Sofia woke up and looked around the unfamiliar room trying to remember where she was until she saw the huge picture of Moana walking on the beach on the wall next to her bed and the large palm trees on the wall in front of her. She wiped the sleep from her eyes, sat up, looked out the window and was disappointed to see it was still mostly dark outside. It looked like it was about the same time her mommies woke her up for school. She usually slept with the curtains closed, but she wanted to see the lights from the castle and all the rides while she fell asleep. She also didn't want to miss a single minute of daylight, so she figured this way, the sun would wake her up. Rushing out of bed, she ran to the window and could already see some lights turning on at Disney World. A few of the rides were lit up and it looked like some streetlights were on. From here it looked like a real city. She'd only seen pictures on commercials and they go so fast, she could never really tell what it looked like, but now she only had to wait a little bit longer before she could see it with her own eyes. She was so excited; she was bouncing on her toes. She couldn't wait to tell all of her friends about it and really wanted to wake her mommies up and talk about it, but she knew it was too early to wake them up. This was one of the reasons she wanted brothers and sisters, so they could be excited together.
Thinking about her brothers and sisters, or whatever they were going to be, Sofia got an idea. She knew they couldn't talk back to her, but she could tell them all about their trip and the things she could see and maybe they could be excited too. She slowly opened her door, quietly walked through the main room to her mommies' room, listened to make sure they were asleep, then crept inside. She was happy to see mommy was closest to the door and lying on her side so she could talk to the babies. Lifting up the blanket, she giggled when she saw that her mommy's shirt bunched up and showed her tummy. It was funny to see mommy with a big tummy because she was always so small to her. She put her hand on the bare tummy and started talking to her little siblings.
Arizona's eyes snapped open when she felt something cold rubbing her stomach, followed by a gust of warm air. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she tried to fight through the groggy haze to figure out what was happening. She was sure it wasn't Callie because she could feel her snuggled up behind her. Then she heard it, the not so quiet whisper of her daughter's voice, "Good morning babies. I know I'm probably waking you up, but I'm sure you're going to wake me up a lot too. So this kind of makes us even. I'm just so excited for today and I needed to talk to someone but it's way too early to wake up our mommies." Arizona felt Callie moving behind her and elbowed her then shook her head before she could say anything. Callie quietly leaned forward and rested her chin on Arizona's shoulder so she could see what was going on, but all she could see was a lump sticking out of the side of the blanket and looked at her wife in confusion.
Callie understood what was happening when she heard Sofia's voice explain, "We're at Disney World! It's only the best place ever. I know you don't know about any of these things yet, but when you get older, you will understand why it's so special and why I had to tell you about it. We will watch movies together like Frozen, Moana, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast…I used to be afraid of the beast but don't tell mommy because that's her favorite movie and he's not really that scary once you're old like me. I bet there will be new movies by the time you're old enough to understand what movies are. They have lots of boy movies too, just in case you're boys, like Cars and Monsters Inc. I liked those too, but princesses are my favorite." Both women had to bite back their laughter and continued to listen. "We will get to see Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, and just a whole bunch of people. Oh, and we will probably ride some rides, but please don't make mommy sick. She's so excited to be here too. We all are. Last night mommies took me to a special dinner with all the princesses and I got a picture with every one of them. I guess you're in some of them too, we just can't see your faces, but when you grow up, you'll see that you were here too in mommy's belly. Mommy was my favoritest princess. She looked JUST LIKE Cinderella and mama dressed like Prince Charming, she was very handsome and pretty at the same time. They do things like that. Some people might think it's embarrassing, but I think it's cool because it means they love me so much. I'm sure they will do things like that for you too. I'm sorry you'll miss the fun today, but I know our mommies and you'll get your turn to do fun things. I love you babies. I can't wait to meet you." Sofia kissed her mommy's tummy and decided she should go before she woke anyone up.
Before Sofia could pull her head from under the covers, both women closed their eyes and pretended to be asleep until they heard their daughter tiptoe out of the room and close the door behind her. Callie sat up to rest her head on her elbow and Arizona rolled over to her back so they could see each other's faces and Callie cooed, "Oh my God, that was the cutest thing ever." Arizona nodded in agreement and replied, "She is such a sweet girl and she is going to be an amazing big sister." Callie put her hand on Arizona's abdomen and asked, "Has she ever done that before?" Arizona shook her head and replied, "Except for that one time, not that I know of. But have you noticed how she says hello or goodbye to them when she says it to us?" Callie smiled and replied, "Yeah, I caught that the other day. I have to admit, I'm relieved she's happy about it. I was worried that she liked the idea of it, then when we told her, she'd be upset." Arizona nodded, "I worried about that too and I'm sure she will have bouts of jealousy; we just need to stay conscious of her moods and behavior." Callie looked down at Arizona's stomach and admitted, "I still can't believe we are going to have four kids by this time next year." Arizona blinked a few times and declared, "Wow, we are. Talk about a wakeup call." Callie chuckled and replied, "It's a wonderful way to wake up though." Arizona just smiled and nodded in agreement.
Callie lifted her hand, caressed Arizona's cheek, leaned down for a sweet chaste kiss and asked, "How are you feeling?" Arizona reached up to smooth down the tousled tuft of black hair, knew her wife wasn't just asking about the pregnancy and replied, "I feel good, my leg doesn't hurt, no nightmares that I can recall, and so far, no nausea." Callie smiled brightly, pleased that her wife didn't take offense to her asking and answered honestly. Arizona noticed Callie studying her face as if she were debating her next question and supplied, "I promise if I get tired or my leg gets sore, I will sit down and rest. I am excited and don't want to miss anything, but I won't push it and put these babies or my own health at risk. Besides, there are plenty of shows and other attractions we can see and Sofia's little legs won't hold out for long, we can walk a little, ride some rides, take in a show or something, just pace ourselves. We have two days." Callie leaned in for a longer, sexier kiss, pulled back and asked, "You've got it all planned out don't you?" Arizona nodded and chirped, "I knew my wife would worry, so I had to have a plan to put her mind at ease." Callie looked at her thoughtfully and replied, "Thank you. I do worry, but…" Arizona replied, "But it's because you love me, not because you don't trust me." Callie nodded and agreed, "Exactly." Arizona, sat up and stretched then suggested, "We should probably get ready, go down for breakfast, then prepare ourselves for a whole day of 'mommies look'." Callie laughed at the accuracy of that statement and rolled out of bed.
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After a Polynesian style breakfast buffet where they could choose from a variety of fresh fruits, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, visit an omelet or waffle station and pick their own ingredients along with mingling with Moana and Maui, the small family decided to take one of the water shuttles to the Magic Kingdom. The closer they got to the main park, the more difficult it was to keep Sofia in her seat. Her little legs were bouncing up and down and her entire body was shaking with excitement. Trying to keep her daughter occupied, Callie reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out three wristbands, prompting Sofia to ask, "What's that?" Callie handed Arizona a light blue band with a picture of the famous castle on the front and the words 'Disney World' decorated with stars on the band and explained, "These are magic bands and they are very special. Just like your cards, they will get us into different shows and experiences." She placed a pink band on Sofia's wrist that had a tiara on the front and the faces of each of the princesses on the bands then she put on her own black band with a gold 'D' in the center with 'Disney World' written along the band.
The new bracelet seemed to distract her for just a few minutes while she admired all of the princesses on the sides. When she felt the boat slowing down, her head snapped up and she started clapping, "We're here, we're here. Mommies look, I see the entrance." Callie glanced at Arizona over their daughter's head and mouthed, "That's one." As soon as they stepped off the boat, Sofia grabbed her mommies' hands and pulled them both forward, not wanting to miss a single second of the fun. When they got closer, she let out a frustrated groan to find they'd have to wait in a long line just to get inside. Arizona winked at Callie and declared, "Hey Sof, remember how mama said that was a magic band?" The little girl nodded and Arizona pointed off to her left and explained, "If we go over there and wave our band in front of that machine, we can walk right in." Sofia's mini mega-watt smile split her face and she asked conspiratorially, "We get to cut in front of all these people? My teacher said that's not nice." Callie bent down and agreed, "In school and other situations, it's not nice, but here, because we have one of these special bracelets, the magic makes it okay." Sofia eyed her moms, then looked at the much shorter line by the magic machine, nodded and pulled them toward the other line. If they said it was okay, she wasn't going to question the magic.
As soon as they walked through the gates, Sofia's mouth dropped open when she saw the huge castle looming in front of her, all the characters dancing around and hugging people, heard the music coming from speakers she couldn't see and everything just smelled so sweet like cotton candy, cookies, cake, and other candies all mixed together. She didn't know where to look, everything was so bright and happy and just…magical. She felt her mama tug on her hand and looked up to see her smiling down at her and finally heard her say, "Come on sweetie, let's get our picture taken." Sofia nodded and she stood in front of her mommies as they all posed in front of the castle and smiled for the camera. The man taking the picture said, "one more", nodded at something, then before she knew it, Minnie and Mickey Mouse came up on either side of her mommies and joined the picture making them all laugh. The man scanned her mama's magic band and told her something about where to get their pictures. When she turned around, mommy was talking to one of the dwarfs and he handed her some papers and shook her hand while mama took pictures with her phone. Sofia went up to her mommy as she was unfolding one of the papers and her mama walked up behind her and asked, "Where should we start?" Looking at the paper, Sofia realized her mommies were looking at a map and waited as patiently as she could for them to decide where to go.
Arizona pointed to the map and suggested, "I figured we could walk down Main Street, go through the castle and visit Fantasyland first. That's where the majority of the rides Sof would enjoy can be found. They also have a few shows down that way. If we have time today, we can visit some of the other parts of the park or save those for tomorrow. Callie looked at Arizona whose eyes were glimmering with just as much excitement as their daughter's and knew she couldn't wait to get started. She bent down, kissed her forehead and proclaimed, "Let's get this show on the road then." Both Sofia and Arizona let out an exuberant, "Yay!" and they grabbed Callie's hands, nearly dragging her down Main Street to their destination. After a few minutes, they settled down as their attention was captured by all the shops and different characters walking by. They'd stopped to take so many pictures, Callie wondered if they would even make it to the castle by lunch time. Because they had the bands, they were able to enter 30 minutes earlier than everyone else and by the time they reached the main circle, they were just in time to catch the beginning of the parade that opened the park each day.
Sofia stood at the side of the road and bounced up and down waving and cheering as all of her favorite characters passed by on the prettiest floats she'd ever seen. Looking to her right, she squealed, "Mommy look! It's Belle and the Beast and Mrs. Pots and Chip and everybody." Arizona clapped and cheered right along with her daughter and Callie watched them both, knowing she had the biggest smile on her face. She didn't need the parade to make her happy, all she needed was those two smiles and would do whatever she could to keep them on those beautiful faces. Feeling her wife staring at her, Arizona turned, brushed their lips together, then focused her attention back on the parade. Callie was surprised when Mickey Mouse danced past her, took her hand, spun her around and acted as if he wanted to dance with her for a couple of minutes. Not one to disappoint, she played along and was surprised when Mickey and the crowd clapped for her and they all laughed when Minnie walked up and pulled him away. Arizona turned and narrowed her eyes at her wife playfully and Callie blew her a kiss. Sofia looked at her mama with her mouth opened wide and exclaimed, "You…mama…you just…you danced with Mickey Mouse!" Callie nodded her head and replied, "I did!"
When the parade passed by them and it was safe for them to walk again, Sofia was skipping around them in circles rambling, "Mommy, did you see mama dance with Mickey Mouse? Mama did you see Aurora and Snow White? I saw all the dwarfs and Goofy and Donald Duck. Are we almost ther…" She stopped and gulped when she realized they were right in front of the castle. She looked all the way up to the sky and it seemed like it was never going to stop. She looked at her parents in awe and exclaimed, "It's so big! Do the princesses really sleep in there?" Callie bent down next to her daughter, pointed to a group of windows just to the left of the clock tower and explained, "Do you see those windows right there? That is a super private hotel room. No one ever uses it unless they are invited to stay there. But other than that, the castle is just here for us to enjoy." Arizona arched her brow at her wife in question, Callie smirked and replied, "Oh hush, you already know I'm a Disney nerd." Arizona laughed and they followed their daughter through the castle tunnel leading to Fantasyland.
Sofia exited out the other side of the tunnel and gasped, "Whoa!" when she saw all the rides, lights, and characters. She spun around in a circle trying to take everything in and wondered how she was supposed to do all of this in one day. She looked at her mommies who were smiling down at her and asked, "Where do I start?" Mama shrugged and replied, "Anywhere you want to big girl, this is your day." Sofia knew she couldn't keep the smile off her face, looked up to the giant merry-go-round which was her favorite and knew they could all ride that then pointed and proclaimed, "There, I want us to ride that first." Callie and Arizona both chuckled and Arizona whispered, "We could have taken bets on that one." Callie nodded and laughed; their daughter was nothing if not predictable. She loved merry-go-rounds and Callie was certain this was only the first time they would be riding it. Once they reached the front of the line, they each chose a horse or character from Cinderella near one another and hopped on. Arizona looked at Callie and pouted when she needed a boost up. Callie smirked as she helped her wife up onto the horse then kissed her baby belly and returned to her own horse and climbed on. Hearing Sofia snicker behind her, Arizona turned around and tried to glare at her daughter but only burst out laughing when she saw that she was sitting inside a mouse holding her little hands over her mouth. She looked so adorable; the blonde couldn't help but take a picture.
As soon as they were off the carousel, Sofia hollered, "Mommies look! A pirate ship. Can we ride it?" Before waiting for an answer, she was already ten steps ahead of her mothers. Arizona looked to Callie and commented, "It's a shame I'm pregnant." Callie looked at her in shock until Arizona smirked and explained, "Mommies look would be a great drinking game." Callie shook her head and laughed at her wife's silliness then replied, "We'd both be three sheets to the wind already." Just then they heard, "Come on moms! I saved you a place in line." Callie started to join their daughter then stopped with Arizona to read the caution sign. Seeing it said nothing about expectant mothers, they both joined their daughter in line. While both of them would have normally chosen one of the ends, given Arizona's condition and Sofia's presence, they chose to sit toward the middle where the ride didn't go up as high. Sofia watched the other passengers and didn't know why they were doing it but put her little hands up in the air when her side of the boat went up into the sky. The moment her little bottom came off the seat, she quickly reached for the bar and decided she wasn't quite ready for that kind of excitement yet. Callie looked at Arizona and both women started laughing at the horrified look on their daughter's face when she realized what was happening.
As soon as they were off that ride, Sofia heard one of her favorite songs, 'It's a Small World' and asked, "Where is that coming from?" Callie pointed to the ride across from them and explained, "It's a little boat ride that takes you through scenes of different countries to show you how alike everyone really is." Sofia tilted her head and observed, "It looks dark in there. Is it scary?" Arizona shook her head and replied, "No it's not scary big girl, it's just darker so you can see each scene as it lights up. It's for special effects." The little girl looked at both parents and asked, "Will you come with me?" The two women nodded and went to wait in line. While Arizona and Sofia were in line, Callie walked up to read the sign. When she returned, Sofia asked, "Why do you and mommy keep reading the signs on every ride?" Callie took a deep breath and looked to Arizona to supply the answer. Arizona nodded to Callie to pick Sofia up since she knew if she squatted down, there was no way she was getting up gracefully then explained, "Those signs are for safety. You see the Mickey Mouse holding the ruler next to the sign?" Sofia nodded and Arizona continued, "That ruler tells how tall you have to be to ride the ride. If someone isn't tall enough, they could get hurt. The signs tell you other things like if you have a heart condition you shouldn't ride certain rides, or if you have a certain disability you shouldn't get on certain rides, or if you are expecting a baby you shouldn't get on certain rides. Mama and I have to read the signs because of the babies and because of my leg. We have to make sure it is safe for me to ride some of these rides with you." Sofia looked at both parents then nodded her head for her mama to put her down.
She took her mama's hand and then her mommy's hand and found a bench not far from the ride, sat down with them on either side of her and asked, "If some of these rides aren't safe for you, then why did we come here?" Both women smiled at their little girl and though it was a little difficult, Arizona pulled Sofia onto her lap so most of her weight was on her right leg and explained, "Even if I couldn't ride any of the rides, I would want to bring you here to see how excited you get and to watch you ride the rides and experience the magic of this place for the first time. We came here because we love you and we want you to see and do all the things that you love. There are many things I can still do, we just have to be careful and mama can do the things that I can't, unless she's too tall for some of those rides." Arizona winked at Callie who huffed and mumbled, "I could bend down." Sofia started giggling and asked, "You won't get mad or sad if there are some rides you can't ride?" Callie leaned over and whispered, "Mommy is kind of happy she has an excuse not to ride some of those rides. She doesn't like roller coasters or spinning really fast." Arizona raised her eyebrows and nodded, "I'm kind of a chicken." Sofia giggled again, hopped off her mommy's lap and commanded, "Well come on, there's lots of stuff you can still ride!" Once they were in line again, Callie wrapped her arms around Arizona and whispered in her ear, "How the hell did we get so lucky?" Arizona just shook her head, rubbed her belly, and replied, "I have no idea but I hope it rubs off."
After three hours of following Sofia around in the hot sun and riding as many rides with her as they could, Arizona leaned into Callie while they waited for Sofia to get off the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride and admitted, "I think it's time for a break." Callie wrapped her arm around Arizona's shoulder, kissed her forehead and agreed, "I was going to suggest the same thing. I'm thirsty and getting kind of hungry." Arizona sighed in relief then laughed as their daughter flew by and all she saw was her bright red cheeks and gleaming white teeth and commented, "Looks like the little one needs to cool off too." Callie nodded, looked around and offered, "We could go get lunch at one of the nearby restaurants then catch one of the shows. That will give us a good hour and a half to two hours." Arizona lifted her head, kissed Callie's cheek and whispered, "Bless you." Callie became slightly concerned and asked, "Are you feeling okay? Is your leg bothering you? Are you nauseous?" Arizona shook her head and replied, "I'm just overheated and a little tired. I think I need to get a water bottle or something to carry with me." Callie agreed, "We should all probably do that. I didn't realize it would be so warm today." Once Sofia got off the ride and ran to her mommies, they filled her in on the plan and she also admitted she was more than ready to take a break.
Callie looked around at their restaurant choices and asked, "Well, I know what I want, what do you two feel like eating?" Arizona knew what her wife was thinking, smiled and replied, "Oh I definitely want a world famous Disney turkey leg." Callie smiled brightly and replied, "You guessed it." Sofia scrunched up her nose and asked, "A turkey leg? Like you have at Thanksgiving?" Both women nodded their heads excitedly and Sofia made a face then asked, "Do they have like pizza or hot dogs or something?" Arizona deflated and Callie suggested, "Since everything is right here, how about we pick what we want? Right there is a picnic area by Pinocchio's Village Haus and they have chicken strips and flatbread pizza and other snacks. Mommy do you want to take Sof to get what she wants and save us a table and I'll run just down there to Prince Eric's Market and get our turkey legs." Arizona nodded her head, looked at their daughter and asked, "How does that sound kiddo?" Sofia smiled brightly, threw her arms around Callie's waist and offered, "Thank you mama. I love you." Callie smiled, brushed her hand through her daughter's hair and replied, "I love you too." She leaned over, brushed her lips with Arizona's and murmured, "I love you too. I'll be right back." Arizona nodded and they went their separate ways.
Sofia decided on chicken fingers and fries and Arizona bought three bottles of water and they had just sat down at the table when Callie returned with two huge turkey legs, fries, and three green apple slushies with mermaid tails sticking out of them. Sofia looked at the slushies and asked, "Is one of those for me?" Callie popped a fry in her mouth and responded, "It depends, is one of those waters for me?" Sofia nodded eagerly and shoved one of the waters in her mama's direction. Callie laughed, passed out the food and drinks, then handed Arizona a variety of sauces explaining, "I had no idea what you were in the mood for." The blonde laughed, looked at the gravy, barbecue sauce, and something that strongly resembled canned cranberry sauce that she wasn't quite sure she even wanted to know what it was and replied, "Me neither, I think I'll just stick to plain old turkey." She picked up the greasy piece of poultry and moaned when it practically melted in her mouth. Callie followed suit and Sofia just watched them and declared, "You guys are weird." Both women chuckled and continued to enjoy their lunch. It was quite obvious all three of them were hungry because there was very little conversation to be had until their food was almost gone.
Sofia looked around and commented, "Can we see The Little Mermaid Show next?" Arizona looked to Callie, handed her the map and they looked at it together along with the schedule of the shows. Callie answered, "The Little Mermaid Show starts in thirty minutes and it's right up there so we should probably get going if we want good seats." Sofia hopped up, collected all the trash and walked it to the garbage can. While she was gone, Callie leaned in and asked, "When do you think she will poop out?" Arizona looked at her phone and replied, "I'll give her another couple of hours. Maybe we can go back to the hotel, rest for a while, take a swim to cool off, get something for dinner, and bring her back for the evening to see the real magic?" Callie leaned over, brushed their lips together, and murmured, "That sounds like an amazing idea. I've always wanted to see this place at night." Arizona smiled at her wife and asked, "You're not too bored?" Callie laughed and replied, "You know I'm having the time of my life!"
When Sofia returned, they went directly to the theater to watch the "Under the Sea Journey" and made it just as the doors were being opened. They managed to work their way toward the front and found three seats with a perfect view of the stage. Initially they were seated with Callie on the aisle and Sofia sandwiched between them. After reading the program and seeing that members of the audience were chosen to participate, Callie switch seats with Sofia to give her a better chance at being picked though she used wanting to sit by mommy as an excuse. Once they were settled in their seats, Callie winked at Arizona, showed her the program and she immediately understood the reason for the seat change. While they were waiting for the show to begin, different characters from the movie made their way around the small theater and sold light up toys, of course explaining how there would be special parts in the show where they could use them. Rather than just purchase one for Sofia, Callie bought one for each of them so they could all join in the fun, knowing their daughter would get them in the end anyway.
Once the show began, they realized that it varied greatly from the movie, though some of the classic songs were still included so the audience could sing along. At one particular point, Ariel ventured out on 'land' and found some friends to take under the sea with her. She chose two boys and two girls and Sofia just happened to be one of those girls. When they got on stage, some of the dancers dressed like sea animals helped the children transform into merpeople and followed Ariel's directions as they swam across the stage singing along with her. Callie and Arizona both had their phones up recording the entire event. At the end of that scene, the children were escorted back to their seats and the lights came up for an intermission. As soon as Sofia sat down, both of her parents clapped for her and told her what an amazing job she did. She looked at their phones and asked, "Did you record it? Can I see? Can you send it to abuelo and abuela and grandma and grandpa oh and tia Aria and aunt Addie and aunt Lorraine and Maria and just, just everybody!" Both Callie and Arizona were laughing at their daughter's excitement and promised to send the video off later that evening along with some of the other pictures. While Sofia was talking about how fun it was to be up on the stage with a real live princess, a young woman tapped her on her shoulder and said, "Excuse me miss." Sofia turned around and asked, "Yes ma'am?" The girl who looked no older than 18 handed Sofia a pink t-shirt with the words, "Under the Sea Journey" along with a picture of the characters from the show and explained, "Princess Ariel wanted you to have this souvenir shirt for helping her find her way back to the ocean today. She and some of her friends signed it for you." Sofia gasped, hugged the shirt close to her chest and exclaimed, "Thank you, thank you and can you thank Princess Ariel for me too please?" The young girl nodded and went on to the next child. Sofia held up the shirt and proclaimed, "Mommies look!" Callie leaned into Arizona and whispered, "Shot," making her giggle, then they both turned and made a big deal of their daughter's prize.
After the show, Sofia seemed to get her second wind and found some rides in Fantasyland she hadn't gotten to yet. One of them happened to be The Barnstormer, which was a junior roller coaster and she had to work up the nerve to ride it. She ran straight to the sign to make sure she was tall enough, then she read the sign on her own, turned to her mommy with a pout and asked, "What's this big word?" Arizona walked up behind her, looked at the word she was pointing to and said, "That word is expectant." Sofia nodded and declared, "It says expectant mothers should not ride. Is that you?" Arizona mimicked her daughter's pout and answered, "I'm afraid so big girl. But mama loves roller coasters." Callie's head snapped up and she asked, "Did someone say roller coaster? I'm all in!" Sofia jumped up and down and asked, "You'll go? Even if mommy can't?" Callie nodded and replied, "Remember what mommy said earlier, if she can't, I can. Mommy and the babies can stand here and take pictures of us screaming our heads off." Arizona pulled out her phone and commanded, "Go get in line then!" Sofia took off running pulling Callie behind her as Arizona mumbled, "She definitely got that from her mama."
After two trips on the roller coaster and a few more rides they could all ride together, Sofia was lagging behind them and Callie leaned over to Arizona and whispered, "What do you say we suggest going back to the hotel to rest for a while?" Arizona sighed in relief and replied, "I'm ready to put my feet up for a while." Callie answered, "God, me too. How can we stand on our feet for an eight hour surgery, but six hours at an amusement park wears us out?" Arizona chuckled and declared, "We aren't chasing Sof around a 90 degree O.R. dodging hundreds of other people." Callie nodded and stated, "True. I think I would have quit surgery a long time ago if that were the case."
Just as she was about to turn and break the news to her daughter, Sofia caught up to them and asked, "Would you be mad if we went back to the hotel? I'm super tired and hot. If we leave, does that mean we can't come back today?" Both Callie and Arizona looked at one another, smiled, then looked at their daughter and Arizona answered, "That sounds like an awesome idea princess. I happen to know the pool at our hotel has a lazy river and we can just ride a float around and cool off. They also have the very first shop that ever sold Dole Whip and they have ALL the flavors." Sofia smiled and asked, "What's a Dole Whip?" Callie made an exaggerated surprise face and proclaimed, "Mommy, we have definitely been depriving our child! She didn't know about turkey legs and now Dole Whip? It's only the best kind of ice cream ever!" Sofia attempted her excited little hop but she was just too tired and asked, "Can we get one?" Both women nodded and Arizona suggested, "I think swimming and Dole Whip is the best way to cool off." Callie added, "Then maybe we can rest in the room for a bit, shower, have dinner and come back tonight when it's all lit up and we can watch the fireworks from here." Sofia nodded and replied, "I'd like that." Callie picked up her exhausted child, put her on her shoulders and declared, "Well it's settled then. Let's head back to the hotel."
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After floating around in the cool water for a while, Arizona decided she wanted to try an authentic Dole Whip after having had a variety of knock offs at different places around the country. Deciding they'd had enough sun for a while and ready for a cool treat themselves, Callie and Sofia dried off and they all decided to take it back to their suite and enjoy it in the air conditioned room. Once they found the little tiki hut that sold the delicious snack, it took all three of them a few minutes to decide what they wanted. Callie decided to try a Raspberry Swirl Float which was raspberry-pineapple swirl Dole Whip in pineapple juice, while Arizona ordered an I Lava You Float which was Fanta Strawberry Pop with Passion Fruit flavoring served with Orange Dole Whip and sprinkled with pop rocks. Sofia chose not to be as daring and settled for something she knew she would like and decided on a Strawberry Dole Whip in a cup. Both Sofia and Callie eyed Arizona's choice of flavors then giggled at each other hoping the odd combination didn't make her sick. Arizona stuck her tongue out at both of her girls and rolled her eyes at the taste that seemed to be exactly the combination of sweet and sour that she was craving, though she could have done without the popping candy, but she wouldn't tell her wife that.
After finishing their treats and agreeing a Dole Whip was far better than plain old ice cream, they each took their turn in the shower and by the time Callie was finished with hers, she found Sofia and Arizona cuddled on their bed together fast asleep. After taking a quick picture, she set an alarm so they would have time for dinner and to get back to the park, put on some comfy clothes and decided to join them. As soon as she climbed into the bed, Arizona reached behind her, took her hand and wrapped her strong arm around her, scooting back until they were cuddled together making her smile knowing her wife felt her presence even in her sleep.
The next time either of the moved, the alarm was going off and Sofia shot straight up into a sitting position and asked, "Is it time for school?" Both women still half asleep chuckled and Arizona reached out, rubbed the little tan leg and soothed, "No baby, we're at Disney World remember? That's mama's alarm so we can go back and see what it looks like at night." Sofia's beautiful smile lit up her face even as she blushed for forgetting something so important and giggled when her tummy growled, then asked, "Do we have time to eat first?" Callie sat up, stretched, and suggested, "We can either eat something at one of the restaurants here or we can find something at the park along Main Street. It doesn't matter to me." As soon as she finished her sentence, both Arizona and Sofia's stomachs rumbled and she answered herself, "Okay, here it is then. Let's get cleaned up and get going before you two decide to start eating the pillows." Arizona and Sofia looked at one another, smirked, nodded, then both took said pillows and started attacking Callie until she exclaimed, "Okay, okay, I take it back. I'm sorry. Geez. Not that you're hangry or anything." Just when she thought she got away, Callie got hit in the back of the head and turned to find the culprit but saw Sofia looking up at the ceiling and Arizona staring at her nails with her tongue poking out of her cheek.
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Once they finished eating at Captain Cook's where they found something to satisfy everyone's appetite, they decided to take the sky ride back over to the park so they could get a bird's eye view this time. Sofia sat near the window and exclaimed, "Everyone looks so small. Oh look, there's the castle, even that looks small from up here. It's still a little light out. What are we going to do?" Callie tilted her head and asked, "Did you want to ride more rides today?" Sofia stuck her little tongue out between her teeth, seriously thinking about her answer, looked at her mommy and asked, "Do you feel okay to just walk around? I'd like to see the rest of the park, or most of it and decide what we can do tomorrow." Arizona smiled, winked at her daughter, and replied, "I think I can manage." Callie clapped her hands together and declared, "You know, we still have some souvenirs to buy and some pictures to stop and pick up." Sofia's eyes grew wide as she hit herself on the forehead and declared, "I almost forgot the pictures. Oh wait…did you say shopping?" Callie chuckled and replied, "I did." Sofia tilted her head and responded, "Maybe we could do that instead." Both Callie and Arizona laughed and the blonde mouthed, "Thank you," over their daughter's head. Callie could see that Arizona's right ankle was a little swollen and she was sure her wife had to be exhausted, so she wanted to make this return trip as easy on her as possible.
Callie did her best to make sure they did as little walking as possible and they were always holding hands or had their arms around one another so Arizona could lean into her. She often stopped Sofia to have her look at one thing or another, take a picture in front of a statue or with a character and wasted as much time as she could until it was time for the Mainstreet Electrical Parade and the fireworks. Hearing the announcement for the parade, Callie found them a spot in the center of all the excitement where they could sit down and enjoy everything. When the first float approached them decked out in neon lights, Sofia jumped off her mama's lap and danced around to the music pointing out everything she saw. She looked at her parents and exclaimed, "This is so much better than the one this morning! Look mommies, Mickey and Minnie's clothes have lights all over them, oh and the princesses too!" Both women sat back on the bench, Callie's arm around Arizona, her hand resting on Callie's leg, their heads leaning together, their eyes darting back and forth between their daughter and the parade, and their dazzling smiles nearly as bright as the lights on the floats.
A/N: I know day 1 was a little detailed. I just wanted to catch all of their excitement and I haven't given them a lot of time as a family together lately.
I know the Electrical Parade actually shut down in 2016 and technically this story would have taken place in 2018, but I really wanted them to experience that, so creative license and all that.
As always, thank you for your love and reviews and for sticking with me.
All rights belong to Shonda, Disney, and ABC.