"Okay Sofia, I have to go now. I love you! Can I talk to your Mom now?"
"Sure Momma, Love you too" as she passed the phone over to her other Mother.
"Hey Callie, I need to get Sofia for 4 or 5 days…." Before Arizona could explain or say any more Callie interrupted her "What!? No Arizona. She has school and I already made plans for us for the weekend."
"But Callie, you don't understand…" Callie interrupted again. "I do understand, you miss her but she is never going to adjust to New York if you keep pulling her back."
"Callie, that's not what this is, I…" "
"No Arizona. I know you won custody but you allowed me to take her and you can't just pull her out of school whenever you feel like it. It is different here. She will get behind and I am not going to let you…" Arizona interrupted Callie this time "If you will let me explain…"
"There is nothing to explain, you need to plan better. We can't be expected to just drop everything for you. You need to….."
At this point Arizona had lost her temper. "Okay Callie I get it, the next time one of my parents decides to have a fatal heart attack and die, I will have them contact you to make sure it's convenient for you first!" At that she threw her phone against the wall in the attendings lounge and it shattered and broke into several pieces. She could tell it broken beyond repair. "Great!" She exclaimed, she knew she didn't have time for this. She had to get a flight to DC and go home and pack, she still had to talk to Bailey about rescheduling her surgeries and finding coverage for her service. At that point she broke down. She sat down in a chair and started crying.
After a few minutes, Arizona could hear voices coming her way and she tried to compose herself when in walked Maggie and Amelia. "Robbins? What happened?" Amelia asked. Arizona replied "I was in surgery and I kept getting calls from Walter Reed hospital. The Colonel," she paused "he uh had a massive heart attack and…" she shook her head. Maggie looked confused at Amelia who whispered "Her Dad." Amelia hugged her and Maggie set about picking up all the broken pieces of the phone. "What do you need?" Amelia asked. Maggie chuckled "A new phone" holding it up. This caused all three to laugh. "I have to go talk to Bailey." Arizona said as she stood up. Amelia said "I will have an intern go pick you up a new phone. I will page you." They went their separate ways. Arizona to Bailey's office and Amelia to find an intern.
Meanwhile Callie realized what Arizona had said and that the line went dead. She immediately called Arizona back and there was no answer. She hung up and tried again and again and again. She knew she had screwed up and not just with this conversation. She screwed up by moving to New York. Her relationship with Penny didn't last a month and Sofia was having a hard time adjusting. She didn't like her new school and she hated being away from Arizona. Callie had planned a weekend of fun with her and that is why she was hesitant to let Arizona have Sofia. She was trying to make up her mistakes to her daughter and then the realization hit that she needed to do the same with Arizona.
Callie knocked on the door and looked down at Sofia awaiting anxiously for the door to open. She looked around and not much had changed since she had been here last, maybe a new coat of paint? The door opened catching her attention "Callie? Oh Sofia! Look at you! You have a grown a foot since I last saw you" she embraced the little one "I have missed you so much. Come in, come in." As she backed away to give them room to enter. "Callie…" she embraced her "Thank you for coming." "Of course" Callie replied "I am so sorry" Barbara shook her head and wrung her hands "Arizona isn't here yet, I am not sure what time her flight gets in. Come in, let's go into the kitchen, I just put a pot of coffee on."
They sat in the kitchen making small talk and listening to Sofia talk about the movie she watched on the plane when the back door opened and in walked Arizona. The older blonde embraced her daughter and they both cried for a few moments. It was hard to watch the grief overcome the two women. Sofia ran to hug them both and Arizona grabbed the little girl in a big hug. "Oh Sofia, I am so happy to see you." Barbara said "Arizona, you should have called, your Uncle Bill would have picked you up at the airport." Arizona replied "I broke my phone, I have a replacement but I just don't know how to set it up. I didn't have time to get them to set it up for me." Callie stepped in "I can set it up for you." Arizona looked at Callie for the first time she she walked in "Thanks, it's all in my carry on bag."
Barbara wiped her eyes and said "Well, speaking of luggage, let's get all this taken upstairs. Come on Sofia, you will stay in Tim's room, Callie you can have the guest room." Callie started to say "Oh, I actually have reservations." Barbara interrupted "Nonsense, you will stay here." Arizona inserted "Mom!" and Barbara shushed her "Arizona, don't be rude." Arizona pulled her aside "Mom! She has a girlfriend. Stop!" Barbara waived her off "She's family and family doesn't stay in a hotel." Callie looked awkwardly towards Arizona and followed Barbara upstairs along with Sofia. Arizona sighed and carried her luggage up the stairs to her old room. After making sure everyone was settled Barbara made her way back downstairs to start dinner. Arizona was getting her things unpacked and decided she needed to take a shower to wash away the grime from her flight. There was a knock on her door "Come in" she looked up to see Callie in the doorway "Oh, I uh, came to get your phone?" Arizona replied "Right, okay" and she pulled the new phone out of the bag from the store along with her broken phone and handed them both to Callie who just stared at the broken phone. Arizona said "I was just going to take a shower" "Of course, I will just take this downstairs and get started."
Callie walked back downstairs and could hear Barbara and Sofia talking. "So Momma didn't grow up in this house?" Sofia asked. Barbara replied "Well, we moved all over but when your Momma was thirteen and your Uncle Tim was fourteen, the Colonel decided that they needed a place to lay roots. So we bought this place and then we the Colonel had to move for his job, we stayed here." Sofia looked confused "What does lay roots mean?" Barbara explained " It means settling down and having a place that is home, where you know people and are comfortable." Sofia sighed "I had roots in Seattle." Barbara hugged her "You still do." Barbara proceeded to take out one of the many casseroles that the other military wives had sent over.
Callie sat down and proceeded to set up Arizona's new phone. This actually wasn't the first time she had done this for Arizona. She knew Arizona didn't change any of her Passwords as she didn't like messing with that kind of thing. She just wanted it work and became frustrated when an app logged her out or asked for her to sign back in. Once she was finished with the set up, text messages started come in. Callie didn't open any but she could read who they were from. It made her happy that Arizona had a support system in Seattle. While the phone was updating, Callie turned her attention to her daughter and former Mother in law. Sofia was listening to everything that her Grandmother was saying as she explained what she was doing while she prepared dinner. Callie heard a noise behind her and turned to see Arizona coming down the stairs. Arizona froze at the bottom of the steps, mainly in disbelief that Callie and Sofia were there. After their call earlier, she did not expect this. Callie stood and took a step forward. "Um, this phone has face recognition and that's all that's left to set it up. You got one with all the bells and whistles."
Arizona replied "Well, Amelia had an intern pick it up." Callie nodded, she knew Arizona would have just picked one by color.
Dinner was quiet as it was all the adults listening to Sofia talk about anything and everything. Callie offered to clean up so Arizona could spend some time with Sofia by getting the little one ready for bed. Barbara said "Arizona, we have to be on base at 9:00 to discuss planning the service. I think I am going to go to bed." Barbara said good night to all and left Callie in the kitchen, she was just finishing up when Arizona came back down "Sofia is waiting for you to finish tucking her in." Callie nodded and made her way to Sofia. Arizona sighed and made her way into the Colonel's office. She poured herself a bourbon and sat down behind the desk. She looked around and noticed the Colonel's dress uniform hanging on the back of the door, ready for him to be dressed for his service. She picked up a framed picture off of the desk. It was of her and Tim when they first moved to this house. There was a tire swing swinging from the tree in the backyard. Arizona was sitting in it while Tim stood on it and they were both laughing. The swing was no longer there. A storm had knocked down part of the tree and they had to have it removed. She remembered it like it was yesterday as the Colonel had brought home 5 young marines who had helped take down the fallen tree in exchange for a home cooked meal. Tim followed them around and held onto every word they said. It was then that he decided he would one day become one of them.
Callie silently watched Arizona staring at a picture and wiping away her tears as they fell. She stepped forward "Arizona…" the blonde jumped and wiped away the remaining tears. She looked up at Callie with a questioning look. Callie continued to walk in the room. "Arizona….you don't have to keep all your emotions in, it's okay to have feelings. You don't have to be in control all the time."
Arizona taken aback at what Callie was saying, she let out a chuckle "Oh but I do. Because when I don't, bad things happen, I lose my myself, I lose my family so I will keep it in if you don't mind."
Callie replied "The Colonel would understand that you need to grieve."
Arizona whispered "No, I don't think so. He was disappointed in me. I was a disappointment. I was not a good man in a storm and he never got over that. I appreciate you bringing Sofia, you don't have to feel obligated to stay. I understand. I uh, think I'm going to go to bed now. Good night Callie." Arizona started to walk away but Callie blocked her. "Do you believe that? Do you honestly think that it is all your fault?"
Arizona sighed "It was my actions that caused it Callie. I should really get to bed, I have to be up early tomorrow and Teddy is coming in tomorrow." Arizona turned to leave and Callie said "It wasn't all on you Arizona." Arizona paused in her steps before continuing on.
The next morning Sofia was whining as she wanted to go with Barbara and Arizona "Sofia, I know you want to go with us, but I need you to stay here with your Mom and be our greeter. There are going to be a lot of people coming here today. I need you to keep track of who comes and if they bring food, what they bring, especially if Mrs. Williams brings anything." Barbara scolded "Oh Arizona" and Arizona replied "What? She has 12 cats and I don't want to bite into a casserole and get a hair ball." Barbara just shook her head and looked at Callie and Sofia and said "Mrs. Williams is a lovely lady" she winked and whispered "Arizona is probably right though". Causing Sofia to giggle.
All of the arrangements had already been made but Arizona and Barbara were just finalizing everything and taking the Colonels uniform for him to be placed in. Arizona didn't remember doing all of this when Tim died. Mainly because she was in shock. It didn't take long and in the meantime she received a text from Teddy that she was in town but Owen had decided to come as well and they were meeting up with someone they served with and would see Arizona the following day at the service. When Arizona and Barbara made it back home, Barbara decided to lay down for a bit. Arizona could think of nothing but why Callie was there. She decided she needed a distraction and suggested they go shopping. Sofia was all for it and they spent the afternoon walking around the Mall. "Arizona, she really doesn't need a new dress." Callie said and Arizona replied "Probably not, but she wants one and I am going to get it for her, and then we will go to the bookstore and pick up a few books." As she squeezed Sofia's hand who smiled at Arizona and Callie knew better than to argue.
Later they stopped at an ice cream shop and Arizona started to explain to Sofia all the things that happened at a military funeral. Sofia had never been to a funeral and Arizona answered her questions. Callie watched Arizona interact with Sofia and felt overwhelmed with guilt for separating them. Sofia told Arizona " This means you are now a member of the dead dads club." Callie and Arizona both looked at each other confused "What are you talking about Sofia?" Arizona asked and Sofia replied "Cristina told me and Zola about it. She said there is a club. The Dead Dads Club. And you can't be in it until you're in it. You can try to understand. But until you feel that loss, you don't really understand and now you are a member too." Arizona teared up and hugged her little girl. "I guess I am."
The next day they arrived at the ceremony and it was packed even though they arrived a little early. Callie almost chuckled at the whole military idea that if you weren't early you were late. It seemed that this entire crowd of people followed that philosophy. Barbara made her way through the crowd of people with Arizona, Sofia and Callie following. There were rows reserved for family and right behind that sat Teddy, Owen and Bailey. Callie was unsure if she should sit with the family or in the row behind them when Arizona grabbed her hand and pulled her in to sit next to her.
Several times during the ceremony Arizona bent down to whisper to Sofia to tell her what was going on. She didn't want the little one to be scared when they did the gun salute. They watched as two young Marines folded the flag that draped over the casket while taps was played. They handed the folded flag to Barbara while one of them said "On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Marine Corps and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service." Arizona turned into Callie and broke down. It was then that Callie remembered when Arizona told her about the death of her brother and saying that all they got was a flag. She wrapped her arms around Arizona and held her tight. After a while Arizona pulled back "Sorry about that." She said as she wiped her eyes. "Don't be" Callie replied. Everyone started moving forward to pay their respects. Once it had cleared out Arizona turned around to her friends and invited them back to the house.
Barbara and some of her garden club were in the kitchen all hovering over Sofia who was basking in the attention while Arizona and her friends were in the back garden around the fire pit. Arizona and Callie had brought out drinks and food. Bailey said "Half the hospital wanted to be here for you Arizona but we couldn't let them all come, so I am here on their behalf." She reached for a cookie and paused "Robbins, is this safe to eat?" Arizona looked confused before realizing what Bailey was referring to and laughed "Yes Bailey, these are not Lesbian Gratitude cookies." This caused Teddy and Callie to look at each other confused "What are Lesbian Gratitude cookies?" Bailey replied "Ask the husband and wife detectives there, it started long before the cookies." Teddy and Callie looked at Owen and Arizona and Teddy finally said "Okay someone needs to explain."
Arizona laughed and said "Well it started with my patient and her wife, who later became Owen's patient. She was in an accident because she had gotten sick while driving because she had been taking chemotherapy treatments for a recent diagnosis of breast cancer."
Owen stepped in and said "None of the scans I performed showed any signs of cancer."
Callie said "We'll, it could have been mild and treated with the chemo, right?" Owen said "That's what we thought at first, but her doctor wouldn't release her medical records and this guy was not a member of the American Cancer Society." Arizona piped in saying "Plus, he had 5 stars on Yelp." Teddy said "Yeah, that's suspicious, people go on Yelp to complain." Arizona smirked at Owen "Told you."
Owen shook his head and said "So Arizona and I decided we were going to confront this Doctor Hanson in person. Only this one" he pointed at Arizona "made an appointment as a patient and I was supposed to be her husband." Arizona said "Well, I figured we would get more information from him if he didn't know we were doctors."
"So we were in the exam room and this doctor was performing an ultrasound on my breasts." Callie interrupted "Wait, wait.. you mean Owen was in there with you? While you were being examined?" Arizona nodded and Callie smacked Owen on the arm shocking everyone. Arizona said "Don't worry Callie he was on the other side of the room." Owen said "Well, until he found the lesion on your left breast, then I moved over closer to you." Callie freaked out "What!? Why didn't you tell me?" And just as soon as she started mumbling in Spanish, Arizona interrupted "Callie… it wasn't real, he was faking the ultrasounds, April checked me out. I am good." Teddy and Bailey shared a look at Callie's reaction and Teddy said "So what does all of this have to do with cookies?" Arizona said "Oh Yeah, well since this doctor was faking the ultrasounds to charge for the chemo drugs, Owen destroyed him and the lesbians made me cookies. Lesbian Gratitude Cookies all because she didn't have cancer." Bailey piped in "You are forgetting the most important part. Robbins here shared these cookies with most of my surgical staff and proceeded to get them all high." Callie looked shocked and confused "What?" And Arizona continued "Well, because of the chemo and being sick all the time, she had Cannabis peanut butter and they inadvertently used that to make the cookies. We all kind of got high." Teddy laughed "I am sorry I missed that, I bet little Miss Sunshine here was super chirpy" "Actually, it made me really…. Insightful." Arizona sighed thinking about how she mixed up Carina and Callie in her thoughts. Bailey noticed the change and said "Robbins, you take all the time you need. We can handle things for now" and Arizona responded "Actually, I have already talked it over with Mom and she is insisting that I go back at the end of the week. She said the Colonel wouldn't want me to miss any more work than I have to."
They all continued to talk and catch up with each other for a while when Bailey said she had to leave as she had an early flight, Owen and Teddy left soon after. They put Sofia down for the night and Callie asked "Arizona, can we talk?" Arizona sighed and said "I am sorry for leaning on you during the ceremony, I know I overstepped and it won't happen again." Callie interrupted her "No, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I mean I don't care about all that, I am glad that I could be there for you." Arizona said "Well, it won't happen again, Penny would not be comfortable with it, I'm sure." Callie interrupted again "No, that's not what I wanted to discuss…Arizona, I have missed so much. Sitting here talking to our friends, I realized that I should have been there for you. I mean….My God, you thought you had cancer and I was across the country. Why was I across the country?" She said that last part more to herself but Arizona answered "Well your girlfriend is across the country and you moved to be with her." Callie looked up "We broke up. Penny and I, we broke up and I have been struggling and Sofia hates New York and I made a huge mistake. I hope you can forgive me." She looked sheepishly at Arizona who looked stunned. "I'm not quite sure what I am supposed to say to that." Callie replied "You don't have to say anything, I asked Bailey for my job back, I want to move back to Seattle. It's what Sofia needs, it's what you need and hell, it's what I need." She watched Arizona carefully before she added "I would like it if when everything gets settled if we can start spending time together, and not just as a family but us as in me and you." There was a quiet in the room that was so loud it hurt Callie's ears, she looked Arizona in the eyes and smiled as the blonde nodded yes before turning and going up to her room.
The end