A/N: IMPORTANT! I have decided to join a fanfiction contest on Inkitt. www .inkitt CalzonaAndDemi this is the link to my account, just delete the spaces between words. I'm uploading this same story and maybe you'll like it and comment on it there as well. Thank you. Only two chapters left before this story ends.
Callie and Arizona started taking classes to get their Foster Care license. They even spoke with the specialist. It was all happening very quickly. It would take them about 8 weeks to get their license and during that time Loraine would visit their home to see how safe it is. Two days after the baby arrived to the NICU she was scheduled for a surgery.
Arizona sat with her, carefully holding the little hand. "You need to fight today, you hear me?" Most of the times the doctor chose a temporary name for the baby.
Cristina entered the NICU to check her vitals on last time before taking her into the surgery. "How is she doing today?" She knew Callie and Arizona were at least looking into the possibility of adopting this girl so she was being nicer to them.
"I think, okay," Arizona answered.
Cristina listened to her heart. "She's doing as well as she could," she said. "We'll be doing the first part of the three step surgery today. With a preemie it's hard to even get her on a transplant list. I'll be inserting a shunt today. We'll be in and out in an hour."
Arizona nodded. She understood the complications and was glad Cristina didn't talk her through them.
"Where's Callie?"
"She's having a meeting with our social worker. She's keeping a very close eye on us and we have to check in on her every few days. Together and separately," Arizona explained.
Cristina nodded. "Do you want to give her a name? I know you usually have babies named even if just temporary."
"Olivia," Arizona said and nodded. She was Olivia.
"Okay. We'll take her for surgery now and keep you updated. Alex and Teddy will be there with me," Cristina said. "You'll get an updated halfway through."
Arizona nodded. "Thanks." She took off her gown. She has been talking to the chief and the adoption agency about the rest of the kids that were sick and needed surgery and the money that was being saved for Olivia's surgery now went to those kids. She was expecting a call from Loraine soon about when they would get here. It was about 5, maybe 6 kids. It's always easier to adopt a healthy child instead of one that needs surgery. Arizona continued with her schedule and tried not to think about the surgery on the baby too much. Halfway through the surgery she got a text from Teddy saying it was all going well. Her pager went off and she rushed to the ambulance bay. "Callie?"
Callie was smiling sheepishly. "I kind of helped Loraine and the kids to get here on a small bus. Some are with their legal guardians." There were 7 children that needed surgical help. Callie was holding onto a two year old.
"Okay, let's get you in the ER," Arizona said with a bright smile to make the children more comfortable and helped them inside. "Let's page Bailey and Kepner."
Callie put the two year old on the table. She was looking at her with big teary eyes. "Don't worry, here's your teddy." After her meeting with Loraine, which she had to say felt successful, she spoke to her about the rest of the kids. This little one had a left cub foot.
Arizona was working on a older girl. She was shy and quiet. Some kids were more talkative. "How did your meeting go?"
"It went really well. I think," Callie said. "How's the baby?"
"They took her into surgery and Teddy said it was going well." Arizona blushed. "I uhm.. You know how sometimes we have to name babies because the parents don't know yet and we need temporary names?" Callie nodded. "I chose Olivia."
Callie laughed. Because of course Arizona would do that. "It's okay. I'll take this little one for an x-ray and hopefully her foot will be better by tomorrow." She tickled the little girl's foot finally making her giggle.
Arizona smiled at her wife. After most of the kids were admitted she took a moment to speak with Loraine. Olivia was out of surgery by now but she couldn't drop everything to go and see her. "We will keep you posted. Everyone is getting their own medical record and we'll start with the kids that will have less recovery time," she explained. "They are in the pediatric ward right now. You can always come visit them because we don't have visiting hours for children on pre-op or post-op."
Loraine smiled. "Thank you so much for doing this."
"We're happy to help, really," Arizona said. "And little Olivia is out of the surgery so you can come see her."
"Olivia?"
Arizona laughed, embarrassed. "We like to name the preemies. Most times parents don't pick names until they're sure so we choose strong names. Like Leo and John and Anna. I like the name Olivia. And it's temporary, really."
Loraine laughed. "It's okay. I'm glad you like the baby."
"She's very beautiful. But with her heart condition she is going to need two additional surgeries in the next 3 years of her life. It's not going to be an easy recovery," Arizona explained. She showed Loraine to the surgical floor and to the NICU. She offered her the pink gown and helped put it on. "It's a protocol. These babies catch diseases faster and aren't as resilient," Arizona spoke as she put one on herself. They washed their hands and used a disinfectant. Arizona led her to Olivia. After the surgery she was now intubated.
"She looks bigger," Loraine said.
"Yeah, she grew. We had to wait for a couple of days so that she got stronger," Arizona murmured. She checked Olivia's vitals and entered them in her chart. "She can't breathe on her own yet but her vitals look stable." She looked over at Alex and nodded at him and he smiled back. "That's my colleague doctor Karev. He operated on her today." Loraine took a few steps back and talked to Alex about the surgery while Arizona reached inside and took her hand. "You were a fighter today. Yes you were," she smiled at Olivia. The baby's eyes were strikingly beautiful. Hazel. Just a perfect mixture of blue, green and little brown. They could get darker over time but Arizona was happy with how they looked now.
Callie entered the NICU when she passed it and saw Arizona's blonde curls. She entered it quietly and got gowned up. "Hey, how is she?"
Arizona smiled at her wife. "She's doing great for now."
Callie washed her hands and disinfected them. "Her eyes are incredible," she pointed out when the baby's head turned. Callie stood by Arizona's side so one hand went inside the incubator to the baby's legs while she hold Arizona's hand with the other. "How are the rest of the kids?"
"Admitted into my ward. They've all been checked out by their assigned doctors so it looks promising," Arizona said and leaned her head against Callie's shoulder. "I wish all of this would go faster, so that we would get our license and we could take her home."
Callie smiled sadly. "We have about 7 weeks of training and a home visit and she needs to stay here for at least 9 weeks before anyone could take her home. But with her condition they won't move her around the foster system. I spoke with Loraine and she's very hopeful for us."
"Yeah?" Arizona wondered, perking up. Finally some good news.
"So much that I agreed for a home visit tonight," Callie admitted and cringed. "I know I should have talked to you before but she kind of sprung it on me and I said yes because I felt like saying no would mean we're bad people. So she should be at our home sometime around bath time.
"Oh, war zone in our house," Arizona said and laughed. Bath time was still an issue. Now that the kids started refusing to take baths together because they were a boy and a girl it took even longer. With a lot more personal questions that Arizona felt they were too young to ask.
Callie laughed. "We'll be fine. And you'll be fine too little Olivia," she cooed, tickling the baby's foot which resorted in squirming. "How long till they get her extubated?"
"Depends. If she gets stronger, in a day or two. She doesn't eat as much as they would like her to hence the ET tube," Arizona answered. "You need to fight little one. Do you hear me?"
Loraine turned around to see Callie and Arizona cooing over the baby. She smiled at them. So far they were the best candidates for adopting this baby. They had no criminal records, both financially secure, she dared to check with the children's school social worker and they were unproblematic and had good grades. Now she just had to meet the kids and see their house. They shared a gentle kiss and Loraine turned away with a smile. Her job was done for the day.
Arizona sighed. "I wish I could stay here today, for the night. To keep an eye on her and the rest of them. My ward is seriously packed right now and it feels wrong to leave Alex in charge."
"You know Alex is an incredible surgeon. And it's weird considering he barely had a heart before but he gets along with the kids. And he promised to page you if something would go wrong," Callie said. "I have an arthroplasty in ten so I need to go but I'll see you later?"
Arizona nodded. "I have a lot of paperwork. With all the admitted kids and the pulled fire alarm from a few days ago. It's been a crazy week." She sat behind the desk in the NICU near Olivia where she could write and watch her at the same time. While medical charts were now on electronic tablets there was still paperwork for death, admitted patients, discharged patients and everything that went wrong. Olivia's heart monitor started beating faster and Arizona quickly stood up, thinking something was wrong. "Oh hey big girl. You're breathing through your intubation," Arizona cheered, reaching her hand inside and gently rubbed the baby's arm. "That's very good." Olivia flung her tiny arms around for a while before she got tired and fell back asleep. Arizona checked the time on her watch. She was able to go home. She signed all the paperwork. "Keep fighting little one," she ordered Olivia and tore off her pink gown. She left the paperwork at the nurses' station and went to the changing room. Arizona sat on the bench and waited for Callie. Callie's cubby had a drawing that Josh gave her and a little heart post it note that Arizona gave her for Valentine's day. "Hey, how did your surgery go?"
"Nailed it," Callie responded which made both laugh. "How's Olivia?"
"She's doing well. She's breathing through her intubation. But her oxygen level is still a little low so it's Alex's call," Arizona explained. She watched Callie change out of her scrubs. "Any plans for dinner?"
Callie laughed. "You're already thinking about food? Well I kind of want mac and cheese with hotdogs but with Loraine coming over I feel like we should make an actual healthy meal."
"I'll make the salad you figure out the rest?" Arizona suggested.
Callie sat down on the bench next to her wife, her legs on either side of the bench and pressed a soft kiss on Arizona's lips. "Yes. You ready to go home? You look a little pale." She brushed her fingers against Arizona's cheek.
"Worst period cramps," Arizona admitted.
"Ugh, that means I'll get it too now," Callie whined and Arizona gently shoved her which made her laugh. "Come on, let's go home and we can put a heating pad on your tummy."
Arizona smiled and accepted Callie's hand. They drove home. It was the beginning of the 4th grade for the kids so they were in school and after school a neighbor's teenager Anne watched them. Liz has moved away for college so they had to change their babysitter. "Hello, we're home!" she announced loudly. The basement door was open so they were probably downstairs.
Anne ran up. "Hi. I gave them their snacks and they finished their homework so I figured they were allowed to play games for a while."
Arizona paid her. "Thank you. You can stay for dinner if you'd like."
"Oh no, thanks. I have a date actually," Anne said with a big smile.
"Enjoy your date," Callie added before the teenager was out of their house. "How about fried chicken breasts and rice and I can make that creamy mushroom sauce you like so much?"
Arizona grinned. "I'd marry you all over." Callie pinched her side making her squeal. "I'll make the salad." They worked around each other in silence for a while before Callie spun around and turned on the little radio they kept there. The music turned on and Arizona laughed as Callie danced around her while shaking the pan. "I'll go check on the kids." She watched Callie shimmy her shoulders and went in the basement with a huge smile on her face. "Hey guys, what are you doing?"
"Hi mama," they said in unison making Arizona's stomach flutter. "We're playing Go fish," Sofia stated.
Arizona nodded. "I can see that. Dinner will be ready soon so go upstairs and wash up okay?" Josh frowned. "What's wrong bud?"
"You didn't ask us how school was," he whined. "You always ask us that. Why didn't you ask us that?"
"I was planning to later," Arizona said honestly. "But how was school today?"
Sofia smiled widely and started bubbling about how in art class they were able to use the hot glue. "And then Josh accidentally got some on his hand. But I took him to the school nurse. And she put a bandage on it."
Josh stuck out his hand. Arizona unwrapped the bandage, glad to see the nurse did everything right. "You're going to have a blister but it should be okay." She pressed a soft kiss on the red skin and Josh giggled. Arizona carefully wrapped it back.
"I got a boo-boo too," Sofia complained, wanting attention as well. She rolled her pants up to show Arizona her scraped knee. Well, barely scraped knee.
Arizona stifled a laugh and bent down to kiss it better. "Does it feel better now?" Sofia nodded. "Good. Now wash up please." Arizona sighed. Both of her babies got hurt today. Not badly but enough. And she had a baby in the NICU that just had a heart surgery and she was interested in adopting her. Arizona went back upstairs and sat on a stool by the breakfast bar.
Callie saw her wife pouting and leaned over. "What's wrong, honey?"
"Josh got a blister from the hot glue in school and Sofia scraped her knee," Arizona said. And that was really not a big deal. They dealt with scraped knees and elbows all the time. They didn't want to be those parents that just put a computer in front of a child. "And Olivia just had a heart surgery."
Callie nodded, understanding what Arizona was thinking about. "You're having second thoughts."
"I'm not," Arizona immediately defended herself.
"But you are. And it's okay," Callie said, reaching over. "Look, Olivia is sick. She has at least two surgeries ahead of her and we'd be crazy if we didn't have second thoughts about adopting such a sick baby with two kids already at home. And Josh has diabetes, which is manageable and not even a problem at this point and Sofia was a preemie and had a heart surgery herself. It's a lot. The question is, can we handle it?"
"Yes!" Arizona almost screamed. She was just really passionate about this. "Because no one can take better care of her than us. She needs stability. And she needs people that understand what's happening medically."
Callie smiled. "See, we can handle it. Okay, let's have dinner in peace and we'll see what Loraine says later."
They ate dinner and just like Loraine promised she showed up during bath time. Sofia was in the living room waiting for her turn when the doorbell rang. Josh ran out of the bathroom and into the hallway butt naked. Arizona's eyes widened as she realized he was about to open the door. "Joshua! No."
Josh screamed as he realized a complete stranger was at the door and hurried back in the bathroom. Arizona heard the water running and she has never seen Josh get into shower that fast. She walked to the door, a little mortified. "Hi, welcome to our home."
Loraine laughed. "I think I scared him."
"Yeah, we're still having trouble with bath time," Arizona apologized. "I'm really sorry."
"Oh, no worries. I wanted to meet them anyway," Loraine brushed it off.
Callie joined them and as they started talking in the hallway a loud obnoxious sigh came from the living room. "I'm trying to watch my show mommies!" Sofia grumbled.
"Let's go to the kitchen," Arizona offered and showed Loraine the way. "Do you want anything to drink? Water, coffee, juice, tea?"
"Water's fine," Loraine said. "Can I ask about your work schedules? I'm sure as surgeons you're fairly busy."
"We usually both work day shifts and now they're usually in school and after school they have softball twice a week and a game on Saturday and drama club twice a week. We have a wonderful babysitter, Anne, she lives down the street. And we have co-workers that are always willing to help out and grandparents are always willing to watch them," Arizona explained as Callie passed Loraine a glass of water and started making tea for Arizona.
Loraine nodded. "But with adoption, when they aren't biological children, they aren't always accepted that well by other kids in the family. Do you think that would be an issue?"
"Definitely not," Callie said and chuckled. "They've been begging for a sibling for a while now."
"What about their fathers?" Loraine asked curiously.
Callie and Arizona looked at each other and Arizona nodded. "Sofia's dad passed away a few years in a plane accident." Arizona was chewing on her lower lips and looked conflicted whether she should say it or not. "You don't have to mention it," Callie murmured quietly.
Arizona sighed. "It would feel wrong to lie about it," she said back just as quietly. "Can you tell her? I.. I can't."
Callie pressed a gentle kiss on her wife's forehead. She watched her as she moved away from the kitchen. "Josh's dad is out of the picture. Arizona was assaulted."
Loraine gasped. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about it."
"It's okay. We're all okay," Callie said. She nodded at Arizona who poked her head through the door. "Here's your tea."
Josh entered the kitchen freshly showered and in his pajamas, his head hanging low. He walked to the lady he didn't know. "I'm very sorry you had to see my wee-wee," he mumbled in embarrassment.
Arizona snickered and hid her smile behind the cup of tea. "Next time no running around the house naked. Tell Sofia it's her time for a bath now."
"Yes mama," Josh said obediently.
"I'm sure you want the house tour?" Callie wondered. Loraine nodded. "Okay, this is obviously the kitchen." Callie showed her to the living room, the dining room and the downstairs bathroom. Then they went upstairs. "This is our bedroom. With the baby, we were thinking of putting a crib here for the first month or so," Callie explained and showed her where Arizona showed her she wanted the crib.
"That's very thoughtful," Loraine said.
Arizona then showed her the spare bedroom. "This is the guest bedroom. We actually thought of changing this into either Josh or Sofia's room because they still want to share the room now but in 7 years they'll be changing their mind." And then there was her office. Well hers and Callie's office now. Two desks with their laptops and a large bookshelf with medical books. "This is our office. We would change this into a nursery because we don't actually use it. And the medical books are not as useful anymore." She saw Oreo sleeping in the corner of the room where sun was pointing directly at him. "And that's our cat, Oreo. She's vaccinated and everything. The kids love her," Arizona explained.
Loraine nodded. "May I see the kids' room as well?"
"Of course," Callie said, jumping in. She opened the door to their room. "I know it looks like they don't have that many toys but there's a playroom in the basement. It's cleaner if most toys just stay there," she rambled.
"Playroom," Loraine repeated. "That's something I haven't heard in a long time." She went to the basement. Everything was safe. Clean. They were as prepared as they could be since they didn't have an actual baby yet. "I like it. You're very prepared and I admire that. You still have classes left but we can rule out CPR since you're doctors. You also don't have to take one that's about bringing a newborn home, you both already had a child. But as long as you take the rest it should be fine."
Arizona smiled sheepishly. "So how long would that be?"
"4 hours for each class. About six weeks since you can only take them on Saturday. But that's not that much. Some parents get the call during classes too," Loraine said. "So be prepared. With that nursery."
Arizona's eyes widened and she looked over to Callie to smile widely at her. "Thank you so much."
After they put kids to bed Callie led Arizona in their bedroom. She opened the drawer in her nightstand and pulled out two envelopes. "Recently I went to my lawyer and I got these papers. It states that Sofia's officially yours. If you sign them. In case something were to happen to me you would get full custody of her." She played with the corners of envelopes. "I also got one that says Josh is mine but only if you want to. You don't have to sign anything if you don't want to."
Arizona teared up. Because Callie was so thoughtful and incredible "Of course I would sign them. I would love nothing more than to do that." She leaned over and grabbed a pen from her nightstand. She opened the envelopes and signed on each paper. "You guys are my family."
Callie smiled. "Good. I'll mail them back to my lawyer tomorrow." She put the papers aside and leaned over to press a soft kiss on Arizona's lips. Arizona deepened the kiss and ended up sitting in Callie's lap. Callie laughed when Arizona's lips moved down to her jaw. "Door first."
Arizona rolled her eyes. She closed the door and took her shirt off at the same time, now wearing just a think tank top. She returned back to bed, capturing Callie's bottom lip between hers. "I love you," she whispered as she bit into Callie's lip.
Callie groaned. "You're a tease. But I love you anyway."
Arizona laughed and laid down. "You promised me you will massage my tummy," she said in a childlike voice.
Callie spooned Arizona and reached down to the waistband of her pants and gently rubbed her lower abdomen. She pressed a kiss on Arizona's shoulder and felt Arizona melt into her embrace. "Sweet dreams."