No Matter of Chance

By AmboDriver

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just playing around with these "If/Then" alternative versions of characters that I adore. They are owned by Shondaland, ABC, and probably a lot of other really rich folks.

A/N: So sorry this took forever. I've been both busy and down in the dumps, neither of which is good for writing. And of course I'm writing 2 stories when this happens, right? Ugh!

First off, still loving the "oh my god you've gone this long and there's still no sex" reviews from anonymous guests. Since it occurs to me that you're still reading despite the lack of smut, I would like to thank you so much for the compliment. That's probably better than any positive review I've gotten so far!

And for the rest of you, thanks for the wonderful reviews. I'm glad many of you appreciate the slow story and the character building and all that. Can't please everyone, but from the PMs, follows, and reviews, I'd say I'm pleasing way more than I am not. And that's all I can ask.

So, here's the last thing that I feel I need to accomplish before getting to the end of this whole thing…hopefully will have the next chapter up by the end of the month. I'm visiting my mother for Thanksgiving, though, and that will undoubtedly put a damper on writing the sexy time, so who knows.

Chapter 38

"When are we going to see the snow leopards?" Allegra whined to Callie as they walked through the zoo.

Callie looked over at Arizona, who shot her a short shrug, and then looked down at her daughter. "I told you, we're heading there right now. But they are in the middle of the park so it takes a little while."

Allegra pouted and looked over at Arizona. "If she hadn't wanted to see the monkeys we'd be there by now."

"They were orangutans," Arizona answered quietly as she looked down at Allegra with a hint of a challenge on her face.

"Close enough, Arizona" Allegra said with emphasis on every syllable of her name. She then turned to her brothers and rolled her eyes. "What a stupid name, too. It's a state," she practically spat as she walked off ahead of them.

"Hey, at least I'm not named after an allergy medication," Arizona yelled after her.

"Arizona!" Callie gasped as she swatted at her girlfriend's arm. "First rule of parenting, don't stoop to their level."

Arizona stopped and looked at her like she had two heads. "I… I'm not their parent, Callie."

"I know," Callie said with an exasperated sigh. It had just slipped out and she knew Arizona was hesitant about her kids, because she had never really seen herself as a parent. And yet she was embarking on this journey with the mother of three small kids, one of whom could routinely be a bit of a smartass. "I'm not trying to push you into anything, but you'll need to be an adult around them. You can't just try to be their friend or stoop to a four year-old's level, if you want to be in a relationship with a parent. They need to show you respect like they would respect me or Owen and you need to react accordingly."

"Can I start tomorrow? I'm really not in the mood to be that adult today." Arizona looked at her and gave her a goofy grin, but Callie could tell that it was more of a put on to avoid the issue of her kids. "I mean, really, snow leopards, Callie!"

Callie looked at her and then couldn't help but smile. Arizona was right. This was supposed to be a fun day. They'd have time for heavy discussions later. "Okay, snow leopards." But she still wanted to somehow say what she needed to about the little spat between Arizona and her daughter. "Allegra's not usually like this," Callie said to Arizona.

Arizona shrugged. "She's just trying to figure out the boundaries of how to react to me. She wants to see what my buttons are and what your buttons are when it comes to me. It's how kids at her age figure out the world a lot of the time." She reached over and took Callie's hand. "Don't worry. Even if I'm still working out how to react to your kids, they aren't going to scare me off. But I hate that you are in the middle of us."

Callie let out a huge sigh of relief. Callie had worried that her kids often having bad attitudes due to all the changes in their lives would give Arizona pause when it came to their relationship. "They're going through a hard time and now there's someone new in my life. I guess it's understandable they aren't too thrilled about it. Well, Allegra especially. I think the boys are just young enough that they still haven't figured out how this is all impacting them."

"It'll take time," Arizona said with the quietest of sighs. "I mean, I'm obviously not looking to take Owen's place or anything. I can't be their parent just yet, Callie. I'd like to just start out being their friend, but an adult one that should be respected, just like you said. I guess they might see it as more than that, but I'm not quite ready for that. And deep down I don't think they're ready to see me as a parent either. One day I guess I will be. Just not quite yet, okay?"

"Okay." Callie nodded as she flashed back to the discussion a few nights previous after they had gotten rid of her parents and were enjoying just being together. Discussions of the future had come up and the most important part of that had been her children. Callie had wanted to broach the subject for a while, but after introducing Arizona to her parents, it seemed that the next natural step was to introduce the children to Arizona as their mom's girlfriend and not just as a co-worker. The boys had not seemed all that interested, but Allegra had instantly rebelled against the idea, because all she knew was her mother and father weren't together like they used to be. Now that Mommy was going to be dating someone else, it had to seem to her like Arizona was taking Owen's place. "I've told her at every opportunity that Daddy is still Daddy and he still loves them, but I'm not so sure she wants to hear it. Even Owen telling her didn't seem to convince her."

Arizona laid her head on Callie's shoulder. "We just need patience. She's not going to run me off and as long as you're willing to weather the Allegra storm, we'll get through it."

Callie laughed quietly. "Allegra storm? Yeah that's about right. You should see her when I make her clean her room. Talk about temper tantrums."

"Well, I know one thing that won't cause a temper tantrum," Arizona said with a nod straight ahead. Allegra and the twins were standing along the fence with a number of other children and adults looking into the pen where the snow leopards were housed. "Granted getting her to leave might be an effort."

Callie groaned loudly. "Not looking forward to it."

They walked over to stand behind the three children. Arizona immediately knelt down so she was on their level and poked her head between Allegra and the boys. "Do you see them?"

"There," Allegra said excitedly as she pointed toward the back of the exhibit. "You can see the cubs playing in the grass." Her voice was full of wonder as she stared at the two small cubs and their mother.

"Aww," Arizona said as she seemed to instinctively lean a little closer to Allegra. "Did you know that snow leopards don't roar? They can't. They can growl and make other cat-like noises, but they can't roar like a lion or the other big cats."

"Really?" Allegra looked at Arizona with wide eyes for a moment before turning back to look at the leopards. "How do they scare off other animals?"

"Well, they can kill animals that are way bigger than they are, so I'm not sure they have too many animals they need to scare off. They just kill them."

"And eat them," Allegra whispered.

"Yes, they eat them. They only eat meat," Arizona answered.

Callie watched as Allegra and Arizona continued to talk about the snow leopards and couldn't help but smile as her daughter seemed to relax in Arizona's presence. The twins also seemed to be fascinated by the information Arizona was giving to their sister. Well, it's a start. Thank you snow leopards.

Arizona looked down the hall, waiting for Callie to come back from tucking the children in for bed. It had been a long day, and often trying, but she really felt like there had been a little progress between her and the kids. All the way home from the zoo, Allegra had peppered Arizona with questions about various animals at the zoo. From time to time, Arizona would look over at her girlfriend and see the smile spread on her lips as Allegra thought up another of the animals they had seen and wanted to know why they did this or that. It really gave Arizona hope that things would relax between her and the kids and that it would make the relationship she was building with Callie grow. But she still felt so uncertain and she found herself worrying that if the kids didn't continue to slowly accept her, that it would throw up a wall between her and Callie that might be impossible to scale.

As she let her brain continue to mull over the issue of the kids, Callie finally came down the hall, a look of relief on her face. "Sorry that took so long," she said quietly when she walked into the living area. "The boys just wanted to talk about the zoo. I think they really liked it."

Arizona couldn't help but smile as she thought about the toddlers and how they had squealed at the variety of animals they had seen all day. "They're at that age where they can really start comprehending what is going on around them and the zoo is perfect for young kids like that."

"And big kids like us, too," Callie said as she flopped down onto the couch next to Arizona. "I had a really good time today."

"Me too," Arizona answered automatically, even though there really wasn't much enthusiasm in her voice.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Callie said as she turned sideways on the couch so she was looking directly at Arizona.

Arizona shrugged and let out a small sigh. "I guess I'm just worried that the kids won't continue to accept me. Today was pretty easy because it was exciting. What about every other day when I'm just here for dinner or stopping by to say hi?"

"Well, first of all," Callie began with a mischievous smile on her face, "I hope you'd be stopping by for more than that."

"With your kids down the hall?" Arizona had a hard time keeping the smile from her face.

"Adults do it all the time," Callie said with a shrug. "That's how little brothers and sisters are made after all." She then got serious and looked down at her hands for a moment before her dark eyes rose to meet Arizona's. She started to say something before she shook her head and got up to go over to where her purse was sitting. She dug through it for a few moments before pulling something out. She then came back and sat across from Arizona. "I was going to give this to you this weekend, but I want you to have it now." She handed Arizona a small velour bag.

Arizona took it gingerly and looked at it for a few moments before speaking. "Callie, you didn't have to give me anything."

Callie's smile was a little unsure for a moment before it spread. "Open it."

Arizona returned the smile before she nodded and looked down at the little bag. She untied the red string around the neck and pulled it open before tipping it over so that the contents could fall into her palm. She smiled when a silver key fell out. "House key?" Her stomach flipped as she ran her finger over the cool metal key.

"Yeah," Callie said as a hint of red came to her cheeks. "I want you here for more than dinners, Arizona." She held up her hand and quickly added, "I'm not asking you to move in or anything. But I want you to feel free to come over whenever you want and maybe have some stuff here so you can spend the night. Maybe at first on the nights Owen has the kids, but eventually and not that far in the future, I want you to be able to spend the night even when they're here. They need to understand that you're part of my life and you aren't going away. And that way, when we're ready, and we want to talk about something maybe a little more permanent, it's not so strange for them. Or for us." Callie stopped suddenly and let out a nervous burst of laughter. "I think I'm rambling."

Arizona's smile grew wide. "I love your rambling." She then tucked the key in her jeans pocket before climbing along the couch and onto Callie's lap, so that she straddled her thighs with her arms tossed over her girlfriend's shoulders. "I love the key and what it means," she said quietly before giving Callie a quick kiss. "And I love you," she added.

Callie's eyes shone brightly as she smiled. "Whew, so it's not too soon?"

Arizona couldn't help but laugh. "I realize we've probably won some award from the go-slow society or something, but I think we might have just gotten to the tipping point where we're allowed to start rolling downhill and picking up speed. So, no, it's not too soon. And I'd also love to keep some stuff here and spend the night as often as I can."

"Good," Callie said as she leaned in to give Arizona another kiss. "I'm sure after this weekend I'm going to want you here and in my bed as often as possible."

"In your bed, huh?"

"Yes. Don't bother bringing any pajamas over. You won't be needing them." A mischievous glint gleamed from Callie's brown eyes.

Arizona laughed again. "Ah, so you expect me to walk around your house naked, even when the kids are here?"

Callie pursed her lips in thought. "Okay, you can bring a robe."

"Ah, so generous of you." Arizona leaned down and kissed along Callie's jawline. "Of course I expect the same dress code from you," she whispered in her ear before kissing the spot behind it that she had found a few nights previous that Callie had admitted literally made her toes curl.

After a tremulous breath, Callie laughed quietly. "Of course. Oh, and speaking of dress codes, are you going to let me in on where we're going this weekend? I need to know what to pack."

Arizona sat up and couldn't help but grin broadly. It had been driving Callie nuts for the past two weeks that Arizona wouldn't reveal where they were going for their post-divorce weekend alone. Arizona had offered to make the arrangements and then had reveled in not giving anything away. Callie obviously wasn't someone who liked surprises any more than Arizona. "I vote for the same dress code as here. Birthday suits only."

"All three days? I mean, I'm all for having you naked as much as possible, but three solid days? Won't we at least need to get out of bed for room service or something? A robe perhaps?"

"Nope, no room service," Arizona answered honestly. "We'll be cooking. Well, okay, you'll be cooking. I'll be looking hot and sexy in all my nakedness while I watch you cook."

Callie coughed in surprise. "Cooking? You expect me to cook in the buff? Can I at least wear an apron so I don't burn anything you might like to play with later on?"

Now Arizona coughed at the thought of Callie cooking literally naked. It was an image she would love to have come true, but obviously not that practical. "Okay, seriously, I guess you can bring some clothes. We might want to go outside at some point. Besides," she said as she ran her finger down along the plunging neckline of Callie's top, "there is something to be said for clothes, because then I get to take them off you, right?"

"Oh, definitely." Callie gave Arizona a brief kiss and then sat back, raising an eyebrow in her direction. "Okay, so what kind of clothes?"

Arizona shrugged. "Comfy clothes. Jeans, sneakers, that kind of stuff. Oh and a bathing suit. Well, that's really optional, but if you have a really hot bikini, definitely bring it. Because I have to admit, the thought of you in a sexy bikini is, well, yeah, I can't even form words properly." She swallowed hard and licked her lips. "Please tell me you have one," she said as she raised her eyes to meet Callie's gaze.

"I think there might be one or two around here somewhere," Callie said with a slight shrug.

"Good," Arizona answered as she smiled with images of Callie in a barely-there bikini flying through her brain.

"You better have one, too, you know," Callie said as she poked at Arizona's side. "I need my eye candy, too,"

"And you'll get it," Arizona said as she moved off of Callie's lap. "But not tonight. I have to get going. I've got a really early surgery and then a day of getting things set up for the weekend."

Callie pouted as she stood up. "So I won't really see you tomorrow, then."

"Probably not, but the day after tomorrow is the hearing and then you'll see all kinds of me for three straight days." Arizona hefted an eyebrow toward Callie. "Isn't that enough?"

Callie wrapped her arms around Arizona's waist and pulled them tightly together. "Not even close. Why don't you use your key tomorrow night and come over after you're done all your preparations for the weekend? Then we can just leave from here together to go to the courthouse."

Arizona tried hard not to let a smile creep onto her lips, but she couldn't help it. "Only if there is no hanky-panky. We've been good this long. If I'm going to sleep here tomorrow night, we need to be chaste, okay?"

"Not even just a little panky? Or maybe just some hanky? As long as hanky and panky don't get together, it should be safe, right?" The playful smile on Callie's face was absolutely adorable.

Arizona let out a melodramatic sigh. "Okay, one or the other, but not both."

"Cross my heart," Callie said as she leaned down and gave Arizona a tender kiss. "So, I'll see you tomorrow night then," she said before giving her another kiss.

"See you then." Arizona reached down and picked up her purse. "Have a good day tomorrow," she said as she reached into her bag to dig out her car keys.

"You too."

Arizona tilted her head as she watched Callie for a moment, taking in the slight disappointment playing on her features. "I love you, you know."

"I do," Callie said before a smile broke through the shadows that had been playing on her face. "And I love you, too."

"Good," Arizona said before giving Callie a quick final kiss and heading toward the front door. "See you tomorrow night," she called back over her shoulder.

"Good night, Arizona," Callie answered just as Arizona reached the door.

"Good night," she answered before heading out into the night. As hard as it was to leave Callie, she really did have a ton of things to do in the next 24 hours. But first, she needed to run to the mall and buy a bikini.

TBC