A/N - So for the last few days I seem to have gotten my mojo back and have been typing like a mad woman on the keypad. Time to throw a little drama into the story. Thanks for the lovely messages as always, I absolutely love hearing your thoughts. Hope you enjoy the direction I'm taking the story.

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Chapter 34

A few days later, both women were still settling back into their jobs after the extended time away. Needless to say, there was alot of work to catch up on in both their respective establishment's. Arizona had spent the first hour or so of Wednesday morning, checking in on current and new patients at the centre before heading back to her office to catch up on paperwork.

Looking up from her computer, she glanced over at the sofa. "How you feeling, sweetie?"

Sofia looked up from her tablet, giving her mother a small smile. "Throats still sore."

"You can have some more medicine in about an hour, OK?"

Nodding, the young girl went back to the game that was helping to take her mind off her illness. Lastnight she had woken her parents up just before midnight saying she couldn't swallow because it hurt too bad. Taking her temperature, Callie had realised she was running a fever so after giving her some medication, the little girl had slept between her mother's for the rest of the night. Deciding it was best to keep her off school, Arizona said she'd take her into work with her as she had no surgeries planned and while she was out of the office, a couple of nurses could keep check on her.

It had been all go ever since they'd returned from Miami just over a week earlier. They'd had an offer accepted on a house while Arizona had accepted an offer on her own apartment. Callie's remained up for sale but viewings had been coming thick and fast, with a further 2 later that day.

A commotion out in the corridor broke Arizona's concentration on the computer. "Can we get some help over here please..." came a frantic woman's voice, followed by screams of agony.

Jumping up from her seat, Arizona made for the door. "Be right back, Sof..." she threw over her shoulder. Crossing the threshold, she looked down to the left where 2 nurses were pushing a woman in a wheelchair towards her. "What's happened..." she called, coming closer to the heavily pregnant woman.

"Woman versus car...she was hit right outside the building. Her stomach took the impact..." the woman said, gesturing sorrowfully towards the woman's large baby bump.

As if I'm cue, the woman, cried out in pain, clutching at her stomach. Blood had pooled in her jeans around the crotch aswell as on the side of her head. "Please...help me. Where's Katie? Where's my daughter?"

"Mommy..." came a voice from behind one of the nurses. A few seconds later, a little girl came into view, coming up to her mother's side.

The woman in the wheel chair tried to put on brave face but it was plain to see how much pain she was in. "Katie, honey, everything's going to be OK. I need you to be a brave...arghhhh" she cried, unable to finish her sentence as pain consumed her entire being.

"Ok, Bethany get her over to OR1, I'll be right there and page Dr Brooks" Arizona instructed before looking back at the little girl. "Hey there, kiddo. My name's Arizona. I need to go make your mommy feel better now but how about I introduce you to someone, huh? Come on..." she said, taking hold of the little girls hand and leading her into her office. "Ok, Katie, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Sofia. She's off school today with a sore throat and I think she would love for you to stay here and keep her company for a little while, what do you say?"

Katie looked shyly from the doctor towards the little girl on the sofa half hidden beneath a blanket.

Seeing her mother nod towards the little girl, Sofia smiled as she pulled back the blanket next to her. "Hi Katie. Would you like to come and watch a movie with me?"

Swaying her body from side to side for a few seconds, Katie eventually nodded her head and looked back at Arizona.

"Go on sweetie, Sofia will look after you until I come back." Giving the girls hand a little squeeze, the blonde watched as she moved closer to her daughter, climbed up onto the sofa and allowed Sofia to cover her with the blanket. Straightening back up, Arizona smiled as she backed out of the room. "I'll see you both in a while, OK? If you need anything, there's a nurse right outside." Turning on her heal, she left the room, shouting over to the nurses station to stay vigilant as she began to run towards the OR.

By the time she'd scrubbed in, the woman on the table had been prepped and was currently having her stomach scanned. Being helped into her gloves and overall, Arizona stepped up to the table, taking a quick glance to the screen. "Hi, I'm Dr Robbins, I didn't get your name before..."

"Please, you can't let me die. I'm all she has. Please doctor, don't let me die" she pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

Putting a hand on the woman's arm, Arizona rubbed her thumb soothingly over the skin. "I'm going to do everything I can for you and your baby, OK?"

"Please...you have to. Katie is...she's my world. I can't leave her."

"Is there nobody we can call? Your partner, your parents?"

The woman shook her head, tears continuing to spill from her eyes. "There's no one else. It's just us. My boyfriend died 6 months ago. He killed himself..." she sobbed. "My parents died when I was a kid. We've been living in my car since getting evicted from our apartment when I couldn't pay the bills." She stopped talking as her tears fell harder. "Please…promise me you'll make sure she's OK?"

Arizona looked down at the woman, her heart completely breaking for her. "I'm so sorry..." she let her words hang, hoping the woman would catch on that she was asking for her name again.

The woman eventually did. "Michelle."

Arizona nodded, smiling beneath her mask. "I'm so sorry this happened to you Michelle but right now, were going to do everything we can to make sure you and your baby get reunited with Katie later today, Ok? Right now, she's sitting watching a movie with my daughter. I promise you, she's OK."

Choking slightly on a sob, Michelle gave her a little nod. "Thank you."

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It was nearly 3 hours later when Arizona made her way back towards her office. Just before she reached her door, her steps faltered upon hearing laughter coming from within. She closed her eyes lids tight, attempting to stop her tears from making an appearance. A lump was beginning to form in her throat, knowing that the little girl on the other side of this door had just lost the only person in her life. How was she meant to tell her that she'd never see her mother again? Taking in a deep, steadying breath, she pulled off her scrub cap as she heard approaching footsteps.

"Dr Robbins, do you want me to ring the CPS now?"

Opening her eyes, Arizona looked down at the floor. It took a few seconds but she eventually nodded slowly.

The nurse gave a tight, sad smile before turning and walking away.

"Wait."

Halting her footsteps, the nurse turned back towards the doctor.

Arizona lifted her head and looked at the nurse. "Wait a second. Don't call them yet. I need to talk to Nicole."

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After finishing work a little earlier in preparation for the 2 viewings they had scheduled, Callie was now in the kitchen, stirring the mac and cheese she had simmering on the hob. The 2 couples had come and gone with the realtor and had expressed their interest, just as several others before that had over the last few days. The apartment however still remained up for sale with no offers.

Even though it had only been a week, she was beginning to get a little frustrated at how her wife's apartment had been snapped up within a couple of days and yet hers remained offer-less. She'd hoped it would be a quick sale having already had an offer accepted on the house in the Bronx. If it stayed this way for much longer she was willing to drop the price a little more, hoping that that would spike some better interest.

Hearing the front door open, she gave the mac and cheese one last stir before turning the heat down and walking out of the kitchen. "There's my girls...oh.." she said, noticing the younger girl stood slightly behind and holding onto her daughter's hand. "Hello..." she smiled, glancing from the little girl and towards her wife questioningly.

"Katie, this is my other mommy" Sofia started. "Her name is a Callie, or Calliope, but she only likes it when my mom calls her that. She's a doctor too but she fixes bones."

Callie smiled brightly as she came further into the room. She glanced at her wife again who it seemed was looking back at her rather nervously. "Well hey there, Katie" The girl looked shyly at the Latina through her little teary eyes. "It's very nice to meet you. Sofia, why don't you go take Katie into your room and play for a little while. Dinner will be about another half hour."

"Ok. Come on, Katie. I'll show you the game I was talking to you about at the hospital."

When the two girls left the room, Callie turned to her wife. "I don't think I've ever met her before. Is she from school? She looks a good few years younger than Sofia."

Arizona sighed heavily as she stepped forward. She reached out her arms, falling into the embrace of her wife.

"Hey" Callie started. "What's happened? What am I missing?"

"So, I did a thing..." the blonde mumbled into the crook of the Latina's neck.

Pulling out of the hug, Callie eyed her wife. "What did you do?"

Moving towards the sofa, Arizona sank into the cushions before telling her wife about what had happened earlier that day. She was grateful when Callie had rubbed her back soothingly as she'd found herself getting emotional. "So when I went back to my office, I heard the 2 of them laughing at something. My heart was breaking for this little girl, Callie. She has absolutely no one else in the world now and I mean, what kind of life must she have had before that? Her father committed suicide and she's been living in a car for the last few months."

Tears had formed in Callie's eyes. "I can't even imagine. So is she going with the child protection services?"

The blonde chewed on the inside of her mouth as she looked nervously back at her wife. "Well...not exactly. Not yet anyway. I just couldn't bare the thought of her being taken into care so I kind of...sort of got Nicole to sweet talk the CPS into letting me bring her home for the night. She seems to have taken a real liking to Sofia, and Sofia really perked up when Katie joined her. I thought it would be better for her to come back here with someone she knew." She looked at her wife. "Are you mad?"

Callie furrowed her brows. "Mad? Don't be ridiculous. I'd have done exactly the same thing. I can't believe she has no one...not even a distant cousin?"

Arizona shook her head. "No. We had people on the case this afternoon, looking up her information. Michelle's parents died when she was 10. She went into foster care from there. She was an only child. Same with Katie's dad. He was in care as a kid too. His medical records showed a long history of mental illness. He'd tried to take his own life a couple of years ago but he got back on his meds and seemingly was OK, up until 6 months ago." Her hand came up and rubbed at her temple. "He jumped from the Brooklyn bridge." She shook her head. "So no, there's no one at all for her now."

The Latina squeezed at her wife's shoulder. "Well ofcourse she can stay here tonight. She can stay with us for as long as you want."

Arizona nodded. "You know how the CPS are. They're coming back to the clinic tomorrow." She sighed, thinking about the woman that had died on her table earlier in the day. "That poor woman was frantic before she went under. All she could think about was her daughter."

"We'd be exactly the same, don't you think? If we didn't have eachother or our families. I can't bare to think about having no one else in our lives that could look after Sofia if something happened to us." She stopped as her mom's face entered her mind.

Arizona looked back at her wife. Reaching out, she grasped her hand giving it a soft squeeze. "We're lucky to have eachother though, huh?"

Callie smiled and nodded. "It's just aswell I made extra for dinner tonight, isn't it? Hopefully Katie will eat something."

"She and Sofia shared some snacks earlier. I can't believe how brave she's being. I mean, I know kids are resilient but it must be eating her up inside to know she'll never see her mom again."

Callie nodded. "Let's do what we can for her tonight then, yea?

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After having carried the mattress from Sofia's bed in Arizona's apartment through a little earlier, the women finally got both girls settled into bed later that night. Sofia had given her bed up for Katie while she lay down on the mattress on the floor beside her. Several teddy's had been tucked under the duvet at either side of the small girl, hoping they would make her feel a bit more safe and comfortable in the new surroundings.

"How do you feel, Katie?"

The little girl looked at the Latina. "I miss my mommy." Fresh tears formed in her little eyes.

Callie reached over, running her thumb over the girls cheek. "Oh honey, I know you do. You know your mommy loved you so much. I lost my mommy not long ago too and I miss her very much. I was lucky to have Arizona and Sofia here, giving me lots of cuddles and keeping me safe and you have the same here with us. We're all here for you Katie and if you need anything in the night, we're just out here, OK? If you can't sleep or you're scared or hungry or just need a hug, you come and get us, OK?"

"It's OK mommy, I'll look after her" Sofia said.

Both Callie and Arizona looked over at their daughter. "We know you will, my love" Arizona replied before looking back at Katie. "Sofia is really good at looking after people. And she gives the best, super magic hugs." Receiving a smile, Arizona leant down placing a soft kiss on the girls head. "We'll see you in the morning, sweetie."

Taking it in turns to kiss both girls, the women left them in Sofia's room, keeping the door slightly ajar to let some light through.

While Arizona moved straight over to the sofa, Callie ventured into the kitchen, emerging again a few seconds later with 2 half filled glasses of wine. "Here you go, babe." Smiling thankfully, Arizona accepted the glass. "Do you think she'll be Ok?" The Latina asked.

After a quick mouthful of wine, Arizona shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, hopefully. She might wake up during the night crying, she could even wet the bed, I don't know. I feel so awful for her, Cal. I just want to wrap her up, hold her all night and tell her everything is gona be Ok, but it's not though, is it? She's lost her mom. The only person she had in the whole world."

"Hey, I know. Come here..."

They held on to eachother for a minute or so until Arizona spoke. "Callie, I don't think I can let her go with the CPS tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

Taking a deep breath, the blonde swivelled her body so she was facing the Latina. "I mean, I don't want her to become just another kid in the system like her parents. I know I did everything I could but her mom died on my table and..."

"Arizona don't you dare blame yourself her her mom's death. She came in with serious internal injuries. You couldn't have predicted her going into cardiac arrest. Her body had been through a severe trauma. You did everything you could. You hear me? You did everything."

Arizona nodded. "I know, but still...I don't think I can let them take her away. She'll be so scared, Callie. Can you imagine if it was Sofia? If we didn't have the family and friends we do and she was alone and something happened to us?"

"So, what are you suggesting?"

Arizona paused, trying to collect her thoughts. "I don't even know... I just... what if we, even just temporarily become her foster carers?"

"You think we could do that? I mean would we even be allowed?"

The blonde shrugged. "I have no idea. We'd need to talk to a lawyer or something I guess. It would need to go through the courts and I don't know how long it might take or if she'd even be able to stay with us while it's being decided." She looked at her wife. "Am I being crazy? Should we not get involved? I mean, were in the process of selling our apartments and buying a house. This would be just another thing to juggle, but at the same time I feel like it's something I need to do. Something we need to do."

Part of Callie wanted to agree with the blonde straight away. This was definitely something they could do. Something that they should do. Giving a small child a chance of a secure home with a loving, stable family. God knows if Katie went into the system, her future would more than likely be unsettled. She could be moved from home to home, become depressed, anti-social, anxious and lonely...

There was also however a part of the Latina that worried this was too much for them to take on. They didn't really know much about the young girl or her background, aside from her parents medical records and the few words Michelle had said to Arizona before she went under anaesthetic. Maybe Arizona was rushing into this without thinking of the potential complications.

"You think it's a bad idea, don't you?" Arizona said, sensing her wife's hesitation.

The Latina looked back at her. "Honestly, I don't know. I mean, ofcourse I hate the thought of that poor girl going into the system. There's already so many kids in there without homes or getting bounced around from place to place. No security or stability and yes, we could provide her with a secure, loving home but I don't know whether maybe you're jumping head first into something that you don't really know much about?" She frowned. "I feel awful saying that but it's true. Neither of us really know how these things work."

Arizona was quick to defend herself. "So tomorrow I could call my lawyer and explain the situation. Surely its worth a shot, unless you really don't want to do it..."

Callie put her head on the side as she looked at her wife. "Of course I want to do it, Arizona. I'm just trying to be realistic and look at it from all angles, you know? What if she stays with us for a while and Sofia gets attached to her and vice versa but then she gets taken away? Sofia would be heartbroken."

Arizona nodded. "But what if the courts supported us and she got to stay?"

The Latina smiled at how passionate her wife felt about the situation. "You are pretty bad ass when you're in court, fighting your corner" she said with a small smile.

Arizona smiled back. "You bet I am and I would be willing to fight for this girl, tooth and nail. So...?"

"So..." Callie started. "I think you need to call your lawyer first thing tomorrow morning." She sat rubbing Arizona's thigh as they smiled back at one another. "I don't think we should tell the girls what were doing though. Just to avoid disappointment if it doesn't work out."

The blonde nodded. "Yea, you're right." They went quiet for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts while sipping on their wine. "We can do this.." Arizona softly announced. "We can totally do this, Callie. I can't explain it, I just feel like she's my responsibility now. I promised her mom I'd take care of her."

"So let's do everything we can to make sure you can follow through with that promise, huh?"

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A/N 2 - So, just to point out, I have no idea how the CPS work or the system or anything like that. I'm bending rules to write my fiction :)