Chapter 40 : New beginning

Arizona's POV

It had now been two weeks since Callie was discharged from the hospital. She still had a cast on and while she waited to get better, she spent her days looking after William and reading medical journals. I knew her so I knew very well that she was bored, but to tell the truth, I didn't really dare talk to her about it. One afternoon, while we were in the backyard watching our children playing, Callie announced me:

"Yesterday, I received a job offer to work in a teaching and research center that specializes in cartilage!"

"This is fabulous news. It would allow you to continue to do your work without having to use your arm."

"No, this is no fantastic news."

"What do you mean?"

"Because this center is not in New York."

"Calliope, first and foremost I want you to be fulfilled in what you do. If this center is not too far away, one of us will be able to go home every weekend."

"Arizona, this center is in Barcelona."

I took a few seconds to think and to imagine the future that this opportunity could offer us before I could give an answer.

"Calliope, in that case, let's all go to Barcelona."

"What? We can't go to Spain, you need to run the center and Sofia has friends here."

"It's not a problem, you can still go to Barcelona. Jen can run the center here and take care of giving the classes while I would do my research and give classes from there. We can easily find solutions for everyone to go to Barcelona. I would like to remind you that my priority is to make you happy."

"Yes, but still, it's going to be complicated for Sofia to move to the other side of the world. She's going to lose all her stability."

"My love, may I remind you that I am the daughter of a soldier, so I too spent my childhood moving all over the world. I can guarantee you that it has given me a lot of things that I also want for Sofia and Will. It's given me a lot of openness, it's allowed me to see a lot of things that are different from the United States. Plus, it will help them learn to speak Spanish! It has always been important to you that our children know their different cultures."

"You don't have to go to the other side of the world to have a wider open-mindedness, you can go there on vacation."

"Calliope Torres, my goal is for you to be happy. This position in Barcelona is a wonderful opportunity for you and it is also an opportunity for our children. I would be remiss if I didn't push you to accept this position."

"I don't want you to sacrifice things for me."

"I sacrifice nothing for you. I am not giving up the center and it would even allow me to teach the techniques we are working on to more people. It is also a good opportunity for me. Don't worry about me, baby."

"How are we going to announce it to Sofia? We'll have to ask her to move again and integrate in a new school where she'll have to find new friends!"

"I have already told you not to worry about my career." I said to reassure her. "Our daughter is an extraordinary person. Everything is going to work out well for her and if it does not, we will be there for her and to advise her. I've been through this kind of moment so I can tell you that I know exactly what our daughter will need to hear."

"So, accepting this job is a fantastic thing and I have no choice but to accept it, right?"

"You still have the choice of whether or not to accept this offer, but indeed, I think it's a good thing for you and for our family."

"All right," she said before kissing me gently, "you're right and I'll accept that offer."

"I am always right."

"Right now," Callie said as she got up, "I'm going to go shopping. I'd like to prepare a nice dinner so that tonight I can talk to the kids and find out what they think about our potential move to Barcelona."

"You could cook them a typical Spanish meal."

"This is a brilliant idea. Either way, the kids might need to quickly become comfortable with the Spanish lifestyle."

I got up to kiss her and show her that I would follow her to the end of the world. I was happy where she was.

"You truly are the woman who always gave me the best advice in the world, Arizona." She said to me.

"It is and always will be a pleasure to advise you and to be at your side in all the different steps of your life."

"Me too, I love being by your side."

Sofia's POV

After Mamma was gone shopping, Mummy took William in her arms to give him a bath while I went up to my room to do my homework. Once I finished it, I started playing quietly in my room until Mamma came to pick me up for dinner.

I went downstairs and sat down at the table before Mamma put a beautiful dish on the table that was full of colors and smelled full of spices.

"Is that a new recipe?" I asked.

"This dish is called a paella," Mamma explained while pouring us out, "it is a typical dish of the area of Valencia in Spain. If you look at the colors of this dish, the red of the bell pepper and tomato and the yellow of the rice looks like the flag of Spain."

I started to eat my plate and it was a delicious dish. Nevertheless, I felt that something was not right. I could see my two moms looking at each other and I knew that meant they had something to tell me.

"What do you have to announce me?" I ended up asking them after a few minutes.

"We have nothing to announce to you." Mummy answered me.

"Don't try to hide the truth from me." I contradicted them. "I know you by heart and I know that when you look at yourself like that, it means you're going to tell me something. Therefore, go ahead!"

"Since you really want us to announce what we need to tell you," Mamma said after clearing her voice, "let's do it. I have received a job offer for a job that will be great for me."

"Nevertheless," Mummy continued, "this job is not in New York, so all of us will have to move to another city."

"Where are we moving to?" I asked them, interested to know where we were going to live.

"We are going to move to Spain, the position is in Barcelona."

"Spain?" I said, surprised by this news.

"Yes, in Spain." Mummy continued. "You know, I moved around a lot during my childhood and I can assure you it's going to be great for you."

"It's great that we're all going away together as a family," I said after a few seconds, "it's going to be awesome. Spain seems to be a great country. That way, we will all speak Spanish very well."