Chapter 26

Callie places her sandwich that she has in her hand back into the bag and stands up, irritated. "Why didn't you call me? Or tell me when I texted you?"

"I'm sorry. I knew you would be upset and I didn't want to make your first morning back to work more stressful than it needed to be," Arizona says, as she stands to get closer to Callie.

Moving over by the window, Callie turns to look at Arizona as she comes to stand next to her. "You should have told me. What did he say? He saw, didn't he?"

Sighing, Arizona says, "I'm sorry, I just didn't want to ruin your morning. But, I should have told you. And as far as your dad seeing, yeah, he did. I'm sorry. I know that's not how you wanted him to find out.

Shaking her head, Callie says, "No, it's not. What did he say?"

"Um, not a lot really. He doesn't think you are respecting him by living like this. I tried to assure him that you love him and that respect goes both ways. I explained that my parents respect me enough to let me love who I want to love. I assured him you are still the person he raised… A strong, smart, brave woman." Arizona pauses, hoping that Callie takes that statement about loving who she wants to love at face value, and doesn't read into it. Not yet, anyway. She will tell Callie how she feels if she has to, but she doesn't think Callie is ready for that. Luckily, Callie is too worried to pick up on it.

"Yeah, I um, I'm sure he thinks he doesn't recognize me anymore."

"He needs time. This is a big change, but I think he will come around. You just need to be patient."

"What if he pulls the equipment from here? I need to get prepared to take her back to Mayo," Callie says, turning around to look over at her daughter.

"I don't think that will happen. He was grateful that she is improving. He loves you both Calliope. He might not understand things right now, but he still loves you and Katie."

"Yeah, but my father is the type that would maybe put conditions on that."

"I don't know him, but I saw a man earlier that loves his granddaughter. I saw a man that loves you, otherwise he wouldn't have been here. He would have left and not looked back. The fact the he came here today was actually a good thing. It should tell you he isn't just going to walk away."

Callie shakes her head and blows out a breath. "Yet. He isn't walking away yet," Callie clarifies.

"You have to believe it will work out. Just give him time," Arizona says, reaching for Callie's hand and bringing it up to her mouth for a small kiss.

Arizona pulls Callie into a hug and then leads her back over closer to Katie. "Here, you need to eat. Keep your strength up. She has one hour left to go of this treatment then the techs will be back in to unhook her. You call me if you need anything. I um, I ordered some new books. They are on the table over there. We read the top three but I saved the rest so that you would have something new to read."

"Ok, thank you," Callie says, giving Arizona a small smile.

"I wish I didn't have to leave, but I have a one o'clock I need to get to."

"That's ok. You have no idea how sorry I am you had to talk to him this morning."

"I'd do anything for you. Don't worry about it," Arizona says, giving a sheepish smile.

"Thank you," Callie says, looking at the blonde. "Now... Go, be great."

"I'll be back later. Call if you need me."

"I will," Callie nods, giving Arizona a kiss.

"Oh," Arizona says before she quickly walks over to Katie and leans down to give her a kiss on the cheek. Callie watches, thinking that this woman somehow continues to amaze her at how wonderful she treats her and her daughter. When Arizona turns back around, she sees Callie smiling. "What?"

"You are just... amazing."

"I'm not so sure about that. Anyway, I gotta run," Arizona winks and heads out the door.

XXXXXXX

Callie has been reading to Katie and catching up on some files that she brought back from work. She has been worried about her dad all day. She wishes she could have told him herself instead of him finding out the way he did.

Realizing she isn't able to focus, she puts her files down and scoots her chair over closer to Katie.

"Hey sweetie. Mommy is right here and I love you very much. You know, I think Arizona likes you an awful lot. She got you several new books today. A few of them used to be some of my favorites growing up, so it's funny she picked them. I really hope you are starting to like her. She's pretty great. I think she is the best thing that's ever happened to us. I hope you liked her staying with you this morning. I think we are so very lucky to have her in our lives. I…"

Hearing a throat clear behind her, Callie quickly turns around to see her father standing there.

"Daddy," Callie says, standing up to face her father.

"Can we talk?" Carlos asks, watching as his daughter begins to have an internal debate.

"Um, if it isn't appropriate to have in front of Katie, I think it should wait."

Sighing, Carlos shakes his head and makes his way towards the window, where Callie hesitantly joins him. "I'm not going to berate you, Calliope. I need to apologize. For not answering when you called. I should have answered. There could have been something wrong and I wouldn't have known."

"That's ok. I know you probably weren't in the mood to talk to me anyway," Callie says, quietly, with a sad smile.

"Calliope, that's not it. It's just a lot to take in. You really care about her, don't you?"

Giving her dad a small smile, she nods, almost sheepishly. "I do. More than I thought possible."

Carlos already knew as much... He had been listening to his daughter talk to Katie. He just wanted to hear her say it.

"You know that's not how we raised you," he says quietly as he looks away and back out the window.

"I know. And I should say I'm sorry, but I can't. I can't apologize for something that is the best thing to happen to me in a while. It's not something I had planned. But after George and what's happened with Katie, life is too short to spend it being unhappy. I'm ready for good things, daddy. I'm ready for someone to love me and to love my daughter. I really think Arizona might be able to do that. I know she is a woman. And I know how you feel about that, but she makes me happy, dad. And she cares about Katie. She has gone above and beyond what anyone else would do. I was afraid she would run when she found out I had a kid. But instead, she has done the opposite. I mean, she rearranged her schedule to help me with her. I know you are surprised by it. I mean, I have to say, I was too. I mean, it's not something I ever considered. But it's... just her. I am... drawn to her. I can't even explain it," Callie says, softly.

Carlos isn't looking at her, but is looking out the window. He has heard every word though. "Calliope, I'm a man who believes in the bible. I have a raised you the best way I know how. I also know, you are a grown woman now. I've seen buddies of mine get estranged from their kids because they didn't see eye to eye. I always wondered how they could let their relationships just wither away. I don't want that for us. I don't want to lose you."

"You aren't going to. Unless you can't handle this part of me."

"I love you, Calliope. I... I know this is going to be hard for me. But you have to do what's best for you. I might not always agree with your decisions, and although I might not understand this, I must say, I think Dr. Robbins seems like a nice person. And, from what I can tell, she seems to take very good care of the two of you. So, you need to be patient with me. It's going to be hard, because I still don't agree. But, as Dr. Robbins told me earlier, I need to respect you. And I do. I love you and I respect you enough to let you make your own decisions."

"Oh, thank you daddy!" Callie wraps her arms around her dad's neck, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I love you Calliope. I just want you to be happy, and you seem happier than you have been in a long, long time."

"I am," Callie says, pulling back. "I really am."

"Well, I need to head home. Your mother thinks I am in New York right now. I didn't want to tell her the reason why I stayed, over the phone. It will probably be best to tell her in person."

"Mom isn't going to be as accepting as you, will she?"

"It's hard to tell. That woman can be full of surprises sometimes. I'll talk to her," Carlos says. He walks over to stand by Katie, reaching down to hold her hand. "You get better for your mom. I'll be back to see you soon. I can't wait to get a call from your mom telling me that you are sitting up and talking to her. Make sure to drive her nuts. She has it coming...," Carlos chuckles.

"Thanks, dad..." Callie says, smiling.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll come back," Arizona says, after making her way in and finding Carlos standing there.

"Dr. Robbins," Carlos says. "No, don't worry about it. Stay. I was just leaving anyway. I was telling Calliope her mother thinks I'm in New York. I guess I should probably at least make an appearance there," he says, chuckling.

Surprised at the change in the man from earlier this morning, and noticing her brunette in a better mood, Arizona gives him a hesitant nod.

Carlos walks over and stops, right next to her. "Thank you, for taking care of my girls. I have a feeling you will continue to take care of them, so if they need anything, let me know," Carlos says, pulling a business card out of his pocket, handing it to her. "I mean it. Anything."

"Yes, sir."

Carlos turns around and gives Callie a hug, followed by promises to call as soon as anything changes. He makes his way out of the room and Callie lets out a long breath.

"You ok," Arizona asks, putting her hand on Callie's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Smiling, Callie looks up. "Surprisingly, yeah. I don't know everything you said to him this morning, but he is ok. I'm mean, he is surprised, and it will still take a little time to adjust, but he is ok."

At this point, Arizona sighs, feeling a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. She has been worried all day about how this could play out. "I didn't say anything really other than what I told you this afternoon. I knew for him to stay here and come back, he wasn't just going to walk away, but I was worried."

"Me too," Callie says, observing the blonde. "You really thought I might walk away if he didn't approve, didn't you?"

Arizona looks down, afraid to look at Callie right at this moment. "Calliope..."

"I know this is new," Callie cuts in. "And, I know that if the roles were reversed, maybe I would have been nervous about that too. I'm not going anywhere. I love my family, Arizona, but I live my life for me. I don't live it to please my family. They are important to me, and I hate to disappoint them, but that wouldn't have changed how I feel about you. I just, I need you to know that."

"Thank you. I appreciate you saying that," Arizona says, giving Callie a kiss.

"Well, I have had enough family talk for the day. How was your day? Heal a lot of sick kids today?"

"Not many. Mostly well checks. I did have a patient that came in with a pretty severe break from over the weekend. I'm not sure why the ER referred him to me. He needs ortho, so, I referred him to this pretty awesome doctor I know."

"Really? Who's that?"

"Oh, this Dr. Torres I met. She is always stealing my parking space, but she is smoking hot and I hear she is pretty good at what she does. I thought we would give her a try," Arizona giggles.

Callie grins, then leans over and whispers in her ear, "Well, if it's the same Dr. Torres I know, she tries damn hard to be very good at whatever she does."

Arizona's eyes grow big and a dimpled smile appears. "Well, I hope to experience your talent soon. So much so, that I spoke to my mom earlier and she will be here at six on Saturday, to spend the evening with Katie."

Callie gets a bright smile on her face and leans in to give the brunette a kiss. "Sounds good to me."

"So, just for planning purposes, should I plan a night out, or a night in?"

"Oh, I don't know. I mean, dinner out in a restaurant... all dressed up. Or dinner in, being dressed at all a total option... I don't know. It's a tough call," Callie says, with a smirk.

"Well, you just helped me make up my mind...," Arizona says, smiling.

"Good. I'm glad I could help you decide," Callie winks, giving Arizona a sultry look.

The two spend the rest of the evening, taking turns talking and reading to Katie. Callie can't help but be excited as Katie once again moves her fingers and opens the same eye as she did before, but a little longer this time. Arizona makes note of a few changes she wants to make to Katie's treatment tomorrow. With each change she makes, Katie improves just a little bit more.

It's nearing midnight before the two women lay down to try to get some rest. Falling down into bed exhausted, Callie scoots towards Arizona and lays her head down on Arizona's chest. Arizona gladly wraps an arm around the blonde, holding her close, and can't help but think that the weekend can't get her soon enough.