Chapter 10

It's the next morning, and I wake up to my phone's alarm, one I forgot I even set. I grown and grab my phone and turn off the alarm, figuring I need to start getting up and getting ready to head home. I start to get up, before realizing I have an arm draped across my stomach. I look over and see Callie still fast asleep. I smile at her as I carefully wiggle myself from underneath her arm and head to the bathroom to shower. I quickly shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed before pulling my hair back into a braid. I then grab all of my stuff and pack it, zipping my suitcase up.

I glance at the time, 7:43 A.M. I sigh, knowing I need to wake Callie and Avary up so we can eat before hitting the road. I gently nudge Callie awake, who slowly blinks her eyes open and looks up at me. "Hey sleepyhead," I say with a smile. "You need to get up and get ready so we can eat breakfast here at the hotel before we hit the road. I'll get Avary ready." Callie nods as she sits up and stretches before walking to the bathroom. I walk over to Avary's bed, gently nudging her awake. She opens her eyes and looks up at me. "You ready to get up and get ready?" I ask with a smile. "We're going home today."

"Yeah!" Avary says excitedly. I grab her clothes and help her change out of her pajamas. I brush her dark wavy hair, pulling some of it back into a ponytail and adding a bow. I put a shoe on her foot and tie up her pants leg. She clutches her bear as I pack up the rest of her clothes and belongings. Once Callie comes out of the bathroom, I take Avary to brush her teeth before packing her toothbrush and zipping up her suitcase.

Within an hour, all three of us are ready and have packed the car. We double check the room before heading to the lobby for breakfast. Once we eat, Callie carries Avary to the car while I check out. By 9:30 that morning, we are hitting the road for home.

About an hour into the road trip, after putting on the second movie for Avary on the DVD player Callie bought for her, I glance over at Callie. "So where are you from?" I ask.

"What, just because I am living with you for a few months you want my whole life story?" Callie asks jokingly. I laugh as she says, "First of all, my fill name is actually Calliope. I just go by Callie, for short. I actually grew up in Florida. I went to med school there before interning at Seattle Grace and completing my residency there. I actually became chief of ortho over there, and that's where I met Arizona, who was chief or pediatric surgery at the same hospital. I actually only have been at the hospital in Tennessee about six months, I moved shortly after Arizona's death. I miss all my friends in Seattle, but I couldn't work at the same hospital Arizona worked at anymore. So I moved." She looks over at me and says, "You've mentioned having a little sister. How old is she?"

"She's seven, so three years older than Avary," I respond. "Her name is Bri. My parents fostered her from the time she was eight days old until we adopted her when she was about a year and a half. Until Avary, I had never loved a human being more in my life than when I met her. She's the reason I'm still here."

"Here?" Callie asked concerned. "What do you mean?"

I sigh. "Almost five years ago now, we had two other foster kids along with Bri, and their names were Maya and Lavon. We got them a month after we got Bri; Lavon was just shy of 2 and Maya was a month old. She and Bri were only twenty-three days apart in age. So we essentially had a boy and two twin girls. And we were a family. Well…" my voice trails off. "The state of Florida has a big thing about keeping biological family together. I firmly believe that your family is who fits the role even if they aren't related to you. But Florida thinks that blood matters more. And Maya and Lavon had an older brother that they didn't know very well. After a huge fight between people who once were our friends over the custody of the kids, eventually, blood mattered more and they were removed from our home and the other family got to adopt them. We were supposed to adopt them, but they were taken from us. I probably wouldn't be here if we didn't have Bri." I sigh, as I feel Callie put her hand on my leg. "Sorry," I say as I swallow a lump in my throat, "I still get emotional about it."

"It's okay," Callie responds. "You have the right to be emotional over that. Regardless, but especially after what happened yesterday." I nod as Callie finds my hand and takes it. "I want you to know that I did everything I could to save Danielle. When I stopped chest compressions, it was only because I knew that there was no way we could get her back. I knew at that point that she wasn't going to make it, but I tried everything to bring her back so you could say goodbye. I just couldn't do it." I heard the emotion in her voice as I turn to look at her face and see tears trailing down it. She adds, "I couldn't even call the time of death because I knew how much she meant to you and I couldn't be the one to acknowledge that she was gone." She stops at a red light and looks over at me and I squeeze her hand. The light turns green and she faces the road to continue driving, and I gently put my head on her shoulder.

"Thank you," I say and I feel her squeeze my hand in response. We ride in silence for a little while before stopping to grab a bite for lunch. We quickly hit the road again and I put on another movie for Avary.

Callie and I talk a good chunk of the rest of the ride home. Occasionally we did jam to some music, we mostly talked about anything and everything. We talked about our families and our beliefs. We talked about our sexuality and that I did realize that she was right about me being gay. She talked about some of her accomplishments as well as my own. Though I already had a bit of a secret crush on her, getting to know Callie really expounded upon how much I liked her. She wasn't just a pretty face, even if she has one, she's an amazing person too. She became someone I wanted to be friends with at the very least, and perhaps, even something more.

We arrive at my house around 8:45 that night. I unlock the door and lead Callie, carrying a sleepy Avary, to the second of the two bedrooms in my house. As I had decorated the bedroom for Bri to sleep in when she came over, it was perfect for Avary. Callie sets her down on the bed and walks out to begin unloading the car. I take off Avary's shoe and tuck her into bed. It's long before she falls asleep, and I turn off the light and shut the door behind me before going to help Callie finish unloading the car.

Callie has everything unloaded and in the living room by the time I got Avary to sleep. "I don't know where to put anything, but it's all out of the car," Callie says with a chuckle.

I scan the suitcases and grab the handle of Avary's. "I'll put Avary's things outside her door for now. You can take your stuff to my bedroom down the hall. I can sleep on the couch until I get another bed, but you can still keep your stuff in there. I'm sorry I don't have another bedroom."

"No!" Callie says. "It's okay, I don't mind sharing the bed if you're okay with that, and if you're not, I'll sleep on the couch. I'm not kicking you out of your own bed in your own house."

I shake my head. "Well, I guess sharing it is. I'm not letting you sleep on the couch for however long."

"Thank you," Callie says smiling. "Shall we unpack?" I nod as I take Avary's stuff and put it outside her door before helping Callie take everything else into my bedroom. I clear out a section of my closet and a dresser to allow her to put her clothes and things and we slowly begin unpacking our stuff. Within a couple of hours, we're unpacked.

I glance around the clean, unpacked room. "I have never unpacked that quickly after a trip in my entire life," I say chuckling as I look at Callie. "Thank you," I say hugging her.

"Of course," Callie says hugging me back. She pulls away somewhat, still holding onto my arms as we stare at each other. Finally, she puts her hands on my cheeks and gently presses her lips against mine. She pulls away after a few seconds, clearly shocked at what she had done. Though I'm shocked, especially as this had been my first kiss ever, I can't say I didn't enjoy it. I feel my cheeks blush as Callie says, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me, I'm sor-"

I cut her off as I grab her face and press my lips against hers. She gently puts her hands on my face as she returns the kiss. I finally break away after several seconds and look back at Callie, both of us smiling. "You know," Callie begins as she tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, "I'm not a fan of patient/doctor relationships, but…"

"Technically, you're not my doctor," I say with a smirk. "You're Avary's doctor. And she's technically not legally my daughter yet."

"Well, in that case…" Callie wraps her arms around me and pulls me onto the bed on top of her, kissing me repeatedly as she rolls me onto my back. She looks at me lovingly as she says, "Besides Arizona, I have never wanted to kiss someone so badly in my life."

"And I have never wanted to kiss anyone ever until I met you," I smile back at her as I pull her into one more kiss, lasting several seconds before breaking away. Callie smiles at me as she lays down on the bed next to me as I curl up next to her, wrapping my arm around her waist. She places a soft kiss on my forehead as I reach up to kiss her cheek. She reaches over to turn off the lamp as she pulls me closer. I lay my head on her chest, feeling her breathe and hearing her heart beat. As I begin to drift off to sleep, I think to myself, This may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.