Chapter 48

The next morning, there was a knock on Callie's hospital room door. Lucia poked her head in. 'Good morning Mijas. Sorry it took so long to get here.'

'Mami! You made it. I couldn't hold them in any longer. I'm sorry.'

'That's ok Mija. We got a little hung up in Miami.'

'We?' Callie and Arizona asked at the same time.

Lucia opened the door fully and walked into the room with Aria not far behind her. What surprised both women the most was the man standing behind Lucia and Aria. 'Daddy… what are you doing here? Come to call my children abominations too? You can just leave! I don't want you here!' Callie yelled angrily.

'Mija, mija. Listen.' Lucia said softly. 'Carlos… talk to Calliope. Tell her why you are here.'

'Mija…Calliope. I am here to apologize. I am sorry for how I have treated you. I am sorry for what I said to you. I miss you. I have been a terrible father and because of that I have missed so many big events of your life. I have missed watching you fall in love. I have missed walking you down the aisle. I have missed your entire pregnancy. I don't want to miss anything else. Can you find it in your heart to forgive an ignorant old man?'

'I want to Daddy. I want to say everything is ok. I want to believe that you mean everything that you are saying. I want to know why though. Why all of a sudden?' Callie asked.

'Aria has a lot to do with that. Then your mother and Aria both knocked some sense into me. They showed me picture after picture. You were smiling so much in every single picture. I missed seeing your bright smile. I saw the happiness you had on your face. The love you had in your life. I realized that I was wrong. Love does not have to be between a man and a woman. Love is between two people. Please, Calliope. Will you allow me to be in your life again? Allow me to be a grandfather to your children? And allow me the opportunity of getting to know your wife?' Carlos asked.

Callie looked over at Arizona who was standing in front of the portable cribs. She was already in Mama bear mode. Arizona looked into her wife's eyes. She knew what her father did to her. How he treated her. She didn't want that to happen again. And especially not with her own children.

'Sir, I don't know you. What I do know of you…I honestly don't like. I remember there was a time that you tried to buy Callie away from me. I remember her telling me that you hired a priest to pray away the gay. Being gay is not something that just goes away, sir. Can you honestly say that you are alright with the fact that Calliope is my wife? That we are a family and these are our children? Our children that have two mothers? Can you proudly say that they are your grandchildren? Can you proudly introduce us as your daughter and her wife?' Arizona asked looking directly at the older man.

'I can.' There was no hesitation in his answer and he never broke eye contact with Arizona.

Arizona took a few steps towards the older man. She held out her hand. 'My name is Arizona Robbins-Torres. It is nice to finally meet you, sir. I hope you really mean what you have just said.'

Carlos shook her hand and smiled. 'You're not a vegetarian, are you? I don't know if I could accept that.'

Arizona smiled. 'No sir. I'm not.'

'Ok. Now let me see my grandbabies!' Lucia said excitedly.

Arizona took a few steps to the side so that Lucia could pass. 'Oh my goodness, Mijas. They are so precious. Hello littles ones. What are their names?'

'Levi Mitchell and Naya Sophia.' Callie said from the bed. She was still eyeing her father who had a sad expression on his face. 'Do you want to leave Daddy? Is this all too much?'

'No, Mija. I don't want to leave. I am just sad that I was not around. May I hug you? Maybe hold the babies?'

Callie softened a little. 'Yes, Daddy. You can hug me and hold them.'

Callie shifted herself so that she was sitting on the bed. Carlos leaned down and engulfed his daughter in a hug that was so long overdue. Tears of happiness were streaming down both of their faces. Callie still had her guard up, but this was a big step. Her father was here. They weren't yelling. He didn't have a priest in tow. He was here. It's all Callie ever wanted. It made her feel better to have Aria back in her life also. Seemingly, she was a big part of the reason that her father was standing in the room right now.

Another knock was heard and Barbara and Daniel entered the room. 'Oh, I'm sorry Dear. I didn't know you had company already.' Barbara said.

'It's ok, Barbara. You can come in. You remember my mom, Lucia, right? This is my sister, Aria and my father, Carlos.' Callie said.

'Oh yes! Hello again, Lucia. And good to meet you Aria and Carlos.' Barbara hugged Lucia and cooed over the babies in the corner of the room.

Daniel stood near the door with his arms crossed over his chest. He was very protective of his daughter and her family. Arizona saw the tension in her father. She walked over to him. 'Daddy, can I see you outside of the room really quick?'

Daniel nodded and they stepped out. 'I know that look Daddy. I am hesitant about Carlos as well. Lucia and Aria seemed to have made him see the light. He apologized.'

'Apologizing isn't enough. He shouldn't be allowed back in her life, or yours, or my grandchildren's life. He is not a man. A man would bend for his daughter. A man would not turn his back on his family.' Daniel said.

'Daddy… did you and mom not raise me to be a good man in a storm? To be good and honorable for the ones I love?'

'We did.'

'If I deny Callie a chance to have her father back in her life, am I being that good man? My wife and children will be protected. Nothing will hurt them as long as I'm around. I won't allow it. Callie needs this chance. Believe me, my eyes and ears will always be on alert. If I see or hear anything ignorant come out of his mouth, I will get my brick.' Arizona looked into her father's eyes and smiled.

Daniel's face softened. 'You are a very good man in a storm, Bug. I am very proud of who you are. Let's get back in there. I'm a grandfather, you know.'

'So I've heard.' The two embraced and went back into the hospital room.

Lucia and Barbara were hogging the babies, as was expected. Arizona sat on the hospital bed next to Callie. She grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. Callie laid her head down on Arizona's shoulder. They both smiled as they watched their family fuss and fight over who got to hold their children. They felt complete.

A few days later, the twins were strapped in their car seats and headed home with their mommies for their first night at home. Arizona unlocked the front door and raced back to the car to remove the car seats. 'I can carry one of them, Arizona.' Callie said.

'Nuh uh. You pushed these two out like a rockstar. You go in the house and relax. I'll bring them in.' Arizona said.

Callie huffed and walked inside mumbling how Arizona didn't always have to be so chivalrous. Arizona smiled at her wife. She grabbed Naya's car seat and sat it down while she ran around to the other side to grab Levi's. She shut the door and went back around to pick up Naya again. Immediately, she saw a big problem. With both car seats in hand, she couldn't grab the door without putting one down again. Callie had been waiting by the door and saw Arizona having her inner debate of which baby to put down. She opened the door and gave her wife a smirk. 'Maybe, we should take one each from now on.'

'Ok, maybe you are right…this time. Don't make a habit out of it Calliope.' Callie rolled her eyes and grabbed Naya's car seat from Arizona's hand. They entered the living room and took them out to hold their precious miracles. They both gently flopped onto the couch and watched their children sleeping peacefully.

'This is a piece of cake. We got this.' Callie said. 'All they do is sleep, eat , and poop. We can handle this.'

As if on cue, Levi started crying. He was a hungry boy. Arizona was holding Levi so he had to be transferred into Callie's arms. 'Uh, ok… so I'll hand you Levi and I'll take Naya and then somehow get your shirt off so you can feed him.'

'I guess that would be easiest.' Callie said. Naya was starting to stir. She did not appreciate being woken up by her brother. Now they had two hungry, crying children.

'Uh…oh crap. Now they are both crying. Here, give me Naya so you can take your shirt off. They can just eat at the same time.' After carefully handing their daughter to her wife, Callie removed her shirt and bra. Arizona was bouncing both children gently trying to soothe them while Callie got in position.

'Wait! I need pillows to prop them up.' Callie said.

'Hurry! They're hungry and tag teaming us right now.' Callie darted upstairs and grabbed the nursing pillows. She ran down the stairs. Her boobs bouncing wildly with every step. In any other situation, Arizona would find that very arousing, but right now, she just wanted her children fed.

Getting back in position, Callie was handed her son and daughter and they latched on quickly. "Whew, that was intense. I guess we need to find a groove with them.'

'Ya think?' Callie laughed out. 'Oh man. What was I saying before? We can handle this?'

'We'll get the hang of it. Look at them, Calliope. Two perfect angels. I love you so much. Thank you for giving me two beautiful children.' Arizona said looking deep into Callie's brown eyes.

'Thank you for completing me.' Callie said. Right now, at that moment, life was absolutely perfect. It was a household filled with love, devotion, and possibilities.

That evening, there was a knock at the front door. The twins were sleeping in their swings and it was quiet for now. Arizona went to the door to answer it. It was the smiling faces of Lexie, Amber, and their kids. 'Hey! Come on in.'

Maci immediately latched onto Arizona. 'Thank you Zona for giving me my cousins. I waited a long time for them.'

'You were very patient. Do you want to come see them? They're asleep right now so we have to be really quiet. Can you do that?' Arizona asked the little girl.

Maci nodded and grabbed Arizona's hand. They walked slowly to the swings and Maci looked at the babies. Her big blue eyes widening. 'There really are two of them.'

'There are. There were two babies in Callie's belly.' Arizona explained.

'Mama only had one baby. How come you and Callie got two?'

'Sometimes there can be more than one baby born at a time. Two babies are called twins. Three babies are called triplets. Sometimes there are even four or more babies.'

'Wow. Can we hold them? Mommy and Mama let me hold Riley when he was really little, but now he's too big for me to hold him. He's too wiggly.' Maci said.

'You can hold them when they wake up. They are brand new babies. They won't sleep very long.'

'Can I play with some toys then?' Maci asked.

'Sure you can. You know where they are.' Maci took off towards the back bedroom where she had a small stash of toys for when she visited.

Arizona looked up at the other women. 'Callie is taking a quick nap. Did you want me to wake her?'

'That's ok. Let her sleep. We can talk to you…I guess.' Amber played.

'Ha ha ha. Lexie, how do you put up with this one?' Arizona asked.

'She's great in bed.' Lexie deadpanned.

'Ok then.' Arizona laughed. 'Come on, let's sit down.'

The twins woke up not too long later and Callie got up to feed them. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw that they had visitors. 'Hey! I didn't know you were going to be here.'

'We knew that your parents were in town and wanted to give you two some space. I heard that your dad flew up too. Is everything ok there?' Amber asked.

'It seems to be. He apologized. He acted like he really wanted to be there. We'll see.' Callie replied. 'Here, do you want to hold him? He's done eating.'

'I do!' Lexie said excitedly. Levi was passed over to Lexie's waiting arms. Levi was pretty content just to lay there. He had a full stomach and not a care in the world.

Maci and Riley were playing together on the living room floor. Riley looked up to see his Mommy holding another baby. 'Ma!' he said crawling over to Lexie. He was jealous. Lexie handed Levi over to Amber and picked up her son. 'What's the matter big man? I was just holding little Levi. You know you're the only man in my life.'

Riley gave a big smile and wiggled back down to the floor and crawled back to his toys. 'That's all he wanted. He wants me all to himself. It'll be interesting to see him when we have a baby, won't it, hot stuff?'

'Uh…I…um…' Amber stuttered out. She was not prepared for that question.

'We are going to have a baby, right?' Lexie asked getting very upset.

'I…uh.'

Lexie got up and stormed out of the house. Amber stood up and handed Levi back to Callie. 'Can you uh..' she started pointing to her kids. 'I need to talk to her.'

'Yeah. Sure. Go!' Callie said.

Amber darted from the house. She hoped that Lexie would talk to her. That she didn't just ruin something incredible.

'Lexie!' Amber called. Lexie was still storming up the hill. 'Lexie!' she tried again. 'Lexie! Will you please stop? Talk to me.'

Lexie turned around. Amber saw the tears streaming down her girlfriend's face. 'WHAT? I think you said all that needs to be said. You don't want kids with me. You just want me to help you with yours. I get it.'

Amber finally caught up with her girlfriend and grabbed her by the hands. 'Lexie, Babe I love you. I love you more than you will ever know. I just… I can't give you what you want. Believe me when I tell you, I want to give you a baby. I just… can't.'

'Can't or won't?' Lexie asked looking down at the ground.

'Lexie look at me please… I can't. I can't have anymore children. When I was in my accident, there was too much damage. I can't carry anymore children.' Amber said wiping a tear from her girlfriend's cheek.

'Who said that you would have to carry it?' Lexie asked.

'You mean… you want to have my baby?'

'I mean, we have options. I can carry. We can adopt. We get a surrogate. There are options. When the time is right, we have options.'

'You want to have my baby?' Amber asked again.

'Yes. I would love to have your baby. I…' Lexie was cut off by Amber's lips on hers. They stood in the middle of the street kissing each other deeply. Amber tried to convey all the love that she felt for the other woman into the kiss. She wanted everything with Lexie. Wedding, kids, vacations…everything.

They broke the kiss and rested their foreheads against each other. 'You want to have my baby.' Amber whispered.

'I do. I really do.'

'Can I ask one thing though?' Amber asked.

'What?'

'Can we wait for just a little bit? Like maybe start trying next year?'

'We can wait until next year. I'm not going to go anywhere. You are stuck with me.' Lexie said.

'Good. I want to be stuck with you.' They kissed again. A kiss of love and promises. 'And they're not just my kids. They're our kids. Right?'

'Right. I'm sorry I said that.'

'I forgive you. I'm sorry for how I reacted. It caught me off guard a little bit. I'm sorry. I love you Lexie Grey.'

'I love you too. Why don't we get our children and put them to bed? We need to make up properly. Make sure we completely forgive each other. Multiple times.' Lexie said wriggling her eyebrows.

'I like how that sounds.'

I say it every time, but I really appreciate you all for reading and leaving your feedback. I hope you liked this chapter just as much. I really like writing Arizona as the protective one. It just feels natural when writing. Callie can hold her own, but I've always thought of Arizona as Mama Bear. Let me know what you think.