AN: Here's the new update, ladies. I hope you like it and furthermore, I hope you're not mad at me, I don't want any bricks flying at me, okay?
"But seriously, I still don't get you. Neither of you. And even Callie doesn't get it", Arizona said, crossed her arms and let her upper body sink further into the comfortableness of the chair. It was only two days ago that Teddy had showed up out of the blue and asked for a chance to talk to Addison. But it was also only yesterday, that she had left after spending only one night at their apartment – on the couch. Her better half's best friend had in all seriousness slept on the couch instead of sharing the bed with the redhead and then fled so early in the morning that only Callie had seen a glimpse of her when she had gotten up for her 7am shift at the hospital. And to top it all off, Addison maintained silent about the whole conversation she had had with the other blonde and alternatively had chosen to persuade Arizona into going to a hairdresser because she needed a change. Yet, Arizona knew that 'needing a change' was rarely positive when it was about Addison making an appointment at a hairdresser's shop. "Could you please fill me in on what has happened? Because the behavior of the both of you is pretty much confusing."
The hairdresser, Paolo, has once again started to pamper the redhead, rinsing the color creme out of her hair and then applied – according to his own words – the best conditioner ever while his assistant, Madeline, combed through Arizona's hair. All the while, blue eyes never averted from her best friend, studying the contortions on her face, wondering if she could see any indication for a valid reason.
"What are we gonna do to you today?", Paolo asked, addressing the blonde. "Some fiery red like your friend? Or just some red strands? It would make your eyes shine spectacular!"
The smirk on her best friend's face did not go unnoticed by Arizona, but she shook her head and grimaced at the thought of having red hair. She would never consider dyeing her hair, at least not if dyeing her hair would imply a change of hair color, she simply liked her blonde tresses too much. Besides, Callie was a sucker for her blonde curls, nearly as much as she was a sucker for her dimples. "Red is not exactly my color, but I think some highlights would be nice."
"And a haircut", the redhead cut in without even opening her eyes whilst she was enjoying the head massage. "She definitely needs a new haircut, Paolo. She's extra grouchy today because she can't work. Plus, she has a wife to seduce." Snickering, Addison opened one eye and glanced at the blonde. "Paolo is the best, you can trust him. He's my hairdresser since I lived here and met the two of you in high school."
Trusting a man who wanted to dye her hair red? "If you say so...", she dragged out and pursed her lips, remembering her best friend's comment about herself. Yes, she was a tad bit grumpy today, but everybody would have been crabby if they were in her shoes. Today, she would have had her first day of many on the Peds ward under Dr. Kenley's observation and she had been looking forward to it the moment she stopped being an intern and became a resident. Now, that ship had sailed, and sank. "But only if you will finally tell me what the hell happened two nights ago."
Sitting up after Paolo had wrapped a towel around her head, sad eyes looked at the blonde, forcing herself not to cry. She had shed so many tears ever since the first conversation with Teddy and when she had thought it was getting just the slightest bit better, the other blonde had come here to talk to her. Honestly, she understood the freak out Teddy had gone through, but frankly, it had not been a good enough reason for her to make a decision she wasn't allowed to make. "She is scared", she concluded eventually and walked back to the empty chair next to Arizona. "She's so freaking scared that I would leave her over her disease, that she hadn't even thought about telling me in the first place!" Letting out a frustrated groan, Addie clenched her hands into fists and continued, "Teddy is one of the most precious women I have ever met, but she's also one of the most terrified and that makes her vulnerable. I've told her that her fear is not real, that I would not leave her over this, that it's just a product created by her thoughts. The danger of her disease might be real, but her fear of losing me is her own choice."
Blinking rapidly, Arizona thought she had stopped breathing for a second. It was beyond her understanding how two people who are so madly in love with each other could make things so hard and complicated. "And then you did leave her? Addison, that is not-"
"NO!", Addie exclaimed. "I swore I would not leave her even if she were dying. But-", stopping herself,swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat. "But I can't be with her any more if she's staying in Florida. I've finally been honest with her and told her about my failed attempts of trying to get into the Mayo Clinic, but she's still persistent about staying and learning from Dr. Burke."
Knowing exactly where this was going, the blonde covered her ears, not wanting to hear the ungodly news her best friend was about to reveal. If Addison had still to learn one thing, then it would be to listen to her own good advises more frequently, because she very seldom followed them. "Nu-uh, I don't wanna hear you say it."
"But Arizona...", the red-haired woman tried and when Arizona still refused to put her hands down, she simply kept talking. "I can't change it. Maybe the circumstances aren't right for us. Maybe we wanted too much and when reality hit us, we broke apart." She would never say that she and Teddy grew apart because that would have been the biggest lie of their whole relationship. The moment she would be able to touch the other woman's hands or kiss her lips, everything was right again, everything felt perfect. But every time one of them needed to board the plane alone, it felt as if a small part of Addie's heart was ripped out and she couldn't do that any longer.
Still seeing the movement of the other woman's lips, Arizona pressed her hands more firmly against her ears. It would do nothing to make the facts unknown, but she could pretend that it wasn't true until she heard it, something she had always done as a child when her father was about to tell them that he would go away again. "Are you done yet?"
Having enough, Addie grabbed her best friend's hands and pulled them away from her ears. "I am not saying that we're not getting back together. I am not saying that we're done for good, because I love her. She's the best thing that ever happened to me. But right now, it doesn't work, okay?" When the blonde nodded, Addison's lips curled into a bitter smile, "Geez, your reaction is worse than Teddy's and she was the other part of this relationship. Seriously Arizona, get yourself together because you're acting like a spoiled little brat", she stated bluntly which elicited an indignant gasp from the blonde, but Addison kept going, "Callie is doing everything she can to help you. Your brother might be leaving soon and yes, this might be a bad timing, but it's not the end of anything. We're all here, supporting you and you keep complaining about stuff again and again. I get that a lot has happened lately, but not everything can be perfect all the time. My relationship is done, not yours. My world fell apart two times within only a few days, not yours. Your marriage is still as perfect as ever. And Callie is still as crazy about you as ever. She's ready to jump your bones any time of the day. Especially when she'll see you in the new clothes and with the new haircut tonight."
Remembering their little troubled shopping trip from this morning, Arizona grinned to herself. The redhead had been the perfect company, bringing shorts and shirts after shorts, shirts and a little extra sexy something into the changing cubicle for Arizona to try on. She had even helped with the shorts and after an hour and a half, the dilemma about having no clothes for the funeral was solved, and the blonde had to admit that her best friend's words were true. She had been acting like a whiny little brat, spoiled rotten with attention by her wife and family. None of them had deserved that. Okay, maybe Tim for overstepping the boundaries by telling the news. But Callie had been nothing but supportive whenever she was at home or called from the hospital. "I guess you're right. Thank you for knocking some sense into me", she confessed, giving a shy smile. "But I still need something to cover the cast, though." Purposely avoiding further talking about the break-up, she pouted, "I don't want to go to my Grammy's funeral with that ugly cast but Calliope has vanished all my hopes for a walking cast for another two weeks."
"You won't", the red-haired woman grinned. "We'll buy some fabric and you can leave the rest up to me. Because these," she said and held her hands up, "can do magic with a little fabric and something that needs to be wrapped up in it."
A-C-T
The clock in the living room chimed eight times as Callie entered their apartment with an exhausted sigh and she felt like she needed at least two days to recharge her energy. Fortunately, she had twenty-four hours ahead of her with no pagers, no cell-phone, no nothing – just her and Arizona and it was very much needed. The last nights at the Torres-apartment had been just as eventful as the days with Teddy showing up and leaving too soon, and Addison locking herselfup and blocking everyone out. She truly hoped that her wife had gotten through to her best friend, but the empty living room was more of a sign that the red-haired woman had once again preferred to be alone in the spare room and Arizona was either at her parents' house with her brother or in their bedroom. Sighing once again, she put her jacket and shoes away, taking a quick glance at her reflection in the mirror by the door at the same time. She looked drained, tired, with black rings under her eyes as if she hadn't had a good night sleep in weeks. To be honest, she felt the same. Work had been crazy as always, her shift should have had ended two hours ago but a surgical resident's shift was only ever done when the patient was out of surgery. And although most of the surgeries Callie had been on so far went without any major complications, some surgeries are the exceptions to the general rule and this had been one of them. A relatively easy appendectomy had gone down the road to a full grown heart attack because the patient was allergic to the anesthesia and no one had known about it – not even the patient himself. It went well, but it had been a shocking moment when the patient had gone into cardiac arrest within only two seconds, not exactly how she had pictured their fifth anniversary.
"Arizona?", she called out for her wife, not sure whether she was hoping for an answer or if a hot shower was what she really wanted. Grabbing a little velvety black box out of her purse, she waited for an answer, but when nothing came, she asked again, "Arizona? Are you there?"
"Bedroom", came the blonde's response and although it barely reached the Latina's ear, she knew that something was going on, just by the sound of her wife's voice. It was sultry, a little husky, yet loud enough for her to hear it and just like that, she felt the butterflies stir in her stomach, making her feel better.
Walking towards their bedroom, Callie noticed the flickering through the crack of the door, immediately knowing that candles were probably spreading the only light. She took a deep breath and combed her fingers through her hair, making it at least somewhat presentable before she pushed against the wooden surface, gasping at the beautiful sight that came into view. Brown eyes widened and she literally gulped before licking her lips. There was her wife, lying on their bed in a sexy pose with an even sexier piece of lingerie accentuating every miraculous curve of her body. "How-"
"I assume you like what you see?", the blonde spoke softly, her left hand gliding down over her costal arch, straightening out the fabric in its way. She had been lying in the same position for the past ten minutes and seeing her wife blatantly gawking at her was just the reaction she had hoped for. Admittedly, the see-through, royal blue lacy negligee was the hottest and most tantalizing little piece of clothing she had ever worn, but somehow she had felt confident enough to buy it. "Speechless?"
Still staring, Callie managed a nod as her eyes traveled from her lover's waist up to her chest. She had always loved the blonde's breasts, in everything and nothing, but seeing those two perfect mounts encased in that perfectly fitting lace made her blood pressure go through the roof. "Uhm-"
Giggling, Arizona kept her eyes locked on the stunned Latina and used her finger to beckon her towards the bed. She even waited for Callie to make a move before she patted the spot next to her on the bed. "You know, you could sit down and maybe even... touch?", she offered. Making her wife's knees go weak was probably one of the most enjoyable things in her life, but geez, had she known what royal blue lingerie would do to the brunette, she'd had a closet full of blue lingerie by now.
The mattress shifted under her weight when her legs had finally followed her brain's order. Hesitatingly, she reached out, wanting to touch and feel what her eyes were still transfixed on. The fabric was smooth under her palm, her wife's body heat a contrast to the goosebumps her touch elicited on the candlelight illuminated skin. "I love you", she breathed out as her hand danced upwards until she could cup one of the blonde's breasts. "And-"
"Ssshhh", she shushed her wife and leaned in until their lips were only mere inches apart. "No talking." The second their mouths connected in a searing kiss, fireworks erupted within them, butterflies started to fly with wildly flapping wings and neither of them knew who was the first to moan into the kiss. Reluctantly, Arizona pulled away to take a breath and looked deep into her lover's soulful brown orbs. "Happy anniversary, I love you."
Sighing, Callie felt her lips curl into a smile as she replied, "I love you too. So so so much. Sometimes, it still feels unreal to me. You're my lucky star. You're my everything and you've been so much more than just my soul mate since you came into my hospital room." Picking up the little black box, she held it out for her wife. "I got you a little something."
"I got you something as well..." Sitting up, knowing that the Latina would only now see the new haircut, she waited a moment to let it all sink in. When a tan hand froze midway, she shook her head a bit, letting her natural waves – which ended now just above her shoulders – fly around. "I hope you like this as well?"
"I-", How had she not seen the new haircut? "You look gorgeous." She brushed a few strands of blonde hair behind her wife's ear and smiled, "You're so beautiful." Pecking pink lips, she urged Arizona to open the little box by literally pushing it into her hands.
Not wanting to stop kissing her wife, Arizona pouted at the Latina, but nevertheless, opened the box, revealing a silver chain with a pendant. "Thank you", she smiled at her wife after glancing at the gift for barely three seconds. It was a small pendant, glistening in the flickering lights and honestly, it was a little bit hard to make out the shape of it, so she was just about to put the box aside when Callie stopped her.
"Look closer", the brunette summoned.
Lifting the chain out of the box, she held the pendant closer to her face, her jaw basically dropping on the floor. "How did you-" It couldn't be, but it looked like it. The edges of the diamond in shape of a butterfly. And she had looked for it all evening, thinking that she had put it away just as carefully as ever but then she couldn't find it earlier. "I was looking-"
"I kinda stole it a few days ago to have it turned into a pendant", the Latina explained. Arizona had often said that she truly loved her engagement ring and it was such a waste of beautiful jewelry that she never got a chance to wear it aside from fancy dinners – which were rare since they had started their internships.
"I was looking for it for at least an hour!", she exclaimed. "Even Addie helped and I remembered I put it in my jewelry case but it was gone." Flinging her arms around her wife, she whispered 'thank you' over and over again, kissing Callie's left cheek, then her lips, her neck and finally shoved her onto her back, ending up on top of her. "You have no idea how much that means to me."
"Do you want to put it on?"
Shaking her head, Arizona cautiously let it glide out of her hand and onto the bedside table. "That can wait. I need to kiss you. I need to make love to you and I need you to make love to me."
Not even a minute later, clothes were discarded, thrown out of the bed and hands started roaming. The feeling of skin on skin – although definitely not new anymore – was like flipping a switch. Nothing in the world was more important than feeling each other or hearing the other moan right against the ear. As if time had stopped around them, they took their time worshiping each other, nipping and sucking until the first candles went out and Arizona had lost count on how many times she'd had to come down from yet another intense orgasm.
Breathing heavily, Callie pulled the blanket over their naked bodies and let Arizona snuggle closer to her. "That was-", she started, still trying to catch her breath. Nights like this were rare, because somehow it seemed like there was always a pager interrupting their intimate moments. But right now, she wouldn't trade this moment for anything else. Her body felt sated, still sensitive to her lover's touch and the air smelled of sex, lust, love and arousal. Licking her lips, she could still taste Arizona and she was sure that the blonde could taste her as well.
"Yeah, I know what you mean", the blonde trailed off, caressing the soft skin of her wife's stomach and every so often, she came in contact with the swell of Callie's breast, coaxing another soft moan. But there was something entirely different on her mind. "Have you thought about the whole baby thing?"
"A little", Callie confessed and bit her bottom lip. She hadn't gone too deep into it, not wanting to picture something that might never become reality. "Have you?"
"Mhmm", she hummed against the Latina's shoulder and placed a soft kiss on one of the freckles she found there. "I still think that I want a mini replication of you. Maybe it's because we spent so much time with Sarita while attending med school, but in my head, our family always looks like this. You, me and a mini Latina with dark hair, your eyes and if possible, dimples so you can't say no to her just as much I can't."
Facing her wife, Callie looked straight into pools of warm blue. "Are you sure you don't want to carry our first child? I mean, you were the one who wanted a baby first. I mean, I don't mind carrying the baby, of course, but I would not want to take it away from you."
The hand on the Latina's stomach stopped moving and the blonde slid down, positioning herself so that she was face to face with the brunette's belly. "I want our first baby to grow in there", she stated. "I've always wanted you to carry the baby. We can go for the mini version of me on the second try, but I would really love to have a mini you first. Plus", she said and their eyes locked once again, "I'm already missing out on so much of my residency, it's only fair you'll miss some of it as well."
Laughing, Callie pulled the blonde up again so she could kiss her. "We're not even pregnant yet and you're planning our second child already?" Tunneling her fingers through her wife's blonde tresses, she brought their lips together in a lingering touch that quickly became heated again as tongues started to danceonce more.
The kiss ended with both women smiling into it and Arizona stated matter-of-factly, "I would plan our next ten kids if I'd know we'd be having so many."
So, what do you say?