Hey everyone. First let me apologize for the long break, and thank you to everyone who reached out. I really appreciated it and read every message. I guess I should explain what happened. Really, it was a breakdown. I grew up in a not so great environment. I was verbally, physically, emotionally beat down every single day of my life. I used writing as an outlet, even today with the stress of the pandemic, and marriage and homeschooling. It was simply therapeutic, then I found this site years later when I was in a much happier place in life. And since Callie and Arizona were the only couple I actually cared about on the show, I decided to write stories about them. But, putting your work on the internet is risky. I received messages/reviews from guests that were... let's just say mean. This was the catalyst of my break. They just made me feel really depressed, just like I felt growing up. So... my 'therapy' became what was stressing me out. I can't guarantee that I will be updating frequently, but I will update when the mood strikes me and I will complete this story. I'm not saying that I can't take criticism, because I can, but calling people names is not critiquing. Again... thank you to everyone who has supported me. I really do appreciate you all and I felt bad that I wasn't updating. Just every time I sat down to write, all I could do is stare at the screen. I hope you enjoy the next chapter though and please let me know where I can improve, or if I have upset anyone in any way.

Chapter 6

Callie stood in the kitchen and was frozen in place. That hood. She remembers that hood. It was the man who Arizona chased out of the park. It was the man who made her daughter scream out in fear. That hood…

The man took a tentative step into the apartment. The hood still drawn over his face. 'Torres.' he tried again.

Callie took a step back. No… that voice. It couldn't be. He was dead. Mark was dead. She buried him.

'Mark?' her voice was barely over a whisper.

'Heya Torres. It's been awhile.' Mark said trying to lighten the mood. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

'I buried you. You're… you're dead.' Callie said.

'No, I'm not dead. I… I've just been away for a long time. Can we talk? I'll explain everything to you.' he asked taking another step towards the woman.

Callie stepped back. 'Talk? You want to talk? After almost two years! I thought you were dead! I had to explain to Sofia how you were dead! How you were never coming back! Now you… Get out! Get the fuck out!' she yelled. Her body slumped into the counter. She stood in the kitchen and sobbed. This was all too much.

Mark pulled a card from his pocket and laid it on the coffee table. 'Here is my number. Call me when you are ready to talk.' He slumped his shoulders and turned to leave. When he pulled the door open, he shifted his head back to Callie. 'Sofia looks just like you, Cal. You've done a great job with her.' With that said he left the apartment. Callie slid down to the floor and wept. Mark was back. Back from the dead. She had so many questions, she felt both angry and relieved. Her mind was a mess. She needed time to process what just happened. She needed Arizona.

Arizona and Sofia had arrived at her apartment nearly twenty minutes ago and there was no sign of her girlfriend. She was starting to get worried. Sofia was already busy taking the cushions off of the sofa. She was occupied and Arizona didn't want to interrupt the little girl from what she was doing. She had sent a message over to Callie's phone and had not received a response. She tried to keep busy with Sofia to keep her mind from racing with worrying thoughts. Thoughts of the hooded man still loomed in the back of her mind along with Sadie Harris who, apparently, was not backing down even if there was a complaint filed against her.

It was almost an hour later before there was a small knock on Arizona's door. The fort was made and Sofia was watching a movie from Arizona's extensive collection of Disney movies. Arizona had sat at the breakfast bar and chewed her fingernail. She kept glancing at her phone every couple of minutes hoping that Callie would at least message her back to let her know that she was ok, but the message never came. Arizona jumped off of the bar stool and rushed to the door.

She opened the door to a very broken looking Callie standing in the hallway. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Arizona's face dropped at the sight. Callie engulfed her in a hug and wept onto her shoulder. She closed the door and rubbed her hand up and down Callie's back shushing her softly.

Arizona knew that something terrible had happened and she would wait patiently for Callie to tell her. At least she was in the apartment and she knew that she was safe. They stood in the living room clutching to the other while Callie cried. Arizona's heart was breaking more and more the longer her girlfriend cried on her shoulder.

Sofia was inside of the fort watching her movie, but once she realized that someone was crying, she crawled out and ran over to her Mami. She tugged on Callie's pants. 'Mami, don't cry. It's gonna be ok.' she said as she hugged her mother's leg.

Callie sniffed back her tears and looked down at her baby girl. She lifted her up and placed her on her hip. 'I know baby. I'll be ok. Sometimes you just have to have a good cry.'

'Like when I scraped my knee when I tripped. I had to cry because it hurt, but it doesn't hurt anymore.'

'Exactly baby. I just have to cry a little bit until it doesn't hurt anymore.' Callie explained.

'Arizona will kiss it better, won't you Arizona?' Sofia asked turning her attention to the blonde.

'Of course Sof. I will try to make it all better for your Mami. I promise.'

Sofia kissed her mother's cheek and wriggled down to go back to her movie. Arizona took Callie's hand into her's and lifted her chin with the finger on her other hand. 'You ready to talk? I was getting really worried about you.'

'Not yet. Not in front of Sofia. I promise I will talk, but not right now. I'm sorry for worrying you.' Callie said with a small smile.

Arizona nodded. She leaned in and placed a gentle kiss against Callie's lips. 'I'm here. Whenever you are ready. I'll always be here.'

'Do you have wine? I know it's still early, but I need wine.' Callie asked sniffling again.

'Red or white?' Arizona asked. Callie chuckled slightly. At least she got the other woman to laugh a little.

Callie pulled Arizona back into a hug. 'Thank you. Thank you for holding me.' she whispered.

'I'll do anything for you.' Arizona said immediately. And she meant it. 'Let's get you your drink.'

Arizona tried to keep things light and positive throughout the day. Callie was quiet and deep in her thoughts. She could tell that whatever happened to Callie was weighing on her heavily. Sofia had fallen asleep sometime during their third movie and Arizona saw the opportunity to finally get some answers about her girlfriend's sad state. She draped a blanket over the small child laying in the fort and walked over to the chair that Callie had claimed as hers for the day. She held her hand out and nodded her head towards the bedroom so that they could talk.

Callie hesitantly took Arizona's hand and followed her down the hall. Arizona sat her down on the bed and motioned for her to get comfortable against the headboard. She mimicked her position on the other side of the bed and pulled Callie in to lay her head on her shoulder. She kissed the top of her head and held her hand in hers.

'Are you ready to talk?' she asked gently.

Callie took a deep breath. 'You wouldn't believe me if I even tried to tell you.'

'Try me.'

Callie took a deep breath. 'After you and Sofia left, I heard the door open and shut. I thought you had forgotten something. I was cleaning a glass and I looked up. It was him! The guy from the park. The one with the hood.' Arizona gasped. She had a bad feeling about where this was heading.

'He… he didn't hurt you, did he?' Arizona asked. She needed to know if they needed to go to the hospital for a rape test.

'No… no didn't get close to me, but he did speak.' Callie said.

'What did he say?'

'He just said Torres. I dropped the glass. I knew the voice Arizona. It was… it was Mark!' Callie said breaking down again.

'Mark?' Arizona whispered. 'Sofia's dad Mark?'

Callie nodded and tried to get her sobs under control again. 'He still had the hood on and he sounded a little off, but it was him. He wanted to talk. Explain why he had me thinking he was dead these past couple of years.'

'Did you talk? Is that why you were at your apartment so long?'

'No. I was so pissed. How could he just show up and want to talk? Like I was just going to be ok with the fact that my daughter's father disappeared and comes back from the dead. I yelled at him to leave. He left me his card and said to call him when I was ready to talk. I cried on the kitchen floor until I got myself together enough to come over here.' Callie finished. Her voice was so defeated. She had been crying and stressed out about it for most of the day. It would have been better if she still thought that he was dead. It would have made life a lot less complicated.

'Wow. That is quite something. How do you know that it was really him?' Arizona asked.

'See? You don't believe me! I should have just gotten Sofia and went home.' Callie went to get off of the bed. She was ready to grab Sofia and go.

Arizona's grip tightened on her. 'No Calliope. I believe you. It's shocking for sure. But if you say it was Mark, then I believe that it was Mark. I'm here for whatever you decide. If you want to talk with him, I'll support you and if you want nothing to do with him, I'll support that too. I am in this 100%. You and Sofia mean so much to me. All I want to do is to keep you safe and protected. I just can't believe the whole thing though. I have questions as I'm sure you do. Take some time to think about it. Like I said, I'll support you no matter what.'

'How are you so calm about all of this?' Callie asked.

'I think because I don't know Mark. I know of him. I've seen the pictures that you have, but I am not connected to the situation like you. I understand that you must be overwhelmed with emotions, but I want you to talk to me about everything you are feeling ok? You're not alone anymore Calliope. You don't have to deal with this by yourself.' Arizona kissed the top of Callie's head again.

'Thank you Arizona.' Callie whispered. They sat curled up together until Arizona felt Callie drift off to sleep. She carefully laid the taller woman down and covered her so that she could sleep off the stress of the day. She tiptoed to the bedroom door and took one last look at the beautiful woman in her bed. She couldn't imagine being in her position. Her world was turned upside down again. She knew the pain of losing someone you loved. She knew that she would want to talk to her own father again if she was given the chance, but she would just wait and support whatever Callie decided to do. She flipped off the light and shut the door. She went into the kitchen and started preparing dinner for the three of them hoping that Callie would eat something. She couldn't live off of just wine.

After preparing a simple chicken and rice dish, Arizona heard Sofia stirring from the inside of the fort. The little girl crawled out and rubbed her eyes. 'Is Mami feeling better?' she asked in a sleepy voice.

'She will be Munchkin. Mami just needs a lot of love right now. Make sure you give her extra special Sofia hugs, got it?'

Sofia nods, still with a sleepy look on her face. 'I hafta use the bathroom.'

'Do you need any help?'

'No… I got it. Mami says I'm a big girl and big girls use the big toilet all by themselves.' Sofia said proudly.

'They do. It's just down the hallway. Make sure you're real quiet because Mami is taking a nap.' Sofia bounded down the hall, not being quiet at all. Arizona cringed a little. She hoped that Callie slept through the noise. Her question was answered as she heard someone get out of the bed.

She met Callie in the hall with an equally sleepy looking face as her young daughter. 'I'm so sorry, Calliope. I told her to be quiet.'

'It's ok. I'm used to it.'

'How did you sleep?' Arizona asked wrapping her arms around the taller woman.

'As good as I could I guess. Thank you for talking with me.' Callie said.

'I told you… I am in this 100%. It hurts me when you are hurting. You can talk to me about anything. Have you decided what you are going to do about… you know who?' she asked not wanting to upset the other woman. She just wanted to be there to support her decision.

'I still need time. What smells so good?'

'I cooked.' Arizona said simply.

Just them Sofia came out of the bathroom. 'Mami!'

'Hola Princesa. You hungry? Arizona cooked for us.' Callie said picking up her excited little girl.

'I'm starving!' Her stomach growled as if it was emphasizing her hunger.

'Well, Munchkin… we better get you fed. We wouldn't want you to starve.' Arizona said making her way into the kitchen.