"Sometimes being a surgeon sucks," Oscar said as he scarfed down the last few bites of the take-out that Sofia had brought home with her before he left for work.
"Yeah, well, you're a second-year resident," she replied. "You're just getting started."
"I mean the opposite schedules. You just got home, and I'm shoving dinner in my face so that I can leave. I didn't really think a whole lot about this when I started med. school or even when I started the program. Sure, I knew that someday, I'd be balancing work and family life, but I assumed I'd have years to figure that out. And I wouldn't be a resident still. And then I met you."
"I think you mean 'and then the condom broke,'" she corrected him.
"Well, yeah."
"Baby and I'll be just fine," she said. "And once he's here, when we're home with him, we'll make the most of it. But when we're not...I was raised by four surgeons and I turned out alright."
He smiled.
"Very true," he said. "It's just something I'm thinking about more and more."
She was too. They couldn't help it. After all, she was officially in the third trimester now. They had even begun packing up unopened baby items in the hopes that they would get the apartment they had looked at a few days ago. They figured they could just take them back out of the boxes if they didn't end up moving before his birth, but that they would be ready just in case his first home would not, in fact, be Mommy's current place. The countdown was most certainly on.
"I know," she said.
"What are you two going to do tonight?" he questioned, smiling as he realized he'd phrased the question as if Baby Boy was already earth side.
"I need to start reading those obstetrics journals."
"Most moms-to-be just read What to Expect When You're Expecting to prepare for labour."
"I know," she said. "But I just want to be informed. If we have to make any decisions while I'm in labour, I want to know the current recommendations."
"Pretty sure Nerissa will tell us everything we need to know if something like that comes up."
"I know, but I'll be...in labour. Not thinking clearly. I want to understand things now, while I am thinking clearly so that I'll feel more confident about what's best."
He smiled.
"Okay."
"And we need to name him," Sofia added, taking a bite of her fried rice. "My family's driving me nuts asking, and I don't want him born without a name. I know he wouldn't remember not having a name, but I don't want to be deciding that after going through labour."
"Are you convinced labour'll be that rough?" he questioned.
"Not really, but I mean, he's been measuring ahead, and he'll be coming out of a very small hole, so…"
"You'll be fine," he said. "But yes. We'll decide on a name soon. For sure. Maybe we can sit down and actually decide tomorrow. After we hang out with Declan."
Tomorrow was Saturday and, as promised, Sofia was giving Nana and Grandpa a break since entertaining the little boy while his parents were on their honeymoon was getting quite exhausting for Mark and Lexie. They loved it, but Sofia wanted some quality time with Declan, and the break was a welcome one. Oscar had decided to join them, meaning it would be that much more fun.
"Okay."
"But for now, I have to go," he said, getting up. "I think I'm working with your mom tonight."
"Go cure children. It's the best."
"I have a Baby Girl update," Mark announced as he walked into Callie's hospital room six days after the car accident.
"And pictures?" Callie asked.
"Pictures and video," he nodded, knowing how badly his best friend wished she could physically go meet the little lady the three of them shared.
"How is she this morning?" Arizona asked.
She had been splitting her time between Callie's room and the NICU., but she always felt like she was missing something with someone. For instance, spending the morning with Callie, who was in a great deal of pain right now, meant that she hadn't been able to go visit their daughter yet.
"About the same," Mark said. "Another rough night, but she's hanging in there. Right now…"
"That's all we can hope for," Callie finished.
"But she's strong," Arizona said.
"And she gets more and more beautiful every day," Callie said as she watched the video. "She looks way more like me than she does you, Mark."
"She looks like every other micro-preemie," Cristina, who had stopped in to check on Callie just before Mark did, said from the corner of the room. "Her features are underdeveloped. You can't actually tell who she looks like yet."
"Yang…" Arizona warned, shooting Cristina a look that let her know that none of them - but especially Callie - were in the mood for her logically pessimistic reply right now.
"Right. I mean she's your spitting image," Cristina said, just to make Callie feel better. "I adjusted your pain meds. Anything else you need?"
"You could go sit with Baby Girl?" Callie requested. "I hate that she ever has to be alone. And I know these two need a break from bouncing back and forth from my room to her incubator."
Everyone knew this wasn't Cristina's favourite assignment. However, Callie was her friend, and she was Baby Girl's Godmother. Plus, even though she didn't exactly think that Baby Girl was as cute as her parents did, she had to admit that she did think she was special. It was amazing that she was even still alive. And Cristina Yang did like herself a good medical marvel.
"Okay," she said with a smile as she left the room.
"Can we please name her?" Arizona asked. "So she's not Baby Girl anymore? She's six days old. She needs a name already."
"Where do we even start?" Mark asked.
To be honest, they hadn't even begun discussing names yet. Mark and Arizona had been struggling enough with just getting along, and they all assumed they'd have at least fourteen more weeks to decide what to name the baby. After her birth, so much had been going on. Their main focus was making sure that Callie and Baby Girl were going to make it.
"I want something that's just as easy to say in Spanish," Callie requested. "Since Baby's going to be bilingual."
Arizona and Mark glanced at each other, sharing the same thought. They didn't even know if their girl would be verbal, let alone bilingual. Callie noticed.
"She will be. We can't just assume she won't be capable of...everything. She might not be, and we'll deal with that when and if we have to, but I'm not about to assume she won't be capable of walking, talking...all the typical things. Because if I have to sit here in this bed assuming anything else for weeks and weeks, I won't make it. Got it?"
"Got it," they both replied, trying to adopt that mindset as well.
"Okay, so...Spanish," Mark said.
"Eliana?" Callie, watching the video on Mark's phone again, proposed. "She'd make a good Eliana, I think."
"Not Eliana," Arizona said. "I had a major crush on a girl named Eliana in seventh grade, but she didn't even want to be friends when word got back to her that I was a lesbian."
"Ah."
"Selena?" Mark asked.
"Have you ever dated one?" Arizona questioned.
"Define 'dated.'"
"Then the answer is no. My daughter is not being named after some booty call."
In the days since their daughter's birth, she and Mark had made amends and were beginning to get along. Truly liking Mark Sloan was going to take more time, though, so she couldn't help but let a comment like that one surface.
"Sofia," Callie smiled, remembering how much she loved that name just now. "She'd make a great Sofia. And it's so beautiful, isn't it?"
"Okay," Mark agreed.
"Sofia it is," Mommy nodded.
Personally, she didn't think it was as stunning as her other half seemed to, but she did like it. If it made Callie happy, it made her happy.
"Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres?" Mark pitched. "That way, we're all in the name? Equally?"
Now that, Arizona loved. Mark was clearly making an effort to show her that she wasn't "nothing" after all. She was Sofia's mommy. Giving her the names of all three of her parents - who were all equally strong-willed people - also seemed fitting for the tiny lady who had such an uphill battle ahead of her.
"Yes," Callie agreed after scanning Arizona's face for approval. "She's Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres."
"I'll go tell the nurses so that they can make a sign for her incubator and start using her name," Mark said. "And tell Sofia."
"Let me," Arizona said. "I need some Sofia time. If that's okay."
Callie nodded.
"Take more pictures, though."
"Always."
"And tell her I love her."
"Obviously," she said, kissing her fiancé.
Faith walked into the PICU to check on a patient of hers, but she ended up stopping just short of his room when she spotted her husband in one of the other rooms. He was rocking a bald toddler who was connected to several tubes, drains, and leads. She didn't think he would still be there at this time.
"What are you -?" she mouthed from the doorway.
"You can come in," he told her. "He's sound asleep. Just doesn't like to be put down. And Mom went home for a bit to spend some one-on-one time with his big sister. She's really struggling with not getting to see Mom and Brother much. "So I told her I'd stay with him until she came back."
"Yeah," Faith said as she slipped on a pink gown and mask before she entered the room.
"But he's getting better," Sebastian said, looking down into the little guy's face. "He should be able to get out of the PICU. and go to the regular Peds. ward in a day or two. And then, if he keeps improving, he'll be home for Halloween. His big sister has a costume all planned for him and everything since he's still a bit too young to express what he wants to be."
"Cute," Faith said.
Sebastian could tell her mind was wandering somewhere else, though. When would they get to celebrate Halloween with their child? If that child was Lila - and if she was placed with them before the end of the month - it could happen in just under two weeks.
"Don't even -"
"I know, I know…" she said. "I shouldn't get my hopes up. It's been five days and we haven't heard from the agency about what Carter thinks of us. We haven't even heard from Chloe which might mean they've decided to co-parent. Which would be good for them and Lila. And I really do want what's best for Lila to happen, but you're sitting here rocking someone else's baby boy, bringing up tiny Halloween costumes, and I can't help it. I'm slowly losing my mind here. It feels like we're going backwards again. And I know I sound selfish. I really, really, really don't mean to, but it would be so much easier to just have an answer either way."
"I know. Trust me, I know," he said.
"Even if we knew how much longer it would be until there was an answer for us. It's the unknown that's hard. Especially after seeing her sweet little face."
"Yeah," Sebastian agreed. "We started imagining our lives with her."
"Big time. I know it was only for a day before we found out Carter came forward, but still."
"We can wait this out. We've survived waiting for hearts. We're experts at waiting."
"This is true," she chuckled at his phrasing.
"Tonight, when we're both home, we'll just watch a movie and cuddle with Nellie. Try to take our minds off this. It's impossible, but…"
"That sounds nice," she smiled.
Oscar could hear his next patient's cries from across the E.R. as he made his way over to her bed.
"Aoib...Aiobh…" he attempted to read from the eight-month-old's chart as he closed the curtain behind himself. "I'm sorry, how do you pronounce her name?"
"Ee-veen," one of her moms said as the other attempted to soothe the screaming infant. "We know. It doesn't look like it. We met in Ireland, and with a last name like Smith, we wanted to give her something that would set her apart from all the other Smiths. If it helps, we call her Evie sometimes."
"Well hi, Evie!" he said, attempting to win the little one over even though it clearly wasn't going to work right this second. "I'm Dr. Boone. I see you've been vomiting after you eat. That's no good. Let's see if we can figure out why."
"Her pediatrician says it's reflux. But we've got her on meds for that. And liquid antacids on top of that," the mom who was attempting to soothe Aoibheann with a pacifier said. "I've cut...a bunch of different things out of my diet because I'm still nursing...all of her solids are as bland as bland could be, and she's still projectile vomiting. It's not working. We can't wait and see anymore. She's miserable, we're miserable seeing her miserable...we wouldn't bring an infant to the E.R. at 7:30 at night if we thought it wasn't necessary. We don't want to spend the night here. But she's not keeping things down."
"Okay," Oscar said. "I take it this has been happening for a while?"
"Two months. The pediatrician keeps telling us we need to give it time. Telling us that reflux can be tough. But we have friends whose kids have had reflux, and the things they tried worked. There's been no change for us. And we're first-time moms, but we're not making this up."
"Okay," he said, in a tone that let them know he believed them. "I'm about to be a first-time dad, and I know I'd like someone to trust that I know what I'm saying if something were going on with my kid. I believe you. We'll get to the bottom of this."
Generally, it wasn't common practice to share personal details with patients or their families, but Oscar felt like that tidbit would help the Smiths understand that he was taking their concerns seriously. He could tell they needed to feel his sincerity to trust him.
"Thank you."
"Can I examine your tummy, Evie?" he asked.
Of course, the little lady was not going to like this. However, he still hoped that being friendly with her would make it just a little less scary and uncomfortable.
"Here. You can play with my stethoscope while I feel your belly," he offered as her mom set her down on the bed.
For a brief second, Aoibheann's eyes grew wide as she grabbed the new toy. She momentarily settled.
"Pretty cool, huh?" her other mom asked.
Her sense of wonder over the new toy instantly faded as soon as Dr. Boone began his exam.
"I know. This part sucks. I'm sorry," he said. "The vomiting...is it after every meal?"
"Most, but not every single one."
"But she'll always eat," her other mom said. "Even after that, it's like she's just hungry all the time."
"Okay. And have you noticed any signs of constipation?"
"Definitely."
"How's her weight been?"
"She's gaining, but not much."
"Okay," he said. "I'm going to speak to my Attending and order some tests. I'll be back to let you know what the plan is."
"The tests...can we get them tonight? Or do we have to keep waiting?"
"Most likely, you'll need to come back another day because she can't eat before the tests I'm thinking of ordering, but...I'll get back to you," he said, not wanting to promise anything.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," he said, tickling the baby so that she would let go of his stethoscope. "I need that back for now. Sorry. I'm the bad guy tonight, huh?"
"Why do children have to get sick?" Arizona asked as she studied a set of films for another patient.
"Hate to break it to you, but you picked the wrong specialty if you don't want sick kids around all the time," Callie replied, trying to lighten the mood.
"Very funny," she sighed. "Sometimes Peds. is awesome because we can make kids feel better. But other times...I hate giving toddlers a fatal prognosis. And I've done it twice this week. I need the happy cases where I can actually do something to heal the kids."
"Even when you can't heal them, you help. You make the time they have the best it can be," Callie said, rubbing her wife's shoulders. "I've seen it. You're the best at it."
"Thank you," she smiled.
"Want to come with me to tell a seven-year-old his arm is not broken?" she offered. "He's Karev's patient, but you need happy and -"
"Yes, please," she replied.
She took her patient's films down and turned toward the doorway with a bounce in her step only to see Oscar there.
"What do you have?" she asked.
"Eight-month-old female in the E.R. Her moms say that she's been frequently vomiting after most feedings for the last two months. Constipation has also been an issue, and weight gain has been slow. They also say she's hungry all the time, so it's not a matter of appetite. Her pediatrician says it's reflux, but the parents aren't seeing improvement since that diagnosis was made."
"What did the physical exam show?"
"Nothing. Soft abdomen, no palpable mass."
"Which leads you to believe…?"
"Probably duodenal stenosis," he said.
She nodded.
"So you order…?"
"Abdominal ultrasound and upper GI with contrast," he said. "I know those require her to have an empty stomach for eight hours, but she probably isn't keeping much of anything down -"
"Boone, you know that anything in her stomach could make it harder to get a good idea of what's going on. We don't need to put a baby through tests twice because we were bending the rules the first time."
"Right. So, I sent her home."
"With an appointment to come back. That's not nothing."
"It does suck when you have a sick baby though," Callie said.
"I know, but we can't guarantee proper images now."
"The dog dies in that one," Faith said, vetoing her husband's movie suggestion for the fifth time in a row.
"Okay, this one was too scary," he laughed, as he scrolled through the options. "This one was too cheesy, this one...you promised Sofia you would watch together - which will never happen because you're both busy surgeons, we might be adopting, and then your sister'll have her own baby - this one you've seen before, and this one...because the dog dies? Really, Faith?"
"We can't watch one where the dog dies, can we Nellie?" she asked the dog. "Nope!"
Nellie was just trying to get closer to the big bowl of popcorn, but she pretended her fur baby's activity was the equivalent of giving her opinion.
"Fine," she said. "Let's watch the one I promised Sofia I'd watch with her," she said, jokingly attempting to make him feel guilty. "But when she finds out, it's your fault."
"I think she'll get over it," he said, about to press the 'play' button on the remote.
"Wait," she said. "I need more water."
"Okay," he replied as she got up and walked into the kitchen.
"You need anything?!" she called out to him.
"Nope!" he replied, sneaking Nellie a piece of popcorn. "Don't tell Mom."
Sebastian's phone began to ring as Faith made her way back into the living room.
"Who is it?" his wife asked as he grabbed the device off the coffee table.
No response.
"Seb?"
"It's Brie."
"Why do I feel like this is either really bad news or really good news?" she asked as she sat down.
"Because it probably is."
"Maybe Daddy was right," Sofia said as she looked down at her growing bump while she sat cross-legged in bed eating ice cream and reading obstetrics journals. "Maybe reading all these journals isn't the best idea. At least the ones about the major complications. Because they're starting to freak Mommy out even though there's no reason to think these things will actually happen. And I don't need a whole trimester of that."
She closed the laptop just as her phone rang.
"Hey," she answered it when she realized it was her boyfriend.
"Hey, are you busy?"
"Nope. Just freaking myself out."
"Huh?"
"I fell down the rabbit hole of convincing myself that he'll present with severe shoulder dystocia or some other scary thing that causes an emergency," she said. "But I'm putting the computer away. Maybe I'll pack up the clothes that don't fit me anymore. It's not like I'll be fitting into those anytime soon even if we don't get the apartment."
"Probably a better idea," he agreed. "Listen, I have this eight-month-old patient who probably has duodenal stenosis. Her pediatrician keeps telling the moms it's reflux, but it's been happening for two months despite meds. And all the changes we recommend for that. This poor baby is puking all the time."
"So order an upper G.I. with contrast and -"
"I'm going to do that now, but I hate that I still have to send the kid home because her stomach has to be completely empty first. Meaning they're waiting for an appointment. Is there anything else I can do? I asked your mom if we could just go ahead without making sure she has an empty stomach, and we can't. But I really, really want answers for these parents. I get that this isn't life or death, but they've been dismissed for too long. I'm probably overreacting, but..."
"Ask radiology how soon they can get her in. If they can squeeze her in tomorrow, keep her overnight."
"On what basis? Your mom's not going to like that I'm taking a bed for a kid who could be home."
"If she's vomiting that much, hydration could be an issue," Sofia said.
"True," he said.
He wasn't overly concerned about Aoibheann's hydration. She was eating often and probably not throwing up entire feedings since she wasn't losing weight at this point. Still, Sofia wasn't exactly wrong to suggest this. Once a baby that age became severely dehydrated, the situation could escalate quickly. If he did keep her overnight for I.V. hydration and was able to get her in line for tests the next day, that would prevent that possibility and get answers for her moms.
"Good luck."
"You're a genius."
"I know."
It felt like it took Sebastian forever to answer the phone, but it had only been about ten seconds.
"Hello?" he asked, looking over to see Faith shooing Nellie away from the popcorn bowl.
"Hi, Sebastian," Brie's voice replied. "Is Faith there with you?"
"I am," Faith said since she was on speaker. "Hi, Brie."
"Hi," she responded. "I have some news."
"Which is…?" Faith asked, her voice trembling just a tad because the caseworker had not specified whether it was good news or bad news.
"Carter signed T.P.R. tonight," she announced.
"He did?" Sebastian asked. "I wasn't expecting that yet. I thought you'd call letting us know if he planned to or not, but he already did it?"
"Yes. He called Eloise this afternoon to let her know his decision, and she explain that it was up to him when he signed. He could do it before Chloe did or when she did. Or after, but we wouldn't recommend that in this situation because we don't usually want a new family to take the baby home unless we know the baby is extremely likely to stay with them. Like after both parties have signed. Technically, even then, it isn't set in stone just yet, but there's less chance of disruption than there would be if Carter hadn't signed at all yet because we couldn't be sure his mind was made up."
"Right."
"He said he didn't want to do it the same day as Chloe because he thought seeing him at the office would probably make it that much harder for her. He asked if he could just get it done today. He was sure. So, Eloise arranged to have all the legal representatives here. We just finished up."
"So... that's it? His part of it is just...done?" Faith questioned, finding this a little too simple compared to the rest of the adoption process.
"Not quite. The documents he signed do have to go before a judge for approval. Once that happens, then he'll officially no longer have parental rights. We can do that 48 hours from now, but to avoid things getting messy if Chloe doesn't end up choosing adoption since she isn't signing yet, we prefer to wait until 48 hours after both of them have signed."
"That makes sense. It's less risky if Chloe doesn't choose adoption after all."
"Right. This does mean that he can change his mind before that time, but he specifically asked me to assure you that won't happen."
"Okay," Sebastian said. "So now….?"
"Well, Eloise just called Chloe to ask her if she is still available to have that meeting we were supposed to have tomorrow. And if she wanted to. She said yes, so that's back on. For noon. We'll talk about placement and your open adoption plans. Carter doesn't want contact, so it'll just be Chloe."
"Alright," Faith said. "So, we're back to where we were five days ago. Except, instead of doing nothing, Carter decided to sign."
"Exactly."
"Wow," she said. "I mean, this is...I think what Chloe was hoping for, and it's good news for us, but we were expecting to hear a decision, not that anybody signed yet. I kinda have to take that in."
"Adoption is a roller coaster," Brie agreed. "And yes, Chloe told Eloise that that was still what she was hoping for. She was relieved to hear that Carter was supporting her choice."
"Good."
"So, we'll see you tomorrow then," Sebastian smiled.
"Yep. See you then," the caseworker replied.
"Bye, Brie. Thanks for calling," Faith added.
"Bye," Brie said before hanging up.
"We're going to be Lila's parents," Faith said, matter-of-factly as Sebastian put the phone down. "Well, as long as Chloe decides to sign, but we don't think she won't."
"Yep!"
"I mean, I'm over the moon for us," she said. "But I feel...it just became really, really, really real that, for us to be her Mommy and Daddy, Carter had to sign those papers. And I know he hasn't been a standup guy, but I don't think it'd be easy for anyone to read those words and sign those papers. They're a big deal."
"I know."
"We're not watching a movie now, are we?"
"Not exactly."
"You ready?" Callie asked her wife as she prepared to dial her father's number.
"Absolutely," Arizona beamed, placing her hand over her still flat stomach.
They had only known about their little secret for a few days now, but Carlos Torres' insistence that this would be the month when his daughter and Arizona would finally tell him his second grandchild was on the way had already tipped the scales in favour of telling Abuelo just so that Callie could stop skirting the question when he called. They thought about telling him when he flew in for Sofia's fourth birthday party in a couple of days, but they didn't want to risk Sofia finding out about her new sibling quite this soon. So, there they were, standing in their kitchen about to make one of the most thrilling calls of their lives.
"Hi, Calliope," her father answered.
"Hi, Daddy," she smiled. "You're on speaker. Arizona's here, too."
"Hi, Carlos," Arizona spoke up.
"Hello," he said cheerfully. "No Sofia today?"
"She's at Mark and Lexie's right now," Callie explained. "But we've got some news for you."
"You're pregnant," he assumed. "I told you I knew it would happen soon!"
"Well, I'm not pregnant," Callie said. "Arizona is. Arizona decided to try, and Sofia's going to be a big sister again."
A few years ago, they might have been nervous to break that part of the news to Mr. Torres. After all, it had taken him some time to accept that his Calliope would have a wife, not a husband. Now, though, he had come around. He fully embraced Arizona as his daughter-in-law, knowing that she made Callie so happy, and was a great mother to his granddaughter. It no longer mattered that Callie was bisexual or that her family was not quite as traditional as some others.
"Oh, that's just details," he laughed. "All I care about is that I get another grandchild. When is Arizona due?"
"December 11," Arizona smiled. "Just a couple weeks before Christmas."
"And you've been feeling okay?" he followed up.
"So far, so good," she replied, selectively leaving out that tender breasts and a missed period were her only symptoms so far.
"We'll send you Baby's first sonogram picture," Callie added. "He or she is already perfect."
"Well, of course," he said, his voice already beaming with pride. "Congratulations!"
"Thanks. But Daddy, you can't say anything to Sofia when you come to visit," Callie warned. "It's still very, very early. We don't want to tell her too soon. Not that we think Baby won't be just fine, but she's just turning four."
"Right. Okay," he agreed. "So only the grandparents know?"
"We're going to call my parents after we get off the phone with you," Arizona explained.
"You were a little more...insistent than they've been. They figure if we have news, we'll call. So, you got to know first," Callie told him.
"First, huh?" Arizona teased.
"Okay, okay," Callie replied. "I told Mark and Lexie the day after we found out. But Mark could tell we were way too happy to be up at that hour of the morning. Plus, they knew when the insemination was because we had to make arrangements for Sofia to stay with them that day. They put two and two together. After that, we waited until we got the sonogram done to tell anybody else, and now you know."
"And you'll tell Sofia…?"
"After the first trimester," Arizona answered. "At the end of May."
"She'll be the best big sister," he said. "I know she already is because her dad has a baby, but I don't get to see her be a big sister."
"Well, Max thinks she's pretty cool, and we're sure Baby will, too."
"See, sometimes kids leave here happy," Callie said after her wife had watched her send home the patient whose arm was not broken. "Or well, their parents do. This kid was a little sad that he wouldn't have a cast his friends could sign."
Arizona chuckled.
"That's why I love Peds. A lot of times, kids will surprise you. They'll do better than you expect, or they'll still find a way to smile despite a tough situation. But when it's hard, it's hard."
"Yeah."
Arizona's phone began to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket to see that Faith was calling.
"Hi, Faith," she said, answering and putting her on speaker. "What's going on?"
"Is Madre with you?"
"Yes," Callie answered.
"Good," she said. "Brie just called."
"And…?"
"And Carter signed the papers to terminate his rights. Long story short, they won't officially be terminated until 48 hours after Chloe signs her papers, but we know he talked to Chloe, looked at our profile, thought about it, and decided he agrees with Chloe that we should be Lila's parents. As long as that's what she still wants on placement day."
She was talking a little too fast, and they weren't exactly sure that they understood all the details, but they knew this was another step toward them becoming Lila's grandmothers. For now, that was all they needed to know. Faith and Sebastian were not in that particular state of limbo anymore.
"Good!" Arizona smiled.
"So, when do you find out when Chloe'll sign? I know you had that meeting, but -" Callie started.
"We rescheduled it," Sebastian told them. "We meet with her tomorrow afternoon to go over what we all want the open adoption to be like and to set a date for placement."
"Which is when it's all done, done?" Arizona assumed.
They tried to understand all the terminology, steps, and legalities involved, but it wasn't always the easiest process to make sense of. They still had plenty of questions and needed reminders.
"Technically, no," Faith explained. "If and when Chloe signs, we'll take Lila home. There are still 48 hours in there that she could change her mind before a judge officially terminates her rights, but we feel pretty good about that. Chloe's been pretty sure and clear about her wishes."
"So, after that, it's all legal?"
"Again, no," Sebastian said.
"What?" Callie asked.
"Legally, their parental rights will be terminated at that point. But we won't officially be her legal adoptive parents for at least six months after that. We'll have a few caseworker visits and go in front of a judge. Then she's ours forever. Legally."
"But there's no reason to think that anything would happen in that time that would make Brie or the judge assume we shouldn't be her parents. They honour birth parent wishes at that point. It's just to make sure nothing is glaringly wrong. Which it won't be because she'll be the best thing that ever happened to us," Faith said. "Well, that and our transplant hearts. But you get what I'm saying."
Callie smiled. "We do. And we agree."
"We can't wait to meet Lila and Baby Boy and spoil them both rotten," Arizona said. "How exciting that they'll be the same age and everything! Well, within a few months of each other. We can go back to being excited about that again."
"Yep!" Faith smiled. "We don't want to rush Chloe, but I can't imagine she'll want to put off placement for too, too long."
"Well, as soon as Lila's with you, Grandma and Abuelita will be coming over to meet her."
"You do realize it won't be tomorrow, right?" Sebastian asked.
"Oh, shh! That baby girl is adorable, and we're going to be her grandmas!"
"Okay, the jeans are a no go," Arizona told her wife, coming downstairs in a dress instead.
"Technically, they still fit because Baby's still teeny tiny, but I'm bloated and it's just not a jeans day."
She expected Callie to smile and say something about how the colour of the dress made her blue eyes pop anyway, but instead Dr. Torres' eyes widened.
"Baby?" they heard Sofia's little voice ask. "Max is comin', too?"
Arizona must have been distracted by her too-snug-today jeans because she hadn't heard Sofia return home from Mark and Lexie's. She thought they were still waiting on sidekick, but she was quietly flipping through a picture book while she waited for her moms to be ready to go out to eat instead.
"Uh," Arizona uttered, not sure how to proceed because she still had a couple weeks left in her first trimester.
"No, Max isn't coming," Callie decided, not wanting to make up an excuse that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense on the spot when she could just be honest with their girl.
"So this is happening now, huh?" Arizona asked.
"Apparently," Callie smiled.
They had been over the moon for weeks without being able to let the big sister share in their joy. Sure, it was a risk to tell Sofia while the chance of a loss was still somewhat high, but Arizona hadn't actually had any concerning symptoms. In fact, the symptoms she was having were a sign that Baby was growing and staying put even if it wasn't a guarantee.
"Well, okay then," Mommy smiled as she and Callie each took a seat on either side of their daughter. "Wait!" she added, popping back up.
"What?" her wife questioned.
"The present," the blonde said, getting up and quickly dashing upstairs to retrieve the gift bag they had been planning to tell Sofia with.
"I get a present?!" Sofia asked, now having forgotten all about the momentary confusion that her mother had caused her.
"You do," Callie nodded.
"But why?"
"You'll see."
Arizona didn't take long. She knew exactly where the gift had been stashed.
"Open it up," she told their first born as she passed the white gift bag to her upon her return to the room.
"A new shirt," she said upon opening the present, obviously a tad disappointed that it wasn't a toy or some delicious candy.
"Do you know what it says?" Callie asked, not even pausing for her to answer because the four-year-old wasn't reading yet. "It says "Big Sister x2. Because you're already Max's big sister, and there's a baby in Mommy's belly, so you're going to be a big sister again!"
"I am?" she asked, looking to Arizona for confirmation.
"Yep!" Arizona nodded. "What do you think of that?"
"Babies are so fun! 'Cept when Max is crying."
"Yeah," she agreed. "That part isn't so fun. But you love bein' Max's big sister, and now you'll have Max at Dad's house and Baby at our house."
"And then the baby could play with Max, too!"
"I'm sure they'll be little buddies, too."
"Why's the baby in Mommy's belly? I wasn't."
"Just 'cause," Callie said. "We got to choose because we have two moms."
"Yep," she replied. "And Baby'll have two moms, too. But not a daddy and a step-mom. That's just me?"
"You got it," Arizona confirmed.
"How soon 'til the baby gets out?!" she wondered, clearly still processing the news, but obviously happy.
"Oh, it'll be a while, Big Sister," Callie said.
"'Cause your belly isn't big huge," she told Arizona.
"Not yet."
"But I'm a good big sister," she smiled.
"The best."
"Oof!" Sofia said as her belly bumped against one of the boxes while she searched for the location of her ringing phone.
Some of the pre-pregnancy clothing items that she was in the middle of packing up had ended up on top of it.
"Hey," she answered her sister's call.
"Hey Auntie Sofia," Faith replied as casually as she could manage on her end. "What are you doing?"
"Packing away all the clothes that used to fit me before -" she stopped, registering how Faith had addressed her. "Did you just say -?"
Sure, she had been Auntie Sofia for years now, but her moms' side of the family never referred to her as such unless they were in Declan's presence. This had to mean her sister and Sebastian had just received a very exciting adoption update.
"I did. Carter decided to sign today. Which means, assuming that Chloe doesn't change her mind, you'll get to be Lila's auntie. We're meeting with Chloe tomorrow to decide on some details, but this is happening!"
"Yay! Congratulations! Again."
"Thanks," Sebastian, who was also on the call via speakerphone, said.
"I haven't even met her yet, and I'm sure she doesn't know about him, but Lila'll love her cousin," Faith replied. "Our mat leaves probably won't match up, but we'll still get them together all the time."
"Yep. I'm sure Little Man is glad that we get to learn from all your parenting mistakes with Lila being just a little bit older," her sister joked.
"Ha ha."
"Seriously, though. You're going to be the best parents. Oscar and I'll figure it out, but you're going to be experts from day one."
"You're a Peds. surgeon," Faith laughed. "And Declan adores you. I'm pretty sure you'll know exactly what you're doing with Baby Boy. Who, by the way, needs a name. Because Lila has one and I don't want to be saying Lila and Baby Boy for the next -"
"We know," Sofia said. "I made Oscar promise we'll figure it out soon."
"Good. Oh my God. Tomorrow, I'll know the date I get to bring my baby home!"
"And I'll know the date I get to start hogging her," Sofia added. "It's an aunt's job."
"Good luck getting her away from her grandmas and Grandpa," Sebastian teased. "I'm not sure they plan to let us snuggle our own baby those first few months."
"When Little Man comes, I'll distract my moms with him."
"Calliope, our heart baby is about to be a mom," Arizona said as they shared a quick cafeteria snack break sometime later that night.
"Soon," Callie added, popping a grape into her mouth. "Both of our babies."
"Yeah, but our heart baby," Arizona repeated. "They both had heart surgery, so technically they were both heart babies. And we could have lost both of them. But Sofia, once we got her out of the NICU and realized she didn't have any major delays…"
"Yeah."
"But Faith ...back then, 50% of babies born with congenital heart defects didn't live to see their first birthday. Even today, the stats have improved, but it's still not...Calliope, we couldn't even dream of this back then. We were just hoping we'd get to keep our baby. We...her making us grandmas was nowhere near the radar. And I know we've been hoping they could adopt for a while, but now that it's so, so close."
"Another reason why surgeons who work with kids are better than the rest of us."
"You, Calliope Torres, are not the best?"
"Oh, besides me. But seriously. Brady...everybody involved on with team at some point, they gave our kid a whole life and gave us the chance to be her kid's grandmas. Well, them, and Chloe and Carter."
"We tiny human surgeons are the best, aren't we?"
"Have any of the kids from the trial or any of the patients after that...are any of them parents yet?"
"Not that I know of. But hopefully someday."
"Someday," she nodded. "But Faith's going to be a mom...any day."