A/N: We're going to get into a little bit of drama in the next few chapters before the story winds down to a completion. This chapter is mainly fluff but the next few will be rather serious. I hope you're ready for it! :)


"So Mrs. Torres, what would you like to do today?" Erica walked in to the private room where Callie's mother was recuperating without Callie. It had been nearly two weeks since Callie's mother had been moved there and her medical progress had been fantastic. "We can go for a walk if you'd like, or we can wait for Callie to get here before we go. It's up to you."

"Hi Erica," Maria smiled up at Erica from the bed but then turned her attention to the door. "Where's Calliope?"

"She's going to come in a little later today, Mrs. Torres. She got paged to a trauma this morning and she's going to be in surgery for a little while. I hope you don't mind me coming in without her. I figured you wouldn't want to spend the morning alone." Erica and Callie had been spending mornings with Callie's mother and Callie's father had been spending the evenings there. A week ago, Callie had returned to work and had been working mostly night shifts so that her mornings were free to spend with her mother. Erica was still sidelined due to her post-concussion syndrome, but she was scheduled to return to work tomorrow, provided her latest MRI came back clear. The last two MRIs still showed evidence of concussion, and it was starting to frustrate Erica more than the incessant headaches were. It was now nearly a month since Erica had last performed a surgery and most evenings found her down in the morgue harvesting cadaver hearts just to keep her fingers nimble. The Chief had at least let her start back up on consults last week, but everyone at that hospital knew that it was surgery that Erica thrived for. Callie hadn't stopped apologizing for how long Erica had been kept out of surgery, as if it was somehow her fault.

"She loves her traumas." Maria laughed and pointed to the chair across from her. "Take a seat, Erica."

"Thanks." Erica made herself comfortable. She'd been shocked but thrilled that Mrs. Torres had taken a liking to her. It was easy to see that she was still struggling with Erica's roll in Callie's life, but she had accepted her anyway, and conversation between the two of them was coming easier and easier. Unfortunately, none of them had made any progress with Callie's father, but they were still trying. "So Callie told me last night that you studied to be an anesthesiologist. That's great! Where did you practice?"

"Actually, I studied up until I was a second year resident. Then I got pregnant with Callie and I decided I wanted to stay home with her. I wasn't thrilled with the field I'd chosen and motherhood seemed to be the path I wanted to take, so I gave it up."

"You gave it up?" Erica asked, unable to hide the incredulity in her question.

Smiling at Erica's reaction, Maria replied, "Yes. I gave it up. It didn't mean the same thing to me that your career means to you, Erica. It wasn't hard for me to leave it behind. Callie became my life; I loved being a mother to her."

"You don't-" Erica stopped, hoping she misheard what Maria said. "You don't love being a mother to her anymore?"

"Oh, no, Erica, no. Of course I still love being a mother to Callie, not that she's made it easy for me the last few weeks. What I meant was that at the time of her birth, I loved being a full-time mom. I loved watching her grow up, and I loved seeing the world through her eyes."

"Mrs. Torres, I know that none of this has been easy for you. I just, I want you to know that I love your daughter very much, and neither of us ever wanted to make things difficult for you or your husband. Not a day has gone by that I haven't woken up thinking about the wedge I've driven between the three of you, but I just can't walk away from Callie. I love her. I live and breathe for her. She really is my soul mate. But I did tell Callie, more than once, that if it came down to it, I'd want her to choose the two of you rather than be miserable without her family."

"Callie appears to be far from miserable with you, Erica." Maria smiled and patted Erica's hand. "And I admire your honesty. She's absolutely crazy about you. I had suspicions when I would speak to her on the phone, because you were all she would ever talk about. Where the two of you went, what the two of you did, what your days were like together... I feel like I've known you for a long time because Callie would tell me such wonderful things about you. You really did save her after that divorce from George. She was broken and alone, and as much as I wanted to help her, she needed someone new in her life. You've done wonders for her confidence."

"Thank you." Erica said, blushing.

"As for me..." Maria sighed as she continued. "I can see how much you care for Callie and how much Callie cares for you. Anyone who would stick around after the weeks you've been through is in this relationship for the long haul. And I'm working on accepting your relationship with my daughter. I was always taught that homosexuality was wrong, but looking at the two of you, it's hard to believe that. It's just... hard to unlearn what you've been taught for so long."

"I understand. Thank you for giving us a chance. Thank you for realizing how much I love your daughter." Erica couldn't have been happier. In her own way, Maria Torres had just accepted her. It was unbelievable, but it had happened. She couldn't wait to tell Callie all about it.

"Callie tells me that you're a very successful surgeon, Erica." Maria said, steering the conversation in another direction before things got too awkward.

"I'm good at what I do, but there's always something new to be learned." Erica said, trying not to brag and trying not to dwell on the fact that it had been an agonizing month without surgery.

"Oh, come now. Callie says you're the best in your field, that heart surgery is your entire life"

"I am." Erica blushed. "But my career isn't my priority in life anymore. I mean, it's still really important to me, but Callie is my number one priority in life."

"That's sweet." Maria said.

"It's true. Mrs. Torres, I may have helped Callie get through her divorce with George, but your daughter taught me how to live. Being a great surgeon is one thing, but sharing my life with Callie has been the greatest gift anyone has ever given me."

"How did your parents react to your relationship with Callie?" Maria asked.

"They don't know, Mrs. Torres. But it's not because we're hiding it from them. I haven't had contact with my parents since medical school. I wasn't fortunate enough to have the kind of relationship with my parents that Callie had with you and your husband, Mrs. Torres."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"I'm learning to get over it. Callie and I are going to be our own family. And we both hope that you and Mr. Torres will want to be a part of it."

"I'm concerned about Jesus, Erica. He doesn't seem to want to try. I talk to him every day, but he won't tolerate it. He got up and left last night when I brought up Callie. He wants to go home; he says he has business to attend to. He says he's wasting his time here."

Erica's face fell. This wasn't a good sign at all. Once Callie's father left, if he left in the state he was in now, he'd never come back, and that would absolutely kill Callie. "He doesn't want to stay? Not even for you, Mrs. Torres?"

"No Erica, I'm afraid not." The sadness in Maria's eyes mirrored the sadness in Erica's. "I'm going to try to convince him to stay again tonight, but I'm not confident that he's going to listen. He hasn't listened to me at all. He's not the same man. I don't know where my husband went, but this is not him."

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Torres." Erica couldn't think of anything else to say. Had she unwittingly become a home wrecker? Had she unknowingly severed Callie's relationship with her father and Callie's parents' marriage at the same time? It took Erica everything she had in her not to burst into tears. Erica Hahn had grown up in a broken home, she knew better than to break someone else's. She leaned back in the chair and rubbed the heels of her hands against her eyes.

"Erica," Callie's mother said, sitting up in the bed and gently pulling Erica's hands down from her eyes. "No one could have known that this would have been the outcome. You could not have known this, and even if you did somehow know that things would turn out this way, I'd be angry with you if you had let it dictate your relationship with my daughter. All I am asking of you is that you care for my daughter. Love her and protect her, because no matter what we do, she's losing her father and she is going to need you more than ever."

"What about you, Mrs. Torres?"

"What about me?"

"Are you losing a husband too?"

"Erica, don't worry about that. My marriage is for me and my husband to work out. Things are not going to be easy. But I'll work on my marriage and you work on keeping your relationship with Callie as perfect as it is."

"I can't handle the guilt. It's tearing me up inside. This is too much. I just want to love Callie… why does that make everyone else's lives so difficult?" Erica was almost yelling.

"Then love her, Erica. Love her the way you wish to be loved and don't worry about anyone other than the two of you."

"You know I can't do that, Mrs. Torres. So much of Callie's happiness rests with the two of you. The fact that you gave us a chance gave her so much hope. I can't not worry about you and Mr. Torres because the two of you are an intrinsic part of Callie and her happiness."

Maria sighed. "My marriage isn't an easy one. Jesus, he's not the easiest person to get along with. There have been other rocky times in our marriage as well. In the past he's always come crawling back after a fight that usually he started. Though I've been guilty of a few myself." Maria gave a half-smile. "We'll work it out, in time. And maybe we'll even get him to come around when it comes to the two of you, too."

"One of the things I wanted to speak to you about today is your discharge, Mrs. Torres. You know that you're going to be well enough soon to leave the hospital, but it will be a while before it will be safe for you to take a cross-country flight. Callie and I have been talking about it and we'd like to invite you to stay with us while you finish healing. Mr. Torres is welcome too, but, well..." Erica trailed off.

"I'm honored, Erica. But won't it be, ah, awkward?"

"We don't want you to feel uncomfortable, and I can completely understand if you don't want to stay in our house, but let me tell you that Callie's really got her hopes pinned on you coming to stay with us. And I'd like to have you there too. The guest bedroom downstairs is nice and spacious. You'd have your own bathroom, and there's a little patio outside of your room if you want to sit outside. You'd have plenty of privacy, if that's what you want, but we're welcoming you into our home so that you can get to see that we're just as normal as anyone else."

"I didn't mean to say that this wasn't normal, I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. By awkward I meant that my being there could take away from some of yours and Callie's privacy. It's like... it's like taking your mother along for the honeymoon."

Erica blushed before she became full-out scarlet. "Ah, I see. Um, without giving you too much information... Callie and I have calmed down a bit from that 'honeymoon' stage. We can certainly, uh, you know... keep our hands off of each other while you're staying with us, if that makes you feel better." Erica didn't have the heart to tell Mrs. Torres that the 'honeymoon phase' was still alive and very, very well, but because of Callie's schedule and the time they were spending at the hospital, most of their intimate moments had been stolen in on-call rooms over the past two weeks. They just couldn't help themselves- as much as Erica despised the fact that she'd allowed herself to have sex in an on call room, having it there and risking the wrath of Richard Webber was still better than not having it at all.

Seeing how embarrassed Erica was, Maria did her best to calm her. "I'd really like that, Erica. Callie and I haven't had much mother-daughter time since she came out here. I'd like to catch up with her, and I'd like to continue to get to know you, too."

Relieved, Erica beamed a bright smile. "Mrs. Torres, you don't know how happy you just made me. And Callie! She'll be so excited to hear that you'd like to stay with us!"

"There's just one thing, Erica. If I come to stay with the two of you, you've got to start calling me Maria. I can't stay in your home and keep up with the titles. I'm Maria. You're Erica. Got it?"

"Got it." Erica smiled. "So how about that walk?"

"Let's go." Maria said, as she pushed herself up off of the bed, and allowed Erica to loop one arm around her back while she used the other to push the IV pole. "Race you to the nurse's station, Erica…" Maria joked, knowing quite well that she hadn't recuperated that much yet.

Erica laughed, and together they walked the hallway.