A/N: This is what you've been waiting for. I've been getting a lot of reviews saying it's not a Calzona story but it is. This isn't the end yet. And I do plan on getting them together. Not gonna discuss the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy because I don't wanna spoil it for the rest of you who hasn't seen it yet but let's just say that Callie and Arizona have major stuff to work through and I hope they'll make it.
Callie woke up to the screams. Not the in pain kind of screams, but the angry screams. And screams of having a heart broken. She rubbed her eyes and leaned over to check the clock. It was 9 am. The pregnancy made her very tired and she slept even more than she used to. She wasn't sure if she should get up or stay in bed until the fighting would stop.
"How could you do this?" Arizona yelled angrily at her girlfriend. She came home from a long night of saving the tiny humans and didn't have the patience for this. "And now that we are expecting a baby."
Julie sighed. "Look it wouldn't be forever. It's just for a couple of years. And it's a great deal. It's Africa. I'd get to write a book about the continent and maybe even a journal. That's 2 books. Two books Arizona! And they would pay crazy money for this."
"Why does it all have to be about money?" Arizona asked. "I'm a surgeon. I make plenty. And you're doing fine too with writing books here, in America." She didn't understand. They were only a couple of months away from the baby's due date. "Do you know how much of the baby's life you would miss if you left?"
"I know. I thought about it okay. This decision wasn't made lightly. I know what sacrifices I'm making," Julie argued back.
Arizona huffed. "Sacrifices? Like leaving your girlfriend and an unborn child behind for three years? The baby won't know you in 3 years. You'd be a stranger."
Julie made a step back. "You would't do that," she whispered. Arizona would make sure her baby knew her.
"I wouldn't," Arizona said, shaking her head just the slightest. "You would do that to yourself. Because no matter how many stories I tell them about you they wouldn't know. And I'd basically be a single mother." A year ago she wasn't even completely sure she was ready to have a child but now she was just a few months away from having one.
Julie sat down on the couch, Arizona repeated her motion but on the opposite side. "I don't want to not be here but Arizona, I can't stay."
"Why? Why now? I asked you millions of times before Callie even moved in and you seemed happy, excited. And now it's something you suddenly don't want anymore?" Arizona was hurt and confused. Through the night she went from having everything to suddenly feeling lost. Did she push Julie too hard?
Julie sighed. "It's not that I don't want it. But I've always thought I'd see the world before settling down. And I've been to Europe, I took a few trips to Asia. We even went to Australia together. But I've never seen Africa."
"Is Africa worth losing your family?" Arizona asked quietly.
Julie bit her lip and hung her head in shame. "I would still come back. I would always come back."
Arizona shook her head. "Get out of my house."
"What?" It was the calmness in Arizona's voice that scared Julie. It was so serious and different from the usual perkiness.
Arizona cleared her throat. "You heard me. I said get. Out." She didn't want to yell in case Callie has already woken up. And she felt incredibly guilty. That woman has lost her child before in a car accident and now she was giving the other one to a couple that Arizona wasn't even sure it was one. Her and Julie had problems, she was aware of that. But Arizona never knew they would come this far.
Julie chuckled. "You're kidding right?"
"Am I laughing?"
Julie stood up, shaking her head. "Fine, whatever. But we're not done discussing this."
Now it was Arizona's time to laugh. "We have nothing else to discuss. You've already decided. You're going to Africa. And I'm staying here in Seattle. I'm not going anywhere."
Julie had so much left to say but for now she has decided to give both of them some time to cool down. She grabbed her car keys and left the house. Anger got the best of her so she slammed the front door.
Arizona leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees while she supported her face with her hands. She could be a single mother right? A lot of other people could do it. She would simply cut down the hours in the OR and not be on call during every weekend.
Callie heard the door slam and then silence. She has heard Arizona and Julie having an argument before but it has never been like this. So much screaming and then one leaving the house and slamming the door behind. Callie waited for another 10, maybe 15 minutes before getting out of the bed. Her growing belly has slowed her down and the walk down the stairs didn't go as smoothly anymore. "Morning," she said.
Arizona's face turned in the direction of Callie's voice. She forced a smile on her lips. "Hey. You slept okay?"
"It wasn't too bad," Callie said. She sat down on the couch next to Arizona and they stared at the blank screen of the television for a while.
"You heard didn't you?" Arizona asked through a sigh.
Callie only nodded. If Arizona wanted to talk about it she was willing to listen but she didn't want to push it.
"Is there something wrong with me? Is it wrong of me that I want her to stay here? I know she always wanted to see the world. I've been listening to it for almost a decade now. Did I rush into having a baby?" Arizona knew Callie didn't have the answers for all the questions but she couldn't help herself.
"Honestly," Callie said, pausing for a second. "That is something only you and Julie know. And there's never a right time for a baby especially with careers like yours. But if she doesn't want to stay maybe you should let her go. If she stays she would eventually resent you for this."
Arizona raised her legs on the couch and pressed her knees against her chest. "I don't know if I can do this on my own. Having a baby is hard. They cry and never sleep and they get sick and hurt and it's bad enough when they are two parents. And now my baby's gonna have a single lesbian mother. Fucking great."
Callie was taken back a little. She hadn't heard Arizona curse before. And she also didn't really know how to properly respond to that. "If you and Julie do break up, which I doubt, you wouldn't be single for ever. You're beautiful."
"I would have a newborn. I wouldn't have time to go to a bar and meet other women." Arizona looked at Callie, her blue eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry for making you go through all of this."
"Through what?" Callie asked confused.
"You know. Being pregnant and then giving a child to someone other couple that you practically just heard break up."
Arizona started shaking with tears flowing down her cheeks. Callie scooted closer and hugged her. The baby chose that moment to kick Callie heard making her wince. Arizona pulled from the hug to look at her wincing. "It's the baby playing soccer with my bladder," Callie explained.
Arizona slid her hand over Callie's baby bump. She smiled sadly when she felt a strong kick against her hand. She rubbed the spot to get another kick.
"See even the baby is saying it's going to be okay," Callie said. "And now I have to use the bathroom because they kicked me directly in my bladder."
Arizona smiled. "Thank you," she said shyly. She wasn't used to crying in front of other people. "And I'll start breakfast. Any wishes?"
"Pancakes?" Callie asked sweetly. She was never really a fan of pancakes before but since she got pregnant she couldn't start her day without pancakes for breakfast.
"You got it," Arizona replied, already opening the fridge to take the milk and eggs out of it. Callie took a little longer so she assumed she was getting dressed too. Arizona took out the special pancake griddle she very rarely used and poured the batter in it.
Callie returned dressed for the day and poured some orange juice in a glass. She craved coffee but it helped that Arizona drank juice or tea in the morning too so she didn't have to smell the wonderful scent of coffee and then not be able to drink it. Arizona put a plate of smiley shaped pancakes in front of her. "Oh my god how did you make these?"
Arizona lifted the griddle. "This one," she said and laughed.
"Why do you have it though?"
"When one of my longterm patients have a birthday or if a complicated bowel surgery turns okay I like to make them special breakfast if they can handle food. It makes them smile," Arizona explained. "I got it from my mom when I figured my specialty will be peds. I also have one with bug and butterfly shapes."
Callie laughed and took her first bite of the pancake. "This is so good," she moaned in appreciation. "You know, you're going to be a great mom. With the special shaped pancakes. Every kid would love these."
"Want some syrup with that?" Arizona asked amused.
"Please," Callie answered. She finished eating pancakes with the joy but then a glass filled with green liquid was placed in front of her. At the beginning of her pregnancy she ran to the bathroom as soon as she saw it but since that hasn't been an issue anymore Arizona forced her to drink "healthy" smoothies every morning after breakfast. "Ew what is this?"
"It's a kale and apple juice smoothie. It's really good," Arizona said enthusiastically. It usually helped with her patients when they had to swallow their medications.
Callie cringed. "If it's that good then why aren't you drinking it?"
Arizona laughed. "Because I don't need all the extra vitamins. It's good I promise."
"It has chunks," Callie whined. And Callie Torres didn't do chunks. Under the stern look from Arizona she eventually lifted the glass and forced the smoothie down her throat. She didn't breathe the entire time so she didn't have to taste it or smell it. She cringed once she set the glass down. "That was disgusting."
Arizona shrugged unapologetically. "It's good for you and the baby." Arizona rubbed her forehead as she checked the clock on the wall. She hasn't slept yet and she was exhausted.
"Weren't you on the night shift?" Callie asked almost as she could read her mind. Arizona nodded. "Then you should go to sleep. At least for a couple of hours."
"And what will you do?" Arizona asked. She didn't like just leaving Callie alone even if it was just to go to another room.
Callie shrugged. "Watch some TV. Eat some ice cream without having you glaring at me," she teased. She loved ice cream but Arizona always made her feel guilty when she was staring at her. Apparently ice cream isn't the most nutrisios game for a pregnant woman.
"Fine, but only because I'm really tired," Arizona said. She ran up the stairs, took a quick shower and climbed in bed. She's been awake for 24 hours now and her eyes closed the second her head hit the pillows. She didn't know how long she slept but when she woke up she heard voices talking downstairs. One was Callie's. And the other was Julie's. She groaned in her pillow and pretended to sleep when she heard footsteps up the stairs. She knew it was Julie.
"Arizona," Julie said pushing the door open and then closing it behind. "Are you ready to talk now?" Arizona shut her eyes and breathled evenly so that her plan would work. Julie knew her better though. "I know you're not asleep."
Arizona groaned and turned around. "What? What else could we possibly talk about? Everything's been said anymore."
"It hasn't been," Julie said.
"Then what else do you want?" Arizona snapped.
Julie sighed. This was harder than she thought it would be. "Come with me. You've always wanted to go to Africa and help the kids there. We can go together."
"Did you forget the part where we're about to have a newborn child?" Arizona did want to go to Africa. Or she used to. She hasn't thought about it since she got a permanent job in Seattle.
Julie took a deep breath. The next thing she said would either make them or break them. "Let's not have this baby. Callie would understand. We would put them for adoption and they would have a lovely home in no time. And we can go to Africa and when we come back we can adopt. Or maybe I can carry a child."
Arizona took a deep breath to calm herself. If she wasn't furious with Julie before she sure as hell was now. And she didn't want to have another screaming match with Callie around. "I don't know about you but I can not not have this baby. That IS my baby. And there is no way in hell that I'm putting Callie through this and then we simply put baby for adoption because what? We changed our minds? You decided you didn't want to settle down just yet? I'm not doing this Julie. You can go to Africa and return and have a child but not with me. This is my home. And that's my baby. So no I am not not having this baby." Arizona somehow managed to stay calm but in that moment she was glad that her and Julie weren't having this fight in front of a child.
"So what does that mean?"
"That we're over."
Julie's eyes widened. "What?"
"I can't keep doing this. And we both know it's not just Africa. It's always going to be something. And if you don't go to Africa in 10 years you will hate me for this decision. And I don't want to live like this. So we're over."
"What are you going to do?"
"I am going to stay in Seattle and be a mother. And I'm going to be damn good at it," Arizona said confidently. This was what she wanted.
Julie's shoulders slumped. "So you're kicking me out?"
"You chose to leave." Arizona kept her answers short. Suddenly it all hit her and she wasn't sure how long she could stand in front of Julie and not break down in front of her.
"I'll come grab the rest of my things some other day when you're working. To make it less awkward," Julie said. A part of her was relieved. She wasn't ready for this. She thought she was but it seemed like love fooled her.
Arizona nodded. "Whatever." She watched Julie grab her purse and threw a few clothes in it. When she got the door she opened her mouth. "Julie," Arizona said softly.
Julie turned around and looked at Arizona almost hopeful that she would take her words back.
"I hope Africa is worth losing this."
