A.N: I know! Drama isn't as fun as romance, but I promise it's necessary. Stick with me for the payoff. This was a quick update because I'm really excited about where this story is going. I hope you are too!
"Ah, Mom, this is Cynthia Rogers. Cynthia, Lucia Torres." Callie tried fruitlessly to make the introduction, but Lucia's eyes didn't leave her youngest daughter.
"You are dating this woman, Ariadne?"
"Ariadne?" Arizona looked back at the scared woman behind her.
"Hush." Aria bit her lip, steeled her resolve, and looked directly at her mother. "Yes. I'm dating this woman."
"You were raised better than this. Is this a reaction to your father? Are you trying to get back at him for cutting you off?"
"Mama! We don't need to air dirty laundry."
Callie stepped next to Aria and put a hand on her shoulder. "Mom, come on."
"And you knew about this, mija? My daughters, keeping secrets from me?"
"That's rich, coming from you," Aria sneered.
"Hey. Can we please just have dessert and end the evening on a pleasant note, Mom?" Callie pleaded.
"Ariadne Torres." Lucia stood and walked over to her daughter, standing between her and her sister while Arizona sat deathly still in front of the trio. "I am sorry about the lies I told about your father. I made a mistake, I prayed for forgiveness, and it was given to me. Will you pray with me now?"
"I don't think it works like that," Mark muttered.
"It doesn't. Mom, can you please stop telling everyone my life story? My personal family story?" Aria fidgeted and looked down, wanting to be anywhere but there.
Addison piped up, "Aria, it doesn't matter what is in your DNA. Family goes deeper than that."
Aria's head whipped around to the other doctor. "What are you talking about?"
"Family is what you make it; genetics aren't nearly as important as how you feel."
"You know?"
Callie told me."
"I didn't know it was a secret, Aria—"
Aria cut her sister off. "What? So you all just knew? You told everyone?" Aria looked to see that Arizona and Cynthia were both avoiding her eyes and looking guilty. "You have a really big mouth, Calliope Iphegenia Torres. Dammit!" She could feel panic rising in her body and a lump forming in her throat. "Everyone knows." She looked over at Cynthia and caught her eye. "You knew. So you just…what? Felt sorry for me? Let me have a little pity party in your office? Sure, of course I didn't have to tell you what it was about because you already knew?"
"No, I swear, I—"
Aria put her hand up to get the other ortho surgeon to stop talking.
After a moment of silence, Mark piped up, "If it helps at all, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Aria swallowed hard and nodded at him. "Good. Then can you drive me home? Please." She calmly stepped back, away from her family, and headed to the front door.
The guests heard the door open and close before Mark stood awkwardly and looked at Addison. "What-?"
"Go. Get her a coffee or something. I'll hitch a ride out of here with someone."
Arizona stood up slowly. "I should go check on her before she goes." Walking past Cynthia, who was still standing in the doorframe, the pair of friends shared quizzical looks before Arizona headed out the door.
Walking outside, Arizona found Aria pacing on the sidewalk in front of Callie's house. She tried to approach the other woman but stopped when she heard her muttering in rapid-fire Spanish. "Aria?"
The younger woman stopped dead in her tracks and turned steely eyes on Arizona. "You know?"
"Your sister told me. If it helps at all, she was worried about you."
"That doesn't help me right now." Aria looked over Arizona's shoulder and spotted Mark coming down the front steps. "You'll get me out of here?"
"Let's go, Little Torres. Later, Robbins." Mark offered a short wave to the blonde surgeon, let Aria into his car, and drove off.
"Mom, I—"
"Calliope, I can't condone this behavior from your sister."
Glancing at Addison, Owen, and Cynthia who were all watching them with interest, Callie clenched her jaw. "You don't get to judge anything right now, mom. I suggest you say goodnight to your grandchildren and head back to your hotel."
Owen turned to his mother-in-law and gestured towards the hall, "Come on, Lucia. You can help me put everyone to bed." He turned to Callie and asked, "Is that okay?"
Callie nodded and sank down in a chair as her mother left the room.
"Well. This was just as eventful as I thought it would be," Addison joked.
"I'm sorry. My dinner parties are typically a bit more reserved. Definitely less yelling."
Addison smiled and looked to the newest party guest. "Welcome, Dr. Rogers. Are you hungry?"
"Ah…no, thank you. So. What exactly did I miss?"
Looking at her exhausted friend, Addison sat down next to Callie and put a hand on her shoulder. "I typically offer to help clean up after a party, but I think you probably want some peace and quiet now." At Callie's nod, she continued, "Dr. Rogers, would you mind giving me a ride home and I will do a wonderful reenactment of the evening as entertainment on the drive?"
"Of course. Callie, if you need anything, even just a hand cleaning up in the morning, give me a call, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. Again, I'm so sorry for my mother."
"No need to apologize. Families are messy. We all understand that." Addison collected her purse from the back of her chair and followed Cynthia towards the door after the three doctors said their goodnights.
Callie made quick work of moving plates into the kitchen while listening to her mom read bedtime stories over the baby monitor. Catching a glimpse of blonde hair out of the front window, she realized Arizona hadn't left yet. Knowing how chilly Seattle nights could get, she grabbed a sweatshirt and stepped out the front door, spotting the doctor sitting on her stoop. "Hey. I thought you had gone. I thought you might need a jacket—you smoke?"
Arizona glanced at the lit cigarette in her hand, "Only when I know I'm in trouble. Like now."
"You're not in trouble."
"I always put my foot in my mouth around the Torres women. I don't know why I thought tonight would be different."
"My mom's not easy to be around." Callie handed Arizona the sweatshirt, who gratefully put it on.
"I live in a bubble sometimes. I forget that there are people out there who can hate me based on my capacity to love differently than they do. I haven't had to defend my sexuality for a long time. I had too much wine trying to deal with that and then my mouth ran away from my brain. That was my fault."
"I'm sorry she made you feel that way."
Arizona sighed and stamped out her cigarette on the step and stood up, wrapping the sweatshirt tighter around herself. "Your sister really loves you, stepping in and putting herself in front of your mom like that."
"She didn't have to do that. We could have explained it away. It was an innocent comment."
"Your mother was staring daggers at me. There was no way she was letting it go unanswered. Your sister saved me. She's good people."
"Thank you."
"You don't need to thank me for complimenting Aria."
"No—thank you. It's been a long time since anyone has called me beautiful."
Smiling softly, Arizona let her eyes linger on Callie's face. "I find that hard to believe."
Callie blushed and looked down at her feet. "Well, you know, there's a reason I'm getting divorced, I suppose."
Nodding, Arizona took a step closer to Callie and laid a hand on her arm, "I know you're sad right now. But you are an incredible, amazing, beautiful woman. And when you're done being sad and want to get back out there, there are going to be people lining up for you."
Shivering at the other woman's touch, Callie laughed. "Oh yeah. Who?"
Fighting the urge to close the distance between them and kiss the enchanting surgeon, Arizona settled for a soft squeeze on her arm and a flirty smile. "I think you'll know." A car pulled up at the curb and Arizona held up a finger signaling the driver to wait. "That's my Uber. Don't worry about Aria. She's going to come around and see that you weren't being malicious. Give me your cell phone."
Callie fished it out of her pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to her. "Why?"
Tapping on the screen, Arizona answered, "I'm putting my number in here. Text me if you need to talk. I'll see you at work tomorrow, Calliope."
Taking her phone back, Callie glanced at the screen. She called after the other woman as she headed towards the waiting car, "You put a little heart after your name."
With a small smile and shrug, Arizona got in the car and confirmed her address with the driver. It wasn't until they were already two blocks away that Arizona realized she was still wearing Callie's sweatshirt. She settled back against the seat and brought the material up to her nose, enjoying sitting surrounded by Callie's unique scent. It was a rough night, but she honestly had no complaints.