Callie lay with her head on Arizona's chest, caressing her small baby bump. She still had the lingering fear, but the excitement was bubbling within as well now and she was choosing to focus on that. Despite the fear, she couldn't wipe the smile from her face and she most certainly couldn't keep her hands off her wife's stomach. Rubbing her hand over the innie belly button, she wondered how long it would be until that too was protruding. It surprised her how thrilled she was to see Arizona pregnant and what a turn on she found it to be. She was excited to watch her belly grow while she carried Sofia but didn't remember it being anything like this. She only remembered feeling fat and unattractive. Now though, she finally understood Arizona's fascination with her body as it changed throughout her pregnancy.
Hearing her wife's deep even breathing and soft snores, she decided to have her conversation with her triplets…God…they were having three babies…she decided to have her conversation silently in her head so she didn't wake Arizona before the alarm since they were up a little later than they anticipated making love and talking. Closing her eyes, she tried to picture the placement of the three teeny tiny humans in her wife's womb and thought of what she wanted to say while protectively splaying her hand over protruding abdomen. She smiled brightly and thought, Hi babies, thank you for letting us hear your sweet little heartbeats yesterday. You made both of your mommies cry…in a good way. Tears can be happy or sad and our tears were very happy. Oh and I guess we need to welcome our newest member. Well, you've always been there, mommies just didn't know. I've been thinking about calling you Gremlins, they're these adorable little creatures, they kind of look like teddy bears, but if you get them wet, they multiply. That's what you guys are reminding me of. But as much as we love all three of you and can't wait to see you, can we um…can we stop here? No more surprises okay? Let's keep the membership down. I guess you heard all the fuss yesterday, mama passed out, that means I fell asleep out of surprise. It's okay that you are all in there, we just weren't expecting it and well, it's a little scary. There's a lot of grown up stuff I won't go into, just know that we love all three of you and your big sister is so excited to meet you. She will be the best big sister ever. Her name is Sofia and I am sure she will be talking to you soon. Then there's Tobin, he's your furry brother. He doesn't look like us. Whenever you feel super warm, that's him lying on mommy's belly. Grandma says dogs can tell you are in there, so he is protecting you too. Lots of people out here love you and want to keep you safe in there, so if you three can just hang out in there and chill, you know, don't give us any scares and be nice to mommy, we would really appreciate it and we promise to take really good care of you on the inside and the outside. Mama loves you three little gremlins. Be good today. She kissed Arizona's stomach and smiled when she felt a hand run through her hair and wondered how she kept getting caught.
Arizona's eyes fluttered open and she didn't even bother looking for her wife, she could feel her head on her chest, but what woke her up was the warmth she felt radiating from within her stomach. It felt like that feeling she got in her chest, like her heart flipped or got warm all over whenever Callie did something that made her fall just a little more in love with her, only in her stomach. It wasn't that tingling feeling she'd felt previously and she could swear she could hear the mumbling of a conversation going on in her head but it was too far away for her to understand or hear what was being said and chalked it up to waking from her dream. Running her fingers through Callie's hair, she didn't feel her breath on her stomach or hear her whispers like she normally did and knew she was finished with her chat when she placed a gentle kiss on her stomach.
Understanding this was an indication her wife was finished, she husked out, "Good morning gorgeous. Did you and the trips have a good chat?" Callie scooted up the bed, blushed slightly, and responded, "We did. I decided I was going to call them gremlins until we have names for them." Arizona slapped her arm and scolded, "You will not, those things are creepy and slimy and ugly." Callie rolled over, kissed the scowl off her wife's face and clarified, "Not the ones you feed after midnight. The cute squishy ones that multiply when you get them wet." Arizona chuckled, shrugged and answered, "Well, when you put it like that, it kind of fits. I hope you asked them to stop multiplying." Callie nodded and replied, "That was the first item on the agenda after welcoming our newest member."
Arizona pulled Callie down so her upper body covered hers, captured her lips in a long sensual kiss and accused, "You're ridiculous and so damn cute I can't stand it." Callie brushed a stray curl behind Arizona's ear and declared, "If you're nice, we might invite you into our club." The blonde chuckled and asked, "Oh, you might invite me to be a part of the club you have created with the three tiny humans I just happen to be housing inside my body?" Callie smirked, nodded, and defended, "Well, we did just discuss keeping membership down." Arizona's eyes twinkled as she bit back her laughter and proclaimed, "If I'm not mistaken, that kind of makes me a founding member." Enjoying the silly conversation, Callie smiled her mega-watt smile, tilted her head, narrowed her eyes at her wife, shimmied down the bed and asked, "What do you think? Should mommy be allowed in the club?" At that exact moment, Arizona's tummy rumbled from hunger, making both women laugh and Callie concluded, "I guess it's unanimous, if you don't eat, they don't eat, so you're in." Arizona laughed, shoved Callie off of her, rolled to her side of the bed to get her prosthetic and demanded, "The gremlins need food mama bear, so you get to make breakfast while I shower." Callie smiled at her new title and responded, "Your wish is my command." Then added, "Primarily because you can't handle the smell of raw or cooking eggs, yet you want them all the time." Arizona shrugged and suggested, "You might want to add that to your agenda for tomorrow's meeting." Callie chuckled, swatted Arizona's bare ass, then threw some clothes on to make breakfast.
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When Callie reached the kitchen, she found Addison standing near the patio door looking out into the backyard drinking her coffee. Walking straight to the coffee pot, Callie poured herself a cup and said, "Bless you." The fetal surgeon smirked, brought her cup to her lips and asked, "Late night?" Callie nodded, rubbed the back of her head and apologized, "Uh, sorry we just kind of left you to your own devices, it's the first night she hasn't been sick in a week and we uh…" Addison cut her off and finished, "Wanted to celebrate the big news?" Callie beamed at her friend and replied, "Yeah, that too." Addie refilled her cup and shared, "That book you bought Sofia was adorable, did you have it personalized for her?" The brunette went to the refrigerator and started on the eggs before her wife made it out of the shower and replied, "Yeah, there's this kiosk in the mall that replaces your child's name in classic stories or has some original stories you can add their names to. We found that one that was a play on Goldilocks and couldn't resist." Addie started cutting the fruit Callie took out of the refrigerator and informed her, "Sofia loved it and asked a million questions, all of which I referred back to her moms." Callie laughed then offered a droll, "Thanks."
Arizona stepped into the dining room but stayed on the other side of the table far away from the eggs and asked, "What are you thanking her for and why in that tone?" Callie went to the refrigerator, took out the fresh pitcher of horchata she made over the weekend, poured Arizona a glass and carried it over to her, then answered, "Apparently Sof has a lot of questions about the babies and Addie told her to ask us." Arizona furrowed her brow, looked at their friend and asked, "What kind of questions?" Just then, Sofia ran into the dining room, looked at Callie, then at Arizona and asked, "Who's their daddy?" Arizona almost dropped her glass, Callie cracked an egg right onto the countertop, and Addison answered, "That kind of question." Both women stared at one another with absolute terror written all over their faces. It never occurred to them that they would have to explain this to their daughter at this age, nor how complicated it would be.
Addison gave Callie a nudge and nodded in the direction of Sofia and Arizona, mouthed, "I got this," then started cleaning up her friend's mess. Callie walked over to her family, picked up her daughter and settled her in one arm, then took Arizona's hand with the other, leading her back down the hall. When they reached their bedroom, Callie and Arizona sat on the bed with Sofia between them. Arizona started, "To make a baby, you have to have a certain part from a mommy and a certain part from a daddy and when you put those two parts together, a teeny tiny baby forms and the mommy carries it in her tummy for almost a whole year until it has all of its fingers and toes and ears and eyes and its cute little nose." She bopped her daughter on the nose making her giggle then Sofia asked, "But you're two mommies, how did the babies get in there?" She rubbed Arizona's belly and looked to her parents for an answer. Callie replied, "When two mommies want to have a baby, they use what is called a donor. That means a man donates the part we need to make a baby. Most mommies don't know the donor." Sofia nodded and asked, "Like when we moved and took some of our things to that shelter? We don't know who gets it next and they don't know who gave it to them?" Arizona ran her finger's through dark brown curls and responded, "Very much like that. Yes." Sofia nodded and tried to understand what her parents were telling her.
Looking down at their hands, she played with both of their wedding rings and asked, "So you decided to have a baby and you asked a man to donate the part you needed?" Both women took a deep breath and shook their heads no. Sofia looked at each of her moms and asked, "Then what…how did you get a baby?" Arizona turned her hand so she was now holding Sofia's and explained, "We didn't have to ask anyone because we already had someone we know who donated the parts we needed a long long time ago. We just didn't know until we started unpacking our boxes." Sofia looked up to Callie who was nodding and thought she might know but needed to ask, "Who donated the parts you needed? Who is their daddy?" Callie got down on her knees in front of her daughter, took her other hand and wrapped her hand around Arizona's which was holding Sofia's and explained, "Sof baby, after you were born, your daddy thought me and mommy might want more babies some day and he donated the parts we needed and put them in a special storage bank. He just never told us about it before the plane crash. When mommy moved out here and we unpacked a box aunt Mer found from his office, we found the papers telling us what he did. We all wanted you to have the same parents, so your daddy is their daddy."
Sofia looked at both of her mothers who looked just a little bit worried about how she would feel about that and asked, "So we have the same mommies and the same daddy?" Both women nodded and Sofia started to smile and asked, "They might look like me?" Callie chuckled and answered, "They might have hair like yours, or those lines you get by your eyes like mommy talked about. But no matter how they look, what color of hair or eyes they have, they will be your sisters or brothers or both and I'm sure they will act like you because little brothers and sisters love to act like their big sisters." Sofia smiled her million dollar smile and asked, "Really?" Both Callie and Arizona nodded their heads and the little girl looked at her mommy's belly and asked, "Can I see them? Can I tell them who I am?" Arizona smiled and chirped, "You sure can big girl." She scooted back on the bed, Callie got up off the floor and lay down behind her and Sofia lay down in front of her facing her, then Arizona lifted up her shirt revealing her baby bump.
Sofia's eyes grew wide and she scooted down on the bed, carefully reached out and gently placed her hand on her mommy's belly. Putting her face as close as she could, she spoke softly, "Hi babies. I'm Sofia, your big sister. I'm 8 years old but I'll be turning 9 right after you are born so you get to come to my birthday party. I don't think you'll be old enough to eat cake yet, but maybe when I turn 10. I can't wait to meet you. I don't know what you are yet, but I promise I will love you and play with you and I will protect you and I will be your good man in the storm. That's what we do. Me, mommy, and grandpa, we will show you how to be a good man in a storm, even if you're a girl cuz girls can do whatever boys can do and sometimes we do it better. Our mommies are doctors and our daddy was one too. I don't know a lot about him, but all of our aunts and uncles and mommies do and they tell funny stories about him. I should go eat breakfast now because I have school. I will talk to you later though, I promise. I love you babies. Be good for mommy." She kissed her mommy's belly then ran into the kitchen, leaving both of her mothers on the bed blubbering like the babies they were about to welcome into their lives. Callie sniffled, wiped her eyes and declared, "Well hell, she just put my talks with them to shame." Arizona turned in her wife's arms, rested her head on her chest and added, "That was just so sweet. She's going to be the best big sister." Callie kissed the top of her head and agreed, "She really is."
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Since Addison didn't have to be at the center to consult on Arizona's patient for another 2 hours, she volunteered to take Sofia to school in Arizona's car so the two women could get to work a little earlier. They decided to tell Lorraine and Maria first thing so they didn't find out through rumors or speculation. Getting off the exit for the medical park, Callie warned, "I forgot to tell you, before I left to pick up Addie yesterday, the two stooges stormed my office and blocked my door. They refused to let me leave until I told them what was going on. They said I'd been acting strange, not telling Lorraine why I needed the afternoon off, running out of the office Friday, Maria even accused me of cheating on you and I think she was about to threaten my life before I cut her off." Arizona gasped and her jaw dropped in shock. Shaking her head, she asked, "What did you tell them?" Callie pulled into the lot and answered, "I told them they were right, something was going on, you were aware of it, we were both healthy, I'm not cheating, and I would tell them as soon as I could, but it was time sensitive and I was sorry I was keeping it from them." Arizona reached out, rubbed Callie's leg, and offered, "Thank you for waiting. I know it was hard keeping it from them." Callie nodded and responded, "It was, but I understand why we needed to wait and I was okay with that. What you needed was far more important to me." When they parked, Arizona leaned over, brushed their lips together and declared, "Let's go put them out of their misery." Callie laughed and directed, "Stay behind me until we get into my office. Arizona looked down and realized even with the bigger clothes it was noticeable, agreed, took her wife's hand and let her lead her into the building.
As soon as they walked into the lobby, Lorraine bumped Maria's arm to get her attention and both women smiled when they saw the couple holding hands and smiling. Callie and Arizona looked at each other and smirked, then Callie asked, "Can you two come into my office please?" Puzzled by their boss' tone, they quickly followed and waited for Callie to let them into her office. Arizona immediately went to sit behind the desk and Callie indicated for her friends to sit down on the sofa. Lorraine took a deep breath and asked, "Is everything okay?" Callie looked at Arizona who nodded her head and started, "Yesterday when you came in here worried about me…well, us, I told you there was indeed something going on and I would tell you as soon as I could." Maria looked at both women, saw the twinkle in their eyes, then looked closer at the blonde, narrowed her eyes, tilted her head and gasped, "Oh my God!" Both Callie and Arizona let their dazzling smiles bloom across their faces then Lorraine realized what Maria saw and tears sprang to her eyes. Finally, Arizona stood up and both women squealed in delight. Lorraine ran to Arizona and pulled her into her arms as tears streamed down her cheeks and Maria, eyes welling with tears she refused to allow to fall, walked straight up to Callie and punched her in the arm as hard as she could and exclaimed, "You asshole! You had us scared to death!" She then pulled her friend into her arms for a hug and whispered, "I'm so happy for you."
Lorraine extended her hand toward Arizona's stomach then pulled it back quickly and apologized, "I'm sorry, I know pregnant women hate that when everyone touches them." Arizona took the older woman's hand, placed it on her little bump and declared, "You aren't just anyone, you are family." Lorraine started crying again and pulled Arizona into a tight hug. Pulling back, Lorraine asked, "So I don't understand, you look to be twelve weeks but that would mean…" Arizona laughed and corrected, "Seven weeks and two days." Maria furrowed her brows and asked, "Then how are you showing so early…oh wow, are you having twins?" She walked up to Arizona, looked at her in awe, held her hand up, waited for the nod, then put her hand on her stomach and Callie answered, "Not twins." Both of her friends looked at her and she explained, "I left in such a hurry Friday because Arizona got sick at work, she tends to have evening sickness. Yesterday when we woke up, her baby belly was just there, which explains my joker smile as you called it. I took the afternoon off because I had to pick Addie up from the airport for our 8 week ultrasound, our first ultrasound in which we found out we are having triplets." Maria jumped back as if she were going to catch it and said, "Holy shit!" Lorraine just teared up again and whispered, "Oh my goodness, triplets."
Maria looked at her friend and asked, "I bet you were pretty surprised, did you freak out? Have a panic attack?" Arizona bit back her smile waiting to see if her wife was going to tell her friends the truth and noticed the Torres glare aimed directly at her. Callie rubbed the back of her neck and started, "So I'm standing there and we hear this whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, and Arizona has tears in her eyes, and Max says something about that explaining the HCG levels, Addison agrees, and I'm like, can someone please explain this to the fetally challenged, then Nicole tells us all to shut up and listen because now she's some sort of Jedi because she lost her sight, and we hear the noise again and it's almost like an echo and Arizona squeezes my hand and says, 'there's three' and the lights go fuzzy and everything sounds like its underwater and the last thing I heard was Arizona screaming my name." Maria howled with laughter and yelled, "The badass fainted?" Lorraine had tears of a different kind running down her face and ran into the bathroom hollering, "Oh my god, I'm gonna pee." This only made Maria laugh harder and Arizona had to turn her chair around to keep herself from laughing, not at her wife, but at their friends' reactions.
Callie knew she wasn't going to live this down anytime soon and allowed her friends to have their little laugh. She chuckled a little herself when Lorraine came out of the bathroom fanning herself and Maria nearly knocked her down trying to get into the bathroom before she had an accident. Deciding to focus on her wife, Callie saw the chair was turned around and scolded, "Arizona Robbins-Torres, if you are over there laughing at me…" Arizona turned around, still trying to hold it in and responded, "I'm trying really hard not to laugh at them." Maria came out of the bathroom wiping her eyes and Callie huffed, "Alright, that's enough. Yes, I heard the miracle of my children's heartbeats for the first time and I passed out." Maria shook her head and argued, "No, you pictured three miniature Arizonas, got scared shitless and passed out." Arizona stood up, put her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "Hey!" Maria laughed and replied, "Yeah, you're not nearly as intimidating now that I know you won't kick my ass." Arizona muttered, "Not until February 21st, just keep racking that shit up Santos. I can carry a grudge." Callie laughed, walked over and kissed her wife and whispered, "Can I tell them the rest?" Arizona smiled and nodded, "Of course."
They all sat down, this time Arizona and Callie took the sofa and Maria and Lorraine took the chairs. Callie started with, "When we started cleaning out the pool house for Kim's party, we found a box Meredith gave to Arizona right before she moved. Her husband packed up Mark's office and kept the box for us and they just never found the right time to give it to us. Arizona tossed it in the moving truck as soon as Mer gave it to her and we just had everything put in the pool house. Anyway, we came across a letter and he explained that he wanted us to have the option of giving Sofia genetic siblings if we wanted to and donated sperm in our names. He never said anything to us and this letter sat in a box for six years." Maria cut her off and asked, "Those babies are Mark's?" Arizona nodded and replied, "Yes, they are."
Both women continued to recount the story right up to their conversation with Sofia that morning and Lorraine just stared at her friends for a moment and asked sincerely, "How are you, really?" The two women looked at one another, linked hands and Callie answered, "We're happy, excited, scared, and doing our best not to let our past fears and trauma sneak in." Maria nodded and offered, "We know this is going to be tough, that part, but just carrying multiples will be tough. If you need us, if you need a break from Sof, if you need someone to cook or clean, or do the shopping, or whatever, you call us, we're family. When you've picked out which room you want for the nursery, you let me know and Marco and Miguel will paint it. We've got you. You're not alone." She got up, walked to Arizona, knelt in front of her, took her hand, looked her in the eye, and proclaimed, "You need to ask Arizona, it's not a burden, it's not an inconvenience, it's an honor, it's a privilege to do anything we can to assure you bring these three beautiful babies into the world and all four of you are healthy throughout the pregnancy. So you ask." Arizona swallowed the lump in her throat, nodded her head and knew she would cry if she said anything. Lorraine stood up, tapped her friend on the shoulder and stated, "Let's get back to work and let these two be before rounds." Maria nodded, stood up and both women congratulated their friends again.
Once the door closed, Arizona let the tears fall and Callie pulled her into her arms. She was extremely touched by her normally gruff friend's words. Maria and Arizona had formed their own bond, but since her surgery, it had only grown stronger and they could be real with each other and not take offense to it. Arizona lifted her head and admitted, I didn't know announcing I was pregnant would be so emotional. Callie kissed the top of her head and warned, "Wait until we tell our friends in Seattle." Arizona's eyes grew wide and Callie realized what she just said and quickly pulled her phone out. Arizona commanded, "Call Mer first, she will freak the fuck out if you don't tell her first." Callie nodded and fumbled the phone in her hand hoping Addie hadn't told Amelia yet.
The phone barely rang when Meredith picked up announcing, "You know you don't have to come to attendings meetings anymore right?" Both women sighed in relief that their friend wasn't yelling at them and Callie asked, "You're in a meeting?" Meredith replied, "It's just about to start, we're waiting for a couple of new guys, but everyone else is here." Arizona spoke up and asked, "Can we facetime you?" Meredith furrowed her brow and asked, "Yeah, do I need to leave the room?" Both women snapped, "NO!" The general surgeon replied, "Ohh kaaay. Hey everybody, I have Callie and Arizona on the line, they want to facetime with us." Meredith switched to facetime and held the phone above her head so their two former colleagues could see everyone. Jackson waved and said, "Congratulations, sorry I missed your wedding." Owen nodded and agreed, "Me too." Bailey being Bailey asked, "Why are you high-jacking my meeting?" Both women smiled and Callie looked to Arizona then lowered the phone to the blonde's abdomen and stated, "We were wondering if you could send us three Grey-Sloan onesies." It took everyone a second to realize what they were looking at, then Meredith jumped up and asked "Three? Triplets? We're having three baby Robbins-Torres'?" Arizona laughed and confirmed, "We are."
Callie lifted the phone back up and Arizona laughed when she saw all of their friends dancing and high fiving. Meredith asked, "So did you do IUI, IVF?" Callie answered, "IUI." Arizona looked to Callie, smirked, and fulfilled the last of Mark's wishes as she revealed, "Mer, that box you brought to me, it had a letter in it and it turns out after our argument, Mark started making donations in case we wanted to have more children, but he never said anything to us." Richard piped in and asked, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Alex barked out, "Ha, Robbins got knocked up by Sloan in the afterlife." The room went so silent you could hear a pin drop and everyone just stared at the two women on the small device and Arizona confirmed, "Yes, I am carrying Mark's children and it was his last wish that everyone knew the gold star lesbian got knocked up by the man whore even if he had to die to make it happen." They all stared at her for a minute then Meredith started laughing and proclaimed, "God I love this place." Callie laughed then too and everyone congratulated them and Meredith promised to call later as they all said goodbye.
Callie disconnected the call and declared, "That could have been a disaster." Arizona nodded and replied, "I know, I'm already going to be in trouble with April, but I'll call her this evening." Callie grimaced and answered, "Oh I forgot she's not at the hospital anymore." Arizona agreed, "I forgot too until I didn't see her in the meeting." Callie let out a heavy sigh and admitted, "I don't want to let you go." Arizona wrapped her arms around Callie's neck and ran her fingers through the soft stubble on the sides of her head and murmured, "I don't want to leave." Callie leaned down and nibbled on Arizona's top lip and moaned when Arizona sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. Deepening the kiss, both women tilted their heads and felt the tingle when their tongues slid against one another. Breaking the kiss, slightly out of breath, Arizona whispered, "I'd better go. I have an appointment with Erin in a few minutes and I need to get ready." Callie laughed and pondered, "Oh to be a fly on the wall in that room." Arizona got an evil grin on her face and replied, "I'm definitely not going to go easy on her." Callie smiled and reminded her, "Just remember she's about to pop and you don't need her going into labor in the exam room." Arizona laughed and left to start her day.
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Arizona stood in the bathroom of her office turning in every direction trying to determine how noticeable her tiny baby bump actually was. When she was naked or in just her underwear, it was extremely obvious. For some reason, the outfit she had on today seemed to emphasize it as well. She planned to change into scrubs after this first appointment was over with because it didn't appear to be as noticeable and she wanted to focus on her patients' pregnancies and not her own. Hearing her alarm go off indicating that it was time for her appointment, she sent a text to her fellow with some rather specific but odd instructions, earning her a question mark in return. She responded with 'please' in all caps and hoped her student would do as she was asked. The blonde quickly put on her white coat, buttoned it up and went to the lobby to welcome her patient and her husband. She couldn't remember the last time she was so excited about an appointment with a patient.
As soon as she saw them, she smiled brightly and greeted, "Larry, Erin, it's so good to see you." Larry stood up and gave the fetal surgeon a hug and replied, "It's good to see you too." Erin smiled at her doctor and struggled to stand up, needing assistance from both Arizona and Larry. Finally standing, she hugged Arizona as best she could, tucked her arm in the crook of Arizona's elbow and commanded, "Tell me all about the honeymoon, I'm sure we've got time before I waddle to the exam room." Arizona shook her head and gave her patient the highlights of her amazing time in Mexico. Once they made it to the room, Arizona went to the bed and stepped on a pedal which lowered it so Erin could easily sit down. Larry sat in the chair next to her, taking her hand immediately.
The fetal surgeon helped her lie back and explained, "I'm not going to make you change. I do want to check on my girls and see how they're doing." She began palpating the very firm abdomen and just by touch, could tell the babies were in position. They were just starting week 34 and while she could wait for Erin's water to break, she was still concerned about the stress natural childbirth would cause the babies. Pulling Erin's shirt back down, she skimmed through her chart, and asked, "Tell me how you've been feeling." Erin laughed and asked, "Other than the fact that I feel like three melons are using my internal organs as trampolines?" Arizona nodded, looked at the most recent scans and already knew she wasn't letting her patient leave today. She tried to hide her smile because this was her absolute favorite part, bringing the babies she saved into the world happy and healthy. She looked up and asked, "I know you're uncomfortable, but have you had any pain, spotting, discharge? Any Braxton-Hicks contractions other than what you came in for while I was gone?" Erin shook her head and responded, "I've had a couple more episodes of those, I've just been so exhausted, everything takes so much effort." Arizona made a note in the chart and got up to pull out the ultrasound machine.
She started to explain to Erin what she wanted to do when she heard a knock on the door. Looking up she called out, "Just one moment Dr. Yost." Leaning over, she grabbed a pair of gloves, handed them to Erin and asked, "Can you put these on please?" Erin scrunched up her face in confusion and asked, "Am I examining myself now? Honestly, I don't think I could reach." Arizona snorted shook her head and responded, "Nope, just a precaution." Erin looked at Larry and asked, "Doesn't he need some?" Arizona pursed her lips and responded, "Nope, just you." Erin sighed, shrugged, and put on the blue latex gloves. When Arizona saw her patient did as she asked, she opened the door and smiled at her fellow who also did as she asked. Leaning in, she whispered, "What you are about to hear is true, but it is also not common knowledge right now, understood?" The confused fellow nodded her head and entered the room. Arizona turned and said, "Erin, Larry, I'm sure you remember Dr. Yost. She assisted me with the procedure on your beautiful girls." Erin looked at the young surgeon who was wearing a pink lead x-ray apron then looked at her own gloved hands and asked Arizona, "Is everything okay with the girls? You would tell me if something was wrong wouldn't you?" Arizona didn't want to worry her patient but she deserved a little bit of crap for this.
Arizona looked at Dr. Yost, winked and then looked to Erin and explained, "It's a requirement that all women of childbearing age wear protection around you because of your witchcraft and curses." Erin laughed, yanked the gloves off and retorted "Very funny, you know that voodoo crap doesn't work." Arizona unbuttoned her white coat, stood sideways and asked Erin, "How do you explain this then?" Larry muttered, "Holy shit." Erin looked down at her hands with fear written all over her face, let out a panicked squeak, hid her hands under her legs, and stammered, "It's…you…how…when…triplets…you weren't…YOU'RE A LESBIAN!" Arizona tilted her head and replied, "Yet here we are, 7 weeks and 3 days pregnant and due in February which would be 32 weeks. I believe it was 7 weeks and 2 days ago that you aimed your little triplet curse in my direction." The fellow had no idea what was going on, but she was thoroughly enjoying this side of her normally rigid attending and chief. Arizona continued, "I wonder which headline would read better, Senator Gavin places voodoo curse on surgeon who saved her triplets or Senator Gavin gets lesbian doctor pregnant." Larry was almost in tears; he was laughing so hard at both Arizona's words and his wife's face. He had no idea what was going on with the surgeon but his wife deserved a taste of her own medicine.
Finally Erin asked, "You're really having triplets?" Arizona smiled brightly and responded, "We are. We used intrauterine insemination and it worked the first time." Erin chuckled and responded, "It worked extremely well." Arizona shook her head and claimed, "Oh no, I'm still blaming you even though I was pregnant before you cursed me and I just didn't know it yet." Erin shook her head then smiled brightly, clapped her hands and exclaimed, "OOOOOHHH we can be triplet besties! I can tell you what to expect and I have this awesome doc…oh, yeah that one won't work, but oh I'm so excited!" Arizona chuckled, she hadn't thought about that particular piece of this weird coincidence, but it would be nice to have someone who could relate to her and it might just help ease some of her fears. Arizona nodded to Dr. Yost and directed, "You can take the apron off now." The young woman shook her head and replied, "With all due respect Dr. Robbins-Torres, I think I'd like to leave it on." Both women started laughing and Arizona answered, "I don't blame you."
She sat on her stool and pulled the ultrasound over and directed, "Dr. Yost, Senator Gavin is entering week 34. Please explain what we are looking at once the images appear." The young fellow watched the monitor dutifully then pointed out, "All three babies are in birthing position, their heads are down, though they haven't yet entered the birthing canal. If you still plan to have a C-Section, which is recommended to prevent undue stress on the babies' hearts, it needs to be scheduled to take place within the next 12 to 18 hours before the first baby enters the canal." Arizona smiled at the fellow, nodded and replied, "Thank you Dr. Yost, that is absolutely correct." Erin looked at Arizona and asked, "Today? Like, I could be a mother by this time tomorrow?" Arizona could see both Erin and Larry were starting to panic, rolled the stool over, took both of their hands and explained, "Larry, Erin, you have been parents since your first positive test. You were parents since the day I met you. You came to me out of concern for your children. Sometimes I wonder whether its harder to be a parent while you are carrying the child or after they are born. While you are carrying them, they are inside of you and you can do your best to protect them but you question every move you make and everything you put into your body. After they are born, it's like your heart is walking around outside of your body. I get it, it's scary, but you will be great parents. Of course I will be there, Dr. Yost will be there, and my maternal fetal surgeon and close friend Dr. Addison Montgomery, the doctor who brought Sofia into the world is in town and I will ask her to be there as well. We will schedule you for this evening after an appointment I have to get to."
The couple looked at one another and Erin began to ramble, "We weren't counting on this. We don't have my bag, the car seats, the clothes they are going to go home in, we haven't called anyone, we don't, I can't…" Larry took Erin's hand and soothed, "Arizona and Dr. Yost can get you checked in and up to your room while I go home and get your bag. I'll make the calls we need to make and I'll put the car seats in the car, though we won't need those for a little while, remember?" Erin took a deep breath and nodded her head then looked to Arizona and asked, "We will be okay right?" Arizona smiled and replied, "You are in the best hands possible and as soon as I get those babies out, I'll be sitting in the ICU waiting for you to wake up." Arizona lifted her hand, wiggled three fingers at her patient, and laughed when Erin grabbed her hand and yelled, "Put that shit away! It's not even funny anymore." Arizona laughed even harder when her fellow slowly backed toward the door.
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"Stop! Stop! I can barely see to drive." Callie proclaimed through her laughter as Arizona told her about her appointment with Erin and Larry earlier in the day. She wiped her eyes and admitted, "Man, I would have loved to be in the room when you did that." Arizona laughed and recalled, "Oh the best part was when I told her I'd be waiting in the ICU waiting for her to wake up, then raised my hand and wiggled three fingers at her. She grabbed my hand and yelled, 'put that shit away'." Callie howled with laughter and said, "I love you so much." Arizona caressed her leg and replied, "I love you too." Looking out the window, Arizona shared, "She did say something that kind of made me feel better though." Callie covered her hand with hers and asked, "What's that?" Arizona looked at her wife and explained, "After the initial shock was over, she got so excited and said we could be triplet besties and it just kind of made me feel a little lighter. Like there was someone who knew what I was about to go through and I could ask her questions. I know our pregnancies won't be exactly the same, but even after these little ones are born, I think it will help to have that other person to empathize with." Callie smiled and realized it made her feel a little lighter too. It helped knowing that Arizona could have that person who would know at least some of what she was feeling. Of course Erin didn't have to deal with the prosthetic, but the pregnancy itself, being able to share that with someone, it made her feel better that Arizona would have another outlet. Arizona looked at her and asked, "Why are you smiling like that?" Callie shrugged and answered, "I don't know, it kind of made me feel lighter too. Just the idea that you'll have someone who really gets it and can relate to what you're feeling. I mean, I can to an extent, but not really. I just, I love that you'll have that extra support." Arizona leaned over and kissed her cheek then whispered, "Thank you."
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When the two women walked into the lobby, the doctor was there waiting for them, took one look at Arizona, smiled and declared, "I guess I don't have to ask why you needed to see me." She recalled all of Arizona's fears and her need to be reassured and prepared and wondered if now that they were actually expecting, if those fears had grown. Both women shook their heads and followed the older woman to her office. When they sat down, Stella watched their body language and was happy to see they were still physically close, Cal kept touching Arizona whenever she could, sat right next to her so they were touching, Arizona leaned into her body and they both linked hands. These were all indicators to her that they weren't here because they were having marital problems, so they must be having concerns related to the pregnancy. Taking a deep breath she smiled and commented, "So I see the insemination worked." Both women nodded their heads and though they were smiling, it wasn't the type of smile or happiness she expected. Bringing her hands to her face, she linked her fingers in front of her lips and asked, "Are we not happy about this?" Her patients looked at one another, smiled a little brighter and nodded their heads.
Callie squeezed Arizona's hand and began, "We are, we are very happy. When we found out she was pregnant, we were ecstatic. Then a few days later, we found out it was twins and we saw it as a special gift and were excited, though we knew there may be a few more complications. Yesterday was the first ultrasound and well…there…" Stella furrowed her brow and asked, "Is everything okay? Are the babies growing and healthy?" Arizona laughed and answered, "They are perfectly healthy, though they seem to be growing in number as well." Stella arched her brow in question and Arizona explained, "There's three of them." The older doctor just stared at her patients for a moment and asked, "Triplets?" Both women nodded and laughed a little at their therapist's facial expression.
Stella now realized why her patients felt the need to see her right away and asked, "I am assuming your fears are also growing and outweighing the happiness you should be feeling." Both women nodded and Arizona clarified, "At times. It sneaks up on us. We are extremely excited about growing our family and sharing the love we have with more children and Sofia is thrilled, but when we have a moment to think about it, all of those fears, the old trauma sneaks in." The doctor nodded her head, she assumed as much and asked, "What are your biggest fears?" Both women looked at one another, they didn't want to voice them, they were afraid once they were out there, they couldn't take them back and this broke them so many times before.
Finally, Callie cleared her throat and started, "For me, I think…well, I didn't know this until the whole process began, but when we were in the car accident while I was pregnant with Sofia, there came a point where Arizona had to choose between me and the baby and she chose Sofia because she knew if I did happen to make it, I would be devasted over the loss of my baby and it would destroy me. I don't…I couldn't…I don't think I could make the same choice and I am scared to death that I would have to. I mean, what if a truck comes out of nowhere? What if she has complications and it's her or the babies? Then there's the fear that they'll need surgery or they'll need…something and Arizona's fear of that will come to life all over again. What if they need her, what if they're sick, what if…" Stella knew Callie would what if herself until she was a rambling mess and always cut her off with the opposite, "What if a truck didn't come out of nowhere? What if you didn't have to make that choice? What if Arizona had a perfect pregnancy and three healthy babies are born and you and Arizona got to hold them and look at their beautiful faces as soon as they were born? What if you spent the entire pregnancy worried that something would go wrong and didn't enjoy the fact that they were going right?" Callie stopped, took a deep breath and thought about her therapist's words, let them stew while she moved on to Arizona.
The blonde was still thinking about those words as well when the doctor asked her, "Arizona what are your biggest fears?" Arizona took a deep breath and answered quietly, "When I had my miscarriage before, I felt like that was the final straw for me, like my body was revolting against me and the universe had it out for me, it just refused me the opportunity to be happy. We fought a lot during that time. I couldn't deal with the loss. I thought Callie blamed me. I just…I can't go through that loss, I can't lose her again." She felt Callie take her hand and looked up at her watery eyes and Callie interjected, "When she first got pregnant, we were both even afraid to celebrate it, we didn't even talk about it and after…I was acting as if nothing happened, pushed her to try again. At that time, because it wasn't my body, I hadn't experienced the actual loss of it, we never made it real, I didn't allow myself to see it as a loss, to mourn the loss, we talked about that, you helped me see that. My reaction to that…it…that's one of the things that pushed Arizona and I further apart. That separation…that pushed…" Arizona took in a shaky breath and nodded; grateful Callie cut herself off. They both know what came after that, though neither wanted to say it. The psychiatrist knew that too, she knew deep down, what their actual fear was about but she wanted the two of them to see it for themselves and realize there was no need for that fear.
Looking at both women, she asked, "How is this pregnancy different from that one? Other than the fact there are three which we will come back to." Callie looked to her wife and felt it was important for her to answer this, for her to see for herself and to voice those thoughts. Arizona looked down at her hands and started, "Most importantly, I feel like we are in a better place and I feel like I can talk to my wife about anything and she will listen and try to understand. I also feel like I am in a better place physically and emotionally. My body is fully healed, stronger, able to take on something so demanding as a pregnancy. When I think back now, I remember saying, 'We've had such a hard year, it's time for something good', or something like that and I think…I think I was trying to fix things then, I was trying to use the baby to bridge the gap between us that both of us saw and neither of us acknowledged and when I miscarried, the gap only got bigger."
Callie sat back in her seat, rubbed her face with both hands and whispered, "Wow." Arizona looked at her wife and felt the fear that she said too much bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Stella could feel the tension start to build, though she didn't feel anger, only fear and asked, "Cal, does what Arizona just said upset you? How did it make you feel?" Callie shook her head and she answered, "It does and it doesn't, I'm not upset at Arizona, but it upsets me to realize that we did do that. The second time, when I brought it up, I mean I did want a baby, both times, we both did, I believe that now. But we were just getting good again then too and I think somewhere deep inside, I think I felt like a baby was what we needed to fix it. But when we gave our reasons for wanting a baby, I said they were cute and delicious and Arizona said she didn't want Sofia to grow up alone. Then when that fell apart, when we found out I couldn't carry and Arizona was too afraid her body would reject the baby again, we fell apart and I blamed her…I brought up the fight, the first one we had and threw it in her face and that was…that's where we ended."
Both women sat with tears streaming down their faces and the doctor realized while there was certainly fear regarding the pregnancy, her suspicions where correct and there was a stronger more prevalent fear that neither of them realized was the source of the angst they were feeling and the thought of the complications of carrying triplets only intensified that fear. Sitting back for a moment, Dr. Griffin thought about how she needed to frame her next question or statement to allow the women to see for themselves that which was so clear to her. Leaning forward once again, she asked, "What made you choose to try to have a baby this time?" Arizona and Callie looked at one another and the blonde started, "When I first got here, I was walking through the yard and this vision popped in my head of Sofia playing with this little baby and they looked so happy and the idea of having another baby with Callie, of growing our family made me happy." Callie nodded and recalled, "One day we had some friends over and Arizona was holding their son and looking at him the same way she used to look at our daughter whenever she rocked her to sleep and I remember thinking that could be our baby. After that, I just couldn't get the idea of having more children, sharing our love, growing our family out of my head.
Stella wrote something down and asked, "So neither of you thought, we just got back together, maybe this will bring us closer?" Arizona snorted and replied, "God no, I was scared to death to bring it up." Callie nodded in agreement and added, "I fought the images every time they popped into my head." The therapist tilted her head and asked, "Why?" Callie exhaled loudly, took Arizona's hand and replied, "We were afraid of ruining everything, scared it would break us." The older woman nodded and asked, "So why did you choose to do it?" Arizona replied, "When we found Mark's letter and both finally shared that we did indeed want another baby to share our love with, we decided we couldn't let our fears get in the way." The doctor nodded and asked, "What fears?" Callie furrowed her brow, she could swear they just told the therapist what their fears were, and answered impatiently, "The fear that this would break us, that we would lose each other." Stella nodded, smiled, and sat back in her chair staring at the two women.
Arizona and Callie looked at their doctor then at each other wondering what they missed. Finally, Dr. Griffin asked, "Cal, are you more afraid that there will be an accident or complication at birth or does your fear stem from the idea of losing Arizona?" Callie looked at her wife, but before she could answer, the doctor continued and asked, "Arizona, based upon your previous visit and what you shared today, I'm wondering the same thing, are you more afraid your body will reject the pregnancy and you will lose the babies, or are you more afraid that if God forbid something does happen, you and Cal won't make it through and you will lose her?" Seeing the understanding then the guilt dawn on their faces, Stella added, "It's okay to answer with the truth, that doesn't make you bad parents or mean that you are not thinking about the babies and their health as well. What it means is, based upon your past experiences, you are automatically jumping to the worst case scenario and focusing upon your past responses." She watched as both women sighed in relief and their shoulders visibly relaxed and understood she hit the nail on the head. Callie took Arizona's hand once again and admitted, "I'm just, I am so afraid to lose you, it's nearly eating me alive right now." Arizona nodded and replied, "Me too. I'm concerned about the babies too, but I just…I couldn't handle losing you again."
Dr. Griffin cleared her throat and asked, "Cal, do you feel like you have truly changed and grown in the past four years? Do you feel like your priorities are in order now? Do you think your reactions and responses to situations are more appropriate for the situation whatever it may be?" Callie nodded and smiled proudly as she looked at her wife and answered, "I do. I really feel like I have grown and I respond to things more maturely than I did before. I take time to listen and process and don't just go with my gut reaction anymore." Arizona nodded and Stella asked, "Arizona, do you see this? Do you agree with what Cal just said?" Arizona kissed her wife's cheek and replied, "That and so much more. She's a better listener, she's more confident in who she is, she's willing to compromise, and I feel like she wants to understand my point of view and hear what I am thinking and what I have to say." Callie smiled softly at her wife, happy to hear that her hard work paid off.
The therapist asked the blonde, "I know I wasn't your therapist, but I'd like to hear how you have changed or if you think you have changed in the past four years." Arizona nodded and answered, "When Calliope left, for me, that was my eye opener. She said something that day, she said she wanted me to love myself and I spent the next four years trying to figure out how to do that. How to become a person I could love and be proud of. While I was in therapy, I faced a lot of hard truths as well and I came to realize that I didn't need to become a whole different person. I actually made a list of the things I liked about who I used to be and was determined to allow those things to shine again. I also made a list of the person I wanted to become and worked hard at turning into that person. I believe that one of the hardest things I had to face was overcoming the stigma I placed upon myself about being disabled, as well as recognizing that I did, in fact, have PTSD. I also learned how to respond instead of react. I learned how to allow myself to act on my emotions rather than always think and process until I talked myself out of something that could have been amazing. I learned I needed to share my thoughts and feelings no matter how scary they were and in doing that, I learned to face my fears head on. Most importantly though, I learned to own my mistakes, to take responsibility for the things I did wrong and while I am still working on forgiving myself for those things, I recognized everything I blamed Callie for wasn't all her doing and I found forgiveness." Callie sat with tears in her eyes and kissed the back of her wife's hand.
The older woman sat back and asked Callie the same question, "Cal, do you see these changes in your wife?" Callie nodded emphatically and answered, "Most certainly. The one thing I would add is that she learned to embrace her differences, the challenges she faces on a daily basis and sees herself as a stronger person for persevering through them rather than resenting the fact that she has to live with them. She's overcome so much and done such amazing things, it's just…it's awe inspiring." Arizona leaned over and kissed her wife on the cheek and both women turned to look at their therapist.
Stella smiled and commented, "The Callie and Arizona you were 4 years ago couldn't say these things about themselves or each other. The Callie and Arizona you were 4 years ago couldn't even agree on a reason to have a child, let alone the right reason. But the thing you two don't seem to understand is you are not those people anymore. Your reactions don't have to be the same because I don't believe the outcome would be the same. Even with all of your fears, the fear of losing one another, you are clinging to each other, relying on each other and coming to me asking for help. I hate to tell you this, but you don't need my help. You need to remember the lessons you've learned from the past, but stop being afraid that it will catch up with you. I know you don't want to let down your guard, that's when things get past you, but that was the old Callie and Arizona. You are both in a better place physically and emotionally, together and as individuals. The undue stress is what will harm you and the babies. If you keep looking behind you, you will miss what is ahead of you."
Arizona looked at their therapist and shared, "It's so hard for me as a fetal surgeon not to think of everything that could go wrong. It's hard for me to feel a twinge and not think of 20 different things it could be." Stella laughed and replied, "When I was going through med school, a day didn't go by when somebody in our class didn't self-diagnose. At one point, I was a bi-polar, schizophrenic with homicidal tendencies who was suffering from agoraphobia. Apparently I was only going to kill people who came to me." Arizona and Callie both laughed and Stella continued, "How many times do your patients come to you and tell you what is wrong with them? They don't tell you their symptoms but their diagnosis?" Arizona rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Oh my gosh, all the damn time." The therapist nodded and replied, "Welcome to normalcy." It's normal to be afraid Arizona. It's more normal to be afraid of carrying multiples with a history of a miscarriage. These are the things you need to remember as a doctor. These are the things you need to be concerned with, are you eating right, are you gaining enough weight, are you gaining too much, can you still see your feet, then the fears you mentioned pertaining to your leg. That's enough on your plate. You and Cal need to focus on making sure you walk into that hospital on the due date. You let the doctors on your case worry about the big stuff if or when it happens. Don't add to the stress by borrowing trouble from your old selves. These people sitting in front of me now, I'm certain they can handle what life throws at them, but don't stand in the middle of the street and wait for that truck to come out of nowhere."
Callie finally heard what their therapist was saying, turned to face her wife, took her hands in hers and proclaimed, "I'm here, I am so in love with you and with these three little gremlins I can hardly think of anything else. I know with our history and my experience as a surgeon anything can happen. We've seen a lot of bad, but we've seen so many miracles honey and I believe this is one of those miracles. Not even 5 months ago we were living on opposite sides of the country barely speaking, so I choose to believe that this is our time, this is our miracle and I don't want to focus on the bad or the past or live in fear that something could happen." Arizona leaned forward, brushed their lips together and replied, "I believe this is our miracle too and I trust that our love will carry us through and in 24 weeks we will be losing our minds with four kids and a dog, putting our phones in the refrigerator, and keys in the microwave while wondering why we wanted more kids, knowing we wouldn't change a damn thing." Callie chuckled and pulled Arizona into her arms.
Dr. Griffin watched the two women and knew while she would probably see them again a few more times throughout the pregnancy, she really didn't need to. She just needed to be the one to aim them in the right direction. Clearing her throat she proclaimed, "While my son truly appreciates his education, I am pretty sure you two have to save up for diapers, lots and lots and LOTS of diapers." Both women laughed and Arizona sighed in relief, feeling so much better than she did when she first found out about the twins even. She watched as her wife hugged the woman who helped her grow so much and barely heard the whispered, "Thank you." Both women left the room and Stella stopped them and asked, "Do you want a standing appointment or are we going to stay on an as needed basis?" Callie looked to her wife to answer and Arizona shrugged and asked, "Can we stay as needed for now and see how these three behave?" The doctor smiled and nodded then replied, "Well then, I hope I don't see you for a while." Callie laughed and waved as they left the office.
When they got in the car, both women exhaled slowly, took each other's hand and graced each other with their amazing smiles. Callie's shoulders visibly slumped in relief and she commented, "That wasn't hard, but it was exhausting." Arizona nodded in agreement and admitted, "I guess it never occurred to me that we were less worried about the pregnancy than we were about losing each other." Callie nodded and replied, "Yeah, I didn't even catch that, though I guess we should have." Arizona leaned her head against the back of the seat, closed her eyes and asked, "How do you feel?" Callie thought for a minute and replied, "I truly feel better and for the first time don't have this lingering fear or doubt. I'm just…happy. I'm happy we're married, I'm happy you're pregnant, I'm happy it's triplets, and I'm happy Sof is happy." Arizona leaned over, kissed her cheek, and murmured, "Me too baby. Me too. I'm so happy and I choose to stay that way."
A/N: So all the important people know and are thrilled with the news. Next we get to see Erin's babies and continue to follow Arizona's pregnancy. Don't forget we have two more babies on the way as well.
As usual, everything is Shonda's but damn she could share the wealth.