Chapter Eight: Passing Notes

"What's that?" Arizona asked curiously, referring to the folded note Callie had just slipped into her white coat pocket.

"Just a little something for you," Callie replied with a shrug, leaning in to place a quick kiss on the blonde's lips. "I'm going to be late for rounds." The brunette walked away, looking back over her shoulder to see the fetal surgeon fishing for the note in her pocket.

"Don't read it now!" The ortho surgeon instructed, "You'll be late too."

"Callie, you know I'm not good with surprises," Arizona complained, playfully pouting, "I want to know what it says."

"Later." Callie commanded firmly, turning back to walk down the hallway. Sighing, the blonde put the note back in her pocket, running to catch up to her ex-wife.

"Hey there, Dr. Robbins," Dr. Wren greeted the fetal surgeon as she approached the nurses station in the peds wing. "You're just in time for the Berrett family." The younger surgeon handed the blonde the ipad with the file notes, respecting the fetal surgeon taking lead on the case.

"How are our star patients today?" Arizona greeted the couple cheerfully as they walked into the room, putting her stethoscope on the mother's belly checking their heartbeats.

"They're moving around a lot," The expectant mother shared, looking worriedly at the blonde surgeon, "Is that going to make their hands worse?"

"It's not ideal for them because of their condition," Arizona explained gently, "What kind of movements are you feeling? Does it feel big or small?"

"Um, small, I guess," The woman answered, putting her hands over her belly, "I've never done this before so I don't really know what big or small feels like."

"Can your husband feel it by putting his hand on your belly?" Estie asked, moving to the other side of the end of the bed to see the woman more clearly.

"No, he says he can't feel them when I can," The first-time mother looked up at her husband, a smile crossing her face. "It feels more like the butterflies I felt when I first met him." Her husband squeezed her hand affectionately.

"That's too small to be bad," The man said hopefully, lifting his gaze to the two surgeons. "Right?"

"Right, Lucas," Arizona confirmed, looping her stethoscope back around her neck, "It's most likely just small side to side movements that are perfectly natural for 16 week old babies." The parents looked relieved.

"So where are we at with the surgery?" The mother asked, turning towards the subject of their rounds. "Will we be able to do it?"

"Like we mentioned yesterday, both babies passed their exams with flying colors," Estie reviewed, stealing a look over at the blonde surgeon. "So they are in the best condition possible to withstand the strain of surgery at this age."

"The scan results of their arms showed that baby number one's hand has fully formed on it's own," Arizona picked up, "Which is exactly what we were hoping for. Now that we're sure they're both healthy, the next step is for Dr. Wren and I to consult with Dr. Herman about the best equipment and methods to use to go about separating them."

"How long will that take?" Lucas interjected anxiously, "You told us the longer we wait the higher the risk of them conjoining at the heart or something."

"That's a risk that increases with weeks, not days," The blonde clarified patiently, "The only thing you both need to be worried about is picking out their names so we can stop calling them baby numbers one and two." Everyone chuckled and Estie admired how the other woman could put parents at ease so smoothly.

"I guess we haven't thought much about that," The young mother admitted, looking up at her husband. "Sounds like we have homework now."

"If you need baby name ideas," Estie added, "We've got a lot of tiny patients here with cute names."

"That's true," The blonde confirmed, "I expect to hear at least two name options for each baby next time we see you all, okay?"

"Okay," Lucas agreed, nodding. "Thank you."

"Arizona's a great name option too," Estie pitched shamelessly, enjoying the look on the other surgeon's surprised face. "There are so many great nicknames; Scottsdale, Payson, Chandler. Plus they'd have an amazing fetal surgeon for their namesake."

"Dr. Wren!" The blonde protested, shaking her head at the younger surgeon's lack of professionalism as her cheeks colored slightly with embarrassment.

"Just think about it," Estie instructed the parents with a wink, mercilessly leaving Arizona alone with them as she walked back out to the nurses station. "Got any other updates for me?"

"Everyone from the bus crash has been updated, but let me see," The older nurse made several clicks, surveying the screen.

"What the hell was that?" Arizona butted in, setting the ipad on the desk and turning towards her young colleague. "It was completely unprofessional."

"What? Suggesting baby names?" Estie asked, feigning innocence as she held back a smile. "Last time I checked, that's not a protocol violation."

"You know what I mean," The blonde responded impatiently, "And for the record no one calls me Scottsdale, Chandler, or Payson. It's just Arizona."

"Ahh, I see," The peds surgeon said knowingly, updating notes on her ipad with mock disinterest. "Somebody's out of the hospital gossip loop."

"What?" Arizona exclaimed, her curiosity piqued, "What do they call me?"

"I really don't think it's my place to tell," The honey blonde deflected, turning to look at the fetal surgeon before leaning in. "Especially since I'm the one who started it."

"I am so onto you," Arizona threatened, narrowing her eyes at the peds surgeon.

"Oh trust me," The honey blonde said with a smirk, lowering her voice to a seductive whisper, "That's all I want." Turning on her heel, the young surgeon walked away, leaving the open-mouthed Arizona gaping after her.

. . .

Crunch. Arizona sat cross-legged on the on-call room bed, eating chips as she stared at the wall in thought. She'd spent the morning avoiding a certain peds surgeon, unsure what to do after the younger's flirtatious comments coming out of left field. I shouldn't have to eat lunch in the on-call room just to avoid seeing her. The blonde thought in frustration. I won't succeed forever anyways, we're literally working the conjoined twins case together. There had to be a way around this. Furrowing her eyebrows in thought, she looked around the room for the millionth time. A piece of paper sticking out of her discarded white coat pocket caught her attention. Perfect. Callie was a welcome distraction from her problem and the fetal surgeon opened the note eagerly.

For my dearest Arizona,

Remember how I told you I'm better at writing things out rather than just talking because it gives me more time to think things through and hello, I'm terrible at speeches. Anyways, I wanted to write this note to show you the kind of person that I have seen throughout our relationship and who I choose to see today. Here's a list of all the actions that you've taken that show me the Arizona that I fell in love with.

1. Having the guts to come up to me in that dirty bar bathroom and put yourself out there.

2. You were brave enough to admit that you had made the wrong call about us and gave me a second chance in that elevator.

3. When you were willing to become a mother with me because you knew how much it meant to me. I'll forever be grateful that you couldn't live without me and our "ten kids".

4. Flying across the world to come back to me when I couldn't get over my pride and reach out to you. Also putting up with my anger and hurt graciously.

5. Accepting me back even though you felt cheated on and growing to love our baby.

6. Learning to be friends with Mark for my sake even though you hated him at first.

7. Being crazy enough to propose to me in the car.

8. Saving our baby in the OR and never leaving my side even when you had no idea if I would wake up or not.

9. Marrying me and being so supportive about the drama with my mom.

10. Forgiving me for amputating your leg and being so patient with me when I had no idea what you were going through or how to help.

11. Asking me if I wanted to have another baby and you carrying this time.

12. Working through a miscarriage with so much strength.

13. Convincing me to buy a house and start over again.

14. Being brave and willing enough to try to have another kid again a different way.

15. Walking into therapy sessions with me without ever bailing no matter how hard it was.

16. Enduring a brutal trial and still letting Sofia go with me to New York even after you won.

17. Uprooting your life for Sofia's sake and closing the distance between us yet again.

You are a truly remarkable woman, Arizona. I hope this list shows you just how much.

With love,

Your Calliope.

Arizona leant back against the wall, soaking in all the memories floating around in her mind. They had been through so much. She looked down the fifth item again, feeling touched by Callie's honesty. The ortho surgeon had never really directly addressed that Arizona had felt cheated on. The blonde didn't even know Callie had recognized that. A feeling of warmth for the mother of her daughter welled up within her. This is so stupid. Callie and I are meant to be. I can handle a little flirting. In fact, Arizona raised an eyebrow deviously, I can dish it back.

The blonde pulled a pen from her pocket and fished around for a piece of paper. Dear Calliope… She began, writing as fast as she could, knowing it was only a matter of time before she was interrupted.

. . .

"Finally decided to stop avoiding me?" Estie asked, not bothering to lift her eyes off of the plastic womb in front of her to verify who it was. "Took you long enough."

"Wow, does the whole world revolve around you?" The blonde asked sarcastically, pulling up a chair beside the peds surgeon as she watched her technique. "I'm actually building a women's center and that doesn't just come together on it's own. Shocking, I know, but I actually have a life outside of this hospital."

"And how is the center that's been taking up every second of your time this morning?" Dr. Wren replied, not quite buying the other woman's excuse as she delicately inserted the probe.

"The project's going fairly well, actually," The fetal surgeon replied, grateful for the switch in conversation. "We were initially planning to renovate this building but turns out there was mold in the walls and they couldn't save it. They're knocking it down now-Careful, you need to go a little to the left and lighten your pressure." Arizona leaned in closer to get a better look at the peds surgeon's work, whose hands hesitated at her intrusion.

"You know, much as I love your breath on my neck," Estie started, trying to deflect her nerves at performing in front of the fetal surgeon with flirting. "I'd rather hear your melodic voice going on about the center." Arizona rolled her eyes and sat back, watching as the honey blonde followed her instructions.

"It's good we caught the mold but since we're starting from scratch again," The blonde continued, watching the probe's slow progress into the interior of the fake womb, "We're down a little on funding so we're actually putting together a donor gala to raise some funds to finish-"

"Let there be light!" Estie interrupted suddenly, flicking on a small switch at the top of the probe that beautifully illuminated the womb in front of them.

"Well done, Dr. Wren," Arizona congratulated, tilting her head to the side as she was brought back to her time as a fetal surgeon fellow. "Now we can see what we're doing to insert the probe that will allow us to make the incisions."

"Don't we need to put in the cauterizer first?" The honey blonde asked, "We'll need to stop the bleeding as quickly as possible and suction will take out fluids the babies need."

"We'll put in a cauterizer," Arizona explained, "But I prefer to insert our scalpel first so that it can have an optimal position. Once it's in, we'll be able to find the best angle from which to insert the other instruments."

"But-"

"Move over and let me show you," The blonde instructed, cutting short the question forming on Estie's lips. The younger surgeon obeyed, moving to sit opposite the fetal surgeon and trying to focus on the blonde's hands instead of how adorably her face was scrunched in concentration.

. . .

Callie dropped her bag as she entered, tossing her keys on the couch as she took off her jacket. Arizona had Sofia that night, so the apartment was quiet and empty. Padding over to the fridge, she pulled out leftover pizza and settled on the couch, unsure of what she was going to do but missing a particular blonde. She'd barely seen her ex-wife other than a few quick kisses and the glimpse through the lab doors, watching her sitting quite close to Dr. Wren and guiding the younger surgeon's hands with her own. Seeing their gloved fingers touch had sparked the all-too-familiar feeling of jealousy in the brunette. Oh! A thought flashed into her mind. I've got that letter from Arizona to read. She reached over to her jacket and pulled out the paper from a pocket. Unfolding it, she took a breath before she began.

Dearest Calliope Iphegenia Torres,

Thank you for your letter, it was really sweet. You have given a lot to me too. I wanted to make a list for you as well. This is the Calliope that I see and fell in love with:

1. Putting up with me making a bad call and not being too proud to take a second chance with me.

2. When you laid in bed with me and tried to convince yourself you didn't want kids. You were willing to give up such a big dream for me, even though it was unfair to you.

3. Your blatant bravery with getting the shooter to go away, calming our patient, and making me believe in myself again.

4. Being willing to go to Africa with me even though it really wasn't your dream.

5. Wanting me to be a part of yours and Sofia's life even after I bailed.

6. Carrying our baby so beautifully and putting up with Mark and I being semi-unreasonable at times.

7. Fighting for me and Sofia to wake up and come back to us.

8. Being crazy enough to say yes to a life with me.

9. Loving your dad enough not to make him choose between you and his wife.

10. Making the decision that had to be made by amputating my leg to save my life.

11. Taking all the heat and resentment I gave you for it without once taking the easy way out and ratting on Alex because you still wanted me to have someone even though I was being awful to you.

12. Being so excited when we found out I was pregnant that you were already kissing my belly.

13. Giving me that ring and believing in a fresh start for us.

14. Going through our rough ride to try to have another baby with grace when it was so painful.

15. Being willing to leave your comfort zone to go to therapy with me.

16. Working past my mistake with Lauren and setting aside our problems to become my friend again.

I've got to go now, my pager is beeping like crazy. You're amazing.

Love,

Arizona

Callie looked up from the letter, gazing at her apartment with a reminiscent smile on her face. Despite the fact that the blonde wasn't there, she felt seen and understood by Arizona for all the sacrifices she had made in the relationship and how much she truly cared. They were moving towards true healing, Callie realized. And as much as she hated seeing Estie flirt with her ex-wife, she wasn't going to rush their healing process. It felt like a weight was lifting off Callie's chest and it was the sweetest feeling she'd felt in a long time.

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Yay for healing! It's so good to see Callie and Arizona acknowledge the sacrifices that each other has made throughout their relationship. It's time to let past hurts be dealt with, rather than just stewing underneath, surfacing in fights. What do you think of them exchanging letters? Cute or nah? Also Estie's got game. Uh-oh.