Chapter 16: Marry me

Callie's POV

That evening was perfect, we kept on eating the dinner, exchanging loving and amorous glances, and chatting. The dinner was amazing, and so was the person I was sharing it with. For the moment, everything was going the way I had planned it and we would soon arrive at the best part of the meal.

When the waiter came to clear our dirty plates, I understood that the last part of the meal was about to begin.

First, Arizona received a fake call on her phone. Indeed, I had asked Nicole Herman to call her under a false pretext when she received the signal from the waiter.

Arizona's POV

When I felt my phone vibrate and saw Nicole's name on the screen, I initially decided to hang up.

"No," Callie said, "you need to pick up the phone."

"Don't worry, it's just Nicole. That probably isn't important."

"If she's calling you at that time, it's probably important, one way or another. You have to pick up the phone."

"If you insist…"

I decided to get up and go downstairs so I could have a quiet chat with Nicole.

"What's going on Nicole?"

"I need your help." Nicole started. "I am in the process of setting up a course on neonatal surgery in situations of poverty and lack of means, which will be broadcast online to doctors all over the world."

"That's a great idea, but I don't see any urgency to it. Could we discuss it at the center on Monday?"

"Could you just tell me where your reports on your time in Malawi are kept?"

"You can either simply find them on my computer if you're still at the center, or you can find them on the Carter Madison Grant website. All of my results were posted there at the end of the period."

"And did you collaborate with a local surgeon that I could call?"

"Again, if you're still at the center, all my files are on my computer."

"Okay, thanks for your help." Nicole concluded. "Anyway, we'll talk about it on Monday."

Callie's POV

While Arizona was outside talking with Nicole, we were able to implement the second part of my plan.

We used the elevator to take three large metal grates up to the roof. We attached pictures of our family, Sofia's first steps, our wedding and Mark.

We placed the grids around the table so that every time Arizona looked around, she saw a fragment of our years together. Once this was done, the waiter wrote to Herman and asked her to quickly interrupt the call to get Arizona back on the roof.

Arizona's POV

That call had been really weird, Nicole normally never called me outside of work hours for such trivial things. Normally, if she called me, it meant that someone had died or was dying. When I went up on the roof, I saw directly that three metal grills surrounded the table, that Callie was waiting for me next to the table and that she had a beautiful bouquet of flowers in her hand. As I approached, I saw that the grates were filled with beautiful pictures of all the happy moments we had experienced since the day we met.

"What's that?" I asked once I was sitting at the table. "It's absolutely…stunning."

"I just wanted to show you all the things we've built together over the years."

"You know, I know what we built together. I mean, for the record, we've done all those things together."

"Arizona, I need to talk to you." Callie said after taking a deep breath. "The night of the opening, I realized one thing, one really important thing. When I spoke to Penny, she told me that we could at any time decide to take off our ring and break the bond that connects us to each other. What she did not understand was that the bond between us is more than just a ring. We are bound together by memories, by our child and by the unconditional love that exists within our family. We are bound by our first kiss at Joe's, by the first night we spent together, by our wedding. We are bound by family breakfasts, by family tooth brushing sessions, by family walks on the beach at my parent's home in Florida. Unfortunately, we're also bound by the plane crash, Mark's death. It is all these things and memories that make up the love we have for each other today."

"I agree, but I don't understand where you're going with this."

"The reason I was so upset to hear Penny talk about us is that all those people can't understand what the bond between you and me is. They cannot understand because they haven't lived all these moments, all these joys with us. All they see is that we are two women who are divorced and trying to make a relationship work again, while it will destroy them."

As she said these words, I thought I could see where this was going and I closed my eyes for a split second. When I reopened them, I saw that Callie had got down on one knee and had a jewelry box in her hand.

"You have been, you are, and you always will be my wife. Arizona, would you do me the pleasure and honor of showing the rest of the world this bond and love that unites us and makes me a little happier every day? Will you marry me?"

"Of course I want to marry you Calliope Iphegenia Torres." I said to her before kissing her with a lot of love.