Callie awoke to the sound of movement downstairs and instantly froze. She had slept in, Earl was going to beat her so badly. As she swung her legs over the side of the bed her eyes focussed on her surroundings, she wasn't in Earls bedroom, she was in her childhood bedroom. She focussed on her breathing just like the doctors ordered and soon the pain in her chest lessoned and her breathing and heart rate returned to normal.
Picking up her cell phone from the bedside table where it had been on charge she pressed the home screen button and blanched when she saw that the time was after eleven thirty in the afternoon. She couldn't believe she had slept in so late.
Pulling on a hoody, one of the few items of clothes she now owned, she padded her way downstairs and into her parents kitchen. Her kitchen now. She was met by the sight of her mother reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee.
"Are you not working today mom?" Callie asked, her voice still full of sleep.
"I arranged to work from home for the next few weeks, I suspect I will have to pop in for some meetings here and there but for now I'm all yours" Lucia smiled softly at her daughter. Lucia, never satisfied with just being a housewife to her rich husband, was a partner at a law firm Hardman-Torres Law.
"You didn't need to do that... do you mind if I make myself a coffee?" Callie asked sheepishly.
"Of course Mija, it's your home now you don't need to ask if you can do something"
Callie smiled softly at her mother and went about making herself a coffee then with a little hesitation she made her way into the back garden and perched herself on a lounge chair. Her parents had purchased the corner house so the garden, and the house, were significantly bigger than that of the Robbins next door, yet it was still a modest house for someone with the worth of Carlos and Lucia Torres. Not ones to flaunt their wealth they were happy in suburbia and after purchasing the house and Callie and Aria making fast friends with the Robbins twins they were happy that they had decided on the modest house.
"Morning Neighbour" A voice piped up and Callie glanced to the fence to see Arizona's face elevated above the fence line.
"Morning" Callie offered a small smile.
"Everything ok?" Arizona asked as she opened the gate that separated their back gardens and let herself in before making herself comfortable on the chair opposite Callies, still clad in her pyjamas with a terrible case of bed head.
"Yeah I guess" Callie shrugged non committedly and took a sip from the cup with the hand not casted.
"Come on Torres, I know you and that means somethings up" Arizona took Callies cup and took a swig of the bitter coffee, her preferring her coffee with a couple of sugars and Callie taking her coffee neat.
"For a moment I woke up and I thought I was back there, I panicked thinking I had slept in" Callie admitted before taking her coffee back and downing the cups contents before offering a pointed eyebrow to the blonde who smiled in return at the brunettes sassiness shining through.
"There's going to be an adjustment period... Dr Warner warned you that it may take some time to get used to your new surroundings so don't be too disheartened"
"I just want to forget that the last three years ever happened and instead I have all these reminders going through my head I just cant escape them" Callie frowned.
"You'll get there Calliope I promise you will its just going to take some time"
"Yeah i guess, anyways what time does your shift start?" Callie asked in an attempt to remove the limelight from herself.
"I start at one so I have a bit of time up my sleeve yet" Arizona said. The two women sat in comfortable silence for several moments, Callie basking at the sun on her skin and Arizona watching the almost satisfied smile on the Latina's face.
"I'm going to sign the paperwork today to change my name back to Torres" Callie finally broke the silence without opening her eyes.
"Thats good, another step forward. I'm really proud of you, y'know" Arizona grinned. Callie opened her eyes to look at the blonde and smiled in return. When Arizona's dimples were on display they were infectious and it was hard not to smile in return. "Timmy should be back next week, He's decided to move home too"
"I cant wait to see him. I cant believe your brother is a vet" Callie grimaced which caused Arizona to laugh melodically.
"I know right, here I am cutting people open and he's sticking his finger up dogs bums. Its brilliant. I have so much ribbing to give him" Arizona grinned.
"I wish I was cutting people open" Callie sighed.
"Drews is waiting for you Cal, you can still do it"
"But I'm so far behind now"
"No your not. You can pick up where you left off and I will help you, we will have you passing with a top score before you know it. Just say the word"
"I just don't know if its going to be that simple"
"Classes start in three weeks, you have three weeks to decide and only you know what's best for you. If your not ready yet you just defer for another year"
"I know but Drews sucks and now I'm going to be that old chick in the class that already sucks, but I don't want to go to med school anywhere else I don't want to be away from home"
"Like I told you years ago, its not the med school that makes a doctor great, you can totally go to Drews and kick ass and become a surgeon still, if that's what you want to do"
"And what about the baby, am I meant to become a surgeon at the same time as being a single mother"
"Why not, if anyone can do it you can. Your parents will be there to help. My parents will be there to help. And of course ill be there to help out and Timmy too. Even Aria when she gets back... your not alone in this Cal"
"I dunno. I just don't know if its possible"
"Of course it is and if its still something you want to do then you should totally go for it. What's the worst that can happen. You decide its not working and you either defer a few more years till the rugrat is a bit older or you drop out and find a new dream job"
"Always the voice of reason"
"Of course, what else would you expect from me? I know its not going to be easy having a new born and studying at med school but you can totally do it and like I said I can help you with your studies and I'll always be up for baby duty"
"You say that now till you have a screaming baby that stinks of pooh wailing at you"
"Cal I've worked in a children's hospital, I've been puked on, cleaned up shitty bums, soothed babies that were detoxing from drugs and so much worse. I've got your back on this, I pinky promise" Arizona said holding out her pinky and smiling when Callie took it with her own.
"What would I do without you?" Callie smiled softly before a look darkened her face.
"Hey where did you just go?" Arizona asked confused.
"I just thought about where I ended up without you" Callie admitted sadly.
"Well I'm sticking to you like glue from now on so you don't need to worry about that. Listen id better go and get ready for my shift. Are you going to be ok?" Arizona asked seriously.
"Yeah I'm going to go get some food in me, sign those forms and think about Drews"
"Sounds like a good plan, maybe write a pro's and cons list and see if that helps you make up your mind" Arizona said as she rose from her seat and patted Callie softly on the shoulder. "Have a good day ok?"
"Kick ass at the hospital and tell Mark I said hey"
"I always kick ass and I will tell him. See you tomorrow?"
"i'll be here" Callie forced a smile onto her face. Once Arizona was out of sight she rose from her chair gingerly, still a little sore, and made her way inside to where her mother was sat now typing away on the laptop.
"I'm going to make a bacon sandwich, can I fix you one?" Callie asked after looking in the fridge to ensure there was some bacon.
"Sure Mija that would be lovely, do you need a hand?" Lucia asked looking up from her laptop.
"No I can manage" The brunette smiled at her mother before getting to work on breakfast. It was a bit of a struggle with one hand in a cast but around twenty minutes later she placed two plates on the table and dumped down into one of the chairs exhausted.
"So what's your plans for today?" Lucia asked as she started eating her sandwich.
"I have some forms to sign to change my name back to Torres and then I was thinking I could do some research about Drews and going back"
"Are you ready to go back dear?"
"I really don't know but I want to look into it I mean... how am I supposed to study to become a surgeon with a newborn baby?"
"Easy, I'll take some more time off and your father can take a step back from work. I'm sure Dan and Barb will be happy to help out where we can't. I also think that Drews have a childcare facility for when the baby is a little older. Am I to take from this conversation that you're planning to keep the baby?"
"I'm almost certain I will, the more I think about it the more my mind is made up but I guess it will all depend on how I feel when the baby is born. I mean if I look at the baby and all I see is him I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep it... him or her I mean"
"I think when the time comes you will know the right decision to make Mija"
"Yeah your right but I want to plan for both eventualities either way once this one is born I'm going to need to take some time off to recover even if it's just from the birth"
"Well Drews seem to be quite understanding about your situation from what Arizona has said, I'm sure they will be understanding to your needs if you do decide to go back. Your happy not going away to med school aren't you?"
"Oh god no, I don't want to go anywhere else right now and whilst Drews isn't the best med school there is, its my best option at the moment"
"Well I say go for it, what's the worst that can happen?"
"Arizona said the same thing"
"I thought I heard her voice"
"Yeah she popped over to steal my coffee and give me a pep talk then she had to go get ready for her shift"
"You two never change, you've got a good friend in that one"
"Dont I know it"
"You know she used to call us weekly to see if there was any updates on you and to fill us in on her life. What ever happened to that Naomi girl?"
"They broke up. They didn't want to do long distance and Arizona wanted to come home and Naomi wanted to go elsewhere so that was that. They are still friends though, she's messaged a few times asking after me"
"She was a nice girl, Arizona brought her home once about six months ago for the week, I think that's the only time she has been home in three years and not spent every second looking for you"
"I can't believe she did that, she should have been having fun and living her life not fretting about me"
"She loves you Mija... you know I always wondered if you two would end up together what with Arizona being gay and you two being so close"
"Were just friends mama"
"I know dear I'm just saying... we always expected you to come home one day and tell us that you'd fallen in love with the girl next door"
"Your crazy" Callie deflected.
"Maybe"
After lunch was finished, Callie set about finding the paperwork and signing it in the various different places and collaborating copies of her ID. She also had forms to fill out for a new passport, new drivers licence and various other things like her bank details.
Once sorted she took her dads laptop into the back garden and began doing her research on Drews, taking Arizona's advice she wrote up a pro's and cons list before deciding to just ring the med school and seek out some advice. She found out that they did in fact have a creche where they would take students babies from three months old till 3 years old. She was also informed that she could pick up where she left off or if she decided to she could start from scratch.
With all of her research done she closed the laptop and decided to just bask in the sun for a bit longer. It had been years since she felt the sunshine on her face without it being through a barred window and it felt heavenly. She couldn't get enough of being in the outdoors.