"Dad, hey." Arizona smiled weakly at her father as she approached him.

Daniel glanced at her for a moment, raising his eyes from the golf ball at his feet. "Your mom found these eco balls. They dissolve in water." He explained, driving another towards the small island in the middle of the lake. It landed, bouncing towards the flag that indicated the hole he'd been aiming for, but stopped short. "I don't know where she gets these ideas from."

"Sensible, though… there must be thousands under the water by now."

"Anyway," he changed the subject without commenting, "she's a little annoyed with me. Apparently I wasn't particularly welcoming to Callie last night."

"That's putting it mildly." Arizona agreed, pushing her hands into her pockets.

"It was a bit of a shock to hear that you're getting married, Arizona." Daniel pointed out, mirroring her actions and sinking his hands into the pockets of his fleece. "None of us even knew you were dating… let alone that you were dating your boss." When she simply stared back at him, the Colonel let out a low breath and held out his hand. "The point is… I owe you an apology."

He had never been a particularly demonstrative father and Arizona knew that a handshake was practically a hug and a kiss as far as he was concerned. She held out her own hand, feeling his fingers curling around hers with the familiar firmness that she had grown to expect. Daniel put a lot of store in what you could read about a person from their actions and a decent handshake was near the top of his list for recognising a worthwhile individual.

"Then I accept your apology. Thank you." She nodded, smiling at him weakly.

"There's something else."

"I thought there would be."

"I've been going over my retirement plans, recently." He told her, turning his attention back to his golf practice. Arizona rolled her eyes behind him, having a good idea where this was going. "I've done a lot of things in my life. I've built a career and a reputation in the military and then invested a lot of time and energy in the family businesses here."

His daughter looked skywards for a moment; waiting for the comments she knew were coming. "I know, Dad."

"I don't think you do, Arizona." He almost snapped, turning to stare her down. "With Timothy away, I need someone here to take over from me. I think we've been more than understanding of your need to find your own path in Seattle, but now is the time for you to–"

"Dad!" Arizona shook her head. "I wasn't finding my own path. I was building a life for me and Sofia."

"What kind of life do you have, though?" He demanded, unable to understand why she resisted coming home quite so much. "Your family and friends are here. You're a personal assistant, for goodness sake! You're capable of so much more than that. I want to give you the businesses to run."

"Dad! I have friends in Seattle. I have a life there. Sofia has a life there."

Daniel scoffed. "Sofia is just five. She would adjust to a life here without even batting an eyelid."

"That's not the point."

"It's exactly the point. Her family is here. Her life would be better here."

"You know what, I'm not getting into this again." Arizona snapped, throwing up her hands.

"I find it curious that you haven't once mentioned your fiancée as a reason to stay in Seattle."

"Obviously she's a major factor." The blonde rolled her eyes. "Look, Dad, I'm sorry that you didn't have a child who wanted to stay here and run your businesses for you. Timothy might when he's done with the army, but I… it's not for me. You might not understand it, but I'm happy with my life. I actually enjoy my job. Yes, it's hard work and no, it's not what any of us imagined I'd be doing. But I'm happy. So, please, just leave it alone."

"Well… if that's what makes you happy, Arizona, I've got nothing to say."

"Yeah? Well that's a first." His daughter sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Dad, but… end of discussion. I'm not going to change my mind."

Turning, Arizona strode away with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She heard the tell tale whack of a golf ball behind her and knew that Daniel wouldn't be back at the house for a long while. Leaving him to brood, hoping that he would finally start to realise that she was determined to live her life the way she wanted to and not bow down to the sense of duty that he clearly wanted to draw out of her.

"Barbara, honestly…" Callie paled at the sight of the slightly dingy building that they were standing in front of. "I'm not sure that–"

"Oh, it'll be fun!" The older woman assured her with a chuckle. "Don't worry so much, dear. Let your hair down. Arizona won't mind."

Not listening to any more excuses, Barbara led the way into the bar. They settled at a table quickly, Callie finding herself sandwiched between her future mother-in-law and Teddy and directly across from Carina. She was hugely uncomfortable that her plans for the day seemed to include Arizona's ex-girlfriend, not having any idea about their history and wondering why Barbara felt the need to involve the Italian woman in everything that was going on. Arizona's mother was clearly a huge fan of her daughter's ex and it was making Callie extremely insecure. She had absolutely no idea why, because it didn't matter in the long run, but she had a strong desire for Arizona's friends and family to like her.

"I hope you're ready for your big surprise because this is one of Sitka's biggest treasures." Barbara announced, looking at Callie and grinning.

Beside her, Teddy snorted with laugher and patted the Latina reassuringly on her shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it."

"What will?"

Before the blonde could answer, the lights dimmed and music started. A spotlight moved erratically around the room and finally settled on a platform above the bar. Callie's eyebrows shot up as the curtain was pulled across and a man she recognised as a waiter from the party at the Robbins' the evening before was revealed. Grabbing a rope that was hanging from the ceiling, he slid down to stand on the bar, thrusting his hips and grinning around at the crowd, who were going wild.

"Mark's the only exotic dancer on the island." Carina informed her, leaning forward and smiling warmly as she explained.

"We're lucky to have him." Barbara added, letting out a whoop of excitement that caused Callie to jump in surprise and Teddy to let out a snort of amusement.

As he continued to dance around the space, pausing to allow various women to shove dollar bills into his pants, Callie had the sinking feeling that he was getting closer and closer to their table. Before she could object, Barbara had produced a veil from somewhere or other and was fixing it in her hair, while Teddy waved her arms wildly to attract Mark's attention towards them. His lips curved up and he revealed his teeth in a wolfish grin as his gaze settled on the party and he started towards them.

"Oh, no… no thank you. I really need to just… pluck my fucking eyes out." She muttered, realising exactly what was about to happen.

Callie shook her head vehemently, trying to direct attention away from her, but it was absolutely no good. Mark seemed to have set his sights on drawing her into his act and, with very little choice in the matter, Callie found herself being pulled up onto the stage and seated on a hard, rickety chair. She was half convinced that it would collapse beneath her at any moment.

In the moment that Mark ripped his pants off, leaving him in nothing but his underwear and a bowtie, Callie was pretty sure that she had never felt more uncomfortable in her life. She could hear the cheering and laughter from the table she'd just left, as well as the rest of the crowd in the room, but it did nothing to relieve any of the tension she was feeling. Although her rational mind told her that they were just enjoying the show, she couldn't help feeling as though everyone was laughing at her. Catching a glimpse of Carina's face as she giggled with Teddy at the table, Callie wanted nothing more than to storm out of the bar and never come back. She just wanted to leave Sitka and forget the whole thing.

Suddenly drawn out of her thoughts as Mark grabbed her hand, Callie started to protest. She settled slightly as she realised that he was only pressing kisses to the back of it, before flinching when he drew her fingers into his mouth and started sucking on them.

"No, no, no, no!" She withdrew her hand quickly, wiping it on her jeans with a wince.

"Smack him!" Barbara shouted from the audience.

"What?" Callie frowned, unsure what she meant.

"Smack his ass!"

The Latina's eyes went wide at the older woman's words, before glancing sideways at the man beside her. She immediately wished he hadn't, averting her gaze as he continued to thrust his hips directly beside her head.

"Oh, god…"

"Smack him, Callie!" Teddy called, clapping her hands and dissolving into giggles.

Reluctantly, the brunette raised her hand and tentatively slapped Mark on the ass. Immediately he danced away, grinning at her and waggling his finger, apparently chastising her for the action. Callie couldn't help herself rolling her eyes in frustration, wanting nothing more to escape from the limelight.

"Can I get down now?" She asked imploringly, looking directly at Barbara and completely ignoring the man dancing beside her.

When the older woman nodded, grinning at her, Callie shot off the stage and took her seat once more. She practically ripped the veil out of her hair and dropped it onto the table, snatching up her drink and downing it in one go. Looking around, she mumbled something about needing another and escaped from the table. Instead of heading to the bar, however, she found her way out through a door that was labelled exit and found herself on a deck overlooking the water.

Putting her head in her hands, Callie let out a long sigh and shook her head. She really hadn't thought things through when she'd bulldozed Arizona into agreeing to this fake engagement. Maybe it would be better for everyone concerned if she staged some dramatic argument and left. Callie was pretty sure Arizona would be able to pull off heartbroken, victim of a horrible, bitchy ex-fiancée pretty well.

"Hey… how are you doing?"

Callie sighed again as Carina stepped out on the deck and moved to lean against the railings beside her. "I'm good, thanks."

"Yeah… the Robbins family can be a bit much sometimes," the other woman agreed with a grin, "but they mean well."

"Yeah…"

"It's a little different here to Seattle, no?"

"Just a little." Callie agreed. She forced herself to smile, unsure whether Carina was being genuinely nice or not. "You ever been?"

"No…" Carina smiled again, shaking her head. "The big city was always Arizona's dream, not mine."

"You guys were pretty serious, though, right?"

Turning her gaze out over the water, Carina smiled softly. "I mean; we dated in high school and all through college. Arizona's family moved here the same summer as we did. We were the new girls together and… we were inseparable for years."

Callie felt irrational insecurity flaring up inside her at her words. "So… how come you broke up?"

"We just wanted different things." Carina admitted. "Arizona had been talking a lot about moving to a big city and getting married and having babies… I didn't want to leave Sitka and I wasn't ready for all the commitment. We had… what do you call them? Crossed wires?" She sighed and shook her head. "I thought we were too young and I didn't think we would make good mothers yet, but I didn't know how to tell her without her getting upset. But then I see her with Sofia…"

"She's a brilliant mom."

"She is." Carina sighed. "Anyway, you're a lucky woman, Callie. Arizona really is the best. When Arizona Robbins loves you… there's nothing like it." She chuckled, raising her glass to her lips. "But I don't know why I'm telling you this. You already know."

Callie nodded slowly, forcing a smile to her lips. "Yep… I know that. Very much so. Yeah."

"Well, cheers to you guys."

They clinked their glasses together and stood in silence for a moment, before the door opened and a couple of women walked out. Glancing inside, they could clearly see Barbara dancing with Mark while Teddy laughed hysterically and held her cell phone up, obviously filming the moment to show to the woman's children when they got home.

Carina smiled. "Well, it looks as though Mark's wrapping it up. We should get back in there… don't want to miss the big finale."

Smiling weakly Callie followed her inside, although she'd rather not be. They didn't stay much longer at all, before Barbara announced that they should head home and the party disbanded. Chattering happily, Teddy and Barbara led the way back down to the jetty, climbing into the boat and waiting for the Latina to join them. Wincing, Callie stepped onto the vessel, doing her best to ignore the way it shifted underneath her.

"Oh no…" Teddy muttered, pointing towards the house as they headed up the wooden walkway a short while later, alerting her companions to the sight ahead of them. "What's happened?"

Following her gaze, Callie spotted Arizona standing next to what appeared to be a hollowed out log, swinging an axe above her head. Her eyes lingered on her figure for a moment, before she turned away. Glancing at the blonde's mother, she saw the frustrated expression on Barbara's face and realised that, apparently, she was used to finding her daughter engaged in… whatever she was currently doing.

"Arizona!" Barbara shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to try and make her voice carry far enough. "Arizona, honey, is everything OK?"

"What's she doing?"

Teddy glanced sideways, her eyebrows furrowed and a concerned expression on her face. "Something's up… it's best to leave her alone until she calms down. Come on."

Following the two women up to the house, Callie couldn't help her eyes darting back to the blonde every few seconds. Even from a distance she could see the tension in Arizona's body as she swung the axe into the wood in almost a frenzied way. She realised that Teddy was probably right that it was a good idea to leave her alone at the moment; anyone who got in the way could potentially end up with a serious injury. Something about it made her sad, wondering what had happened to make the other woman so upset. Callie severely hoped it wasn't her fault.

As soon as they entered the house, Barbara stormed into the den, snatching up the television remote and turning it off. Daniel complained at once, frowning at her and pointing out that he had been watching whatever she'd just interrupted. Teddy seemed to have disappeared in search of her boyfriend and Sofia, which left Callie to stand awkwardly in the kitchen, wondering what she was supposed to do.

"Why is Arizona hollowing out that piece of crap canoe, again?" Barbara demanded of her husband, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"Maybe she's planning her escape?" Daniel muttered. "How should I know?"

"Uhhh… I'm pretty tired…" Callie said, not wanting to get caught in the middle of a domestic. "I think I'll go up and take a shower… if that's OK? Wash off… Mark."

"Of course it is, dear." Barbara smiled at her warmly.

"I had a great time today… thank you."

As though she knew that Callie wasn't being completely truthful, Barbara simply nodded and watched as the Latina headed out of sight, before rounding on her husband. "What did you do?"

Callie paused in the kitchen, unsure whether she wanted to hear what Arizona's father might have done to upset the blonde or not. She knew that eavesdropping was wrong and it was out of line to listen in to their private conversation. On the other hand, she felt like she needed to know whether it had anything to do with the situation at hand.

"I didn't do anything… I mean, I just had a frank conversation with her about her future."

"Oh, yeah, that would do it!" Barbara snapped back. "That's wonderful, Daniel, because she will never come back home, now. Arizona is my daughter and Sofia is my granddaughter and we never see them because of you! Because you cannot help yourself finding fault and judging every single choice she makes. You are going to be supportive of Arizona marrying Callie and that is that. Understand?"

Deciding that she'd heard quite enough, Callie headed up the stairs and into the bedroom she was sharing with her assistant. Leaning heavily against the solid wood of the door as soon as it was closed behind her, she let out a long sigh and closed her eyes.

Pulling herself together and dropping her purse on the bed, Callie headed into the bathroom and started the shower. Undressing quickly, she slipped under the water and let out another sigh, this time of sheer bliss. She had been feeling incredibly grubby after her adventure in the bar and it was a relief to wash away the memory of the day.

With Sofia being entertained by her older brother, Arizona was free to work out her anger in exactly the same way as she had when she'd been younger and still living in her parents' house. Cursing as she hunted through the myriad of tools in the woodshed, the blonde let out an exclamation of triumph as she wrapped her hand around the handle of the old axe she'd been looking for.

Working on the canoe propped up around the side of the house had been the way that both she and Timothy had let out their frustration and irritation as teenagers. It had started out as a fallen log from one of the trees, but slowly they had started to hollow it out. It was very nearly at the point where, if they were seriously considering using it as a canoe, they would have to stop hacking away at it every time something pissed them off. Arizona didn't think that either of them actually intended it to go anywhere near the water, however, so she didn't think twice about attacking it furiously.

Jamming in her earbuds and turning up the volume on her phone as loud as she could stand, she battered away at the log until her hands were sore and she was too hot and sweaty to carry on any longer. Most of her frustration and anger with her father's attitude had subsided enough that she would be able to hold a civil conversation with him the next time their paths crossed, but she couldn't deny that she was still hurt. Daniel's persistent refusal to acknowledge that the way she wanted to live her life was completely up to her and no less right than the path he had envisaged for her drove her crazy. It was almost as though he was saying that he didn't trust her to do what was best for herself and Sofia.

Chucking the axe down on the grass, making a mental note to put it away later, Arizona wiped the back of her hand across her sweaty brow and winced. She needed a shower before she did anything else. Leaving the music blaring in her ears, she headed up towards the house and let herself in through the kitchen door. There was no one around so she headed straight up to her bedroom and out onto the balcony.

Stripping off her tank top, she glanced around and checked that there was no one in sight. Her bra, jeans and panties soon followed her shirt. Apart from her family, who were all safely somewhere else, there was no one around for miles and Arizona had always found stripping off overlooking the water incredibly liberating. She inhaled deeply, before turning and heading inside for a shower.

The next thing she knew she was colliding with something soft and wet before her back hit the floor and someone was lying on top of her. Shock covered her face as blue eyes locked with brown and both women realised what had happened at exactly the same moment.

"Oh my god!" Arizona shrieked, desperately trying not to put her hands anywhere that might get her slapped.

She failed miserably, sucking in her breath as she realised that her hands had settled a little too low on the small of Callie's back to be innocent. She flushed scarlet, unable to tear her gaze away from the other woman's as she realised that Callie's brown eyes were almost black with something that Arizona was convinced was lust.

But then the Latina's expression contorted angrily and she tried to extricate herself from their tangle of limbs without touching Arizona any more than she had to. That, too, failed as her thigh pressed insistently between the blonde's legs when she shifted and drew an involuntary gasp from the other woman. Arizona bit down hard on her bottom lip, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"What are you doing?" Callie demanded, her voice more high pitched than the blonde thought she'd ever heard it before.

"What the hell?"

"Why are you naked?"

"Why are you wet?"

Callie climbed to her feet, moving quickly towards the bed. "Don't look at me."

"I don't understand?" Arizona grabbed for a towel in the linen closet and wrapped it around herself hurriedly, trying to force herself to breathe normally. "Why are you wet?"

"Oh god… I can still see everything." Callie exclaimed, wrapping a blanket around herself and, almost reluctantly, forcing her gaze upwards to fix on the ceiling. "For the love of god… explain yourself, please!"

"Explain myself?"

"Yes! Explain… this."

Arizona felt her bad temper returning in force and she scowled at the other woman, her eyes flashing with frustration. "I was outside!"

"Oh, really, and you didn't hear me?"

"I was listening to…" She broke off, shaking her head. "What are you even doing home? Shouldn't you still be out with my mom and Teddy?" She waved her arm around in irritation. "You just decided to come in here and jump me out of nowhere? What is that?"

"I didn't mean to jump you!" Callie complained. "I couldn't find a towel and then I turned around and you were there all… naked…" She swallowed thickly, averting her gaze again. Catching sight of the disbelieving expression on Arizona's face before she trained her eyes on the far wall, she huffed. "Fine… you know what? Fine. Just go and take a shower!"

Shaking her head, the blonde stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. She clenched her hands into fists at her sides at how infuriating the other woman was, before reaching into the shower and turning it on. She lowered the temperature, hoping the cold water would do something to block out the image of the naked Latina's perfect body, which now seemed to be emblazoned into her memory.

A/N: It had to be Mark!

Thank you so much to everyone reading, reviewing, favouriting and following! It means to much to read that you're enjoying this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it!