Hey guys, here's the Monday update.
I don't know if I'll be able to update next week, or at least I'm not sure if it's going to be on Monday. Three family birthdays coming up, including my own next Tuesday, so, lots of things to do.
But I hope you like this chapter. And the ones to follow. Thank you for the continued reading!
Moving day. Today was the day the couple finally moved into their new home, their first house, the place their daughter would grow up in. And Callie was mad at herself that she wasn't helpful at all. Arizona wouldn't let her carry anything, not even a box full of pillows. Instead, the blonde hauled one box after the other from the truck into the house, back out again empty-handed only to do the same over and over again. She was really working up a sweat and had – despite the cold December wind and against the Latina's better knowing words – taken off her jacket. Now, with a figure hugging hoody, the sleeves rolled up in the same manner Callie always did with her lab coat, winter boots and a loop scarf around her neck, Arizona tried to get a good amount of work done before her dad and father-in-law would arrive.
"You should at least take a break", Callie said when Arizona came walking towards her again. She was leaning against the pole of the front porch, one hand over her belly, the other one tugged, and protected from the wind, in the pocket of her jacket. "Drink some coffee or have a bowl of the soup your mom set up on the stove before she left." Her stove, her new kitchen. The brunette loved her new kitchen. Shiny, and with a lot of cupboards to store food and ingredients and whatever else a perfect stocked kitchen needed. "You'll be sick by the end of the week."
And there it was again. The sentence her wife and mother kept saying to her whenever she wasn't dressed properly for the cold weather. "When will you understand that bad weather does not get me sick?", the blonde replied with a wink and put the box down next to her wife. This one was – admittedly – heavier, containing a few of their medical books and probably every single research they've done through their residency so far. "I'd kill for a kiss from my baby-carrying wife, though." Getting a scoff in response, she laughed out loud and picked the box up again. This was enough work out to last for at least two months. "When are our dads coming?"
"Well, your dad said that they were picking up a surprise, so don't ask me", Callie played the innocent once. In reality, she had asked the men to pick up the home entertainment station her wife had eyed every time they walked past the store on Pine Street. And every time, Arizona had stopped, looked at the price tag and then sighed. As if they didn't have more than enough money to buy a home entertainment set. But, the blonde wasn't one to waste money. She had been taught better by her parents. So Callie decided to give her lover an early Christmas present. "They should be here soon, though", she called loudly from her spot by the door.
"Well, good. Because I can't heave the boxes you packed to the rim with books and DVDs", the blonde yelled from somewhere inside the house. "Why the hell did you think I can lift my own weight in medical knowledge and movies?" Coming back outside, she pulled at the zipper of her wife's jacket and stuck her hands under the fabric. "You're so warm", she smiled.
Callie flinched for a second. "And your hands are freezing. You should really wear more than a sweater." It had snowed two days ago, not much and it didn't even last for more than an hour or two, but with only eight days left before Christmas, a jacket or coat was definitely required. But the blonde always ignored her words, and her mother's for that matter. The crazy thing was that Arizona indeed rarely caught a cold. A stomach bug with fever, yeah, but when she got a cold, she got it from her work in the peds unit. "How many boxes left?"
"It looks like it's never going to end", Arizona laughed, pulled her hands back from the welcome heat that radiated through the Latina's warm clothes and zipped the jacket back up, keeping her wife and daughter warm. If Callie would get sick now, it would be a risk for the baby. "Thirty? Maybe a few more. You could go inside and unpack a few if you want, fill the shelves and your precious cupboards."
"Mhmm, no thanks. As much as I fear that you get sick, I do enjoy the view." Shooting her wife a wink and blowing her a kiss, Callie's eyes then stared blatantly at the blonde's wiggling ass as she was yet again on her way to the truck. If there was one thing that the brunette could never hide, it was the appreciation of her lover's behind, especially in tight jeans.
Chuckling to herself at the silliness and the flirting banter they always shared, Arizona climbed into the truck to get another box. After pushing aside a few of the heavy loaded ones, she found a smaller one with a green stuffed fin sticking out of one of the side holes. "Mr. Turtles", she sighed at the memory. It all began with Mr. Turtle. Or at least, their friendship began with him, and then Mrs. Turtle came into the mix. Making a mental note to buy a new baby turtle before their daughter would come into this world, Arizona grabbed the box – feather light compared to the one she'd carried before – and got out of the truck, mindful of her steps. An accident close to Callie's due date would through them back at least a month. Sure, the brunette could unpack the boxes on her own just fine. But the blonde knew how tiring it was for her wife, so she wanted to help.
"Can I help you?", a voice stopped the blonde in her tracks and she swiveled around, meeting a pair of glistening green eyes. "I'm Jason Pratt and it looks like you're my new neighbor", he introduced himself and held out his hand for her over the wooden fence. "It just looks like you need a hand here. You shouldn't be carrying all those boxes alone. Your friend could really help you instead of letting you do all the work."
A little taken aback from the man's words, so forward and kind of judging, Arizona still held the box under one arm – yes, utterly light – and shook Jason's hand. "Arizona Torres", she began, "and she's not allowed to carry anything, Mr. Pratt. She's pregnant and she knows I'd yell at her if I'd find her in the truck or carrying anything." It came out as a joke, but the blonde was dead serious. Callie had tried to load up the truck alongside with her and she already threatened to take away the foot rub offer.
The new neighbor nodded, the smirk on his mouth surrounded by the light brown stubbles from his beard, and looked the blonde up and down. He leaned over the fence, putting his foot on one of the stabilizer bars and flashed her a smile. "Please. It's Jason. Well, my offer still stands. Do you need any help?"
"Everything alright, love?", Callie asked, snaking her hand along her wife's lower back and resting it over the hipbone. A quick peck on the cold cheek and she felt instantly better. She had seen the man watching Arizona and hadn't thought anything of it before. But then he had walked up to her wife – with just a fence between them – and talked to her. The talking wasn't the problem, the looks he gave her were an issue.
Eyeing the Latina and blinking at the strange behavior, Arizona nodded and said, "Calliope, this is Jason Pratt, we're his new neighbors. Jason, this is my wife, Calliope Torres." She watched as the brunette politely held out her hand and how the man's eyes went wide at her words. What she didn't see were the daggers brown eyes shot in Jason's direction.
"You two are-? Oh! That's fine. Totally fine. Welcome to the neighborhood", he said quickly and shook the Latina's hand while looking anywhere but at the two women. "I completely forgot that I promised my mom to pick her up from work. So I guess I'll see you around."
And then he retreated so fast, Callie merely had to hold in her laughter and only stopped when her wife slapped her arm. "Hey! What was that for?"
"What the hell was that, Calliope?", Arizona asked right back. "He was just being nice and offered to help. Clearly, our dads got lost and our friends are at the hospital. The help would have been nice", she huffed, wanting to know the reason behind her lover's weird attitude.
"He wasn't being nice", the brunette argued. "He was undressing you with his eyes and I didn't like it!" When Arizona looked at her, slack-jawed and blue eyes wide open, Callie realized that her wife hadn't noticed it. At all. "You are so cute", she whispered and leaned in to kiss pale lips. "I love you. But now, please, get inside, you're freezing. I'll close the truck. You need a break and to warm up. And my dad called, they're on their way." She really wanted to be by her wife's side when the men would arrive with their new home system.
Still staring at her wife, but not objecting when the Latina took the light box from her hands, she smiled. Jealousy was a green-eyed monster, one that rarely presented itself in their relationship. But she could admit that a jealous Callie – even if it was only a tiny bit of jealousy - was also a hot Callie. "I love you too", she said, interlocking their fingers as they walked towards the front door of their house.
A-C-T
"Calliope, where are you?", Arizona asked out loud as she checked every room for her wife. "Our parents will be here in twenty minutes with Magic and apple pie!" Their cat had spent she last two days at her parents' place so he wouldn't have to go through the hectic atmosphere of moving places. The first time around, when they had moved back to Seattle after medical school, it had been too stressful for him, so bringing him over to the Robbins' house had been the best idea. "Calliope?" Hearing a groan behind the door to their new bedroom, the blonde cautiously opened the door and found the Latina laying on their new bed. "Love? What's wrong?", she asked, walking towards the king size bed and sat down on the edge, right next to the other woman.
"Nothing", Callie sighed and closed her eyes for a longer moment, taking a couple of deep breaths before finally looking at her wife. "Just a very active baby right now." Feeling her lover's hand rub soothing circles over her very pregnant belly, the Latina smiled. "She likes that. I like that", she confessed, noticing that their daughter instantly settled down, even if it was just a little bit. "I honestly don't know how you do it."
"I have magic inside my fingertips", the blonde winked and smiled brightly when she felt a relatively strong kick against the palm of her hand. "What are you doing to your mommy, huh, little one? Is it because we still haven't chosen a name?"
Callie just rolled her eyes at the topic. Yes, they still hadn't decided on a name, hadn't even really discussed it so far, but with heavy workloads for Arizona – because she was forced to cut back on her hours already – and moving into their house just yesterday, it simply never happened. Other things had been more important since they found out they were indeed having a girl. "We still have six weeks to go, Arizona."
"So?", the blonde rebutted. "Have you at least looked into the book with baby names I bought? I know you're tired and I know it hasn't exactly been light weeks, but we need a name, Calliope. I want to finish decorating our daughter's room and I want to put those big letters on the wall right next to her crib and I can't do that without knowing her name."
Sighing, Callie laced her fingers with her wife's. "I did, I swear. But those names, Arizona, they are just boringly common", she whined. "You don't have a common name and neither do I. I want our daughter's name to be... unique and special", she answered. Although there was nothing wrong with a common name, she didn't feel a name like Sarah, Hanna or Laura did exactly fit into the family.
Arizona eyed her wife and quizzically raised her right eyebrow. "You hated growing up with your name. The kids made fun of you and you shorted it to Callie, permanently. No one calls you Calliope except for our family." She had read through a lot of pages of names herself and a few caught her eye so she put them on a list. "Are you really sure you want to do this to our child?"
"Positive", the brunette nodded. A silence fell over them after that statement, both enjoying the quiet moment. Yesterday had been hectic enough. But now all the boxes where inside the house, most of them even already unpacked and Arizona had gotten acquainted with her new entertainment system fast enough for them to watch a movie last night with amazing sound surrounding them and a very high quality flat screen in front of them. The only room that wasn't finished was the nursery. It was painted in a mild green and most of the furniture was set up, but the decoration was still missing. "Ow", she winced, after an exceptionally strong kick. "I swear, she's aiming to be a soccer star just like her uncle Tim", Callie chuckled.
Squeezing a tan hand for support, Arizona slid down to be at eye-level with the Latina's bump. "Hey little girl", she said softly. "It's me, your other momma. You remember me, right? That's why you always stop kicking when you feel my hand on mommy's belly." Blue eyes looked up and locked with the Latina's gaze as the blonde started to hum a certain melody. If nothing else worked, if rubbing Callie's stomach didn't help to sooth their baby, that melody always did the trick.
"That works like magic, every time", the brunette half moans half sighs, feeling their daughter relax inside her. She had no clue how it worked. Some scientists said that babies, fetuses even, were able to recognize music – other tests said that it was utter imbecility. But whether she chose to believe in it or not, it did, in fact, help.
"Melody", the blonde suddenly said and looked at her lover, her eyes shining with pure joy. "As her name, I mean. Melody Torres. Not common but also not out of this world and abstrusely strange."
"Melody Torres", Callie tried it out herself, immediately liking how it sounded. "Melody Torres", she said anew and nodded, "Yeah, I definitely like that. I have one suggestion, though..." Her fingers started to fumble with the fabric below her and her teeth sank into her bottom lip. All of a sudden, she was nervous.
"Okay?"
"Robbin", the Latina blurted. "Maybe as her middle name? She may not be biologically yours but in my heart, in yours and in our family's hearts, she's your daughter too. And you are a Robbins so in my eyes, she's partly Robbins too so she should have your name, too. Just without the 's' but with definitely with the double 'b' in the middle."
A full dimpled smile broke Arizona's face in half as her eyes flickered between her wife's face and her bump. "Melody Robbin Torres", she said, her voice filled with excitement and the smile detectable through the way she spoke, "We can't wait to meet you and-"
"Girls! We're here!"
Barbara's voice reached the young couple's ears and both busted into a fit of giggles. "I guess giving your mom a key to the house wasn't a good idea", Callie laughed and sat up with the help of her wife. "It feels like we're teenagers all over again and they just got home, warning us before they would walk in on us doing something they don't want to see."
"They always did that!", the blonde exclaimed with a chuckle and smoothed the material of her shirt with her hands. "Are you better? Or do you want to stay here and I'll tell them to get lost because I need to take care of my wife."
"No no. I just need to use the bathroom real quick, thanks to our daughter. I'll be down in two minutes." She pecked her lover's lips and smiled at the blonde. "Shall we give the name away or keep it a secret?" Deep down, the Latina knew what answer Arizona would give her, so when the blonde told her she wanted to wait, Callie simply nodded. "I'll meet you downstairs. Don't eat all the apple pie without me."
"I'll save one piece for you", Arizona joked and left their bedroom, eager to welcome Magic in their new home and to show her mother and Susan around now that everything was in the right place. She loved it here already. And she could see herself growing old in this house, with Callie by her side and a few kids on their journey. Yes, life was good.
I've had this name ready to go at some point during TIAM1. I thought about going with Sofia. But this story is still SO AU, that I chose to give their daughter a different name as well, but add the characteristic Robbin. So I hope you like the name.
