A/N - Hey guys, thanks for your lovely comments for the last chapter, as always. I feel like this final chapter is quite a good place to end the story. Ofcourse, when you get to the end of it, you may say otherwise. So, let me know what you think and if you feel like you'd like to have one more chapter, I may write an epilogue to round things up. If I do, what would you like to see in it? Always love to hear your ideas. Thanks for following me on this journey, even after the long break I had from it. Stay safe :)
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Chapter 40
1 year later.
The sound of heavy footsteps above caused Callie and the girls to look up at the ceiling. "Sadie, bad dog. Drop it now" they heard filtering through the floor boards above.
Looking back at the kids, Callie made a face. "Sounds like Sadie's being a naughty girl again."
A few seconds later, they heard a thud followed by the sound of someone coming down the stairs. It wasn't long before the dog appeared, running excitedly into the kitchen with Arizona's life like prosthetic leg dangling from her mouth.
"Oh crap, not again .." Callie mumbled as she made a lunge for the dog. She couldn't help but laugh as she grabbed a hold of the dogs collar, keeping her in place so she could grasp the leg. She was careful not to yank it from the dogs strong hold incase it tore into the material. "Sadie, release" she commanded. Immediately the dog loosened it's jaws and allowed Callie to take the leg from her. "Good dog..." she said, patting Sadie on the head.
"Good dog?!" Arizona said, coming into the room with her hands on her hips and her face flushed. She was wearing her bed shorts which gave an uncensored view of her metal prosthetic. "Are you kidding me? She's a bad dog. A very, very bad dog."
Inspecting the leg in her hand, Callie eventually looked at her wife. "The legs fine, babe. Don't stress. No teeth marks or anything."
"Why does she always have to go for my leg? I don't get it."
The Latina shrugged as she handed over the prosthetic. "Well, maybe because it smells like you and she loves you."
"Ok well could she not take a shoe instead, like a normal dog?!" She heard the girls giggling at the table and looked back at them through narrowed eyes. "I'm glad you find it so amusing you two. I've got an important surgery this morning not to mention the meeting we have this afternoon. I don't have time to run around the house after my damn leg."
After a few beats, Sofia grinned. "Mommy said damn" she said, covering her mouth as looked at Katie.
Callie rolled her eyes. "Mommy is bad, just like Sadie..." she gave a pointed look at her wife who rolled her own eyes in return. "Arizona, relax. Everything is going to be alright, Ok? Its just the nerves. Now get that skinny little tush back upstairs and get ready. Breakfasts getting cold." As Arizona turned to walk away, Callie's hand swatted her ass, causing the girls to giggle yet again.
When Arizona had left the room, Sofia frowned at the Latina. "Mommy is stressy this morning."
Callie sighed as she put the button down on the kettle once more. "Yes, she is. She has a big day today." After a few seconds, she told the girls to stay down in the kitchen and finish their breakfast then go outside and see if Sadie would do her business. Leaving them alone, she retraced her wife's steps.
Arriving at their bedroom door, she found Arizona with her back to her as she rifled through the walk in wardrobe, looking for something suitable to wear. Quietly closing and locking the door, she made her way over to the blonde.
Arizona heard her approaching footsteps and turned. A sigh left her mouth before she continued her rifling. "I have nothing to wear."
The Latina raised an eyebrow as her eyes glance over the abundance of clothing that belonged to her wife. "You sure about that?"
"Yes, I'm sure" the blonde replied, noticeably tightly wound. "Nothing here says to me I'm a responsible..." her words cut off when she felt herself yanked around and pressed against the side wall of the walk in wardrobe. "Cal...what..."
The Latina pressed herself into her wife, effectively wedging the smaller woman between her body and the wall. "Shh, no talking." She dropped to her knees, wasting no time as she grabbed the hem of Arizona's shorts and panties, yanking them down her legs.
"Cal wait...the door. The kids could..."
"Doors locked" Callie told her, tapping the inside of her wife's thighs.
Subconsciously, Arizona lifted her leg, effectively giving in to the Latina's subtle request. "Calliope, we don't have time to do this. I need to..." her words turned into a deep groan when she felt her clit engulfed firmly between full lips. "Shit.." she breathed. Her left hand wrapped itself around the back of Callie's head, pulling her harder between her legs. Her body twitched and thrust itself against the expert tongue currently teasing her most sensitive area. "Oh God, Cal..." She wanted to protest because God knows there was alot to get through today, but when her wife had her in this kind of position, it was near on impossible to refuse her.
The Latina sucked and flicked her tongue around the blondes clit for several moments before dipping her face deeper between her legs. Her tongue wasted no time in thrusting itself through slick walls. Her own excitement grew at the sound of her wife's encouraging words. It wasn't long before her fingers took over her assault of the blondes centre. Her mouth once again latching on to her nub as she sucked her hard and fast.
Having already been pent up, it wasn't long before Arizona cried out her release, desperately grinding herself against Callie's face. When her body began to relax, she slumped against the wall, unceremoniously sliding down it, with the help of the woman below. She sat panting, looking at the smug grin on her wife's face. "We didn't have time for this."
Callie's grin grew wider. "There is always time for this, Arizona. Come on, I'll help you pick something out."
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"Arizona will you stop fidgeting?!"
The blonde stopped pulling at her blouse as she looked at her wife. "Sorry, I'm just really nervous."
The Latina looked at her sympathetically. She was just as nervous as the blonde but somehow was able to keep herself grounded. One of them needed to be the strong one right now. "I know, honey. I am too." Just as she put an arm around her wife, Angela Sanders walked up to them.
The woman from the CPS smiled as she came to a stop. "How we doing today?"
Three and a half months ago, after one of many discussions with Katie, Callie and Arizona had expressed their desire to adopt the little girl to the CPS. Angela Sanders had been thrilled and had known from the moment they met that it wouldn't be long before they were in this position.
Thing was, on paper and in practice, they'd been the perfect parents. Katie had thrived in their care both emotionally aswell as socially and physically. They loved her like she was their own and the young girl had also built a solid relationship with Sofia, but would the judge see it that way?
What was the other alternative for Katie? A life in care? A feeling of never really belonging somewhere? Surely the judge would grant them custody of the girl. He had to...
Arizona had already adopted Sofia years earlier. Surely that would work in their favour? But then...what about when Callie and Arizona had separated and took eachother to court and fought viciously to become Sofia's guardian? Would the judge hold that against them? The accusations that had been thrown around had surely been recorded and kept in a file, ready to be exposed somewhere down the line. This was the main concern Arizona had been anxious about for the last few months.
"Dr Robbins, Dr Torres, the court is ready for you now."
Looking from their lawyer to eachother, Callie gave her wife an encouraging smile. "We've got this."
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A couple of hours later, having picked Sofia and Katie up from after school club, Callie parked the car in the drive, assisting both girls in jumping down from the large vehicle. "Go get changed, wash your hands and then come out the back Ok?"
"Ok, mom. Ok Callie" the girls said in unison as they ran up the front porch steps. Opening the front door, Sofia led the charge up the stairs, closely followed by Katie before Sadie came bounding in from the room and chased after them.
Shaking her head with amusement, Callie closed the front door, dropping the kids school bags down by the hall table. Making her way through the house she found her wife pouring orange juice into a couple of plastic cups. "All sorted?" She asked, coming up alongside the blonde, leaning in to press her lips against her cheek.
"Yea I think so. Girls alright?"
The Latina nodded moving to the open door to out the back. "I sent them up to change and wash their hands."
Screwing the lid back on the orange juice, the blonde moved to the fridge, depositing the drink before picking up the glasses and following her wife out the back. By the time they heard footsteps running through the house, they were stood at the patio table which was covered in various picky foods. Balloons were floating in the air, tethered to the backs of the chairs.
"Whoa" Sofia said first, her eyes clocking onto what her parents had done. "Are we having a tea party?"
"Cool" Katie said, running over to the table, her little hands coming up to grasp the edge while she lifted herself up on her tip toes for a better look.
"We sure are" Callie said, pulling out a couple of chairs for the girls to sit on.
"We have some news to share with you both" Arizona started.
Sofia looked at her mother. "Are you having a baby?"
The blonde laughed at Sofia's question. "No sweetie, not quite. Why do you think that?" When their daughter shrugged in response, Arizona looked at Callie before taking a seat next to the one Katie had sat down in. "Do you remember a little while ago, I asked you how you felt about Callie and I adopting you so you could stay with us forever?"
The little girl nodded back at the blonde but it was Sofia that replied. "You said you needed to ask the judge if she could stay with us."
"That's right, honey, we did and today, we went to see the judge."
"What did he say?"
"Well" she took a quick glance at her wife. "The judge was actually a woman and she said she had never met a more perfect family in her life to take care of this sweet little girl forever."
A few seconds passed before Sofia replied. "So, Katie can stay with us forever?"
The blonde smiled wide, lifting her hand to squeeze at Katie's shoulder. "That's right. You get to stay with us. This is your forever home now." She watched the little girl process the information, clearly not knowing how to reply yet. "How do you feel about that, Katie?"
The little girl looked up at Callie before looking back at Arizona. "So, Im staying here forever?"
The blonde nodded. "Yes. This is your home. Me, Callie and Sofia are your family now. We'll always be here for you. Officially."
Katie smiled while Sofia jumped up from her seat, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. "This is so awesome. Does this mean were sisters?"
Callie laughed, bending down next to her wife's chair. "I guess it does."
"I always wanted a little sister. Not a little brother, because boys are smelly."
Katie laughed, hugging the older girl before getting off the seat and embracing Callie. Arizona leant in, enveloping the little girl between her body and her wife's.
When the girl pulled back, they realised she had tears in her eyes. "Oh sweetie, are you happy?"
Katie nodded, rubbing at her eyes. "Yea. I'm really happy." She got back up on her seat and looked at her lap. It was a few moments later, she looked back over at Arizona. "If Sofia is my sister, are you my mommy now?"
The blonde was a little taken back at the little girls question. "Umm, that's up to you honey. If you want to call Callie and me mommy then ofcourse you can. If you want to keep calling us Callie and Arizona then that's OK too." Katie stayed silent for a few seconds as she processed the information. Arizona reached out once again, putting her hand over the little one in Katie's lap. "You'll always have your biological mommy too, Katie. Your real mommy, Michelle might not be here anymore but she'll always be in here" she said, placing her hand on the little girls chest. "She'll always be in your heart and you'll never forget her, Ok? You can talk about her anytime you want and we'll still go down to the river and talk to your mommy and daddy, anytime you want. Me and Callie are here to care of you and love you just as much as we care for and love Sofia. You're both our little girls and we're a family."
"We're the best family ever" Sofia said, making Katie smile back at her. "Can we take some food into our treehouse?"
"Course you can" Callie said as she stood up. "How about we put a selection of food on a plate then we'll pass it up the ladder to you?"
As the girls got up from their seats, the women watched them run across the grass towards their favourite tree. Callie turned back to her wife, instantly seeing she was teary eyed. Putting the paper plate back on the table she leant down, enveloping the other woman in a tight hug. She heard Arizona laugh slightly, causing a smile to appear on her own face. "I love you."
As the Latina pulled back, Arizona gently took hold of her wife's face. "And I love you." Lips met several times in a series of soft kisses before Callie got back to plating up some food to take over to the girls.
A little while later, having eaten some food themselves, the couple were sat at the patio table with a beer each. Sadie was laid down at Arizona's feet while the girls continued to play in the treehouse. The sound of excited laughter filled the air making both women smile.
"They're both so happy, aren't they?"
The Latina nodded, looking over at the treehouse. "Sofia always wanted a little brother or sister."
"I know it's not the way we were expecting to get another child but... I honestly love Katie like she was our own. I'm a bit sad we missed out on those early years though. Do you remember how cute Sofia was? I loved every minute of her being a baby, once she was strong enough to leave the hospital and I stopped freaking out ofcourse."
The blonde nodded, thinking back to 10 years ago when Sofia was just a baby. "Yea, I miss that baby feeling too. Even the middle of the night feeds, the crying. Maybe not so much the smelly diapers..." she finished with a laugh. They went quiet for a few moments, both lost in their own thoughts. Arizona really did miss being around babies. With her work now focusing on fixing babies before they're even born, it wasn't very often she got to spend time with actual children. "Do you think I'm too old to carry a baby?"
It took a second for Arizona's words to register in Callie's mind. With a frown, she looked at the blonde. "Huh?"
Looking away from the treehouse and over to her wife, she shrugged. "Am I too old to have a baby?"
The Latina had no idea where the blonde was coming from. "You...want to have a baby?" The words just couldn't digest in her head.
Arizona nodded, completely serious. "I've been thinking about being a mum again...as in, carrying one." She looked down at her beer, idly picking at the corner of the label. "I know it might sound crazy coz weve literally just adopted Katie, but...I've been thinking about it for a while. We're settled, we've got more than enough room. My jobs alot more relaxed than when I was in Seattle. I'm not a fetal intern anymore. The question is...do you think I could carry again?"
"You'd want to...after what happened last time? Coz you said you wouldn't do it again. It was too hard."
"I know what I said.. back then, but do you think I'm too old now?"
"No...well yea, you kind of are..." she said in jest. "..but there are plenty of woman out there having babies well into their 40s." She couldn't quite believe what they were talking about. Chewing on the inside of her mouth, she turned in her seat. "Are you serious, Arizona?"
Tentatively, the blonde nodded again. "I'm in a much better place, mentally. We're stronger than we've ever been. I would take a back seat at the centre. There's someone at work I'm mentoring at the minute, kind of like a Karev 2.0 so I could be more of an observer and teacher rather than on the front line myself." She looked back at her wife, registering the almost blind panic etched over her face. "You're worrying about if I miscarried again..."
Clearly her feelings were written all over her face. "Honestly, yes. I don't know if it's a good idea. Do you remember how hard it was when you lost the baby? And I felt awful for forgetting the appointment because of that surgery."
The blonde sat forward in her seat, coming closer to the Latina. "There was alot going on back then, Calliope. We were also so fragile. I'm just suggesting maybe it's something we could think about. Yea sure, I know we have our hands full with the girls, Sadie and let's not forget our chickens, along with our jobs but we always wanted more. You always wanted more."
Ofcourse Callie always wanted more children. Aside from surgery, it's the one thing she'd always wanted most in her life. After the ordeal of Sofia's birth however, she was just thankful they'd both been able to survive and live the full, healthy lives they had.
They were so happy right now and she didn't know if making a huge decision like this would rock their very steady boat. "Do you not think we have enough now? I mean like you said, we've got full time jobs, 2 girls, the dog, chickens..."
"So we could get a nanny... or we use the daycares at the hospital or the centre. We could do it, Callie. If it's something we really wanted, we could make it happen. Unless... unless you really don't want to?"
The Latina looked at her sadly. "Its not that I don't want to Arizona. Ofcourse I love the idea of an even bigger family. I'm just scared."
"What are you scared of?"
Sighing, Callie looked nervously back at her wife. "I'm scared history will repeat itself. I'm scared something happens and the baby doesn't survive again and I'm scared of how it would affect you and me if that happened."
Arizona nodded, completely understanding the Latina's argument. "Yea, I get that...but what if nothing goes wrong and I carry to term, a beautiful health little baby? Working at the centre now, I'm surrounded by people with the right knowledge to do daily check ups to make sure everything is going to plan."
"Yea and you got the checks last time but it didn't stop our baby from dying." She flinched at her own words, instantly regretting being so blunt. "Sorry..." she said, reaching out to take the blondes hand. "I don't mean to be so harsh it's just... Yes, I'm scared. I'm happy. We're happy. I just don't want anything to spoil what we've built here."
The blonde looked down at their linked fingers, squeezing Callie's digits gently between her own. "It scares me too. It really does. I just...I feel like it's something I'd really like to do. Adopting Katie..." she said, looking toward the treehouse. "I think its made me realise how much I love the idea of a house full of kids. I miss the tiny humans" she admitted with a smile. "And...it would be quite nice to have a little boy, don't you think?"
Callie's brows furrowed. "You realise you can't pick and choose what sex the baby is, yea?"
Arizona rolled her eyes. "You know, I think I may have been told that at medical school once upon a time" she replied sarcastically. "And it wouldn't matter if it was a boy or a girl, not really. Agamemnon and Zamboni would suit either gender.." she said with a grin, remembering the unique names they'd tossed around the first time they'd talked about Arizona carrying a baby.
Callie laughed aloud before shaking her head. "Oh no no no, it's still a firm Vito on both those names."
The blonde huffed playfully. "Fine, have it your way." Her eyes locked on to brown as they smiled at one another.
"Do you really want to do this?" Callie asked.
After a few seconds, Arizona nodded. "Yes, but only if you do too."
A few moments passed as they searched each others eyes. Eventually, Callie leant over, softly kissing her wife's lips. "So then let's do it."
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