Callie woke early the next morning, a combination of wanting to see her father before he went to the airport and not being able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time without having a nightmare. Her mind was still going over every part of the surgery that paralysed the man suing her. Every suture, every movement of her scalpel was sending her mind on a hamster wheel, around and around she went with no end in sight. All it did was make her dizzy.

Callie pulled back the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, ran a lazy hand through her hair and took a deep breath in to centre herself. She had to face the board and the hospital's lawyers today and most likely give a deposition, one which could determine whether she still had a job at the end of the day.

She did make one decision that actually felt easy for her. She was going to tell Arizona about the upcoming case before she walked into the board room and faced question after question. If she faced a worse case scenario and lost her job or even worse still, lost her job and all her money in the resulting law suit, Arizona needed to know. This would affect Sofia and their family and as broken as it was she should know about it from her and not some lawyer or be surprised with it in front of the entire board.

Callie pulled herself to her feet and took a long hot shower, letting the water run down her body and relax her. She took her time dressing and entered the lounge area to find her father already awake, dressed and drinking a cup of coffee. He put down his phone and looked up to see Callie entering the kitchen.

"Good morning mija."

"Morning Daddy."

Callie kissed Carlos' cheek and poured herself a cup of coffee. She stood side by side with her father as he put an arm around her waist and squeezed.

"Stop thinking so hard Calliope. I can hear the gears grinding from here."

"Sorry. I'm just trying to make sure I have everything clear in my mind before I speak to the lawyers. I don't want to give them anything they can use to sacrifice me straight away."

Carlos put down his coffee cup and took Callie's face into his hands. "You are a great surgeon and I believe in you."

"Daddy, you have to say that."

"But it's true mija. I know how much you care about your patients and I know you would never intentionally hurt anyone. Have a little faith, it'll all work out." Carlos kissed her cheek as his cell phone dinged with a message. He checked it and looked back at Callie. "That was my car service, I have to go. Trust me Calliope, I won't let them hurt you."

Callie nodded and pulled her father into a tight hug. They stood connected for a minute before Carlos reluctantly pulled away and gathered his things. With one last kiss to her cheek he left for the airport and Callie to fend for herself. She gathered her notes on the case, her laptop, leather jacket and purse before she left the apartment. She checked the time and hoped she had enough before the board meeting to speak to Arizona.

Callie hustle over to the hospital and headed to the day care center. She needed a visit with Sofia to remind herself what she was fighting for before she told her estranged wife about the lawsuit. She exited the elevator and was about to walk through the door of the day care when she bumped into another person. She stumbled but righted herself and stood up straight.

"I'm sor...Arizona...hey. Good morning."

"Good morning. I'm sorry about running into you like that. My mind is elsewhere and I didn't see you."

Callie waved her away. "No harm, no foul. I'm built tough. So I guess you know by now we have a board meeting this morning." Arizona nodded and Callie continued. "I was hoping you had an opening in your schedule before the meeting. There's something I need to talk to you about."

Arizona smiled hesitantly and nodded. "Yeah. I have rounds and then I should have about a half hour before the meeting. Is that enough time?"

Callie adjusted the purse on her shoulder. "Yeah. I just want to spend some time with Sofia first and then I'll meet you in your office. If that's okay."

"Yeah, sounds good. Okay. So I will see you soon."

Callie nodded and watched Arizona walk away before turning and entering the day care to search for her mini me. She found Sofia where she always did, babbling away to Zola and her legion of friends. Callie crept up behind her daughter and initiated a tickle attack.

"I got you. You are now my prisoner. Surrender to Captain Callie. Arg."

Sofia laughed at her silly Mommy. "Stop Mommy. Tickles. Ha, ha ha!"

Callie stopped tickling Sofia and giggled, gave her an Eskimo kiss and plonking them down in the same bean bag chair she saw Arizona and Sofia in only a few days ago. She cuddled Sofia to her body and stroked her hair while Sofia started to tell Callie about Carlos' visit.

"And Grandpa readed me a story. It was awdsome."

Callie kissed Sofia's temple and couldn't help the smile plastered on her face at her daughter's mispronunciation of Arizona's favourite word. "Well I am very glad to hear that. Your Grandpa will be back in a couple of days and he can't wait to spend some more time with you. Would you like that?"

Sofia nodded vigorously. "Yep."

Callie kissed her cheek and smiled at her daughter. "I have to go talk to your Mama. You be a good girl okay and I'll see you tonight."

"'Kay." Sofia left to join Zola and some of the other kids while Callie exited the room with goodbyes to the staff and headed to Arizona's office. She knocked on the door and heard a 'come in'. She entered and found Arizona sitting behind her desk typing on her computer and looking distractingly beautiful. Callie shook her head to clear those thoughts and sat down in a chair in front of the desk.

"I'll just be one second." Arizona glanced at a fidgeting Callie and turned back to finish the e-mail she was working on. A moment later she turned her attention fully to her wife.

"So...what did you want to talk to me about? Is it something to do with the board meeting this morning?"

Callie took a breath and launched into a speech she'd been preparing since she woke up. "Yeah. As you probably know from my Dad I called him because I have some legal issues. The hospital, along with me personally, is being sued for malpractice. A patient of mind suffered a complication that was totally unexpected and now he's paralysed below the waist. He's suing me for negligence and loss of future earnings."

"Are you talking about that baseball player who stroked out while you were working on his knee?"

"Yeah, that's the one. I just thought you should hear it from me and not get a surprise in front of everyone else."

Arizona reached over the desk and placed her hand on top of Callie's and squeezed. "I know you didn't have to so I appreciate you telling me."

Callie looked at her wife with tear filled eyes. "Arizona...this could potentially cost me my career, my reputation and every cent I have to my name."

Arizona rounded the desk and wrapped Callie in a hug as the floodgates opened and tears flooded down her cheeks. Half of Callie wanted to push Arizona away but the other half was comforted by the familiar smell and touch of her wife.

"Hey, no way it's gonna come to that." Arizona pulled back and took Callie's face in her hands like her father did this morning and her words echoed his. "You are a great surgeon. In fact, one of the best I've ever seen."

Callie scoffed. "You have to say that because you're my wi..." Callie stopped herself from finishing that sentence and gently extracted herself from Arizona's hold. "I just wanted to tell you personally about the law suit. I should go and see the lawyers. I'll see you in there."

Callie turned and left the room while Arizona sat back down in her chair, a sigh leaving her body and her shoulders slumping. Callie wouldn't even let Arizona touch her, even just to comfort her, without pulling away. Arizona already knew she had a long road ahead of her but the longer the ride seemed to be taking, the further away the light looked. Instead of giving up it only gave Arizona even more determination that she would make herself whole again for the woman and the family that she loved with all her heart. She would show Callie she could be trusted again, that she could be the shoulder she could cry on and the heart that beat inside her chest beat for only her and her alone. Arizona shut down her computer and headed to the board room, ready to be there for Callie every step of the way.

Hello. Just a little fluffy chapter to get Callie and Arizona talking. I needed it before the next episode. Thank you to everyone reading and commenting, it brightens my day, so thanks again. Tigersforever.