Author's Note : Just to let you know , I will usually answer some of your question at the review section . In case you asked something and I didn't respond it before starting the chapter ...
Miami
The following day had passed by too fast and before they even knew it , they were already in Miami . The flight they had taken was alright although it was a bit of rush job . After almost an hour of getting themselves settle for a room in Miami Sunrise Hotel , they both finally could let out a long breathes of relief .
Exhausted , that was the word that the blonde would choose for her condition right now .
"I hope that you are okay with us staying at the hotel for a night ." Callie threw her body next to her girlfriend whom had lie on the comfy bed before her . "I don't want to just show up at their house on Friday night . My mother would probably still be at the office . I wanted you to meet my family all at one time on one day . Maybe a dinner with them tomorrow night ."
"I think you made a right call . After all , I don't want them to get a wrong first impression judging by how shitty my face is right now ." Arizona turned to her girlfriend , taking her by the hand . "Thank you for doing this , sweetie ." Arizona kissed the back of Callie's hand .
"You want to go down to the restaurant or you want to call room service ?"
"Either is up to you . But if you want to go down , you need to let me take a thirty minutes power nap . I am just sooo , tired with all the walking around the concrete city this afternoon ." Arizona referred to the tour they had around New York after they had their brunch at a Greek Restaurant . Strolling around the Central Park while holding each other hands was one of their many activities .
"Someone is whining .." Callie teased .
"I feel like maybe at this age I am too old to be traveling around the world with you . And it's only in the US . We haven't make it to even .. Canada !" Arizona chuckled .
Moments later they have had their dinner , the two lovebirds decided to snuggle in while waiting the night to passed by . Arizona , of course , was the first to fell asleep , probably because of their tight schedule today had her worn out . And the blonde did something that the brunette never think of and that was .. snoring while sleeping .
Callie shook her head repeatedly as she grinned to herself . Other people might get annoyed when their bed partner started to snore for the night but Callie surely didn't . She felt like those snores were keeping her company and eventually she didn't feel like she was alone . Well , technically .. She wasn't alone in the room . Arizona was just a few inches away from her , Callie could hear her breathing in between those snores .
Callie didn't show much of her emotion to Arizona for the important event they had planned for tomorrow but only God knew how nervous she was to finally walk into the building that she used to call as her home . It had been almost a decade since the last time Callie returned to her home . Yes , she still talked to her family sometimes two or three times a week .. mostly talking to her father or Aria and it was rarely with her mother . Callie closed her eyes painfully . Her mother .. at one time in her life , her mother was a role model to her but then she wasn't anymore . Callie was tired of getting slamdunks by her mother and her mother thought nothing of her but a disappointment .
And there was her father .. Her father was the medicine for all the pains her other parent caused to her . Carlos Torres knew that Callie didn't just cut their ties deliberately . He knew that it was the hardest decision her oldest daughter had to do . To left home and never looking back , to live alone and never to visit them again . He knew that Callie had thought about it very deeply and he did not blame his daughter for the decision that she made . Carlos knew that Callie realized the decision that she made when she finally spoke up for herself and went all out against her mother . Callie couldn't stand the pain , so she left her dysfunctional home . And while doing so , she also left behind those few people that loved her with all their hearts .
She was stucked in between but when the pains were just a lot to take in and the good things were left just a tiny little pieces , Callie knew she made a good decision leaving the house back then . She had to advocate for herself because nobody wanted to do so . Opening her eyes , Callie felt heaviness rush through her heart . She wanted to go out , to took a fresh air but she knew that George and his assistant were outside , standing by the door . And the last thing she needed to do right now was explaining the inside of her head to some strangers .
Yep , George and his man also followed them here . It's a must , said Arizona . Callie couldn't go anywhere without security anymore after this . And that had her eyes rolled on instant . As far as her safety was going to be Arizona's main focus after the house break in .. Arizona needed to follow the rules too , she also must had at least one man following her but Arizona tended to forget that , Callie sighed to herself .
After a few eternity seconds of staring against the ceiling , Callie carefully got up from the bed , not wanting to disturb Arizona's sleep with a creak sound of the bed . She then headed to the balcony , unlocking the door . Taking the cold fresh air in , Callie felt the heaviness inside of her heart slowly subsided . But then her heart sank again when saw the lights coming from her father's hotel slash the place that she used to call as her home . Callie turned her eyes to the curtain that was now flying everywhere because of the wind , Arizona is my home now . Her mouth curled forming a heavy smile .
She stared at the bright building that was situated much more near to the beach . Tomorrow afternoon , she would walk into that building with many many mix feelings . She seemed to know how her mother would react but as for Aria and her father , she didn't know much about it . And she tried not to overthinking about it but turned out , she sucked at that . Her brain just couldn't shutdown as all of the possibilities of what might happened tomorrow being played in her head .
Her father , though .. She really felt disconnected with him since early this year . Her father recently just stopped visiting her in Seattle . Usually , the grey haired man would make a time to visit her in every two or three months . But this year , she didn't get even one visit from him . And that was one of the reason she found it very hard to walk into that building again . Because her supportive father had also disappeared on her starting early this year .
Sure , she wanted to ask her father why over the phone but then she thought again .. Maybe her father had also given up on her . She also didn't come home for almost ten years , so she didn't really have much questioning to do with her father as Carlos never questioned much about the way she chose to live her life alone in Seattle . Callie held the tear that desperately wanted to fell on her cheek , why was she being so overly emotional about this ? She used to being alone ever since her college years . Alone . She used to call it as freedom .
"Hey , stranger . What are you doing out here ?" A husky voice suddenly interrupted Callie's thought . Arizona was standing a few inches away from the brunette with an obvious sleepy face .
"Nothing , just .. Being here brings up so much memories . And I am enjoying the view ." Callie wiped the tear that had started to form using her thumb .
"Hey , hey .. What's wrong ?" Arizona put her hands around Callie's waist .
"Nothing is wrong , everything is as it should be . It is just stupid , I am overthinking about tomorrow ." Callie's voice cracked .
"Calliope ." Arizona made Callie turned to face her eye to eye . "I can't say everything is going to be alright tomorrow because .. I don't have a clue about what is going to happen tomorrow but what I can say .. everything will go as it should be . I will be right next to you . The whole time ." Arizona tried to calm her girlfriend down , pulling Callie into her warmest hug .
"I can't stop my brain . It just keeps thinking ." Callie confessed into the hug .
"You need to sleep it off ."
"I can't sleep ."
"Or .. we can have a midnight sex . How's that sounds to you ?" Arizona suggested , there's nothing she wouldn't do take Callie's mind off everything that disturbed her internally .
Callie let out a soft laugh hearing Arizona's suggestion . She offered it like she was asking her what to have for lunch . Callie slowly smiled while staring into Arizona's blue eyes . "I like that idea ."
"Let's go in then ." Arizona extended her hand forward , dimples shown . "After you , Miss Torres ."
The next day early in the afternoon , Callie and Arizona arrived in front of the Torres Hotel . Both women decided to walk down to the hotel instead of taking the cab as they still had no personal transport to move around the city , which Arizona would try to settle it after this brief meeting with Callie's family . Callie thought a short visit would be nice , at least to gauge the response from her family . But if this short meeting didn't go well , she didn't think dinner with the whole family tonight would be needed for her and Arizona . She didn't want to put Arizona into a major awkward situation after all .
But inside the brunette's heart .. Just what kind of response she hoped for ? A good response would be nice as she did want her family to at least recognize the person she currently involved with . But if the first visit went wrong , Callie would take it silver lining of a bad clouds . The good thing that would come from it was she didn't have to think about it anymore . And maybe Arizona would finally let go of her dream to knew more all about her ... dysfunctional family .
Callie stood in front of the tall , shining building , unmoved as she took in the sight in front of her . The image of young version of herself spending most of her childhood days here quickly emerged in her mind , playing with her currently mixed feelings .
George and his man that were following closely behind their back also stopped . George raised his questioning eyebrows to Arizona's direction , asking why they were stalling here .
Arizona took off the rayban that was covering her eyes , leaving it hanging just below the collar of her blue flannel . She looked at her girlfriend , forehead wrinkling . "Callie ?"
Just standing there brought up so much memories to herself and Callie felt it was all just too much .
Arizona studied her girlfriend face . The face was blank but she knew the Latina's mind was at other places . So , she just simply walked forward and reached for her girlfriend's hand . "Callie ?" She rubbed her thumb against the back of Callie's hand .
"I'm sorry .." Callie startled . "I was zoning out ."
"You can do this . We both can do this ." Arizona gave a reassuring smile , displaying her dimples that could calm Callie within seconds .
"Right .. Right . Let's go in ." Callie nodded .
They walked into the building hand by hand . Callie's eyes were trained on those letters that formed her last name , carved at back of the receptionist's counter .
T - O - R - R - E - S
Those letters lit up brightly due to the internal light it had inside of it .
The lobby was spacious and the waiting area seemed to look like a hall that could perfectly fit a wedding inside it . And it was just the waiting area ! Arizona felt impressed with the classic and elegant looks this hotel got . The staircase was lighten up with the white and gold color lighting . Arizona looked up , the centre of the lobby had a massive expensive chandelier . It was shining bright . Compared to the lobby of her penthouse , Arizona must said that this one looked three times better .
"Just who are you ?" Arizona asked as she finished looking around the hotel .
"My family owns this , not me . I was just a girl that lived in a loft ." Callie shrugged , referring to the life she had before Arizona happened to her . She was used to all of this . And this lobby , she admitted it had changed a lot since the last time she was here . Many improvement had happened . Aria and his father , both who ran this business certainly did an amazing job .
"I love that girl ." Arizona said as her lips formed a smile .
"I know you do . You really do , in fact ." Callie replied , smiling before she took Arizona by the hand and started walking to the counter .
Surprisingly , Arizona found Callie's palm was sweating nervously .
"Hello , good afternoon . May I know if Mr. Carlos Torres is here or does he already left the building ?" Callie politely asked the woman that was handling the receptionist counter today .
"I'm sorry , but are you a relative ?" A question was answered by a question . The woman stared at the brunette that seemed to had a blood connection with her employer . She just couldn't quite figure it yet .
"I am Callie . Callie Torres ." Callie stopped for a while . "I am his daughter ."
"Oh ?" The receptionist was in confusion . She always thought that Mr. Torres only had a daughter . One daughter as known as her other employer , Aria Torres .
"Calliope ?" An old voice called out of nowhere .
Callie turned around as her eyes lighten up to see one of the people that she had missed since the day she left this building . "Nanny Garcia !"
"I thought I saw wrong .. My eyes aren't good as before but it is really you .." The woman that had some wrinkles on her skin pulled Callie into her arms . Her hand rested on Callie's back of the head , running her hand on Callie's hair in circle motion . "My God , you are getting taller , Calliope ."
Arizona smiled at the scene in front of her . The reunion was sweet but she knew that Callie and her had many more reunion ahead of them . This , right now happening .. was only the first one .
Callie had to bend her body down a little in order to let the shorter woman hug her . . "I missed you . And also , this is the person I am currently dating with .. Arizona Robbins ." She comfortably let the news out to her lovely Nanny . That woman took care of her ever since she was a baby and when the news of her liking girls came out , Nanny Garcia was never against it . She said she loved Callie even before Callie cried for the first time and even with the news came out , her love for the brunette was just far too deep already . Adele Garcia was there when Lucia delivered Callie and on instant , she fell in love with that little baby . The little girl that she used to have no problem carrying her with just one arm . But now , look at the little girl .. She had turn into a one strong independent woman .
"I missed you too " Nanny Garcia replied , her voice was about to break . Things weren't really good for Lucia and Callie . They had different opinions on lot of things and she knew that Callie left because she was tired for all of it but just how she wished that whatever happened between the mother and daughter didn't lead to this , to Callie not coming home for a such long time . But she had to admitted , seeing Callie here today was a miracle . She thought Callie would never step into this building ever again .
"Arizona ? Another unique names . You both are really made for each other ." The old woman's gaze shifted to Arizona's direction as she started to laugh before she set her eyes on Callie again . She had taken care both of the Torres's daughter and don't tell Aria this but Callie would always be her favourite . She was the first after all . "You look very healthy , Calliope ."
Arizona's lips curved , turning into a smile . She nodded . She didn't really thought about it but Nanny Garcia was right . When came to think , both of Callie and her totally had unique names . Or weird names , at least that was what others were thinking .
"Let's go up . Your father must be thrilled about this !" Nanny Garcia dragged both women to the elevator . For someone in her mid 70s , Nanny Garcia surely seemed like a woman in her fifties with the steady walk she had on right now .
Callie felt her stomach twisted when she heard the word 'thrilled' . Would her father be thrilled to see her ? Or would it be otherwise instead ?
And as if Arizona understood her girlfriend's concern , the blonde leaned over as she whispered into Callie's ears . "I will be by your side , Callie ."
"Carlos !" Nanny Garcia yelled almost immediately after the doorman welcomed them into the large luxurious family penthouse . "Carlos !"
"Adele ? What happened ?" A grey haired man was seen descending the staircase in hurry due to the yell . The staircase had its back against them , making both Arizona and Callie couldn't see the face of the man .
But deep down Callie knew just who that man was . The very short grey hair that only her father could style it handsomely .. plus with the deep voice along with an accent ?
"Carlos , look who's here ." Nanny Garcia said happily just when the gentleman arrived at the bottom of the stairs .
And almost at a perfect timing , Carlos turned , his eyes was now on the face that he hadn't seen for months already . In fact , these coming December would mark one year of them not seeing each other . Thank God , one of them took the first step instead of letting it be a one year of strangeness madness .
"Calliope ." Carlos could only opened his mouth to let that one lovely name slipped out from his mouth as he was still standing froze at the bottom of the staircase . The name he and Lucia had pick for their first daughter .
"Papa ." Callie said with a blank expression . She felt that her heart was thumping out loud . She wanted to say more than just a word but she felt like she should wait furthermore to see her father's response to this awkward visit .
"Well , come here now ." Carlos's voice was hoarse . Not a day went by without him missing his daughter , but he had his own reason on why he seemed to be suddenly putting a wall between Callie and himself . "Don't you want to give your father a hug ?"
Callie was shocked with the response . But she appreciated it very much as she looked down on the fingers that had been intertwined with Arizona's . She stared at Arizona , as if she was asking her permission to let go of it in order to get herself to her father .
And of course , Arizona nodded with a touched smile . "You go . He has been waiting too long for your visit , you see that now ?" Arizona's voice was about to break . The blonde didn't have to say much as on instant , Callie happily let go of Arizona's hand only to got herself lost into her father's embrace .
"Maybe .. There's still hope lies somewhere for this family to gather again like they used to be ." Nanny Garcia spoke , using the end of her shirt to cleaned up the tears in her eyes as she walked away to wash her teary face .
"Must be hard to be the parents that waited years for their children to visit them ." Arizona mumbled and then she cleared her throat . Her girlfriend was the one right now that reunited with her father after a very long time but she found it hard to kept a straight face and felt nothing to the scene in front of her . It felt personal and it touched her as her parents were in Callie father's shoes before this . They waited Arizona to returned to Baltimore for Christmas , Thanksgiving and all they got was nothing from her . For five years . She shutted people out . It wasn't the moment that she felt proud of but it felt just right back then . To not return as it would surely brought up unnecessary memories of her and her dead family . Arizona's eyes fell on the two people that were now hugging in front of her and then she looked up to the ceiling for a few seconds to regained composure , keeping her head up so that her tears wouldn't fall .
Arizona shook her head , killing away all her thoughts . This was about Callie today , her sweet Callie . So far , the wild thoughts Callie had were not true . His father missed her just as much she missed him .
"I have missed you ." Carlos said into the hug .
"I missed you too , Papa ." Callie cried into the hug . The tears that she had been trying to hold back since she heard her father's voice for real and not in the phone anymore , it made her tears just fell and the tears , it didn't look like it wanted to stop . "You stopped visiting ."
"I am sorry about that , Mija . Very much sorry ." Carlos apologized , breaking the hug . He took a few steps away , to appreciated this moment , to studied his daughter's face that he had not seen for a long time and the most importantly , he wanted to make sure that this all wasn't a dream .
"Don't cry , please ." Carlos's voice cracked , he was on the verge of tears . For every tears that had fallen down on the collar of his shirt today , he felt responsible for it . "This is all my fault ."
"You suddenly stopped visiting me . You rarely call me nowadays . What has changed , Papa ? Do you hate me too for being gay ? Am I a bad daughter ? Do you not want me as your child ?"
"Calliope Iphigenia Torres .. Don't you ever say that ." Carlos pulled Callie into his hug and his tears finally fell down . Callie's words were difficult for him to took in . It just hurt him to had those words coming from Calliope . "I love you with all my heart . If I was given a choice to have you as a little baby all over again , even with knowing that this baby is going to grow up being gay or anything , I'd do it again . I don't care if it was going to be a gay baby , a straight baby or whatever . You are always going to be one of my babies . Along with Aria . I am blessed to have you both in my life . You both completed my life , Calliope ."
"And you are not a bad daughter , I am the one that's bad . A bad parent . You shouldn't even be thinking that I don't want you anymore . That shows how bad I was in treating you ." Carlos added .
Arizona wiped the tears that had started to form with her thumbs , she just stood there witnessing the sad reunion .
"If it isn't because of the gay thing , then why the visit suddenly ended ? I looked forward to it , Papa . Everyday for the first few months , I waited for you to just show up in front of my shop . And then one day , I just gave up in hoping that you would visit . I said to myself , maybe you too like mother , think that I am living in sins for being gay ." Callie sobbed . "We used to talk . Every Sunday , we used to talk . For hours . I'd wait for your call , and I'd tell you everything . All about my crazy adventures in a city that always rain . But then the visits and the phone calls stopped , Aria started to call me up and asked how I was doing and I could tell that she was forced to do so because you asked her to do it in your behalf . Sure , we talked , very rare ! Still , we did talk but it didn't feel same anymore . You talked less and the phone calls started to get cut short because you have meetings and works to do . We still talked , very rarely but everytime we had a chance to talk .. I felt it just wasn't you , Papa . It wasn't my Papa that was on the other line of the phone . I don't know where he was . I don't know where did I go wrong , I tried to find one and I couldn't seem to find other reason why you stopped caring about me but thinking that you was starting to hate me because of the way I chose to live my life . Because I am gay ."
Callie was shivering , trying to make the tears disappeared as it only made it hard for her to vented out her feelings but she just failed . She looked broken as hell trying to do so , so she just let those tears fell down . "B..but standing here , in front of you . Face to face . I see my beloved father now . The man that had never stopped caring for me since I opened my eyes but .. since early this year ... he just disappeared . So , I just want to know where did I go wrong because .. I couldn't understand any of this . Where did it go wrong , Papa ?"
"Calliope ... We will sit down and I will explain everything to you , I promise you ." Carlos hugged his daughter again . He had missed this . "For every tears and sad moments that I have caused you , I am deeply sorry ."
Arizona closed her eyes , witnessing and hearing every words that Callie have said was painful enough for her and for Callie herself almost everyday to felt as if her father had stopped loving her , it must had been really hard on the brunette . Arizona was surprised that Callie had never mentioned about the family problem to her before this . Not until Arizona brought up about her wish to meet with the other Torres's .
And then it hit the blonde that Callie never talked about her family if she didn't ask . Sure , Arizona asked here and there but Callie always tried to keep it short when it came about her family .
"Cal ?" A very pregnant lady stood from the top of the staircase .
"Aria ?" Callie turned around , wiping the tears . Her make up had messed up due to the crying moment just now .
"Honey , be careful with the stairs please . Let me walk you down ." Carlos chimed in .
"It's okay , I can do it ." Arizona offered herself as she didn't wait for any response , she just climbed up the glasses stairs to get to Aria . "Here , you can hold onto me ." Arizona extended her arm for Aria to held on .
"I must say that your friend is a well - mannered lady ." Carlos commented , eyeing down the two women from the bottom of the staircase .
"Actually , Papa ..?" Callie stopped midway .
"Hmm ?" Carlos turned to meet his daughter's gaze .
"I don't know how you will feel about this but .. that woman is actually not a friend . She's a girlfriend ." Callie rubbed her hair . "My girlfriend ."
"She's your girlfriend ?" Carlos eyes went wide as his index finger pointed at Arizona .
"Yes , andIknowthatthisiskindofnewtoyouasIhaveneverbringanygirltohome but .. please be okay with this ." Callie gasped a little as she nervously said those words in one breath . "She really wanted to meet you and Mama even after I explained how brutal Mama could be with her words and how you suddenly ignoring me but still , she wanted to meet you both ."
"She has got some kind of guts ." Carlos shrugged .
"And I am planning to spend the weekend with our family .. and Arizona is coming along too . Please tell me that you are okay with this ..."
"Is she a vegetarian ?" Carlos asked to the dumbfounded Callie. A question that Callie never thought her father would ask and almost at the same time , the women finally took the last step of the stairs . So Carlos took the matter into his own hand and he asked Arizona directly instead . "Lady , are you a vegetarian ?"
"What ? Me ?" Arizona shook her head . "No , Mr. Torres . I am not a vege ."
"Then , we are okay . If she's a vegetarian , I might have to find an alternative vegetarian restaurant for us to privately dine in tonight ." Carlos replied .
"Or I can cook tonight ." Nanny Garcia came out of nowhere and suggested . "Your father thought I am too old to do the cook , Calliope . He forgot that these old and wrinkly hands were the one that used to cook for him and Lucia back then .
"You forgot to turn off the stove , Adele ."
"It was just that one time . Please let me cook for tonight , Carlos . I haven't cook for Calliope for a long time already . Don't you miss my cooking , Calliope ?"
"Of course I have missed it . I'd love to eat whatever you cook . You are the bestest cook ." Callie gave a thumbs up . "And Papa , don't worry . I will help Nanny Garcia in the kitchen . And I will make sure she doesn't burn the house down ."
Carlos could only nod , chuckling . How could he say no to his precious daughter ?
"Papa , Aria .. I wanted to properly introduce you to my girlfriend . This is Arizona Robbins . The woman I am dating with now ." Callie put her hand around Arizona's waist as Arizona extended her hand forward to Carlos and Aria .
"Arizona ." Her hand was greeted by another hand . It was a firm handshake Carlos was giving to her .
"Please just calls me Carlos ." Carlos smiled .
"I'm Aria . Oh , and I don't do handshakes . I give hugs . Come here ." Aria pulled the blonde into a hug as if they were best friends for years already . Aria didn't know why but she liked this Arizona person Callie dating with .. eventhough she was still Mama Torres's little girl that had always claiming herself of not liking gay people much but as for her perception on Arizona ? It was like there was an exception for her and the blonde was very likeable . Unlike Echo , the person that had broke her elder sister's heart . Yep , Callie told Aria about Echo once .
"Make yourself comfortable , Arizona . I may have to talk to Callie for a little while ." Carlos said , taking Callie to his office .
Callie entered her father's office . That only one place that she couldn't enter without her father's permission . Other rooms were playgrounds for her back then when she was just a child but this one wasn't one of those rooms . "I hardly remember how many times I have came in here ."
"Because you were always an obedient child ." Carlos took his seat . "I guess , I have some explaining to do ."
"You sure do ." Callie stared right at her father .
"I don't even know where do I begin to explain this mess that I have created ." Carlos cleared his throat , giving his daughter a weak smile .
Callie said nothing to gave room to her father to explain himself but her stare was torturing enough for Carlos to handle .
Carlos stood up , looking away from Callie's eyes . "I am very much sorry for what I have done . Seeing you today got me caught off my guard . I could heard the excitement in your voice when we talked over the phone slowly fading from time to time . I know I have hurt you by my seemed to be a cold treatment that a daughter shouldn't ever get from her own father ." He threw his gaze to the big window behind his desk .
"You are aware of all that facts ?" Callie had her eyes now wide open . "But still , you did nothing to fix it , Papa ! My girlfriend had to persuade me to come here , I had to come here ! To seek an explanation from you .. an..and I just don't get it ! Where did I go wrong to received this cold shoulder you were giving to me ? For months , Papa ! For months !"
"And I could still accept if it was Mama or Aria that pull this stunt . But you , all of the people that I know ?" A tear threatened to fell down again which Callie quickly stopped by using the back of her hand . "You are supposed to be there for me when nobody else in this family didn't want or forced to do so . Because you are my father . You are the only one that understood me . But then , you weren't there ."
"I see .. You are .. quite upset because I suddenly disappeared ?" Carlos asked , trying to understand what Callie was feeling right now before continuing the talk . Years of aging process had made the grey haired man talk in a very slow tone . Carlos seemed to act calm even though he kept apologizing to Callie for many times already ever since the first time he laid his eyes on his daughter after months .
"Quite upset is an understatement , Papa . I feel .. empty . Disappointed . And I had always been proud to have you as my father but .."
"But now , you aren't feeling that way much ?" Carlos filled the words that Callie had left hanging . "You are disappointed in me ." He stated the fact sadly .
"Maybe you could give me reason not to be , Papa ?"
Carlos looked down on his palms , he wanted to say something . He wanted to give the reason . But he knew the reason was only a reason . It wouldn't justify anything much . But not telling the truth to his daughter now wouldn't do any good . Would he get another chance to clarify everything ? Life changed on an instant . With the secret he kept , he knew better for the fact that people die everyday because of an accident or a chronic disease . So , it might as well as be now even though it wasn't his secret alone . The secret , it was regarding his other half . Carlos slowly opened his mouth ... "Your mother was sick , Calliope . She had a heart attack few days after Christmas last year . One day after I came back home after visiting you in Seattle to be exact ." It was a sudden change of the topic from Carlos but that issue immediately caught Callie's attention .
"Mama had a heart attack ?" Callie stared at her father's face in disbelief . No child in this world wanted to believe that her own mother , no matter how dysfunctional their relationship could be , had a chronic illness . The leading disease in today's cause of death .
"It's under control now . She's been working like what happened last year never happened . You don't have to worry about that ."
"And nobody seems to care to inform this big news to me !"
"Calliope , Aria and I wanted to tell you but your mother quickly disapproved the idea ." Carlos turned to face to his elder daughter . "Just like when she disapproved me from visiting you in Seattle after that ."
"Are you telling me th.. that she was the reason that the visiting from you suddenly stopped ?" Callie's mouth felt dried , her body was glued to the seat . She didn't move , didn't flinch . It all just seemed to make sense now . All the visits from his father stopped around that time ..
"I was scared , Calliope . I was scared of losing your mother . She's the love of my life even though with the differences of certain grounds we have chose to stand on for all those years we spend together . So when she said to me to stop visiting you with those sick eyes she had back then , I just .. fulfilled her ... ridiculous wish ." Carlos had the back of his hands under his chin . "But please don't blame her . Blame it on me instead . I was weak and afraid . I let the scary thoughts took over my sane minds , I should had known better than to just comply to your mother's wish . She was sick back then but I wasn't . I should have acted better than her . I should have been a better parent ."
"B..But why ? Why did Mama disapprove you from visiting me ? She jj..ust hated me that much ?" Callie was trembling with her own words .
"Your mother has her own ways of seeing things . She thought I was only encouraging you to stay out of Miami by visiting you in Seattle . But please , Calliope .. For everything that I have done , please never ever blame your mother . The phone calls that came too rare was because of my self action , that had nothing to do with your Mama . I didn't have the heart to hear your heartbreaking voices everytime you picked up the phone , so the calls just became shorter and less ."
Callie shook her head . "You could always tell me the truth , Papa . Sure , I'd have a hard time understand it but eventually , I will get over it . You didn't have to feel like you were stucked in the middle , suffering .. by doing this all alone ."
"I couldn't possibly tell you because I am not proud of the cold shoulder I gave to you . I couldn't brace myself to tell you the truth because I was always strongest in this family and to tell you that I had to stop visiting you because your mother told me not to ? I couldn't . All my life .. I have work so hard trying to be a father you can be proud of . I even have to catch you . Your whole life . You've always been on a bridge , Calliope , ever since you were a little girl . And you don't just walk on it either , you climb on the railing . You're ready to leap . And when you do , when that happens , I have to be there . I have to catch you . And when one day .. I found myself couldn't be able to do that ... to catch you ... It really breaks my heart to million pieces . I could make another choice , a right one but I chose wrong . And when I tried to undo it , the guilt of wrong choice I have made at the first place is eating me alive .. I even bought a plane ticket to Seattle already last month .. But I couldn't get on the plane . Because you are my daughter and I know exactly just how you would react . You would have been so disappointed even if I was the one that started the first step ."
"Did it change anything ? Am I less disappointed right now ?"
"No ." Carlos looked down on his hands .
"Did Mama hate me that much , Papa ? Hate me that much that it is enough to put us both in this difficult situation ? And don't tell me that she is still in adjustment . Because it been years since I came out ."
"Please don't take this matter all out on her ."
"Oh , trust me .. I won't . Because I am not evil enough to make you choose between your daughter or your wife even when some people seems to be heartless enough ..." There was a slight hint of sarcasm in Callie's tone .
"Calliope ..."
"I will find a way to let it go , Papa . I am used to this ." Callie said monotone . "Things aren't going better with Mama still holding her hatred against me and I don't know if Arizona could survive this weekend . Or if Mama would even let her stay here for the weekend ."
"Arizona would stay with us for the weekend . Your mother is going to deal with it like an adult , whether she likes it or not ." Carlos firmly stated . "I have lots of thanking to do to Arizona . Based on what you said , she played a big part of making today happens ."
"She basically dragged me out of the cave , Papa . I was numbing my feelings and she just .. She is just so amazing with her words .. and I bent for her ."
"Amazing with her words ? Is she a lawyer too ?"
"No , no .. She had her own business . Her late wife's family business actually . But before that , she was a child surgeon ." Callie stopped for a while , letting her father to come to grasp to the basic background of Arizona's life .
"Late wife ?" Carlos asked , confusion was written all over his face .
"She's a widow . Arizona had a son . She lost both her wife and son in an accident five years ago ."
"Oh .." That was the only word came out from Carlos's mouth as he was still trying to take the information in . "It must be a hard experience for her ."
"Yeah .. She was .. quite a loner after the tragic accident . She worked hard and never got herself romantically involved with someone else ."
"I would take it .. that has changed soon after she met you ?"
Callie nodded her head with a visible smile on her face . "She was the director of Sullivan's Industries . I don't know if you ever heard of it . But just yesterday she resigned from the job ."
"Sullivan Industries .. It sounds familiar ." His forehead was wrinkling as he thought about it . "What's her plan after quitting her job now ?"
"Maybe you can ask that to herself ?" Callie smirked . "I don't want to tell it alls 'cause I have planned for you both to sit down and talk , getting know each other . If I tell you everything about her , you wouldn't have things to be talked about . Right ?"
Carlos smiled , nodding . From the sounds of hope and excitement coming from his daughter's lips .. He knew that Callie was really serious about wanting Arizona to be here and feel accepted by this family . His daughter was deadly serious about this relationship , unlike the relationship she had before this in which Callie never seemed to make any move in introducing her past girlfriends to the family . Even with the Echo lady .. The woman that Callie used to date with .. Callie never brought up the topic of wanting Echo to meet up with the whole family . And how did Carlos know about Echo when Callie only told a little about that woman to him ? It was because of Aria's mouth , of course .
"So .. the thing between you and this Arizona ? You both have reach that stage in a relationship in which one of you have already asked the other .. the question ?" Carlos made wild guess .
"We are both committed to this relationship . And I moved in with her already ." Callie studied her father's expression . A smile slowly crept on the old's man mouth . "Heyy , Papa . Wait , don't be so excited . She hasn't pop out that four words question yet ."
"But I still could sense that a wedding will appears pretty soon ." Carlos grinned .
"Well , don't get all your hopes high . She was married once and it ended up with lots of loss more than a gain . I am not sure if she would like to go through a marriage again after all that has happened to her ."
"These details just make me eagerly couldn't wait to finally sit down with her , getting know more about her ." The grey haired man was still grinning . Carlos had his ways around people . He was an excellent situation reader . One of many reasons how he got himself successful today with chains of hotels around the country . He recognized the situations and acknowledge the potential of his own workers , making them working efficiently under his wing .
"Papa , can you please promise me not be hard on her ? It took times for Arizona to finally realizes she has feeling for me ." Callie stared at her father .
"I can try to go nice on her , well .. if she is really likeable and kind but your mother ? Even if Arizona is wonderful as a human being , I am not so sure how your mother would treat her . Speaking of your mother , she left for work this morning and will be back , probably before eight in the evening ."
Callie let out a long sigh . The waiting is killing her ... Waiting for her mother's response ? Callie just wished that her mother was here and they all had already met by now so that they all could just get this thing over with but nope , her Mama would only be back from work late in the evening .
And so far , the reaction in bringing Arizona here to meet with the Torres's ? The reaction from her family was somehow quite positive . Callie thought it would go otherwise at first ... Carlos was already amazed with Arizona's manners earlier and Aria seemed to be liking the blonde charming and caring trait . And God knows , what was happening outside there with Arizona and Aria as Callie and Carlos had their heart to heart talk in here . You all must have been wondering too , right ?
"Thank you for your advice , Doctor Robbins . Everybody is of course , keeps telling me to sleep while I still can but they just don't have any idea how sleep has become a struggling thing for me to do lately ." Aria said , releasing the deep breath she had been holding to herself . Her doctor had assured her before that the baby was in a healthy condition and all there was for them to do now was to wait until the baby came out but the worry feeling inside of Aria's heart didn't go just like that after hearing the doctor's words . It just wouldn't go away . But talking to Arizona Robbins was different . She didn't have to be too convincing as her words were just calming enough for the new soon to be mother . And Aria understood Arizona's explanation much better than her own doctor's explanation .
"Sleep deprivation is quite normal at this last stage of pregnancy . And your doctor said that there's nothing wrong with the baby , so there shouldn't be any problem . But if this sleeping problem is really causing lots of stress on yourself , you can ask the doctor for sleeping pills . Just don't take it too often . You have to remember a happy mother means the baby is also happy inside there ." Arizona pointed her index finger to Aria's stomach , happily added a little more advice .
"I think I can still handle it , I really don't want to rely on pills . No offense , I know you doctor know much better than I am and you people mostly believe in power of medicine ." Aria replied but her forehead wrinkled as she felt a movement coming from her stomach . "Oh , she's wriggling again . I think she's eavesdropping our conversation , Dr. Robbins ."
"Again , I am not a doctor anymore ." Arizona smiled as Aria just wouldn't stop calling her as a 'doctor' after the blonde told her that information of her personal background . "Can I ?" Arizona extended her hand , wanted to feel the baby's movement .
Aria happily let Arizona put her hand on her stomach . She had just met the woman in front of her but somehow Arizona was just too good at charming her ways into the younger brunette's heart .
"Oh , there ! That .. that .. was such an active baby !" Arizona had an excited smile on her face . When Joanne was pregnant with Aiden , she liked to put her hands on Joanne's stomach to feel for the kick . And she would do it every chance that she got , it was surely an exciting activity for Arizona throughout Joanne's pregnancy . Kicking was one of many ways of how the baby communicated with the mother . It was a special feeling , a bond , especially knowing you were the mother of the child . Sure , for the first time they started to kick , it was kind of scary . Most mothers would instantly feel like there's something wrong with their babies . It would take time for them to adjusted to that feeling of another life moving in their stomach .
"I think that is her elbow ." Arizona smiled as she saw the little body part of the baby was now quite visible on Aria's stomach .
"Or maybe her foot ." Aria laughed . "It was scary to me when the first time I saw it ."
Callie emerged out from the office with her father and as soon as she entered the private living room , her eyes were greeted with Arizona's beautiful smile . The stunning smile was surprisingly meant to be for Aria as both women engaging themselves into what it seemed to be a fascinating conversation , not noticing the other two Torres's presence .
Arizona put her hand on Aria's stomach again , excitedly . Her smile grew even bigger as she felt the movement again .
"Look , they are getting along just fine ." Carlos stated .
"They are . And I am so .. happy ." Callie beamed with a smile . Clearing her throat , Callie rested her body on top of the sofa armrest just next to Arizona .
When the sofa slightly sank in , Arizona quickly turned her head ... Wondering who it might be and when she saw her favourite person , Arizona's smiled just grew miraculously bigger . "She is .. such a kicker , Calliope ."
"Yeah , she will kick everybody's asses . Including mine ." Callie replied sweetly . "She's gonna be pampered by especially me and everyone , a lot . She's the first after all ." Callie reached her hand over to feel for the movement and it only took a few seconds of her to be excited too with the magical feeling .
"I have listed down names for her . We can go through it tonight , maybe after dinner ?" Aria smiled to her sister . "You'd choose a name for her , right ?
"That would be an honour for me , Aria . But isn't the name choosing is what you will do with Ed ?" Callie asked , referring to her brother in law a.k.a Aria's very white husband .
Aria's husband ... Lucia didn't like him at all at first . Edward Wolff was an American / Germany descendant . He had nothing related to the Hispanic blood lines . And that of course , didn't sat very well with Lucia . No matter how financially successful Ed when he met Aria , Lucia still had a hard time when Aria decided to went against her and got herself married with the man of her dream .
To Lucia , Aria would always be her dream daughter . The daughter who wouldn't go against her but her thought was wrong . Aria did go against her in this matter . But eventually , Lucia's hatred toward the man slowly fade away . At least one of her daughter wasn't gay , that was something , right ?
She would certainly lose her sane mind if Aria was gay too .
You could say that Lucia was a woman with her own strong opinion . Stubborn and rarely settle but very independent as a woman . Raising up two daughters (which the other one somehow always goes against her , well .. at least that is what she thinks of Callie) did that to you .
"Yes , we will be choosing the first name but for the middle name .. It is reserved for you to pick ." Aria replied .
"I get to choose a name for her ?" Callie eyes were wide open in excitement .
"Of course you do , you are my sister ." Aria shrugged . "But still under my supervision . Because I think you have a tendency in picking names that sound weird to others but to you , somehow , it sounds just fine ." Aria laughed , adding the little information that made all four people in the living room laugh .
"Oh , Papa invited both of us to stay here for the weekend . How does that go with you ?" Callie suddenly turned to her girlfriend .
"It's very nice of you , Mr Torres ."
"Carlos ." Carlos quickly fixed that . Arizona didn't need to be all formal with him .
"Thank you , Carlos ." Arizona smiled at the grey haired man . "We will pack our things up and get it all here ."
"Oh , but maybe you can do it later , Doctor Robbins ? Because I was about to go out with Papa when you both suddenly showed up . And since Callie is here , I wanted to borrow her for baby's shopping instead of dragging Papa around the mall ." Aria's eyes lit up as she spoke . "And Papa , maybe you don't have to cancel your golf meeting because of me . You can bring Arizona along . You both business people after all ."
"You found a quick replacement , I am surprised ." Carlos pretended as to be offended but they all quickly knew it was just a joke .
"Shopping with you is no fun , Papa . You will repeatedly ask me how long to go before we could head home ." Aria was grinning .
"Alright , alright ." Carlos threw his hands up in defeat . "Just don't excessively buy more of baby shirts . Baby grows up fast , Aria ."
"That probably won't go as what you wish , Papa . I haven't buy even one cute dress for the baby . Aunt Callie must buy something for you , ain't that right baby ?" Callie whispered sweetly against Aria's stomach . "Okay , I must choose a name tonight . It's not nice to call the baby as just a 'baby' . " Callie mumbled at her younger sister .
"And you , Arizona ? You coming with me to the golf meeting ?" Carlos raised his eyebrows questioningly . "I'd love to spend more time with my daughter's girlfriend . But be warned , Christopher hates to lose the game . So , if you are good at playing golf .. I hope you could pretend to be as amateur as you could be ."
"I don't want to intrude you ." Arizona replied , she had no problem to sat or stood next to Carlos for hours but she just had to make sure if Carlos really meant the invitation or if he asked her to come with him just to be polite . "Besides , I am wearing jeans . And most of the clubs usually don't let people enter without appropriate attire ."
"You aren't intruding at all , Arizona . And about the attire ? I can settle it ." Carlos answered , he wasn't going to take no as an answer .
"You will be just fine with him . He is not going to eat you alive because I believe that my girlfriend is amazing enough and she will be getting along with my family , minus my mother , so easily ." Callie leaned over , whispering words of confidence inside of Arizona's ear . "But maybe I will be the one eating you alive . Tonight . When we are alone in my bedroom ." Callie naughtily added in a much lower voice .
"Ohh .." Arizona faked a shocking expression before she turned to Carlos . "I guess , I'm in . I just have to call in my bodyguards to let them proceed ahead the car renting issue without me . We don't quite have any transport here in this city yet ."
"Why do you even need to rent a vehicle ? You and Callie could borrow one of mine ." Carlos said .
"Really ?" Arizona asked .
Carlos just nodded his head in approval , smiling . "Just go down to the garage and take which one you like and Casper will hands you the key ." Carlos said , referring to one of his driver .
But still , Arizona had to call her men to let them knew where they were heading . Or where Callie and Aria would be heading to as Arizona didn't feel like she needed George and his assistant . So , she decided that the bodyguards should just followed both Torres's women for now . One of them could at least carry the shopping bags that Arizona knew would be too many for the ladies to handle .
ME : Heads up , The Dinner and Meeting the Torres will be release in multiple chapters as it will be a long weekend (This chapter almost leaves us with 10k of words , longest I ever wrote) .. I have ideas on how it will be played but I haven't got a chance to write it down , so the next chapter .. might takes time . After the loooong holiday , I have lots of work piling up on my desk . So , please be patient with my slow update : )
And also I wanted to wish a happy birthday here , to that someone .. Even though , she doesn't read my story , HAHA .. It was yesterday actually : ) So !
Happy birthday to you , I am glad to get my chance to know you . Stay blessed . May God be with you in every steps of journey that lies ahead you . May happiness always be yours . Amin .
17/07/1980
Wednesday
18th July 2018
1455 hrs
