Chapter 21

When Callie opens her eyes, the first thing she notices are the pale arms that are still wrapped around her. She looks at her watch and realizes it is almost six-thirty. She tries to scoot over so she can sit up, but Arizona tightens her hold on the brunette.

"Mm, where you going?" Arizona mumbles out, still half asleep.

"I was going to get up and go check on Katie," Callie says, leaning back into Arizona.

"What time is it?" Arizona mumbles.

"Almost six-thirty. You can stay and get some more sleep. You don't have to come with me right now."

"No, I'll come with you," Arizona says, leaning in a little closer to place a kiss behind Callie's ear, causing the brunette to giggle. "Why are you laughing? Arizona asks, wondering what she did that was funny.

"You kissed my neck. I happen to be pretty ticklish right there," Callie admits, pulling Arizona's arms tighter around her.

"Well, that's good to know," Arizona smiles. "I'm sure that will come in handy."

"I can see now I will regret telling you that," Callie says, as she pulls one of Arizona's hands up to kiss it.

"You know, I don't know why you would think that," Arizona says, giggling.

"Call it a hunch…" Callie says. Arizona can't see her face, but knows she is smiling.

"Do you want to grab a shower now or later?"

"Um, maybe I can go check in on her while you shower and then I can come back and take one."

"Ok. That sounds like a plan. I guess I should let you up, huh?" Arizona asks, holding onto Callie a little tighter, not wanting this moment to end.

"Probably. If not, I don't know that we will move for a while."

"Just for the record, that is the best night's sleep I have had in forever. I thought I slept good with you on the couch, but it doesn't even compare to this. I l loved having you in my arms."

Pulling back enough to have room to maneuver, Callie rolls over to face Arizona and smiles as she places her hand on Arizona's face. "Just for the record, that's the best night's sleep I've had in a while too. I don't think we moved all night."

"Now that we know the key to a good night's sleep, I think we need to do more of that," Arizona says, rubbing her hands up and down Callie's back.

"Are you already making a case to get me back in bed with you?"

"Is it working?" Arizona asks, showing her dimples.

"Perhaps. I mean, I don't want to seem easy and give in right away. But I think you are on the right track to convincing me."

"Well, what else would I need to do to convince you?"

"Hm, I don't know. Maybe if you promised a kiss or two, that would seal the deal?"

"Oh, Calliope... I can promise that and even give you a preview," Arizona says, leaning in to give Callie a small kiss.

"Wait...," Callie says after the kiss. "You know, you can really stick with Callie. I was hoping you would just overlook that little detail."

"Not a chance. I rather like it. Now, before I decide not to let you up at all, I'm going to go grab a shower and let you check on Katie," Arizona says, letting go of Callie and getting up to head to the bathroom. She knows the brunette must be anxious to check on her daughter, and doesn't want to keep her much longer.

Getting up as well, Callie slips on her shoes. "I'll be back in a few. I just want to make sure she is ok."

After checking on Katie and finding out nothing changed overnight, she decides to grab some coffee and take it back to Arizona. They both seem to need it in the mornings. As she walks in, Arizona is standing with nothing but a towel, leaned over her bag that is on the bed. "Oh, sorry... I'll just," Callie says, pointing to the door as she tries to turn around quickly.

"It's ok, Calliope. I just forgot my bag out here. I'll go back to the bathroom," Arizona says, amused by the brunette, as she turns around to see Callie trying to look at everything but her. She lays her clothes back down and makes her way over to stand in front of her.

"Is one of those for me?" Arizona asks, trying to look Callie in the eyes.

"Um, uh huh. Yeah. They are, um, both the same," Callie says, holding them both up, still not making eye contact with Arizona.

"How is Katie?"

"No change. Still the same," Callie says, looking at the ceiling.

"I didn't figure there would be any change yet," Arizona says. "But, we never know…"

"I know," Callie says, disappointedly, still not looking at her.

"I'm completely covered, Calliope. You can look," Arizona says, leaning down to try to catch her eyes.

"Well, I um, I just... I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable," Callie says, now slowly turning to look at Arizona. The sight before her confirms just what she expected... That Arizona is a beautiful woman. She can't help but watch a water droplet as it runs down her cheek, onto her neck, then continue to make its way down to Arizona's chest and then disappear into the top of the towel that is tucked neatly around her.

Arizona grabs one of the coffee cups and grins. Callie might not realize it, but she now can't take her eyes off the sight that's before her. Arizona takes a small step closer and leans in close to Callie's ear. "Thanks for the coffee," she says, as she takes a step back to see Callie blushing.

"Yeah. Um, no... no problem." Callie still can't take her eyes off the blonde before her. She watches as another water droplet follows almost the same path as the last one, and for some reason, she can't help but to reach out with her finger and stop it, just before it reaches the top of the towel.

"You... You're beautiful," Callie whispers, sending chills down Arizona's arms. She lets her finger rest just above the top of the towel, before she runs her hand up over Arizona's neck and lets her eyes follow her hand, taking in every inch of Arizona.

As her hand stops on Arizona's cheek, she runs her thumb back and forth for a minute, letting her brown eyes stop on the blue eyes in front of her. Arizona's eyes are a somewhat darker shade than what she has seen them before.

"You are so beautiful. Every part of you," Callie says, as her eyes drift town towards the towel. For a second, she wonders what lies under the towel. "I could look at you all day…"

"I feel the same about you," Arizona whispers. Any other time, Arizona knows exactly what she would do in this situation, but isn't about to push Callie right now. It needs to be on Callie's terms, when Callie is ready.

"I should... go, um, get dressed. I'll be out in a minute," Arizona says, needing to get away from the brunette before she does something that makes Callie uncomfortable.

Nodding, Callie watches her head to the bed to grab her clothes and then disappear into the bathroom.

Callie takes a deep breath. She has never had feelings like this in her life and they are almost consuming her.

A few minutes later, Arizona comes out dressed, carrying her pajamas and her coffee. Sitting down on the bed beside Callie, she decides to steer the conversation towards safer places.

"How was Katie? Any change?"

"Um, no. None."

"Well, I'll finish getting ready out here while you take a shower and then I'm going to head back and look over her labs from this morning. I'll meet you there?"

"Yeah. Sounds good," Callie says, standing up and grabbing her bag. As she opens the door to head in, she turns back around as Arizona is reaching for her toothbrush to walk over to the sink. "You are just… so beautiful. Inside and out," Callie says.

"Thank you. Not as beautiful as you though…"

Callie just shakes her head and smiles, then continues to go take her shower.

Later that day, after treatments have taken place, the two women are taking turns reading to Katie when they hear a quiet knock on the door. "Hey guys, is now a good time?"

"Hey, Addie! Come on in."

As Addie makes her way in, you can tell she is somewhat taken aback by the little girl being hooked up to so much. Callie is used to the reaction which is why she wasn't crazy about everyone coming at the same time for the first visit.

"Hey," Callie says, giving Addie a hug. "It's good to see you. Thanks for coming."

"We have missed you. We were so glad to hear you were bringing her back home."

"Yeah, I think I'm glad to be closer. I didn't realize how much I had gotten used to being around you guys. I missed you too."

Arizona knew they would have company today, so she made sure to have some extra chairs brought in. "Come on and have a seat," Callie says, looking at Addie.

"She is beautiful, Callie. She looks just like you."

"Thanks," Callie says. "She does look a lot like me."

"So, we probably should talk about next week... I don't know how I can be there. I think we need to push everything back another week," Callie says, looking at her hands.

"We can do whatever you want us to do," Addie says.

"Actually... I have an idea," Arizona pipes up. "I know your initial reaction will be to tell me no, but, I really need you to hear me out first."

Callie raises an expectant eyebrow but says, "Ok..."

"So, here's the thing. I would prefer to check on her first thing in the mornings. I would also like to be here to make sure her treatments get started and there are no problems. So... why don't I just change my hours a little... which isn't a problem, because I'm the boss," Arizona winks. "I can maybe just scoot my hours back and stay with her in the morning, make sure there are no problems, you can go to work and get things off the ground and not have to cancel everything. Then you can come spend the rest of the day with her and then I'll go to work. Then, I'll come back in the evenings. What do you say?"

Callie looks at her for a moment before shaking her head. "I can't let you do that."

"See, this is what I'm talking about. I knew you would say no. Calliope, it works perfectly. Teddy and Mandy will love me for it. They can sleep in and you get to work a little."

"Arizona, I appreciate the offer. I do. But I just can't let you do that."

"I want to Calliope. And I also know you don't want to leave. I understand that. But a few hours a day will make for a happier, healthier mommy. You will lose patients you don't even technically have yet if you keep rescheduling. You want your practice to succeed for not only you, but for Katie too. We can work together to make this work."

"Arizona, you can't keep rearranging your schedule."

"I'm my own boss, Calliope. I can't get fired. I'm still seeing patients. I'm just changing things up a little. And, it's only temporary. Because we are hoping good things happen soon," Arizona says, giving Callie her dimpled smile.

"I don't know... I don't want to leave her."

"I know. You are a wonderful mom. You love you daughter and you want the best for her and you don't want to miss anything. Callie, if something big happens, I can almost guarantee we will know it's coming. We will see small signs beforehand. I'll make sure you are here. I promise."

Callie contemplates it for a minute before she finally says, "Ok. But you have to promise you will call if anything happens."

"You have my word. It's only a few hours a day. We can do this," Arizona says, smiling.

Addie has sat and observed the whole thing, not saying much. She is quick to notice the ease in which they talk to each other now. She can tell things have changed between them, but decides not to say anything for the time being. "So, you want me to keep morning hours for now? Say maybe eight until eleven? Then you have time to be here at noon and then you two can switch off?"

"Sounds perfect to me," Arizona adds quickly, before Callie has too much time to think about it.

"Um, Arizona, are you sure?"

"Very sure. We can do this," Arizona says nodding.

"Ok," Callie says. "That's what we will do then."

The women sit and talk for a little while until Teddy walks in. Addie takes that as her cue to leave. "So, I will head back to the office and get that taken care of. You might want this lady to do the same," Addie says pointing to Teddy as the other two notice her standing there.

"Hey Teds!" Arizona says.

"Hey. What do I need to take care of?"

Arizona explains it to her and Teddy looks at Addie, while Addie just smiles. "Ok. I have to say, I'm glad to do it. I'd love to sleep in a little."

Laughing, Arizona looks to Callie, "See, I told you."

"You did..." Callie chuckles. "You definitely called it."

"I so did," Arizona nods.

"Ok... Ladies I'll see you later. I'm going to head in and prioritize who we see and who we reschedule," Addie says as she heads for the door.

"Thanks for coming, Addie," Callie says, waving.

"No problem. I'll try to get back in here sometime this weekend."

They all say their goodbyes, as Teddy takes the seat that Addie just left.

"She is beautiful. She looks so much like you," Teddy says.

"Thanks," Callie nods.

Arizona chuckles, "You must hear that a lot," she says, turning to look at Callie. "But I will totally agree. I think you are both beautiful."

Callie blushes and Teddy looks on, amused. She can also see that things have definitely changed between the two.

"So, how is Katie? Any change so far?"

"Not yet. We are trying to get the nerves and muscles talking again. I think it's just a matter of time."

"Hopefully it works soon..." Teddy says, looking over at Katie. When she turns back to the women, they are both looking at each other. She watches for a minute and both of them seem to forget that Teddy is even there. "So, Arizona, it's Friday night. You have any plans tonight?"

"I'm staying here," Arizona says.

"Mandy and I are going to go to Jax if you want to come with us," Teddy says, knowing that Arizona isn't about to leave here. She just wants to see how the two women will react.

"No. I'm good here," Arizona says, giving Teddy a look.

Callie watches her and has a sense of guilt wash over her. "You can go Arizona. You don't need to stay here all night."

"Calliope, I don't want to go. I'm good here."

"Really, you should go. I don't want you to put everything on hold. You need to spend time with your friends."

"I'm with them all the time, Calliope. I want to be here tonight." Deciding to change the subject, she looks at Teddy, who is smirking. She realizes Teddy mentioned going out tonight on purpose and gives her a glare. "You're an ass."

"Maybe. I could tell things have changed. I just wanted to see your reaction," Teddy smirks, as Callie watches them, somewhat surprised Teddy picked up on something. "And... I got what I was looking for. So, now we are on the same page," Teddy says smiling. "This also means I win 50 bucks."

"What are you talking about?" Arizona asks.

"Mandy, Addie, and Christina and I... oh and the lady at the diner... We all had a bet to see how long it would take. I won. Another week and it would have been Christina."

"You bet on us?" Callie asks, surprised.

"Yeah. It was only a matter of time. It was guaranteed money for one of us," Teddy says, laughing.

"The lady at the diner?" Arizona asks. "Why in the hell is she in on it?"

"Because, we were having lunch and she remembered you two being in there. She wanted in on it."

"I can't believe you guys," Arizona says, looking back to see Callie's reaction.

"Yeah, well, you aren't going to want to hear about the other bet then."

"What do you mean?" Callie asks, this time.

"Oh, you know... just the normal bet that happens after two people hook up." Teddy smiles, waiting on it to sink in. She knows that Katie may be able to hear, so she doesn't want to come right out and say it.

"Oh," Callie says, with her eyebrows scrunched. "OH!" Callie says, turning a deep shade of red.

"Teddy!" Arizona yells. "That's none of your..."

"Little ears..." Teddy says, smiling, pointing to Katie.

"I can't believe you," Arizona says, shaking her head. "Calliope... please don't pay attention to them."

Blushing, Callie smiles, then laughs, though her cheeks are tinged pink.

"Teddy, I need to get us some lunch. We never really got around to breakfast. Come with me, please..." Arizona decides that she needs to get Teddy out now, before she really makes Callie uncomfortable.

Arizona gets up, grabs Teddy by the arm and shoves her towards the door.

"Hey..." Teddy says, giving Arizona a look. "What are you doing? I was visiting with Callie!"

"I'll be back. Anything sound good?" Arizona asks as she walks closer to Callie.

"No. Just whatever. It is all about the same anymore," Callie chuckles.

Arizona nods, then leans down to give her a small kiss, which causes Callie to blush. I'll just be a few minutes."

Once in the hall, Arizona turns to look at Teddy. "Are you trying to scare her away?"

"What?"

"This is all new to her and you are taking bets on when we are going to sleep together! Knock it off!"

"Sheesh, sorry. You are never weird about it. I didn't think you it would bother you. It didn't seem to bother her."

"It's never bothered me before because it never mattered. This time it's about her though. It's different this time."

"Yeah... I can see that," Teddy says, smiling. "Just for the record, my money for that part of the bet was on next week. But I'll tell them the bet's off."

"You better, Teddy!

When Arizona arrives back to Katie's room, she smiles as she walks in. Callie is singing to Katie again. She absolutely loves to hear this woman sing and decides she could listen to that forever. Callie is facing away from her, so she walks in and leans down to give Callie a kiss on the cheek. "Hey pretty lady."

"Hey. I didn't hear you come in," Callie says, turning around. "Where's Teddy?"

"I made her leave."

Laughing, Callie says, "You didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did. I would end up strangling her at the rate she was going. I'm sorry they are like that."

"Arizona, it's fine. You don't need to walk on pins and needles when your friends are around. I'd like to think they are mine now too. And I don't care if they give us a hard time. Because... that's what friends do."

"I don't want you to get embarrassed."

"Look, when you were around Mark, he was on his best behavior. Give him time... He will be worse than they are."

"So, you aren't mad?"

"Because they are being your friends? No. And as far as the topic of their bets... I agree with them. The first bet was a sure thing for one of them to bet on. It was only a matter of time. And the second bet... Well, as much as I don't want everyone to know every little detail, I'm sure they will figure it out when it happens anyway."

Arizona can't help but smile.

"Why are you smiling?" Callie asks.

"Because... You didn't say if," Arizona says.

"What are you talking about?"

"You said, 'I'm sure they will figure out when it happens.' You didn't say 'if.' it happens," Arizona says, giving her a dimple popping smile.

Smiling, Callie looks down and then back up for their eyes to meet. "You're right. I didn't," Callie says, as she blushes.

Arizona gives her a smile as they share a look. "So... you ready to eat?"

"Honestly, I feel like that is all we have done. I think that I seriously need to go on a diet."

"Not necessary," Arizona says. "You are too perfect just the way you are."

"Such a smooth talker..." Callie says, laughing.

Later that day, trying and failing to get Arizona to leave for the night, Callie realizes the blonde is one stubborn woman. She finally agrees to go home at some point in the evening to do some laundry for both of them though. She isn't gone long and returns fairly quickly, bringing back clean clothes with her.

A while later, Callie starts to yawn. "Are you about ready to get some sleep?" Arizona asks, as she notices it is going on midnight.

"Yeah. It's been kind of a long day today."

"It has. Let me get these blankets folded while you tell her goodnight. Then we can head that way."

"You are pretty sure I'm going to agree to the same arrangements as last night, aren't you?" Callie asks, smiling.

"Well, I guess I was hoping so. I mean... I thought I made a pretty convincing case this morning," Arizona says, grinning.

"Let me tell her goodnight," Callie says, winking.

As Callie reaches down to pick up Katie's hand, something catches her eye, right before she picks her hand up. "Arizona!" Callie yells across the room.

"What? What's wrong?" Arizona spins around, letting the blanket she just folded fall onto the chair.

"Her finger... It, it, moved!"