Callie turned the corner to the ortho wing and let out a sigh of relief when she spotted Cynthia. Pushing the stroller holding the boys and Allegra trailing sleepily behind her, Callie walked up to the other woman. "Thank god I found a friendly face!"
"Well, good morning to you too, sunshine." Cynthia crouched down to say hi to the kids. "Hey, munchkins. You all look very sleepy."
"Chief Grey called an emergency department head meeting first thing this morning. I have to get there before the daycare opens up. By any chance…"
"I can hang out with them."
"Oh, thank god. I haven't been able to get a hold of Aria all morning and Owen is out for the week, so I'm stuck."
"Aria's already in surgery."
Callie looked at her watch. "It's not even 6:45 am. Was she on call last night?"
Cynthia shook her head. "According to the overnight interns, she was here by 4:00. I think the Chief's threats really scared her."
"You didn't stay at her place last night?"
Cynthia let out a small laugh. "Your sister doesn't seem to want to spend the night. I mean, I know things are early, but she gets a little weird when I ask about it."
"All of this really makes me wish that I had asked her about her love life earlier, so I'd have some advice or something helpful to say."
Waving a hand in the air, Cynthia smiled. "Don't worry about it; I'll still watch your kids. You'd better get to that meeting."
Callie looked again at her watch and realized she was going to be cutting it close. "You're a godsend. Mijos, be good for Miss Cynthia, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can." She waited until she got a small nod from at least Allegra before she turned to head to the conference room.
Aria walked down the hall after her surgery and replayed it in her mind. She had seen the Chief standing in the gallery, watching and judging every move she had made for a good chunk of the surgery. It had been successful and she was proud of her work. She gingerly touched her cheek and winced. She had put concealer over the bruising, but she wanted to check in a mirror again soon. As she turned the corner, she heard a familiar giggle coming from nearby and followed the sound until she found her niece and nephews hanging out in Cynthia's office.
"What are you three doing here?" Aria stepped into the doorframe and picked Allegra up for a hug when the small girl ran up to her.
"Mami had a meeting."
Cynthia stood and shrugged. "Callie couldn't find you and the daycare wasn't open yet. Plus, it turns out that Miss Allegra is really good at coloring and I just happened to have some coloring books in my office. She's been showing me her skills."
Aria squeezed the girl in her arms and put her down. "Oh yeah? Can you show me your coloring, Lil' Bear?"
Allegra took her aunt by the hand and led her over to her makeshift area on Cynthia's desk. Aria sat down in the visitor's chair and Allegra climbed in her lap. "This is so good, baby girl. But...I think you missed a spot!"
"I'm not finished, Tia!" Allegra giggled and grabbed the crayon she had been using and started coloring again, determined to finish her masterpiece.
Cynthia ran her hand along Aria's shoulders as she walked around her to sit at her desk, delighting in the way the other woman shivered at her touch.
"How was your surgery?"
"The Chief was watching from the gallery."
Cynthia rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you rocked it anyway."
"Oh, I did. I just can't believe that I'm practically on probation because of my brother-in-law."
"Grey would be an idiot to get rid of you."
"I've heard plenty of horror stories about that woman. I'm not ruling out any possibilities. I'll just work my butt off and prove I should be here."
Allegra let out a little giggle and covered her mouth with her hand to hide it.
"Are you laughing because I said butt, little girl?" Aria tickled her niece's sides.
Allegra giggled harder and shook her head, changing crayons and attacking a new section of the page.
"Who's saying butt in front of my precious babies?" Callie's voice came from the doorway. Allegra just giggled harder and squirmed out of her Aunt's grasp to show her mom her coloring.
"Look, Mami! I colored this for you!"
Callie took the paper and smiled at her daughter. "It's absolutely perfect, mija. I'm going to put it up in my office!" Allegra beamed proudly as Callie walked over to the stroller, running a hand over each boy's hair.
"How was the meeting?" Cynthia asked.
"Seattle Pres invades today. Interns, residents, and attendings are all starting here at 9 am. We're supposed to evaluate everyone as much as possible and there will be official evaluations with each of them and the department heads at the end of the week, with a final decision on if they're being kept or...laid off."
"Yikes," Aria said meekly.
"Aria, you don't have anything to worry about. Cynthia, will you tell her she doesn't have anything to worry about?"
"She won't listen to me either."
"I'm right here," Aria protested.
"You know, your sister thinks it's weird that I didn't stay over at your place last night." Cynthia attempted to change the subject and get Aria's mind off of the evaluations.
Aria raised her eyebrows and looked at Callie incredulously. "You're gossiping about me now?" She turned back to Cynthia. "It's too bad my sister doesn't make my personal decisions."
Cynthia smirked and Callie tugged on Aria's hair as she walked past with the stroller. "We'll talk later. Don't work yourself too hard, Cat." She waved at Cynthia. "Thank you for watching them."
"Anytime, California." Cynthia waited for Callie to leave with the kids before turning back to Aria. "Did she call you Cat?"
"It's my initials. C.A.T. It's from when we were kids-I called her Cit and she called me Cat. Like KitKat-you know, the candy?"
Cynthia chuckled. "I keep forgetting Aria is your middle name. CitCat-that's cute."
"Yeah. We're pretty adorable."
"Well, you sure are." Cynthia smiled as a thought occurred to her. "So if we got married, your initials would spell Car?"
Aria stood quickly and rolled her eyes. "You've taken me on two dates and I haven't even let you sleep over yet. What makes you think we're getting married?"
Smirking, Cynthia couldn't help but tease the other woman. "So you're saying you would be the one taking my name?"
"You're impossible. I've got a career to go defend." Aria smiled at the other woman, laughing. "I'll talk to you later."
"Hey," Cynthia called as Aria got to the door. She waited until Aria turned back around. "How's your cheek? It doesn't look bruised."
"I've got makeup on it. It's sore, but manageable. A little swollen if you look too closely."
"May I?" At Aria's raised eyebrow, Cynthia clarified, "Look too closely?"
Aria rolled her eyes but at the same time, couldn't help but be charmed by how much Cynthia seemed to honestly care. She moved back into the room, stepping next to Cynthia's desk as she stood up.
Cynthia ran her fingers over Aria's cheek, careful not to hurt her. "You did a good job covering it up."
"I used to have an ex that was a big fan of visible hickies. I had to learn the skill."
Cynthia's brows furrowed. "Hmph. Visible hickies, huh? And were you a fan of that?"
Smirking, Aria stepped closer into Cynthia's space and shook her head. "No. I believe there's a time." She ran her fingers over Cynthia's collarbone, moving aside her scrub top to reveal a small bruise that Aria had left the night before. "And a place."
"Fuck," Cynthia breathed out, seeing the mark on her skin. "I didn't even know you did that."
"I know-I was keeping you distracted somewhere else when I did it."
"I...uh...I have rounds."
"I know. Me too."
"I'm going to need you to stop touching me so I can start breathing again."
Aria laughed and took a step back, dropping her hand and letting Cynthia's top cover the mark again. "Thank you for this."
"For what?"
"This morning. I was getting in my head a bit and this was nice. Thank you."
"Anytime, Cat."
Aria made a face. "You don't get to call me that."
"Car?"
"I'm leaving now."
Cynthia caught Aria's hand and pulled her in for a quick kiss before letting her go. "Have a good day, sweetheart."
"You too."
"There are just so many of them." Arizona, Callie, and Cynthia had managed to find a free table in the cafeteria for lunch and claimed it for themselves before the new doctors had descended. Sitting with her back to the wall, Arizona marveled at the scene of chaos in front of her. "There weren't this many of them when we absorbed Mercy West, was there?"
"I don't remember it being this crazy, but I wasn't a department head at the time, so I didn't really have to deal with it." Callie scowled at a doctor who tried to sit at their table, scaring him off before he could sit.
"I don't envy you two. Do you have any set criteria on the evaluations?" Cynthia asked.
Arizona shook her head. "All we were told is that they start next week. Ortho is the only department that doesn't have to have a panel of department heads for the evaluations. Chang gets to do those himself."
"Why's that?"
"I think it's because you've had more time with the ortho residents than the rest of us will have. The ortho attending from Seattle Pres decided not to come over, and the interns haven't declared a specialty, so you just have those five residents to worry about."
Cynthia shook her head. "Chang already told me he wants my opinion. I don't know how to do that."
"Because you're in love with one of the doctors?" Arizona teased her friend.
Cynthia rolled her eyes. "No, because I think they're all really talented. Mostly"
"Mostly?" Callie asked.
"One of them isn't as skilled as the others, but I've only seen her operate once." Just then, Cynthia's pager went off, summoning her to the pit. "I've gotta run. Good luck keeping the table to yourselves." She turned and almost ran into a group of interns who were stalking through the cafeteria, on a mission. "This place is nuts!" she called to her friends before making her way out of the room.
Callie chucked as Cynthia dodged her way through the cafeteria and then turned back to Arizona. "I really don't know how we're supposed to evaluate all these people in one week."
Arizona shook her head. "I have no idea. Never mind that we also have to tend to our own patients."
"As if this week wasn't going to be hard enough."
Putting a hand on Callie's arm, Arizona asked, "Have you talked to Owen?"
"Not since it happened, no. His sister said that she had talked to him and he's got a therapy appointment today."
"Do the kids know what happened?"
"No. But they've been acting up since the separation. I have no idea what's going to happen when they realize they're not seeing him here at the hospital either."
"I'm sorry, Calliope."
"You know what I miss? Just being a surgeon. Not having to worry about department issues or home issues or family issues. Just cutting and saving lives. Remember that?"
"Well, I can't promise you a surgery, but you did agree to go on a date with me. We can take your mind off of those things for a little while then, I hope."
Callie couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "I'm excited about that."
"Really? Because I did kind of have to talk you into saying yes to it yesterday."
She grimaced. "You did. But I'm really honestly excited. I haven't been on a first date in years."
"And you've never been on a first date with me. I'm pretty excellent at them."
"I have no doubt." Callie smiled and let herself feel happy and hopeful as she looked across the table at Arizona. She was still petrified. Do I even remember how to date? What happens if it goes badly? What happens if it goes really well? Who even pays for dinner when we're both women? But she couldn't wait.
"When would you like to go?"
Callie thought about it and pursed her lips as reality set back in. "Unfortunately, I don't know. With the kids now and no option of having Owen take them at least for this week, especially when they've been acting up...I can't really set a day. Is that alright? If we leave it up in the air?"
Arizona nodded. "Just don't leave it hanging for too long, alright?"
"I promise."
Callie saw Mark come into the cafeteria and his eyes go wide as he took in the number of doctors fighting for a seat. He walked up to their table and stole the apple off of Callie's tray and took a bite of it. "Hey, Torres. Robbins."
"That's my apple."
Mark looked over his shoulder at the scene in front of him. "This place is a zoo. I can't wait until we thin the herd."
"How many doctors do you have coming into Plastics?" Arizona asked.
"I think we've got nine in the specialty. Two attendings and seven residents. Way more than we need." He took another bite of the apple and turned to Callie. "Hey, Little Torres filled me in on what happened yesterday with Hunt. I just wanted to let you know I've been hearing some rumors that probably aren't true."
"We've got a pretty nasty rumor mill around here. It's impossible to ever pinpoint the source of the misinformation that gets spread."
"Well, this time I saw exactly where it started. You might want to talk to your sister's friend Kelly."
"Kelly?"
"The blonde, stacked one. Dr. Walters, maybe?"
"Dr. Warren?"
"I overheard her talking to some of the new trauma residents and...she needs to get shut down."
Arizona sat up, concerned. "Do you want me to talk to Cynthia about her?"
Callie shrugged, defeated. "If the rumors are already out there, we can't get them back now. I'll mention it to Aria and see what she thinks. Thanks, Mark."
He shrugged and walked off, munching on the apple as he weaved his way through the cafeteria.
Arizona sighed and surveyed the cafeteria one more time. "You know what I miss?"
"What?"
"Kissing you in that booth at the Cottage."
Callie smiled, letting her mind drift back to relive that moment. "Yeah, I miss that too."
A.N: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! I've got some drama coming up and I wanted to get you a happy, light chapter first. Thank you, always, to everyone who likes, favorites, or reviews this little story of mine! I promise to not make you wait as long for the next chapter!