"It's not always rainbows and butterflies . It's compromise that moves us along ."
Every day there is a compromise . Living with somebody requires a lot of understanding . Compromising doesn't mean you are wrong someone else is right . It only means you value your RELATIONSHIP more than your EGO .
The Hamptons
"Are we still going out for dinner ?" Callie asked in annoyance when she saw Arizona was still in her white v neck shirt .
"Yes ." Arizona replied with a frown in her face , pulling a stunning floral dress from the closet . She too , was annoyed with her girlfriend tonight and frowning was the only thing she could do as she tried her best to restrain herself from furthermore saying terrible things to the brunette .
It had been hours since their short visit to Arizona's office and you all must've had wondering why and what happened that made the sweet couple gone bitter , right ? Was it because of Lauren ? Had something happened between the three of them before they left the office ?
Arizona rolled her eyes again and perhaps the eyes rolling had happened too much since the last few hours . Arizona's action immediately caught Callie's attention which got the brunette roasted .. And , oh boy .. To Callie , that childish behaviour of Arizona didn't set much well with her .
"You know what ? Forget it ! Let's not go anywhere and just stays in this room , listening to your excessive sighs while you roll your eyes behind my back ." Callie threw her hands up in a letting - you - win - the - argument motion .
"I didn't roll my eyes behind your back ." Arizona replied in a defensive tone . "And I certainly did not sigh a lot ."
"Yes , you were !" Callie said , half yelling and that was when her ears heard the sigh again . "And you are still sighing !"
"Yes , I sigh ! So what , Calliope ? I can do whatever I want ! Just like you did , practicing you rights whatsoever ..." Arizona sat by the mini bar in their room . The last sentence was a mumble from her but if you thought Callie didn't hear it , you've got it all wrong ...
Few Hours Earlier
Arizona walked to her office with a smile . She had just finish talking to the workers , answering to all of their questions if that was possible ... And surprisingly weird because of the timing , Arizona's father and Tim called her almost at the same time just now .
The phone call from her father wasn't really pleasant as her old man just found out from the news about Arizona quitting her position in the company but before her father could scold and pressure her furthermore , she got a phone call from Timothy . Tim is such a lifesaver , Arizona thought as she excused herself from the retired Marine , thus ending the call as she picked the other one .
Oh just why was Tim suddenly calling Arizona ? Was there a news for her ? Good news or bad news ?
"Thank goodness ! Your timing of calling me is just perfect ." Arizona spoke to the other line .
"I'm not sure if that is supposed to be really a compliment or just you being sarcastic ." Timothy responded .
"No , really . You are a lifesaver ."
"Haven't you heard ? I'm in the army ." Timothy let out a small chuckle . "What's up ? From who were you running from just now ?"
"Dad ." Arizona answered , unexcited . Don't get it wrong , Arizona talked with her parents oftenly nowadays , that was something that changed right after she started dating Callie officially but her father's style of giving advice could be very hurtful for her to take . "And don't what's up me . What's up with you ?" Arizona asked . It was very rare for Timothy to call Arizona just to asked small question like 'what's up' . Usually , there would be a news that he wanted to tell .
"I'm coming home in less than two weeks . Actually , the whole battalion is coming back this time . And since your girlfriend and my Major are bestie , I would like to do a barbecue night .. Me , you , Callie , my Major and her girlfriend ." Timothy said his plan in a bright voice . He just couldn't wait to execute his plan .
"I'm down with that idea . As long as Dad is not included in this plan ." Arizona too was excited with Timothy's idea .
"What happened between you and Dad , huh ? Bickering again ?"
"I quit my job today and he , as usual .. Against my action ." Arizona replied . "He's always been against me ."
"You quit your JOB ? Again ? Really ?" Timothy was in shocked . Maybe he shouldn't be as this wasn't the first time Arizona quit her job but still .. he was in shocked . He thought everything went well for his little sister now with Callie guiding the blonde .
"It's time . I have other priorities in my life now . I think I deserve to slow down a little and enjoy my life ."
"Is it ?" Timothy had doubts in his voice and Arizona could definitely hear it . "I feel like there's something you aren't telling me . Is everything okay over there ?"
"Everything is perfect ." Arizona stopped for a short time , pondering on whether she should just tell Timothy all about it . She took a deep breath as she continued her words . "Everything is perfect that it is becoming a problem for me if I didn't start to slow down on my job ."
The other line was quiet but Arizona could hear a 'hmmm' , indicating that Timothy was still listening and wanted Arizona to go on .
"I love her , Timothy . I am so in love with Callie . And I loved Joanne but back then , look what happened between both of us when I let the my passion for the job came in between us . It tore us apart and we weren't in a happy place for a while . The only thing that kept me sane and literally stopped me from killing myself when I lost Joanne and Aiden was because I had the chance to make peace with my family months before they were taken away from me . I still have regrets but at least I would always know that I have given my best for them . Although , maybe if during that time when Joanne and I wasn't on the same page and the day when she was about to ask for a divorce from me which by the way I cut her off before she had the chance to ask .. Maybe if on that day , if I just let her speak and settled on divorce instead , maybe she would still be alive today . Perhaps not living together with me anymore but she would still be here , our son would still be here , breathing and he would have both of her parents but just not together ."
"Arizona ..." Timothy's voice broke after he listened to Arizona's confession . "You can't keep living with 'what ifs' or 'maybes' . What happened , had happened . There's nothing you can do to undo it . You just have to simply .. keep going . Sure , you would always remember them and it would be bittersweet but what happened to you then could be a sign of what you should be starting to pay attention more for today and tomorrow . Take the sign and live your life . You are allowed to be happy . Maybe you didn't think that you were a good person back then and you would always blame yourself for that but for today , you have the chance to do better ."
"I wanted to be better , Timmy . That's why I quit my job . I wanted to focus on what I have been missing since the last five years ago . I wanted to be happy again with the person that I love , uninterrupted by anything again ." Arizona debated in her head if she should told Timothy about her plan to propose Callie that was about to happen near soon . She loved her brother too much not to give him a heads up about that . So , Arizona found a secluded area , far away from everyone else . After doing so , she opened her mouth slowly .. Revealing the truth to her brother . "Actually , Tim .. I am settling down or .. nope . That doesn't sounds right .. I am on the way of settling down with Callie ."
"Wait .. Settling down as in moving in together , buying house or marrying each other ?"
"Well , about that .. A lot of things happened in the last few months . Callie and I have been living together for a while now . So , it is settling down .. as in being married to each other ." Arizona carefully explained as she torturously waited for Timothy's response . Oh , but she didn't have to wait for too long to get his reaction .
As on instant , Timothy got hyped up and it was only on the phone but Arizona could feel her brother excitedly wanted to share the happy news to the other side of the world .
"OH MY GOD ! Oh my , heyyyy over there ! My sister is getting married !" Timothy's yell to the soldier that was passing by in front of him . It was very unusual for him to do that but he did anyways and Arizona could hear a 'congrats' coming from the background .
"God , Lord , Tim ! To who did you freaking announced it ?" Arizona started to freak out . "Whoever it was , it better not be The Major of Callie's best friend ! I am still planning a surprise proposal for her !"
"It was just Private Carlson . But oh , fuck . I am sorry .. I thought you already got down on your knees ."
"I haven't had the right moment . So far , when I wanted to do .. Something else came up and it failed ."
"Arizona !" Timothy exclaimed . "The right moment won't be exist if you don't fight for it . You just do it !"
"But I wanted it to be special . Memorable as I am planning for this one to lasts forever . And I am definitely not planning it to ends with a car accident ." It was a dark joke from Arizona and if anyone else came up with that kind of joke in front of Arizona , Timothy would surely smack the hell out of that person's head but since it was Arizona's , he just laughed it off .
"Very dark joke but I like it ." Timothy commented when he finished laughing . "So , what kind of special thing you are planning for her ?"
"I don't really have any other idea . I was about to propose to her in Bali , by the ocean . Damn , I was just this tiny little close to that moment but something came up and it ruined my plan ."
"See , I told you . Plan sucks , let it just comes naturally . Just do it when you feel it ."
"That's rich , coming from you that doesn't even have a girlfriend ." Arizona mocked her brother .
"Hey , I have a girlfriend . I might take her to meet the other Robbins's this time when I get back . Speaking of meeting parents , have you met Callie's parents ? How are they ? Is her mother as crazy nosey as ours ?" Timothy asked the golden question that Arizona had forgotten to think about .
"Shoot , I haven't ." She wrinkled her forehead . "Should I meet them first before proposing ?"
"Dude , you should . You are about to put a ring on one of their daughter's finger . If you ask me , I think it's a must . As a sign that you respect them ." Timothy gave his honest opinion . "I mean , I would want a look on who's my daughter dating with before my daughter suddenly shows up in front of my porch , crying while showing of the ring on her finger saying 'Daddy , I am getting married soon' ."
"You are right .. Except for the part 'daddy , I am getting married' . That was so overly dramatic of you ." Arizona chuckled . "Maybe this is the reason why it didn't work out well everytime I was about to propose to her . I am missing a step ."
"Yeah . You are totally missing a step , dumbass ." Timothy nodded into the phone as he provoked Arizona in the style of Robbins's , like they used to do back then when they were a kid .
"Thanks for telling me this . I always thought you were a dud when it comes to relationship as you , DON'T HAVE a relationship !" Arizona pressed her words as she laughed devilishly . She knew that Tim had a girlfriend but Tim had always been keeping his private life low , so it was hard for Arizona to detected if her brother was still dating or not or if her brother had broken up with his girlfriend already .
"I have a girlfriend ." Timothy said , monotone . Nobody was going to believe him and he was just so tired of stating the fact .
"I will believe it when I see it ." Arizona replied nonchalantly .
"Sure , in two weeks . You will know her ." Timothy glanced down at his ancient watch , the watch that had fell on the sand more times than his body . "Arizona , I gotta hang up now . I wish you goodluck in meeting her parents and please , no more missing steps . And all I want to see when I get there is a ring on Callie's finger . You better make her wears that ring . Get your girl , Robbins ."
"Yes , Sir . I would absolutely do that ." Arizona said in a happy tone while her eyes were busy eyeing Callie from the doorway of her office . She quickly threw the phone into her pocket , but her eyes were still staring at the brunette , admiring the beauty that she didn't notice that Callie had a company inside of the office .
But only when she walked forward she saw one of her worker inside of the room . Callie was now engaging herself in a conversation with Gerald . And she could just watch her girlfriend talking to her worker all day .. Calliope was friendly , kind , courteous and genuine toward the people that she just met and that qualities were the reasons why Arizona fell for her girlfriend . She was just humble and easy to talk to . Remember the first time the blonde opened up to the brunette ?
"Miss Robbins .." Gerald was the one that noticed the blonde . "How are you ?"
"Great .. more than ever ." Arizona's lips curled into a smile .
"Hey , you are back ." Callie turned her head , smiling to her girlfriend that was standing at the doorway .
"Alright , I will leave you to her now ." Gerald stood up from his seat . "I'm pretty sure both of you have plans and I don't want to stop you both . Have a nice day ."
"Thanks for keeping her acquainted , Gerald ." Arizona nodded .
"You are amazing ." Callie pulled her girlfriend's hand , forcing Arizona to sat next to her .
"Hmm ... Why do I could sense that you both were talking about me just now ?" Arizona narrowed her eyes .
"We did . And you are amazing . I am so proud of what you did . You injected positivity in that kid , you gave him second chance at life . Gave him a job that could support his parents ..." Callie's eyes were lighten up as she spoke .
"He always told people that story . Kinda makes me embarrass sometimes ." Arizona shrugged her shoulder .
"He thinks highly of you . Because you are a kind person ."
"And you are very friendly with the person that you've just met . That makes me worry sometimes ." Arizona took the chance to change the topic . Didn't want her kindness to be the centre of the attention . After all , she had her own skeleton , her own scars , her sorrowful past hiding in the closet .
"Does it a bad thing ? Being friendly ?" Callie arched her eyebrows .
"No , it isn't . It's just .. people might falls hard for you because of it ."
Callie pushed Arizona's shoulder . "Haha ! Really ! People nowadays don't find kindness or being polite as attractive . They usually look at the faces . Beautiful faces . And then , they fall for it ."
"And you have both of it . Both kindness and a heaven face ." Arizona looked to her side , staring into the big eyes .
Callie smiled shyly . "I think you are drunk with love ."
"And just who is that lovely person that I am in love with ..." Arizona winked . "Search for a beautiful heart . Not necessarily a beautiful face . Beautiful people are not always good . But good people are always beautiful ."
"You are extra sweet today and why is that if I may know ?" Callie put her head lovingly on Arizona's shoulder .
Arizona smiled to herself as her hands lingered on Callie's waist . "Calliope , I think I am ready ."
"Ready for ?" Callie looked up , their eyes met each other .
"I'm ready to meet your family . I want to know them and they probably should have met me already by now ."
"I'm ready to meet your family ?" Callie repeated Arizona's words before she ended up chuckling to herself . "No ." The brunette added without any remorse .
"No ?" Confusion was written all over the blonde's face as she let go of Callie's hand .
"Yep , just no ." Callie replied shortly , hoping that Arizona didn't ask more about it . If Arizona didn't press further , she wouldn't have to explain it .
"But honey , why ?"
Oh , here we go .. Callie chose to skirted around the real reason . "Because I don't think it's necessary ."
"It is necessary . I wanted our relationship to progress forward . I'm taking this relationship serious and I'm taking it to the next level . You have met mine and I will meet yours next ." Arizona said firmly , standing up from the sofa .
"Arizona , you need to stop giving orders . For God's sake , you just quit your job and I am never your worker for you to give me command . Sometimes you got carried away by your office image that you always make me feel like I'm just a worker ." Callie shook her head in protest .
Arizona looked at Callie with an unpleasant expression . "Well .. I am not ordering you , at least not yet . I need you to be honest with me . Why can't I meet your family ? I said it this morning that I wanted to meet your family and you certainly had this coming .. You seemed alright with the idea and now ... Why ?"
"Did I agree to it this morning ?" Callie shot back .
"No , but you didn't protest or say anything .. I thought ..."
"You thought wrongly ." Callie cut off and she saw that Arizona wanted to jump in but the brunette quickly continued . "No , listen to me . It was five in the morning . I was sleepy , that's why I didn't say anything . And we just had a scare with the break in and the alarm went off .. To me , you were just having a panic moment and then you started imagine happy stuffs so that you could ease the scary feeling inside both of us ."
"I was serious about all of it . It wasn't something that I just imagined . I wanted to execute everything that I said ." Arizona sat on the wooden table just a few steps away from Callie .
"I'm sorry , Arizona . But no .. No meeting my family . I am not ready yet ."
"Why ? You can't just say no without giving me reason . It's unfair ."
Callie just shook her head , having a conflict in her head . Whether to just come clean or just kept silent about this . And the blue eyes were right . It was unfair if she didn't give her a reason behind this action that she made . Real reason .
"Something is eating you alive regarding this matter .. I could sense that there's something that you hide . Something unspoken in your eyes . What is it , darling ?" Arizona stared right at Callie's face . "Just tell me what is it and I will eliminate the problem ."
"If I tell you that the problem is my parents , my mother to be exact .. Would it just stop right there ? Would you stop pushing me to introduce you to my family ?"
Arizona just stared at Callie , didn't understand as she waited for Callie's explanation . "Listen .. whatever you can't do , I will find a way to do it for you . I'm here and that is how it works . We help each other . But I can't help you if you refuse or just shut me down without deeper explanation ."
"I .. I .." Callie felt her voice just .. stuck but she tried again . To speak up . "You have such a perfect family . Your mother is everything that I seek in my mother but she just isn't like your mother ."
"Well , too many of the same things would be boring . Right ?" Arizona tilted her head , showing her dimples .
Callie sighed again as she had a feeling that Arizona wouldn't understand what she was about to say . The brunette took a deep breath . "I have a dysfunctional family ."
Arizona had a small smile on her face . Maybe something happened between Callie and her family . Maybe it was just a small feud that had been going around for awhile now and no people seemed to gave up their stubborn heads but whether it was Callie or her family .. One of them needed to start it first . One side must started to talk to each other and forgive so that the other side wouldn't feel embarrass to apologize too in the end .
"My mother doesn't approve me of having relationship with a woman . She doesn't approve same sex relationship . It's disgusting to her ." Callie added .
"Well , gladly I say that your mother isn't the first homophobic woman I have ever encountered . I've met a few in my life . I will survive another one ." Arizona focused her eyes on those brown eyes .
"No .. No , that isn't the entire story . It isn't just my mother . My whole family seems to be against me dating women . My sister has always been my mother's golden daughter and my father .. he was okay with me dating a woman but lately , he silences his mouth regarding this , probably because he's now too against my method on how me living my life ." Callie shook her head repeatedly as she talked about her family . She barely talked about it or even if she talked about them to Arizona in the past , it would be just a small information , not with the deeper details and now she hoped Arizona would understand and just drop it . "We can keep going . Without them . We don't need them , right ?"
Arizona reached out for the tanned hands of the person that she loved so dearly . "And .. I don't know where we are going , Calliope . I'm sorry but I'd want to see them . Just for once . Maybe now they don't really care if the person you are dating do not have a penis ." Arizona stopped for a while , staring at their intertwined fingers . "I'm sorry for the explicit word ."
Callie moved abruptly , taking her hands away from Arizona's as she suddenly raised her voice . "No ! Are you even listening ?"
"Calliope ! I am listening but you gotta see things from my side too ." Arizona narrowed her eyes . "I have always been a family woman . Family is important to me ."
"Wow !" Callie's eyes went wide . "That's rich coming from you that have shutted your family out for five years and not until months recently you only reconnected to them again ."
"I get it that you are upset with me pushing you about this but no ! You will not attack me and go that low to criticize me of shutting people out during my dark and twisty days . I will not let you do that , Calliope !" Arizona stood up , turning her eyes to something else that wasn't Callie's eyes . She had started to get mad but she didn't want to . She closed the office door , didn't want other people to hear them argue . "I believe in family the way you believe in God . And I respect your faith in God that I am more than happy to drop you by at the church on every Sunday morning even though I am myself , don't really believe in God . I do that because I respect your belief ."
It's true . Arizona didn't pray much . Her parents wasn't really that religious . She didn't know to pray to who . Or how to do it . Her track record with God wasn't really good . After all to Arizona , God took away everyone that she loved before this .
"So , you are saying that I do not respect you by not letting you to meet my family ? I am practicing my rights . They are my family , Arizona . Not yours ! And they are a bunch of not so very nice people ." Callie retorted . "You will thank me later ."
Arizona closed her eyes in defeat , didn't have any idea on how to explain her view . "If we go further .. if this relationship lasts more than we think it could be right now .. I would want our children to know their grandparents from both side of our family . That's why .. family is important to me even though I have been thinking that it wasn't for a while . At the end , family is everything . Please try to see things my way at least ."
"No ." Callie shook her head firmly .
"The box is here ! I'm sorry that it took such a long time . I have been running up and down trying to find one ." A perky voice suddenly interrupted the unfinished conversation . Conversation ? More like a fighting session . As Lauren entered the room , two set of eyes were watching her like she just did something wrong . "I'm sorry if I am .. interrupting . I will just put this box on the table ." Lauren carefully put down the empty box .
"No , please do interrupt ." Callie said sarcastically , barging out of the room soon after that . In that moment , she wasn't giving a damn if Lauren flirt with Arizona again .
While Arizona just sighed . Talking with Timothy just now had made her thinking about meeting Callie's parents . But just how she wished Tim hadn't planted the idea in her head at the first place ... Well , Tim should gave that idea but maybe at least after she propose to Callie . Now all she could just see between herself and the brunette was only more and more differences .
Both women seemed to wanting different things in their life .
"Why are you even being so obsessed of meeting my parents now , Arizona ?" Callie asked , trying to understand the reason why Arizona was pushing it very bad .
Because I wanted to settle down with you ! Arizona screamed but only inside her head . "When I pushed mine away , you made me believe that family is everything . You made me wanted to call them everyday . I am no longer declining any phone calls coming from Baltimore and you are the reason ! Is it wrong for me to try to meet your parents while hoping that I can do the same for you , to reconcile you with them ? Is it wrong ?"
"It is not wrong but Arizona .. I don't want to reconcile with them , knowing that they are certainly not going to meet me halfway ."
"You haven't even meet them yet !" Arizona raised her voice again as she pulled a bottle wine out of the cabinet , pouring it into a glass . Why did she got a feeling that she would need more than a glass tonight ?
"God , you aren't still listening to me !" Callie ran her fingers through her hair , getting more tired of fighting about this .
"Am I the only one who is supposed to do the listening ?" Arizona grabbed the bottle in anger and that made Callie took a few steps away from her , clearly terrified with Arizona's sudden move .
"What ? You think that I will hit you with this bottle now ?" Arizona felt offended by Callie's reaction . She felt disturbed and more yelling or screaming wouldn't help this situation . "I need to get out of here ."
The blonde grabbed the key card of their room as she shook her head repeatedly , also taking the wine bottle with her .
"Arizona , where are you going ?" Callie watched her girlfriend walking away from her .
But Arizona didn't answer , instead she just reached to the door as quick as she could . She opened the door , ready to leave but then , she turned around to face Callie . "You know what ? This is the first time I asked you to do something but you completely rejected my idea without even what .. a try ? Nevermind , I will get over it . I always did ." Arizona slammed the door close like it it was hers . Nevermind o nevermind , any damage to the door .. She would just pay for it .
As she slammed the door , George and his assistant were guarding by the door . They too , were at shocked with the sudden slam .
"Keep an eye on her ." Arizona stopped , feeling some silly in her words . "No , keep two pairs of eyes on her ." She had started to feel a little drowsy due to the wine she had consumed . Arizona decided in her head that she shouldn't went far away from this hotel . "I will be by the beach in front of this hotel if anything comes up ."
"Arizona , I don't trust you to even make it to the elevator ." George spoke up .
"I am alright . You both stay here ." Arizona said stubbornly before she left .
"Did she forget that she received a death threat almost months ago back then . And the house break in ?" George could only mumble to himself . "Reynolds , you watch Miss Robbins . But keep a distance , make sure she doesn't know that she is being followed by you ."
While in the room , it was a different story . Callie was now sitting on their bed , staring at the nothingless in front of her . The room that had been filled with yell and scream just now had turned into a quiet one . Only the smell of Arizona's perfume was still lingering inside of the room but the person had vanished to nowhere , to the blackness of the night .
Callie's eyes traveled to the closet that Arizona had left open . Callie just realized there was a box left untouched on the floor of the closet . The brunette stood up , taking the box that was semi heavy to the bed . It was the box that Lauren brought earlier for Arizona . Even though she barged out of the office right after Lauren interrupted them , Callie could still recognized the box .
Callie had a guilty conscience on whether to open the box or put it back to its place but her curiosity got the best of her , the Latina knew she just had to open it . She took a deep breath as she opened the box .
A gasp came out from her mouth as she began to go through all the items inside of the box . It were all photo frames . A small standard sized frames , a large one , and even a portrait size . Callie didn't gasp because of the many frames inside of the box but she gasped because of the photos inside the frames .
She took the large frame and put it on her laps , taking the photo closely , eyes trained on the family photo . Both women were kneeling as they held their son in the middle . It was the first time she saw Arizona's late wife face , Joanne Sullivan . The lady was pretty and gorgeous , her hair was shining black and the smile she had was charming and calming , Arizona definitely had a high standard in the woman she chose to be with . For a few seconds , Callie was caught off guard as insecure started to creep into her feeling but she quickly made the feeling go disappear , reminding the fact that the woman in the photo was no longer here .
She passed away ... Too young and too soon . Callie thought to herself before her eyes fell on the toddler , the centre attraction of the photo . Arizona's son looked a lot like his brunette mother except for the dimples that he coincidentally got from his blonde's mother . He was smiling and happy like all the other kids in this world should be . Whoever said that Arizona didn't treat her family right was definitely a blind . This family was happy and at the first glance , nobody thought that this family had their own turmoil in which Arizona had told Callie about the story that Joanne and her had to go to couple's therapy to worked things out between them nor that anybody else would thought that this perfect family would broken apart , leaving only Arizona behind to picked up her broken pieces when her family died in the tragic accident .
Callie rummaged through the box some more but still feeling guilty as she felt like she was invading the blonde's personal space . But she just had to do it as one photo seemed like not enough for her .
Callie picked up another frame . Arizona was in the doctor's uniform along with the white lab coat , looking very carefree and confident . Callie didn't realize that she was holding her breath until she let out a small sigh . Wondering where this person inside of Arizona had gone . Yes , Arizona had changed a lot compared the first time she saw the blonde in the coffee shop . But Callie knew , this part of Arizona .. The one that she was looking right at the photo frame that she still held , this part of Arizona would probably the part of Arizona she would never get to see . It was raw , almost like she didn't know the person in the photo right now . That person was just so different but still mysteriously , addictingly interesting .
The next photo frame was a full family photo of Arizona with Timothy and her parents alongside Joanne with her father and young version of her brother . Judging by the way both Arizona and Joanne dressed in white creamy , neck shoulder showing dresses , this one was probably the pre or after wedding photo . Both woman seemed to be in love with each other . And in this photo where Arizona had her arms stretched to made a room for her parents , Callie realized that what Arizona said about herself was true , she was indeed a family person before the accident happened . And now after a very long time , she was trying to becoming one again .
Callie should be happy for the change in Arizona , right ? She played a part in making the blonde reconnected to her family again . And she knew , she should be more supportive instead of rejecting the idea of meeting her parents .
It was a big step for Arizona to take and Callie knew deep down , she should compromise and back down her ego . What awful thing could happen in bringing Arizona to meet her family ? She had survived ton of curse words from her mother when she revealed herself that she liked chicks . She could go through it again , and this time bringing a woman that she loved to her family resident in Miami ? Even if her mother was going to give hurtful words , she knew she would be okay as Arizona would always be by her side .
She knows that .
She didn't have anything to lose and that was the reason why she was here in Seattle , living her life alone with only her best friends by her side . She was the only Torres that seemed to be wandering far away from the other Torres's in Miami . She was happy in Seattle and she didn't feel like she needed to come back to Miami again . But did she ? Never want to go visit her family ? In a month or less , she would have her first niece . Would her heart be cold enough to not coming back to Miami when Aria delivers the baby ?
Callie shook her head . As tough and independent as she tried to be , she would never have the heart to do that to Aria or her niece . Maybe coming home and taking Arizona with her too was a good idea after all .. So that she could resolved the family issues or more like her mother's issue once and for all .
I can do this . Callie set up a determination inside of herself . As far as the reunion would be painful , the painful feeling that Arizona had inside of her when her perfect family was broken apart was much more worst than hers .
But now she just had to get Arizona prepared for the way her family might react to her presence . Arizona needed to prepare for every mean words her mother going to slipped out . And in order to do that , first , Callie must find Arizona . Callie thought to herself of the possibility of places Arizona might went to ...
After a few minutes of thinking , Callie headed straight to the door after making sure the box was returned back to the closet , carefully made the box looked untampered . She was about to leave when a hand tapped her on her shoulder . It was George's .
"Did you have any idea where she would go ?" Callie turned around and felt a little relief to see George .
"Come , I will get you to her ." George nodded .
George spotted his assistant , standing not far away from the blonde . Arizona was sitting on the large tree stump alone by the bonfire , staring at the wine bottle that she brought with her earlier . Callie , whom had a blanket in her hand turned to George and she received a nod from the man , signaling that he would just watch them from here . The lovebirds needed their own privacy to sort things out , that was what George thought to himself . He wasn't the man that like to meddling in into his boss's personal issue .
Callie slowly walked to the blonde from behind as she began to plan every words .. but she didn't even know where to start . Arizona seemed to be lost in a very deep thoughts to even noticed that someone was standing behind her . She looked troubled and Callie made a promise to herself not to added more of it to her girlfriend . God , is Arizona immuned from the cold wind now ? Her white shirt was so thin , didn't she feel the cold wind hitting her body ? Somebody might had a flu later ... She shook her head , a few minutes of standing here already got Callie shivered .
Callie slowly took a seat next to Arizona . "You promised me a bonfire night but you left instead and came up here alone ."
A little tipsy Arizona tilted her head in her girlfriend's direction , eyes squinted to made sure that she wasn't hallucinating or dreaming or whatever . But the voice and the smell of the perfume ? They were all real . "Leave me alone , Calliope . I am still trying to accept your decision ."
"So , you will just sit here until you heart finally accept what I said earlier ?" Callie innocently asked . "You might need a blanket to cover yourself or you would turn as cold as ice after an eternity seconds of doing so ." Callie scooted near to Arizona , wrapping the blonde with the blanket she had in her hand .
Surprisingly , Arizona didn't back away . She just let Callie wrapped her with the blanket . "Both of us are stubborns and persistents . But one of us needs to give up her view and just .. accept thing ." Arizona may be a little intoxicated but she still could speak .
"Nobody in this world should have given up anything when they are in a relationship . Unless if she sincerely wants to do so . That is what I see now . Even if we don't agree with something but when we are in love , we compromise here and there willingly ."
"So , you wanna lecture me on not so sincerely accepting your decision now ? 'Cause an insincere acceptance is all I got now ." Arizona frowned into the fire .
"No , I am talking about having understanding in relationship ."
Arizona let out a gasp of laugh . "I don't know if I am too drunk to understand or you are the one that switching from one different topic to another ." Arizona gulped down the wine .
"Hey , no more drinking !" Callie grabbed the bottle and Arizona just didn't know what to do with the empty hand that just a few seconds ago held a bottle of wine , so she settled her hand on her hair , rubbing it in chaotic motion . "I have a better understanding in how you see things now , Arizona . I really do . And you shouldn't give up anything . I will take you to Miami to see my family ."
Arizona's jaw dropped . "Really ? Just like that ? All it takes to convince you is just for me to sit here , looking all depressed ? You were against me like crazy this afternoon and earlier ."
"Like I said , I have a better understanding now . This relationship is not just about me ."
"And it isn't about me either . I don't want it to looks like I guilt you into something you don't want to do ."
"No , you are not . I am doing this for myself too . I can't ignore them off forever from my life . Aria's belly is getting bigger with each days passing by . I want my niece to know that she has an aunt . So , I have to start from now ."
"Oh , Aria .. I forgot about that . How is she ? The due date is in this month , right ?" Arizona's eyes lit up as she asked a lot of questions about Aria Torres . She was just as excited as Callie about the baby that soon would arrive to this world . Babies were what Arizona saw everyday before this . She used to be a pediatric surgeon after all and most of the babies she met , they were sick . But for Aria's baby , she hope that she wasn't one of those unfortunate babies in the NICU . She wished the best for Callie's sister even though she never met her in person .
"Well , we both can ask that question when we meet her face to face in Miami , aren't we ?" Callie smiled , giving a small squeeze on the blonde's hand . She let go a deep breath along with it , feeling grateful as she noticed that Arizona's moodiness had went away already . She thought Arizona would give a hard time for her or at least an extra resistance but she was wrong . Maybe the alcohol inside of the blonde's system helped too .
"God , your fingers are freezing cold .. Come here , let's snuggle in ." Arizona said , welcoming Callie into a hug .
"I thought you would never ask ." Didn't wait too long , Callie buried herself into Arizona's chest . Both women enjoyed the intimate moment as Arizona could never get tired of inhaling the amazing smell of Callie's hair .
"We really are going to Miami ." Arizona mumbled into the hug , didn't quite believing what Callie had just offered her .
"We are . I figure we can spend another morning in New York tomorrow and then catch an evening flight to Miami . If thing goes well , we will spend two days over there with my family ." Callie said . Crap , since when do I get excited of planning a visit to Miami ?
"I get to spend the weekend with your family ? That is .. so awesome ." Arizona planted a kiss on Callie's forehead . "Thanks for giving me this opportunity , sweetheart ."
"But I have to warn you first . My family could be very dysfunctional . They aren't like your family at all . And my mother .. she will be the hardest part of this visit ." Callie explained "Her words can be very vicious and brutal as she loathes gay people and that includes her own daughter ."
Arizona chimed in . "Come on , it can't be that bad ."
"Oh , honey .. It will be worst , I assured you . It will be bad to the point of you wishing me not taking you to meet her at the first place . You might want to return to Seattle earlier than planned and I will have no problem with that . I understand if that happens ."
"I will endure this for you , Calliope ." Arizona showed off her assuring dimples .
"Just promise me that you won't let her words get to you ."
"Words don't kill me , sweetie . I will be fine and you will be fine too as long as we have each other . Others opinions don't matter to me . What's important is that we know each other too well not to let the vicious words get to us ." Arizona tightened her hug around Callie's body as she felt the warmth of the Latina's breath against her neck .
"I hate it that you are kind of right even when you are tipsy ." Callie looked up , locking her gazes with the blue eyes .
"I'm hungry ." Arizona said with a straight face , quickly killing the romantic gesture between the two of them .
It wasn't the response Callie hoped for but she laughed . "Well , if earlier you didn't run away and go hid yourself out here , we still could make it to the dinner reservation that you have made .
"Screw dinner reservation . We have room service ."
"Lets get back to our room then ." Callie suggested .
"Noooo , I want to sit here for a while ." Arizona shook her head .
"You said you are hungry ." Callie giggled against Arizona's chest .
"I'm drunk ." Arizona stated in childish manner . Not something we saw everyday .
"Yes , you are ." Callie rolled her eyes but then she smiled , appreciating to what seemed to her ... Arizona's once in a lifetime sillyness .
Few minutes passed by as both women just enjoyed themselves with each other's company . Callie observed the blonde . Arizona was staring right into the fire , her forehead was wrinkling , like she was thinking hard about something but if only Callie knew that Arizona was actually trying to figure out if the fire was red in color or actually orange ? Or yellow is it ? Typical drunk people , they either went wild or be much more observant toward things that they shouldn't be even thinking of at all . Maybe Arizona wasn't drunk enough to started go wild or maybe Arizona was that type of people that became overly quiet and observant when the alcohol started to kick in into the body system .
Callie finally broke the silence , expressing what she felt . "Arizona , I was so scared today actually . We never had a fight like this before . This one was by far , the worst we have had . But I guess , we will have more like this one . After all , it's what couple does when a disagreement comes up ."
"I was worried too .. I wondered if I have pushed you too far for this and ruined it all eventually ." Arizona stared down on her girlfriend . "Ruining the pretty pink bubbles that we are currently floating in ."
"You could never ruin anything , Arizona Robbins . You are a sweetheart . I am sorry for all the yelling and screaming . I love you too much to let you walk into a house full of hatred against people like us , that was what I thought earlier when I rejected the idea of you wanting to meet my family . I just want you to know that and make it clears ." Callie leaned up , giving a kiss on Arizona's pink lips . "I love you ."
"I know that , baby and I am sorry too about the yell and scream . I love you too . Very much ."
And there it was , the dimples that had Callie captivated ever since from the first day she met Arizona . And how the blonde had Callie at her knees with the power of her dimples . There was no getting tired of herself to watched it and it was an honor of having the privilege to made the woman in front of her smile . As the prize that she got from it was the perfect curves of the dimples .
"The best thing to learn in life is the art of compromise . Because it is always better to bend a little than to break a beautiful relationship ."
Me : On to next chapter .. how do you all think it would go ? Does Arizona gonna bond with the Torres's just fine or would there be a little trouble for her ? Is the Torres's going to be easy on her ?
And to the new follower , 'BiYOUtiful' .. I welcome you to this journey of Calzona's fanfic . Your daily reviews gave me motivation . Glad to know that you have been able to catch up all of the chapters .
As for the next update , it may takes time 'cause I would be quite busy . My country is entering its festive season and Eid is just around the corner . But I would definitely update after Eid .
Monday
June 11th 2018
0515HRS
