"Honey, I'm home," Callie called as she came through the front door, frowning when there was no answer. "Arizona? Alex? Tim?" Still no answer. Tim had barely been home the last week, spending most nights at Teddy's. And there was no telling where Alex was. But Arizona should have been home hours ago. Three weeks after their wedding and she'd been swamped with her research into Wallace Anderson's short gut syndrome. But it wasn't going well, Arizona's discouragement growing as her patient's condition got worse and his parents increased their pressure on her to find a cure.

But she had promised to come home today. It was Wallace's birthday but it was also Arizona's birthday. Knowing that her wife didn't want to celebrate, Callie had still insisted that they do something to commemorate it and had forced the blonde to promise that she would come home for dinner. And if Callie happened to have made her a cake, she had a feeling Arizona wouldn't object too much.

Of course, she had to actually be around to have any.

"Arizona? Babe, are you here?" Callie shed her coat and moved into the dark house. Someone had been there, the mail for the day was already on the kitchen counter. Sorting through it idly, she paused on a document envelope marked with both her name and Arizona's on the label. It made her smile to see even their names paired. Then the weight of it occurred to her and she dropped the rest of the mail back to the counter to open the large envelope.

The lawyer's cover letter at the top of the page made her frown in confusion. It wasn't her lawyer's office and all of their partnership papers had been in order when they'd filed them. So what…? Flipping a page answered her mental question. "Holy shit," she muttered to herself, seeing the tabs marking the pages they would need to sign. And Arizona needed to see this.

The kitchen was only lit by the light under the counter that always stayed on, but the darkness made it easier to notice the flash of light and movement in the backyard. Leaving the surprising mail on the counter and leaning over to look out the window over the sink, Callie squinted to spot her partner's blonde hair.

Going out through the laundry room, Callie stepped off the pavement into the grass and cleared her throat to get Arizona's attention. She jumped, clearly startled. "Callie! Hey! I didn't hear you come home," she scrambled, blinking when Callie frowned at her. "What?"

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong?' Nothing's wrong," Arizona countered, hands on her hips as she stopped her pacing.

Callie shook her head, confused. Clearly something was wrong. "Arizona, you just called me Callie. You never call me Callie. So, what's wrong? Is Wallace okay?"

Sighing heavily, Arizona resumed her pacing. "They want me to do another procedure, but he's not strong enough." She dropped her gaze to the ground as she walked, hair falling in her face. "He's not strong enough, but he's still going to die."

"So you're not cutting?"

"He's not strong enough to make it off the table!" Arizona snapped.

Callie didn't take it personally, knowing how stressed Arizona had been. "But the Chief wants you to do it." There was no guessing there. Their Chief of Surgery had been worshiping the ground at Arizona's feet since they'd met with the wealthy parents about the money.

"And that dick Jennings from the board. He's scared the Andersons will rethink their donation if I don't operate." She made another turn, her foot grinding into the grass as she walked. "But I don't think he'll make it."

Callie sighed, moving closer and stepping into Arizona's path, hands catching her shoulders. "Sweetheart, you are a brilliant doctor. You know what's best for that patient."

"He turned eleven today," Arizona interjected, upset. "He's just a little kid and he's going to die. No matter what I do, he's going to die."

Wrapping her arms around her wife, Callie curled both arms up her back, hands rubbing gently at her shoulders. "You are great, Arizona. And whatever you decide to do, I'll be with you," she promised, feeling arms wind around her waist. "Even if you tell Jennings and the Chief to go to hell."

"I love you," Arizona whispered. "Can we have some of my cake?" She was conflicted and miserable about her hopeless decision, no matter what she did that little boy was going to die, but Callie and some cake seemed like it could help.

"Before dinner?"

"It's my birthday, Calliope," she reminded her.

"I thought you didn't like your birthday," Callie countered, smiling as she drew back.

"I don't. Except when it gets me cake before dinner and extra sex." Extra sex was the only reason she looked forward to her birthday. After last year, she was almost a fan of the day…

Callie laughed, kissing her softly. "Well, we got a wedding present in the mail that might help cheer you up," she told her, sneaking another kiss before the thought of a present drew Arizona back toward the house, pulling her along by the hand.

"How do you know it's not a birthday present just for me?" she asked, appearing more cheerful.

Smiling, the Latina shook her head at her partner, goosing her butt as the blonde went inside just in front of her. "Because it has both of our names on it. And because it's a pretty big birthday present." She laughed as she remembered exactly what it was. "Actually, it's still huge as a wedding present."

Confused, Arizona sent her a look over her shoulder. "Who's it from?"

"Just look," Callie told her, nodding toward the kitchen counter and gently guiding her forward with hands on her hips, pressing herself against Arizona's back to read over her shoulder.

Arizona's first look at the pages made her mouth drop open. "Holy shit! They gave us the house?"

Laughing, Callie leaned in to kiss her neck. "Looks like it. Did you know they were doing this?"

The blonde head turned to meet her eyes, smile still growing on her lips. "If I had known they were giving us a house for our wedding, would I have just yelled holy shit, Calliope?" she asked, snuggling back into the body behind her. Dropping the papers back to the counter, she reached back with one hand to touch Callie's shorter hair, combing her fingers from scalp to the very ends and back up again.

"Should we call your parents?" Callie asked, her chin on Arizona's shoulder. "Maybe it's not a wedding present. Maybe it's a birthday prank." She caught the scent of something strange and leaned her nose into Arizona's shirt to catch the smell again. Unless she was mistaken, it smelled like cigarettes. "Do you smell smoke?"

Coughing suddenly, Arizona hit the speakerphone on her phone, listening to the last ring as her mother picked up. "Happy birthday, baby girl!" Barbara cooed, Arizona rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Mom."

"Callie?"

"I'm here too," Callie answered her. "We got some papers in the mail and we were wondering if you knew something about it."

The older woman laughed on the other end of the phone. "It should be pretty straightforward. You two just have to sign and mail it back and the lawyer will make sure everything goes through smoothly."

"Is it my birthday present, Mama?" Arizona teasingly asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Arizona Marie, you know how to share," Barbara teased back. "Your father and I are more than happy to give you your own house as a wedding gift." She chuckled. "We've actually been meaning to sign it over to you for a few years now, but we just never thought about it long enough to do it. The wedding seemed like the perfect occasion."

Callie squeezed her wife closer. "Thank you, Mrs. Robbins. It's really too generous…"

"Oh, please, girls, it's your home," she denied. "And Callie, you know better than to call me that!"

"Ooh," Arizona chimed in with a laugh. "Busted, Calliope. And who knows, maybe we'll actually use all these rooms someday," she commented thoughtlessly.

"Oh, Arizona, you didn't kick those boys out, did you?" Barbara asked, confused.

Realizing her oversight, it took her a second to respond, Callie just breathing softly against her neck. "Oh, no, that's not what I meant. The boys aren't going anywhere."

"Then what did you mean? All the rooms are being used, aren't they?"

"Mom…"

"It's nothing, Barbara," Callie chimed in sympathetically, nuzzling closer to Arizona's neck. There was definitely the faintest whiff of smoke on her.

They'd discussed children and she couldn't say that she wouldn't love to have Arizona's baby, but until she brought it up, there was not going to be anything like pushing from her. But even the idle comment from her wife that they might have reasons to use all of the bedrooms of their home that weren't Arizona's work husband or her brother made her heart beat faster.

"Okay," the older woman agreed slowly, clearly hesitant. "Callie, what are you forcing Arizona to do for her birthday? Any big plans?"

"Mom…" Arizona protested again.

"She's your wife, sweetheart. Let her treat you extra nice one day a year," Barbara said, sweetly ordering her daughter.

"Yeah!" agreed Callie, squeezing her. "We're just staying in tonight though. Dinner at home and I made her a cake."

"That we're eating some of before dinner," Arizona couldn't resist telling her mom, hearing the patient sigh on the other end. Dessert before dinner would never have been allowed in the Colonel's home. She tried to imagine if the roles were reversed on this call, if she and Callie were the ones calling their daughter on her birthday. Surprisingly, it didn't suck. Of course, anything she did with Callie wasn't going to suck, but it didn't scare her the way she thought it would. Something to think about later…

"I suppose it's your birthday," Barbara sighed, "And you're a grown, married woman. It's not up to me to tell you what to do anymore, it's up to Callie." Callie smiled, rubbing her hands possessively over the blonde's hips, pressing herself in closer. The edge of something in Arizona's pocket caught her notice and she patted around it, frowning curiously when she felt Arizona go stiff.

It was a rectangle, stiff like cardboard, but could be squished, and Callie's smart doctor mind put the pieces together - the scent of smoke on Arizona's shirt, and now what appeared to be a pack of cigarettes in her pocket. How could she not know that Arizona smoked?

Sensing she was about to be in trouble, Arizona spoke up quickly. "Hey, Mom, thank you so much for the house, it's really too sweet, but we've got to go now. Love Dad, too."

"Okay," Mrs. Robbins agreed slowly. "We love you, girls. And love to your brother and Alex."

"Yes, ma'am," Arizona dutifully answered.

"We love you too," Callie spoke up. "Good night." She reached over Arizona's shoulder with one hand to push the button and end the call, the other hand pushing the package out of her wife's pocket. "You smoke?" she asked as the screen of Arizona's phone when back to the menu. "How the hell have we been together for over two years and I didn't know that you smoke, Arizona?"

"I don't," Arizona started to protest, the words dying on her lips when Callie lifted the mostly full pack of cigarettes up in front of her face. "Okay, so I do, but it's only when I'm stressed and I know I'm going to be in trouble, like now…"

Callie stared incredulously at the back of her blonde head, dropping the cigarettes on the counter to turn Arizona bodily around to face her. "Oh, you're in trouble now," she declared passionately. She didn't care how infrequently it happened, it was too much. "I am not having you get cancer, or any of the hundreds of other health problems smoking causes, because of some stupid cigarettes, Arizona! You just had your last smoke."

"Calliope…"

"No, you don't get to Calliope me," she cut in forcefully. "No more cigarettes! I'm not losing you because of something so idiotic! If you're stressed, come find me and you can yell or complain at me."

"What if we're fighting?" Arizona suggested meekly, looking up at her through her eyelashes. Fiery Callie was entirely sexy. She really hoped she hadn't just screwed herself out of birthday sex. The hot, hot birthday sex with her passionate, fiery wife.

Callie could see the darkening color in Arizona's eyes and she let a smile slip onto her lips. "If we're fighting, we'll just have angry sex," she proposed, Arizona's dimples popping as she smiled back at her. The smile faltered when Callie leaned back instead of meeting her lips for a kiss. "Oh, no. I'm not kissing you." She said it as though it should have been obvious.

"Why not?" Arizona yelped, pouting.

"You just smoked! I'm not putting my tongue in your mouth until you brush your teeth!" She leaned in to sniff lightly at her shoulder. "And your clothes kind of stink too, babe."

Still pouty, the blonde wracked her brain for a solution. Because she was not giving up her birthday sex with her wife. Abruptly, her pager went off at her hip. Or maybe she was. Damn it. "It's Wallace."

Callie immediately stepped back to free her from the counter. "Go."


Just a note because I had someone comment on it - wedding equality passed in Washington state (YAY!) so the wedding would be legal now, but at the point when I wrote this, it wasn't and I didn't feel like going back and making the necessary changes - the legal status of their wedding will be dealt with later, not to worry.