A/N:
Hey guys! Thanks for all your wonderful reviews! When I decided to post this I wasn't sure if people would even like this! Are there still any formatting issues? I've been previewing it and can't see any issues but please let me know if there are and any ways to fix it! I'm very new to this and still trying to figure it all out!
This chapter is a lot longer than the last two, so hopefully it's still good! I promise that in the next chapter there will be Calzona interaction! I'm hoping the wait will be worth it! I'm hoping to update again in a week but I have gone back to work which makes me a bit time poor. Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 3:
It had been over 2 months since Callie and Sofia had moved to their new town and they had never been happier. Well, they hadn't been this happy since they live in Seattle. Sofia couldn't believe how well things were going and she was just waiting for the shoe to drop. Waiting for the moment when things would stop being amazing. Callie had been home almost every night to either cook or at least eat dinner with Sofia before hanging out on the couch or helping her study. They had never been closer but history had proven that this never lasts, at least not long enough. Sofia held onto the hope that maybe this time would be different for them. This time things would go their way.
"Come on, answer your phone," Sofia groaned to herself. Her mum was meant to pick her up over an hour ago and Sofia was still standing outside of school waiting. If she had known that Callie wasn't going to make it in time, she would have just caught the bus or gotten a lift with her friends. It was way too late for that and the last bus had left 45 minutes ago.
"Hey, what are you still doing here?"
Sofia turned around to find her principal walking towards her.
"My mum was supposed to pick me up but she isn't here or answering her phone," Sofia answered.
"Oh. If you like, I can give you lift a home? I mean, you don't know how long she's going to be and it will get dark soon."
"I can't ask that of you. I don't want you to go out of your way."
"Nonsense. And you're not asking, I'm offering. Follow me and I'll drop you home. Just let your mum know so she doesn't worry."
"Thanks." Sofia replied before following the blonde woman. "I really appreciate it."
"So, how are you liking living here," Arizona asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had filled the car since they started driving.
"Oh," Sofia replied, breaking out of her trance, "I love it. Everyone is so nice and I'm loving the classes."
"It's a great school. I know what it's like to move around a lot. We moved every time my dad got his new posting. Some of the places weren't even in the country."
"Ha, yeah. I think the longest we did in one place was like 11 months. We didn't start moving until I was like 6. We lived in Seattle and then mum started getting heaps of job offers all over the country. We even ended up in Switzerland at one point. It was only for a few months so mum could teach but it was pretty cool. This place is the best though."
"I didn't stop moving around until I was in college. Since then I've tried to stay in the same place for as long as I can. I've been here 8 years now and I don't think I'll be moving anywhere soon," Arizona smiled.
"Why did you stop being a surgeon? I mean, there's a big difference between being a surgeon and a high school principal," Sofia questioned.
"Sometimes life doesn't go the way we want to," Arizona replied.
Sofia watched as her eyes filled with sadness. She knew there was a story there but didn't think she was going to get it out of her. Especially considering she was a student and Dr Robbins was her principal. They weren't friends by a long shot and Sofia sensed it was a story for friends.
"Yeah, it sure doesn't," Sofia sighed. "My house is the one just on the left here. With the big tree and pink flowers. Uh, thanks for the lift. I can give you some money for gas?"
"Don't be silly," Arizona said, shaking her head. "Pay me back by acing the quiz on Friday."
"I can do that. Goodnight Dr Robbins, see you at school."
Sofia watched the red car drive away and all her anger towards her mother came boiling back. Looking down at her phone she saw that she still had no text or call from her mother explaining her absence. Groaning in frustrating Sofia slammed the front door and threw her school bag on the table. She quickly ordered pizza to be delivered later. If Callie had been pulled into an emergency surgery, she was going to be tired and hungry when she got home. As angry as Sofia was she knew that it was the job that made these situation happen sometimes, it wasn't like her mum went out of her way to forget her. She also knew once she started studying, she would forget all about food for dinner.
Headlights flooding over her was the only thing that got Sofia to look up from her books. It was almost 9pm and Sofia had finally heard from Callie only two hours prior to let her know she had been pulled into an emergency surgery. She couldn't be mad at her mum for saving lives, that was selfish.
"I know I say this all the time but nena I am so sorry I missed picking you up," Callie apologised as soon as she walked in.
"It's okay Mama," Sofia sighed. "Did you save them?"
"Yeah. It was hard but I did it," Callie answered as she ate some of the cold leftover pizza. "How was school?"
"It was great. I got an A on my English paper. Georgia has invited me to a party on Friday night, can I go? There will be alcohol but I promise I won't drink."
"Yeah, that's fine," Callie answered. "Just make sure you're home by curfew."
Sofia smiled as she felt Callie's hand stroke her hair. It was the one thing that always made her feel better. She looked up and found her mother staring down at her, eyebrows slightly furrowed as if she was thinking about something.
"What's going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"You never let me go to parties and you have that look on your face. That look of 'I have bad news but I don't want to tell you'. You get that look whenever we have to move again. We can't move! You promised," Sofia ranted.
"Slow down, we aren't moving. I do have news though. I guess it's bad and good."
"What is it then?"
"I got the head of ortho job at the hospital. The current one retired with no notice and they offered it to me and I said yes."
"So that means more surgeries?"
"Yeah."
"So back to being on call and working 18 hour days. You said you were making me a priority!"
"You are my priority. I'm the department head which means I only have to do night shift if no one else can and I'll be on call but I can delegate emergency surgeries. I told them no days longer than 10 hours unless I have heaps of notice. I'm not going back to what it was before. I'm not missing out on anything else. How about I sign up for that parent's career week thing? I can come in one day and teach? Does that make it a bit better?"
"How did you know about that," Sofia asked, finally looking at her mother.
"The school emailed me asking if I was free. I hadn't replied but I will first thing tomorrow."
"What if you have to work or a surgery comes in?'
"Pfft," Callie scoffed, "I'll reassign it and give myself the day off. I'll call in sick if I have to. I will be there. Now come on, grab the ice-cream and put the books away. Let's go watch some trashy TV before bed."
Pausing for a moment, Sofia let the conversation sink in. Becoming head of a department was big deal, especially considering her mother hadn't been working there very long. She'd heard from people that Callie had previously worked with that she was a superstar with a scalpel.
"Congratulations Mama," Sofia finally said softly, "that's amazing you got the Head of Ortho job. I'm really proud of you. Sorry for snapping at you, it's been a long day."
"Thanks Nena. It's kind of a big deal and I couldn't say no. I appreciate you apologising," Callie smiled at her daughter.
"Okay so you are going to pair up and work on your case studies for the next two lessons."
"Wanna be my partner?"
"Sofia," Naomi said loudly into Sophia's ear.
"Huh," she said, breaking out of her trance.
"I said, wanna be my partner?"
"For what?"
"Where have you been all lesson? We are working our case studies, Robbins said to partner up."
"Sure," Sophia answered, shaking her head. "What else did I miss?"
"Only a whole lesson on what we are looking for, how to read the case study, requirements for the case study. Is everything okay?"
"Yes. Kind of. Ma took a job as head of department at the hospital."
"Whoa. Thought you said the whole point of moving here was so she could focus on her research and spend more time on you."
"Yeah, that was the point," Sofia sighed, "I knew it was too good to be true though. She promised that even though she was back doing surgeries, she would delegate more but we've had dinner together like three times in the two weeks. I mean it's awesome she got this promotion but I miss her when she works all the time."
"Sloan, Abbott, get to work," they heard Robbins yell at them from the front of the room.
Both of the girls froze and looked at each other before giggling to themselves.
"We better get started, especially because I have to catch you up on the whole lesson," Naomi joked as she grabbed their case study and started reading out loud.
"Sloan! My office now!"
As she heard her name being called from the other end of the corridor, she turned around to find the owner of the voice.
"Why is Robbins calling you," Naomi asked her from the locker next to hers.
"I don't know," Sofia shrugged. "Maybe she thinks you copied off my Maths test."
"Shut up," Naomi laughed. "Everyone knows it's the only subject I'm better than you in. Maybe it's because you were zoned out the entire Biomed lesson and she's going to give you detention."
"Yeah, sure," Sofia replied, rolling her eyes. "She doesn't look angry."
"Yeah well, good luck. I'll take notes for you," Naomi told her as they both closed their lockers.
"Thanks," Sofia called out over her shoulder as they parted ways.
Sofia nervously played with the hem of her shirt as she walked towards the admin office. There had only been a few times she had been called to principal's office for bad things in the past. Things like being pulled out of school to go to stay with her grandparents for one reason or another or because her mother had decided on a whim to take another job so they were moving that day. She didn't realise she had been holding her breath until she felt a slight dizziness hit her. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. Callie had promised they weren't moving anytime soon. She had even just taken on a head of department job. Repeating these facts didn't seem to help the anxiety build in the pit of her stomach.
"Sit down, Sofia."
Sofia heard the blonde sternly address her as she walked into her office. Sitting down tentatively, Sofia never let her eyes move from her principal. Since she had started at the new school, she had taken a liking to Arizona. She didn't know what it was but she felt a connection with the principal since their car ride together. Sofia had a small feeling that it was a mutual liking. After talking to other students at the school, she realised that no one else had their enrollment meeting with Robbins. Nor had they been offered a lift home. This intrigued Sofia more. She watched as Arizona finished whatever she was working on, Eyebrows creased in focus on the screen in front of her.
"Alright," Arizona smiled as she looked up to Sofia. "I just wanted to check on you. You seemed, distracted today."
"Oh, you noticed that."
"I did. Leon had to correct me today when I used incorrect terminology, it took him a lot longer that it would have taken you."
"Sorry. There's just a lot going on at home," Sofia smiled weakly.
"Well, if you ever need to talk to someone who isn't your friends, my office is always open for you."
"Thanks Dr Robbins."
"Also I was thinking, if you wanted some extra tutoring for Biomed, I'd be happy to tutor you after school once or twice a week."
"That would be great, thanks. I'll check if that's okay with my mum."
"Awesome. Let me know. You better get back to class. I just wanted to check you were okay," Arizona smiled at her, dimples popping.
"Thanks," Sofia smiled back she got up and went to leave.
As she reached the door she paused. Why her? Why was Robbins showing her so much care interest?
"Can I ask you a question Dr Robbins?"
"You just did," the blonde answered looking up from her computer again, "but ask away."
"Why me," Sofia asked nervously. "I've spoken to other students, they said that you never do enrollment interviews and that your Biomed class filled up last year and I came half way through the year and got in and now this?"
"You remind me of me when I was your age."
"Oh."
"Anything else?"
"No. Thanks, Dr Robbins," Sofia smiled, thankful for the gesture.
"You're welcome, "Arizona returned her smile, "Now get back to class before you miss two whole lessons today."
When Sofia got home that afternoon, she found her house smelled of different spices that hit her senses and made her smile. She hadn't come home to her mum's cooking in years. She hadn't seen her mum cook something from their Spanish heritage for at least three moves. The last time was when her mum seemed happy. When they thought they were happy. She didn't realise she was smiling until walked into the kitchen to find her mum dancing and singing. Her cheeks hurting from how wide her smile had become.
"You're home," Callie beamed at her daughter.
"You're home," Sofia countered, entering the kitchen to see what was cooking. "Churros? You must have had a good day!"
"It was a great day! I had a break through with my research so I came home early so we could celebrate!"
Sofia smiled as her mum started dancing again. She felt Callie grab her hands as she made her dance with her. The pair laughed as they jumped, twirled and shook to the beat of the songs playing loudly over the speaker. The room filled with their giggles and loud singing, the pair only stopping when they had to check the food. Sofia grabbed a spatula to use as a makeshift microphone, screaming lyrics into it before Callie would take it off her to do the same.
"Well, we definitely earnt our dinner tonight," Callie joked as she handed Sofia her plate.
"We haven't danced like that since before," Sofia said before being cut off by her mother.
"Don't Sofia," Callie warned.
"You never talk about it. You should talk about it. If not to me then,"
"Sofia, I don't want to talk about it. There is nothing to talk about."
"Okay then maybe I want to talk about it. Maybe I have some things to say about…"
"We are NOT doing this. I'm not doing this with you."
"Then you need to move on. Start dating again or at least start talking to people. Put yourself out there," Sofia offered her advice knowing that her mother would not be happy. Avoiding the death stare she knew she was on the receiving end of, she kept her eyes on food as she ate.
"Drop it. God, you're just like your father when you get like this. Just stop and drop the issue. When I want to talk about it, I will. Got it?"
"Fine," Sofia rolled her eyes, finally looking up at her mother. "I just want you to be happy. I love you."
"I am happy," Callie replied, smiling at her daughter, "I know things haven't quite gone to plan but I'm happy. I'll be even happier after careers week is over."
"Speaking of school, is it okay if I stay at school some afternoons for tutoring?"
"Wait, what?! Are you failing classes?"
"No," Sofia shook her head, "Dr Robbins offered me like extension tutoring because I'm doing so well. I said I had to check with you before I said yes but I really want to do it."
"Oh well, yeah. It's totally okay with me. What is he going to tutor you in?"
"SHE is going to tutor me with some biomed and biology stuff to get ready for college. Robbins used to be a peds surgeon. You guys would totally get along. She's pretty cute," Sofia winked at her mother.
Sofia laughed when she heard her mother groan at her last comment.
"I thought we agreed to drop this topic," Callie asked.
"No, you agreed to drop it and that was talking about past, people," Sofia said smugly, "you said nothing about future people."
"There is no future people," Callie reminded her, "you're my priority and I'm not going to date your tutor."
"Technically she's my principal AND my tutor," Sofia smiled at her mother.
"More reason to not date her," Callie confirmed as they continued eating dinner.
"Okay, shall we get started,' Arizona smiled at the young brunette.
Sofia had been looking forward to her first tutoring session all week. It had been the slowest week of her life. Every day dragged and today was especially slow. It was one of her only days without a Biomed class which had quickly become her favourite subject. She had made sure to pack everything she needed, even making sure that she had a special pencil case just for these sessions filled with different coloured highlighters, pens, pencils and anything else she thought she might need. Callie had gotten mad at her the night before when she had been caught reading her text book in the early hours of the morning.
"Yes," Sofia smiled excitedly.
"Great," Arizona smiled back, pulling out a blank looking manilla folder from her bag. "We aren't going to look at your textbook in these sessions, we do that enough in class. We are going to look at some cases that I treated when I was a surgeon and some cases I had some friends send me."
"You actually treated these patients," Sofia asked, amazed at what Arizona was presenting her.
"The case we are looking at today is one I treated many years ago," Arizona smiled as she handed over files. "It's one that I think I'll always remember. Some cases just stick with you."
"Why this one?"
"I think because I had treated him for so long. He lived longer than we expected, a good two years more. Watching his parents made me realise somethings about my life. But enough about me, let's talk about Short Gut Syndrome."
"Ma says cases involving kids hit her harder since she had me. She realised that at any time it could me needing a surgeon to save my life the way she sees it happen every day," Sofia mused as she read over the information in the folder. She thought back to when she was 10 and walked in on Callie crying after a particularly hard day. Her mother wouldn't tell her what had happened, but Sofia figured that someone would have died. It took her a few weeks to find out that it was a young girl the same age as her. She had fallen off her bike and came in for a broken bone only to die of a brain bleed they hadn't picked up in time.
"Having kids would make it so much harder to treat kids. Your mother is really brave," Arizona agreed.
"Do you have any kids?"
"Only the hundreds of you enrolled at my school. None of my own though."
"Do you want kids," Sofia asked, shooting Arizona a sly smile.
"How about we focus on this now. We don't have a lot of time to get through everything," Arizona smiled back as she changed the subject.
