A.N: So this one was also going to be two chapters, but I decided to combine it so that the evening played out for you all at once. Let's see what happens!
Cynthia sat in her office with her phone pressed to her ear. "What am I supposed to wear?"
Laughing, Arizona answered her friend while walking up to her apartment door, "Don't you have an outfit in your locker? It's just drinks. Be casual."
"I'm freaking out, Zone!"
"It's because you care. Get used to it." At her friend's groan, Arizona laughed again as she let herself into her apartment. "Now, for the really important question…What am I supposed to wear?"
"She really said 'it's a date?'" Cynthia asked.
"Word for word. But, you know, obviously, it's not. Her kids will be there. It's just two friends, hanging out."
"But she said the word date."
"I know, right?!"
"What time are you going over?"
"Not until 7:30."
"What time do kids go to bed?"
"How would I know?"
"You're a Peds surgeon."
"We don't worry about bedtimes in Peds!"
Cynthia sighed. "Well, it's going to be a good test to see how you do with kids around."
"What are you talking about? I'm around kids all the time."
"Not at home. I thought you never wanted kids? You've always been pretty vocal about that."
Arizona contemplated while looking through her closet for her favorite shirt. "I know. I know I have."
"Callie has kids, Zone. Three of them. They're adorable, but it's not like that's going to disappear. If you're chasing after her, you need to be okay with them."
Sitting on her bed, Arizona admitted, "Her daughter said I look like Cinderella."
"I was always more partial to Esmerelda. Or Meg. Hey, I've got patients to go see before I clock out and get ready for my date."
"I can hear you smile when you say 'date,' are you aware of that?"
"I hear it too. Ugh. I'm gross. You're going to be fine, Zone. Just be yourself and enjoy the home-cooked meal. Text me if you need me…but not too much. I'm hoping to be busy."
"Yeah, yeah. Enjoy and tell me everything tomorrow. Goodnight!"
"Later, Zone."
Making notes in her last patient chart of the day, Cynthia turned when she heard laughter coming from the ortho lab behind her. She noticed all the Seattle Pres doctors in the room, coats on and bags in hand. As they walked past Aria, who was still in her scrubs and finishing up her own work, they called out to her. "We're going out tonight, Torres. You coming?"
"Ah, I've got plans tonight. You guys go have fun."
Cynthia smiled to herself and turned back to her chart, still tuned in to the conversation happening behind her.
"Got a hot date?" she heard one of the guys ask.
"Lay off, Drew. You know she'll never tell us if she does."
Cynthia heard Aria laugh. "I'll tell you all…"
"When there's something to tell," the other doctors all chorused.
Turning her head slightly, Cynthia watched the scene unfold out of the corner of her eye. "You guys are too invested in my personal life," Aria admonished the other doctors.
One of the doctors stepped up to her and pinched her cheek, "We just want to see you happy and partnered up like the rest of us."
"Yeah, yeah. You're all disgusting."
The doctor in front of Aria took a step back and slapped her arm playfully, "You weren't always saying that, missy."
"Shelly, come on. Leave the poor girl alone. We'll see you tomorrow, Aria!"
The doctors all shared goodbyes and Cynthia watched them leave before turning back to see that Aria had finished up her work and was heading towards the locker room. Cynthia popped her head in and stopped her. "Aria?"
Aria turned and smiled. "Hey, I'm just about to clock out and change. Are you still good for drinks?"
"Absolutely. How about Joe's? I'll meet you there in 20?"
"Perfect. I'll see you there." With another quick flash of her smile, Aria disappeared behind the door.
Callie made it through most of the evening without freaking out. She got the kids fed and bathed...even managed to get Gus to sleep before her nerves started getting the better of her. What had she been thinking? She totally asked Arizona on a date. She had even said it! And, in just a few minutes, Arizona was going to show up at her door.
But it wasn't a date, right? Not really. It was just something people said. She had invited her to dinner-friends could do dinner. Callie finished changing Sam into his pajamas and contemplated what it would be like to go on a date with Arizona. She felt a spark of excitement in her chest that hadn't been there in a long time at the thought. Maybe this could be like a pre-date. Just a chance to dip her toes in and see what happens. Picking up her son and kissing him on the cheek, Callie made the decision to let herself enjoy the evening. If that meant she got to flirt with a hot, blonde surgeon, then so be it.
Arizona took a deep breath as she stood in front of Callie's door, gearing up to knock. An evening with a beautiful, miraculous woman…and her three children. Not what Arizona would typically sign up for. But there was something about this woman that made her not care. She didn't care about the fact that she was married or the fact that she was a mother. All she cared about was taking whatever time she could get with her.
Cynthia placed the smallest amount of doubt in her mind with their phone call earlier. Three kids. Two of them very small. She never pictured her life with kids. She had seen too much at work; she was jaded and she knew it. Tim always insisted she would change her mind, but she had never wavered. Until now. Until this woman. Arizona shook her head, ready to retreat back to her car when the door opened and Callie stood there with one of the boys on her hip.
"Hey! Sorry, I didn't hear you knock—I was in the back room. I just saw you through the window."
Flashing a quick smile, Arizona shook her head. "No, no problem. I actually hadn't knocked yet."
"Huh." Callie stood there for a moment. "Do you need another minute?"
"No, no! Sorry, hi. Can I come in?"
Laughing, Callie took a step back to allow the other woman to walk by her. "Please." Shifting Sam to her other side, Callie ushered Arizona into the living room. "Just give me five more minutes. Allegra just finished her bath time and I need to get this one to bed. I'll be back down in a sec. Make yourself at home."
"Sure." Arizona watched as Callie walked up the stairs carrying her son and then looked around the living room. There were a couple of family photos that included Owen, but for the most part, the photos she saw were mostly of the children. Arizona had to admit that Callie made some really cute kids. And from what she had seen, was a wonderful mother. Sitting on the couch, she slipped off her shoes and pulled her feet up under her.
Callie came down the stairs and smiled warmly at her guest. "How do you feel about chicken piccata?"
"Well, I can't say that I've ever had it, so I don't have strong feelings one way or the other."
"You are in for a treat. It's almost done. Come in the kitchen and I'll pour you a drink."
Arizona rose and followed the other woman. "You didn't have to go through the trouble of cooking something special."
"Don't be silly. I didn't think you'd appreciate being served the chicken nuggets or mac and cheese I made for the kids. I'm happy to have a grown-up friend over, so I'm going to cook a grown-up meal."
"For what it's worth, mac and cheese is my jam."
Callie smiled and grabbed two wine glasses from the cabinet, "I will keep that in mind for next time."
Feeling a small thrill at the promise of another dinner, Arizona stepped up to the stove and looked in the pans, taking a deep breath. "Everything smells delicious."
"Thank you. It's an old family recipe. Not necessarily my family, but we always had it growing up. It's Aria's favorite." Callie poured them both a glass of wine and passed one to the other woman.
Arizona held her glass up. "To our kid with the artificial lung."
"Oh no, this isn't our celebration drink. We are going to find time to actually go out and have someone else pour our drinks, and we can toast to him then. This is just…to friendship."
"To friendship." Arizona clinked her glass with Callie's and took a sip.
Walking into the bar, Cynthia spotted some empty seats at the corner of the bar right by Joe. She started over to save them, her steps faltering when she noticed that the Seattle Pres doctors were seated at a table near the door. One of them—Dr. Drew Fields, she thought—waved to her.
"Doctor Rogers!"
She stopped at the table and smiled warmly at everyone. "Good evening, all. I believe I've met all of you so far, except for you." She extended a hand to one of the women at the table; a short, curvy blonde. "I'm Cynthia Rogers."
"Kelly Warren. Nice to meet you." The other woman held onto her hand just a moment too long to be considered friendly and Cynthia took a step away from her once she let go.
"Would you like to join us, Dr. Rogers?" Drew asked.
"Oh no, I'm meeting a friend. You all have a good night." She turned and then turned back as a thought occurred to her. "None of you report directly to me, right? No one said anything to me and you all just showed up one day."
The woman Cynthia knew to be Shelly Mitchell piped up, "No, we report to Dr. Chang. Since the acquisition hasn't officially happened yet, he's supposed to be keeping an eye on us."
"But not letting any of us near a scalpel," Drew muttered.
Cynthia ignored the muttering and said her goodbyes again. As the table chorused their goodbyes, she turned to see that the corner bar seats had been taken. Glancing around, she found a booth in the back of the bar where the previous customers were clearing out and hurried over to claim the table.
Just as she sat down, she heard the door chime and watched as Aria walked confidently into the bar, looking incredible in jeans and a dark, low-cut top. How in the world did she manage to look that good after a full day of work?
Cynthia tried to catch the other woman's eye, but a chorus of "Torres!" rose from the Seattle Pres table before she could get her attention. She watched as Aria stepped up to her friends. Cynthia was just close enough to hear most of the conversation.
"Torres, you came out!"
"Hey, guys! I didn't think you were coming here. We've never come here before."
"Well, it's right across the street."
"Good point…I still have my plans though, so I can't join in tonight."
"I still want to know if it's a date," Drew poked Aria's side and she threw her head back in a laugh.
"Like she'd even admit it if it were," Kelly piped up, a little rudely.
"Kel—" Aria started.
"Kelly, knock it off," Drew stopped her.
"I'm actually here to see Dr. Rogers. Have you seen her?"
"Are you guys working on a case together?" The other guy at the table, Frankie, asked.
"Yeah, are they letting you cut?" Shelly interrupted.
"It's a social visit, guys. Calm down. We're all in the same boat," Aria placated the group.
"Well, Dr. Rogers is here to meet a friend, but she's sitting over there." Shelly turned in her seat to point her out and Cynthia quickly looked down at her phone, so she wasn't caught eavesdropping.
Aria rolled her eyes. For as smart as her friends were, they were pretty dumb about some things. "Thanks. I gotta go. Later, guys."
Before Cynthia knew it, Aria was standing next to her table. "Hey."
Looking up from her phone, Cynthia admired the other woman. "That's not fair."
"What's not fair?"
"You look even better up close than you did when you first walked in. Your shift was just as long as mine today; how do you look like that?"
Aria blushed and sat down across from the other woman, happy that she had taken the time to refresh her makeup and hair for the evening. "Thank you, but you're ridiculous." Aria's eyes traveled over Cynthia. "You look great." She glanced over her shoulder at the table of her friends. "It didn't even occur to me that they'd be here tonight. I just assumed they'd go across town to one of our old hang-out spots."
"Is it a problem that they're here? We can go somewhere else."
"Not at all. Besides, it's been a day and I need a drink."
Callie had ushered Arizona to sit at the kitchen island while she put the finishing touches on dinner. The food was finally ready and Callie plated it before putting a dish in front of Arizona. As she started to round the island to sit next to her, Callie began, "It's ho-. Nope. You're an adult. Never mind."
"What?"
"I'm so programmed by the kids that I was about to tell you it's hot and to be careful. But you can probably figure that out on your own."
Arizona laughed and turned her chair slightly so she could look at the woman sitting next to her while they ate.
"How are things with you and Owen?"
"You know something? Surprisingly good. And it's weird because that's a thing I would say all the time when I was covering up how bad things were, but now it's true. He and I are really good at being friends. He knows how important his recovery is and I'm proud of him."
"But your marriage…" Arizona trailed off.
"Is definitely over. The kids know and you were right, they're resilient. Obviously, there will be bumps in the road, but everyone is happy for now. Owen and I are free to move on from each other. Whatever that might mean." Callie took a chance and smiled at the other woman, trying to shake the rust off of her dusty flirting skills.
"Is he…Christina Yang?" Arizona scrunched up her face.
"I haven't asked directly. Not because I care what he does, but because she scares the bejeesus out of me."
Arizona laughed. "And what about you? What's next?"
"Aria said I need to go out and find what makes me happy."
"Any ideas what that could be?"
Callie glanced at the other woman nervously. She steeled a little courage and answered, "When I find it, I think I'll know."
Arizona's mind pulled up a picture of herself saying those same words to Callie about the people lining up for her. Was Callie flirting with her? She smiled and shook her head, determined to change the subject.
"What do you think Cynthia and Aria are up to?"
"I honestly have no idea. Aria has never once talked to me about her love life. I don't know what she does on dates or…" she waggled her eyebrows, "what she doesn't do on dates."
Slapping Callie's arm, Arizona admonished, "That wasn't what I was asking about! But, if you're curious, I do know what Cynthia does on dates…and you probably don't want to know that about your own sister."
Callie snorted. "In my mind, she's just a baby. I refuse to believe she's anything but pure and untouched."
Arizona grabbed her fork and snorted. "Okay, Calliope." She cut off a piece of chicken and twirled some spaghetti around it before taking her first bite. "Oh my god," she moaned.
Callie was surprised at the feeling of heat that rushed through her body at the sound.
"Mmm, this is incredible!" Arizona continued, as Callie fought to breathe normally.
"You better get yourself under control, or people will think that we're doing what you're accusing my sister of doing!"
Arizona hadn't even realized the sounds she had been making and couldn't help the image that flew into her brain of other ways Callie could get those same sounds to come out of her. That comment had to be flirting, right? Mind racing, Arizona couldn't come up with a good retort and just mumbled, "It's delicious."
Returning to the table after getting drinks for her and Aria, Cynthia slid the glass of rum and Coke across the table to her companion and sat down with her beer glass in front of her. "So…first: elephant in the room. Do you want to talk about your mom or your family?"
Aria took a deep breath and a large sip of her drink. "Ah, not really." She cringed. "Is that a deal-breaker?"
"No," Cynthia answered quickly. "But I did get the story second-hand. Can you at least just tell me again, however briefly, in your own words? Just whatever you're okay with me knowing."
Aria sighed. "After that dinner, I guess I owe you at least that much. So…growing up, there were always rumors about my…lineage, let's say. It ate at me for a long time and the last time I went home for a weekend at my parents'-about two months ago-I went all super spy and stole a strand of hair from my dad. I sent it to be tested with one of mine and they were not a match. I felt like he should know and called him. And…he cut me off. Seeing Mom in the hospital cafeteria was the first contact I'd had with either of them since."
"That's rough. I'm sorry. It sounds like your parents handled it really badly."
Aria smiled without it reaching her eyes. "You could say that again."
"Can I ask why it bothers you so much that Callie told people?"
"I still don't completely know how I feel about it all. But I know I feel embarrassed. I feel like a mistake and a burden and just wrong. Like my existence is wrong. I wanted to come to terms with it before other people started thinking the same things." Aria squirmed in her seat. "Can we please change the subject?"
"Absolutely. But first, will you tell me if there are people in your life that you are talking to about all of this?"
Aria chuckled, "Oh, definitely. My therapist has been getting an earful."
"For what it's worth, I don't think any of that about you. I think you're incredible and that your parents are the ones who should feel embarrassed and wrong."
Aria gave her a small smile. "Thanks. Now, what about you? Family? Siblings? I'll take as much dirt and drama as you've got."
"Well, there's not much drama, unfortunately. My parents divorced when I was 10 or 11. My older brother and I went with my mom and my older sister went with my dad. It was, overall, a surprisingly amicable split. I've got some step-siblings through my mom and half-siblings through my dad now." At Aria's raised eyebrows, Cynthia chuckled. "My family tree is a little complicated, but it's alright. I basically have family I can visit anywhere across the country."
"That does sound nice. Everyone is close?"
"Some more than others, but we all get along."
"So you were the youngest?"
"In the original clan, yes. Now, on mom's side I still am, but with dad's group in the mix, I'm the middle child."
"Mmm, that explains the brattiness," Aria teased.
"Hey!"
"Little Torres!" A loud voice boomed across the bar and both women turned to see Mark Sloan approaching their table. Cynthia couldn't help the scowl on her face as he walked up and put a familiar hand on Aria's shoulder. "I'm a daddy!"
"I know! I saw the baby this morning, remember?" Aria reminded him.
"I'm celebrating! Can I join you ladies?"
"Shouldn't you be with Addison, Mark?" Cynthia interjected.
"She kicked me out. She has other people there to help and she doesn't want…it doesn't matter. I'm here and I am celebrating with my people!"
As Mark made a move to sit down next to Aria, she put a hand up to stop him and glanced across the table toward Cynthia. "Ah…"
"Wait a minute." Mark looked between the two women and smiled lasciviously. He turned to Aria and asked, "The vibe has returned?"
Aria nodded.
Mark looked from Cynthia to Aria again and winked. "Nice." He stood up again. "I won't interrupt. Get it, L.T. Hey Joe!" he called across the bar.
"How do you know Joe already? You've been here for, like, a week!" Aria asked.
"Whatever these ladies want, it goes on my tab!" Joe gave a thumbs up and Mark leaned down over the table. "I'm celebrating! I'm a daddy! I'm going to go find new people. Later, Little Torres. Rogers."
Cynthia watched as Mark walked to a nearby table and started talking to a blonde woman and admitted, "I don't like him."
Following the other woman's gaze, Aria clarified, "Mark? He's a good guy."
"Hmph." Cynthia shook her head and changed the subject. "So, tell me more about you. Where did the name Aria come from? Actually, your mom called you something else, right? Aria—something."
Aria cringed. "Ariadne. I mean, technically, my name is Cassandra. Cassandra Ariadne Torres."
"That's a mouthful. How'd you get to Aria?"
"It's Callie's fault, actually. The story goes that she never liked the name Cassandra and she especially didn't want us to be Callie and Cassie, so she started calling me Aria as soon as I got home from the hospital and it stuck."
"Cassandra Ariadne and Calliope…" Cynthia trailed off.
"Ooh, this one is fun. Calliope Iphegenia."
"That's a mouthful!"
"Mom was a big fan of Greek mythology. I like to say she named us after goddesses. It's not entirely true if you look into the mythology, but most people don't dig that far into it."
"Well, finally something Mama Torres and I agree on. Goddesses."
Aria blushed and looked down at the table. "You are a smooth talker, Cynthia Michelle Rogers."
"My middle name is Jules."
Aria shrugged, "I took a stab at it."
"You're funny."
The two women sat in silence and smiled at each other for a moment before Shelly plopped down next to Aria, clearly a few drinks in. "Torres, we need to get Drew a surgery. He's going stir crazy."
"Uh, Shelly…"
"No, we gotta. Dr. Rogers, can't you do anything? We're all going crazy."
"What's going on?" Cynthia looked from the intoxicated surgeon to Aria.
"It's no big deal. It's just hospital politics. Dr. Chang doesn't want any of us from Seattle Pres in surgery until he has a chance to observe us in surgery with him. But the problem is…"
"Dr. Chang doesn't do many surgeries," Cynthia interjected.
"Right. So we're all just doing our lab work and scut work until we can get him on the schedule."
"God, he's infuriating. He's such a dinosaur. I'm the one basically running the department; you should have told me."
Aria shrugged, "I think we made him mad when we started. At Pres, we didn't have department heads separate from attendings so we all assumed he was our attending. We bruised his ego and we're paying for it."
"I'll see what I can do." Cynthia turned to the other doctor. "Dr. Mitchell, I'll see what I can do, okay?"
The doctor perked up and stood, "You're the best! I've gotta go tell everyone!" She ran back to the other table and Aria turned back to her companion.
"I mean, that's awesome. Thank you."
"I'll try and get you in first." Cynthia winked at Aria.
"You flirt."
Callie and Arizona were finishing their meal and Callie refilled both of their glasses. "So…"
Arizona waited a moment before prompting, "Yes?"
"Ah, I guess I don't quite know how to ask this."
"Well, as I keep reminding you, we are friends. You can ask me whatever you want to."
Contemplating her words, Callie finally asked, "How did you first figure out that you were…not attracted to men?"
"Ooh, a deep question."
Callie tried to backtrack, "You don't have to answer! I'm sorry."
"No! No, I like deep questions. Unfortunately, I don't think my story is terribly insightful. It was just always a fact for me. It wasn't something I necessarily had to figure out because I always knew it. We were living in Belgium and puberty was raging. Tim was always really girl-crazy, so it felt right that I was too. There was this general's daughter that I was just infatuated with. We spent all our time together for months before I gathered up the courage to kiss her. She thought we were just practicing kissing like kids sometimes do. I was in love."
"So what happened?"
"Her dad got reassigned. They left and I was heartbroken. Tim picked up on the fact that I wasn't just mourning the loss of a friend and he teased me a bit, but for the most part, he took care of me."
"Do you know where she is now?"
"Married to a man in Ohio and they have four beautiful children together. She seems really happy. And I'm happy for her." Arizona smiled. "Facebook is a powerful tool."
Callie took a sip of her wine. "My first crush was on one of our gardeners. He was ripped and liked to work without a shirt on. He was also fifteen years older than me and I'm pretty sure I creeped him out by staring out the window at him all the time. Probably while drooling."
Arizona laughed. "And where is he now?"
"Oh," Callie waved a hand in the air, "I was way too shy to ever speak to him, let alone to ask his name. I'd never be able to find him even if I wanted to."
Smiling and shaking her head, Arizona pushed her plate back and turned fully to face Callie. "Why are you asking about my sexuality?"
"Oh, uh." Callie swallowed, suddenly nervous. "I was just thinking about Aria and Cynthia and how they're open to dating whoever. It's a strange concept for me, that's all."
"We can't help who we're attracted to, Calliope."
"I know that. I've been attracted to people for inexplicable reasons before, I get it." Realizing she was digging herself into a hole with the woman that she couldn't stop thinking about, Callie took a big drink and sighed. "I don't know what I'm talking about."
"Well, I think that for someone like Aria or Cynthia, there was probably an initial attraction to someone and they leaned into it and just…saw what happened. And they both seem pretty happy, right? They're both well-rounded real people. Aria is still the same person you grew up with."
"You're right. I always thought something like that would be a big deal, like a total game-changer for a person, but maybe it's not?"
"Maybe it's not." Arizona smiled at the other woman while her brain yelled at her to stop trying to talk Callie into liking women for her own selfish reasons.
Aria returned to the table with their second round of drinks and shook her head. "Joe is really putting these drinks on Mark's tab. Mark's not even here; he left like 20 minutes ago."
"Remind me to thank him tomorrow," Cynthia said and crinkled her nose.
"He's really not a bad guy! He's excited about the baby."
"She's a cute kid. You saw her earlier?"
"Yeah, I think they had just discharged Addison, so I only got to see her for a second. I don't even know her name."
"Sofia."
"That's cute. Sofia Sloan? Or is she a Sheppard? Or a Forbes-Montgomery?"
Cynthia laughed. "I have no idea. I'm glad I'm not in the middle of that messy situation."
Shaking her head in agreement, Aria changed the subject. "So how long have you lived in Seattle?"
"I've been here a long time. I did my intern year at Mercy West and then my residency at Seattle Grace."
"So you must like it here?"
"I do. How long have you lived here?"
"I came to Seattle about four years ago, I think. Allegra was little and Callie was pregnant with the boys, maybe? Or about to be. I got the job at Seattle Pres and I've been there since."
Just then, one of the other Seattle Pres doctors, Frankie, came up and sat down next to Aria with Drew standing right behind him. "Shelly said you could get us into surgery, Dr. Rogers. Thank you for that. I'm sorry your friend hasn't shown up yet, but Torres is pretty good company in the meantime." He turned to Aria, "Drew just got control of the jukebox. Want to dance?"
Aria sighed in frustration and turned to Cynthia. "I'm so sorry. Excuse me, please." She grabbed Frankie by the collar and Drew by the ear and dragged them back to the table where the other Seattle Pres doctors were sitting. Cynthia strained to hear their conversation over the music. She watched Aria plop the boys into their chairs and lean over the table. "Hey. Guys." She waited until the four doctors looked at her. "I'm on a date. It's a date with Dr. Rogers. It's happening right now and you are all interrupting. Can you pretend like I'm not here? Because I'm not. I'm on a date."
The other four doctors looked astounded. "You're on a date? And you're admitting it?" Drew asked.
"That's right. Can we all just let that sink in and you can ask me whatever you want tomorrow?"
Three of the other doctors nodded, while Kelly looked at Aria with a tinge of anger in her eyes.
"Thank you." Aria walked back to Cynthia, whose mouth was hanging open, and stood next to their table.
"You just told them we're on a date?"
"Aren't we?"
"Yeah." Cynthia licked her lips. "I get the feeling you don't do that often."
"I don't. But I was tired of the interruptions."
Cynthia let her eyes drift over the other woman's body. "That was really hot," she admitted, her voice gruff.
Aria smiled, bit her lip, and held her hand out to the other woman. "Want to get out of here?"
Cynthia nodded firmly and took Aria's hand to let her lead them out of the bar.
A soft cry came from the baby monitor and Callie hopped out of her chair. "Sorry. Gus has been a little fussy at night. Let me just go try to settle him back down."
While Callie went upstairs, Arizona picked up their plates and put them in the sink. She took a moment to refill their wine glasses again as she heard Callie's soft voice over the baby monitor. "There's Mommy's little man. What's got you so upset, my darling?" Gus let out a soft whimper.
Arizona could hear Callie moving around the room and then she started to sing softly to her son in Spanish. Arizona couldn't understand the words, but she was mesmerized by the other woman's voice: deep and sultry and very soothing. Gus didn't seem to share her sentiments and let out a larger cry.
"Okay, mi amor. We can't have you waking up your brother. Let's get you downstairs." Callie carried the drowsy little man down the stairs and apologized to Arizona. "Sorry about this guy. He just had to join the party."
Arizona smiled at Gus and said, "Not a problem. We're having a pretty great time, no wonder he wants to join us."
Callie grabbed her glass and took a sip. "Want to go sit in the living room for a bit?"
Not sure if she should try to leave since dinner was over or if Callie really wanted her to stay, Arizona decided to say yes to spending more time with the enchanting woman. "Sure. Let's go."
The two women settled in at opposite ends of the sofa, Callie sitting Gus on her lap and holding up a toy for him to grab.
"He's adorable. They all are."
Callie smiled at the compliment and kissed her son on the head. "Yeah, they came out pretty good, I think. I always wanted to be a mom."
"You seem to be a great one."
Callie laughed, "You're here on a good night." Just then, her phone chimed with a text message. "That might be from the hospital. I have a patient I'm waiting for updates on." She struggled a bit getting off the couch with Gus in tow, so Arizona reached out.
"I'll take him." Arizona accepted the small boy from a grateful Callie and sat him on her knee. He looked at her curiously before squirming hard against her so that he was cuddled into her chest. "Oh," she said involuntarily as the small body curled into hers.
Glancing up from her phone after reading her patient's evening stats, Callie smiled at the pair. "He looks like he could be yours."
Arizona looked panicked for a moment before smiling awkwardly. "He's sweet."
"I don't know where they get all that blonde hair from. Somewhere in Owen's family, clearly." She stepped back over to the couch. "Do you want me to take him back?"
Arizona looked down at the little boy who had her shirt firmly in his hand as he stared up at her. "No, I think we're bonded now. He's fine." She didn't know what this feeling was, but she knew he was smiling up at her and her heart was melting. She smiled at the small boy and ran her fingers through his hair.
"Do you want kids one day?"
With the little boy drifting off in her arms, Arizona knew what her answer had always been but couldn't convince herself that it was still true. "I don't know. It's harder for two women to…obviously. Tim's joked around about donating to the cause, but there hasn't been anyone special enough to even discuss it with."
"How would you feel dating a woman who already has children?" Callie didn't know where the courage came from for her to ask such a bold question while Arizona was literally rocking one of her children to sleep, but the question popped out nonetheless.
"Ah, the opportunity has never really presented itself. I think it depends on the kids." Arizona looked down at the bundle in her arms. "And the woman," she admitted.
Callie gestured at the toddler asleep on Arizona. "I think he likes you. He won't even fall asleep like that on Owen."
Arizona fought off the feeling of maternal admiration that was bubbling up in her chest. "I like him too."
Callie couldn't deny that her heart was melting as she watched the woman with her son and decided to bring the conversation back on safer ground. "You said that you talked to Aria today? What happened?"
"Oh! Right! It's a funny story, actually. Apparently, your mom called her and admonished her for saying that she would 'tell her when she met someone special' when her girlfriend, me, was sitting right there and demanded that Aria apologize to me."
Callie laughed and shook her head. "I don't always understand that girl. She's so mad at my parents right now, but she still apologized to her fake girlfriend because her mom told her to?"
Arizona shrugged. "Parents have a strange hold over their children, I guess. She seemed embarrassed that she was even following through with it, but I'm still glad that something broke the ice."
"Are you and your brother close with your parents?"
"We're not an extremely tight-knit family, no. But we're all happy and love each other. Tim and I are way closer with each other than with our parents. We're really close in age, so we were like partners in crime growing up."
"Yeah, I think Aria and I missed out on a lot of that. The age gap makes a difference."
"But you guys are really close now."
"Yeah, she's been a godsend with the kids. And I really enjoy having her as a part of my life." Callie smiled, "And you too, you know. Thanks for forcing your friendship on me."
Arizona laughed, "Forcing?"
"I think I was pretty closed off to people for a while. Dealing with the kids and Owen…" she trailed off.
Arizona reached over and put her hand on Callie's arm. "I get it."
"Anyway, I'm really glad you declared friendship and didn't let me run away from it. I'm glad you're in my life."
Arizona could feel her heartbeat pick up and tried to maintain normal, human breaths. Gus chose that moment to blink and rub his nose before settling back against Arizona's chest.
"I should get him and Allegra to bed."
"Should I leave?" Arizona hated how badly she wanted to stay. She would wait for this woman for ages.
"You don't have to. This guy just needs to be put in bed and Allegra knows it's a one-bedtime story kind of night. It'll only take me about 15 minutes."
Smiling at the cardio surgeon, Arizona nodded with resolve. "Then I'll stay."
Aria led the other woman across the street, much to Cynthia's confusion. "Where are you taking me? The parking garage is over there."
"I live here."
"At the hospital?"
Aria laughed and pulled the other woman along by her hand. "No, here," she pointed up at the apartment building just up ahead.
"Oh. That's convenient," Cynthia admired.
"In more ways than one." Aria shot Cynthia a look filled with promise.
Cynthia followed the younger woman into the building and down the hallway to her apartment. Before Aria could even get her keys out of her pocket, Cynthia grabbed her waist, turned her around, and backed her up against the door, pressing her body into Aria's and moving in to kiss the waiting woman. Just as the two women were a hair's breadth apart, the door opened to reveal Mark Sloan, sending both Aria and Cynthia stumbling back into the apartment.
"Roomie!"
"Mark, shit."
"Roomie?"
"Uh, hi?"
"Who are you?" Aria asked the strange blonde woman standing in her living room.
"She's just leaving," Mark interrupted, putting his hand on the blonde woman's back and guiding her out of the apartment door to stand in the hallway.
With her hand on the door to keep it open, Aria looked at Mark incredulously. "You've lived here less than 24 hours and you already brought home a one night stand?"
"He lives here?" Cynthia asked.
"He needed a place to live and I needed a roommate," Aria shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Cynthia looked from the blonde woman to Mark, "Shouldn't you be living with the woman who gave birth to your kid two days ago?"
"You have a kid?"
"Addison made it very clear that we are not together. She's focusing on motherhood and her divorce. I'm here for support and for more when she's ready. In the meantime…" Mark shrugged and nodded towards the woman standing in the hallway.
"I love babies."
Aria rubbed her hand down her face and looked slowly around at the ragtag group. "I don't even know what to do with all this." She blew out a puff of air in exasperation and started to laugh. She looked from Mark back to the stranger in the hallway and started to laugh even harder.
"What's so funny?"
"Mark, you left the bar like 30 minutes ago. This poor girl is already dressed and out the door! How long has it been?"
Mark looked hurt, "Christine had a great time, Little Torres. How dare you."
"My name is Courtney."
At that, Aria laughed even harder. "Sorry, Courtney. Just a little advice: you can do better. Goodnight!" Aria removed her hand from the door, letting it close slowly. Mark, Cynthia, and Aria watched the girl as she disappeared behind the door and then turned back to look at each other.
"Well, this is sufficiently awkward." Cynthia put her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels.
"Sorry, ladies, I'll let you get to it. Don't be too loud though, I need my beauty rest for my first day of work tomorrow." Mark smirked and walked to one of the doors, disappearing behind it with a flourish.
Aria turned to the other woman, her laughter finally subsiding. "I'm so sorry. This wasn't at all how I thought tonight would go."
Cynthia shrugged and then stopped as a thought occurred to her. "You two have separate bedrooms, right?"
With a small smile and nod, Aria reassured her, "It's a two-bedroom apartment."
"Okay. Well, I should probably go."
"You could stay for a drink?" Aria asked, hopefully.
Cynthia turned it over in her mind. She thought of all of the interruptions during their date and couldn't help but imagine Mark Sloan on the other side of that door, listening to them. "Look, I'd love to. You have to know how much I would love to. But this was a weird first date and I think we can do better."
Aria leaned against the wall and regarded the other woman. "There were an awful lot of other people involved in tonight's date. But I had a really good time with you."
"Me too," Cynthia smiled to soften the blow. "It was the other people part that I didn't enjoy. So let's try again tomorrow. Let me take you out to dinner—far away from the hospital—and, if all goes well, you can have a drink at my place."
Aria nodded. "I can't say I'm not disappointed to end the night here."
Stepping in front of the other woman, Cynthia nodded and raised her hand to Aria's face, making sure she was looking at her and hearing her. "Me too." Cynthia's other hand went to Aria's waist, squeezing gently. "But I like you. In a way I haven't liked anyone in a while and I don't want to…"
"Screw it up?" When Cynthia nodded, Aria acquiesced. "I get it."
Cynthia leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Aria's cheek, taking a moment to breathe in her scent and the moment. Aria turned so their mouths were close, but not touching.
"If you're leaving, you should go before I won't let you."
Cynthia smiled, feeling the growl of passion coming from the other woman. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow."
Arizona took a moment to breathe while Callie was upstairs with the kids. What a bizarre evening this had been. Going over it in her mind, she couldn't help but think that maybe it was a date. Callie had been awfully brazen and flirtatious. She was still obviously conflicted about some things, but the woman had flat out asked Arizona if she would date a woman with children! That had to mean something, right?
Arizona watched Callie come down the stairs after getting her children to bed and was thrilled when Callie decided to sit right next to her instead of at the other end of the sofa. She felt like a teenager with a crush. Was she reading too much into the other woman's actions? Was she actually being flirted with?
Callie pulled her feet up under her and settled against the sofa. "I've really had a great time tonight. Thanks for coming over."
"Oh, anytime, Calliope. Thank you for dinner."
"Were you really going to have crappy take-out if I didn't cook for you?"
"I told you, I can't cook!"
Callie laughed and rested her head on the back of the couch. "We'll have to fix that. How are you going to pull in all of the ladies if you can't cook them a meal?"
"I haven't had any trouble so far." Arizona winked.
"Mmm" Callie's eyes ran over Arizona, "I'm sure you haven't."
Callie was looking at Arizona with hooded eyes and something else that Arizona couldn't name. She tried to convince herself she was imagining it, but Callie smiled at her slowly and Arizona unraveled. Before she even consciously made a decision to do it, she was leaning forward and pressing her lips against Callie's. The other woman gasped but then groaned low in her throat, encouraging Arizona as she lifted her hands to Callie's face to deepen the kiss. Needing to breathe, Arizona pulled back and stared at Callie, shocked. What had she just done?
A.N.2: Ahhh! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think. Thanks again for all the follows, favorites, and especially the reviews! Keep it up!