Callie sighed contently as she got out of her small car. She really only used this car for work, because her and Arizona had a rather big family, and they definitely couldn't fit into a five seated car. Callie grabbed her bags, which were filled with paper work and folders, and locked the car. She couldn't help but smile a little as she walked to the back door of her very large home.
Callie and Arizona had met when Arizona was in her sophomore year of college, although Callie is slightly older, and had been out of college for four years when they met. They met at a bar. Not very romantic at all. They made eye contact across the bar, the next thing they knew, they were drinking and talking. They talked until the bar closed, and then Arizona had Callie come back to her apartment. They talked some more. It felt like they had an instant connection, and they went from dates to living together within a year. They got married after Arizona graduated. The couple wanted children, but with Callie's work, they knew Arizona would have to carry. The blonde was happy to do so, and they started growing their family. Arizona became a stay-at-home mom after the birth of their first daughter.
"Where are my babiesss" Callie smiled as she walked through the back door. She watched as their four-year-old daughter ran up to her.
"Mommy mommy!!!" The little girl-Olivia- cheered as she held her arms up.
Arizona slowly trailed behind the four-year-old. She felt like absolute crap. Arizona was roughly 30 weeks pregnant, and had their two-year-old son-Mason- on her hip. Her appearance made it obvious she was not as happy as the brunette she soon made eye contact with.
'Damn, she looks hot no matter what' Callie thought to herself and bit her cheek. The sound of little feet on the floor was heard before either of the women could say a word. Arizona leaned against the wall and took a deep breath as the little boy clinged onto her. Arizona usually didn't mind if one of the kids was being clingy, but she just wasn't up for it today, and holding him was tiring her out.
Summer, Jackson, and Max ran towards the back door, providing the sound heard just a few seconds ago. Callie held her free arm out since Olivia was now rested on her hip.
"Come give me hugs! I missed you guys today!!" Callie cheered as she kissed each of their heads. "where's your sister?" Callie followed, noticing that their two-year-old daughter, Kayleigh, who was Masons twin, was not here.
"Napping" Arizona whispered softly, her voice raspy.
It was obvious to Callie that her wife had been crying, so she acted quickly. She set down Olivia carefully.
"Why don't you guys go in the playroom for a while?" She suggested, looking at Summer, their ten-year-old. "I need to talk to your mother" Callie said quietly to convince the oldest child to lure her siblings out of the room.
"Masey, come here." Summer said once she got the hint. She took Mason from Arizona's embrace and lead Jackson, who was eight, Max, who was six, and Olivia down the hallway and to the playroom. Callie watched them and bit her lip, setting her bags down on the floor. She glanced at her wife before she held out her arms. Arizona took no time in going over to her wife, she needed to be held right now.
"Not feeling well?" Callie assumed quietly as she wrapped her arms around the blonde and rubbed her back soothingly.
"I feel like crap, and Mason was so clingy today and Max and Jackson wouldn't stop fighting and Olivia was doing anything she could to get Summers attention so Summer was screaming and Kayleigh just wouldn't sleep I finally got her down a few minutes ago Mason wouldn't even let me put him down I can't do this Callie..." Arizona rambled into her wife's chest, tears easily streaming down her cheeks and staining the white blouse Callie had on.
"Shh shh, it's okay, you're gonna be okay... you need to lay down baby" Callie whispered reassuringly. "I can deal with dinner. You go up to our room and relax for a while. I've got it." At that, the blonde shook her head.
"I've got it" She argued. Arizona wasn't going down without a fight. She felt terrible immediately after complaining to Callie. The blonde knew how hard Callie worked every day just so Arizona could stay home with the kids. Of course, staying home with all of their children-which was the current situation since it was summertime and school was out- was much more difficult when pregnant, and Callie always understood that. Callie hated when her wife acted like Callie's job was more important than what Arizona does. The blonde gently pulled away from Callie after pecking her on the lips. Arizona didn't want to start a fight with Callie, but she wasn't going to let Callie come home from a day full of work just to work some more while Arizona laid helplessly in their bed.
"Baby, you've been on your feet all day. you need to take a break." Callie tried to convince Arizona to lay down.
"Go play with the kids. They missed you. I'll make dinner" Arizona said, trying to get her wife to do the less stressful and annoying task. She didn't want to lay down, even though she needed it more than anything. This pregnancy was taking a toll on her. Of course, all pregnancies took a toll, but having to deal with quite literally the two most stubborn two-year-olds on top of being pregnant was definitely the worst part. Arizona loved her children, she would never deny that, but sometimes, she was fed up. She never told anyone but Callie that, because it made her feel like a terrible person, but Callie always tried to validate Arizonas feelings. "Seriously, go" Arizona encouraged quietly and gave Callie a gentle push. She watched as Callie sighed in defeat and walked out of the room.
Arizona came down the stairs later that evening. She had just laid all the kids down, besides Summer. It was a Friday night, which meant Callie and Arizona let Summer stay up a little later and hang out with them. Both women loved this special time with their oldest daughter, and Summer loved having her moms all to herself for a while. Usually the three just talked or watched a movie, when she heard her wife and daughter already chatting up a storm, she figured a movie was out of the picture for tonight.
"Hey baby, come cuddle!" Callie beamed once she saw Arizona, who was in the same food covered t shirt and shorts as she had been this afternoon. Callie lifted the blanket that was covering both her and their ten-year-old daughter, who smiled excitedly at her mother.
"What are you two talking about?" Arizona asked as she carefully lowered herself onto the couch, feeling Callie's hands on her hips. She let out a breath as she cuddled into her wife's side, feeling Callie pull part of the blanket over Arizonas body.
"We were thinking about names for the baby!!" Summer said excitedly. The young girl was excited for another sibling. At first, she wasn't too fond of the idea. The twins kept her up all night when they were babies, and it made her mad. Of course she loved her siblings, but she got frustrated very easily. It took a while for her to warm up to the idea, but once she realized it would only be one baby, she was a little more excited.
Arizona chuckled. "We don't even know if it's a brother or a sister yet baby." The blonde rested her head on her wife's shoulder. They had decided not to find out the gender, they never had before, they loved the element of surprise it added. Plus, it was exciting for the older kids to guess and then find out when the baby was brought home.
"That's why we think of boy AND girl names. Duh." The small brunette in Callie's arms responded with an as if attitude.
Callie laughed, "tell Mommy what we came up with!" Arizona forced a smile to her lips. She hid herself more in Callie's neck and gripped onto the brunettes shirt softly. She really wasn't in the mood to talk, but she didn't want to upset her daughter.
"Okay!!" The girl cheered excitedly and bounced under the blanket, causing Arizona to bite her lip a little. "Soooo for a girl Mama and I reallyyyy like Paige!" Summer giggled at the thought, getting all excited.
"Yeah, that's very pretty" Arizona whispered and gave her daughter a soft smile, which wasn't genuine, but it wasn't like the young girl would realize the difference anyway, although Callie totally would.
"Andddd for a boyyyy" The ten-year-old dragged out her words. "I said Oliver, but Mama said that would be confusing because it sounds like Olivia." Summer pouted before the smile returned to her face. "Mama said she likes the name Lucas. I think it's cute" She finished by crossing her arms, obviously liking her choice better.
Callie laughed and shook her head. "You drama queen" She said to her daughter as she pouted. Summer was very mature for her age, but she was a kid, so of course there were times when she didn't act older than her age.
"I like the name Oliver better! I'm sure liv wouldn't mind!" Summer argued with her mother.
"Summer, don't yell at your mother. The baby's name isn't going to be chosen based off what you like or don't like." Arizona cut in, she spoke in a very pissed off voice, which confused Callie. The brunette knew Summer was just messing around, and didn't feel like she needed to get in trouble for it. She took Arizona's tone as a hint and carefully stood up.
"Alright babygirl, let's get you to bed. I'm getting tired." Callie said quickly and took her daughters hand, pulling her up gently. Callie wasn't actually tired, and usually they would spend a lot more time with Summer than those short five minutes, but Callie knew something was upsetting her wife, and she didn't want Arizona to say something she didn't mean.
Callie came back downstairs a good fifteen minutes later. "Arizona?" The brunette questioned when she saw that the blanket was folded up and put away, her wife was nowhere to be seen. Callie sighed quietly and turned off the lights before walking through the kitchen and down the hallway towards her and Arizona's bedroom. She saw the door was just barely opened and slowly opened it more before slipping in and closing it. She frowned when she saw her wife sitting on the couch in the corner of their room, just staring out the window. Callie quietly went and sat next to Arizona, wrapping an arm around her. That arm was quickly moved and Arizona scooted away, causing Callie's frown to grow.
"Baby..." Callie whispered. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just feel disgusting, don't wanna be touched." Arizona mumbled a response. Callie knew she was lying and decided to poke around and try to get more information out of her wife.
"I don't care how disgusting you feel. I wanna cuddle... and talk..."
"There's nothing to talk about." Arizona didn't make any moves to get closer to Callie, she didn't even turn her head to look at her.
"Do you wanna take a bath?" Callie hoped Arizona would say yes, they took baths together a lot. It was nothing sexual, at least not all the time. Both women just loved the closeness of it, they loved how relaxing it was. Callie especially loved doing it when Arizona was pregnant. Although Arizona would beg to differ, Callie thought that Arizona rocked being pregnant. Of course, her wife always looked amazing, but something about Arizona being pregnant made Callie gush over the blonde even more. "Please?" Callie added on when she got no response. She watched the back of the blondes head, as Arizona still hadn't turned around.
Arizona just shrugged a little. She didn't have the energy to get up or do anything right now, not just because she was tired, but because she was emotionally overwhelmed. She felt Callie hold her hand out and allowed the brunette to pull her up from her spot on their couch. Arizona silently followed Callie into the bathroom. Callie heard Arizona let out a sigh of contentment when she pulled Arizona against her by grabbing the blondes waist. Arizona let her head rest on Callie's shoulder as Callie got them towels and turned on the water to fill the bath.
"You look beautiful, even with food in your hair" Callie giggled as Arizona rolled her eyes. Callie leaned in for a gentle kiss before she carefully undressed the blonde. She let her hands travel down to her wife's stomach, smiling happily. She looked up, seeing the distant look in Arizona's face and sighed a little. She knew something was off, and was determined to figure it out.
"Baby, what's going on in your head?" Callie asked. Arizona was now in between Callie's legs, the back of her body gently pressed against the front of the brunettes. Callie had just finished washing Arizonas body and hair, and the two had sat there in silence for a while. The whole time, Arizona had that same distant look on her face.
"Nothing" Arizona's voice was distant as well, hinting the brunette that she needed to push more.
"Arizona, you've been off all day. Talk to me..." Callie encouraged.
"My mother" the blonde's voice was barely a whisper. It felt weird to say that, since she hadn't in so long.
"What?" Callie was confused. She tilted her head at her wife. They hadn't spoken with Arizonas family since they told her parents she was pregnant with Summer. Her parents had already thought Arizona was too young to get married, so when she announced her pregnancy, the couple went insane. They thought their daughter was being rushed, and forced Arizona to chose between what they thought would be a miserable life with Callie, or coming back home with them and starting over. Of course, Arizona chose her family- Callie and their soon to be baby- over her parents. With that decision, the blondes parents completely cut off communication with their daughter. They didn't even call on her birthday or for Christmas, they didn't even know their grandchildren's names, or that they had 6-soon to be 7- of them.
Earlier today...
Arizona heard the phone ring as she was rinsing the dishes. She sighed. Her hands were soaked and covered in food from the old plates that had piled up in the sink from last nights dinner. It was early in the morning, and her three oldest children were awake, but luckily the youngest ones were fast asleep still. Callie had left for work about thirty minutes ago, but Arizona had been up for a while just talking and cuddling with her wife, like they did every morning before Callie left and the kids woke up. Arizona was in a good mood, Callie always made her mood good.
"Summer? Can you answer the phone for me sweetie? It's probably mama" Arizona called out. She didn't think anyone else would be calling at this hour besides her wife, and figured Callie would love to talk to Summer for a few minutes.
"Yeah!!" Summer cheered. She typically didn't get to talk to Callie until she came home in the evening, so she happily skipped over and answered the phone. A look of confusion filled her face at the unfamiliar voice.
Arizona looked over at her daughter, confused as to why Summer wasn't more happy to hear from Callie. She washed her hands as she heard Summer come closer to her, still holding the phone to her ear.
"Mommy... who's Arizona... Robbins?" The ten-year-old asked, obviously confused. Suddenly the blonde was confused as well. She changed her last name to Torres when she married Callie, which was 12 years ago. No one she knew now even knew her previous last name, which she was happy about. Now, people either called her Arizona or "Mrs. Dr. Torres," since Callie went by "Dr. Torres," she thought it was actually quite funny. But, who would be calling that even knew her last name used to be Robbins?"
"Here, I'll take it. You can go with your brothers, thank you baby" Arizona gently took the phone from her daughter and watched her skip away. "Hello?" Arizona asked, a lump forming in her throat at the voice she heard.
"Arizona my dear! Was that your new hookup of the week? She sounded quite young, wasn't expecting that!" Her mother's voice rang in her ears like an annoying alarm clock waking you from a dream. Arizona rushed down the hallway and into her wife's office, knowing the kids knew this room was off limits unless they absolutely needed her.
"I'm married" Arizona reminded her mother, trying not to get pissed off that her mother just subliminally called her a whore.
"Oh you got remarried? I knew you and that Torres girl would never make it!" Her mother said rudely.
"I am married to Calliope. Like I have been for twelve years. If you called after all this time to insult my marriage some more, just hang up now." Arizona got defensive. Her mother could say rude things about her, sure, but the second Callie got dragged into it Arizona was ready to put up a fight. No one was to talk about her wife that way, not even her mother.
"Oh no dear, I was just-"
Arizona cut the older woman off. "No. You don't get to call me "dear." You lost that right when you decided you wanted nothing to do with your own grandchildren. And, you know my last name isn't Robbins anymore." Arizona said, anger obvious in her voice. She wasn't going to make this easy for her mother. As much as Arizona has prayed every day for this phone call, she was angry with her parents for hurting her so badly. Arizona sat in Callie's desk chair and placed her free hand on her stomach, rubbing it gently.
"As I was saying," The older woman decided to ignore her daughters brutal tone. "I called to see how you were doing. I would like to come visit you and catch up." The way her mother said this as if the last time they talked was last week was appalling.
"Catch up?" Arizona scoffed. She was beyond angry. She knew that she should probably wait for Callie to get home before speaking to her mother, since Arizona was about to go off the rails. Of course, it was too late for that. "Hmmm well let's see. Should I start with my wonderful marriage or the six incredible grandchildren who just weren't enough reason for you to ever pick up a phone and call? Well first we have my wonderful daughter who I was too young to give birth to," Arizona spoke sarcastically, still finding it ridiculous and hurtful that her parents stopped talking to her because she was "too young to have children." She continued on, "ooh! or her two younger brothers? Wait was I too young for them too? hmm next we have another girl, who I was probably too young to have," Arizona kept using the words "too young" which was her parents only-and very ridiculous- argument ten years ago. "oh I bet you'll be livid about this, next I had twins! I'm definitely too young for twins, what was I thinking? Hang on this next one might make you hang up, I'm pregnant right now too!! I'm too young, aren't I?!" Arizona inhaled sharply, feeling the anger all over her body. She needed to calm down. She waited as the older woman tried to process everything that was just yelled in her ear. "Still wanna catch up?" Arizona added sarcastically after many moments of silence.
"So you're still being manipulated, I see. The girl I raised would never speak to her mother like that" The older woman said coldly.
"You stopped being my mother many years ago" Arizona responded, not caring how "rude" she sounded. It was true. Her mother and father hurt her deeply. It was a wound she was still recovering from. This conversation was just ripping the wound opened more, and Arizona could feel the same hurt all over again.
"Excuse me?" The woman said defensively. There was indistinct chatter in the background before the woman spoke up again. "I wanted to call and talk to you, Arizona. I miss my daughter."
"You miss your daughter? It's been ten years... you decide to miss me now?" Arizona knew she was being difficult. The situation would be different if Callie was with her. Callie would, of course, encourage her wife to let her mother in. But, Callie was better than Arizona in that way, she was more forgiving. Her judgement wasn't as clouded as Arizonas. Arizona was angry. She had every right to be angry.
"I've always missed you, I just haven't had the courage to call you..." Arizonas mother sounded upset. Arizona heard sniffling before the woman cleared her throat. "Look. The ball is in your park now, I would hope you could give your father and I another chance. But, I guess that's up to you."
Arizona hung up the phone without another word. She was beyond angry. She needed Callie. She sighed and left her wifes office, going back into the kitchen and throwing the phone across the counter.
"Mommy, who was that? Who is Robbins?" Summer asked, she had been waiting for her mother in the kitchen after she realized Arizona was in the office. The ten-year-old knew being in the office meant it was important, and she was curious as to who Arizona Robbins was.
Arizona sighed. "It was just a scam call, baby." She sat down at the island next to her daughter, deciding to explain the whole name thing. "You know how your last name is Torres?" Her daughter nodded. "Well, one day-- a very long time from now-- when you get married, you can change your name to your husband or wife's last name, or you can keep Torres. When I met mama, my last name was Robbins, but when we got married, I decided to change my last name to Torres..." Arizona tried to explain it the best she could to the curious ten-year-old.
"I like Torres. I don't wanna change my last name" Summer said quietly.
Arizona couldn't help but smile. "Then you don't have to baby" She kissed her daughters head before watching her run off.
What the hell was Arizona going to do about her mother?
Back to current...
"My mother, she called." Arizona said quietly. She refused to make eye contact with Callie. Callie could feel how tense Arizonas body got as she spoke of her mother.
"What did she say?" Callie asked and stroked Arizonas hair carefully.
Arizona shifted a little, still being between Callie's legs. She pressed her back against Callie again and sighed, rubbing the brunettes thigh as she tried to relax. "She didn't think we would still be together... basically called me a whore..." Arizona mumbled. That wasn't what was bothering her most, but it did hurt her feelings.
"Hey hey... don't listen to that nonsense" Callie quickly responded. She was pissed off, she didn't like Arizonas mother at all. The woman had such a power over her wife. Arizona went through hell to recover from what her parents did to her. Callie wasn't surprised of the timing, though, just as Arizona was doing her best, her mother had to come back in and throw the blonde off track. "What else did she say? I know you wouldn't be this upset about her calling you a whore" Callie whispered and laughed a little as she squeezed Arizona between her legs.
Arizona leaned into her wife more. She knew Callie would get everything out of her one way or another, like she always did. "Maybe you should talk to her... I kind of freaked out on her and screamed a lot and then she gave me some crap about wanting to restart our relationship." Arizona shifted uncomfortably. Callie tried to help her get comfortable again, giving her a confused look.
"You want me... to speak to your mother?" The brunette looked at Arizona like she was speaking another language.
"I need to give her another chance and it won't happen if I call her back... you know how to be reasonable." Arizona admitted. She knew she would never let her mother have a second chance if Callie didn't get involved. She wanted her mother to meet her children more than anything. "I want... I want the kids to know her Callie. I want the kids to know my parents. At the very least, I want to be able to say that I tried when they grow up and ask why the hell my parents have never even been in the same room as them" Arizona mumbled and started to shift again.
"You have the number?" Callie asked as she stood up, grabbing both of their robes. She put hers on before she helped Arizona from the tub and wrapped her up.
"You're gonna do it now?!" The blonde got a towel and started to dry her hair, since it was soaking wet.
"You have a point. We should try, if we have the chance now, I'm not gonna pass it up." Callie started to drain the tub and dry her hair as well before looking over at Arizona. "So, what's the number?"
Arizona bit her cheek. "It's probably still in my phone... she called the house but it was the same number that's in my phone." The blonde leaned against the counter and watched her wife dry her hair. "You look really pretty" She whispered randomly.
Callie smiled a little "So do you baby" She kissed Arizonas cheek. "Alright lets go see what your mom has to say?"
"Maybe we should get dressed first..." Arizona laughed a little, they were both just in their robes.
"Oh yeah, we can do that" Callie gently smacked Arizonas ass as she walked past her and into their walk-in-closet.
Arizona snuggled into Callie's side. She was now wearing a t shirt, which used to be bigger on her but since she's pregnant it's not as big anymore, and decided to go without pants. Callie was in sweats and a sweatshirt, being much more sensitive to the freezing air conditioning than her wife. Arizona nervously traced circles on Callie's shoulder as Callie found the number they needed in Arizona's phone.
"You ready for me to call? I'll leave it on speaker but I can do the talking" Callie said softly. She knew this was scary for her wife, so she wanted to help the best she could. Callie felt Arizona nod against her and took that as her cue. With a silent breath, she hit the call button.
Ten years ago...
Both women remembered it like it was yesterday, as much as they tried not to. For Arizona, it was arguably the worst day of her life, and for Callie, it was the day her wife changed forever. Callie knew Arizona would never be the same person, Callie loved this Arizona just as much, but it took time to get Arizona to a good place again.
Their alarm clock went off. Usually, that would indicate they both had to go to work, but it was their anniversary.
"Why didn't we turn that off?" Arizona groaned and rolled over.
"We forgot. Come cuddle." Callie held her arms out, wanting to cuddle her wife. She felt Arizona roll into her arms and smiled. "Happy Anniversary baby."
"Happy two years" Arizona mumbled against Callie's chest. She smiled softly before she realized something. She shot up into a sitting position. "I know we are seeing our parents tonight, so I wanna tell you this now, so we can tell them tonight!!" She said excitedly.
Callie gave the blonde a confused look, wondering what made her so energized so quickly. "Okay... what is it?" Callie's voice was hesitant as her wife climbed in front of her.
"I know we've been trying for a while now... and it hasn't really worked out..."
The brunette just looked more confused as Arizona spoke. "What are you trying to say, baby?"
Arizona giggled, "Baby" She repeated. "I'm finally pregnant!" She squealed. They had been trying for six months now, with no luck. Arizona found out a couple days ago, and decided to wait to tell Callie, she wanted to tell her on their anniversary.
"What?! Really?!" Callie sat straight up before pulling Arizona on top of her. The blonde nodded and laughed excitedly as Callie fell back on the bed with Arizona on top of her. "We're having a baby?!" Callie looked down at Arizona after a minute, the biggest smile on her face.
Arizona had a matching smile and nodded again. "We're having a baby!!"
Callie held Arizona close to her before she moved her hands to Arizonas stomach. "Hey there, little one. I'm your mama" She said quietly and left kisses on the blondes stomach. Obviously there was no bump yet, she was probably only a few weeks along, but this was beyond exciting for the couple. They had wanted to try when they first got married, but decided to wait until Arizona was settled into her new job, even though Arizona knew in the back of her mind that she didn't want to work again after she had the baby. She had discussed this with Callie before, but Callie wanted to at least give her wife the choice of having a stable job to go back to if she changed her mind, so they waited. When they were finally ready to start trying, all of the tests so far had come back negative. Arizona had started to get frustrated. She didn't understand how people could magically get pregnant unintentionally and it was taking her months to get pregnant when that was her intention. Of course, Callie was nothing but positive about the situation, like she always was. She was the reason Arizona didn't just give up, and now, Arizona was glad she didn't give up.
"Arizona come onnn" Callie whined as she stood at the front door of their house, waiting for Arizona to come out of their room.
"I'm coming I'm coming" Arizona said and came rushing down the hallway, putting earrings into her ears as she walked. She quickly fixed her hair. "Why did we agree to go out with them on our anniversary again?" The blonde pouted. She just wanted to spend today with her wife, but Callie made plans with both of the woman's parents. Arizona was not happy about it.
"Because they want to see us baby, it'll only be a few hours, then we can come home and I get you all to myself" Callie pulled Arizona against her carefully and kissed her. Arizona quickly and hungrily kissed back. All Arizona wanted was sex, lots and lots of sex, and Callie could easily tell. Callie's hands travelled down the blonde's waist, making Arizona moan, before quickly pulling away. "Later" Callie mumbled breathlessly.
"You're mean" Arizona pouted again and grabbed her purse as they headed outside.
"Is everyone ready for desert?" Carlos, Callie's father, asked the group of six. They had finished their dinner and spent some time catching up.
"Actually, Calliope and I have something we want to tell you guys" Arizona said and looked up at Callie, her big smile and sparkling blue eyes said it all. Both of Callie's hands became tangled in both of Arizonas hands under the table as that caught all of their parents attention.
"Oh! What is it?" Daniel, Arizona's father asked. He and his wife wanted to get this dinner over with. They never agreed with Arizonas marriage to Callie. It was nothing against Callie, the couple simply didn't believe their daughter would ever be ready for this kind of commitment. They tried to make as much of an effort as they could, though, the couple didn't want to lose another child.
The two women exchanged excited glances before Callie spoke up, "Arizona... she's pregnant! We're having a baby!"
Lucia, Callie's mother squealed. Lucia never squeals. "My baby is having a baby!" The woman got up from her seat and hugged both Callie and Arizona, squishing them against eachother in her arms. "I'm so happy for the two of you!! Oh, I get to be a grandma!" Callie had never seen her mother so happy before.
"Congratulations! I am so excited for the two of you!" Carlos said, giving his daughter and her wife an encouraging smile as Lucia finally let them go.
"Thank you guys, we're so excited" Arizona said with a giggle. Her happy smile faded when she made eye contact with her parents, who weren't even half as pleased as Lucia and Carlos.
"Arizona, are you sure you are ready for this?" Barbra, Arizona's mother, looked almost mad at her daughter.
"Of course I'm ready, we are ready" Arizona answered, pointing between her and Callie. She took in a shaky breath before feeling Callie's hand on her thigh, immediately getting calmed by her touch.
"You're so young, do you really want this?" Daniel added.
"Of course I want this" Arizona was getting overwhelmed now. They were in public, and her parents were basically interrogating her. She knew her parents weren't all too fond of her relationship, but Arizona and Callie have been committed for two years now. Arizona figured by now they would realize Arizona was serious about this. She sighed and added, "I'm 24, that's a perfectly reasonable age to start having children."
"Sweetie, I don't want you making choices you're going to regret because you're in a relationship with an older woman" Barbra said in a lowered voice. Arizona stayed silent. She couldn't handle the way her mother was speaking to her, or about Callie.
"Who knows if this relationship will last? You've never been one to a stay with one person. We are just worried, Arizona. You can't blame us. What happens when you two get out of the honeymoon stage? It won't just be about the two of you, it'll be about a baby. How are you going to take care of a baby?" Daniel said, as if this was something to reason about. Callie kept her eyes on her wife. She tried to keep Arizona as calm as she could. Callie squeezed Arizonas thigh comfortingly, hoping she was helping. The brunette wasn't surprised by what she was hearing, even though it was a line of bull.
"Dad, I love Calliope. I am in LOVE with her. This isn't one of the stupid flings I had when I was a teenager. Do you really want to have this conversation here?" Arizona looked between her parents. They both remained silent. Arizona tensed up and took that as them saying they did want to talk about this now. "We waited two years after getting married. I wanted to have kids right away, Callie wanted to wait until my job was more stable. We both have stable jobs, stable incomes. We are adults. We are perfectly capable of raising a child. You should be happy for us, I don't understand why you're not."
"Baby it's okay" Callie whispered in Arizona's ear. The brunette now was rubbing Arizonas back and her thigh, trying to calm the pissed off blonde down. Arizona took a deep breath.
"We are worried that you're being manipulated." Barbra stayed flatly. Callie's eyes went wide. That hurt.
At that, Arizona shot up in her seat. "I'm sorry, Lucia and Carlos, I think it's time that we go home, though. Calliope and I can make this up to you one night soon." Arizona got a waiter over to take her debit card for the bill as she got on her coat and grabbed her purse. She hugged Callie's parents, still wanting to be nice to them.
"Congratulations, sweetie" Lucia said softly to Arizona when she hugged her.
"Thank you, I'll make sure we have you for dinner soon." Arizona tried to sound like she wasn't angry and about to have a breakdown as she said goodbye to Carlos, which took enough time for the waiter to come back with her card. "Thank you, sir, goodnight." With that, Arizona rushed out of the restaurant. Callie followed close behind her.
"Baby, slow down." Callie walked out the door of the restaurant and saw her wife leaning against the outside of the building. "It's okay, come here" She quickly wrapped her arms around the blonde.
"Can we just... go home? Please?" Arizona mumbled faintly.
"Of course, lets go" Callie lead Arizona to their car, helping her into the passenger seat.
Back to current...
Callie sighed at the memory, being pulled out of her own head when the sound of Barbra Robbins voice filled the room.
"Hello?" The older women didn't recognize the number, she didn't have Arizona's cell phone number.
"Hi Barb-" Callie started to speak but she was cut off.
"Callie. Arizona must have told you I called. How are you?"
Arizona shot a confused look at her wife. Why was her mother being nice? The last thing she said about Callie was that she was manipulative, now she wants to have casual conversations? Arizona started to get pissed off. Callie noticed and held the blonde tightly in her arms, hoping to calm her down.
"Yes, she did tell me that you called, she said you mentioned something about wanting to be involved in her... in our life again" Callie said hesitantly, ignoring the question from the woman.
"Oh, yes. Callie, I cannot lose another child. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I am right, but I need to have a relationship with my daughter." Callie felt Arizona tense up in her arms at the "maybe I am right" part of her mother's statement. Callie didn't want to be rude, but she knew she needed to say something about that part. Not only to stick up for herself but to stick up for her wife, her family. She let out a sigh.
"That right there, the 'maybe I am right,' that's exactly why Arizona gave up trying to make an effort with you." The brunette tried to sound like she wasn't nervous about speaking to Barbra, but she obviously was, with good reasoning. The woman thinks Callie is some sort of manipulative bitch. "I know Arizona wants you in her life again. She wants our children to have grandparents and she wants to have parents. She tells me all the time. And I know, she probably put up one hell of an argument earlier, but she has every right to. She wants to be close to you, but not if you are going to constantly invalidate her marriage and the life she built." Callie knows she said the right thing when she feels her wife smiling against her neck and nodding rapidly. That makes Callie's confidence levels sky rocket and a huge smile plaster her face.
"I know that... but she's my baby, she was so young to be married and to be a mother. She didn't even get to live, you took that away." Callie's smile faded and her confidence went right back to nothing. Arizona found Callie's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
"It was a mutual decision we made to get married, and to have children. I did not take anything from her, we are a couple, we made decisions together, like any other couple. This is the life we wanted." Callie answered after a few seconds of pure silence. "You're going to have to accept that" She added on quickly.
"I know, Callie. How about we have dinner together? Make up for lost time?"
Callie looked at Arizona questioningly, Both of them couldn't go out. They didn't have anybody to watch their kids. Callie's mother always offered to, but they never accepted. They didn't feel comfortable leaving all of their children with anyone. Of course, Callie's parents sometimes took some of the kids over night or for the day just to bond, but never all six of them. Arizona shook her head. "The kids" the blonde whispered before she took the phone. She had Callie there, she could speak without yelling.
"I'll meet you for Coffee, tomorrow at 11, at the shop downtown. Dad can come too. It'll just be me, Callie's gonna watch the kids" Arizona looked up at Callie who nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. Callie didn't mind spending time with the kids by herself at all. She was actually quite excited.
"Okay, sounds like a plan. I'll see you then." The woman said before Arizona hung up. Arizona didn't know if she should be exchanging "I love yous" or "goodbyes" She hadn't spoken to the woman in ten years. Arizona's own mother felt like a stranger.
"That was easier than I expected." Callie mumbled as Arizona put her phone down.
"Yeah, I guess."
"What's wrong? Did I say the wrong things?" Callie started to panic a little.
"No, no. It's just... I don't like when anyone talks to you like that" Arizona cuddled back into Callie, hiding her face.
Callie sighed a little. "I can take it, I know you're happy, I know we're happy. That's all that matters."
Arizona nodded. A comfortable silence filled the room as Callie turned off the lamp and pulled their covers over them.
"Goodnight, I love you" Callie whispered tiredly after they laid there for a while. Arizona had her arms wrapped tightly around Callie's waist. The front of Arizona's body was pressed to the side of Callie's. The blondes head rested on the pillow right next to Callie's.
"I love you too" Arizona mumbled, a content smile on her face. For a second, she forgot about her crazy mother and fell asleep.