I hope you all are reading these in the correct order. I know I've posted a lot.
Chapter 8
"Callie, you got a letter" Arizona said as she walked into the house with the mail.
"what is it?"
"not sure, but the return address says Franklin Publishing out of Minneapolis"
"what" Callie said ripping the letter out of Arizona's hand, as she ripped it open "how the hell did they get my book?"
"what?" Arizona asked confused
"my book, the one I've been working on, they want to publish it" Callie said looking at Arizona waving the letter in the air as she spoke then a thought popped into her head and she whispered "fucking Teddy"
"what does Teddy have to do with this?" Arizona asked confused
"she must have found it when she was staying here and sent it in" Callie said getting mad
"hey, don't get mad, I'm sure she was just trying to help. We all know how much you love to write and that having something published is a dream of yours"
"Arizona, my stuff isn't good enough to be published"
"apparently, they think so" Arizona said pointing to the letter Callie was still waving in the air "can I read it?"
"here" Callie said throwing it at Arizona, she stood there pacing back and forth while Arizona read the letter
"it sounds legit to me" she said looking up and catching Callie's eyes "hey don't be mad"
"how can I not be mad? How would you have reacted if someone would have sent a demo to a producer without you knowing"
"well" Arizona paused "I don't know?" she looked over the letter once more "I think you should call them and see what's up" Callie just shook her head, still feeling the anger inside of her after taking a deep breath "fine I'll call tomorrow, but you need to call your sister and ask her why she did it?"
"I'll leave that between you two" Arizona smiled "baby, you know what this means?"
"what?"
"that quite possibly both of our dreams have come true"
"mine already came true" Arizona gave her a confused look "the day I met you" Callie smiled wrapping her arms around Arizona's waist and pulling her in.
"you're so corny" Arizona said pressing her lips on Callie's "but I wouldn't change that for the world"
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Hey can you call me when you get time ~Ape
Why what's up? ~Ari
Just call me, I would have called but I didn't want to interrupt anything ?~Ape
I'll call in a bit ~Ari
Kk ~Ape
"we good here?" Arizona asked pointing to the table "April needs to talk to me"
"yup" Callie smiled, they were making plans for the party they were having for the people back home to celebrate with them
"I like this" Arizona said leaning over Callie's shoulder pointing at the magazine Callie had in front of her
"me too" Callie said kissing Arizona's cheek, as she watched Arizona leave the room.
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"ok what's up?" Arizona said into the phone
"I just got a call from the producers of The Voice"
"and?"
"they want you to be one of the judges next season"
"what?" Arizona exclaimed gaining Callie's attention from the kitchen
"they called me this morning, I told them I'd get back to them" Arizona could hear the smile in April's voice
"wow, considering when I was on there nobody turned around" Arizona laughed
"well you're big now, the producer said that Adam and Blake can't wait to meet you"
"do they realize that I was on there?" Arizona asked still laughing
"I don't think so" April joined in
"alright well let me talk to Callie about it see what she has to say, and I'll let you know at dinner tonight"
"right dinner tonight" April said in a tone that had Arizona wondering if she forgot about the dinner they had planned with Arizona's parents and Callie's dad
"did you forget?"
"no, no just been busy, we'll be there"
"ok see you then" Arizona said pressing the end button "wow"
"what?" Callie asked from the kitchen table
"the producer from The Voice called April this morning and they want me to be a judge for next season"
"really" Callie chuckled remembering how when Arizona went on the show no one turned around and now she's one of the top 100 selling artists in the world.
"yeah, how funny is that"
"are you going to do it?"
"I don't know what do you think" Arizona said looking at Callie, whose eyes shined with the sun coming in the window
"I think" Callie said standing up from the chair, walking over to Arizona and wrapping her arms around her "that you should do whatever you think is best"
"it's a decision both of us have to make"
"why?" Callie said pulling back looking directly into Arizona's eyes "it's your career not mine"
"but you, are my wife, any decision I make affects you too"
"ok, well go for it then, what's the worst that can happen? You get even bigger?"
"right" Arizona said nodding as she pulled Callie back in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "hey have you heard anything more from that publisher?"
"yeah, I have an appointment to meet with an editor next week"
"baby, how come you didn't tell me" Arizona said pulling back so she could look Callie in the eye
"they just called this morning and we got busy with party plans, I guess I just forgot" she said not looking Arizona in the eye, and shrugging
"I'm so happy for you" Arizona said kissing her again Callie just smiled her shy smile into Arizona's shoulder.
"I'm nervous though"
"why? You're a great writer"
"you've only read a few of my short stories"
"and they are amazing" Arizona said pulling back to look in Callie's eyes "you are amazing"
"if you say so" Callie smiled "I love you"
"I love you" Arizona said softly with a kiss
Xxxxxxxx
The limo pulled up outside the restaurant as Arizona got out she held her hand to help Callie out, then waited for Carlos. Who gave Arizona a smile, a smile Callie had given her on more than one occasions. Arizona smiled back, knowing she had found the right family to marry into. Taking Callie's hand, they headed towards the door.
"good evening Ms. Robbins" the hostess said
"it's Mrs. Torres-Robbins" Callie said in a hush tone that only Arizona heard as she giggled.
"someday everyone will get it right" she whispered as she smiled to the hostess
"I think she's checking you out" Callie whispered
"shh" Arizona said trying to hide the giggle
"how many will be joining you?"
"I'm not sure, I reserved the back room. I'm surprised my parents aren't already here" Arizona said looking around for the rest of her family as the door opened and she saw her mom walk in with a scour look on her face
"oh, good you waited" Barbara said walking up to the three of them
"mom" Arizona smiled "where's dad?"
"oh, he's parking the car, we almost got into like 5 accidents on the way here, I don't know why I let him drive everywhere he clearly got his license out of a cracker jack box" Barbara said taking a deep breath "I'm sorry hello Carlos, how have you been?"
"good" Carlos said reaching out his hand for Barbara to shake
"we're family now" Barbara said pulling him in for a hug "in this family we hug"
"oh" Carlos said not expecting the motion
"I think your mom has a crush on my dad" Callie whispered
"that's wrong on so many levels" Arizona said as they both let out a giggle "mom do you know where Teddy is?"
"no, she hasn't been home all week"
"hmm" Arizona said looking at Callie with a wink.
"the room is ready Ms. Robbins" the hostess said with a shy smile and blushing a bit.
"thank you" Arizona smiled as she nodded for everyone to follow
"I'll send the rest of your party back when they arrive"
"thank you"
"stop hitting on her" Callie said hitting Arizona's arm.
"I was just being nice" Arizona rolled her eyes "I wasn't hitting on her" Arizona placed a kiss on Callie's cheek as she pulled the chair out for her.
"sorry we're late" Teddy said walking into the room holding April's hand
"nothing out of the norm for you" Arizona smiled
"we had something we had to do before we got here"
"looks like it" Arizona said winking seeing the mark on April's neck
"yeah" Teddy said repeating Arizona's actions with Callie moments before
"you can tell they are sisters" Barbara smiled at how her daughters turned out "you taught them well, Daniel" she leaned over to give Daniel a kiss on the cheek as he smiled
"I just watched how dad treated you while growing up and put my own spin on it" Arizona smiled leaning over and putting her arm around Callie.
"and I love it" Callie smiled as the waiter came and took their drink orders, as the talk changed to the party talk Callie noticed Teddy and April were whispering to themselves and smiling. She shook it off remembering how her and Arizona were after they first got together. They had set it up for the party to be on May 21st in Barbara and Daniel's back yard which was big enough to have an entire carnival in. Callie was sure that the girls had a carnival party growing up. They had all the telltale signs of being spoiled but Arizona never showed it. Teddy on the other hand when you first meet her you'd think she thinks she's better than you, but once you got to know her, although she wasn't as humble as Arizona. Arizona knew she wasn't better than anyone. Shaking her head Callie brought herself back to the present with a smile. Arizona was hers, and wasn't going anywhere.
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"alright so we got the food set, how about the alcohol?" Arizona asked
"I called the bartender we normally use he said he'd get back to us" Daniel said with a smile as they were sitting around on the patio outside of their house a few days later
"alright" Arizona said looking at Callie "anything else?"
"music" Callie smiled knowing Arizona had taken care of that but it was a surprise
"that's taken care of" Arizona smiled that smile that always made Callie weak in the knees. "excuse me" Arizona said when she felt her phone start to vibrate, she stepped into the house for some privacy
"do you know what she has planned?" Callie asked
"no clue she hasn't mentioned it to me" Teddy said taking a drink
"hmm" Callie said looking in the house "wonder who is on the phone"
"not sure" Teddy said following Callie's gaze, but quickly turned seeing Arizona appear
"Teddy, do you know where April is?" Arizona asked concerned
"no she said she had to go take care of a few things, but that was hours ago, why" Teddy asked as Arizona shut the door and continued talking on the phone. "weird" Teddy said shaking her head looking at Callie "so are you wearing your dress?"
"I don't know what Arizona wants us to do. I would prefer not to wear it"
"I hate dressing up" Teddy said looking at her mother who used to make the girls wear dresses when they were younger
"I'd prefer both of you dressing up, or all of us dressing up" Barbara chimed in
"mom, she doesn't want to wear the dress" Teddy said trying to save her sister in law
"fine, but we all need to wear something nice, you know your sister will want to wear"
"fine, mom, how about Arizona and I go fine something nice matching"
"just like when you were younger" Barbara said with a giggle, she had always enjoyed the fact that the girls were so close in age, she treated them like they were twins.
"yeah, except it won't be a dress" Teddy laughed as she felt her phone vibrate with a text from April.
"you know when they were younger I used to dress them up in cute little matching dresses" Barbara said looking at Callie as she went on, Callie was only half listening, she was more concerned with the fact that Arizona was still inside on the phone. When the door finally opened, Arizona appeared with April. Both smiling, Callie was left wondering what was going on. Arizona walked over to Callie placing a kiss on her cheek. "how about a trip to LA next week?"
"we have our wedding party on Saturday" Callie said
"I know" Arizona smiled "I was talking Monday"
"hmm" Callie said mentally debating her work schedule "I'll have to see if I can get the time off work"
"if not then quit" Arizona said sitting down reaching for Callie's hand "besides, now that we are married you don't need to work. I make more than you do in one month when I sell one of my albums"
"which reminds me, you need to get back in and record" April said pulling out her boss card for a moment as Arizona gave her a look, she just smiled "I'm done"
"thanks for reminding me" Callie said softly as she got up "excuse me" and headed into the house
"dammit" Arizona said sitting back in her chair
"what'd you do?" Teddy asked in a tone that reminded Arizona of the movie Tommy Boy.
"I brought up money in front of people" Arizona said standing up "I'll be back" heading into the house after her wife. "Callie" she called once inside but got no answer until she heard sniffling coming from the living room. "hey" she said softly, standing in the doorway
"what?"
"what's wrong?"
"you know what's wrong" Callie said sniffling "I don't want to have this fight here"
"I don't want to fight" Arizona said walking over to Callie bending down so she was eye level with her "hey, I know money is a touchy subject with you and I didn't mean anything by it. All I meant was I want you by my side"
"did you have to say it in front of your family?"
"I'm sorry" Arizona said looking at the floor "I'm excited"
"and I'm excited for you, but you need to realize I have" Callie was cut off "I know you have a job, and you've worked very hard to get to where you are" Callie still didn't look at her, taking her thumb and moving her chin up so she was forced to look Arizona in the eye "Callie, I'm sorry"
"I know you are" she said sniffling again "there's something I haven't told you"
"what is it?" Arizona asked concerned
"Richard is selling to a large coffee chain" she said meeting Arizona's eyes "it doesn't matter I'll be out of a job soon anyway"
"I didn't know he was wanting to sell"
"neither did I" Callie said taking a deep breath "maybe it's for the best, I mean, do I really want to work at a coffee shop for the rest of my life"
"do you?" Arizona said looking Callie in the eye
"I love my job" Callie said feeling the tears sting her eyes again "but if he's selling" she was cut off by Arizona "what if we bought it?"
"I don't know, what do we know about running a coffee shop?"
"you've worked there for how long? You are the assistant manager after all" Callie finally smiled
"you'd do that for me?"
"yes" Arizona smiled at her wife "besides, I got my start there, can't let some big-name company come in and change everything" Callie smiled wrapping her arms around Arizona "let's go talk to Richard" Callie pulled back with a smile and kissed Arizona
"shouldn't we go tell your parents we're leaving?" Callie asked still wiping tears from her eyes.
"I'll do it. I'm sure you don't want anyone seeing you like this" Arizona said as Callie nodded and kissed her "I'll be back"
xxxxxx
"hey we're gonna head out, we can finish this later" Arizona said walking through the patio door.
"is everything alright?" Barbara asked concerned
"yes mom everything is fine, we just have something we have to deal with" she said walking up and giving her mother a hug "I'll call you later"
"ok honey so long as everything is ok"
"it is" Arizona smiled looking at April "and you, call me later I have something I need to discuss with you"
"ok" April smiled, as she watched Arizona close the patio door she looked at Teddy with a different smile on her face
"mom, dad, we have something we'd like to tell you, but you can't tell Arizona" Teddy said smiling.
"what is it honey?" Barbara asked concerned, there was so much going on with Arizona lately she sometimes forgot Teddy had a life too.
Looking at April who brought her hand above the table "as you know we disappeared last week not telling anyone where we were or what we were doing"
"yes" Barbara said looking at April's hand and exclaimed "you got engaged?"
Looking at each other they both said "we got married" as Teddy lifted her left hand to show her ring off
"married?" Barbara said not knowing what else to say as her eyes were wide "I didn't even know you were engaged"
"it just sort of happened" Teddy said looking at April
"how does this just sort of happen?" Barbara asked confused
"calm down Barbara" Daniel said trying to take control of the situation
"yeah mom, calm down it's ok"
"I know it's ok, I just don't understand why no one knew about this, and how it can just happen"
"Arizona and Callie did it" Teddy said
"Arizona and Callie are different"
"how are they different?" Teddy said getting irritated. She didn't know how her parents would react but she didn't think it'd be like this.
"well they"
"no mom, there isn't any difference between the love April and I have and the love Arizona and Callie have" Teddy said standing up. "and if you can't accept it then I'm done"
"Theodora, sit your ass back in that chair" her father demanded pointing to the chair "and listen to what your mother has to say"
Huffing loudly Teddy plopped back down in the chair "fine, speak"
"why are you such a pain" Barbara asked with a giggle "what I was meaning to say is, Arizona and Callie have been together, what seems like forever. Although I know you two have known each other for quite some time, I just didn't expect this" Barbara paused "I can see you two love each other a great deal, just as Arizona loves Callie, and I your father" she stopped looking at Daniel than at the two of them.
"so we're done fighting? Because I didn't tell you to cause a fight. I, we, were thinking you'd be happy for us"
"what your mother is trying to say is. We are happy for you, we just wish you would have said something, maybe have some family there?" Daniel said reaching for Teddy's hand "honey, we love you, and all we want is to see both of our girls happy"
"thank you, daddy" Teddy said finally feeling relief and sitting back in the chair
"your welcome kiddo" Daniel smiled
"you realize your sister is going to go through the roof"
"I know" Teddy said reaching for April's hand then looking down
"her two best friends run off and get married without letting anyone know" Barbara said shaking her head "how are you going to tell everyone?"
"we were hoping to wait until after this weekend. We don't want to take away from their moment" April said hoping Arizona wouldn't be too upset that they decided to elope and not tell anyone. After all she was the one who set them up.
"well just don't let her see the rings" Barbara said with a smile
"I know, that's why we've been keeping our distance lately" Teddy said with a smile looking at April "oh, I have an amazing idea for a wedding present for them"
"what's that?" Barbara said with a smile happy the topic had been changed
"we have been looking into the storm chasing tours they have every spring" Teddy said being cut off by April "we thought with the way Callie loves the weather, we'd send them on a tour"
"that sounds like a great idea" Daniel said looking at his wife
"the only problem is" Teddy said with a frown "It's $3,000 a person"
"which is all good I don't mind spending that much on my best friend" April said
"you mean sister in law" Teddy giggled
"shh" April said joining in on the giggle
"you want us to help pay for it?" Daniel asked
"well" Teddy said looking up at her parents
"we'd love to" Barbara chimed in excitedly
"awesome" Teddy said as a smile spread across her face
"that's an awful big wedding present" Daniel said setting his coffee cup back on the table
"I know" Teddy said "but it's for Arizona and Callie, I think they deserve it"
"they do, count us in" Daniel said with a smile enjoying making his daughter squirm a little.
"dad, you suck" Teddy said throwing him a dirty look
"just let me know what you need from us" he said still smiling
"do you have Carlos's number? I was going to see if he would go in on it with us" Teddy said
"I have it in my book in the house" Barbara said standing up "I'll go get it"
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"hey Cal, I thought you had today off" Meredith smiled happy to see her friend.
"I do" Callie said nervously
"Arizona, how are you" Meredith said looking at Arizona who smiled a warm smile
"I'm good"
"is Richard here?" Callie asked
"he's in the back should I go get him?" Meredith said nodding towards the storeroom where the office was
"please" Callie said hoping Meredith couldn't hear the shakiness in her voice.
"don't be so nervous, the worst he can say is no" Arizona whispered
"my job is on the line here" Callie said turning to Arizona
"I know baby, it'll be ok, I promise" Arizona said as she heard Meredith and Richard come out of the back.
"hello ladies, what do I owe this pleasure?" Richard asked
"can we have a seat? We would like to talk to you about something" Arizona said taking charge of the situation. Looking at Callie, she saw the shy woman she had become, remembering how bold she was when they first started dating. And wondering how she could go from that bold girl to this shy woman.
"sure, would you like something to drink?" Richard asked
"I'm good thanks" Arizona said as Callie nodded in agreement with Arizona.
"alrighty then" Richard said nodding to a table, as they took their seats "what can I do for you?"
"it has been brought to my attention you are thinking about selling The Coffee House" Arizona said rather boldly
"I've had a few offers, nothing concrete yet. Why do you ask?" Richard said placing his elbow on the table and leaning his chin on his hand, as if to say, 'you have my attention'
"you know how much Callie loves her job" Arizona said looking at her trembling wife sitting next to her "she was rather upset about the news"
"I understand, keep going"
"we want to buy The Coffee House" Callie blurted out
"way to be blunt" Arizona chuckled "well there you have it, that's why we are here" Arizona said sitting back in her chair.
"wow, you want to buy this place?" Richard said looking around
"yeah" Callie said trembling again
"yes, I would. I got my start here and it was Callie's first job, and not to mention where we met, we'd both hate to see it turned into another Starbucks or something, it means too much to us"
"wow" Richard said sitting back "no offense here, you know I love you both, but do either of you have any idea how hard it is to run a business? The do's and don'ts?"
"well, um, I guess I didn't think that far ahead, but I'm sure we can hire someone to help us out"
"Arizona" he said reaching across the table for her hand "I understand where you two are coming from, but honestly I don't know what my plan is yet" he added sighing "can you let me think some more on it, and I encourage you to do the same"
"Richard" Callie said finally coming out of her nervous state "I know what I want, I want to run this place. How long have I worked here?"
"let's see, I hired you back in" he was cut off by Callie saying "10 years, I've worked here 10 years, and I am now your assistant manager"
"yes" Richard said not sure how to take Callie's boldness
"I love this place"
"Callie, I understand where you are coming from, but I haven't made up my mind on if I'm going to sell or not." He said looking around, after taking a deep breath looking Callie in the eye "I'll tell you what, when I do make up my mind I will come to you first. The main reason I'm not sure about selling is I don't want to sell to a corporation, turning this place into some sort of Starbucks or something"
"that's all we can ask" Arizona said rubbing Callie's hand to calm her down "and if you sold to us we wouldn't change much, if anything"
"good" Richard said with a smile "how about I get back to you next week?"
"sounds good" Arizona said standing up, holding out her hand to help Callie up.
"you two are so cute together" Richard said
"I'm pretty sure you said that too me about 5 years ago," Arizona smiled
"I'm sure I did" he said with a warm smile as the girls turned to leave. Turning to Meredith he said "those two have come a long way, I'm so happy for them. Love like that only comes around once in a life time" giving Meredith a half smile he turned and walked away.
I think the chapters are getting longer now. And I hope you are all enjoying the journey so far. Thanks for reading, as I go through it I can't help but chuckle about the fact that Teddy and April are together. Thanks again.