Title: Skinny Love
Author: MysteriousSwaggerOfScrubs
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: M
Summary: A haunting tale of wealth and power, love and loss. Are one night stands ever meant to last for longer than just one night?
Disclaimer: All television shows, books, movies, songs, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work and the characters, events, and settings thereof are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
AN: Happy Friday! Thank you all for your continued support of this story. I love reading and responding to each and every one of your reviews. It seems that people would rather this story continue, rather than for it to have sequel, so I think that is what we will do. As always, I sincerely hope you enjoy this update, and I look forward to seeing what you think. Happy weekend and ENJOY!
Thirty-Four
Sitting alone in the living room of the enormous penthouse apartment she shared with her daughter and fiancé, Arizona's knees anxiously bounced up and down, her exhausted mind racing a mile a minute. She just couldn't quite manage to wrap her head around the unfortunate series of events that had occurred that day and, throwing herself back against the overstuffed cushions, she closed her eyes, desperately trying to make some sort of sense of it all.
The morning had started off amazingly well, albeit incredibly sad and poignantly nostalgic; Arizona had been completely unable to reconcile the fact that her precious little, baby girl was old enough to go to school. It seemed like just yesterday that she had uttered her first word and taken her first steps - celebrated her first Christmas and blown out just one, singular candle atop a perfect pink and purple cake.
But, Arizona was tough; she could take it.
Well, at least that's what she had desperately tried to tell herself.
She had thought she would be okay - that she could handle leaving that precious child in her Kindergarten classroom - but, when Lillian had all but dismissed her so that she could return to her brand new set of friends, Arizona had felt as if her life was literally about to end. So much sass in such a tiny little body that she definitely was not prepared to encounter.
It was unfathomable.
It was sacrilege.
It was unfortunately the way things were - it was simply the next step - a rite of passage.
Because sweet little Lillian was exactly who she had raised her to be.
And, thank God for Callie. Had she not been there with her steadfast and loving presence, Arizona was certain she never would have made it out the school's front door.
To an extent, catching up with her work at the hospital on her first day back had helped to pass the time. . .up until the point when she had realized that Lillian's first day of Kindergarten was extremely close to drawing to an end. But, that was okay; she wasn't worried. She knew Callie would be there waiting for the little girl to come skipping out Trinity's front door - the same door Callie had nearly had to physically drag her out of earlier that day.
Arizona could just imagine the anxiously excited smiles she knew were definitely plastered on both of her girls' faces when they finally saw each other, Callie standing outside the car happily waiting to take Lillian home. She was sure they had then animatedly chattered in the back of the car on their way to their destination - unbeknownst to her, the hospital for a surprise visit so that Lillian could tell her all about her first day of Kindergarten.
But, unfortunately, it was right about then that things had begun to take a turn for the worse - everything had started to slip from wonderful and exciting to confusing and completely unexpected.
Arizona had known that Alan and Denise planned to attend Lillian's fifth birthday party scheduled for the coming weekend, but she had not anticipated them showing up at her office door at the exact same time she was sure Callie had buckled Lillian into her booster seat in the back of that black, BMW luxury sedan.
But, worse than their surprise visit - worse than them hunting her down at work, unannounced - was that Arizona never could have ever expected the way they had treated Callie from the very moment she had happily walked through the office door with and ecstatic Lillian holding her hand. Keira's parents had always been so welcoming and loving, compassionate and kind; there was no way she ever could have anticipated the frigid shoulders and glacial stares with which they had received her fiancé.
And, to make things worse, they had then asked to take Lillian to dinner and, unfortunately, she just hadn't been able to bring herself to tell them no. Lillian rarely got to see Keira's parents and, in an effort to honor Keira's importance in Lillian's life - in an attempt to keep the little girl's relationship with her grandparents healthy and alive - she had reluctantly acquiesced, though she could clearly see the unabashed heartbreak that particular response had invoked inside Callie, unadulterated sadness and overwhelming fear emanating from her soulful, brown eyes.
But, that had been hours ago. Seven to be exact. And, in that time, Arizona hadn't seen or heard a word from her now missing fiancé. Arizona had arrived home at 6:00pm, expecting to find her fiancé in the office or the kitchen - her usual haunts at that time of the evening - but, that simply had not been the case. Alan and Denise had then brought Lillian home around 7:00pm, and Arizona was sure Callie would be home by then for bath time and then bed, but that also had not happened.
It was now 11:00pm, and Callie still wasn't home. And, by this point, Arizona had experienced a full gamut of emotions in the face of her fiancé's extended absence; uncertainty had quickly morphed into sadness, followed by worry that had soon changed into what she was now feeling - profound anger and unadulterated hurt. She had absolutely no idea what Callie was currently thinking or feeling; she didn't even know where she was but, deep down, she was certain that, due to the completely unexpected - and unacceptable - behavior of Keira's parents, Callie's irrational insecurities had once again reared their ugly heads, not that she had ever been able to fully banish them, anyway.
But, not for lack of trying. Oh, God, had she tried. And, at this point, she had absolutely no idea what else she could possibly do. She had moved across the country to be with Callie. She had proposed. She had begun the process of legal adoption in order to cement Callie's place in Lillian's life. What the hell else could she possibly do to prove to that stubborn woman that they weren't going anywhere? Arizona was at a complete and total loss and, now. . .she was pissed.
Brusquely reaching for her phone, Arizona exhaled an agitated breath, her thumb briskly swiping across the screen to unlock it. But, just as she was about to dial - just as she was about to call her fiancé and demand to know where the hell she was - the arrival of the private elevator leading to the penthouse could be heard quickly approaching its destination.
And, hopping up from the sofa, Arizona hastily made her way toward the gallery, the sound of three familiar voices instantly catching her attention.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Aria genuinely asked, looking between her sister and her sister's best friend.
"Do you want us to stay?" Meredith then questioned, one hand benevolently resting against Callie's forearm.
Thoughtfully shaking her head, Callie let out a wary sigh. "No, no. I'm good. You go," she gently replied, offering the women an appreciative smile as she pressed the down button for the lift before they ever had a chance to argue. "Have a good night."
And, as the elevator door slowly slid shut, Callie slightly stumbled as she turned in order to make her way toward the office, her eyes unexpectedly meeting the stormy blue ones of the woman she loved once she had finally managed to steady herself just enough to not go tumbling to the floor.
"Are you. . .drunk?" Arizona incredulously asked, her eyes wide with angered shock and her arms sternly crossed over her chest.
Appearing appropriately sheepish, Callie didn't verbally respond, instead, she held up her hand, her thumb and index finger held at just about an inch apart, indicating that Arizona was, indeed, correct - just a little bit. And, with a smirk on her face that didn't in any way match the torrent of emotions that was currently waging war on her insides, Callie then turned on her heel, once again tripping as she attempted to make her way in the opposite direction, into the dining room instead of through the living room and into her usual hiding place of their home office.
And, speechlessly watching in utter stupefaction as the intoxicated woman precariously kicked off the Christian Louboutin Black Patent Peep Toe Pumps she had been stumbling over from the very moment she had entered the apartment, Arizona abashedly shook her head, even further surprised when Callie didn't even bother to pick them up from where they had landed, one atop the quite ostentatious dining room table in the dining room and the other on the floor in the kitchen where she had wrestled it off and chucked it over her shoulder to bounce off the island and onto the floor.
"What the hell, Callie?" Arizona brusquely questioned, more to herself than to the woman who was clearly attempting to flee from her presence.
To say that Arizona was stunned was a complete understatement; Arizona had honestly never seen Callie like this ever before. And, thinking back, she suddenly became aware of the fact that she had never, in the ten months they had been together, seen Callie actually drunk. Sure, she had seen her slightly tipsy after they had shared a bottle of wine - or two - with dinner at home or while on a date, but this, well, this. . .was something totally new and completely unexpected.
Calliope Torres always did everything with purpose; she thought about and planned her every last move, but it was clear from the aberrant look on her face and the capricious way with which she was now carelessly ripping off her suit jacket and untucking her blouse, that she was altered in some way. Intoxicated, angry, upset; it was definitely one of those things, but, honestly, it was probably a mixture of all of the above.
"You know, I really needed you here tonight, Calliope," Arizona stated once Callie had stopped trying to evade her, finally coming to a halt just outside the guest bedroom door.
Quickly spinning around, it was obvious from Callie's squinted eyelids that it was taking more than the normal length of time for her inebriated brain to force her eyes to focus on the woman standing before her. But, when they did - when those usually tenderly magical, brown eyes finally managed to right themselves - they suddenly flashed with the effervescent embers of the most agonizing hurt Arizona had ever seen.
"Why, Arizona?" Callie petulantly spat, completely careless of the venom in her tone. "So you could just sit back and watch as your in-laws treated me like a pedophile? Like some sort of rapist?"
With her mouth falling open in utter shock and unfathomable disdain in the face of such a fractious remark, Arizona found herself completely unable to formulate even a single word.
And, as she helplessly awaited some sort of response, Callie ruefully shook her head at the astringency of her own words and her own actions, the ominous silence of her fiancé, as well as the distressing events of earlier that day. She just wanted Arizona to say something, anything really; she needed her to tell her that she had gotten it all wrong - that Alan and Denise Winthrop didn't feel that way about her at all. But, when Arizona remained completely silent - when she didn't offer even the simplest reply - Callie quickly closed her eyes against the sting of tears she knew were about to fall before dejectedly turning and opening the guest room door.
"I'm going to bed."
Quietly standing at the now closed, guest bedroom door, Arizona momentarily stared at it as she considered whether or not she should knock - if she should give Callie the briefest moment of warning - but, ultimately deciding to just silently enter the room, unannounced, she carefully pushed it open before stealthily shutting it and making her way toward the bed.
After Callie had left her standing, speechless, in the middle of the hallway just two hours before, Arizona had initially thought to follow her - to demand she tell her where she had been and why she hadn't come home - but, thinking better of it, she had angrily retired to the master bedroom where she had desperately attempted to sleep, though her racing mind and irritable form had adamantly refused to allow her that luxury.
And, now, at after one in the morning, if she wasn't going to be able to sleep, then Callie wasn't either.
So, softly creeping toward the bed, Arizona gingerly sat on its edge, her left hand gently pushing wayward locks of brunette hair back from her fiancé's cheek as she took a silent moment to just watch as the other woman slept, that already flawless, caramel skin even more resplendently stunning in the silvery glow that was now cast upon it by the lights of the city around them and a waning crescent moon.
There were absolutely no words to describe just how gorgeous Arizona considered Callie to be, but, unfortunately, hidden beneath that exotic, external beauty lay a tortured soul that Arizona was harrowingly worried she may never be able to reach. The baseless insecurities that haunted Callie - those completely unfounded doubts she just couldn't quite seem to shake - had a tendency to sneak up on her from out of nowhere, painfully unannounced and thoroughly unbidden, and Arizona suddenly found herself infinitely terrified that she may never be able to make Callie realize that she wasn't going anywhere; she was in this thing for good and never ever planned to leave.
"Please, Arizona. Not tonight. I don't have the energy to fight."
Quickly pulling back her hand as if she had just been burned, Arizona's arm momentarily lingered in the air before she brought it down to join the other, now resting in her lap. But, she didn't move - she didn't even attempt to extract herself from the bed; she could do nothing but longingly stare at her lover who had yet to open her eyes. "Please talk to me, Calliope. I. . ."
"I can't keep doing this," Callie honestly interrupted, long eyelashes slowly lifting from caramel cheeks to reveal a tearful set of debilitatingly emotional, brown eyes. "I'm tired, Arizona. Exhausted. And, I just don't think I have it in me. Not anymore. It's just too hard."
Shocked by the defeated finality of Callie's tone, Arizona hastily shook her head. "What exactly are you saying, Calliope?" she harshly snapped, thoroughly worn down by this same sort of reaction from her fiancé every fucking time they had a disagreement or something went wrong.
"I'm saying - I am fried, Arizona! Completely spent!" Callie angrily shot back in sheer frustration, quickly sitting up in the bed to now sit face to face with the irate looking blonde. Callie had asked that they not do this - not tonight - but, with her inhibitions still slightly lowered from the alcohol she had consumed earlier in the night and with her fiancé now staring back at her with what seemed like certain hate, the acrimonious poison that slipped from her tongue next, just simply could not be halted. "I'm saying - I am exhausted of always having to fight something or someone in order for us to be together. I am saying - maybe all one night stands are ever meant to be is exactly that! Just. One. Night!"
And, with those words heavily lingering in the air, Arizona was off the bed with a shot, nearly ripping the door off its hinges in her hasty attempt to make her way as far away from Callie Torres as she possibly could. She refused to be treated like this. She refused to continuously have to keep proving herself, time and time again. Because, she was exhausted. She was fried. She was spent. And, she simply could not do this with Callie for a moment more.
"Shit!" Callie vehemently cursed to herself, her fists harshly colliding with the mattress when the full realization and the caustic gravity of what she had just idiotically spewed, suddenly registered in her brain, further ravaging her already mutilated sense of self-worth. "Arizona! Wait!" she urgently called, clamorously kicking at the sheets and duvet to untangle long, caramel legs from their seemingly relentless hold. "Please, Arizona. I am so sorry. I didn't mean that. Not at all," she genuinely pleaded as she hastily followed the other woman down the hall. "Honey, please. . ."
But, finally reaching the door to the master bedroom into which Arizona had just disappeared, Callie's heartfelt intercessions abruptly stopped short as she watched in horror as her fiancé suddenly lost the battle she'd been bravely fighting, every last one of Arizona's fortified defenses suddenly crumbling to the ground as she helplessly did the same. And, powerlessly watching as a torrent of tears then unabashedly flowed down Arizona's cheeks, her entire form quaking with the overwhelming power of her egregious lament, Callie was quickly on the floor at her side, gathering the broken woman into the cocoon of her loving embrace.
"Shhh. It's okay, sweetheart. I've got you. I'm right here," Callie gently attempted to soothe, tenderly rocking the smaller woman back and forth in her arms. She expected anger; what she had just ignorantly spewed definitely deserved more than a little bit of that, but as Callie sat cradling the tearfully shattered woman in her arms, she found herself completely uncertain as to where this sudden outpouring of melancholy emotion had stemmed; it could have been so many individual things or a conglomeration of every single one.
And, as Arizona continued to cry, she couldn't help but cling to the comfortable familiarity of Callie's form; even though she was totally pissed off at her for what she had just carelessly shouted, she knew, deep down, there was no other place in the entire world where she could ever feel so absolutely secure and indescribably whole than right there, powerfully enveloped in the refuge of Callie's arms.
So, why did this keep happening? Why did this woman have to continue to hurt her so very much? Why couldn't she just realize how much Arizona needed - and wanted - her in her life? Why?
Arizona knew the loathsome tears she was currently allowing to slip, unfettered, from her eyes weren't just because of Callie; her fiancé's irrationally shouted words had simply acted as the straw that broke the camel's back - they were the final nail in the coffin of her horrible day. She had already been feeling completely disillusioned by the attitudes and actions of Keira's parents, on top of the rejection and unimportance she'd already been experiencing in the wake of Lillian's first day of school, so the hurt caused by what Callie had just said was only the tip of the iceberg, the catalyst that had caused this sudden deluge of excruciating torment.
"I am so sorry, Arizona," Callie gently apologized, over and over, again and again as she continued to rock the crying blonde in her arms. "It's just. . .I had this plan for the way tonight was supposed to go, and it just. . .it wasn't at all supposed to be like this," she honestly continued, holding the other woman tightly against her chest as she gently raked her fingers through silky tendrils of wavy blonde hair. "Lillian and I were supposed to surprise you at work. Maybe even have some ice cream in the cafeteria. Then, I was going to bring Lillian home, and we were going to make your favorite, homemade pizza. We were supposed to have dinner together and talk about Lillian's first day of school and your first day back to work. It was supposed to be our time. My time with my girls. And, I just. . .I feel like I was cheated, Arizona. I feel like. . ."
"How exactly do you think I feel?" Arizona abrasively interrupted Callie's selfishly rambled admission, adamantly shaking her head before quickly forcing herself from the taller woman's arms, her face full of disdain as she again adamantly spoke. "Do you honestly believe this is the way I wanted today to end?" she angrily contended, her eyes raging with a fire unlike anything Callie had ever seen. "Jesus, Callie! It's not always about you, okay?" she furiously stated as she hastily grabbed for the mattress in an attempt to pull herself back up from the floor.
Shocked by the vehemence of her fiancé's contention, Callie found herself at a complete loss for words. "I. . .I. . ."
"You what, Calliope?" Arizona lividly interjected, needing her own turn to speak. "Your day didn't go as planned? Well, welcome to the fucking club. You can't plan everything, Callie. Because, guess what?! Sometimes shit happens!" she crudely argued, completely careless of how she might sound. "And, it sucks. Sometimes, it really, really sucks. But, guess what!? That doesn't mean you get to run. It doesn't mean I'm going to leave. It doesn't mean you are going to come home to find an empty apartment with nobody here for you to love! I mean, for the love of God, Calliope! How the hell am I supposed to marry a woman who thinks we never should have made it past a one night stand?"
With tearful, russet eyes suddenly widening in cognizant awareness of just how harsh her statement had been, she found herself unable to hold her fiancé's gaze, the overwhelming resentment and shattering hurt she could see in those stormy, blue eyes, causing Callie's shoulders to defeatedly slump, her head hanging in fragmentary despair. "I am so sorry, Arizona. I have no idea why I keep messing this up," she honestly stated, her head tentatively straightening back upward, watery, cocoa eyes meeting the sullen, cornflower eyes of the woman she loved.
"Well, if your intent is to make me hurt, then you have certainly done your job," Arizona bitterly snapped from where she now stood, halfway across the room, the physical distance now separating them, a profoundly austere implication of the enormous chasm Callie's negligently dispensed words had once again created between their hearts.
"What? No. I never want you to hurt, Arizona. Not ever."
With a caustic laugh bubbling up from somewhere deep inside her chest, Arizona refused to look at her fiancé; she just couldn't. "You certainly have a funny way of showing it," she hollowly replied.
As a shroud of ominous silence gravely cloaked their bedroom like the ceremonial pall of a life lost, the tender flesh of Callie's eyelids slowly drooped shut to hide the emotions swarming around in her stirring, brown eyes. And, taking a brief moment to gather her thoughts, Callie suddenly realized she had, perhaps, pushed Arizona so far that she may never be able to successfully right this wrong. "I have no idea what I'm doing - no idea why I insist upon causing others so much pain," she honestly admitted, pulling herself up with the mattress to now sit at the foot of the bed. "I just. . .I feel so lost and so out of order - like everything is beyond my control. And, I hate that, Arizona. I hate that I can't seem to make you happy. I despise the fact that I just can't quite seem to be able to get it right," she painfully confessed, two, caramel hands wringing together on her lap as she regretfully stared down at them. "And, today, when Keira's parents acted the way they did - when they looked at me with so much hate - I just knew that, that was it. I knew what they were thinking from the very moment I walked through your office door, and I just couldn't take it. I can't stand the thought of people thinking of me like that, but more than that, I understand how they feel," she earnestly continued, carefully standing on shaky legs to slowly close the distance between herself and the woman whom she knew she would never be able to get over - never in a million years. "I knew this Lauren bullshit was going to end up ruining everything. I knew that it would, in some way or another, cost me the things that I love most in this world, and I'm sorry for that, Arizona. I am so sorry that what I love most in the world just so happens to be. . .you."
With her brow furrowing in sincere confusion, Arizona curiously tipped her head to the side, her eyes beseeching Callie to further explain.
Swallowing hard against the lump of emotion that was currently threatening to strangle her, Callie ruefully shook her head. "For my entire life, I have pushed people away - broken their hearts before they had a chance to break mine," she desperately attempted to clarify, knowing she was doing an infinitely terrible job. "And, I've tried to stop pushing - I have tried to believe that I wasn't put on this earth to simply hurt - but, no matter how hard I try - no matter what I do - I just keep doing more of the same."
With her heart breaking at the pain she heard in her fiancé's voice - at the misguided logic Callie had forced herself to endure for way too long, Arizona took several cautious steps forward, coming to a halt just one foot in front of the woman she adored. "You know, I had plans for today, too, and it definitely wasn't supposed to end like this," she genuinely replied. "After everything we have been through, for you to even so much as think that we shouldn't be together, well, Calliope - if you truly believe that - you have just completely and totally broken my heart."
With tears thoroughly lacerated affliction now streaming down her face, Callie cautiously reached out for her fiancé, a tremulous hand nervously resting at the gentle swell of a slender hip. "I don't believe that, Arizona. I don't want to believe it," she softly spoke, her voice barely audible - the silence of the room was louder. "I'm just so afraid. Every single day of my life, I am scared to death to really be me, because I'm afraid that if I am - if I let down my guard, then you will find a reason not to stay," she shyly stated, her head once again dropping so that she didn't have to meet her fiancé's piercing gaze. "All I ever want is for you to be happy, Arizona. And, if that means you choosing Lillian's grandparents' feelings over me, then that is something I'll just have to live with. I love you enough to let you go. . ."
Wiping at her own tear dampened face, Arizona then reached out, a benevolent hand tipping Callie's chin upward so that she was forced to meet her gaze. "I honestly don't know how many times I have to say this, Callie, and I don't know in how many ways, but. . .I am not going anywhere. And, neither is Lillian. . ."
"But, her grandparents, Arizona. They. . ."
"They are worried about Lillian's well-being. They are worried that because I'm moving on, that may mean that I am moving on from them, too," Arizona quickly asserted, the frustration she was feeling toward Alan and Denise - and Callie - quickly seeping into her tone. "They should have just called and talked to me about all of this; they should have given me - and you - the opportunity to make them realize that you certainly are not the person the media has recently painted you to be."
Hearing the sincere devotion in Arizona's voice and seeing the overwhelming exaltation in her determined, cerulean eyes, Callie mentally berated herself for automatically assuming that Arizona would most certainly choose Lillian's grandparents' side - whatever that side was, exactly - over her own. "I am so sorry I'm such a fucking moron," she sheepishly stated, though she hadn't actually meant to voice that thought aloud.
But, when the slightest chuckle of laughter effortlessly slipped from Arizona's perfect, pink lips, blue eyes twinkling with just a touch of completely unexpected mirth, Callie was certainly glad that she had. "Please forgive me, Arizona. I don't want this to end; I don't want us to end. I don't want you to leave. I don't want to ever have this kind of conversation ever again."
"Why then, Calliope? Why do you keep pushing me away if you really don't want me to go?" Arizona honestly questioned, a shaky, ivory hand reaching upward to swipe at her own venerably dispersed tears.
Feeling that the mood in the room had somehow shifted - from severely tragic to manageably okay - Callie decided to take a chance, tenderly reaching out for her fiancé's hand, her body quickly filling with the slightest bit of relief when Arizona didn't pull away. And, leading the smaller woman back toward the bed, Callie delicately pressed Arizona to sit on the edge of the mattress before piously kneeling on the floor in front of her. "I have no explanation - no good excuse. I was upset and more than a little drunk. And, I-I'm just. . .I am so sorry, Arizona. For everything. For coming home late. For drinking too much. For insinuating that. . ." Callie painfully trailed off, unable to repeat the astringent words she had destructively heaved in Arizona's direction less than one hour before.
"You have got to stop doing this, Calliope," Arizona softly stated, gently brushing Callie's bangs away from her face before resting a lovingly compassionate hand atop a pajama clad shoulder.
With a nod of reply, Callie slowly leaned forward, respectfully laying a gentle kiss against Arizona's chest, directly over the spot where she knew her beautiful and loving heart to be. "I know," she genuinely agreed, slowly removing Arizona's hand from her shoulder to press a reverent kiss into its palm before warmly encasing it with two of her own.
"I mean, you do realize that every couple argues, right? Has a disagreement here and there."
With perfectly manicured eyebrows knitting together in question, Callie vaguely nodded her head. "Well, yeah. Of course I know that."
"So, then you also know that a misunderstanding isn't the end of the world - that just because there is some sort of conflict - it doesn't mean two people aren't meant to be together or that our relationship is going to end. And, it certainly doesn't mean that you and I would have been better off remaining a one night stand," Arizona earnestly stated, her tone calm - albeit forthright and sincere. "Everything that is worth anything is worth a fight, Calliope. And, for me, you are worth that. For me, an argument here or there - a misunderstanding or a lack of communication - isn't going to tear us apart. It's not going to be our end. Because, I'm not going to let it."
Smiling in the presence of the overwhelmingly heartfelt sincerity she heard in Arizona's guileless tone and in the heartfelt thoughtfulness of her words, Callie gratefully nodded her head. "I really hope you mean that," she tearfully replied.
Gently swiping at Callie's tears before taking Callie's hands into her own, Arizona looked nowhere else but into those soulful, brown eyes she found herself drowning in every single day. "Of course I mean that, Calliope. Do you honestly think I'd put up with your crap if I didn't?"
The following morning, Callie surreptitiously stepped up behind her fiancé who stood leaning over the island in the center of the kitchen, a steaming mug of hot coffee clutched between her hands as blue eyes carefully flitted across the typewritten words of the Science section of the New York Times.
"You're beautiful," Callie huskily murmured into the smaller woman's ear, the brunette's front melding into Arizona's back as she curled her entire body around the woman she loved. "Do you have any idea how much I love you?" she genuinely continued, bright, white teeth gently digging into a malleable lobe of flesh before plump lips kissed the hollow beneath an ivory ear.
Shivering as Callie's mouth continued its quest down her neck, a seductive giggle soon slipped from Arizona's throat when the taller woman blew a breath of cool air against the moisture her tongue had left against her sensitive flesh. And, somehow managing - despite the strength of the arms that were currently encircling her body - to turn in order to face her fiancé, Arizona smiled up at the woman who was now staring down at her with magnanimous adoration.
"You feeling better this morning?" Arizona seriously questioned, despite the playfulness with which Callie had greeted her.
Inhaling a long breath, Callie's eyes gently fell shut before once again opening to thoughtfully take in the sincere concern that was visibly reflected in her fiancé's cerulean eyes. "Much better, today. Thanks to you," she honestly replied. "How about you?" she nervously asked, her mirthful demeanor slightly slipping; she desperately hoped they would quickly be able to put the events of the previous night - well, earlier that morning, actually - as far behind them as she possibly could.
Silently nodding in reply, Arizona's lips curled into a dimpled grin, her hands carefully smoothing over the silky material of the fitted, satin blouse covering her fiancé's upper chest and shoulders. "I'm good. Better," she honestly stated, lacing her arms around Callie's neck as she languidly offered her fiancé a proper good morning kiss.
And, as the intimate joining of their lips quickly escalated to much more than a chaste, good morning greeting, Callie loudly moaned into Arizona's mouth, her fingertips urgently digging into the flesh of her fiancé's back where her hands had slipped beneath the barrier of a royal blue shirt.
God, Callie wanted this woman. She needed her. She just had to have her. And, carefully hoisting the smaller body up onto the granite countertop, she urgently insinuated her body between two dark wash denim clad thighs, two insistent hands immediately slipping into the back of those sexy as hell jeans to provocatively grasp at a perfect ass.
"I'm ready now, Callie. Time to go, mommy!" Lillian excitedly shouted as she entered the kitchen, her tiny body impeccably dressed in her Trinity uniform, a navy blue Pottery Barn backpack with pink and silver hearts, precariously slung over her right shoulder. "Are we going to be late? I don't want to be late."
Begrudgingly pulling away, Arizona momentarily rested her forehead against a flawless, caramel cheek, her chest heaving as she valiantly attempted to catch her breath. "Just when I was about to fuck you in the kitchen," Arizona lewdly suggested so only Callie could hear, a rueful laugh then leaving her mouth when she heard her fiancé erotically groan at the thought - or, more accurately, at the loss - as she cautiously slipped off the counter.
"Of course, you're not late," Arizona cheerfully explained, finally breaking free from her Callie's longing grasp in order to make her way across the kitchen to take her daughter's hand.
And, silently standing in the center of the kitchen, Callie could do nothing but watch, her eyes filling with the most profound sense of love and devotion she had ever known as she intently watched the blonde duo lovingly interact. Arizona and Lillian were amazing - perfect, really - and, as Callie continued to stare, the harmonious sound of their laughter, soon greeted her ears.
"Calliope? You coming?" Arizona curiosity asked for the second time, her first attempt at garnering Callie's attention going completely unheard.
Visibly shaking herself from her silent musings once Arizona's voice finally managed to penetrate her mind, a shy smile demurely pulled upward at the corners of Callie's mouth and, simply nodding her head, she purposefully made her way toward the two people she loved more than anything else in the entire world.
She had royally screwed things up the night before, but today was a new day, and she was bound and determined to get it right.
Making their way through the luxurious lobby of Fifteen Central Park West on their way toward the private drive where they knew Jackson would be waiting, a smooth ivory hand clenched tightly in the shelter of a slightly larger one as Lillian happily bounced in front of them. And, taking a brief moment to lean over to her side, Callie tenderly kissed her fiancé's temple, their feet never once breaking stride.
"Slow down, Lillian," Arizona gently chastised, protectively watching as the little girl quickly reached the exit door. "I promise, you're not going to be late!"
Dramatically grinding her vivacious pace to an overly exaggerated halt, Lillian then stood as still as the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, her stance changing only when Callie quietly snuck up behind her to playfully tickle her ribs.
"You are the silliest kid I know," Callie playfully teased, handing her attaché case to her fiancé before effortlessly picking up the little girl. "Are you. . ."
But, just as they were about the reach the exit, Callie's question was cut short, her face instantly falling when she saw the doorman proficiently usher Alan and Denise Winthrop into the building through the revolving, glass door.
And, seeing her fiancé's body go from carefree and light to completely rigid and obdurately austere, Arizona's smile, too, faded, blue eyes curiously narrowing as she searched their surroundings for what exactly had caused such a drastic change. And then, she saw them, the faces of two people who, at one point in time, had been so very loving and amazingly welcoming to her, only to now stare at her with certain disfavor, their eyes greeting Callie with contemptuous disdain.
"Grammy! Grandpa! I didn't know you were still here!" Lillian excitedly shouted, quickly scurrying down Callie's body so that she could greet her grandparents with excited hugs.
"Of course, we're still here, silly," Denise happily insisted as she pulled the child into her arms. "We'll be here until your birthday," she further explained.
Protectively taking Callie's hand, Arizona cautiously watched her fiancé's form slowly deflate as she marginally began to relax, the slightest glimmer of a smile somehow making its way back into her face as they stepped up closer to the couple who were now fawning over the cheerful little girl.
"I'm okay. I'm good," Callie honestly assured as Alan and Denise completely closed the distance between them. "I'm not going anywhere," she softly continued as an afterthought, somehow sensing that Arizona hadn't simply taken her hand for support, but also to ensure that she wasn't going to run, as well.
"Good morning, Arizona. We thought we'd meet you to take Lillian to school," Alan vaguely informed, his words directed only at Arizona, concerned, fatherly eyes never once straying toward the woman at her side.
"Can they please come with us, mommy? Please, please, please?" Lillian excitedly begged, swiftly climbing down from her grandmother's arms.
And, feeling completely torn, Arizona had no idea what to say - or what to do; she needed to get to the bottom of this entire situation, but these surprise attacks from Alan and Denise were simply not conducive to having a private conversation away from tiny - albeit perceptive - ears. "We were actually just on our way out the door. Callie's driver is waiting for us just outside."
"But, I'd be happy to offer Jackson - my driver - to you for the day, if you would like," Callie suddenly spoke, immensely surprising herself, as well as the blonde at her side.
Callie's tone was even, though her every last internal organ had begun to work in overdrive. Her heart was racing, her lungs were struggling for air, her stomach was churning; she felt as if she was mere seconds away from needing to puke. But, somehow, on the outside, she appeared totally serene; she looked like the confidently unflappable Callie Torres the public always got to see. But, deep down, she was dying; she had so many things she wanted to say to these people, so she was completely and totally shocked that those words had been the ones that had abruptly chosen to impulsively fall from her mouth.
"You four go ahead. Take the car and get Lillian to school. You know she has absolutely no tolerance for being late," Callie bravely tried to tease, though she truly felt like she was certainly about to die. "Jackson can drop Arizona at NewYork-Pres after that, and then the two of you are free to use the car at your leisure. Jackson is the best driver in Manhattan, and I assure you, he'll be able to safely get you to wherever you need to be."
Curiously regarding her fiancé, Arizona absolutely did not want to make a scene but, at the same time, she desperately needed to know what the hell Callie was thinking. "What are you doing, Calliope?" she softly asked so only her fiancé could hear. "We can all just go together. Or we can just carry on as planned - just the three of us," she beseechingly tried to rationalize, her face filling with sudden fear. "Please, Callie, don't do this again. Please don't create a distance. . ."
Gently shaking her head, Callie lovingly smiled as she tenderly took Arizona's hands into her own. "I'm not running, Arizona. I promise," she genuinely stated. "I'm just trying to make this easier for all of us."
"But. . ."
"It's okay, sweetheart. I'm okay," Callie honestly whispered, desperately hoping she could make her fiancé understand. And, tipping her head forward, she placed a compassionately adoring kiss against an alabaster forehead before pulling the smaller woman into a venerable embrace. "Lillian adores them, Arizona. In her eyes, they can do no wrong, and I don't want to take anything away from that. I don't want the time she gets to spend with them to be clouded by their feelings toward me," Callie genuinely continued.
"But, they're wrong, Calliope. What they think of you is completely out of line."
Nodding her agreement, Callie softly sighed before leaning forward to offer her girlfriend a reverential, goodbye kiss. "Okay, then," she over-exaggeratedly chirped, emotive, brown eyes momentarily lingering on flustered, azure ones before Callie valiantly pulled away from her still confused fiancé in order to regard the remainder of the group. "Have a great day at school, today, little miss," she earnestly stated before pressing a gentle kiss against a cherubic cheek. "I have to run into work, but I promise you - I will absolutely be there, this afternoon, to pick you up from school."
And, with that, Callie valiantly turned on her Jimmy Choo, Alex suede heel, politely speaking with the doorman as he helpfully ushered her out the door. And, as the doorman then expertly hailed her a cab, Callie quickly disappeared inside, her mind racing and her demeanor, unyielding.
This wasn't over.
Alan and Denise Winthrop may have won this battle, but there was no way in hell Calliope Iphigenia Torres was going to let them win the war.