Title: Good Man In A Storm
Author: Gina
Pairing: Callie/ Arizona, Callie/George
Rating: NC17(later chapters)
Summary:AU Calzona. George breaks Callie's heart and leaves her alone and broken. Can Arizona restore her faith in love and be her good man in a storm. Set somewhere around season 4.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fiction, nor do I have any rights in regards to them. All characters belong to ABC and Shonda Rhimes.
A/N : Comments always appreciated.
Callie's POV
Arizona picked me up eight fifteen the next morning to leave for our trip. She looked happy and relaxed and bent forward as if she was about to kiss me and then remember herself and backed away giving me a shy glance. She carried both my bags to the car and I carried a small tote bag with my make-up and toiletries, some snacks for all of us and some games for the kids.
DJ gave me a huge grin as I handed him the space gun he had requested for though Arizona dramatically rolled her eyes.
"Is everybody ready?" Arizona asked perkily while beaming at me, I smiled back at her and we both glanced back at the boys in the backseat.
"We are!" they responded in unison.
"Super! Then let's get this show on the road." Arizona put the car in drive and headed south on the freeway. Aiden was wearing ear phones and listening to his IPod while DJ was happily playing with his new space gun. Arizona and I were chatting easily in the front seat. It felt just like being an ordinary family, going away on our summer vacation. As I thought about it, I began to chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Arizona grinned.
"Nothing. I love this. I feel like I am playing a part in a sitcom or shooting an episode of Full House." I laughed.
"Then I guess I am Uncle Jesse huh." Arizona grinned. "But seriously it's better than a part in a soap." Arizona continued. "Then you'd have to be married to a man who drinks, have slept with your daughter's husband, might even be pregnant by somebody else or fighting a fatal disease." Arizona reeled off the possibilities while laughing and though some were more apt than she knew, I laughed as well.
"This is a whole lot better."
"It sure is." She put the radio on, and we drove easily to Santa Barbara. We stopped every couple of hours on my request so that I could stretch my les according to the doctor's orders. Though Arizona looked a bit surprised she didn't question me about it and I was grateful for that. We arrived at the San Ysidro ranch in Santa Barbara just after ten-thirty at night. There was an adorable cottage waiting for us, with two bedrooms and two baths, and a nice living room with a fireplace. It looked like a honeymoon cottage. Arizona put her things in the boy's room, as she had said she would and gave me the nicer of the two bedrooms.
"Are you sure?" I asked a bit apologetically. I felt guilty taking the prettier room, but she insisted she was happy sleeping with the boys in the other. "I could sleep on the couch." I offered.
"Sure you could. Or I have a better idea. You can sleep on the floor. Why don't we do that in San Fransisco?" Arizona was tapping her chin in a thoughtful way but I knew she was teasing.
I laughed and hit her playfully on the shoulder. We called the boys and headed to the ranch dining room for dinner.
Arizona's POV
After we got back from dinner I started to put the boys to bed in spite of them wanting to watch TV. They of course whispered and played for almost an hour more till DJ came to me crying because he couldn't find Snuggles, the battered bunny he always slept with. Aiden had hidden it under the bed and once Snuggles was found they finally went to bed. I heaved a sigh of relief and then went to join Callie in the living room.
"They are so cute." Callie smiled softly.
"Especially when they are asleep." I agreed with a grin. I wanted to tell her that she was really cute too but I didn't dare. I couldn't risk the boys hearing us. "Are you sure you won't go crazy with two weeks of this?"
"Yes, and I'm going to feel a bit lonely when we get home." She looked a little pensive.
"So will I, when they leave." I said sadly. It broke my heart everytime the boys went back to Joanne. I wished they could live me full time, Joanne because of her alcoholism and other habits was not the authority figure they needed right now but I stayed silent as I didn't want to dump all of this on Callie.
"I can't thank you enough for inviting me to come on this trip. I needed it." She said gratefully.
"You are welcome. You'll hate me for it before it's over though." I grinned but we both knew it wasn't true. The boys though naughty were still terrific company.
"Is there anything specific I can do to help you with them?" she asked.
"They'll let you know."
"I don't know much about kids." She added a little wistfully.
"Well you are honest and that's all that matters. Kids respect straight shooters." I smiled at her.
We then decided to head to bed. She stood up and headed to her room while I stared longingly at her. I was still being extremely cautious as I didn't want to lose her but it was getting harder and harder to control myself.
Callie's POV
When I woke up the next morning I could hear the boys listening to the television in the living room. I checked the clock and saw it was eight a.m. By the time I came out showered and fresh in jeans and a shirt, Arizona had already ordered breakfast.
"Good morning. Pancakes and sausages ok?"
"Great. Except I'll be as big as a house before we even reach Lake Tahoe." I groaned.
"You can diet when we get back. I'll join you." Arizona smiled. Arizona and I enjoyed our breakfast of sausages, eggs, toast and orange juice while the boys devoured the silver dollar pancakes.
Once we had finished breakfast Arizona spoke enthusiastically "Okay troops. Time for some horse riding."
"I think I'll relax while you take the boys riding." I told Arizona remembering that the doctor had forbidden me from riding.
"Don't you like horses Callie?" she asked a little surprised.
"Not much. And I'm not a great rider." I explained.
"Neither are we. Anyway we'll go now and maybe you can join us tomorrow."
Few hours later Arizona was back with two very happy boys. "How was the ride?" I asked.
"Great. You should have come. The horses were so tame you could ride them with your eyes closed." Arizona smiled. Not if you are carrying a baby…..I said to myself.
We had lunch after that and lay by the pool. But a short while after that the boys started getting restless and were chafing for something to do. So we organized a game of tennis for them. It was a perfect match as we were all equally unskilled and we laughed so hard that we could hardly play at all. The conclusion was that DJ and I won but only because Aiden and Arizona played even worse than us. We then took them on a walk all around Santa Barbara and I bought them a kite. We drove down to the beach to fly it and we were all windblown and happy when we went back to the hotel for dinner.
I forced the boys to take a bath before bed and though they growled at me Arizona seconded my suggestion.
"What kind of vacation is this?" DJ whined.
"A clean one." I insisted but they forgave me when I told them a long, long bedtime story one which my dad had told me a long ago and I embellished parts of it for them. They fell asleep as soon as I had finished reading it.
"What did you do? Give them sleeping pills? I've never seen them fall asleep so fast." Arizona looked amazed.
"I think it was the horse riding and the kite and the beach. I'm ready to fall asleep too." I laughed as she poured us each a soda.
Arizona's POV
I was feeling totally relaxed as I sat down next to Callie on the couch.
"Were you always good with kids?" she asked me suddenly.
"Hell no." I laughed. "I nearly had a panic attack the first time I had to babysit the boys." "You're good with kids Callie. You should have kids one day. You'd be a wonderful mother." I continued.
"How do you know that? What if I weren't?" she asked looking vulnerable.
"How does anyone know? You try your best. That's all anyone can do." I reasoned.
"It's scary."
I nodded my agreement. "So is everything else in life though. How did you know you would be good at fixing bones or going to college or being married? You tried it. That's all you can do."
"Yeah. Wasn't particularly good at that." She smiled ruefully.
"Don't say that Callie. He blew it, not you. You didn't walk out on him. He did." I didn't like how George had shattered every bit of Callie's confidence.
"He must have had his reasons."
"Maybe. But at least you tried to make it work. You can't spend your life reproaching yourself or feeling guilty."
"Don't you?" she asked honestly. "When you end a relationship don't you feel some guilt?"
"Yes." " But if I have given my all and it still doesn't work then I know it wasn't all my fault. That makes me feel much less guilty." I was equally honest.
"Why don't you want kids?" she asked.
"I don't want to have kids and lose them. It tears my heart out when the boys live with Joanne. I couldn't bear someone keeping my kids from me if things went wrong." I muttered sadly.
"It must be rough seeing them go." She said sympathetically.
"It is."
"Sometimes life is so much more complicated than we want it to be." I wondered what she meant by that but I didn't press her.
We sat close together for a long time just talking. As time wore on I moved closer to her almost without thinking and she didn't object. When I looked at her I couldn't seem to remember what I was saying. All I could think of was how much I wanted her, and without thinking I reached out and took her face in my hands. I murmured her name and gently kissed her. Though surprised she didn't pull away and kissed me back.
A few moments later though she pulled away and looked at me sadly.
"Arizona…don't….please don't."
"I'm sorry." I said but I wasn't. I loved her and I wasn't scared to admit that. "I'm sorry Callie….I didn't mean to upset you." I whispered.
She got up and walked to her room and softly shut the door refusing to look at me.
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