"Alright, Baby Girl I think it's getting pretty close to a certain someone's bedtime." Arizona stated as she watched her daughter yawn for the third time in so many minutes.
"Are you sure, Mommy? 'Cause I'm..." she yawned. "...Not sleepy at all."
"Way to prove your point." her mother giggled as she pulled the child to her feet. "Come on Mini me, go change and brush your teeth and your mom and I will read to you before bed." she said, pushing the girl gently in the right direction.
"Okay, Momma." Sofia yawned again before a sudden happy thought overtook her. "Can we read my new book?" she asked excitedly as her eyes widened and her smile grew.
"Of course we can, Baby girl!" the blonde smiled, helping Mark back to his feet as her wife helped Lexie.
"Fan-tastic!" the child cheered, making her way to her room.
"She said fantastic!" Mark beamed. "I think I'm her favorite." he stated as the rest of the group simply rolled their eyes.
"Yeah well, someone has to like you." the Peds surgeon grinned, chuckling as Lexie raised her hand. "You know, besides Little Grey."
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." the plastics king grinned. "I'll have you know I'm on ATLEAST half a dozen 'top 5' lists at the hospital."
"Yeah...those aren't favorite lists, Sloan." the Latina smirked.
"At least Sofia loves me." the large man crossed his arms and pouted, turning his head away quickly as his bestfriend tried her best to grab his protruding bottom lip."Hey!" he said suddenly, slapping at the brunette's hand. "Can Munchkin stay over with us tonight? We're both off tomorrow and I know you two have to work midshifts."
"Actually I think that's a great idea." Arizona smiled as her wife nodded. "What do you think Lexie?"
"Of course! Sofia's always welcome." the young woman smiled brightly.
"I'll get the tent!" Callie exclaimed before disappearing into the hallway.
"There's a TENT?" Mark's eyes grew.
"It's a Spongebob tent." the blonde explained. "Don't worry it's not that big. We were going to set it up for the girl's sleepover."
"There was going to be a sleepover?" Lexie's exclaimed excitedly. "How did she manage to talk you into that?"
"She had a chart." Arizona explained as she rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Of course she did." Mark chuckled.
"She gets that from you, Arizona." Lexie stated as she and her boyfriend laughed while the blonde simply shrugged.
"Okay, I'm ready!" Sofia announced, charging back into the living room clad in her favorite yellow character pajamas, her mask and prized cape still in place. The latter flapping behind her as she rounded the couch.
"Great job!" her mom beamed. "Now, how would you like to spent the night camping out with your Dad and Aunt Lexie?"
"Really?" the child bounced a little.
"REALLY. Really." the blonde smiled.
"AWESOME!" the birthday girl cheered. "Can we use the tent?"
"Actually, I was kind of thinking about using it." Callie replied, reentering the room with a small packback in one hand and a duffle bag over the other shoulder.
"You won't fit!" Sofia giggled. "It's not made for grown ups."
"Who said anything about climbing into the thing? I was going to use it as a hat." her mother smiled brightly as she handed the larger bag to her bestfriend. "I bet it works great in rain storms."
"Momma, you're being silly." the girl smiled before yawning as she waited for the taller brunette to lean down.
"No, I'm being ridiculous."
"Same diff-rence." Sofia said, rolling her eyes. "Goodnight, Momma."
"Goodnight, mija. Sleep well." Callie smiled as they shared a hug and a goodnight kiss. "Oh! I got your overnight bag." she added, handing her daughter the small backpack which she simply eyed questionably before looking back to her mother.
"Imma be next door, Momma."
"Hey, a good soldier is always prepared, Mini me." the Latina grinned.
"Well played." Sofia smiled back, pulling on the backpack before turning to hug the blonde behind her. "Goodnight, Mommy."
"Goodnight, Baby girl." Arizona replied, kissing their daughter's forehead. "Try not to keep your Dad and Aunt Lexie up too late, alright?"
"Yes ma'am." the girl agreed before yawning loudly again.
"Come on sweetie, let's get you all settled in your tent before you fall asleep and we don't get a chance to read your new book." Lexie said, picking the birthday girl up.
"I'm awake! I'm AWAKE!" Sofia protested even as she rubbed her eyes.
"Yeah, we'll see just how long that lasts." Mark chuckled as they headed towards the door. "I give her until we reach the couch."
"I give her until they hit the hallway." the Latina smirked, nudging her wife gently, her grin growing as the blonde winked. They both leaned slightly towards the still open door to hear the outcome.
"Annnnd she's out." Mark stage whispered as he leaned back into the doorway. "Goodnight kiddies, see you tomorrow." he waved with a grin.
"Goodnight." they both replied before turning to pick up what was left of the birthday party mess.
"Dear lord, there's wrapping paper EVERYWHERE!" Callie cried as she brought her head out from under the middle couch cushion, waving her fist fulls about. "We could cut it up and have enough confetti for decades!" she stated while throwing ball after ball of wadded up paper behind her.
"Hey, what did I tell you about projectiles?" her wife warned as she started gathering them up, grumbling a bit when more than one landed on her head. Rolling her eyes, she simply sat back and opened her trash bag, grinning a bit as they made their own way in.
"I thought that only applied to children and couch cushions." the Latine smirked, pushing the cushion in her hand back into place before quickly flopping onto the couch. "Speaking of Mini me..." she started, turning her head to look at her wife upside down. "You think she had a good time today? I mean, I know this isn't exactly what she wanted..."
"Calliope our daughter is smart, she knows we tried our best. 'Always work hard, and try to find the good' right?" the blonde smiled, scooting closer and kissing the brunette's forehead.
"I suppose..." Callie agreed, narrowing her eyes a little. "Did you just quote my dad to me?"
"Maaaaybe." her wife giggled slightly before kissing the tip of her nose. "Didn't you quote mine to Sofia earlier?"
"That was different. I was using it to win an argument."
"With a child." Arizona pointed out, laughing as the Ortho goddess shrugged.
"Hey, someone's gotta do it. Besides..." she reached for the blonde's hand. "She takes after you. I have to win them while I still can." she smirked.
"I think you make an excellent point." the Peds surgeon grinned as she used her other hand to pull herself up to sit beside her love. "You should enjoy your victories while they last, Rockstar." she smirked as she was pulled down to lay half across the taller woman, her smile growing as she felt her new pillow kiss her forehead.
The Latina rubbed her thumb back and forth across the hand she was holding for a few moments before her face became suddenly thoughtful. "Do you think there will ever be a point where I'm too old to be a Badass?"
"You? Not a chance." Arizona stated, gently nuzzling her wife's neck. "Calliope Torres is and will forever be, a genuine Badass."
"A fact I will happily remind you of in the future when I want flames on the legs of my walker."
"Flames?" the blonde laughed. "REALLY, Calliope?"
"REALLY, Really." her wife grinned. "Imma be the baddest citizen the senior community has ever seen!" she proclaimed, raising a fist into the air.
"I'd argue with you but I could totally see that." Arizona chuckled as she lowered her voice. "'And now, the baddest granny that ever shuffled her way across the bingo hall, standing at a menacing five foot nine when she's not hunched over her walker, the Latina Xena, Calliope "I'm a frickin' Rockstar" Torres!'" she announced loudly before falling into a fit of giggles.
Callie rose her eyebrows and blinked a few times as she waited for the blonde to calm back down. "Are you quite finished?"
"Nope." the Peds surgeon grinned as a few more giggles surfaced.
The brunette rolled her eyes before slapping the other woman's upper thigh softly. "Alright then, come on Gabrielle, we still have cake to put away." she said as she started to get up, letting out a small yelp with her wife pushed her over the edge of the couch with a snicker.
Landing, she rolled slightly before stopping eye level with a piece of forgotten food. "We really should have made Mark vacuum." she mumbled into the carpet as she made a face. Picking up her newly found target of displeasure, she smirked before quickly flicking it towards the couch, laughing a little when she heard a loud 'HEY!' aimed in her direction.
She didn't have to turn her head to know a retaliation was in the making. Rolling forward suddenly, she felt a rush of air hit her back as a cushion came down hard behind her, followed quickly by a laughing blonde.
"We don't throw food." she stated before bringing her hand down swiftly to met the Latina's backside. "Bad Calliope!" she tsked before climbing to her feet and laughing her way towards the kitchen.
"OoO, maybe I should be bad more often then." Callie reasoned as she followed the Peds surgeon.
"Try it and see what happens." Arizona smirked wickedly as she licked some icing from her index finger before holding it out to the other woman. "You want some?"
"Since when have I ever said no to you and that sentence?" her wife smirked, pulling the icing covered finger into her mouth, wiggling her eyebrows as her tongue went to work.
"Not once." the shorter woman smiled, grabbing the front of the brunette's shirt and replacing her now clean finger with her lips.
A random thought had hit the blonde when she had first walked into the kitchen, but now, try as she may she couldn't quite place it since most of her thoughts were heading elsewhere at the moment. It tickled the back of her brain but refused to sink in completely. Something about cupcakes...
Pulling back slightly, Arizona's brows fused as she waited for dark eyes to meet her own. "Calliope?" she whispered against full lips as the Latina simply leaned further foward.
"Yeah?" her wife whispered back as she turned her head slightly to kiss her way down the blonde's neck.
"When were you going to tell me the cake was at Mark's the whole time?" she rose an eyebrow as wide eyes came back into view.
"I...umm..."
"Yeah, go ahead, see if you can dig yourself in deeper." Arizona laughed. "I can't believe you had me track down Miranda Bailey for sprinkled decoy cupcakes when the very thing they were decoying was across the hall!" she exclaimed, smacking the brunette's arm lightly.
"I'm sorry, baby." the Latina apologized, complete with pouty lip and her best puppy dog eyes. "I just really..."
"Like cupcakes. Yes, we know." her wife finished for her, rolling her eyes.
"Forgive me?" Callie's eyes turned hopeful as she smiled the sweetest smile she could manage causing the blonde to giggle.
"Of course, ya big goofball." the Peds surgeon said, kissing the taller woman's nose before wrapping her arms around her neck "Besides, I think it makes us just about even."
"Yes, I absolutely agree. ABSOLUTELY." her wife nodded enthusiastically briefly before stopping suddenly. "Wait. What?"
"What? No. Nothing. Nothing at all." Arizona said quickly before ending their embrace to turn and close the cake container. Moving fast, she slid towards the fridge on her socks before placing it inside.
"What. Did. You do?"
Turning, the blonde put on her most innocent smile as she slowly backed a few feet away, narrowed eyes following her every movement. "I didn't do anything except supply a wildly imaginative child with a bright pink tiara...Princess." she added quickly before dropping down behind the relative safety of the kitchen island just in case she forgot to put away any cushions.
"I JUST KNEW YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT!"
"I THOUGHT YOU LOOKED REALLY CUTE, CALLIOPE!" she called back around the corner.
"I looked fabulous but that's not the point!" Callie said, climbing halfway onto the countertop to look down to where her wife was hiding. While blonde curls were doing their best to peek around the corner, she leaned down as far as she could without going over head first. "You made me a sidekick!" she exclaimed near the blonde's ear, making the Peds surgeon jump.
"What? I did not!" Arizona argued while pushing her wife's pouty face away, giggling a little as the taller woman had to flail a bit to keep from toppling over as she repositioned herself to climb back down. "Sofia chose you for the job and I for one think you made an exceptional side kick." she smiled.
"Both are true." her wife smirked as she stood back up, helping the blonde do the same. "But I still wanted a mask." she pouted slightly. "Mark and Little Grey got masks."
"Mark and Lexie were henchmen and didn't even get real names." Arizona pointed out. "Besides, if you want a mask so bad, you can have mine." she added, reaching over and picking up her own abandoned playtime prop from it's place on the table. "There. Now you have a mask."
"This is a evil doer's mask." the former side kick stated, making a face. "Besides, I think it looks much better on you." she added with a smile as she put it over blonde curls, leaving it to settle on the shorter woman's forehead. "There you are, Dr. Dimples." she grinned. "Ready to go forth and WREAK HAVOK!"
"That's the EVIL Doctor Dimples to you, drama queen."
"Hey! Don't make me take you into custody ya dirty cupcake theif!" the brunette warned as she placed her brightly colored crown upon her head.
"Bring it on!" the villain challenged, pulling her large black mask down onto it's rightful place. "You'll have to catch me first!" she laughed as she took off in the direction of their room, moving faster as the Latina took chase.
"You better hope I don't find the handcuffs!" Callie laughed as she rounded the corner, quickly gaining on the blonde.
Outside the frosted windows, the snow had stopped falling hours ago as the storm had long since passed, but the day was done and over with so the sun readied itself for the day to come. After all, it had much darkness to make up for and a lot of snowmen construction to oversee.
The End. :)
A/N: Thanks for sticking with me through this and hopefully you guys enjoyed this even half as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Also, to anyone who cares for such nonsense, yes, Vile Niltha is simple an anagram for 'the villain.'
Take care out there. :D
(on a side note, I'm rather embarrassed to admit it took until the every end of THIS chapter for me to finally realize I've been spelling the word 'villain' wrong the ENTIRE time...no biggie, it was only in this thing about 50 times. lol. I know, I'm special...)
