Callie's POV

I had just finished casting a seven year old's leg and was heading to drop off the chart when I spotted Arizona leaning against the nurse's station. A brightly colored Red Vine hung from her mouth as she causally filled in some paper work. I couldn't help but grin at the adorable sight. It'd been a few weeks since we talked and decided to start over and be friends. It was going well. An onlooker would never know that we had spent the last five years apart or that there's anything but friendship to our relationship. I hadn't seen her in a few days, and was surprisingly eager to spend some time with her.

As I came up behind her, I tapped her right shoulder, then quickly moved beside her on her left.

"Hey, Calliope." Arizona greeted without even looking up.

Flashing her a pout, I leaned onto the counter next to her, "Aw, you didn't even look."

Arizona smirked and glanced at me, "Callie, I work with kids, you think I can't see that one coming a mile away?"

I grinned good naturedly, "Ok, fine. But, riddle me this, Kid Whisperer, does the hospital pay you to stand around eating candy and playing Sudoku?"

Arizona's dimples popped as she grinned and bit off part of the Red Vine, "Yeah, they do. Isn't the world grand? And, it's not Sudoku, it's a crossword." Arizona pointed her candy at me with a mock glare.

Without hesitation, I snatched the Red Vine from her hand and took a huge bite. I licked my lips, "Oh, these are good…But, Sudoku's better than crosswords." I smirked as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"You're dead wrong, Torres." With a cute, harsh glare she slowly and purposefully pulled another cherry rope from her pocket and tucked it in her cheek.

I chuckled, "Whatever you say…I see that you're swamped with work, but you got some time for lunch?" I miraculously had some spare time and intended to take full advantage.

"Oh, yes!" She folded her crossword, "But, you're buyin'"

We turned toward the elevator, "Wait, why am I buying?"

"Because I'm cuter than you." Arizona replied nonchalantly.

"Two things wrong with that statement. One, no you're not. Two, what does that have to do with lunch?" I punched the down button on the elevator and raised an eyebrow at Arizona. She grinned and opened her mouth to answer, but got cut off by my beeping pager. Pulling it from my waistband, I read the message, groaning, "Well, Helen, it looks like you'll be buying your own lunch. I'm being summoned."

Her brows knit together, "Helen?"

I waved my hand, supplying, "Of Troy."

Arizona nodded, "Ah." Her lips pursed to her signature pout, "Darn. Besides getting a free meal, I was looking forward to hanging out with an adult."

As I backed toward the stairwell, I smiled and held a hand over my heart, "Aw, you missed me."

Arizona held her thumb and forefinger an inch apart, scrunching her nose, "Just this much or so."

I winked and opened the door to the stairs, "Ditto."

When I reached the ER, I glanced around, searching for a resident, "Dr. Grey, I was paged?"

The young surgeon looked up, "Yeah, bed 3. I could have done it, but she's insisting on seeing an Attending."

I rolled my eyes and took the clipboard, "Ok."

Pulling back the curtain, I smiled warmly at the older woman sitting on the bed. "Good afternoon, Mrs…" I started to look for her name, but she cut me off.

"Oh, Barbara is fine, dear. You're much too charming to have to call me by my full name." The woman smiled widely.

I grinned as I pulled up a stool next to her, "How do you know I'm charming? You just met me."

The woman shrugged, "I just know. Plus, you're beautiful."

I gently cradled the arm she was favoring, "And, that equals charming?"

Barbara thought about it, "No, I suppose not. But, I'm all about appreciating good things in life. Beautiful people are good things. Charming people are good things. Therefore, I appreciate that the doctor helping me today is both beautiful and charming…this is a strange conversation…" She trailed off as she furrowed her brows.

I let out an uncharacteristic giggle, "It's great conversation. So, how did you hurt your arm?"

She sighed, "I volunteer at a children's shelter. Today, I let a gorgeous, six year girl talk me into skateboarding…turns out I'm not so good on wheels." Barbara chuckled and shifted her position.

"Hey, I'm with you. My feet need to be firmly on the ground at all times." I continued to examine her elbow and wrist.

"Exactly, that's the way the good Lord made us. My daughter likes those awful shoes with wheels. I keep waiting for the day I have to sit in the hospital with my busted up little girl while she gets a full body cast or something." She sighed and shook her head.

I laughed again, "Again, I hear ya. Those shoes are dangerous…Well, I don't think it's broken, but I'm going to get you some x-rays, just to be sure." She nodded while I made notes in her chart. "So, how old's your daughter?"

"Thirty-four." When I looked up in surprise, she laughed, "I know, that's the look I give her. She's an adult for crying out loud, and a surgeon. She really should know better."

I cocked my head and frowned in confusion, "She's a surgeon?" As she nodded proudly, I grabbed her chart and looked at her name. Robbins.

"Yes, she is. She works here. Do you know Dr. Robbins?" Barbara looked at me excitedly, clearly enjoying claiming her doctor daughter.

I stared at her for a few moments, studying the woman that drank her life and kids away. She seemed totally fine. Finally finding my voice, I stuttered, "Y-yeah. I know Arizona." I swiveled in my chair and caught the attention of the nearest nurse, "Hey, Nina, will you page Dr. Robbins down here, please?" Nina nodded and hurried to the desk.

Barbara smiled wistfully, "Aw, I love hearing that. But, you don't need to call her. She doesn't need to know I'm here. She'll just worry."

"I'm not going to treat her mother and not tell her. She'd kill me." I finished my notes and looked back up at her. I couldn't help but think about who she was. She's definitely not what I was expecting when I pictured Arizona's mom. Expect, now that I knew about the connection, I could see Arizona in her.

I must have been more transparent than I thought, because after a moment, Barbara smiled softly, "You know about my past, don't you?"

I cleared my throat and lowered my eyes, "No, I- I mean, I kinda know…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

A comforting hand slid over mine, causing me to look up into her dark blue eyes that matched Arizona's. Her voice was soft and warm, "It's ok, hun. I got a past, and it wasn't pretty. But, I'm on my way back, and reconnecting with Arizona is more than I could have ever hoped for. She's worth the struggle."

A small smile crossed my face, "Yes, she is."

Barbra studied me, "You seem close to Arizona. I know that not just anyone would know about me."

I blushed a little, "Um, yeah. We're close. I-"

"Callie? I got paged that you wanted- Whoa…" Arizona's face was a cross between shock and apprehension. "Uh…wh-what are you doing here?"

I smirked, "I'm examining your mom's arm."

Arizona rolled her eyes, "I wasn't asking you, smart ass."

"Language, Zona." Barbara scolded. Her eyes twinkled, giving her reprimand an almost giddy air.

Arizona huffed, "Sorry. Are you ok, Mom?" She moved to the opposite side of the bed.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm fine. Just a sprained, maybe broken, wrist from a failed skateboard excursion. I'm doing just dandy now. I got a chance to chat with your lovely girlfriend."

I fumbled my clipboard as Arizona blushed to a shade that likely matched my reddening face, "Oh, she's not-we're not- uh, no." Arizona explained unevenly as she gestured between us.

"Yeah, not girlfriends. Just really good friends." I briefly flicked my eyes to Arizona, who shot me a warm look.

Barbara didn't seem all that put off by her mistake, "Oh, I'm sorry. With the way you two speak to and about each other, I just assumed."

"I just got here. How can you make a judgment so quickly?" Arizona asked in an amused tone as she adjusted her mom's pillow.

"She can just tell. Like how she could tell I was charming as soon as I walked over." I grinned at her, liking having the opportunity to tease her about her mother.

"Psh. See, that's proof that she has no special powers. You're not charming." Arizona scoffed as she rested her hand on her mom's shoulder.

Barbara patted her hand, "Sweets, she is charming, and you two could definitely be a couple."

I cleared my throat, "Ok, Barbara. Nurse Nina is going to take you up to Radiology, then I'll be up in a few to let you know what's going on. Do you have any questions?"

"Just one. Why aren't you and Arizona together?" Barbara asked innocently.

I dropped my face into my hands as Arizona groaned, "Mom! You have to stop that…Callie's engaged."

That statement seemed to suck the life right out of our three way banter. Barbara's smile dropped a little, "Ok, ok. I'm sorry. I'll stop. It's just you told me you were seeing someone, then I met Dr. Torres here, and I assumed you were talking about her."

My eyes snapped to Arizona's guilty looking face as she answered in a quiet voice, "No, mom, I wasn't talking about Callie."

Before anything else could be said, Nina came to take Barbara up to get her arm x-rayed. "Ok, farewell, my dears. Think of me fondly when I'm gone."

We both smiled broadly as she was wheeled away, "You'll be just fine, Mom. I'll check on you before you leave."

I stared after the older woman, slightly bewildered by the whole situation.

"You're trying to understand how that woman used to be the alcoholic that abandoned me and my brother into foster care, aren't you?" Arizona said softly, as she too watched the vivacious woman disappear.

I got up from the stool and led Arizona out of the ER, "Yeah. I mean, she's amazing. It's kind of hard to believe she was that other person." I turned to look into Arizona's face as she thought about it.

"That woman you just met is my mom. She's strong, crazy, kind, compassionate, and gleeful. The woman she became after my dad died was not my mom. She was sullen, harsh, neglectful, and depressed. She's had to work really hard, and it was no where near easy, but I think I finally have my mom back. And, it feels great. It's like a little bit of my childhood pain has been reversed and I'm rebuilding my family." Had it been anyone else standing with me, they would not have noticed the fleeting expression of sorrow cross my face at the thought of never having my mom back. But, Arizona wasn't just anyone. She reached over and gently gripped my hand, silently letting me know that she understood.

Smiling weakly at her, I cleared my throat, "So, who's this mysterious woman you've been seeing?" I couldn't deny that I felt hurt that she didn't tell me, and just a small pang of jealousy.

"I went out with Jennifer up in Derm a few times, but it's over now. It was no big deal." Arizona said as we got on the elevator to head up to Radiology.

"Oh…did you sleep with her?" It was out before I could filter it.

Arizona's voice was low and even, "That's not your business."

I gulped and tried to back track, "Friends ask about that stuff."

She shot me a stern look, "Yeah, but you weren't asking as my friend."

Folding, I muttered, "You're right, I wasn't. Forget it." We rode in silence the rest of the way.

As we stepped off, Arizona laughed, "You know, I think my mom might have a crush on you."

After promptly smacking her arm in disbelief, I added with a shrug, "Well, she did call me charming and beautiful. And, she's certainly not hard on the eyes. I could be your new mommy."

Arizona cringed and shuddered, "Ok, I know I started it, but please stop."

I chuckled, "Good call."

Just before we parted ways, me going to get Barbara's films, and her going to Barbara's room, she turned to me, "You know…my mom's right."

Confused, I asked, "About what?"

Arizona smiled knowingly and pulled out another Red Vine, "About pretty much everything. And, you owe me lunch."

As I watched her go, my heart fluttered with the insinuation that Arizona thinks I'm beautiful, charming, and that we'd make a good couple.