Chapter Ten: Me for Me

"Callie, wait," Arizona called out, pulling her ex-wife back towards her, "Before we go in, I need to tell you something."

"Why can't you just tell me inside?" The brunette questioned, looking at her watch anxiously, "We're already late."

"I know, I know," Arizona soothed, unsure of how her ex-wife was going to react. "But this past weekend was perfect and I didn't want to ruin it and you had to take Sofia to school this morning so I didn't see you until now-"

"Just get on with it," Callie said impatiently, glancing at the hospital entrance. "We need to go."

"Estie kissed me that night," The blonde blurted, not sure how else to put it but rushing on when she saw the look on the ortho surgeon's face. "After the surgery went well we were all celebrating, (and I have to say Sinai really knows how to celebrate) but I pushed her away. I left and facetimed you instead. You were who I wanted to celebrate with." Arizona reached up and cradled the brunette's cheek, trying to read the expression in her brown eyes.

"You kissed her?" Callie choked out, her voice hoarse with emotion. "This is Lauren all over again-"

"No, no!" The blonde interrupted firmly, stopping her ex-wife from going on, "She kissed me. And there is nothing going on, period. You are the one I want to kiss, not her. You hear me?" The brunette nodded woodenly, still trying to take it in.

"Come on," Arizona took the ortho surgeon's hand in hers, "We're late."

. . .

Callie entered the NICU, seeing her ex-wife and Estie leaning over a baby, faces almost touching.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Wren?" The brunette thundered, her tone venomous.

"Checking up on this patient's scar from his in-utero spina bifida prevention surgery," The honey blonde explained, meeting the ortho surgeon's gaze defiantly. "You got a problem with that?"

"You've got an emergent consult down in the pit, Dr. Robbins," Callie deflected, ignoring the eyesore standing beside her ex-wife. "You're needed stat."

"That's weird," The fetal surgeon said, inadvertently poking holes in her ex-wife's ruse, "My pager didn't go off."

"Yeah, well maybe you should get it checked," The ortho surgeon suggested, not in the mood to wait, "They need you. Now."

"Make sure he keeps getting a steady flow of nutrients," Arizona instructed the peds surgeon, "He seems to be healing well from the surgery, but we'll want to keep an eye out for infection."

"Will do," Estie replied, shooting a murderous glare at Callie when Arizona's back was turned as the blonde pulled off her pink gown before following her ex-wife out of the room.

"So what have we got?" The fetal surgeon asked, looking at Callie as they walked down the hallway out of sight. She squealed in surprise as the brunette pulled her into an on-call room, pushing the blonde against the wall before the door had even swung shut. Callie leaned in and started kissing the blonde's neck, moving lower with each warm kiss.

"Callie, I'm not complaining but-" The fetal surgeon began, biting her lip as the brunette found a particularly sensitive spot, "What's going on?"

"I'm reminding you of what we have," The brunette replied, her breathing labored as she came up to look her ex-wife in the eye. "Has that peds idiot tried to kiss you again?" The blonde looked into warm brown eyes, smiling at the ortho surgeon's genuine concern.

"No, Callie," Arizona assured the other woman, "And even if she did, I turned her down once and I'll do it again. She's actually been really stiff and awkward around me today."

"Really?" Callie asked, relief flooding through her as she studied her ex-wife's face.

"Really." The fetal surgeon giggled, leaning in to kiss the brunette. "I think I really broke her heart."

"Bitch deserved it," The ortho surgeon grumbled against Arizona's mouth, savoring the sweet taste of the blonde.

"Hey!" Arizona pushed her ex-wife away playfully. "That's not nice."

"She's not nice." The brunette defended, crossing her arms defiantly. "She tried to steal you away from me."

"True," The fetal surgeon conceded, rather aroused by how jealous the other woman was. "But no more yelling at her like that."

"Fine, no more yelling." Callie relented, leaning back in for another kiss, "But I'm just saying if she got hit by a truck I wouldn't mind."

"Callie!" Arizona scolded, swatting the brunette away. "That's awful."

"She's awful." The ortho surgeon corrected again, still not feeling amicable towards the peds surgeon in the slightest.

"Noted." Arizona interrupted before Callie could go on, "Now will you let me get back to work and stop harassing the head of pediatric surgery?"

"Not just yet," The brunette said with a smirk, pushing her ex-wife back up against the wall and capturing the blonde's mouth again.

. . .

Callie sat in her therapist's waiting room, tapping her foot impatiently. Her ex-wife's news had been bothering her all day, and she felt like she was reliving the shock of seeing Lauren with Arizona's scrub top on over and over again. Her head was aching with all the thoughts and feelings she'd been struggling to keep in all day.

"I'll see you next week," Linda called out, saying goodbye as her client exited. "Callie, come in." The ortho surgeon swung her purse over her shoulder, getting up and walking into the other room as her therapist shut the door behind them.

"How have things been?" Linda asked, gesturing for the brunette to sit.

"Absolute crap." Callie declared, wasting no time. "Arizona kissed a peds surgeon or rather the peds surgeon kissed her, which I know is different but it doesn't feel different and-"

"Let's slow down for a moment, Callie," The other woman interrupted, holding up her hand. "It sounds like you're dealing with two sets of emotions here. Your emotions about what's happening real-time and how you felt when she cheated with Lauren. What set do you want to start with?" The ortho surgeon paused, thinking over Linda's question.

"I guess it's not just about Lauren. It's about Leah when we were separated and every other woman she's slept with." Callie began, trying to sort through the whirlwind swirling in her brain. "I just don't understand why Arizona is always putting herself in these positions to be with other women when I thought she wanted to be with me."

"I've said this before and I just want to remind you again," Linda began gently, observing the distraught woman in front of her. "I'm your therapist, not Arizona's."

"I know," Callie said, fiddling with the key chain hanging from her purse.

"That being said," The other woman continued, "From what I remember, it seems like in most of these instances Arizona wasn't the one to start these encounters. I think your ex-wife has a magnetic personality and you might be judging her a little harshly for giving into moments of weakness. It's very likely there was a lot of flirting that she'd already ignored before they got to that point." Callie let her therapist's words ruminate in her mind for a moment before she responded.

"I guess I can understand that," She conceded, realizing for the first time that it was possible others felt the same pull towards Arizona that she did. "It just drives me crazy."

"You are allowed to feel a little crazy," Linda said with a laugh, validating the ortho surgeon's hurt. "But what does the fact that Arizona literally pushed this other woman away communicate to you?"

"I guess she's decided," Callie paused, the full force of what she was about to say hitting her and taking her breath away. "I guess she's decided that she wants me. Enough to push away other women to be with me." The ortho surgeon's voice faltered and she looked down at the ground. Linda let several moments of silence pass as the other woman began to cry.

"She chose me for me." Callie whispered in amazement, meeting Linda's compassionate gaze through tear-filled eyes. "She chose me for me."

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Damn. That even got me a little teary-eyed. Finally Callie realizes! That therapist is the real mvp tho. Go ahead. Rejoice in the reviews. You know you want to.