Title: Another Statement of Causality (21/?)
Author: Maggiemerc
Rating: M
Status: In Progress
Pairings: Callie/Arizona, Cristina/Owen, Callie/Owen, Teddy/Owen, Amelia/Lexie. Basically if they look at each other something is going on. Except for Meredith and Cristina. Theirs is a deep and platonic love.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. It is a tragedy I suffer through daily.
Summary: If Callie is meant to be with Arizona and Cristina is meant to be with Owen but Callie and Owen are married with kids then something must change. The status quo must shift. A continuation of 8x13 "If/Then."
Author's Note: Stuff happens. I needed some happy fun times to make it through the next week because HOLY CRAP THE PROMO FOR THE FINALE.
Chapter 21
"Come here kiddo," Callie said with a grunt. She stooped down and picked Allegra up swinging her around so she straddled Callie's hip. The boys were already strapped into their stroller and ready to go.
"Are we seeing Daddy tonight?"
She pushed the stroller forward and shook her head. "Sorry Allegra, Daddy's staying with his mom tonight. But I have a friend coming over."
"But I want Daddy!"
"I know you do."
She gave Allegra a little bump to soothe her but that just made her crankier. Gavin twisted in his seat to see what was making Allegra irritated then made a grunting noise himself. Because Gavin was currently stuck on either grunts or giggles. He refused to make any other noises.
"Use your words," she said.
He refused and Callie rolled her eyes. She'd need to have a sit down with Owen and the daycare staff to sort that one out.
The elevator opened, and there he was, looking hang dog as always.
"Daddy!" Allegra immediately reached out to be held by her father and he caught her up with one hand while holding the elevator open with the other.
"Thanks."
He nodded.
Allegra was quickly becoming delighted with the idea that she'd demanded it and her father had appeared. She tugged at his shirt collar and asked, "Can you come over tonight?"
No.
He looked over at Callie and seemed to read her mind, "I uh…I've got some things I have to do."
"Pleeeeeeease."
Another glance back at Callie, only this time they were commiserating. Allegra had been begging a lot since they'd split up. Using the split to play one parent against the other and often times getting exactly what she desired.
"I'm sorry."
The finality of his apology turned Allegra sullen and she crossed her arms and ducked her head into his neck where she started mumbling about something.
The elevator opened and they all stepped out—almost like a family. Owen, rather than pass off his surly daughter again, walked with them to Callie's car.
"I met your old Army buddy," she said. Just because it was true, and because the silence between them was vaguely uncomfortable, and she was actually maybe a little curious about the women.
"Yeah, she just showed up out of nowhere yesterday."
"You didn't know she was coming?"
He shook his head. "She didn't tell me a word. I mean, it's nice. I've missed her. But it's still—"
It was clear he really didn't know what to feel about her. Especially as he had some nameless nurse or doctor at the hospital he also had feelings about.
They paused and loaded the kids in the car. Owen was radically different with the kids than with Callie. Allegra tried to tell him about her day and he listened and smiled and nodded and poked her in the stomach just to watch her giggle, and the boys, though still perhaps too young to get what was happening with their family, delighted in having their father in close proximity. Callie leaned against the car door and watched them.
But soon enough Allegra began her plaintive cries for Owen to come to dinner again and he reluctantly got out of the car. "I should probably—" he motioned to his own truck, the same one he'd been driving since they met.
"You should come over. Tonight."
He looked down at the children and back up at her. "Are you sure. I don't want to—"
"I'm sure. Come over. Have dinner. It'll be fun. Arizona's coming over as well. It can be my first dinner party as a single mom."
That made Owen shake his head, "I don't think it counts if your guests are your kids, your ex and your new girlfriend."
####
Usually when Cristina got a page she assumed it was because someone was dying and only her skilled hands could save them. When that page was to one of the research labs she wasn't quite as sure. Someone could be dying in a research lab, and they could require her hands, but shouldn't they move the dying person to the ER or something first?
When she opened the door and stepped into the well lit space she had to admit that what she found there wasn't what she'd expected. Teddy Altman, the new wonder doc and Hahn's next step in her bid to destroy Callie's career, was smiling like an idiot and bouncing up in down with excitement.
"You must be Yang. Hahn told me you were the resident to watch."
What Hahn had meant was, "She's the resident we want to stay on after boards so kiss her ass."
"Dr. Altman. I've read about your work at Columbia."
"Read about," she said, "but how would you like to be involved?"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm moving my work here to Seattle Grace and I need a whole new staff. With your background in biochemistry I think you'd be a perfect fit."
"Wouldn't you prefer someone who is absolutely staying on to work on your project. I may only be here another few months."
"I have people like that Cristina. But I'd still love your input."
She looked around the lab. When Callie had been chief cardiothoracic surgeon she'd made a lot of big breakthroughs. But her breakthroughs were limited to the OR. They weren't the sort of things other doctors could put their names on. None of her residents could ever have co-written a paper with her on her groundbreaking artificial lung work.
This would give her just the kind of research she'd need going into boards. And it would make her more desirable to other surgical programs. Never mind that this was Owen's—whatever and she'd come and neatly put herself between Cristina and Owen.
"I don't know why I said yes," she said to Meredith over dinner that night.
"I don't know either. Though working with Altman is great professionally and she doesn't know that you and Owen have a thing. It's like you're a spy in the other guy's camp."
"Only the other guy probably knows how to kill people with a spoon."
"Everyone knows how to kill people with a spoon Cristina. You learn that as an intern."
"And if either of us really wanted to murder the other we'd just do a big dose of potassium chloride."
"See. You'd definitely see a woman with a giant needle coming. But, I mean, you're still an idiot for saying yes. Because she likes your guy and you like your guy and who does he like?"
She sighed and leaned on her hand, "Maybe I should just give him up. It's not like we've even slept together."
A fork dropped loudly onto a plate and Cristina looked up to find Meredith staring at her open mouthed, "Seriously? All this over a guy you're not even sleeping with?"
####
When the cab rolled up to Callie's house Arizona seriously considered telling him to keep driving. Not because of the major nerves doing things to her insides, or because she was so exhausted she could barely keep awake, but because Owen's truck was sitting in the driveway looking all normal. Like it belonged there. Like it wasn't a harbinger of doom.
But she'd said she was coming over for dinner and a Robbins did not back out of anything—even a dinner date complicated by kids and a husband her girlfriend had only just separated from.
She paid the cabby and then tried to figure out how to handle the donuts and her crutches. The door suddenly open and Callie reached in.
"Hey," she said with a quick peck to Arizona's cheek. "Saw your cab pull up." She took the box of donuts and stepped back to hold out a hand and help Arizona out.
"Yeah I had him sitting here a minute." She nodded towards Owen's truck. "Everything okay?"
"This thing with Altman appearing out of nowhere had him freaked. So I kind of invited him to dinner."
"Oh."
"I should have told you."
Yes, she should have. "No, it's fine. I can come back—"
Callie shook her head and grasped Arizona's hand, "Not a chance."
"You don't think it wouldn't be a little awkward having your ex and your girlfriend at the same dinner table?"
That stopped Callie. She looked down to where she was still holding Arizona's hand, tugging her towards the most uncomfortable meal they'd ever share, then down at the donuts, and finally back at the house.
Arizona decided to make it easy for her, "There's a sandwich place around the block. I'll go get something to eat. And if, after Owen leaves, you still want to try your hand at a date you can call me."
She started to get back in the cab and Callie leaned on the door, "But you hate sandwiches," she said.
Arizona looked up at her. She was so earnest. Concerned about Arizona having to eat bread and meat smooshed together. "Yeah, but I don't mind if it means seeing you afterwards."
Callie nodded dumbly and started to hand the donuts back.
"Keep them. I got everyone one. Just…save the strawberry one?"
####
Owen carefully plated the pasta then slung the dishtowel over his shoulder and turned to watch Callie enter. Alone.
"Where's Arizona?"
"She—something came up. With a friend. Or something. Urgent. She's going to come back over in a little bit."
Behind Owen the sauce for the pasta came to an audible boil.
"I wrecked your date didn't I?"
"I think me inviting you was the date ruiner."
"Probably didn't help."
She sighed and sat down at the table. Over their heads there was a loud thump as one sibling did something to another. Then the high pitched giggles of Allegra and…Gavin. Definitely Gavin.
"It was supposed to be our third date. We've gone on two so far and they've both ended in disaster or sleeping or both and this was going to be our third."
"Okay."
She looked up at him with eyes begging for understanding, "You know what a third date is right?"
"The one following the second?"
"The sex date."
He grinned. Their first date had been their sex date.
Reading his mind she pursed her lips. "Usually. Usually the sex date."
"I don't think a lot of sex dates happen at your home with three kids down the hall."
"Right? But what if they do? She brought donuts Owen. And she was smiling and looking adorable and sexy and—what if it turned into a sex date. And then it turned out that all these feelings I have are—are wrong. That they're just super friendly feelings. What if I get…places and they are not awesome? Or what if we get places and she's awesome and I'm—I'm a virgin Owen."
"I—"
"With women. I've never done anything with women and now there's this one woman and—"
Owen came around the table and grasped her hand before taking the seat beside her. "And women talk right? So talk to her."
"But she's been places. Amelia's just the tip of what I'm thinking is a very laaaarge iceburg of women."
"So tell her that. Tell her that."
"Instead of my ex."
"Right. The therapist and I are still hard at work on the emotion thing."
"Can you give me tips at least?"
About emotions? He tried to—oh. Oh no. "I struggle daily with the idea that you're seeing someone else Callie. And that that person is a woman is a little weird. Please don't ask me to give you sex tips."
"But you're good."
"No."
"Owen. I've got nothing. A vibrator and a shower head and a gyney rotation as a med student are the sum total of my experie—"
Owen abruptly stood up. "Nope. Not doing this. This is a…a violation of boundaries."
"I've brushed my teeth while you were naked on the toilet. What kind of boundaries are you talking about?"
"The kind I'm implementing right now. The kind that say any and all discussions of our individual sex lives are now firmly off the table."
Callie leaned on her hand, "Your therapist told you to say that didn't she."
"No. But if she'd just witnessed this conversation she would have."
Callie seemed to accept that and got up to check on the sauce. But she still seemed…fidgety. Unsure. And that wasn't something he really ever considered Callie. She was always certain. Even when she had no idea what she was doing she was certain.
"I see how she looks at you." She set the spoon down and turned to lean against the sink. "After that time she babysat I started noticing it. She doesn't look at you like she does Amelia or any other woman at that hospital. You're special to her."
"Right," she laughed and rubbed at her nose. "Owen—"
"She doesn't have to date the married woman with kids. And we both know that. She's with you because she likes you. And she knows about your…experience right? So talk and if she's not crazy, she'll listen."
####
Arizona had a lot of time to herself. First while trying to eat a stringy roast beef sandwich in a sandwich place that promised the best sandwich in Seattle and instead delivered something rating well below that. Then in the cab.
The more she was alone with her thoughts the more bitter those thoughts turned. Images of Owen Hunt laughing with her girlfriend. Sleeping with her girlfriend. Being where she was pretty sure she wanted to be and absconding with it all.
When Callie's text came an hour and a half after they'd last seen each other those thoughts only got angrier. The text had been terse. Just telling her to come over. Mentioning something about the coast being clear.
Like she was some—some—like she was the girlfriend straight girls didn't want the world to see. Hidden away for when family time was over for the day.
If she'd had a cigarette on her she would have been puffing on it irritably.
But damn it. She still was kind of very much into Callie Torres so like an idiot she gave the cab driver Callie's address and stared out the window stone faced.
Callie was waiting for her on the curb when she drove up. It wasn't raining but the fog was heavy enough to be more like a light mist and Callie had an umbrella up to ward it off. But that was a bad sign. People waited at curbs to give bad news. To cut dates short before they even started. To break pediatric surgeons' hearts.
Then she noted the empty drive way. Owen was gone. And Callie wasn't looking like she was about to give Arizona bad news. In fact—she was smiling.
It was better than a hit of nicotine to Arizona's system.
"Want me to wait," the cab driver asked.
"No. I'm good."
####
They settled on the couch. Owen had helped Callie put the kids to bed before he left and things were quiet beyond the swish of the dishwasher running in the kitchen. It was just her and Arizona and a bottle of wine. She poured them each an ample glass and handed Arizona her's with an apology.
"Sorry."
Arizona quietly sipped her wine and waited.
"I invited my ex to my date with my current girlfriend."
The blond smiled into her glass. "You did," she said softly.
"And he ate your donut."
Her eyes were inscrutable. Dark in the low light of the living room. Unreadable even if it had been bright. "Is that why you're plying me with wine? To apologize for the donut?" Her tone was playful, but Callie was getting better at reading Arizona and she could see the hurt there, just below the surface.
"No."
Arizona set her glass down and rubbed her hands along her thighs. "So why the wine?"
"I cockblocked us tonight. And I shouldn't have. But I did. I was terrified—"
"I'm not pushing for anything Callie."
"No. I know. You're patient. You're frickin' Job. But I'm not. I'm a third date kind of gal. I've always been that way. Since high school when I slept with guys sometimes so I wouldn't feel like such a weirdo. That's my normal Arizona. I need it to be."
"What are you saying?" She was pulling back. Leaning into the arm rest of the couch and looking more guarded than ever.
"I'm saying—I'm freaking out. I tried not to. I tried to make us normal. But this. Us. It isn't normal."
Now she wasn't even guarded. There was bitterness in her voice. "Because I'm a woman."
"Yes." But before Arizona could move. Before the anger now seeping out of her could build into a fully righteous fury Callie reached out and grabbed her wrist. "But more because what I feel for you is way more than I've ever felt for anyone. Certainly a guy. I'm terrified of this. Of us."
That seemed to be understood. Arizona nodded to herself and chewed on her lower lip. "And the woman thing isn't helping," she said more for her own understanding than Callie's.
"I'm sorry."
"So…what do we do?"
Callie's heart was beating so fast in her chest she was positive Arizona would be able to hear it if she leaned forward. "We get to normal."
The smile on Arizona's lips was the goofiest one she'd ever seen from the woman. "Yeah?"
Callie moved across the couch and into Arizona's space. Arizona didn't shy away. In fact she moved forward. As if kissing Callie was the most natural thing in the world. But she stopped herself just inches from Callie's lips. Forcing Callie to finish things.
So she lurched forward, smashing her mouth against Arizona's. Arizona's hand came up between them and pressed against the flat of Callie's chest. But she didn't push her back. "Shh," she whispered against the press of Callie's lips. Callie's tried to deepen the kiss but Arizona pushed her with a little more force. She was slowing Callie down. Guiding her away from the frenzied kiss she'd initiated and into something more gentle.
"I'm terrified of this," Callie said.
Arizona studied her. Made some decision in her head. "Come on."
She grasped Callie's hand and pulled her up, then reached for one of her crutches. Wordlessly she led Callie up the stairs and to her bedroom. She sat Callie down on the bed and made herself busy making sure the door was shut firmly and the lights weren't too bright or too dark.
Then she came back to stand in front of Callie, who was rooted to her spot on the bed. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest at any moment. Her breath came in hitches.
She was always a confident person. She didn't get scared. She didn't shy away from challenges. She savored them and worked hard to make sure she succeeded. But Arizona, being with Arizona, it was unlike anything else. Her feelings were too intense. The change required to accept them too great. This wasn't just about love or a crush of escaping her destroyed marriage. This was about a woman. A beautiful and perfect woman who wanted her. It was like there was someone in Callie's chest with her, beating against her ribs with a hammer.
Arizona knelt in front of her, wincing as her ankle protested the movement. Callie started to say something but one look stole her words. Slowed the beating of her heart. Arizona's eyes were navy in the dull yellow light of the bedroom. "We're going to take this slow," she said. Bracing herself with a hand on Callie's knee she leaned in between Callie's legs and pushed the hair away from her face. She gently kissed her cheek. "Because this is important to me. And it's important to you." Her lips travelled lower, building a fire in Callie and burning like embers on her neck. "I want you to trust me." She gently nipped at Callie's pulse point. "And I'll trust you too."
Callie sighed and relaxed into Arizona's touch. Her hands were around Callie's waist and then under her shirt, massaging the hot flesh there and stoking the fire. Soon her hands moved up taking Callie's shirt with them. They pulled apart so Arizona could get Callie's shirt off. Arizona smiled.
"You're stunning," she said softly.
Callie pulled her close again and tried to kiss her, but Arizona had other ideas. She gently pushed Callie back and climbed up onto the bed next to her. Then she simply touched her. Allowed herself to explore Callie's body. Her fingers electrified Callie. They moved along her neck and into the valley of her breasts and down to her navel then back up again.
"Tell me if I go too fast?"
What could Callie say? Arizona was unmaking her in ways she could barely fathom. She had enough lovers to compare Arizona to. Ones who had been just as gentle. Ones who were rough. Men who had no idea what they were doing and men who'd make Mark Sloan look inexperienced.
But none looked at her like Arizona did. She watched Callie. Focused on her acutely. Worshipped her. And when she pulled of Callie's pants and knelt between her legs she unravelled her completely.
Afterwards Callie lay in a sheets dampened by sweat and tried to catch her breath. Arizona slinked up her body and hovered over her. "You doing okay?" And she wasn't asking like some proud lover. She genuinely wanted to know.
Callie nodded and tried to keep the unbidden tears back. "It was amazing," she said breathlessly.
Arizona frowned, "Are you—?"
She dug her hand into Arizona's hair and yanked her down into a kiss, because she really didn't want her to know that she was near tears. Arizona tried to pull away but Callie was bigger, stronger, and finding the taste of herself on Arizona absolutely erotic.
"I think," she said between kisses, "this night would get a whole lot better if you were naked."
Arizona straddled Callie. "Did I just create a monster," she asked, equal parts bemused and excited.
Callie bit her lip and thrust her hips up. Arizona gasped at the sensation. It was just the distraction she needed. She sat up and yanked Arizona's shirt and bra off in one only slightly awkward movement. Her earlier concerns. Her odd misgivings about women. About being with them. It disappeared at the sight of a topless Arizona Robbins.
"I can't believe I was such an idiot," she muttered. She started to kiss Arizona but stopped, "I'm new at this okay? I might not—"
Arizona took her right hand and guided it past the waist of her jeans and into the warmest, slickest and most wonderful place Callie's hand had ever been. "I think you might be a natural at this."
She totally was.