Hey everyone! I'm sorry I disappeared there for a bit. Life got in the way, and then life decided my 2021 needed to start with sickness. I was sick, and I'm still sick but I'm getting better. I finally am able to look at a computer screen without hurling my guts out so I could churn out this massive update!
Disclaimer: We all know the drill. ABC and Shonda Rhimes own Grey's Anatomy and all its characters, I'm just borrowing and playing with them.
Calzonafan123 - Thank you for checking up on me, I appreciate the PM. As for Arizona's stupid question to her parents... Well... It's something I've been guilty of doing myself when I find myself flustered or surprised. Basically, it's like a reflex action where your brain and common sense shut down for like a good few seconds and you blurt out stuff that make no sense haha.
lonelykid293 - Hey! Thank you! I hope to incorporate more family bonding times with the Robbins-Torres clan in future chapters.
FFChik - The Good Man in a Storm definitely needs to step up to the plate, doesn't she? We'll see as we along haha
Tingtorn78 - She really can't. It's a spinal injury, and paralysis is a common cause. The question is... am I gonna confine Calliope in a wheelchair or nah? hahaha
Beeex3 - Thank you! I try hard with the speeches, those are hard to write! Sofia is also my favorite Grey's baby! I love her and hate how little screen time she actually had with her mommies. On Leah and Lauren, I agree on it being hard to make them grown so I don't know if I will give them the Erica Hahn route or just retain their annoying personalities from show canon. We'll see. Either way, they're bringing something to the story hehe
DtownGurl4488 - The apple eater shall make an appearance soon! Don't worry, Mark Sloan is too involved in Callie's life to not make an appearance sooner or later, especially with Little Grey possibly needing a certain genius ortho surgeon's help hehe
Guest/s - I'm still debating with myself the level of involvement Callie's and Arizona's parents are going to have in this story but we might see a Lucia "my daughter is going to hell" Torres appearance in future chapters. Thank you for following my story and leaving such awesome reviews!
Enjoy the update, everyone!
Chapter 12: The one where everyone just wants to take a break
The next morning, Callie wakes up to something softly gliding over her face. After a few seconds, she realized it was a finger. The Latina opened her eyes to see Arizona watching her with a soft smile, and her hand moved from tracing her face to cupping her cheek. "Good morning, pretty lady. I always loved how you smile in your sleep and before you wake up."
Callie could feel her smile getting wider at that. "Good morning, Arizona. I think I just had the best sleep in forever," a tan arm pulled Arizona closer, "you're warm and comfy." To emphasize this, Callie nuzzled her face against the blonde's neck, sighing in contentment. She could definitely get used to waking up like this every day, and she guessed that maybe she did this for the past four years, not that she could remember them but their position felt familiar and very comfortable.
Arizona giggled, the vibrations of her laughter from her chest sent a pleasant sensation all over Callie. "You always loved being held when you're sick, you say it makes you feel safe. I feel the same way whenever you hold me when we sleep, you're usually the big spoon and your arms wrapped around me always made me feel like nothing could ever touch me when I'm in them." The blonde held Callie a little tighter as she explained this, and it caused the Latina to nuzzle her face even more against her neck. It almost felt normal to Callie, this intimate act with the blonde. It felt right, and so natural how well their bodies fit with each other. The Latina didn't want to admit it out loud yet but even if she never would be able to remember her past or her history with this woman, the way they were now, it wouldn't be hard at all to fall in love with her again. The two women let the comforting silence envelop them, neither willing to part or disturb the bubble they were in right now. To Arizona, this was exactly what she needed after suffering two months of uncertainty and fear for her wife's life. To Callie, this was exactly the comfort she needed after waking up to a world she couldn't remember. Both women stayed in their embrace, falling almost half asleep before the door opened and Amelia Shepherd walked in with two other doctors.
"Good morning, Drs. Robbins-Torres. Looks like we're all in a good mood right now." Amelia greeted, smiling warmly at the two women sharing a bed. It wasn't protocol but the chief had warned them all about the survivors' volatile moods, especially those with their partners. Seattle Grace Mercy West was being as lenient as possible to keep them all in good spirits, especially the two couples here in the ICU. Arizona pulled away but still kept her arms around Callie, who had also turned her attention to the others but didn't really feel inclined to separate with the warmth of her blonde companion. The Latina only moved her head so she was facing the doctors but still rested it against Arizona's shoulder, her arm tightening a bit around the blonde's waist. Ever since she woke up, she had only ever been introduced to Amelia Shepherd. She didn't know who these other doctors were, and it was making her nervous. As if sensing the change in Callie, Arizona's hand automatically started rubbing comfortably over her good arm, the other between them still in an immobilizing sling.
"Callie, these are Drs. Arthur Sheen and Tom Koracick. Dr. Sheen is an orthopedic surgeon on loan from the Harper Avery Foundation. Dr. Koracick is my mentor from Johns Hopkins. We're here to do another assessment of your injuries and discuss treatment plans with you." Amelia explained, giving the Latina an encouraging smile.
"Dr. Torres, I will need to check on your hand function and your shoulder, and then we'll go from there. May I?" Sheen started moving towards Callie's side of the bed and the Latina turned towards Arizona, the only one in the room she really trusted right now, silently asking a question. Arizona's encouraging smile and nod finally got Callie to let go of her, albeit reluctantly and presented her bandaged hand towards the older man. Dr. Sheen smiled kindly at her before he started unwrapping the dressing to check on the stitches. This would also be the first time that both Arizona and Callie would see the state of her hand, so both women watched the bandages and gauze be slowly peeled away to reveal Callie's hand.
To the untrained eye, it looked bad, really bad, because a good chunk of flesh and muscle had been carved out due to the deep infection. It looked like there was a fairly deep trench inside Callie's palm right now but the surgical site was mostly healed and the stitches could be removed now. To Callie and Dr. Sheen, the trained orthopedic surgeons in the room, this was probably the best outcome for a hand surgery that could be done. By the looks of it, the Latina could assume that her hand infection had been really bad and probably went untreated for days before it was finally operated on. Without the orthopod's prompting, Callie started slowly flexing her hand. It was slow going, and her fingers almost refused to flex but she can definitely feel it as she slowly laid her hand palm down on the bed rail and over the sheets. Callie extended her hand again towards Dr. Sheen and the man started poking at her hand, testing sensitivity. To all of it, the Latina answered positively. "Well it seems like we were able to retain your hand function, and whatever you're having difficulty with can be retrained in physical therapy. You still have your scalpel hand, Callie. Now let's move on to your proximal humerus fracture. It was a clean break so we didn't need to use metal or screws but it also needed a long time to heal, so you've been in a sling since we operated. We're going to need another X-ray of your shoulder to see how it's healing and we'll go from there." Callie nodded as Dr. Sheen finished his explanation. That was understandable, and those seemed to be her most minor injuries.
Turning towards the two neurosurgeons, Callie asked "are we getting scans of my lumbar spine today?" Dr. Koracick raised his eyebrows, surprised, and mildly impressed. The man followed the Harper Avery awards news, and from what he had gathered, this young woman in front of him was a front runner for this year's award. "You're definitely smart for someone with a lot of your training lost to amnesia, Dr. Robbins-Torres. Should I call you just Dr. Torres again? Cuz I'm sure you don't remember being married to Rainbow Robbins either, what year of medical training did your brain regress to?" The man asked, all manner of tact and sensitivity thrown out the window as soon as he spoke.
Callie frowned at the man, she definitely didn't like him right now. "Wow, an arrogant neurosurgeon. I'm not surprised nor intimidated, Dr. Ass. As far as I can remember right now, I'm in the middle of my fifth-year residency, and to my knowledge, I made a man who is supposed to be paralyzed from the neck down walk again just last month. This is all after Dr. Derek Shepherd claimed it was impossible. My mental faculties are missing chunks of memory but I'm still fine as a doctor." Amelia and Arizona outright laughed at the expression on their former mentor's face, while Dr. Sheen had the good sense to hide his laughter with coughs. Callie, on the other hand, was smirking at the stupefied look on the man's face.
Recovering after a few seconds, Dr. Koracick frowned. "But that's medically impossible. If you've done it four years ago, then why wasn't it published anywhere within the last four years as a viable treatment for spinal cord injuries?" He questioned. Callie shrugged, "I never published that one." She didn't offer any more explanation for it because that was the time that she was having problems with her conflicting feelings for Erica and constantly seeking advice and sleeping with Mark Sloan. It wasn't a good time in her life.
"Can you help us try to get Lexie Grey to walk?" Amelia suddenly asked. Callie turned to Amelia, "what? What happened to little Grey?" The orthopedic surgeon looked around, waiting for someone to answer her. Arizona, sensing that her wife was starting to get worked up again, started rubbing soothing circles on Callie's back, hoping it calmed down the Latina before anything happened to her. The seizure was still very much fresh in Arizona's mind, and she had an idea that it was probably due to the Latina becoming overwhelmed.
It was Dr. Arthur Sheen who answered her. "Dr. Grey suffered a severe crush injury from the accident. I was able to repair and stabilize her pelvis but her lumbar spine suffered significantly, and I had to amputate one of her legs. L4 and L3 were damaged the most and there's compression due to a blood clot." Callie frowned as the older orthopod explained this all to her. It sounded serious but not impossible, her regenerative hypothermia method could possibly help as long as the two neurosurgeons can do a flawless operation. "I need to see updated scans of Lexie's spine, and I need to see her legs, well… leg. I don't know how my hypothermia research can help in this case but we can try. Also… I want to see the scans of my own spine when we have them today."
"You're not a doctor today, Dr. Torres. You're a patient, a patient with possible paralysis and amnesia, I can't show you your own scans," Arthur Sheen protested, earning himself a glare from Callie. Amelia and Tom stayed silent, both contemplative of this mysterious regenerative hypothermia method. If what Callie said was true, then they could try it. They would need to talk to someone who witnessed the whole thing, though. Callie had just opened her mouth to argue with the other orthopod but Amelia interrupted. "Callie, who oversaw this hypothermic procedure with you?" She asked.
Distracted, Callie turned her attention to Amelia. "Chief Webber, Bailey, and Erica. The chief and Bailey helped me set everything up, and Erica pretty much encouraged me to keep going when I was losing my nerves halfway through it but more than that, the procedure involves the use of cardio instruments, ECMO to be exact, so we would need a cardio specialist to oversee the whole thing and there's a risk of heart failure if the timing is off once the patient reaches a certain threshold and starts having arrhythmias." The Latina explained everything easily, something she probably would be having more difficulty doing if she still had four more years of memories to bury those under. For now, as her mind is still of her fifth year in residency, Callie could remember all of it. She would definitely need to take note of this somewhere, it was a brilliant procedure.
From beside Callie, Arizona watched captivated as she witnessed her wife's genius once again. This Callie, in memory, was only a fifth-year resident yet her innovations were clearly ahead of her time or her peers at the level of a resident. No wonder Callie Torres was already a legend when she'd first gotten to Seattle. As it turned out, club foot kid wasn't Callie's only innovation as a resident, Arizona vaguely wondered why her wife never published this procedure at all to the medical journals. If she had, maybe Arizona would be married to a Harper Avery winner already. Giving her wife a dimpled smile, the blonde leaned over and kissed Callie's cheek. "My wife is definitely a genius," she remarked.
This caused the Latina to blush and look to Arizona, breaking whatever medical talk was happening just now. Once brown eyes met ocean blue, the world around them melted away and Callie found herself enveloped in the warmth and love she found in Arizona's eyes. "Well, sparkles, I wouldn't go as far as a genius but your wife definitely has interesting thought processes. We should get her up to CT and x-ray now. I want to talk more about this procedure with you, Dr. Torres." Tom broke the spell of the two women, earning himself a glare from the blonde, which he ignored.
"It's Dr. Robbins-Torres, and stop calling Arizona names. It's incredibly rude and puts your emotional maturity at the same level as the kids she works with." Callie was quick to snap at the man, having gotten enough of all the names this Tom Koracick fellow kept calling her wife. Not that the Latina would be saying it out loud for a while but her mind was starting to accept this whole having a wife thing, especially with how comfortable she had been in the blonde's arms when she woke up. Her head was still trying to wrap itself around it, but calling Arizona her wife in her head felt right, even if it's just in her head right now.
Tom shrugged and put his hands up, "geez. Fine. I see that I'm not wanted but I'm definitely still intrigued about this hypothermic method, I'll see you down in CT." With that, the arrogant neurosurgeon walked out of the room. Arizona and Amelia shared an amused look before the blonde kissed Callie's cheek once again. "My wife, always ready to defend my honor. You know that's one of the many reasons I love you?" This caused a deeper blush to appear on the Latina's cheeks, and she mumbled something unintelligible while giving Arizona a smile.
Callie spent the rest of the morning going from one scan room to the next and staying even longer to consult on Lexie Grey's scans as well as her own. Much to the chagrin of the orthopedic surgeon assigned to both cases, Callie pretty much took over on the consults even though she was only supposed to be a patient. Her shoulder fracture was completely healed now, so she didn't need the immobilizing sling anymore. That meant a physical therapist would be working with her every day in her room, seeing as she couldn't really go anywhere yet, to help with her hand and shoulder. Tom and Amelia would be talking to her again in the next few days regarding her and Lexie's surgeries as soon as they both had a plan.
It was already past lunch when Callie was returned to the room, and a clearly panicking Arizona had only been able to breathe better when she saw her wife getting wheeled into the room once again. As soon as Callie was situated on her bed, Arizona had immediately moved back to her position right beside the Latina. Meredith and Sofia were there when Callie returned. "Hi Meredith, hi Sofia. Are you alright, Arizona?" Callie greeted the two newcomers and asked her wife a question at the same time. Arizona smiled and kissed her wife's cheek, causing Callie to blush and smile. "I'm better now that you're here."
Meredith smiled and handed over the fussy little girl already reaching out for her Latina mother before she spoke. "I heard you had a plan to help my sister, and I brought you lunch and Sofia. I actually came here to tell you that your dad and Arizona's parents brought a team of lawyers in today to sue the airline for what happened. They're in a conference room right now, working on some sort of plan."
"Really? That's good. Knowing my father, that army of lawyers are probably the best money can afford." Callie eagerly accepted Sofia into her arms, only wincing a little bit as the baby decided to lean on her newly freed shoulder. The Latina adjusted her daughter to her other shoulder, smiling as the little girl giggled and held up a well-loved stuffed dog up to her mami's face. "Mami! Wow wow!" The little girl bopped the dog's head on Callie's lips in a sort of kiss before Sofia herself reached up and planted a sloppy baby kiss on her mother's lips. The innocent action of the little girl made everyone's, especially Callie's, heart melt. Sofia was the sweetest little girl, and it was obvious that she had a very deep bond with her. The Latina still could not find any recollection or even a glimpse of memory about this beautiful and innocent child in her arms, and it frustrated her now, just like it did when she first woke up. Callie could feel the familiar beginnings of a headache that was the same feeling she had during her first wake up and whatever else happened after, but she ignored it and plastered on a cheerful smile for everyone in the room, though it was mostly directed at the smiling baby in her arms.
"Thank you, baby girl. Is that your best buddy with you?" Callie inquired as she tickled the little girl's stomach, causing a round of sweet laughter from Sofia. The one-year-old rested her head against Callie's chest, "wow wow wubu mami" Sofia murmured before she turned her attention back to her stuffed dog. The Latina laughed at the baby gibberish, it was honestly the cutest thing she'd ever witnessed Sofia do. It made her feel like a proud mama at just how many words, although still hard to understand, her baby girl could say at just over a year old, and to think yesterday was the first time she even found out she even had a daughter. Even so, Callie's mothering instincts were in full display, and she found herself inhaling Sofia's sweet baby scent like crack. Crack baby! That thought caused Callie to snort softly. Sofia was her crack baby!
A surprising jolt of pain in her head had Callie suddenly jerking back, and she tightened her hold on Sofia instinctively as her vision blurred for a moment. It was the same searing pain as last time she had passed out but it wasn't as strong, and it didn't last as long as it did nor did it cause her to pass out this time. That was a good thing because the Latina would probably never forgive herself if she'd caused the baby girl in her arms any harm. The jolt of pain was followed by an echo of a new recollection, though.
Voices and cooing, making baby sounds and the smell of baby powder and the feel of soft baby skin against her face as she continued to hold on to her baby girl. "She's a crack baby!"
"Calliope! Don't call our daughter a crack baby!"
"But she is! Just look at that precious…"
Callie gasped as the memory faded out, and she looked up at the worried faces of Meredith and Arizona, both women had leaned forward to catch Sofia and Callie, it seemed. It felt like only seconds that she had drifted away into that memory.
"Are you okay, Callie? You… you were staring blankly into nothing for a minute there, and you suddenly jerked up like you were electrocuted." Meredith inquired. Arizona was also sporting a worried expression as she sat down next to Callie, laying one hand on the Latina's shoulder while the other rested against Sofia's back. "Calliope?" The blonde inquired when Callie didn't respond to Meredith's question.
Slowly, the Latina looked down at Sofia, who was now busy playing and babbling to her stuffed dog, oblivious of the tension in the room as Meredith and Arizona waited for her to talk. "I… you hated when I would call Sofia a crack baby, and Mark was there, laughing and holding her. I remembered something about Sofia just now, how I love her baby scent, and Mark would… where is Mark, anyway?" Callie looked up, her new memory recollection suddenly cut off by her realization that her manwhore best friend had yet to visit her since she woke up. He would have at least checked on her, wouldn't he? "What?" The Latina frowned at the two women, both of whom looked uncomfortable and unable to look at her. "Is Mark Sloan too busy making skin like god to visit his friend? Why hasn't he even at least passed by or at least gone in here? Did he do something big in the last four years and become too important for us little people now?" The Latina joked, looking between the two women who could answer her because honestly, what could Sofia tell her other than to baby babble at her?
A curious thing about Sofia, though, is that she was very smart. It was something all three of her parents had always been incredibly proud of, their baby's incredible intelligence. Arizona would gush to her peds nurses and fellow doctors about her 16 weeks premature baby who had kicked every preemie's ass in the NICU and was now kicking every one year old's ass with her milestones. Mark Sloan would constantly rub it in Derek's face that his daughter was catching up to baby Zola's development, even though Zola was months older than Sofia. Callie used to pretty much talk Miranda Bailey's ear off about her perfect little princess. At just over a year old, she could definitely recognize the names of her parents now. All three of her parents: Arizona Robbins-Torres(mama), Calliope "Callie" Robbins-Torres(mami), and Mark Sloan(dada). So when her mother mentioned her father's name, Sofia's head swiveled around, hoping to see the father she hadn't seen in as many months as she hadn't seen her favorite mami. "Dada?" Sofia inquired, little head swinging every which way trying to get a glimpse of her daddy. "Dada? Mew Mew? Dada?" This time, Sofia's attention had turned to her aunt Meredith, lovingly referred to as 'mew mew' ever since the brunette resident had taken it upon herself to take care of Sofia in the past two months. When she didn't get a response from a frozen Meredith, Sofia turned her attention to her mama. "Mama? Dada!" The baby demanded, while her mama just looked at her with sad eyes. Sofia's bottom lip trembled the more the adults in the room didn't answer her, so the little girl turned her attention back to the adult holding her right now. Her mami would know where her dada was, right? "Mami? Da..da..?" Sofia's lip trembled even more as she did a third inquiry of where her daddy was, this time fixing her teary eyes onto her mami, who looked to also be frozen with shock and confusion. When Callie also didn't respond to Sofia, the baby girl started whimpering, burying her face into her Latina mother's chest.
As soon as the baby in Callie's arms started demanding the presence of father, confusion took over the Latina's mind as she stared down at her child, a child she doesn't really remember but the resemblance and the confirmation from Arizona was all she really needed to start to accept this, as well as that piece of memory she recalled just now. As the Latina focused her eyes on the child, the two women in the room froze in shock and shared horror. Of all the things that little Sofia would come out to ask, they had both forgotten that the little girl had also yet to spend any time with her father who had also just recently woken up. Slate gray eyes meet with scared blue, and both women conveyed to each other their fear of this very conversation. Because as innocently as Sofia started to ask and demand for her third parent, it was something both women were hoping didn't come up until later, later when they actually could form a cohesive thought about explaining Sofia's paternity. But now, now the little girl's innocent, baby babbled queries were about to open up a can of worms with many many many difficult questions that would be so hard to answer while Arizona and Meredith both tried to avoid giving Callie too many details to avoid confusion and complications with regards to her recollections. Meredith already had to witness a heart-stopping seizure when the mere mention of something as simple as the identity of Arizona Robbins-Torres was explained, and the same thoughts were seemingly running through the blonde peds surgeon's head as the resident and the attending stared at each other in frozen shock, knowing that a shoe was about to drop on them like a hundred-pound weight.
The start of Sofia's cries must have finally snapped the adults in the room back into action as Callie immediately started shushing and soothing the now upset child. "Shh… it's okay, mija. Don't cry princess Sofia, mami's here," the Latina spoke in a soft voice, her eyes catching those of Arizona's with a clear question in them. "Arizona… who is Sofia's dad? Please tell me it's not him…" Callie was almost pleading with her wife to tell her that they had used a sperm donor to have Sofia, and not the manwhore of Seattle Grace. "Ari…?"
Arizona looked uncomfortable and looked away. Callie didn't remember everything that happened, and they couldn't give her too many details about the past, so how were they going to explain such a big part of it like this? "Umm… Mark is… He's… Calliope. It's hard to explain, and you know we can't give you too many details or even tell you a lot about the things that happened in the past four years because of…" the blonde struggled to explain, not really sure how she was going to spin this part of their lives.
"I know how we doctors treat patients with retrograde amnesia, Arizona. I know what we caution families to say or not say, what I'm asking you is simple. Is Marcus Everett Sloan our daughter's father?" Callie snapped, her frustration and annoyance showing through her tone even when her motions were calm and gentle as she continued to soothe the whimpering baby against her chest. Arizona looked down at the sheets and nodded, unable to look up, and feeling like she was in big trouble with the way Callie was looking at her. "Yes. Mark is Sofia's biological dad," Arizona muttered. Although she had finally accepted it, a hint of bitterness showed in the way the blonde said Mark's name. The Latina holding the baby on the bed interprets this as bitterness for who the paternal father is but, in reality, Arizona holds the bitterness more for the situation at hand. This was not at all how she wanted this conversation to come about, she didn't even know how she was going to breach that part yet but fate seemed to have its own idea, and now the blonde was stuck and floundering for what to do. Hence, the slightly bitter bite of her words as Arizona resigned herself to this inevitable talk. She would have to try to explain to Callie an event that she would rather not recall at the moment, especially since this also opened up a plethora of other cans full of slimy disgusting worms that led to questions she wasn't really comfortable with or ready to answer. Questions like how Sofia was conceived, why the situation happened, where Arizona was when it happened, even a simple what happened was not something she was prepared for at the moment.
Callie frowned at this information. What the hell? Did she cheat on Arizona somehow? How did they stay together if that's what happened? Did they somehow get convinced by Mark Sloan to take his sperm for their child? That sounds insane and weird. This was weird. Callie Torres… Callie Robbins-Torres could not wrap her head around the absurdity of the situation. How did they raise Sofia? With three parents? But how about the non-biological mother? Did Arizona have rights? Was Callie even the one who gave birth? But it made sense that she was Sofia's mother, the little girl looked exactly like a baby version of the Latina, except for her eyebrows and her nose now that Callie thought about it. Sofia had Mark's eyebrows and his nose but that was it. Her baby was tan-skinned, had deep brown eyes, and a rounded face, although that could change and shape into her father's defined jawline when Sofia started to shed her baby fat, and her jet black hair was the same quality as Callie's. Speaking of hair, the Latina unconsciously lifted her free hand to the side of her head, only to be met by bandages. Going higher, there was still nothing, until her hand suddenly came in contact with skin. What the hell?
"What the… am I bald!?" Callie suddenly exclaimed, looking between the two women with her. "I'm bald, an amnesiac, crippled, and my baby's father is Mark Sloan, the manwhore of Seattle Grace! The fact that I have a kid in the first place is shocking in itself, I mean George and I were trying before he cheated on me and we got a divorce and then Erica happened, and then she left and suddenly I woke up from a damn coma and I have a wife! And a kid, Mark Sloan's kid! And and and… oh my God, please tell me I'm still a surgeon? No wait, of course, I am! They still call me Doctor, do I still work on bones? Tell me I didn't switch and took on a different specialty like Derm or something equally lame. Oh god, can you imagine me in dermatology? Oh my god, do I even still work here? oh my god… why are you two looking at me like that?" The Latina had gone into full panic mode as her anxiety about all the things she couldn't remember started up, and it got ridiculous the more she rambled, so now Meredith and Arizona were trying their best not to laugh out loud at the things Callie was saying. It pretty much broke the seriousness of the situation, and it was a good break from something neither woman was ready to tackle with Callie.
After a few more seconds of trying to reign in their laughter, the two women cracked up, much to the confusion and annoyance of Callie. "What's so funny? I have legitimate concerns here!" This just caused the two other women to laugh harder, which made the baby in the Latina's arms laugh as well at seeing her mama and aunt laughing.
"You are funny," Meredith finally gasped out. Callie watched as the resident wiped tears from her eyes from laughing so hard. "Thank you for that, Callie. We needed a good laugh." The brunette and the blonde in the room continued to giggle for a few more seconds before they could finally compose themselves. Little Sofia was having the time of her life as she giggled along, leaning against her completely confounded Mami. The confused Latina let her wife and friend finish their giggle-fest before she asked another question, "but seriously… can you at least give me something to assure me that my life isn't a complete wreck and that I'm not completely dependent on my wife. I… Oh my goodness, is my life a total wreck? Is that why you're laughing?" The panic once again showed up and Callie was gearing up for another long-winded rant.
Seeing the start of another breakdown from her wife, Arizona sobered up and quickly took Callie's face in her hands and turned her head so they were seeing eye to eye. "Calliope. Calm down, honey. Your life is not a wreck, our life is not bad. We are both successful attending surgeons, heads of our departments even. Our baby is happy, healthy, and very much spoiled just from your father alone. We live in an awesome apartment that we've since bought. Between the two of us, we live a very comfortable life, Calliope. So stop worrying, okay? Stress won't do your condition any good." The blonde's words finally broke through Callie's anxiety and she relaxed, leaning on Arizona's touch as she closed her eyes and took deep calming breaths.
"I'm okay now. Thank you, Arizona. I still have a lot of questions but I'm okay now." Callie opened her eyes and smiled at Arizona. She was fine, her freak out was done, and she would be fine. There were a lot more questions in her head, and probably a lot more freakouts in the future but for now, she was calmed by the touch of her wife, the warm embrace of her baby, and the supporting presence of one of her friends. If this was what she'll have for now, even with four years' worth of memory lost, Callie Robbins-Torres felt fine. There would be more time to seek out all the answers she needed but for now, they could all use a break from the serious and heavy.