Chapter 25

"Maybe I should try calling him again."

"Or… maybe you should wait Calliope. You don't know whether he saw anything or not. Maybe he just didn't want to come back in here and say his goodbyes all over again. Maybe giving the bear to the nurse was quicker. He did have a plane to catch."

"Arizona… I know how my luck is. Odds are, he saw."

"But you don't know for sure. Why make things worse if you don't need to? I don't know that you should call again."

The two women have been having this exact same conversation on and off all evening. After the nurse left, Callie was convinced that her dad had seen them.

All evening, she has been pacing back and forth, across Katie's room, wondering what she needs to do. She tried calling once but he didn't answer. Arizona says he was probably on the plane and that's why.

Sighing, Arizona pulls Callie down onto her lap on the next trip by on her well worn path.

"Calliope, I know it's your dad. I know it's a big deal for several reasons about whether he saw or not. You are going to make yourself sick if you keep this up though. So you have two options. You can call again and try to talk to him… you know, feel him out and see if you need to tell him. Or, you let it go all together and wait and see if he mentions it, on the outside chance he didn't see anything."

"Arizona… I don't know what to do."

"I know," Arizona says, pulling Callie in closer, nuzzling her nose into Callie's hair. "I'm sorry, Calliope. This is all my fault."

Shaking her head, Callie says, "Arizona, this isn't your fault. This is just… life. This is me falling for an incredible woman. I don't regret that for one second. I should have just told him to begin with."

"No. We agreed the time wasn't right yet. I didn't want you to risk your relationship with him if this ended up not working."

Callie looks at Arizona for a second before she asks, "Do you think this isn't going to work?"

"No! That's not it. I just.. what if you would tell him and then you decide you don't want this? And I don't think you feel that way, so don't take it the wrong way. I have just lived this life a lot longer than you. There are people that may never understand us, and I have accepted that. It might be more than you want to deal with though, especially since you have a daughter to think about too."

"So you think I can't handle other people not agreeing with my choice of lifestyle?"

Getting frustrated, Arizona shakes her head. "I'm not saying you can't. But until you are put in the situation of someone not agreeing with this, you don't really know how you will feel. Especially if it happens to be family."

Standing up to put some space between her and Arizona, Callie is starting to get frustrated. "Arizona, I'm a big girl. I don't live my life to make other people happy. I know for a fact, if my dad saw earlier, he isn't happy. Me trying to figure out whether to call him or not isn't because I'm so much worried he won't approve, because, frankly, I know he won't. That's just who he is. I just don't want him to not have anything to do with me. Because I can handle him not agreeing with this. I just don't want to lose my dad."

"Then you should call him. And if this is too much, I'll understand."

"Arizona, if this is going to work, you need to quit doubting me."

"I'm not."

"You are. You seem to think that if my dad doesn't approve, I'll walk away. That's not happening. Remember when you told me that you had no choice but to wait for me?"

Arizona nods, remembering the conversation.

"Well, I have no choice either. I'm in this… whether my dad or the rest of the family approves or not. I get it… I could lose them. And I hate the thought of that happening, but I couldn't walk away from you if I tried. And that may be hard to believe, but it's true."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to doubt you. That wasn't my intention. I just… I care about you So much," Arizona says, looking down at her hands.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Then call him again," Arizona says, with a reassuring smile.

XXXXXXX

The next morning, Callie is sitting with Katie as Arizona is behind her, rubbing her shoulders. "You need to go if you are going to have time to go home and change before you go in."

"But what if she opens her eyes again?"

"We hope she does. And, if that happens, I will call you right away And then you can decide if you want to come or not. But you need to go, otherwise Addie is going to have to cancel your appointments."

"You promise you will call?"

"You have my word."

Callie nods, as her eyes fill up with tears. "I will be back by noon so you can leave."

"Calliope… Come here." Arizona knew this would be hard on Callie and pulls her into a hug. "Honey, I promise, I will be here with her the whole time. They couldn't get me out of here if they tried. So I promise I will call you if she does anything."

Callie nods, stepping away from Arizona. "Ok. Thank you. You're right. I do need to go. Wearing these leggings wouldn't be very professional so I should go home and change first."

"I agree. Although I personally love those leggings on you, I'd rather you leave less to their imaginations. Because those," she whispers, "make your ass, look fantastic," Arizona says, trying to get the brunette to smile.

"Yeah, right," Callie mumbles.

"Calliope," Arizona whispers into her ear, so Katie can't hear. "That ass is amazing. And this weekend, it's mine. I can't wait to feel you in my hands," Arizona says, leaning down to kiss Callie on the neck.

"Good grief, I'm gonna need a cold shower when I get home now," Callie grumbles, causing Arizona to giggle.

"Go… be amazing, and we will be here when you get back," Arizona winks, sending Callie a big, dimpled smile.

Callie leans in and gives Arizona a kiss, then heads home to get ready for work.

XXXXXXX

Walking through the front door to Torres Orthopedics, Callie is met by Addie, Christina, and Meredith rushing around getting things set up.

"Hey, I'm here," Callie says, walking over to Addie's desk and sitting in the chair next to it.

"You get any sleep last night? You look kinda tired," Addie asks.

"Not really."

"Oohhh, too much sex?"

"What? No! We haven't done that yet."

"Oh. Well, then, what's wrong?"

"My dad came for a visit yesterday. I think he may have walked in on Arizona and I kissing. He left a teddy bear with the nurse to bring in after he left. Arizona thinks he just didn't want to come back in the room. I'm afraid he did and that he saw, then left the bear with the nurse."

"Oh. Yeah, I see how that could go either way. Why don't you just call him?"

"I did. He didn't answer. And then I called again last night and it went to voice mail again."

"You said he is a busy man. Maybe he was actually busy," Addie offers.

"Yeah, or he was ignoring my calls," Callie says, shaking her head. "If he saw, I know he is pissed. But, I didn't think he would just ignore me."

"Keep calling. He might need time to process everything though."

"Maybe." Callie sighs and stands up to head into her office.

"Just so you know, I think you are going to forget all about it here in a few minutes," Addie says, handing Callie a file. "This is your first patient. Look at that mess of bones…"

Opening the file, Callie gasps, then a big smile appears. "This is just what I need. Oh… if Arizona calls, come get me. She is going to let me know if anything happens with Katie. She opened one of her eyes yesterday," Callie says smiling. "I don't want to miss anything, so she is going to let me know if anything changes. So, just a warning, if I go running out of the office, just cancel my appointments for the rest of the day."

"That's great, Callie. Seems like she is really starting to show some progress."

"She is. My life is just one big emotional mess right now."

"Sounds like other than your dad, it's mostly a good mess."

Smiling, Callie says, "Yeah. It really is."

XXXXXXX

Back at the hospital, Arizona is sitting and looking over Katie's chart, making notes. She decides to update Beth and Amelia, and send a quick email to let them know of Katie's progress.

The lab crew comes in to get Katie's treatment started for the day and Arizona decides to eat the breakfast she had a nurse bring her. Just as she is about to take a bite, she hears a throat clear behind her. Turning around, her eyes meet that of Carlos Torres.

"Mr. Torres…" Arizona stands, turning around to face him. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Calliope said she was working this morning and you would be here."

"Yeah," Arizona says, taking in the stoic man. He seems different. He knows. "She tried to call you last yesterday."

"I know," Carlos says, as he walks over to the side of Katie's bed, taking in the equipment that she is now hooked up to. "I assume this is what she needed from Mayo for her treatments?"

"Yes sir."

Nodding, he takes Katie's hand in his own, studying her for a few minutes before he kisses her hand and walks over towards the window.

"You saw, didn't you?" Arizona asks. She had a feeling he did, but was trying really hard to stay positive for Callie yesterday. She just wants to hear him admit it.

He doesn't say anything, but nods his head yes.

Arizona isn't really sure what to say. There's a lot she wants to say but doesn't know where his head is at the moment. So, she starts with something safe. "Calliope love you, sir."

"She might love me, but she has no respect for me," Carlos says, shaking his head.

"I'm not sure I'm following you."

"She might love me, but if she respected me, she wouldn't be doing whatever she is doing with you."

"Sir, I love my family. And I respect them. But, respect goes both ways. They love and respect me enough to let me love whoever I want to love."

Appraising her for a moment, he asks, "Are you saying that you love my daughter? You barely just met."

Thinking about the best way to answer, she nods. "You are correct. We did just meet. And I haven't told her this because honestly, I haven't wanted to scare her. But I think I fell in love with her the first time I met her. She is an amazing woman. She is smart, beautiful, witty, caring… I'm sure she is everything you raised her to be."

"I didn't raise her to be with a woman."

"I'm sure you raised her to take care of herself. To think for herself. To be able to find happiness for herself. If you did that, she is still who you raised her to be."

"I taught her to respect me. And she isn't doing that."

"Actually sir, she is. She could have thrown this in your face. She could have just not cared what you thought at all and threw it out yesterday, but she didn't. She knew it would upset you, and she is so afraid of losing you over this."

"She should be. Dr. Robbins, I'm thankful for what you are doing for my granddaughter. We never thought we would make it to this point. I was losing hope. But you have given that back to us. But, you are also taking my daughter away. I can't accept that."

"But I'm not taking her away."

"You are."

"I'm not. She isn't going anywhere. The question is, are you?"

Carlos doesn't say anything, but Arizona can tell he is getting frustrated.

Arizona sighs, and shakes her head. "You know, when I first met Calliope, I had no idea she was going through all this. She was so strong. So brave. I understand she has been through a lot, and it wasn't always easy on her. But she persevered. She came through this stronger than what I would have ever thought possible. I admire her so much for that. She pushed forward opening her own practice while spending as much time as she could with Katie. That's incredibly strong. I don't know that I could have done it. But she wanted it for Katie. She wanted Katie to be proud of her. That's your daughter. I'm not taking her away. I will support her and be there for her. But she isn't going anywhere. And she loves you. But you need to ask yourself if you will be there for her."

"I need to go," Carlos says, as he gives Katie a kiss on the cheek and makes his way towards the door.

"Mr. Torres…"

"I can't talk about this anymore. Not right now. I need some time."

Knowing better than to push, Arizona nods. "Just remember, she does love you."

Carlos doesn't say anything. He stops for a second and looks as if he might say something, and then leaves.

Arizona blows out a breath and sits down, placing her elbows on her knees and putting her face in her hands. Maybe she said too much… Maybe she didn't say enough. She has lots of thoughts running through her head when her phone chimes. She looks down to see Callie's name on display.

"Everything ok?" Callie wants to know.

Deciding not to make her worry, she doesn't mention the fact that the brunette's father was just here. "Everything's fine. Just missing you."

"I miss you too."

Putting her phone down, she wonders how Callie will take the news that Carlos knows. Arizona knows that Callie is in this, but she can't help but worry about it anyway. Quickly deciding she can't worry about 'what ifs', she pulls out a few books she had Teddy drop off on her way to work earlier. She ordered them online last week and had them sent to the office. They were some of her favorites growing up so she decided Katie needed to have them.

XXXXXXX

"I'm here…," Callie says, making her way in through the door, holding a bag of food from the drive through.

"Hey," Arizona says, watching as the flustered woman quickly hurries in, making her way over to take a quick look at her daughter, then turns to give her a kiss.

Pulling back, Callie watches her for a second as she pulls up the chair next to Arizona. Pulling a sandwich out, she asks, "Do you have time to eat? I brought this for you." Noticing Arizona only nod as she reaches for the sandwich, Callie worries. "What's wrong?"

Arizona is nervous. She thought she had her nerves under control, but seeing Callie has brought them back in full force. She doesn't know exactly how to say it, so she just blurts out, "Your dad was here."