Three weeks later saw the girls go on many dates, so far Lucia was the only person who knew about them. The two women going out didn't seem out of the ordinary to anyone however, the girls had grown up being attached to each other so they just assumed they had reverted back to their friendship and neither woman corrected them.
Arizona had been true to her word, she never pressured Callie into anything and always treated her like a princess. Although after some of their kisses she was left feeling... frustrated, she was coping ok and was committed to taking her time and letting Callie call the shots.
Callie was nearing her due date, infact she had only two weeks left to go until little Miss Torres would make an appearance, hopefully. She really hoped the pregnancy wouldn't go overdue. Although she had loved the experience of carrying a child, she was well and truly over being fat, slow and cumbersome.
True to her word, and with Arizona and Carlos' help, the day after they had returned to the house they had called around several contractors and had selected on who would remove all the crap from the house and complete the repair work. All furniture and Earls belongings had been donated to a charity which supported people in domestic violence situations, a final fuck you to Earl. He would be furious if he found out.
Callie had pawned her wedding ring and donated the money to charity, she had nothing left of Earl in her life now apart from the scars on her body and the baby in her womb and that was just the way she liked it.
The house had finally been finished and was on the market for less than three days before Callie accepted an offer at five thousand less than asking price, she didn't care she just wanted rid of the house and the demons it held. It had been bought by a young family with two toddler twins and she couldn't help but wish them more luck in the house than she had ever had.
Callie was making leaps and bounds in all areas of her life. With Arizona's 'help' she was excelling at school, she had been making top marks in all assignments and practicals despite her condition and despite the advice of Addison to go on maternity leave, she was still attending some lectures, mainly the important ones, and otherwise she was getting notes from her new friends.
The lecturers had read her file and in understanding had set up a web cam at the back of the class that recorded the lectures for her so she could still partake without even having to travel to and from med school. Drew's might not have been her first choice... hell it wasn't even her tenth choice, but they had been remarkable with her after her return and despite the dull monotone lectures they had gone out of their way for her and she couldn't be more grateful.
Today however, was a day Arizona had been waiting for, for a long long time. Tonight she was having dinner with her parents and Tim and Claire and was going to announce her relationship with Callie. Callie was nervous as hell, expecting that Barb and Dan wouldn't find her good enough for their little girl, not when she was heavily pregnant and had as much baggage as she had, but Arizona was adamant that her family would be thrilled for them.
Arizona found herself sat around the table, her mothers peach cobbler in their bowls almost finished as the family laughed and joked about trivial things. Callie was sat at her side, opposite her was Tim and Claire and at either ends of the table sat Daniel and Barbara.
Arizona cleared her throat to gain everybody's attention and when all eyes were on her she smiled widely.
"Guys, there's something I want to tell you"
"Your leaving the hospital and retraining to be a vet like your smarter brother?" Tim joked and shut up when Arizona glared at him.
"Actually its something Callie and I want to tell you" Arizona continued, she glanced at her girlfriend who was looking as pale as she was and grabbed her hand on top of the table supportively. "We have been seeing each other for a few weeks now and have decided to make it official, Callie is my girlfriend"
"Oh my god! I have been waiting for this day since you were seven!" Barbara cheered as she rushed from her seat to envelope both girls in a hug, something that at one point would have made Callie flinch or run for the hills but now she took it in her stride.
"Fantastic news" Daniel grinned as he rose and patted Arizona on her shoulders.
"Finally!" Tim grinned at his sister and best friend. "Do you know how torturous it was watching you two tip toe around each other all this time"
"Shut it Timothy" Arizona laughed.
"Oh girls I'm so thrilled for you both" Barbara grinned as she released the girls and kissed their heads in turn. "Does this mean that Callie will finally be officially a member of the family?"
"Mom! It's way too soon for wedding talk" Arizona screeched, her face turning bright red.
"But one day, yes?" Barbara continued.
"One day I will marry her Barbara, but I still have a long road ahead of me before I'm ready to be married again" Callie finally found her voice.
"Oh of course dear. Oh I'm so excited for you both" Barbara pulled both women into a hug again much to the amusement of everyone.
"Mom let her breathe, don't squish the baby" Arizona playfully jibed.
"She's fine" Callie grinned back at her girlfriend. She had never had this with Earl, his family looked at her with distaste and distain but Arizona's family had welcomed her no questions asked, no doubts and nothing but love. Was this what her future looked like. The woman of her dreams, two supportive families, a village for her daughter to grow up in. If this was what her future looked like, she couldn't wait to live it, she felt happier than she had ever felt before and she couldn't escape the feeling of elation.
Once the festivities were over at the Robbins household, the two women made their way to the Torres household. Although Lucia knew and had been keeping tabs on the progression of their relationship, they wanted to announce it officially to all three Torres members. They had sat them down in the kitchen and explained that they had been seeing each other for a few weeks now and that they had decided to make things official. Aria was over the moon, asking if that meant Arizona would be another big sister to her to which Arizona replied that she always had been. Lucia had the same reaction to Barbara as she hugged and kissed the girls repeatedly telling them how happy she was for them.
"Papi?" Callie asked realising that her father hadn't spoken a word.
"Arizona... I have watched you grow from a little girl into a remarkable woman, When Calliope went missing you held us all together and did so much to find her and bring her back to us, and for that I can never repay you. But let me make just one thing perfectly clear right here and right now..." Arizona was expecting to be thrown out of the house. If Carlos didn't approve then it would make it nigh on impossible for them to be together, this could be a deal breaker for them and her heart sunk and it obviously showed on her face. "if you ever hurt my little girl like he did, I will kill you myself, do I make myself clear?"
"I couldn't... I would never. I love Calliope, Carlos. She is my whole world, she always has been. I promise to you right now I will never do anything to hurt or disrespect her. You can trust me with her heart" Arizona swallowed thickly as she tried to fight the tears forming in her eyes.
"I trust you, I don't think there is anyone I would trust with her more than you, I just wanted to be perfectly clear. You don't ever lay your hands on her, you don't ever yell at her no matter what she has done wrong and you never, ever do the things that, that animal did to her"
"Oh god no, we haven't even... I mean, Carlos I would never push Calliope to do anything she wasn't a hundred percent consensual about. We haven't... you know... she's not ready and I'm willing to wait till she is"
"Arizona stop rambling" Callie groaned.
"Thats good to know. In that case Arizona, welcome to the family" Carlos smiled softly as Arizona's tense shoulders loosened.
"You know you give one hell of a father of the girlfriend speech, I was practically pooping my pants!" Arizona teased after she saw the sparkle return to Carlos' eyes.
"When you have a daughter who has gone through hell and back, you will say and do anything to ensure they never have to experience that again, Aria's prospective partner, man or woman, will get the same lecture" Carlos winked.
-oOo-
"That wasn't so bad" Callie admitted once they were alone in the garden.
"See I told you they wouldn't have a bad reaction" Arizona played.
"Yeah yeah... always the know it all" Callie joked.
"you know it" Arizona smiled as she leaned in and kissed Callie tenderly.
"Mmm I've missed that" Callie smiled into the kiss.
"Me too" Arizona said as she leaned back slightly and placed a solitary kiss on Callie's nose. "How are you feeling now?"
"Good. Now that the nerves have gone and everyone seemed to be so accepting of it I feel really good"
"Thats good babe"
"I like you calling me that"
"What babe?"
"Babe, sweetheart, sweetie, darling... I like it all"
"I will remember that for the future then"
"Do you like pet names?" Callie asked curiously.
"I do... but that doesn't mean you need to call me them if it makes you uncomfortable"
"I never really called Earl anything other than darling, it made him feel like I was a fifties housewife"
"Do you want me to stop calling you darling? I don't want to trigger you"
"I like it when you say it, its comforting"
"Well ok then, darling" Arizona smiled cheekily.
"Your such a smooth talker" Callie laughed heartedly.
"I could die happy just listening to the sound of your laughter" Arizona admitted lovingly.
"Please don't die, I kinda like having you around... I want you around for a long time"
"You do?"
"I do, I really do... I was scared and nervous at first. The thought of being tied to anyone petrified me but honestly now.. I can see the future you described myself... the house, the kids, maybe a dog? I want that with you"
"I want it with you too, your amazing you know. And so beautiful especially when your pregnant. You have this glow about you"
"I don't feel beautiful I feel huge"
"Your eight and a half months pregnant, of course you feel huge. But I assure you, your stunning"
"Your such a charmer"
"I try"