't help but smile three weeks later. It was Halloween and the Peds. ward was full of an unusual sort of joy. The children still weren't feeling their best, but most of them were still able to get into the spirit of the day. Faith wasn't itching to get back to Cardio. She was enjoying working with her mom and making Halloween as good as it could be for the patients.

"William was so excited when I told him that he could have that chocolate bar," she smiled.

"I know, "Arizona said as she returned a chart back to its place at the nurse's station. "Halloween is one of my favourite days here. Christmas is just depressing because the patients can't be home for Christmas morning, but we can bring enough of Halloween to them that it seems to make most of them happy enough."

"Yeah. Sebastian's wearing a ridiculously bright orange shirt today, and he bought socks with bats on them. He looks insane for a grown man, but the kids will love it."

"Exactly," she agreed.

Callie walked up to them. She didn't have any cases with children today, so she hadn't gotten a chance to take part in the Halloween fun. However, she did have some time to stop by and see her wife. She hadn't realized that Faith was working with her.

"Oh, you're all up here, huh?"

"We are," Arizona smiled. "Sofia's attempting to find game pieces that a two-year-old swallowed, and we're about to go remove a tumour from a baby."

"A baby?" she asked.

"We should be able to get clean margins," she clarified. "The prognosis actually isn't too bad."

"Well, good," she replied, giving her a quick kiss. "I have a question."

"Which is...?"

"What would you like to do for Valentine's Day?"

Faith smiled just watching the way that her mothers looked at each other. She wanted her marriage to be much the same when she and Sebastian got to the point that Callie and Arizona were at now. This was important to her.

Still, she couldn't help but point out the obvious.

"It's Halloween," she teased.

"Why are you talking about February?" Arizona wondered.

"I thought maybe we could go somewhere," Callie explained.

"On vacation?"

"That would be the idea," she smiled.

"I'm jealous already," Faith commented. "You two will be on some beach somewhere and Seb'll hand me a box of chocolates and make dinner."

Actually, Sebastian could be a very romantic man. They just never made a big deal out of Valentine's Day because they didn't see the point in exchanging special things when they could enjoy dinner and a movie at home and save the money that they would have spent on a night out and big gifts for their future. Of course, they went out sometimes, but not usually for Valentine's Day. Faith totally bought into the romantic hype of the day, but they still kept it pretty simple. Even so, the plans that her madre was proposing seemed great. She knew that her moms would have a wonderful time.

"Why do we need to go away?" Arizona asked.

"Did you not hear what I just said about you being on the beach somewhere or something?" Faith replied. "In February?"

"Because we can," Callie decided. "Arizona, we still have the money from the inheritances that our parents left us, and we save as much as we can, but why do we need to wait until retirement to start doing something with some of our savings? I thought we could take some vacation time and get good use out of it sooner rather than later."

Her wife had a point. Retirement would come eventually, but they weren't making any plans to quit their jobs just yet. They were still able to operate, and they loved what they did too much. They didn't have any reasons to retire yet. They also didn't want to be too old to enjoy themselves when they did retire, though. Maybe taking more vacations – starting with one in February – was a good idea.

"Okay," she said. "Where are we going?"

"You pick."

"In the U.S. or –?"

"Whatever you want."

"Really?"

"Within reason," she said. "We're not spending a month on a beach somewhere."

"I figured that much."


A more emergent case came in and took up Arizona and Faith's operating room. Faith checked on the patient – a little girl named Kira – before heading to Sebastian's office. He was just finishing up working with a little boy.

"Happy Halloween," the child said.

"Happy Halloween to you, too," she smiled.

"See my Halloween stickers?" he asked, showing off the reward he had gotten for a great session with Sebastian. He didn't realize that all of the children who Sebastian worked with got them, whether or not they had good sessions.

"Cool," she replied.

"That one's where my I.V. goes," he said. "I got it taken out because I can go home tomorrow, but if I do good at getting it put in there again the next time I have to come, I'll get two stickers. That's the deal."

"I see."

"Because it's scary, but I can do it if I get stickers. I like it if they glow in the dark. Then my hand glows."

"Awesome."

"C'mon, Buddy," Sebastian smiled. "Let's go see if Mommy and Daddy are done their lunch yet."

"If not, can I play with more toys?"

"Yeah."

"Because I feel better today."

"Good."

After he brought the boy back to his mom and dad, Sebastian returned to his office. He hadn't been expecting to see his wife until much later into their shifts, so this was a welcome surprise.

"Did your surgery get pushed back?"

"Yep," she nodded. "And my moms are planning a trip."

"A trip?"

"My madre wants to take Mom away for Valentine's Day."

"Oh."

"How sweet is that?" she replied. "I know we don't do big things for Valentine's Day, but I love Madre's point."

"What's her point?"

"That they shouldn't wait to do what they want if they can start enjoying themselves now."

"Yeah. So now you want to do something on Valentine's Day? And you're telling me now?"

"No," she said. "It's more about deciding not to put important things off if you can help it."

"I see."

"Life is short, Seb. I mean, look at Adler."

"I know."


"Bradley passed all of the game pieces," Sofia reported about an hour after that.

"Okay," her mom mumbled as she looked up something on the computer.

"You don't even know what I just said," she suspected.

Her parents had always been fairly tuned in, but there had been times like this during her preteen years. She knew them well. Sometimes her interests just weren't theirs, so they would nod, smile, and give vague responses in an attempt to make her feel like they were really listening. This hadn't happened in a while, but she still knew it when she saw it.

Arizona had to admit that she was right. She had a few spare minutes and she was looking up ideas for possible vacation destinations.

"What?" she asked her, actually listening this time.

"Bradley passed all of the game pieces," she said. "I discharged him."

"Good," she replied, "It's a miracle that he didn't choke on any."

"I know," she agreed. "Thank God. What are you looking up? Something good? Can I scrub –?"

"Vacation options," she said.

"Vacation options?" she asked. "What?"

"Madre surprised me today," she explained. "She wants to go away for Valentine's Day."

"Oh, so a weekend thing?"

"No, it sounds like she wants to go on a real vacation," she corrected. "We've done the weekend thing before. This time is different. At least that's my plan and she's letting me choose, so that's what's happening."

"A vacation for Valentine's Day?"

"It's romantic," she said. "We've been saving for retirement, but she has a point. We can start enjoying some of that lifestyle now. Clearly in moderation, but we can."

"Sounds like a midlife crisis," she teased.

Really, she was happy for her moms. They had worked hard all of their lives. Of course, they had also gone on plenty of vacations, but they hadn't been on one in a few years.

"It is not a midlife crisis," she insisted. "I think she might have lost a patient today. Things like that make us realize that –"

"Life is short," she said. "Faith had a heart transplant as a toddler. I know that things happen."

"We have our careers and our family, so we might as well set aside a little extra time to enjoy life. Not that we didn't enjoy life when you and Faith were at home, but it's different now. It's sort of just us again."

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere cold," she answered. "If I'm going to go somewhere in February, I'm going to get away from winter weather."

She got a page just then. The operating room was available for Kira now.

"Oh, good."

"What?"

"An O.R. is finally ready for a patient."


The baby's surgery went well. Faith and Arizona were both in the NICU with her right afterwards. Her parents would be on their way down soon, but they figured that they would keep her company in the meantime. She was brand new. It seemed like the least that they could do.

"I heard that your Mommy's doctor is just giving her a little checkup and then Daddy'll bring her down to see you," Faith said. "That's what the nurse told us. They're coming soon. They know that your surgery's all done."

The newborn grabbed a hold of one of Arizona's fingers while her surgeon attempted to do a quick exam. Kira was just one day old at this point, and she had spent almost all of that time in her incubator, so Dr. Robbins couldn't blame her for wanting contact like this.

"You would think tiny baby fingers would have little effect on me at this point," she smiled. "I see them and hold them all the time. But they still melt me. They're so perfect, Kira!"

Sofia, who had to check on a patient of hers who was in there, came in just in time to hear this.

"Did everything go well with her?" she asked.

"Yeah," Faith nodded.

"Good," she said. "Can you imagine finding out your newborn has a tumour? Those parents needed good news. Not that all parents don't, but a newborn with a tumour is just not something anyone thinks about. I'm a doctor and it even seems especially scary to me."

"On one hand, the NICU makes me absolutely terrified to have kids," Faith said. "And on the other, working with little ones like this one makes me want babies now. The baby fever has been kind of out of control today. She may be sick, but she's so perfectly tiny and I want one of those. Hopefully minus the medical issues, but now that Seb and I are married, seeing brand new babies just..."

"Really?" Arizona asked.

"I'm trying to suppress the feeling," she responded. "It'll pass. Not all babies are this cute, right? Plus, thinking about the ones with the tumours, and the heart conditions, and the other problems helps for now."

"You just got married," Arizona said. "Madre and I can't wait for grandkids, but maybe some time away from little patients would be good."

"What happened to the 'life is short, so do what you want' realization?" Sofia asked.

"I'm trying not to pressure her."

"Besides, what have you done to seize the day lately?" Faith questioned Sofia. "You focus on the here and now."

"I just had a coffee with Cody from Radiology," she said. "I've been finding ways to turn him down nicely for weeks now because he seems like the kind of guy who only wants to spend time with a woman if he thinks they could be compatible, but I decided that coffee's not exactly a commitment. Plus, everyone knows that I'm focusing on my work these days, so I don't think I'm leading him on or anything. Right?"

"Coffee is coffee," Faith decided. "You're not giving him any sort of idea. He's hot, too."

"You're married."

"I'm not blind," she replied.

"You're all nervous over a guy," Arizona smiled.

"Who said I was nervous?" Sofia asked.

"You want to make sure that you're clear that a cup of coffee didn't start anything. Overthinking is a sign of inter-"

Fortunately for her, Sofia was able to escape the rest of that conversation when her dad and her nephew were spotted standing just outside of the NICU. Little Declan was all dressed up in his tiny firefighter costume. He may not have been exactly sure what Halloween was at his age, but he did have a little chocolate bar in each hand. Therefore, he must have been doing something right.

"Declan!" Sofia smiled as she, Arizona, and Faith went out to see him for just a minute. "Grandpa brought you here to show you off?"

He rubbed his tired eyes.

"It's definitely naptime," Mark said, kissing the fussy boy's cheek. "But we saw Nana and she said something about Auntie Sofia –"

"Sof?" Declan asked.

"And that's what he's been saying ever since," he finished. "So apparently we had to come see you before we left."

"Sof?"

"I'm right here," Sofia laughed. "You make a good firefighter."

"Very cute," Faith added.

"Who gave you chocolate?" Arizona questioned.

"No," he said, obviously just refusing to answer the question because he was getting sleepy now.

"No?" Mark repeated. "How about Nana and Bailey?"

"No."

"Alright," he said. "Well, we've seen Auntie Sof. Can we go back to my house now? If I keep you out much longer, your mom and dad aren't going to be too happy with me. You'll be cranky later tonight. That's when you get the rest of the candy."

"No."

"If you come to my house, I have a special bag ready just for you," Faith told him. "I already told your mommy."

This got a small smile to spread across his face. He still wasn't exactly happy, but the idea of special treats was exciting.

"You don't even know that Mommy and Daddy'll end up eating most of it," Arizona said. "You'll just be happy with whatever they give you, right? Little guys like you don't need a whole bunch."

"No."

"You agree?"

"No."