A/N: I'm ending this one, I hope you've enjoyed it. I'm going to lay off the long stories for a month, while I'm doing NaNoWriMo and working on my actual fiction. And I'm about to be laid off for winter, so I need to figure out where to work next.
The next day, they are awakened by a phone call from Rob and Sara inviting them to dinner.
Addison declines, but Sara persuades her to let them explain and apologize for not talking with her directly about the clinic.
Hanging up the phone, Addison turns to the blonde. "I need some time to think, but I don't want to not be with you while you're here. Could we just maybe go for a drive down the coast for lunch?" She asks.
"Okay," Arizona replies relieved that they will be together. And actually, they both need some time to think after their conversation last night.
Climbing into the passenger seat of the vintage Porsche convertible, Arizona can't help but smile at the redhead, she loves driving down the coast in this car.
As she backs out of the garage, Addison takes a moment to notice the blonde. She's stunningly beautiful and it takes her breath away, she can't help but slip the car in neutral and lean over and kiss her. "You look amazing in this car." She says breathlessly.
"A-Addison," she stammers at the unexpected attention, before reaching up and caressing her jaw and returning the kiss.
Pulling away slowly, Addison slips the car back into gear and pulls out of her driveway. Her lips still tingling from the kiss, she steals a glance at the blonde and takes a deep breath. Fuck, it hits her all at once, I am going to goddamn Africa, she decides.
The stress of thinking of everything she'll need to do in order to go to Africa, makes Addison drive a bit aggressively down the coastal highway. Arizona knows that she's frustrated and needs to let off some steam, but she's made a couple of risky moves, finally she reaches over and covers her hand on the shifter.
Addison looks down and then over to Arizona, who looks at her concerned. Addison downshifts and at the next vista, she pulls over.
"I'm sorry." She says turning the car off. "I'm stressing out about everything, if I go to Africa, there's a lot that I'll need to do to prepare for it." She explains.
"Addison, I know there is, but we have a year to prepare." Arizona reminds her. "So you're thinking of going?"
"I have to go to Africa to be with you. It's not fair but if that's what I have to do to be with you then I'll do it." She replies snapping at the blonde.
"You don't have to go to Africa to be with me. And I'm only going to be in Africa for two years." Arizona reminds her.
"Arizona, you're not getting it. I'm 38 years old, in two years, I'll be 40. I just didn't picture myself at 40 with a girlfriend in Africa. I thought that I'd have a family by now, that I'd be settled into a life and happy. And I almost am, but now everything is changing and I'm tired. I just want a normal happy life, is that too much to ask?" Addison asks.
"It's not. I'm sorry." Arizona replies tearfully.
They stop at beachside restaurant and eat silently, Addison takes comfort in the sound of the waves and leans back in her chair and closes her eyes. Arizona needs to move, so she takes off her shoes and walks along the beach, her feet freezing in the cool surf.
Addison opens her eyes and looks around for the blonde, before spotting her walking along the beach alone. Sighing, she pays the check and heads down to get her. "We should probably head back," Addison says from behind her.
Nodding Arizona turns around and begins walking towards her. Addison waits for her and takes her hand and slowly she wraps an arm around her and they walk back to the car. As they climb into the car, Addison realizes that Arizona is crying, "Honey, we'll figure it out." She promises.
"How?" Arizona asks softly.
"We just do." Addison replies, "It's too important not to."
Addison drives more carefully on the way home, instead of the anger she felt on the drive out, she's just sad on the drive home. As she pulls into the garage she takes her phone out of her purse.
"What are you doing?" Arizona asks.
"I'm canceling dinner with Sara and Rob," she replies. "I don't think either of us is up for it."
"Don't. I think it might help," she explains.
"Help? I don't see how it could help?" Addison questions.
"We need a break from this Addie," Arizona replies softly, reaching out to caress her jaw and cup her chin. "Maybe dinner will help us get some perspective."
"Oh god, come in and have a drink." Rob says when he opens the door.
"What does that mean?" Addison asks suspiciously.
"It means, you both look like you can use a drink." He says escorting them into the other room where Sarah is sitting on the couch with the baby.
"You look fantastic!" Addison says sitting down next to Sara before gushing over the little girl.
"Thank you so much Addison and you too Arizona," Sara replies as the two women sit on either side of her and vie for her daughter's attention.
"I hope you don't mind, but tonight we are having a traditional Zimbabwe dinner." Rob informs them.
"Now I know that Arizona has eaten this type of food before, what about you Addison?" Sara asks.
"Wait, you've eaten food from Zimbabwe?" Addison turns to ask the blonde.
"I have, my father was in the military and was stationed in Africa for a short time. We were able to visit him there one summer for three months, we traveled all over Africa." She replies.
"How did I not know this?" Addison asks.
"I guess it never came up." Arizona says shrugging her shoulders and then turning to Rob and Sara she begins talking in her limited Shona dialect, and asks them if they are ready to talk to Addison about the clinic. The both nod yes.
"Wait, you speak the language too?" Addison asks stunned.
"Just a little bit of a few of the dialects. I volunteered at an immigrant relief clinic in Baltimore to help me keep up with it. Unfortunately there aren't as many here in Seattle for me to practice with." Arizona explains. "But Rob has been nice enough to let me practice with him the last few months." She explains.
"Addison, when we found out that Arizona won that grant to build a clinic in Malawi, we contacted her about helping us build a clinic in Zimbabwe and we had planned to ask you to help. Our plans were out of sync when they presented Arizona the Award at the Harper-Avery Banquet, as we were not ready to make any announcements at that time." Rob explains.
"Okay, but how do you go from her helping you plan a clinic in Zimbabwe to me running it, without talking with me about it?" Addison asks.
"That was my fault." Arizona replies. "I was lining out my plan and then began lining out both clinics together. I wanted to be able to work on both of them when I was over there. It's a 20 hour plane ride, so it's not like anyone is going back and forth monthly." She explains.
They continue to discuss everything and Addison has to admit, she's actually getting excited about the projects. The impact to the community will be enormous and they have a chance to almost eradicate or at the least greatly decrease the impact of a debilitating disease.
How are you feeling about everything now?" Arizona asks as they sit in front of a fire drinking scotch. Addison's long legs are stretched out on the side of the coffee table and Arizona stretched out along side of her.
"I want to go to Africa. And I'm just going to point out that those are not words that I ever thought would come out of my mouth." She replies taking a sip of her scotch.
"You're going to be awesome. Wait until you see the plans for the clinics." Arizona replies excited about it again.
"I need to talk to Alan, my business manager, but I have a few ideas of how to keep my practice going for the next two years without me." She informs her.
"What? How?" Arizona asks surprised.
"I don't have the details worked out yet, so You're going to have to wait." She says smiling at her.
"Okay, I deserved that." Arizona says laughing and taking a sip of her drink.
Setting her drink down on the coffee table, then taking Arizona's and setting it down, Addison turns to her and says, "Maybe we should consummate our deal?"
"I like that idea." Arizona says kissing her. Addison reaches around her and pulls her closer to deepen the kiss.