Chapter 10
"Morning," Meredith greeted Arizona as she walked into the kitchen to see her wife standing before the stove finishing up breakfast. She walked over and kissed her on the cheek before heading for the coffee machine.
"Morning. Did you notice if Callie was up yet?" Arizona asked as she plated up the bacon, eggs, and toast she had just finished and placed them on the bar before taking a seat.
"I think she was up in the bathroom. Why?" Meredith questioned as she took her seat next to Arizona and handed over the blonde's coffee.
"I talked to Mom, explained our unexpected guest, and so she is bringing the kids back around 3 that way she and Dad can take them to the park after they take them out to lunch at that new place near their house. I just thought it would be better to get some of the needed conversations out of the way before they do."
"Good idea, now eat before your food gets cold," Meredith winked over at Arizona before starting on her own plate.
Once they both finished Arizona stood up and said, "Let's clean this up and set Callie's plate in the warmer."
"That won't be necessary but thanks for this," Callie said as she walked into the kitchen, fixed her coffee, grabbed her plate, and sat down to eat. "I'm starving actually, since I don't remember if I ate yesterday."
Neither had noticed that Callie had finally made her way down and was stood just behind them at the opening to the kitchen a few minutes before announcing her presence. She watched them with a slight ache as she noticed how they seemed to be so involved with the other that they didn't even notice she had been standing there. They would glance at one another while seeming to flirt with the simplest of nudges, a smirk, or a wink here and there while they sat silently and ate breakfast together.
"Well, you eat and we'll clean this up and then we need to talk about some things before the kids get back," Arizona said as she started passing Meredith dishes ready to go in the dishwasher.
"When will that be?" Questioned Callie in between bites.
"Barbara and Daniel are taking them to lunch and to the park afterwards so around 3," Meredith answered after closing the dishwasher and passing a towel to Arizona to dry her hands. "Finish up, throw that in the dishwasher and start it please, and then meet us in the living room so we can talk."
Meredith laced her fingers with Arizona's and guided her out towards the sofa so they could wait on Callie. She hoped this talk wouldn't be as confrontational as last night but who knows what to expect when Callie is involved.
When Callie entered the living room she couldn't help but notice how well they seemed to fit together, even though it hurt to see. They were talking quietly to one another when Arizona placed a quick kiss on Meredith's lips before giving her that magical smile of hers. Man did it ever hurt to see them like this.
Callie nervously cleared her throat as she stepped over and sat across from them before asking, "What do you want to talk about?"
"Well, what are your plans exactly Callie? Do you plan to stay after everything you learned last night? What about a place to live and a job? Not to mention we need to work things out for Sofia as well." Arizona started as she turned her attention to Callie but not letting go of her wife's hand.
"I'm not leaving Seattle, Arizona. I wouldn't do that to Sofia, you, or myself again. I see that things aren't what I hoped for and I know that seeing you and Meredith together will take some getting used to but I'm not running away just because I didn't find what I was hoping too. I will check into a hotel nearby until I can find a place to live and I was hoping to go and see Bailey about a job."
"You do know that the Chief of Ortho spot was filled after you left right?" Meredith questioned.
"Yeah, Sofia said that Amelia's new girlfriend, Abby I think, is the new 'Chief of Bones' when she came back after Thanksgiving. I know that I can't expect to have that position handed back but I plan to get back into my labs, hopefully. Surgery, the cartilage lab, and the prosthesis that I was working on for Wounded Warriors will be enough to keep me busy. I'm actually hoping that I can talk Amelia into working on the Neuro aspects with me on that one."
"Yeah, she mentioned being interested in it once so she might," Meredith replied before continuing. "As for a place to live, we talked this morning and if you want to, you can stay here. After we move next week, that is."
Arizona took over, "Meredith didn't want to sell this place again. Amelia said she wanted to stay in the apartment and Maggie is moving into the guest house when we move so it will be empty."
"I wanted to keep it for instances just like this when someone we know is in need of a place to stay. You know how many of us have lived here before and all I ask is that you pay the utilities and any upkeep needed while you are here. Oh, and if someone we know needs a room for awhile that you won't turn them away without reason."
"Sofia has a room already decorated the way she wants but you change the others if you want to. Just don't do major remodels without a heads up," Arizona finished up the offer.
"Not that I'm not grateful but...why would you offer this to me after everything?" Questioned Callie a little perplexed by the offer.
"We told you already that while you need to make up for what you've done, we are still your friends and family. We even thought about offering you the apartment above the garage at our new home but we just don't want you that close and I'm not sure I'm ready to have you around Arizona that close so often," Meredith said honestly with a shoulder shrug thrown in as she watched Callie closely.
Callie was a little taken aback by that statement but knew that was just Meredith being herself. She never held back from speaking her mind. Still she knew she had to respond, "That sounds reasonable and will make things easier for me to find a place that I really want without settling so I can get out of a hotel. Frankly, I don't think I'm in a good enough place with all of this to be that close to either of you for awhile anyways. So I will accept your offer for now but it's not going to be permanent because I would like to find a house for Sofia and myself to put down roots here again."
"Speaking of Sofia," Arizona said drawing Callie's attention. "I want her to live with us for at least the rest of the summer and longer if she wants since it is supposed to be my year. You have had her for the past year and I have missed her so much. Plus, I want her to have a chance to see what it's like to live with her sisters and brother for more than a few weeks every few months. You can see here anytime you want. I would never keep her from you but I don't want to go back to the old schedule of every other week just yet. I'm not asking to be petty or anything but you can't expect to just show up and get your way in this after everything you've put us through."
Callie took a moment to really think before replying, "Okay, I don't want to argue or anything and I know you're right about it technically being your year. Plus, it will still be a lot easier on me than it was on you because at least we're in the same city and not a 6 hour plane ride away. I agree to give you the summer and then we can talk to Sofia about it since she should have a say as well. If she wants to stay longer, we'll decide what to do then okay?"
"Okay, I think she's old enough to give her opinion but ultimately it's up to us to decide what's best for her," Arizona answered a little relieved. She wasn't sure what to expect out of Callie when she brought this up. "Now, when she comes back later I think it's best if you sit with her and explain that you're moving back for good and please stress the fact that what happened between you and Penny wasn't her fault. We don't want her to ever feel like she is the cause of anything that causes us unhappiness."
"Yeah," Callie sighed, "I can't believe she didn't mention she heard us arguing or how it made her feel. Don't worry Arizona, I'll make sure she understands that my decision to leave Penny wasn't her fault. I can't guarantee anything about the decision to return to Seattle because that I made with her best interests at heart but I will make sure she knows that my break up with Penny didn't have anything to do with her."
"That's all I ask Callie," Arizona gave a small smile to her ex-wife. "For what it's worth, I'm glad your back and trying to fix things. I hope you find your happiness again. The real and forever kind."
"Yeah, me too," Meredith added smiling before looking at Callie a little harshly, "as long as that doesn't include you putting moves on my wife because then we are going to have problems."
"I'm not going to lie and say it's easy to see you two together because it's not, at all. I will respect your relationship though because as painful as it is to see, I can see that you're both happy. Now, I'm going upstairs to start making some calls but I'll be down to talk to Sofia when she gets here."
They watched Callie climb the stairs before Meredith pulled Arizona into her arms and held her close and placed a kiss on top of her head as she snuggled in.
"Mm, that's better," Meredith said after kissing her wife's head.
"What is?" Questioned Arizona as she wrapped her arms around Meredith.
"This," Meredith answered. "Having you in my arms is always better."
"There's no place I'd rather be," Arizona said before kissing her softly before they spent time relaxing in the others arms until it was almost time for their kids to return.
"Mami, what are you doing here?" questioned Sofia excitedly when she saw Callie coming down the stairs. Arizona and Meredith picked up Ellis and ushered Zola and Bailey upstairs to give them some privacy but not before Arizona hugged and kissed Sofia before she ran off to jump into Callie's arms.
Barbara and Daniel had just dropped them off and said their goodbyes. Callie had waited until they left to come down since she wasn't sure what their reception to her would be. She knew she would go and talk to them soon but first she needed to get some other stuff straight, including talking to her little girl.
"I got here last night mija," Callie replied as she wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Can you come out back and talk with me a little?"
"You're not here to take me back to New York are you?" Sofia questioned quietly from wrapped in her mother's arms.
"No, mija, I'm definitely not," Callie replied soothingly. "Come on and I'll explain why I'm here."
Callie lead her little girl out the back door and down into the yard to sit on a bench by the swings they had out there.
"Mija, I've decided that I want to move back here to Seattle."
"For real?" Sofia questioned softly.
"For real," Callie smiled as she hugged Sofia to her side a little tighter. "I packed our things and sent them back here before I caught a plane home yesterday. We don't ever have to go back there."
"Where is Penny, Mami? Did she come too?"
"No mija, she didn't. Penny and I decided that we aren't going to be together anymore because we want different things in life baby. She wanted to stay in New York and I wanted to come back to Seattle. We weren't happy together anymore. You know that it is important to always be honest. That includes being honest with yourself and about what you want. I want you to be happy and I know that you are happy here and I will be happy here too."
"I tried to be happy in New York for you Mami, to be a good man in a storm like Grandpa says, but I really, really missed Momma and that made me sad. I missed everybody here too."
"I know baby and I'm so sorry for taking you so far away and I'm extremely grateful that your Momma did everything she could to see you as much as she could and talk to you everyday on the phone or the iPad. Now, that I'm back for good, I'm going to stay here in this house after everyone moves into the new house, okay?"
"Do I have to stay here or am I going to move into the new house with Momma?"
"You are going to move into the new house and spend the summer with your Momma and we can see each other whenever we want. Then we will sit down as a family and talk about what to do after summer's over. If you want to stay a little longer that's fine, but if you want to go back to spending a week with me and then a week with Momma that will be fine too. But mija, you can see either of us whenever you want to and I promise to never take you so far away from Momma again."
"Okay, Mami. I really want to stay with Momma, Aunt Mer', and my brother and sisters at the new house for awhile. You should see it Mami. I have a big room next to Zola's and we'll share a bathroom. Bailey and Ellis have rooms across from us and they share a bathroom too. Plus, Momma and Aunt Mer' built us a playroom that we can study in too. Its gots each of us a desk and we get a sofa with our own TV for video games. It's awesome and its gots a little house in a fence for Momma's chickens in the back yard. We get to help pick out the chickens and Aunt Mer' said we can name them if we want to."
"That's great mija and you will have to show me around after you move in." Callie smiled down at her little girl as she saw the excitement on her face. She just hugged her tighter and knew this decision to move back home was the right thing. She waited a few minutes before starting back up the conversation.
"Baby, can you tell me why you didn't say anything about Momma and Aunt Mer' getting married?"
"Are you mad I didn't tell you Mami?" Sofia questioned softly as she hung her head slightly.
Callie placed her hand under her chin and lifted her little girl's head until she was looking into her deep brown eyes. "No mija, I'm not mad at you for anything. I swear. I'm just curious if I have done something that made you feel like you couldn't come talk to me. Because you can always come talk to me or your Momma about how you are feeling about things okay?"
"Momma said the same thing and I promise to talk to you both if I feel sad or upset about stuff. I thought you was sad a little in New York and Penny seemed to get upset when I talked about Momma and I didn't want her to make you cry anymore. I heard her a few times say it was hard with me there all the time but Momma explained that sometimes grownups say things they don't mean when they are tired or upset and none of that was my fault. I didn't want to make you sadder by telling you how happy Momma was. Aunt Mer' asked me if it was okay to marry Momma and I said it was good because she made Momma really, really happy after she had been sad for so long. Now, I'm a big sister to Bailey and Ellis like Zola and we have responsibilities to each other."
Callie was floored by the fact that even thousands of miles away Arizona was always looking out for Sofia by explaining that none of her crap was her baby's fault. She was only starting to grasp the amount of hurt she had caused Sofia and Arizona over the past year. She had a lot of making up to do and marveled at how good Sofia's grasp on her and Arizona's emotions actually was. She would have to thank Arizona for everything she has done over the past year and while the sight of them together still hurt she knew that any chance she had with Arizona as anything other than a co-parent and friend was truly gone if even Sofia could see exactly how happy Meredith made Arizona.
"I promise I'm not mad baby girl and none of the things you might have heard between me and Penny was your fault. Penny and I just didn't make each other happy and it had nothing to do with you. I am going to fix everything here and then we can all be happy, okay? Do you have any questions?"
"Can we go inside and see what everyone is doing?"
"Sure baby let's go," Callie said as she stood up and took Sofia's hand as the little girl led her back inside.
As soon as they came into the living room, Sofia took off to help with the giant fort that was being constructed with pillows and blankets big enough to fit the kids and the adults if they wanted to enter. Callie watched the scene for a minute as Arizona and Meredith laughed and playfully nudged one another as they helped the kids. She could clearly see what Sofia meant when she said that her Momma was really, really happy. Arizona had her magical dimpled smile on in full force as she interacted with her family. While it hurt her to see and she felt the loss that she could have had this with Arizona and walked away from it, she couldn't even think about trying to mess this up for them. They deserved it and she would work her ass off to deserve their friendship and fix the mess she made of her life. And just maybe she could find happiness like this again.
Callie was distracted from her thoughts when Meredith spoke, "Get over here and help. Nobody gets out of family fort time without a good reason."
"I didn't want to intrude," Callie said quietly as she approached the other two women.
"You may not think so Callie but we are still family. We have a wonderful daughter and she will always connect us. How you choose to fit in, is up to you. If you can accept all of this, we will have no problems and can work on creating a friendship but if it's too much right now I understand," Arizona said before stepping around the back of the structure to help Bailey with a heavy blanket.
"She's right you know," Meredith said as she stepped over to Callie to get her help with constructing a corner of the fort. "We've always been friends and now because of Sofia we are family. I love her and Sofia and want what is best for them and I know that is for us all to get along. If you don't hit on my wife, we'll be good. I can see it hurts you to see us together right now. I may dial it back in front of you some but I'm not going to treat her any different than I have since we got together and I won't apologize for showing what she means to me in front of anyone."
"It does hurt but I am dealing with it. Meredith, I really want to fix this mess and while it's been a shock for me I know I will be okay. Just, next time I start to act like an ass or make life changing impulsive decisions be sure you point it out before I screw up like this again. I have missed you and everyone here. She loved me enough to let me go and I will do the same thing for her."
"Good, enough heavy talk let's help our kids finish building this awesome fort."
Callie just shook her head and laughed because she just noticed that even Arizona's vocabulary was rubbing off on her once twisted friend.
Callie was nervous as she approached the front of the hospital. While waiting on Sofia to get back from her grandparents so she could talk to her, Bailey was one of the first calls she had made. Callie just said that she was in town and needed to speak with her about somethings and Bailey had scheduled her in for a few days later. Callie knew that would give her time to find a hotel and get settled until she could move back into Meredith's empty house once everyone was moved.
She was hoping this conversation went better than the one she had with her dad. When she decided to go to New York, to say he was disappointed in her was an understatement. He never agreed with her taking Sofia across the country to chase resident tail as he saw it. He supported her need to move forward in life but didn't think she was doing it right by moving to New York, splitting up her family, and walking away from a very successful career she had built in Seattle.
So when she explained she had moved back to Seattle and had left Penny he was relieved and expressed his approval, until she had mentioned that she had hoped to reconcile things with Arizona before she had found out she was married again. She was shocked that he had known this information for a while now. Apparently, he and Arizona still talk once a month at least and he also talks to her parents still. He told her to grow up and accept she had made mistakes and to get to fixing those mistakes but to not mess with Arizona's happiness.
She was stunned to say the least and so she was really hoping this meeting with Bailey went better than that phone call had. She knew that Arizona and Meredith were both back to work today after having the last few days off and was curious to see how the hospital had taken to them as a couple even if she secretly hoped to not witness them together while she was here today.
Callie had made it to Miranda's office without running into anyone important. She had noticed a few people do a double take or turn to whomever they were with and start whispering as she passed them but none of her friends had seen her yet. She was still nervous as she knocked but she hoped for the best anyways.
"Come in," Callie heard Miranda call out. She pushed the door open and entered quickly.
"Don't just stand there Torres move your butt over here and sit down," Miranda barked as she noticed Callie just standing there nervously. After Callie sat across from her she asked, "Well, to what do I owe the honor of a visit when I haven't heard from you in a year. Not a phone call, not a text, not an email, well, not one from you personally since I do receive them from your lawyer on occasion."
"I came home," Callie answered simply as she looked over at her friend. "I realized what a mess of things I've made and I want to fix them. I'd like a job and access to my labs."
"Just like that," Miranda said with a huff. "You expect to waltz in here and get your job back without a problem, hun? Well, I filled your position when you up and left to chase Blake across the dang country. Dr. Freeland has been an excellent fit around here and does excellent work."
"I'm not asking for my old job of Chief, Miranda. I am asking for a job as an attending Ortho surgeon. You know I'm still one of the best if not the best. I want to focus on getting my life back on track and starting up my cartilage and prosthetic projects again. I want to see if I can get Amelia to work on the Neuro side of things with me. I don't need to add a Chief position to my plate right now since I have a lot to do personally and hopefully start rebuilding burnt bridges. I'm sorry I bailed and didn't keep in touch but I was ashamed, truthfully, of my actions even if I didn't realize until recently what the hell I gave up here."
Bailey just watched Callie for a moment and let her sweat it out. She had already spoken with Drs. Robbins-Grey and knew they were okay with her giving Callie a job back at the hospital. They told her some of what was going on and while she didn't pry she could still see a little tension in Meredith where Callie was concerned. So she needed to be clear on a few things now to avoid incidents later.
"Okay, Torres," Miranda said as she looked at Callie sternly. "You can start back to work as an attending and have the access back to your labs but you'll have to go before the board for funding before anything official. Now, don't make me regret this decision. I don't want you starting trouble."
"Miranda, I know about Arizona and Meredith and while it hurts, I'm happy for them. I don't plan to cause trouble for either of them, especially, since we have Sofia to consider and she will be living with them for awhile. I admit to you I had hoped I could make things right between Arizona and I so I could get her back but I see any chance of that has long past," Callie said sincerely.
Miranda has known her long enough to see that she truly believed what she was saying but she also knew Callie was a person prone to action and acted impulsively on her feelings without thought sometimes. She would have to keep her eyes open and hope for the best.
"Well, get out of here. I'm a busy woman you know. I'll have HR get you back in the system and have your keys and badges ready to go first thing Monday," Miranda said before turning her attention back the files on her desk.
Callie stood up and headed for the door but right before she left she paused at the open door and said, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry and I will work to show you and everyone else that I've learned from my mistakes. I've lost something that I'm not sure I can ever get over but I will move on and try to find peace with it. Hopefully, I'll eventually find a happiness like she has."
After the door closed, Miranda looked at it and softly said, "I wish you luck my friend because not everyone is going to be as nice and understanding."
Unfortunately, Callie would learn that as soon as she rounded the corner after leaving the Chief's office.