A/N - Hey guys. Wow. It's been so good to see so many of you come back to this story after the extended break its had. Thanks so much for your continued lovely words. Its nice to see the regular readers aswell as some new faces too. This chapter feels like its a bit of a fill in chapter. Just trying to decide where I want to take it from here.

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Chapter 31

It was less than a week after the wedding that Lucia's health deteriorated so much, she needed to be moved to a nearby hospice. She spent a further 3 nights, more often completely dosed up on morphine until she slipped away with her family around her. Carlos, Callie and Aria had taken it in turns to be with Lucia round the clock, while Arizona had stayed at the Torres estate with Sophia.

The funeral had taken place 6 days after her passing at the families local church. A wake had been organised back at the Torres home which had ofcourse been a much more sombre affair to the gathering that had happened 2 weeks earlier. Carlos had, as expected been a broken man since his wife's death. It was like he didn't know what he was meant to do in any aspect of his life anymore. He'd been with Lucia for nearly 50 years and the thought of spending the rest of his days without her was more than just a bit daunting for the older man.

Dealing with her own grief, with the support of her wife, Callie had tried to be there for her father as much as she possibly could. From organising the funeral, sorting paperwork and making him eat, even when he was adamant he wasn't hungry. The thought of leaving him and going back to her life in New York made her feel physically sick. It wasn't until a late night talk with her sister that she started to come around to the idea of going back home. Aria had decided she would move in with her father for the foreseeable future. Her own home was only a few miles away anyway, but she assured her older sister she'd move into the Torres' home and be there for their father for as long as was needed.

"You have a family and a life in New York, Callie" Aria had told her. "I know you're upset and worried, but things will be OK. You can come over any time and dad will probably come out to see you more now too but he doesn't want you to put your life on hold any more. You've already been out here for weeks. Mom would want you to get on with your life and be happy. She loved every moment of your wedding the other week. I think it was probably one of the happiest days of her life...and you gave her that. She told you that night before she went into the hospice... go back to New York, buy a house and be happy. You've been through so much in the last few years. I always felt like I was listening to a Days of our Lives soundtrack any time dad told me what you'd been up to. Weddings, shootings, car crashes, plane crashes, amputations, divorces. You and Arizona really need to get your own show with all the shit you get up to."

Callie had laughed before telling her sister that all the drama was in the past. Seattle was their past and New York was their future.

That late night talk was 4 days ago now and after getting everything organised and being reassured her father would be OK in Aria's care, Callie, Arizona and Sophia had packed up their belongings and headed to the airport, ready to return back home.

Turning her head, blue eyes landed on the Latina who was sat in the middle seat of the plane, between herself and their daughter. Callie's head was leant back against the head rest while her eyes were trained on the storage container above. She wanted to ask her if she was OK but she felt like that's all she'd been asking her for weeks now. Ofcourse Callie wasn't OK...she'd just lost her mother. All Arizona wanted to do was take the Latina's pain away, but she knew that wasn't possible. Instead of talking, she reached out her hand, sliding her palm over Callie's thigh. It took only a few seconds for a small smile to appear on full lips.

Callie turned her head, her eyes meeting blue. She recognised the silent question Arizona was asking. "I'm OK, just thinking."

The blonde nodded slightly in understanding. "I've been thinking too and...I don't know if you're gona say its too soon or you're not ready just yet but I thought perhaps we could take the rest of the week off and maybes start looking for a house? I totally get if you're not ready yet though. Maybe it would be better to go back to work, get in to the routine again and then maybes..." Arizona trailed off at the sound of her wife laughing at her. "What's funny?"

Callie's hand moved to rest on top of Arizona's, which was still laying over her thigh. "I love it when you babble. I've always found it quite endearing." When the blonde smiled back at her, she couldn't help but look down at the dimples that appeared in her cheeks. The sight of them always made her heart swoon and right now was no different.

"Sorry, I just don't want to rush you or anything, you know? You're going through something huge right now and I understand if you wona take things slow and put moving on the back burner for a while."

After a few moments thought, Callie shook her head. "No, I don't want to wait. I think looking for our future house is a great idea. Mom wouldn't want us to put our lives on hold. She'd want us to find our forever home and finally be settled, just like she and dad were." Her thoughts drifted once again to her broken father. She'd promised she'd call him every night and in turn made him promise to come over to New York in the next few weeks to see them."

"I think we should get a house with one of those little apartment attached to it. Then you're dad could come and stay with us whenever he wanted and have his own space."
Callie smiled. "He doesn't need a place at ours when he owns his own hotel just a few blocks away. Maid service, free meals... pretty sure that out trumps a little grandpa flat on the side of our house."

Arizona shrugged. "Sure he'd have people at his beck and call in a hotel but it's not the same as having family close to you. Do you not think that now your mom isn't here, he'll want to spend more time with you? With us...?"

"Yea, I guess" Callie replied. "OK so, a little apartment on the side or at least some land to build one needs to be added to the house check list. When Sophia's older, she and her friends can use it on sleepovers aswell. Means they won't keep us up all hours with their talking and laughing and music." She glanced to her left and found their daughter engrossed in a movie on the iPad with her ear buds in.

The blonde frowned. "Umm, I'm not so sure. What if the girls invite boys around and we can't hear what they're getting up to?"

Callie's brows furrowed as she thought about her little girl bringing potential boyfriends over to the house. "OK so maybe we install cameras so we can keep an eye out."

"Mhmm" Arizona said before laughing. "I don't want her to grow up, Callie. I wish she could stay our baby girl forever."

"Yea, we'll be wishing she was still 8 years old when she reaches her teenage years and develops a smart little attitude."

The blonde scrunched up her nose. "Oh man. I'll tell you, if I wasn't grateful for us getting back together before, I definitely am now at the thought of dealing with a hormonal teenager."

Callie laughed. "Uh huh. We're definitely gona need to be eachothers back up in a few years time."

"I'll always be your back up" she said giving the Latina a little wink.

"And I'll always be yours."

The blonde smiled. "Good, coz if she develops the attitude that I had when I was a teenager, were in for some wild times ahead, Calliope."

Callie laughed. "Yea but your brother was a bad influence, remember? You idolized him and wanted to do everything he was doing."

Arizona nodded. "Yea, including kissing girls" she added with a grin.

"Mommy was a ho" Callie joked quietly.

Arizona squeezed at the Latina's thigh as she laughed. "That's right, was. Past tense. I was just kissing a load of frogs to pass the time til I met my Queen."

"Well, you've got your Queen and once we find a house, you'll have your castle too."

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Later that night, after a quick shower and checking in our their sleeping daughter, Arizona made her way into the bedroom and found Callie sat on the floor on the other side of the room. Her legs were crossed and a shoe box rested in her lap. Closing the door, the blonde moved to the bottom of the bed, sitting herself on the storage box that sat there. "What you got there?"

Callie held up a handful of photos as she smiled at her wife. "Old family photos."

Arizona smiled back at the Latina, watching as the other woman slowly made her way through the pile. "You were such a beautiful baby, Calliope. I still can't get over how much Sophia looks like you."

Callie laughed lightly. "Yea. She's a real chip off the old block, isn't she?"

Arizona nodded. "She's inherited good genes. Even Mark, for all his man whoring ways, he was definitely easy on the ol' eye."

"Yea and he knew it" Callie shot back with a grin. "He'd have been so protective of her, wouldn't he?"

"Without a doubt. She'd have been a real daddy's girl too. Anytime we told her off or told her she wasn't allowed to do something, you can bet she'd go over to him and he'd revel in playing the good cop."

"Yea..." the Latina went back to the photos in her hands. "Look at this... you say Sophia looks like me, but look at how much I look like my mom when she was younger." She stretched out her arm, passing the photo to the blonde.

Arizona smiled fondly as she looked at the photo. "Same smile and everything..." She replied.

"Yea. I mean, the only real difference is she was always built quite small. I inherited these curves and these girls from my aunt Maria" Callie said, jiggling her chest for a few moments.

Arizona laughed, never one to miss out on an opportunity to gaze upon her wife's breasts. "Remind me to write your aunt a thank you note."

Callie rolled her eyes but grinned back at her wife. Looking back down into the shoe box, she found a picture of herself and her mom. Callie had been around 7, she had her arms wrapped around her mother's shoulders from behind and they were both looking at something beyond the camera.

Arizona sat watching her wife's features for a few moments before moving to rest on her knees at the Latina's side. She looked down at the photo that had grabbed the other woman's attention. "Callie this is a beautiful photo."

"Yea. I forgot I had it."

"We should get it framed. Maybe even get it made bigger and stick it up on one of the walls in our new home someday soon?"

Callie tore her eyes from the photo and looked at the blonde. "Yea, I'd like that." She looked down at the photo for a few more seconds before placing it back on top of the photo pile in the shoe box. Picking up the lid she looked at the blonde. "Come on, let's get into bed."

A few moments later, after Arizona had removed her prosthetic and the lights had been turned out, they lay together, the blonde on her back and Callie laying curled into her side. Neither spoke for a while, both lost in their own thoughts as they revelled in the closeness.

"I've just realised this is the first night in our bed as a married couple."

The realisation suddenly dawned on the blonde too. "You're right. It doesn't really feel any different though, does it? Not for me at least. You've always been my wife."

Callie squeezed the smaller body beneath her. "Yea. Years might have passed where we went our separate ways but it's always been you. It'll always be you and me."

A comfortable silence entered the room again for a couple of minutes until Arizona let out a laugh. "I'm just thinking about Nicole getting caught sucking face with your cousin at the wedding by your dad."

A belly laugh left Callie's mouth as she thought back on how her younger cousin had been found, pressed up against the wall by Nicole Herman in Carlos' home office. "That's probably the most action Miguel has ever had. He's always been a bit of a loner. A nerd I guess. Doesn't really know how to talk to women."

"Well Nicole sure managed to get him out of his shell that night."

Callie sat up, locking her elbow as she looked down at the blonde. "We had an amazing wedding day, didn't we?"

"Like I said, I didn't think we could top the first one but we really did. Your parents place is so beautiful. Your mom did a great job organising it."

Callie nodded, her hand coming up to idly play with the heart necklace that lay against Arizona's chest. "Yea. I think it was her final gift to me."

The blondes hand came up to tuck loose hair behind Callie's ear. "I made your mother a promise that night."

"Did you?"

Arizona nodded. "We had a little talk while you were dancing with your dad. She apologised for how she's been in the past. She told me how much you mean and had always meant to her, despite how it might have seemed. She wanted to make sure you would be OK when she wasn't here anymore and I promised that I'd take care of you for the rest of my life. I told her she didn't need to worry because I wasn't going anywhere and no matter how tough things could get in the future, I wouldn't let us lose eachother again."

The Latina's eyes began to glisten at Arizona's confession. "Yea?"

The blonde nodded. "Yea. We're too old for all the drama, Cal.." she said with a grin. "...and I don't know about you but I for one am ready for the quiet life."

An exaggerated sigh left Callie's mouth. "That sounds divine." She smiled down at the blonde before ducking her head, placing soft kisses on the lips beneath. Pulling back slightly, brown eyes met blue. "Are you tired?"

A smile formed on the blondes lips as she shook her head. Matching her smile, Callie leant back down while her body moved on top of her wife's.

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