Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy. I just manipulate them to my will. Also, any line or phrase or setting that seems remotely familiar from any other show, movie or book, also not mine. I borrow…
AN: Enjoy!
Chapter 28
Christmas time is Arizona's favorite time of the year. She loves the snow and the music and just the atmosphere of everyone giving to each other, of coming home to her parents and finding nothing but love and warmth. And this year it's even better because Tim is there. It's strange how while something is happening it doesn't really sink in, but then it's different, just like Tim being home, and then she realizes how much she actually missed him. Sure, they wrote and chatted whenever he could find the time, but now that Arizona has spent some real one on one time with him, Arizona is dreading the day where she has to send him back on that plane.
The only small rain cloud hovering over her head is the missing woman who Arizona has fallen so deeply for. But somehow, despite the fact Arizona is sure that time has stopped, the days pass and before she knows it Callie is texting her to tell her she is only five minutes away. Quite suddenly those nerves, just like when they first started dating, send the blonde into a panic. She gives her room one last once over before checking her appearance in the mirror.
The crunch of snow draws blue eyes out the window and Arizona immediately recognizes the BMW that has pulled up outside. She springs off the bed and barrels down the stairs just like when she was a kid, the entire house rattling from her boot clad feet.
"She's here!" Arizona announces to the household and sprints through the hallway on her way to the front door, but puts the brakes on when something catches her eye. Back tracking a few feet to stare into the living room, the blonde's mouth drops when she sees what her father is doing.
"Dad!" She yelps.
"Yes, honey?" The retired military man replies.
"Seriously?" Arizona whines, gesturing to the very large and intimidating shotgun Daniel Robbins just so happens to be 'cleaning' at this moment. "Are you fricken kidding me? Put that away!" The door bell rings and her mother's head pokes out from the kitchen, flour covered hands wringing a dish cloth. "Mom, some help?"
Another set of feet descend the staircase and Tim makes a beeline for the front door. But the younger Robbins yanks on his sleeve, pulling him to a stop. "Don't even think about it." Arizona growls, then sprints the last ten feet to the front door.
The door is nearly ripped off from the inside and brown eyes immediately find blue, Callie quickly enveloped in tight hug that nearly knocks her off her feet. "Guess this is the right place then…" She plays.
"Hi." Arizona whispers excitedly and she doesn't give the Latina time to reply before taking chilly, plump lips with warm and pink ones. "You ready?"
"Wait, now?" Callie asks, color draining from her flushed face. "They're here, now?"
"It's their house." The blonde replies with a chuckle. "Don't worry, just be yourself and they'll love you." She hears someone approaching from behind her and peeks over her shoulder to find her brother. "Tim, could you grab her bag from the car?"
"Sure thing." The man says, and while slipping past the couple he whispers, "Whatever you do, don't blink. He takes that as a sign of weakness and will tear your throat out like a hungry bear-OW!" A fist comes from nowhere and expertly lands on the tender area of his arm still recovering from the previous beatings.
"Just get the damn bag." Arizona snarls, shooting her brother the all too common death glare before turning back to her petrified girlfriend. "He's kidding. Really." She starts to lead the woman into the house but pauses and add, "But just try to ignore the shotgun my dad is holding." All Callie can do is swallow the lump in her throat and follow in the blonde's footsteps as Arizona leads the Latina into the house.
Down the main entrance, Arizona rounds the corner with Callie right on her tail to find both Barbara standing in front of the fire place while Daniel remains seated, his eyes trained on the entrance way while he runs a rag up and down the length of his shot gun, both wearing very different facial expressions. Where her mother oozes warmth nearing that of the fire behind her, her father retains an iciness equal if not more frigid than the air outside his home. As soon as Callie steps in front of his hardened gaze she understands how this man quickly rose in the ranks of the Marine Corps and became one of the finest officers in his generation.
"Mom, Daddy…" Arizona starts, giving her girlfriend a supportive smile. "This is Callie Torres, my girlfriend."
A beat passes where both older Robbins' study their guest, but then a soft smile crosses Barbara's face and she pulls Callie into a warm hug. "It's good to finally meet you, dear."
Callie returns the embrace a bit tentatively and replies, "You too, Mrs. Robbins."
"Oh please, it's Barbara." The woman states just as a buzzer goes off from within the kitchen. "Oh, that'll be the bread. Excuse me."
The grip Callie has on Arizona's hand intensifies when Daniel stands from his chair, snapping the barrel of the shot gun closed so suddenly that it makes the unsuspecting Latina jump. But she takes a deep breath and manages to say, "Mr. Robbins, thank you for inviting me into your home."
"I didn't." He grumbles in response.
"Dad!" Arizona snaps, "Please."
Thankfully Tim breaks the very awkward tension by stumbling his way into the house with Callie's bag, his fair, exposed skin flushed from the harshness of the raging winter just outside. He gives the three an easy smile and holds up the bag, asking "Upstairs?"
Arizona starts to reply but the man of the house interjects with, "Take it to your room, son. She'll be staying there and you'll be on the pull out in the den."
Both siblings exchange a confused look before Arizona rebuts, "Dad, she's sleeping in my room."
Callie immediately swoops in to try and stem a family feud, saying, "It's alright, Arizona." She turns back to face Daniel and adds, "I don't want to kick anyone out of their beds. I'll take the pullout, it's perfectly-"
"No." Arizona cuts her off, "No, it's not perfectly fine, Calliope." She turns to face her father and takes a small step forward, subconsciously putting herself between her girlfriend and the man who still has a death grip on his shotgun. "Dad, she's staying in my room. With me."
A silent staring match begins as silence descends upon the four, only broken when Barbara returns and asks, "Something wrong?"
"Nope." Arizona answers shortly, never breaking her father's gaze. "Nothing, Mom. I was just showing Callie up to my room." She knows that her father would never try to strong arm his wife, so Arizona takes advantage of his trapped position by attempting to grab Callie's bag from her brother, only to find it much heavier than expected.
"Careful…" Callie whispers when Arizona nearly tips over.
"Jesus, what do you have in here?" The blonde groans, heaving one last time and managing to put some space underneath the bottom. She bats away the Latina's helping hand and leads them to the staircase, only to spend the next few minutes trying to wrestle the thing up to the second floor.
She finally makes it to her room and plops the bag on her double sized bed, pink comforter just as it was when she was in high school. Dark eyes survey the space and find pinned pictures of a much younger Arizona, as well as trophies, posters and even an old school boom box with piles of CD's stacked up next to it.
"Sorry about Dad." Arizona mumbles, turning to look at her girlfriend. "I don't know what's stuck up his ass now but…"
"I don't want to cause trouble." Callie replies softly. "If me getting in good with your dad means sleeping on a couch, I will."
"Don't worry about it." The blonde whispers, then crosses the room to shut her door before slowly unzipping Callie's jacket, brushing it off her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor in a pile. Creamy hands tangle in long, dark tresses and Arizona's lips find the Latina's to share a kiss she has been craving since the couple parted ways days ago.
"He didn't seem a little… upset to you?" Callie mumbles against her girlfriend's embrace.
"Calliope…" Arizona sighs, pulling back just enough for their gazes to meet. "I'm trying to kiss you properly here and you talking about my father is not helping."
A smile pulls up a corner of the Latina's mouth and Callie whispers, "Right. …Where were we?" She pulls the blonde back in and reinitiates their kiss, lips slowly and tenderly moving against one another's as they reacquaint themselves with the each other.
A slick tongue is just peeking out from between plump lips and staking claim in Arizona's mouth when two quick knocks rattle the woman's door, quickly followed by the head of Timothy Robbins peeking in. "Hey Zone, Mom- woah!" He yelps when he gets a split second few of his sister very intimately kissing Callie right before they jump apart.
Cheeks flush with embarrassment and Callie turns her back to the man while Arizona wipes at her mouth and sends her brother yet another death glare. "What?" She snarls.
"Hey, calm down killer." Tim replies sarcastically. "If you two are done playing tonsil tennis, Mom just put out a pot of coffee and the good coffee cups. You know what that means." He slips back out just as quickly as he entered, leaving two very worked up women and no time to do anything about it.
Running a hand through blonde hair, Arizona takes a deep breath and straightens her girlfriend's necklace while asking, "You ready to face the firing squad?"
"Wait, you're telling me that that wasn't the hard part?" Callie asks in disbelief. She was kind of hoping she had gotten past the awkward introduction phase, but she's no where's close to being ready to sit down and talk with them. Especially not a shotgun carrying retired Marine.
Arizona just chuckles and lightly kisses the Latina on the cheek before heading towards the door. Callie follows and she slips past the blonde, Arizona replies, "Baby, you ain't seen nothing yet."
They rejoin Arizona's parents and sit in silence for a few awkward minutes until Tim finally breaks the ice. After that the atmosphere softens a bit until Barbara starts her line of questioning with Callie. She knew it was coming, just like Callie's parents did with Arizona, but despite her answers she never gets so much as a forced smile from Daniel. She can feel the intensity of his gaze and the heat behind his stare but both Arizona and her mother keep the conversation moving smoothly.
And as the hours tick away into the evening, Barbara even invites Callie into her kitchen to assist, which she readily does. The three of them, Arizona included, work as though they have all be together for years, each moving in sync with the other. Callie has to laugh when the elder Robbins' woman puts her girlfriend on stirring duty, stating that Arizona can hardly be trusted to do anything else. And when those pink lips that the Latina finds so delicious pull down into a pout Callie can't resist kissing the blonde.
Even through dinner, in which Arizona's and Tim's love/hate relationship rears its ugly head again, Daniel remains distant and cold. But despite her husband's mood, Barbara can't help but fall instantly in love with her daughter's girlfriend. The way Arizona acts around her, the way they are so comfortable with each other and just seem to click, it makes her soul smile. That's the only thing a mother wants for her children, for them to find someone they love and who loves them back. …And it only takes being in the couple's presence for five minutes to see just how inlove they are.
Once the last piece of pie has been eaten and the last marshmallow has been sipped from their hot chocolate, Tim throws his napkin down on the table and states, "Alright, Zone. You and me, rematch. Right now."
"Oh Tim…" Arizona sighs, setting her wine glass down on the table and throwing the Latina a smile. "I don't want to humiliate you in front of our guest." Fire burns behind blue eyes at his sister's words and Tim storms from the table. He's back within thirty seconds with an aged and antique chess board, a smile on his face.
As they set the game up Barbara leans in closer to Callie and explains, "They've always been like this, trying to prove who the best is. When Tim started to outgrown Arizona, she started challenging him with wits rather than brawn."
The first few moves happen quickly but then start to trail off as each player tries to outthink their opponent while also remembering that their opponent already knows their game. Years and years of playing together have given each a knack for knowing the other's game, so their own game is constantly evolving just to stay one step ahead much like the gazelle must run faster than the cheetah to remain a live, while the cheetah in turn must learn to run even fast to get the kill and be able to eat. It's a never ending circle.
While the two battle it out, Callie shuffles over to the window where Daniel has been standing at for a few minutes, the man just staring out into the empty street as snow slowly layers over it in peace. He can feel the presence of another person but he doesn't react to it, not right away.
It's only after Callie clears her throat and rattles the ice around her glass of water does Daniel whisper, "You love her." It's not a question, but a statement.
The Latina is taken off guard at first but quickly recovers, replying with, "Yes, sir. I do." Her gaze is drawn to the multiple picture frames set up around the room, each one highlighting a different stage in the Robbins' lives. When she finds one of a long blonde haired little girl, Callie smiles and says, "She's an amazing woman."
Daniel turns to face Callie full on, and in a lowered tone, he says, "Follow me, Ms. Torres. I'd like to speak with you… privately."
From the table Arizona watches as her girlfriend and father converse quietly, and when her Dad leads Callie off towards another room the blonde stands to follow. But her mother places a hand on her arm, keeping the blonde seated, and silently promises that everything is alright.
Callie follows the man down the hall and into another room, one darker and more masculine than the rest of the house. Books and pictures and artifact line an entire wall of shelves while the other has a large, framed picture of the United States of America. Hung up all around it are various plagues, awards and medals showcasing Daniel Robbins' time in the service, as well as the American Flag given to his mother during his father's funeral service.
He shuts the door behind him and motions for Callie to take a seat while he does the same right across from her. The shotgun that greeted the Latina is tucked away into a glass enclosure, only an arms length away from the retired Marine, and a cold sweat starts make its way down Callie's back. Despite his age, Daniel Robbins makes an imposing presence and Callie Torres is sure she would be of little to no trouble for him to 'take care of' if he chose to do so. …Gun or not. But Tim's words from earlier echo through her mind and the Latina keeps a strong face, not even flinching when ice blue eyes set their sights directly into her soul.
Daniel takes a sip at his brandy and says, "I'm going to get right to it, Ms. Torres, and I'm going to ask you what your intentions are with my daughter." Silence comes from the Latina, Callie shocked by the suddenness of this conversation, and the man continues, "I protect the things I love, Ms. Torres. Like a shepard protects his flock, which sometimes means fighting off the wolves."
"I-I'm not a wolf, sir." Callie says weakly.
"I see the way my daughter looks at you… I can sense how happy she is around you." The retired Marine continues. "And I can see how fully she has invested her heart in you. And as a father, that's terrifying to see in his daughter, because I want to protect her. From everything. …Up until she brought home her first girlfriend and told her mother and I she was gay, I had a plan. She would bring home a boy that wasn't good enough for her, or would hurt her, break her heart, and I would shoot him." Callie's throat suddenly goes dry and her eye flick over to the shotgun not five feet away before turning back to Daniel.
"But then… she brought home Joanne, and that changed everything." Daniel continues between sips of brandy. "You see, I wouldn't think twice about putting an end to a man who hurt my daughter, but I was raised to never touch a woman in that way."
"Of course…" Callie breathes out, forcing a weak chuckle from her lips.
"That doesn't mean that I won't protect my daughter with every fiber of my being until my last breath." His blue eyes stare straight into brown, erasing any doubt that Callie may have had about him messing around. "You see, my daughter is an amazing woman. Do you know why it is she wants to become a doctor? A surgeon?"
"To save the world." Callie answers, her mind taking her back to the conversation they had the morning after they first met, the morning following a night filled of lusty sex and frantic orgasms.
A small smile pulls up a corner of Daniel's mouth, but stands and goes to the bookcase to pull out a single book. Once back in his chair he flips through the aged photo album until he finds what he is looking for, then passes it to the Latina. Callie's jaw drops when she sees the tiny mass of pink tissue, too small to be a baby, nestled into a NICU baby bassinet with the name 'Arizona Robbins' labeled on the top. A tiny pink hat covers a hairless head and a tube bigger than her arms and legs sticks out of her mouth.
"My wife and I were in an accident when Barbara was pregnant with Arizona." Daniel explains solemnly. "She was only 27 weeks along and the doctors told her it was too early, but my baby girl was coming whether they were ready or not. …Arizona was born without a heartbeat, and it took the doctor 27 seconds to find one. I know, because those 27 seconds were the longest 27 seconds in my life." A tanned finger traces the tiny outline of a premature Arizona, tears starting to pool in the corner of her eyes.
"They said she wouldn't last the night. …But she did. And then she lived another night, and another." The man continues in a rough and thick voice filled with emotions. "She lived in that basket, in that hospital, for the first six months of her life. And each morning I would wake up and hope my daughter had lived, and each night I would go to sleep praying she'd have just one more day."
"She's strong…" Callie says in awe.
"She puts me to shame, that's for sure." Daniel replies. "Arizona was a fighter, even before she could take a breath on her own, she fought. I swore to her that I would protect her, because she lived for me. And I plan on doing just that. So…" He takes a deep breath and blinks the tears from his eyes, "I ask you again, Ms. Torres, what are you intention with my daughter."
"I want to make her happy." Callie answers firmly, her tearful eyes meeting his. "For however long as she'll let me, but I don't ever plan on hurting her, sir."
Daniel lets those words hang in the air, and after a few seconds he nods, whispering, "No one is good enough for her, in my book. But she told me herself that you are. …I've yet to form my opinion of you, Callie, but I just wanted to let you know what an amazing woman you've found yourself with. And before you even think about hurting her, throwing her away or tossing her aside, I wanted you to know just how badly Arizona has fought to even be here, with you, today. …My daughter has a big heart, and I don't want to see that broken."
Arizona looks up from the chessboard where her brother is mulling over his next move to find Callie and her father stepping back into the living room, a noticeable weight sitting on the Latina's shoulders.
She gives her father a look before tugging Callie in close by her hand and asks, "Everything alright?"
"Yeah, sweetness…" She replies with a soft smile, a fleeting look of sadness deepening those brown eyes. "Everything's just fine." The woman adds before kissing her girlfriend tenderly on the lips. With one last smile Callie turns her attention to the chessboard settled between the two feuding blondes', and says, "Knight to E4?"
Two sets of blue eyes snap up to the Latina before drifting back to the chessboard and a smile turns up Tim's lips. He quickly makes his move, knocking out his sister's bishop in the process, and announces, "She's on my team."
"Hey!" Arizona yelps, Callie already moving around the coffee table to sit next to her teammate. "That's not allowed!"
"Snooze ya lose, Zone." Tim taunts back, then wraps his arm around Callie's shoulder.
Daniel and Barbara look on as their kids and visitor interact like they've been doing this for years, and Barbara muses, "I like her. She has… something. Something that makes our girl smile with her whole body. …Don't you think, hon?"
But the man isn't convinced just yet, and gruffly replies, "We'll see, Barbie. We'll see."
