Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.
A/N : Thanks for coming back for this story. This note is gonna be quick because I have 10 minutes to post it before I have to get on a plane. (I'm gonna miss the coming episode 11x14, wish Herman is gonna be ok) I like all the reviews about the previous chapters and thank you all for finding the story interesting to read.
Once again, thanks to my wonderful and amazing friend calzonaforever35 for helping with this chapter.
Chapter 4
The morale in the hospital had improved greatly ever since Derek Shepherd took over the position of the Chief of Surgery. Not that the former chief Richard Webber did the job poorly, but his relapse into alcoholism made him lose focus and clouded his judgment, affecting the performance of the staff members.
The new chief was determined to right the wrong, and bring the hospital back to the top ranking medical facility in the US. He encouraged the surgeons to take on more responsibilities, and think outside the box to exceed their limit. Everyone followed the order gladly even though the heavy workload made them a little wound up. After all, they were surgeons and there was nothing that would make them more thrilled than get a chance on a difficult surgery.
And they knew how to unwind.
In the olden days, the surgeons would head to Joe's without making plans in advance. They could always found a friend or two in there starting a drinking party until they forgot their own names by the end of the night. But things had changed lately. Not that they didn't go to Joe's anymore, but the core female surgeons found the joy of a good ladies night.
Bailey was the first to propose having a nice dinner instead of a binge drinking contest. After all, she wasn't so fond of being in a pub with a bunch of drunken colleagues. Teddy seconded it. Later on, dinner evolved to bowling, baseball batting, movie at Bailey's... Whenever Bailey, Teddy, Callie, Arizona, Lexie, sometimes with Meredith and Cristina, had an early night off, they went for a ladies night.
Things between Callie and Arizona seemed neutral on the surface. They acted friendly around each other. Their friends didn't know if anything had happened after the thanksgiving dinner, but one thing for sure was that the two women didn't express their true feelings toward the other. It left the nosey people frustrated for a while. But life went on especially in a busy hospital, every day another scandal appeared that grasped the attention in the gossip mall, such as Bailey's boyfriend almost engaging in a fist fight with her ex-boy toy, or Mark's secret love child showing up unannounced, or Owen and Cristina falling in a cold war about children.
No one had time to recall the little stunt they pulled during the thanksgiving dinner.
It was a blessing, to both Callie and Arizona.
The friendship between them blossomed quickly over the past three weeks. The brunette kept her adoration towards the buoyant and optimistic PEDS surgeon to herself, not even to Mark who was busy dealing with his suddenly discovered 18 year old daughter and an insecure 25 year old girlfriend.
On the other hand, Arizona had to remind herself that Callie was with someone else. She lost her chance to be with this confident, amusing and charming Latina. She should be content with being her friend.
That's what they were doing, being friends.
However, the chemistry between them was over the chart. They could easily pick up one another's mind. Their eyes always followed the other wherever they went. A smile would be induced just by mentioning the name of the other woman. An innocent hug after Callie hit the baseball or a playful caress on the back when Arizona threw the bowling ball into the gutter could always bring a shiver to their bodies.
And they were like the opposite poles of magnets attracting each other. Without noticing, they were always sitting next to the other during meetings, lunch in the cafeteria, couch in Bailey's living room, or like now, relaxing in the attending lounge together with their colleagues.
"It sucks." Bailey groaned after passing the bottle of Brandy to her colleagues across the little table between them. "2 hours on the table and I still couldn't stop the bleeding."
"Mine arrested twice, and I couldn't bring him back after the third time." Teddy sighed, pouring the brown liquor into her plastic cup.
"Ours wasn't so good either." Callie turned to look at the woman sitting next to her with a twist on the lips. "The boy almost bled out on the table and I could hardly put his leg back together."
"But you fixed it, Callie." Arizona returned the look with a small smile. "The ex fix is gonna hold and you didn't have to cut it off. It is amazing."
There was a major traffic accident downtown and caused many casualties. Seattle Grace Mercy West as a grade 1 trauma center, they took in most of the injured. The surgeons were on their feet since the afternoon, and now it was almost midnight, they were all beat.
"I know we should be glad that we were here saving lives, but am I the only one who's upset that we don't get to go dancing?" The cardio surgeon pouted at her work friends. They were supposed to have another ladies night. Since they all had a day off the next day, Arizona proposed to go to a club and everyone was excited about that. A flipped over container truck on the highway wrecked their plan.
"I told Ben that I was going to learn sasha dancing from you." Bailey pointed a finger to the brunette on the couch with sternness. "And then I am going to show him my moves. He'll be disappointed when I get home."
The rest of the women let out a roar of laugher. Callie picked up the bottle on the table and refilled her friend's cup with a smirk.
"Don't worry, Bailey. We'll pick another night and I'm going to teach you how to shake your hips."
Arizona stared at Callie's back when the curvy body leaned over the table to reach for the cup of Bailey's. She swallowed hard imagining the movement on those hips, and she found her cheeks were getting warm.
"How about after tomorrow?" Teddy asked eagerly, she really wanted to go dancing. "Henry's team is still on tour, I'm pretty free in this whole week."
"I can't." Arizona brought the plastic cup to her lips trying to hide her still flushing face. "I have the night shift. The day after."
"That's Friday, right?" Callie asked after settled back on the couch, looking at the blonde next to her. "Addison's coming. We have plans."
"The surgery isn't until Monday, why is she coming so early?" Arizona's face fell slightly, barely noticeable to anyone except for her best friend for 2 years.
"She cleared her schedule and actually has nothing to do from Friday, so she decided to come early and catch up with some friends in here." Callie smiled at the two new colleagues that hadn't met Addison before. "Addie is fantastic, you are gonna like her. Maybe we can arrange a ladies night together."
"That sounds great." Teddy answered for both her and the silent blonde. "It's getting late, we should go home and get some rest."
The four women got up and headed out the lounge together. Callie walked next to the blonde like every other time. She asked softly.
"Are you ok? You look tired. You really should find a place in the neighborhood. Being home 20 minutes quicker could mean a lot."
"I know. I have an appointment with a realtor tomorrow." Arizona sighed. They arrived in the locker room and went to their respectively lockers. She called over her friend in the other side of the room. "Teddy you coming with me tomorrow?"
"Sure." The tall blonde answered without looking. She was busy changing into her street clothes. "But I have an appointment in the morning, I'll see what time that'll be over. "
Callie bit her tongue went on changing her outfit. She wanted to offer help but she was just not sure it would be a good idea. Yes she spent a fair amount of time with Arizona, but it was always in the hospital or in the night with a bunch of other people. They hadn't gone out with the just two of them. She was afraid that asking to tag along will be unwelcome and offensive, so she just kept her mouth shut and watched the two blonde women get into a taxi and drive away.
"Why don't you go with Arizona tomorrow?" The brunette was startled when the shorter woman standing next to her asked the question. "You know the places around here and you can give her some insight."
Callie didn't answer the question. She just bit her lips and sighed heavily.
"You're still pinning for her, aren't you?" Bailey asked again, but she knew the answer.
"It's complicated, Bailey. She doesn't like me the way I want it to be." Callie opened the taxi door for her friend after another one pulled up. "I don't want to do anything to scare her. I'm happy to be her friend and I can't do anything to jeopardize it. It's just a feeling, and it'll pass."
"You're a fool, you know that?" Bailey cast a glare before settling in the back of the taxi.
"Good night, Bailey." The brunette closed the door with a bitter smile.
"Arizona?"
"Yeah?" Arizona answered with her eyes still closed. Callie was right, she was exhausted and resting her head against the back of the seat to catch some needed rest in this half an hour drive home.
"I know I'm occupied with Henry, and work. But I'm always here for you. You know that, right?" Teddy said sincerely. It made her friend's blue eyes pop open and staring at her.
"Of course I know that. What's wrong?"
"I just feel like we don't talk that much anymore. I'm a terrible friend." Teddy gave her friend an apologetic smile, but Arizona patted her hand on the seat with a smile.
"No, you're not terrible, Teddy." The blonde chuckled lightly. "You have a boyfriend. It's normal that you spend more time with him. I understand that."
"And you and Callie are still in the same place." Teddy sighed when she saw the dimpled smile freeze under the dim street light outside the taxi.
"That's fine, really. I don't feel that way about her anymore. It's fine." Arizona turned her head to the other side, looking out of the window trying to avoid the gaze from her friend. She was a good avoider. She didn't talk about her feelings towards Callie for weeks, and there had no point to bring it up now.
"No, it's not fine. I saw your face when she mentioned Addison..." The cardio surgeon shook her head with frustration, the woman sitting next to her interjected before she was able to finish the sentence.
"Really, Teddy, it's fine. That ship has sailed, and sank." The blonde kept her eyes on the view passing by them. "She's with Addison now, and I'm happy to be her friend."
"Arizona, Callie and Addison are not together." Teddy tried again. "They are..."
"Right, they're not together in the same city, but long distance works for some people." Arizona shrugged a shoulder, finally turned to look at her friend. "Didn't you see the big smile on her face?"
"She had the same smile when she's around you." Teddy said softly. And she smacked her own head mentally for not seeing this earlier. It is true that people in love are blind to the world.
"Forget it, Teddy." Arizona smiled to herself when a brilliant smile from Callie fleshed in her head. "I'm content with being her friend. And I'm happy with where we are now."
"Where you are now? Are you kidding me? You're nowhere!" Teddy slumped in the seat with a groan. "Don't tell me you don't like her. You're gonna be stuck in the freaking friend zone forever if you don't find the way out, and quick."
"If that's what its meant to be..." Arizona looked out of the window again, and sighed.
"Hey Mark, are you really not going to join us tonight? Addie misses you." Callie said to the plastic surgeon who was putting an apple in his mouth. The man answered with his mouth full.
"Nope, Sloan is coming for a check up. But I can meet her later. She's staying at your place, right?"
"Addison is staying with you?" Derek chipped in. "No wonder she said no need to book the hotel room for her."
"Yeah, I have a spare room. And we're probably gonna stay up drinking and catching up. She might as well stay with me." The brunette smiled sweetly, she missed the time spending with her best friend.
"Where are you two going tonight?" Mark asked absentmindedly. His eyes were following his girlfriend who gave him a cold stare and strode to the other side of the cafeteria. They had another fight about Mark's daughter Sloan again and it was not going well.
"That Italian restaurant few blocks away, your restaurant." Callie said. Her face lit up when a certain blonde PEDS surgeon came to the table and sat beside her.
Their usual lunch table already had a several fellow attendings seated. They didn't have a designated seat in general, but nobody knew since when, the place next to Callie was always reserved for Arizona, or vice versa.
"How was your day?" Arizona smiled to the brunette when she met with a broad grin. It never failed to make her heart skipped a beat, but she had to remind herself that this was a sociable smile. It looked so bright and beautiful because... well, Callie was bright and beautiful. "I heard that you rocked another surgery."
Before Callie could answer the question, Mark called out gently.
"Arizona?"
The blonde looked at the man in surprise. For the few months she worked in the hospital, Mark had never addressed her by her first name. It was always Robbins, or blondie.
"Yes?" Arizona frowned.
"My daughter is coming in this afternoon. She's pregnant and has never had a check up. Would you mind doing the ultrasound?" Mark scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He and Arizona hadn't exchanged any friendly conversation over the few months, mainly because he was still mad to the blonde for bailing on his best friend. But he needed the best for his daughter. Despite his dislike of this person, he did know how to appreciate a good hand when he saw one.
"Mark, you do know Arizona is a Pediatric surgeon, not an OB?" Teddy teased her former sex friend, but Mark didn't even flinch.
"I don't trust the new OB. Have you seen how young she is? I bet I've seen more vaginas than her." The man snorted loudly, ignoring the glare from the chief who hired the staff. "Who in here has seen as many vaginas as me?"
"Mark, I don't... umm... It has nothing to do with... umm..." Arizona's face turned to bright red. She didn't know if she should take this as a compliment that Mark trusted her better than the OB attending, or an insult. Mark interposed her stutter before Callie got a chance to scold him.
"No, I don't mean... I mean, I know you don't do the actual Obstetrical procedure. I just want you to do the ultrasound see if there is anything wrong with the baby." Mark pulled up his charming smile. "You're the best baby doctor I know. I just wanna say I trust you more than the new OB attending. Not that... you know."
"Mark you're shameless." Both Callie and Teddy gave the man a stink eye. The PEDS surgeon just chuckled and shook her head.
"Fine, page me when she gets here."
"How was the apartment hunting yesterday?" Callie brought up the question after Mark finished his thing. She was dying to know it since this morning, but she got called in early that missed her regular coffee cart meet with Arizona.
"No luck. I don't really like the places. They were either overpriced or too small." The blonde leaned closer to Callie's lunch and screwed up her face. "I should've ordered the lasagna, my salad looks really dry."
"I can cut you a piece." Callie put a big piece of her lasagna on Arizona's salad gladly. She flung off Mark's fort earlier but she really didn't mind to share it with Arizona.
"You're still looking for a place?" Mark was busy tracking his pissed off girlfriend with his eyes that he missed the exchange of the two women, but he whirled around when he picked up a part of the conversation. "I ran into the neighbor upstairs and I think the apartment above ours is available."
"Which one?" Callie asked.
"602. The obnoxious redhead finance consultant has finally moved out." The plastic surgeon said with a wink. He knew Callie hated that noisy woman that lived above her apartment.
"Whoa, that will be great if you got it Arizona. You said you wanna move closer, just across the street will be perfect." Teddy gave her friend a meaningful smile, not just because the apartment was closed to the hospital, also to Callie.
"I can make a call for you if you want to. I know the landlord and I think he will be happy to lease it to a doctor." Mark's face spread to a grin again. He was happy that he may help Arizona with the apartment. In return, he believed the blonde doctor would take good care of his daughter.
He didn't know both Arizona and Callie were sending a silent prayer to the god above, wishing Mark could get it done and Arizona would move in to the same building, and soon.
Later in the afternoon, the head of PEDS department was paged to the OB wing as expected. She arrived in the exam room found a young girl was already lying on the table and her father was standing next to her checking out the machine in the room. He turned around as soon as Arizona announced her arrival.
"Hey Arizona, thanks for doing this." Mark smiled to the doctor. He was nervous and also excited to see his grandkid on the monitor for the first time. "This is my daughter, Sloane."
"Sloane Sloan?" Arizona laughed out involuntarily. She wasn't as nosy as the others in the hospital, so she didn't really know the story of Mark and the girl on the table.
"Long story." The tall man waved his hand nonchalantly, now was not the time to go into details. He watched his colleague putting on the gloves and gown. "Oh hey, I've talked to the landlord I mentioned earlier. The place is yours if you want it. I'll give you his number later."
"Oh that's great. Thank you Dr. Sloan." Arizona flashed the man a dimpled smile. She had been looking for apartments for months but she couldn't find one that she liked. She remembered Callie's place and the one right above hers should have the same lighting and space, that would be perfect especially it's just 5 minutes away from the hospital. Not in a million years that she would imagine it would be the least friendly man in her new job got it for her. Maybe Teddy was right, Mark was a sweet guy.
"I'm glad to help. So now, do my daughter." Mark corrected himself after received a grimace from his colleague and soon to be new neighbor. "I mean, do the ultrasound and stuff."
The exam went on with some light chatting. Arizona was surprised to find the nerdy daddy side of Mark, especially when he squinted at the monitor and found something interesting.
"Is that... his little thing?" Rough bushy eyebrows raised up to his forehead, Mark couldn't contain his excitement. But there was something else that caught Arizona's attention.
Two gorgeous and classy women entered the restaurant side by side grasped the attention of every diner in the place. That was Addison's favorite part of going out to a fancy restaurant, not that she was a vain creature but being dumped by yet another boyfriend, she needed all ego boosts that she could get. And that was why she insisted on having Callie dolled up as well, it could double the effect and she was right.
The two old friends settled at the table and had the same expensive white wine that Callie and Arizona ordered during their blind date. The redhead neonatal surgeon intended to ask for the same bottle because she had to try how good the wine was that made her best friend lose her mind.
Of course she knew about the blind date. She knew more than she wanted to because drunken Callie had no switch off button to her mouth.
"So, do you still have the throb between your legs when those pair of sparkling blue eyes stare at you?" Addison laughed at the brunette, referring to one of the conversation they had after numerous glasses of wine.
"Addison!" Callie hissed under her breath. She didn't need a mirror to know her face was redder than her red dress.
"What? I'm just catching up." Addison took a sip of the wine and sighed. "This is really good, no wonder you felt the burning sensation in your..."
"Addison, stop it!" The brunette leaned closer to the table begging her best friend in a small voice. "I was drunk and so were you. I don't understand how you could remember it but please, just please! It's over and I don't want to talk about that anymore. Please!"
"Come on, we both know it isn't over. For the last 3 weeks, all you talked about was Arizona this, Arizona that." Addison picked up the menu ignoring the pleading woman. The mischievous smile on her lips showed that she was having fun in teasing her best friend.
"I didn't!" Callie protested. She pulled the menu down and leaned even closer. "I- I talked about Arizona because- because she is going to work with you on the quadruplet. I was helping you get o know her better to work on this difficult case."
"Yeah, right." The redhead squinted at the usually confident Ortho surgeon. She really had no idea how come this brilliant woman would turn to a total mess whenever it was about a relationship. First George, now Arizona. "Callie, I know you. You still have feelings for her and it won't go away as long as you're seeing her everyday."
"Whatever. This is just a phase and it'll pass. Just please, please keep this between us. Don't say anything to Arizona because we are friends now. I don't want to make it weird." The brunette covered Addison's hand with hers and glared into the blue eyes. "You have to promise me, not to tell her what I said to you. Promise me!"
"Fine." Addison heaved a sigh and gave the brunette a sympathetic smile. "I won't say a word to her. Now can we talk about something else?"
"Thank you." Callie's face spread to a wide smile and sat straight in her chair. "Have I told you Mark asked Arizona to do the ultrasound on his pregnant daughter? I mean, she's a Pediatric surgeon but Mark..."
"Callie, you mentioned her again." Addison picked up her glass for another sip. She tried to suppress the smirk but the glint in her eyes betrayed her.
"I- I was talking about Mark and it just happened that she is in the story." Callie took a sip of her wine, hiding her embarrassment. "I mean, he asked a Pediatric surgeon instead of asking you. He knows you're here tonight."
"He knows I will mock him in front of his daughter. I'm going to call him daddy or grandpa from now on." Both women laughed in unison.
"Give the poor man a break. He discovered that he's a father and going to be a grandfather in less than 3 weeks. And has to deal with a girlfriend that is not so thrilled about the whole situation." Callie chuckled as she reached for her ringing phone. She glanced at the screen and smiled to her friend. "Speaking of the devil... Hey Mark, how was the... Yes, she's here."
Callie passed the cellphone to Addison with a frown, and her brows were knitted together the whole time when the redhead was answering the phone.
"Calm down, Mark. We'll come right over." Addison nodded to the brunette, who already raised her hand to the waitress asking for the bill.
The two strode to the exam room on the OB floor in fast pace. There was Mark sitting on the stool holding the hand of Sloan's, who looked confused and scared. They both were listening to the blonde Peds surgeon until the man spotted his friends and jumped up from the seat.
"Addison, I adore you." Mark pulled the redhead into his arms for a bone crushing hug. But the hug didn't last long, he needed the doctor to do her job and quick. He pulled Addison closer to the bed and introduced her to Sloan and Arizona.
"Hi Dr. Robbins, nice to finally meet you." Addison looked the blonde surgeon up and down purposely, and she could feel a dagger threw to her back from Callie.
"Nice to meet you too, Dr. Montgomery." Arizona blushed. She wasn't intimidated by the world class neonatal surgeon but the look she got from the redhead sent chills up her back. She looked between Addison and Callie who was leaning against the door, and her heart sank a little. Callie was wearing a red wrap dress that showed off the curve of her body, the neckline sat low on her chest and the cleavage looming teasingly. And her gaze roamed further down, a hem of the dress ended above the knees revealing a pair of smooth, tanned long legs, and a pair of red and silver stilettos.
Callie and Addison weren't just going out to a dinner, they were on a date. No wonder Addison didn't looked so pleased to be called into the hospital.
"Mark filled me in briefly but not really thorough." Addison gave the blonde a lopsided smile. There was no way she'd miss the longing look in front of her. "Would you mind to let me know what have you found?"
"Yes, right." Arizona cleared her throat and turned to the monitor behind her. "During the ultrasound, I found the baby's got strands of amniotic tissue wrapped around his legs."
Addison leaned closer to the monitor and nodded her head. Callie came into the room and standing next to the grandfather-to-be, wrapped her arm around Mark's and listened quietly.
"Good catch Dr. Robbins." The redhead surgeon pointed her finger along the image on the screen. "There's a lot of swelling on the right foot. It seems pretty constricted."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sloan's voice trembled with terror. She was on the bed for hours, being wheeled to room after room for scans and tests. All she got was some big words between her dad and the doctors. She was totally freaking out and didn't know what was wrong with her baby.
"Ok Sloan, you see in here?" Addison looked at the pregnant girl sternly with her fingers still on the screen. "There are the legs of your baby's. The bands in here? They're called amniotic bands. Normally it wouldn't be in there. However, now it's wrapping around the legs and especially the right leg..."
"Is he going to die?" Sloan looked up to her father with round big eyes, and Mark struck her hair tenderly.
"No, the baby is not going to die."
"It has no immediate danger to his life. However, as the legs continue to grow, the bands will cut off his circulation. It may compromise one of his limbs." Addison turned to face the father and daughter. "That's just the worst case scenario."
"So what? One of his legs is gonna like... fall off?" Sloan stared at her baby bump, imagining a bunch of dismembered body parts inside her.
"As I said, that's the worst case scenario." The neonatal surgeon asked Arizona. "Have you got a fetal MRI?"
"Yes, here's the scan." The blonde handed over the films and stepped back, giving the other doctor more space to study the material.
Once again, like the opposite poles of magnets attract each other, Callie let go of Mark and shifted closer to the PEDS surgeon. Arizona gave her a tight smile.
"I've operated on this situation a couple times. I can remove the bands and he will be fine. 22 weeks is still risky but I have pretty high successful rate." Addison put down the films and looked at the girl on the bed. "Or we can wait a few weeks till he's bigger and stronger and we know the surgery's less risky."
"Can we wait until he was born?" Sloan asked before her father would say anything.
"If we wait, we risk severe damage to the left leg, possible loss of the right entirely." Arizona said, took a step forward to extend the distance between her and Callie subtly when Addison looked at them. "But we can monitor him closely, rehabilitate the remaining part of his leg after he was born, and we can fit him with a prosthesis. It's possible that he'll walk."
"He's gonna have stumps? No!" Sloan exclaimed suddenly. "No one would adopt him if he's a stumpy baby. It has to be fixed, now!"
"What are you talking about?" Mark's eyes almost popped out of his eyes sockets.
"Dad, I- I know you want me to keep the baby, but I've decided to put him out for adoption. I can't keep him. I'm too young to be a mother. I can't..." Sloan looked at Mark with tears in her eyes. She didn't plan on telling her newly reunited father until the baby was born. It just blurted out and now she just hoped the man would understand.
"Come on, let's give them some privacy." Addison said to the other 2 women, tagging Callie's sleeve to lean her out of the room. Arizona followed and closed the door behind.
The three of them sat on the couch in the corner of the hallway side by side with Callie in the middle. For a while, there was this heavy atmosphere among them because they all felt sorry for Mark and Sloan, and the unborn baby. Until the redhead peeked and found Arizona was staring at Callie's exposed legs.
"Dr. Robbins, Callie told me you're a terrific Pediatric surgeon. I'm glad to have a chance to work with you." Addison said with a chippy voice, making the blonde jump and snap her eyes up to meet the smirking woman.
And Callie was giving a stink eye to her best friend and sent her a silent curse.
"No, the honor is mine. I'm happy to have you on the case." Arizona answered timidly. "And I'm happy that you're here tonight, for Mark."
"Well, Mark is an old friend. I couldn't say no when he needs me. Even though, I got dragged away from the fine Italian cuisine against my will." Addison ignored the glare coming from the woman next to her. "We were in that Italian restaurant down the street, Mosconi. You know the place right? I've heard the foods are amazing in there."
"Yes, they are very good." Arizona pulled up a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Of course Callie would bring Addison to that restaurant. It was a nice place for date and they had proved it the last time. She cast a glance to the brunette, who was looking down at her own lap and fidgeting with her fingers. "It isn't really late, you can still go back there. I know they open until quite late."
"I don't think we're going back tonight. It's too depressing after this." Callie finally looked up and waved her hand over the closed exam room. She asked her friend. "Maybe we should just go home and order in pizza or Chinese food."
Addison shrugged. Before she could voice out her preference, the blonde blurted out.
"You're staying at Callie's tonight?"
"Yeah, of course." The brunette answered for Addison. She was going to explain to Arizona that she had a spare room and liked to stay up chatting with the redhead, but the door of the exam room chose this time to open.
Mark walked out of the room with his head hung low, sadness was written all over his feature. Apparently Sloan had made up her mind and the man wasn't able to change it.
"She- umm... She wants to have the surgery, Addie." Mark bit his lips to a thin line. "Can you do it?"
"Sure, book an OR and I'll come in tomorrow." Addison stood up to offer the man a comforting hug. Mark squeezed his friend tightly and then turned to the other 2 women standing next to him.
"Arizona, thanks for everything. I owe you one." To Arizona's surprise, Mark pulled her in his arms. She returned the embrace and ran her hands up and down the strong back.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Sloan. Everything will be all right."
"Yeah, I hope so." He let go of the blonde and turned to Callie, who already had her arms open.
"Is there anything we can do for you?" She asked with her face pressed against Mark's. Her heart ached for her friend.
"I'm just going to admit her and get everything ready. You take Addie home and make sure she goes to sleep early tonight, ok?" The tall man winked at the brunette, trying to lighten the mood. It was in his nature that even the situation was shitty, you should always face it with a little of smile.
"Don't worry about that." Callie hugged him one more time before he went back to his daughter.
The women watched the beaten man retreated to the room and sighed at the same time. They said their goodbye and went to the opposite ways. Arizona couldn't help to look back, watching Callie walked away with Addison by her side, with an arm wrapped around her shoulder.
Sloan's surgery was scheduled in the earlier morning. Callie came in the hospital with Addison and stayed with Mark in the gallery. She missed her morning coffee routine with Arizona but she had no choice, her best friend needed her moral support.
Everything went well and before noon, the patient had already settled in the recovery. Callie got page to a consult but promised to meet her friends for lunch later, left the other two got some one on one time to catch up.
"So you told her Callie and I are a couple?" The two sat in the cafeteria side by side. Milkshake almost sprayed all over the table from Addison's mouth when Mark told her about the prank he pulled during the thanksgiving dinner.
"No, I didn't say that. I implied it. It was fun." Mark chuckled. "You should've seen her face when I showed her the picture of you two in bikinis."
"You're evil, Mark." The redhead wiped her mouth with a napkin, but that didn't wipe away her smirk. "Then what, no follow ups? Callie keeps telling me that she and Arizona are friends, just friends."
"Hey, we have our lives too, ok?" The man shrugged. "You know my life turned upside down in the last few weeks."
"I thought you said Callie's your best friend, your family." Addison snorted. "You just sit back and watch her mope around."
"I have my own moping to do." Mark sighed heavily, and took a slurp from his cup of milkshake. "I told Lexie I wanna adopt my grandson, and she broke up with me."
"Oh Mark, I'm so sorry." Addison gave the defeated man a gentle rub on the arm. She looked up when someone approached them.
"Sorry for what?" Callie asked, looking at Mark with concern. "Something's wrong with Sloan again?"
"Oh you're here. That was quick." Addison slid to the seat next to her, wanting Callie to take the one in the middle so she could look at her friends in the same time.
"Just a sprain, I let an intern took care of it. What's wrong with him?" The brunette asked again, Addison answered before the heartbroken man.
"Little Grey dumped him for wanting to adopt his own grandson."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Callie placed her hand on Mark's arm and breathed out. She knew how much he loved his girlfriend. The last brake up hit him hard. It took him a long time to forget about Lexie; screwing nurses and random hook ups again.
"I thought I could have everything, you know? A girl that I love, a daughter and a grandkid... Now I am going to lose everything." Mark sighed again.
"She'll come around, Mark. It's not the first time she broke up with you. She'll change her mind again." The brunette cooed, but Mark just shook his head.
"I don't know, I think it's pretty done this time."
"Why did she break up with you last time?" Addison looked between her friends and asked. Living in another city made her missed out a lot of stories, and Mark was happy to fill her in. He needed someone to talk to.
Arizona had a bad day, it was understandable. She couldn't shut her mind off thinking about Callie and Addison, in the same apartment and... It was torture. She kept telling herself that it was ok to be Callie's friend, just her friend. But seeing her with someone else, all dressed up on a date brought out the jealousy all over again. However, she had no right to be jealous because she blew her chance. And basically, she was the one that opened up a path for Callie to embrace the lady love, she was the one that made Callie realize that she liked women and she loved Addison. She had herself to blame.
She wasn't surprise that Callie didn't show up in their daily coffee cart gathering, but she was shocked to see her usual spot next to Callie at the lunch table was occupied by the gorgeous and funny Dr. Montgomery, who looked absolutely stunning in the navy blue scrubs, laughing with the others navy blue scrubs wearing doctors.
For a second, she thought about turning around and leave the cafeteria, but Callie had seen her and threw her a toothy smile from afar. She used her willpower to smile back, and headed to the counter to get some food first. Even though, she had lost her appetite totally.
"Arizona." A familiar voice came from behind. The blonde turned around and found the redhead that she went out the last time was there standing with a smile.
"Cheryl," Arizona gave the woman a polite smile, she took in the burgundy scrubs that the redhead was wearing. "I didn't know you're working here too. So nice to see you again."
"Thank you. There was an opening here and my old attending recommended I take it. And here I am." Cheryl giggled melodramatically. "This is my third day."
"Oh that is good. You're gonna love it. Everyone here is very nice." Arizona moved forward when the line of the cashier moved. She was about to wipe her employee ID card to pay for her lasagna, a hand from Cheryl stopped her.
"Let me. You paid for our date the last time, the least I can do is to buy you a lunch, since you haven't called me back."
"I- you know, the merger, new job... I was very busy." Arizona blushed under the mischievous gaze from the burgundy scrubs wearing woman.
"Don't worry about it, I understand." Cheryl smiled sweetly. "Are you alone? My colleagues aren't here and I'll have to eat by myself."
Arizona looked over to the table sitting with her surgeon friends. She locked eyes with that pair of brown eyes for a brief second before she smiled to the dermatology doctor bitterly.
"Sure. Why not?"
"Who is that woman sitting with Arizona? I haven't seen her in here before." Callie asked no one, her eyes were following the blonde all along.
"Oh my god, that is Cheryl." Teddy whirled and surprise to find her friend ditched her regular lunch buddies, sharing a table with that woman. "I didn't even know she transferred here too."
"Burgundy scrubs? She's from dermatology, how does Robbins know her?" Mark followed their gaze and asked.
"They knew each other back in Mercy West, went on a date once." Teddy answered absentmindedly. She turned her attention back to Addison who was telling an interesting story about a case back in LA. But Callie interrupted them.
"I didn't know Arizona was dating someone?"
"It wasn't recently. They went out..." Oh. Teddy made a grimace. "They went out the night of your birthday party."
"Oh." Callie breathed out. She clenched her jaws staring at the blonde hair Peds surgeon talking with her lunch date.
"I can't believe you didn't know that. This hospital throws Christmas parties for the staff every year. Well, for the ones who don't have to work on the 23rd." Cheryl smiled. "They said on the 23rd so that the staff can have Christmas eve and Christmas day with their families and friends."
"I know there's a party but didn't really get into details. Too busy and all." Arizona poked at her almost untouched lunch. "I have a complicated surgery on Monday, pretty sure that I'll be staying in the hospital with the patients even the day after. Guess I will be one of the staff that has to work on the 23rd then."
The blonde couldn't help to look over to the attending's table again. Maybe it was for the best that she couldn't go to the hospital party. She didn't know if she could stand seeing Callie and Addison come to the party as a happy couple. She pulled her lips to a frown when Addison stood up and extended her hand to the brunette. How she wished she would be the one to hold that hand.
"Oh it's too bad." Cheryl's voice brought her attention back to the woman sitting next to her. "I was going to ask you to be my date to the party."
"Oh..." Arizona gasped. She flushed a little from the flirty wink given by the redhead.
"You're talking about the Christmas party?" A pair of silhouettes came closer to the table. Arizona looked up and found Addison standing there with a smile. And Callie was behind her staring at Cheryl with an unreadable expression.
"Hi Dr. Montgomery. Hi Callie." The blonde addressed the two women and introduced them to the dermatology fellow, but Addison ignored the skinny redhead deliberately.
"You're Callie's friend, call me Addison." The neonatal surgeon smile mischievously. She asked again. "Talking about the party?"
"I was telling Cheryl that I won't be able to go to the party. Pretty sure the quadruplet is going to keep me busy." Arizona answered sheepishly. Of course it was kinda an excuse and she knew Addison would know it. Yes, the babies gotta need someone to monitor them after the surgery, but there would have enough staffs in the NICU to do the job. She just couldn't tell them that she didn't want to witness the woman she liked being in someone else's arms.
"The surgery is on Monday and the party is on Thursday night, it shouldn't be a problem." Addison shrugged, still smiling.
"No, the party is on the 23rd, Wednesday." Cheryl interjected. Her face turned a shade of red in front of the intimidated Dr. Montgomery and under the strained glare coming from Dr. Torres. Addison ignored her again and directed the answer to Arizona.
"Derek's new assistant mixed up the date. She reserved the ballroom of Archfield on 24th by mistake. Since our surgery is gonna be the highlight of the new hospital and our team deserves to be rewarded with a party, he decided to go with it and postpone it to the 24th."
"That is... great." A stiff smile appeared on the pale face, now she had no excuse to get away from this.
"This really is gonna be great." Addison turned to the quiet brunette behind her. "We know how to party. Isn't that right, girlfriend?"
Callie was startled. She took her eyes away from the frighten dermatology fellow and watching Addison enveloped her hand with both hands. The woman was grinning like a Cheshire cat. She didn't know what to answer but nodded stupidly.
"Hey, the nurses told me Dorie Russell has admitted already." The renowned neonatal surgeon said with a satisfied smile after seeing the pretty face of Arizona's clouded over at the intimacy between her and Callie. "I have 2 hours free time, would you mind if I go say hi and maybe run some testes?"
"Sure, of course. Do you want me to go with you?" Arizona was about to stand up from the chair, but Addison waved a hand to stop her.
"No it's fine, I know my way around here. You enjoy your lunch. I'll walk Callie to the ER and then I'll head to OB."
Addison dragged the linked hand to pull Callie out of the cafeteria in a fast pace. The brunette could hardly get time to say goodbye to her friend.
"What was that about, Addison?" Callie asked as the two walking down the hallway. When the redhead said they had to go and pulled her up from the chair, she didn't plan on crushing Arizona's lunch date with that model liked doctor. Ugh! Another model.
"I just wanted to prove a point. And I am right." Seeing there was a big crowd waiting for the elevator, the two decided to take the stairs.
"What are you talking about?" Callie asked again impatiently. Addison tilted her head to the side, smirking at her confused friend.
"Arizona is jealous, seeing you and me together."
"What? You're crazy." Callie cracked a half smile. "She isn't. She was with... what was her name? Anyway, didn't you see how beautiful that lotion doctor was?"
"She is not even half as beautiful as you, Callie." The redhead sighed. "You really should give yourself some credit."
"Well, not beautiful enough to make her want to be with me." Callie murmured under her breath. It was almost inaudible, luckily, Addison had good ears.
"Stop the self-pity or I'm going to smack you in the head." The neonatal surgeon took a step forward and whirled around staring at her best friend in the eyes. "Believe me, she wants you."
"How do you know? You've only met her twice." Callie rolled her eyes to the ceiling, avoiding the mocking gaze.
"Listen. During that thanksgiving dinner at Derek's, Arizona seemed to have a change of heart and wanted to tell you she likes you. But for some reason she didn't say anything. It may have something to do with-" Addison said slowly, too slow that Callie couldn't wait for her to finish.
"With what?"
"Mark kinda insinuated that you and I are dating." The smirking woman turned back around to continue their path. But Callie grabbed her shoulder from behind and exclaimed.
"He what?"
"Stop yelling at me. I'm just telling you what Mark told me." Addison sneered over her shoulder.
"But why- why would he do that?"
"Because he is Mark, he thought it was funny. And he cares about you." Addison shrugged. "Mark was mad at Arizona for hurting you. To be honest, I'd do the same. No one, I mean no one can treat my friend like this. Who does she think she is? Pushed you away because she didn't think you deserve Her Royal Highness Princess Lesbian? And then waltzes back when she feels like it?"
"I don't think- She doesn't-" The small smile spread to a wide grin slowly. "She really wants me?"
"Meredith said something. Teddy said something... but Mark didn't really remember what they talked about that night. You know he has a lot on his mind lately. That's why he forgot about this until I told him that Arizona looked at me kinda strange when she met me the first time."
"And that's why you called me your girlfriend in front of her?" Callie cast a glance to the redhead with a lopsided grin.
"I didn't call you my girlfriend. I said girlfriend. You're a girl and you're my friend, girlfriend." Addison looped an arm around Callie's, rested her head against the brunette shoulder playfully.
"What should I do now? Should I go tell her that you and I are not anything and- and- and I also want her?" Never the one wait to take action, Callie stopped her track and wanting to run back to where Arizona was. But the linked arm stopped her.
"No, Callie. You need to learn to be patient. It's this eagerness put you in this position. You did the same with O'Malley. Let her sweat a bit, and then tell her in an appropriate occasion, not right in the middle of the cafeteria in front of the woman who wants to take her to the party." Addison laughed out, pulling the Latina down to continue their way. But Callie stayed still.
"But- but what if I am too late and she decided to go with..."
"You are colleagues and friends. You see each other at work everyday. You've got plenty of chance to talk to her before the party." Addison tried again. This time, Callie followed suit with a bright smile on her face.
Addison was right about a lot of thing but she didn't know Arizona Robbins was good at hiding.
Arizona was in the hospital Sunday the whole day. She had no surgeries scheduled but she was working on paper work and running from room to room to check on the patients. And that was how she found Callie standing by the nurse station with 2 cups of coffee in hands. The two didn't have morning coffee together for days and Callie was going to bring the coffee to her. But the head of Peds made a turn to another direction before she was exposed.
She sent an intern to get her a sandwich during lunch, then she could lock herself in her office instead of showing up at the cafeteria.
She replied Teddy's text message an hour later after she was already at home, telling her friend that she couldn't make it to Joe's joining their evening out, with Callie and Addison.
And she arrived in the hospital in the crack of dawn, made sure she won't run into Callie who would be waiting for her by the coffee cart.
She knew she won't be able to avoid Callie forever, but this was a big hospital had many floors, it might work. At least until her green eyes monster retired back to its resting place.
After all, she shouldn't have any distraction right now.
The gestation period of a normal pregnancy is 40 weeks, with quadruplet 36 weeks would consider full term. Dorie Russell was only 32 weeks pregnant but each baby had a complicated condition. Baby A had hydrocephalus, baby B had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, baby C's organs were in a sac outside of its body. Comparing to the sisters, baby D was the most health one with slightly underdeveloped lungs.
As the leading term of this surgery, she consulted with Cardio, Neuro and Neonatal coming up with plans and decided to take them out the sooner rather than later. And today was the day to put the plans in action.
There was a full house in the gallery. Callie was in the first row with Mark sitting next to her. She couldn't take her eyes off the surgeon with the flowery scrub cap.
"She's avoiding me." Callie twisted her lips. She cast a glance to the side when she got no response. "Mark?"
"You're right." Mark swiveled his head to his friend briefly, then turned around to the back again. "She's avoiding me."
Callie looked over the man's head, there was Lexie leaning against the doorframe watching the surgery. The brunette sighed and grabbed the man by his chin to pull his attention to her.
"Her last words to you were 'leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone'. Look away, Mark." Callie stared at the man with a hard glare. "She is avoiding you because she doesn't want to see you. And I was saying Arizona is avoiding me."
"Why?" Mark asked with a frown. Callie dropped her hand and looked back at the OR.
"Addison said she is jealous of... Mark!" Callie whined when she found she lost the man again.
"I- I need to talk to her." The lovesick man bolt out for the door where Lexie turned to leave the gallery, leaving Callie hissed in her breath with wide eyes. Mark was her voice of reason whenever she needed a dose of wisdom, but he was being useless ever since his girlfriend dumped him again. She fixated her gaze to the flowery scrub cap again with a pout.
The OR was quiet. Everyone was in the zone and no one dared to make any small talk afraid to throw off their focus. Arizona was assisting Addison with the C-section. As soon as the baby was out of the womb, the respective term would jump in to take over the baby and wheeled it out to the prep OR for its surgery.
Addison was pulling out the second baby and everything was going well so far. However, Callie couldn't stay to watch the rest of the surgery. A dare devil ran the motorcycle into a tree that took the Ortho surgeon hours to put him back together.
Scrubbing out of her surgery, Callie ran into Derek and Addison who also finished up the surgery of installing a shunt draining the fluid from baby A's brain.
"How did it go, Derek?" The brunette walked with the two doctors toward the elevator. Derek smiled while putting his ferry boat scrub cap in the pocket.
"It was a simply procedure. The baby is gonna be alright."
"How about the others?" Callie asked again.
"Altman is still working on baby B. Bailey's baby C is in the recovery..." They passed by the OR where Teddy was performing the surgery on baby B. Callie peeked inside and surprised to see the assisting attending wasn't in there.
"I through Dr. Robbins was in this surgery." She looked between her colleagues. Sadness was shown in the two pair of blue eyes.
"She got pull out in the middle of the surgery. Baby D couldn't make it." Addison sighed.
Callie's feet reacted before her brain. She ran down the stairs in full force wanting to get to the Peds floor as soon as she can.
"How could I let this happened? How could I..." Arizona was pacing back and forth in the on-call with hands in her hair, tears running down her cheeks.
She was blaming herself for the death of baby D. She was supposed to be the healthiest one. Underdeveloped lungs should be the easiest to handle among her sisters. But baby D's vital declined rapidly after she was settled in the NICU. By the time Arizona got paged to the NICU, Alex was about to announce the time of death.
Of course it wasn't Arizona's fault that baby D couldn't survive. The lungs gave out and stressed out the tiny heart, it happened to a lot of preemies and it was always a 50/50 chance that they wouldn't react to the medicine properly. But could that be prevented?
The teams were so focused on the bigger problems - the cerebrospinal fluid put pressure on baby A's brain; the chambers on the left side of baby B's heart were underdeveloped and the mitral valve was abnormally narrow; baby C's organs were growing outside of her body, those were the big problems that placed in front of them and they knew it had to repair, right away. Breathing was as important as the rest of the issues and they undervalued the impacts on the tiny body, and baby D paid for it.
Shouldn't they give her more steroids to develop the lungs? Shouldn't they keep the babies inside the mother a week longer to let the lungs grow stronger?
Shouldn't she give a chance for her and Callie in the first place?
She was doing the same. She was so focused on the bigger issues in her head, that Callie might regret being with a lesbian, Callie might deny their relationship, Callie might break her heart. She did everything she could to prevent this from happening, but she ignored the simplest factor - she liked Callie. And now, it was too late to fix it. And she couldn't breathe.
She slumped on the bed with her face in her palms. It was stupid to be so hung up on a woman she couldn't have. They had a night together months ago. No matter how memorable it was, how incredibly great it was, it was just a night. But it wasn't the sex that made her fall head over heels with this woman. It was this woman, this amazing, funny, talented, strong yet vulnerable woman that made her heart tingle, made her heart sing and made her heart ache.
Every cell in her body screamed that she wanted to be with Callie, calling her her girlfriend and holding her hand and kiss...
The door of the on-call opened and closed. Arizona didn't need to lift her head to see who entered the room. She recognized that perfume anywhere.
"I heard. I am so sorry." Callie whispered. Her heart clenched seeing Arizona sitting on the bed so devastatingly. She knew how much energy the blonde put in this case and how involved she was with the patient, and the unborn babies. That was why her first instinct was running to here to see if Arizona was all right. She didn't even hesitate to pass through the door after the nurse pointed the direction to the on-call room.
Arizona didn't answer. She was breathing hard in her hands.
Callie stayed by the door, starting to doubt that maybe it wasn't a good idea of invading the blonde's private moment. Everyone had their own way of dealing with grief, and not everyone wanted to share it with... a friend.
"Arizona, it was not an easy case. Each one of the babies got their problem and there was no guarantee that they will all be alright." Callie said softly. "Addison said hers and Bailey's are ok, Teddy is still working on baby A and she's looking good."
"That's good." Arizona tilted her head, smiled bitterly while wiping her cheeks with a hand.
"Arizona," Callie tried again. "Addison said a quadruplet pregnancy is always complicated. It wasn't easy to..."
Arizona swallowed hard. She respected Dr. Montgomery. How couldn't she? Addison was professional, kind and smart. However, hearing the name coming out of Callie's mouth just made her wanna... made her wanna...
Shut her up with her lips.
Callie was thrown off-balance when Arizona made a lunge at her. She tumbled 2 steps back against the wall, hands flown to hold onto the slender hips of the blonde's in reflex when she was pushed against the wall. Before she knew what was happening, a pair of soft lips pressed on hers.
She was in the similar position 2 months ago. Last time she fought like hell to get the stoned man off of her, this time? She was surprised but welcomed the hungry kiss with pleasure.
Arizona's mind was off. All she could think about was how she wanted to tell the brunette that she would kiss these lips for the rest of her life if she was allowed. To love her, to cherish her, and never let her go again. The kiss spoke for her forcefully, hungrily and insistently. She slid her hands into the raven hair pulling Callie closer to her face, warm and soft tongue slipped pass the plump lips without resistance.
Callie moaned into the kiss. It was every bit as amazing as she remembered. She was lost in the sensation and overwhelmed by the intense emotion in her chest, reciprocating the kiss with the same passion. She tightened her grip on Arizona's hips, then released, sliding around to pull the slimmer body to hers. She missed the feeling of the soft body against hers as much as she missed the sweetness of those lips, and the warmth of the skilled tongue.
The moment was stirred when a pager went off. They pulled apart slightly, blue staring at brown with their noses brushed against the others during every deep breath. Callie was entranced by the blue eyes once again. They were so bright and so... vulnerable. They were trying to say the things that the mouth didn't dare to say. And Callie knew what that was, sort of.
"Arizona..." Callie breathed out. She wanted to tell Arizona that she felt the same, but the blonde didn't give her the chance.
"I'm sorry." Arizona took a deep breath, pulled the door open and escaped from the room.
"I'm going to do it, Addie." Callie took a gulp of the red wine, staring at the entry of the ballroom without blinking. "I can't wait any longer."
"Are you sure she's coming?" Addison sneered at the determined brunette sitting next to her.
"It's the chief's order. She has to come to the party." Callie took her eyes off the door briefly, glaring at her friend. "She can't hide out forever. She stayed in the NICU 24/7 since she kissed me. But tonight, she has nowhere to hide."
"I'm not so sure, Callie." The redhead shrugged. "Do you really think Teddy can drag her out here if she doesn't want to? Mark said she failed the last time."
"She will be here!" Callie insisted. She picked up her glass once again and murmured under her breath. "She has to."
Yes, she had to.
"Stop pouting, it is not that cute, you know?" Teddy teased her friend. They were sitting in the back of a taxi heading to Archfield. "Derek wants you to go to the party and enjoy the evening, you know that."
"I'm not pouting, I'm just... tired." Arizona made a grimace, looking out of the window.
"Of course you're tired. You haven't had a decent sleep since Monday." The long hair blonde put a hand on Arizona's knee with sympathy. "The babies are stable now. You did a great job. 3 out of 4 of them survived, it is higher than the odds that we estimated in the beginning. You did a great job."
Only if Teddy knew the babies weren't the only thing in her mind.
"I'm really not in the mood for partying. I should stay home and get some rest." Arizona pursed her lips glancing at Teddy from the corner of her eyes. She had a plan. She was gonna leave the NICU in the afternoon, telling everyone that she'd go home to prepare for the party. And then she would text Teddy that she was exhausted and needed to sleep.
However, Teddy saw right through her. The head of Cardio surgery stayed in the NICU since the morning, and escorted the blonde home dressing up, and went to the party together.
"You should relax. Have some wine, dance a little. You've been winded up so tight because of that surgery. We all know that is not good." Teddy looked at her friend with concern. "I want you to have fun tonight. And I promise, I'll send you home after a few drinks."
"Thank you, Teddy." Arizona patted the hand on her knee, smiled sweetly. "I know you meant well. You even left your hottie boyfriend for me."
"Well, I love you but don't think I really love you that much." Teddy laughed out. "Henry is already at the party."
"Oh, remind me to thank him for taking care of the apartment." Arizona looked over to her friend, she almost forgot about it. Staying at work for days, she really had no time to deal with personal stuff.
"Don't worry about that. His team has no matches until after the new year, he's bored out of his mind. You just gave him something to do."
The two friends continued the conversation while the taxi carrying them to their destination. Soon, they were standing by the entry of the biggest ballroom in the Archfield hotel trying to find their friends among the sea of partiers. But it didn't take long when two hands raised up high from afar. One was from Henry, and the other was Callie's.
"Oh, they are there!" Teddy shouted to the blonde under the loud music and then strode to the table that was occupied by their friends. Arizona followed nervously but her path was blocked when a green dress stood in front of her.
"You're here! You said you're let me know if you'd come." It was Cheryl, staring at the shocking woman with a feigned anger.
"I'm sorry. It was a last minute decision." Arizona smiled sheepishly. She had totally forgotten about the redhead dermatology doctor.
"You're forgiven. I know you were very busy with the legendary quadruplet surgery. I've heard that it went well. Congratulations!" Cheryl leaned forward to give the blonde a tight hug. Arizona reacted stiffly. The redhead pulled away in an arm length and looked up and down the blue cocktail dress on the blonde's body in admiration. "You look really pretty. I see you're coming with Dr. Altman, does it mean you're flying solo tonight?"
"I..." Arizona was searching her brain trying to find an excuse to get away. Suddenly, a familiar figure came to her side and grasped her wrist tightly.
"Hi." Callie smiled to the redhead briefly, not even bothering to address her before she turned to the woman she had been waiting for the whole night. "Let's dance."
She didn't give Arizona a chance to reject, nor say anything else to that annoyingly clingy lotion doctor. She just pulled the woman to the dance floor and took her hand possessively. It wasn't her plan to just snatch the blonde like this. But seeing the lotion doctor put those hands on the object of her affection, the idea of Arizona might spending the time with someone else just made her getting irrational. She couldn't let anyone get between her and Arizona tonight.
I don't want a lot for Christmas there is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas day
Upbeat Christmas song was playing in high volume, people were jumping up and down on the floor having a blast. Callie pushed through the crowd and led Arizona to the middle and started to spin her around in the beat with a huge smile.
"Callie..." Arizona tried to talk, but the brunette just grinned at her and started to sing along with the song loudly.
"... I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know. Make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas is you..." Callie swung to the rhythm and twirled the blonde one more time.
Arizona couldn't help to laugh at the brunette's antic. After a couple more whirls, everything else flew away from her mind and she was dancing freely like her dance partner. They held their arms up above their heads; they shook their bodies in sync; they took turned to spin one another... and they were laughing to each other so hard that made the other dancers laugh with them. They were having a great time song after song, after song.
The DJ decided to change the atmosphere after a series of fast songs. The light dimmed when a romantic ballad softly played in the air. Some people left the dance floor and some joined with their love ones in their hands. Arizona took the hint and about to leave the dance floor, but Callie took her hand and pulled her closer. Their bodies collided and Callie had her hands shifted around the blonde's waists, holding her tightly and started to swing with the music.
Arizona felt her knees go weak. The warmth breath on her ear, Callie's perfume mixed with the nature scents and the softness of the body against hers all made her mesmerized. Her hands had their own mind to loop around Callie's neck and buried her nose in the dark hair inhaled deeply to calm her raging heart beat. She closed her eyes to savor the moment. She was in Callie's arms and none of the rest of the world matters, at least during this song.
The moment was stirred when the body in her arms started to shake. The blonde pulled away to stare at the chuckling woman with her eyebrows rose up, but their limbs were still wrapped around each other intimately.
"Do you remember what you said at Joe's? About thanksgiving and Christmas? That I'd leave you at home because I won't take you see my family?" Callie asked with a naughty sparkle in her brown eyes. "Do you realize that we have spent both holidays together with my work family? And you said that I'd prefer to dance with someone else instead of you?"
"What?" Arizona's smile froze. "It is why you dragged me out here? To rub it in my face?"
"What? No!" Callie tightened her grip when the blonde tried to pull away. "That's not what I mean. I just..."
"No Callie, let me go!" Arizona tried squirm free. She involuntary glanced over the table where Addison was sitting , and her eyes widened when she found the woman supposed to be Callie's girlfriend was sucking face with Mark. "Oh my god!"
Callie followed her gaze and was startled, greatly.
"Whoa! Those two... but I can't say I'm not surprised, that is Mark's coping mechanism when he got dumped." The brunette laughed out sarcastically, Arizona stared at her with even wider eyes.
"Your girlfriend is kissing another guy and you're laughing?"
"Arizona," Callie chuckled with a soft smile. "Addison is not my girlfriend. Well, technically she's a girl and she's my friend, but she's not my girlfriend."
"Is it a joke? Do you think this is funny?" Arizona exclaimed shocking Callie and caused her to loosen the grip. She could finally push the brunette away and turned to the direction of the exit. It took a couple of seconds for Callie to snap out of the suddenness and scraped through the crowd to reach the blonde. She caught the slender wrist from behind. Arizona struggled slightly but Callie was able to pull her to the empty spot by the bar before they caused a scene in the ballroom.
People were gathering on the other side of this semi-circle bar chatting with their friends and waiting for the drinks. There was a reason they didn't come to this end of the bar and Callie knew the reason, and she had eyes on this spot the whole time.
"Arizona, please listen to me, ok?" Callie took a step forward wanting to get closer, but Arizona stepped back. Instinctively, Callie reached out to hold the blonde's shoulders with both hands. "I didn't know Mark told you Addison and I were together but we're not. I was- I am still pretty hung up on you after I got back from LA. I just thought you didn't feel the same so I tried to keep it to myself. I didn't know any of this until that afternoon Addison told me that you were jealous."
Callie ended the speech with a kiss on Arizona's lips. It was a quick little peck and she let her lips lingered on the pink lips waiting for the blonde to respond to the kiss. But a second passed by, two seconds passed by, three seconds passed by... Arizona was motionless.
"Oh gosh! I- I am so sorry." Callie pulled away abruptly, inhaled loudly with her mouth wide opened. She took a step back and staring at the woman in front of her in horror. "I'm coming too strong again. I am so sorry. It's just- I thought- you... Addison said- You kissed me. You kissed me in the on-call room..."
Callie's face turned white and began to stammer. She really thought she had it but it seemed her was wrong, a big time. The verbal diarrhea continued when Arizona just gazing at her and biting the inside of her mouth.
"Please don't- I mean, we can pretend this-" She swung a finger between them. "This never happened and we can go back to be friends, you know. I- I kissed you because- because we're under the mistletoe. You see?"
The frightened Latina pointed her finger upward. Arizona tilted her head and saw there was a bundle of mistletoe hanging above their heads. No wonder people were avoiding this side of the bar.
"You pulled me here so you can kiss me under the mistletoe?" The blonde asked, keeping a straight face even thought she was screaming with joy inside.
"No... Well yes, I just- I thought- I thought it would be romantic but it doesn't matter anymore, ok? I was joking. Ha ha, funny, funny me. We're friends, right? We- we're friends and we should toast to our friendship." Callie turned to the bar man and held up her hand. "Bartender, can we have 2 glasses of wine please? White, she likes white wine."
"Callie," Arizona reached for Callie's held up hand. She let her hand gliding along the strong forearm and grasped the soft hand gently. "I don't want us to be friends."
The brunette started to panic. She really messed this up and probably beyond repair. She was never good at this game and apparently, she got the signal wrong again. She shouldn't have believed what Addison said to her, and she shouldn't have thought that the kiss in the dark on-call room meant anything when the blonde was upset about her patient. Another flow of verbal diarrhea was about to come out, but Arizona leaned forward to seal her mouth with a softness kiss.
"Because I want to be able to kiss you in a way that friends won't do to each other, without me wearing a mistletoe hat everyday." Arizona chuckled lightly seeing the shock displayed on the face before her.
"Are you're messing with me?" Callie asked with uncertainty. Her brain hadn't caught up yet. "I- you probably just don't want to hurt my feelings, I totally understanding that..."
"Calliope, you're not listening to me." Arizona smiled with her dimples popped up. "I'm telling you I want to kiss you everyday. I want us to be more than just friends. I was going to tell you that after your birthday party but you didn't answer your phone."
"You called?" Hearing her name rolling out of those sweet lips, the brightest smile spread across the caramel face slowly.
"Yeah, I did." Arizona picked up the other hand and ran her thumbs over them lovingly. She looked down at their joint hands to hide her burning eyes. "And when you returned, you were so... indifferent. I thought I lost my chance, I thought you had moved on and dating Addison. And you said you love her."
"Addison is my best friend. I love her as a friend, not the way like I- not that I want to kiss her or anything." Callie said hurriedly.
"How should I know? You talked about her all the time, and you two seemed really intimate in those pictures..." Arizona stepped closer. "She almost sat on your lap in that picture of you two in the bikinis..."
"We were breaking the new phone she brought me. She threw mine into the water and got me a new one. Her friend took that picture for us as the first picture in the newest phone. We were just fooling around." The brunette brushed the smooth cheek with her thumb tenderly. She loved the hint of jealousy in those blue eyes.
"Why did she throw your phone in the water?" Arizona asked, and Callie bit her bottom lip before answering.
"I almost drunk dialed you and she took it away from me."
"God..." The blonde breathed out. She wrapped her arms around Callie's waist and let herself enveloped by the scent that she missed. "Imagine the trouble we could've avoided if you did call me, or I was able to call you."
"Well, it will be much better if you didn't turn me down in the beginning." Callie dropped her head to kiss on the top of the blonde head. She was so overwhelmed. She didn't know she wanted to cry or laugh or shout out. "And if you were not avoiding me, or ran out of the on-call so quickly, I'd have told you already."
"Oh so this is my fault?" Arizona lifted her head to look into the brown eyes affectionately. The brown eyes gazed back with the same tenderness.
"Kinda." Callie shrugged a shoulder mischievously.
"I was stubborn, okay? And about you and Addison, can you blame me? Have you seen you two in the photos?" Arizona flushed when the bartender arrived with their drinks. From the look on the man's face, he heard her words.
"I was at the beach. What else should I wear? A business suit?" The brunette smirked while picking up a glass of wine. Arizona picked up hers before throwing her a playful glare.
"I'm just saying, you can't expect me to think otherwise when you were covered in that small thing..."
"Oh so you were paying attention to what I was wearing in that photo, huh?" Callie raised her eyebrows, sipping her wine with a grin. Now that their true feelings toward the other were out on the table, the flirtation came out freely. "Saw anything you like?"
"How can't I? You looked really, really hot in that red bikini." Arizona leaned closer to whisper into Callie's ear. Two could play the game and she really enjoyed it.
"So, what does it mean for us? Do you wanna go out with me now?" Callie bit her bottom lip when the blonde pulled away. It took all her willpower to not just grab the woman and kissed her senseless.
"If you up for it, I'd like to take you for dinner, have a proper date." Arizona stood straight, asked sincerely. The brunette answered with a mega watt smile.
"I'd love that. Do we... tell those people?" Callie tilted her head to the side, indicated their nosy colleagues.
"Maybe we should keep it to ourselves for a while? I don't want them to involve in this yet. You know how terrible they can be." The blonde made a little grimace thinking about their friends. It's not that she didn't like their friends, but maybe it wasn't the time to share this with anyone other than the two of them yet. Lucky for them, almost everyone was in the dance floor and no one paid much of an attention to the corner of the bar.
"You're right. We should take this slow. I don't want to mess this up because I really, really like you." Callie nodded. Her hand found the way to Arizona's hip and stroking up and down seductively. She was itched to touch the blonde more intimately, but right now, she had to settle for the soft touch.
"Take it slow, huh? Does it mean you're not taking me home tonight?" Arizona squinted at Callie with a smirk. Of course she wanted to rip Callie's clothes off and kiss every inch of that curvy body, but she did agree that they should take it slow this time, in order not to mess anything up.
"Well, maybe after our third date..." Callie trailed off with a naughty smile. She inched her face closer wanted to claim the pink lips again, but Arizona stopped her by placing a finger on her chin.
"So you had no problem of dragging me into your bed on our blind date, but now you want to wait until the third official date? What a double standard Dr. Torres."
"What can I say? I'm a classy woman." Callie giggled while leaned forward to peck on the waiting lips. It was a quick kiss in order to keep their reestablished affection on a down low. "Do you want to go back to the dance floor?"
"I'd love to but I'm actually kinda exhausted." Arizona pursed her lips. She really enjoyed dancing with Callie but she didn't have the energy to keep up with the energetic woman tonight.
"Of course you are." The brunette ran her thumb under the blue eyes affectionately. "Do you know how many times I had peeked into the NICU and found you passed out on the chair in there?"
"You were stalking me?" Arizona couldn't help to smile. "That's creepy."
"Creepy would be kidnapping you to an on-call room, tie you up and force you to listen to me." Callie said with a grin. "If Mark wasn't so occupied with his stupid problems, maybe he'd actually help me with that."
"Uh- speaking of which, shouldn't you go over there to make sure he and Addison wouldn't do anything stupid?" Arizona glanced at the direction where the objects of their conversation were located. Addison was sitting on Mark's laps and the two were making out like two horny teenagers.
"But I rather stay here with you." Callie pouted. She cared about her friends but she wanted to spend more time with the blonde.
As if on cue, Arizona seen Teddy and Henry stepped out of the dance floor. She waved her friends over before took a step to the side keeping an appropriate distance between her and the brunette.
"I'm going to leave with Teddy. Henry's team is having another party and they're going to drop me off on the way." She chuckled under her breath seeing the childish pout on Callie's face. "Stop it."
"But it's barely 10pm, you're leaving already?" Never the one hiding her emotion, Callie whined in front of Teddy and Henry.
"Let the poor woman go home and get some rest, Torres." Teddy smirked between the two women. Seeing Callie's bright red lipstick on Arizona's lips, it didn't need a genius to know what the two had been doing. "She was so tired that didn't even wanna come here. But I think she's glad that she changed her mind."
"Teddy." Arizona nudged her friend in the stomach, made her giggled and leaned backward to her boyfriend.
"Don't worry, Callie. You're gonna have a lot of time with her very soon." Teddy wrapped her arm around Arizona's shoulder with a smile. "Has she told you that Henry settled her lease on the apartment above yours? They just sealed the deal today and Arizona can move in anytime."
"You got the apartment? Why didn't you tell me?" Callie squeaked with delight. She put her hand on Arizona's hip without realizing what she was doing. The blonde smiled, opening her mouth wanted to answer but Teddy cut in first.
"Probably because her mouth was busy?"
The remark brought a blush into both women's cheeks. The brunette dropped her hand tried to act nonchalant just made the long hair blonde laughed out harder.
"I'm sorry to break this off but we really need to run." Teddy turned to smile to her boyfriend, who nodded knowingly and headed back to the table to get their belongings. Callie followed him.
"I'm leaving too. I just have to get back my jacket, wait for me?" She asked Arizona while walking away backward to the table.
"You don't have to go..." The blonde said with a frown.
"I'm here for just one mission, there's no other reason for me to stay when it's accomplished." Callie tipped the blonde a wink after whirled around running in full force.
"So..." Teddy's voice brought Arizona out from her dreamy smile. "I take it that you and Callie worked it out, huh? She told you she's not dating Addison?"
"You knew? Why didn't you tell me?" Arizona smacked her friend's shoulder playfully.
"Hey! She got a kiss and I got a slap? Not fair." Teddy nudged the blonde lightly. She was happy to see the grin on her friend's face. "I tried to tell you but you just didn't listen. Like every other time."
"Whatever." Arizona screwed up her lips. Teddy was right, again. "Can you do us a favor? We want to keep this under the radar for a while. Can you keep this to yourself, not to tell anyone yet?"
"You don't have to worry about me, I can keep a secret." Teddy snorted with laughter. "You should make sure Callie can keep her hands to herself, or you need to control your goo-goo eyes towards her."
"Hey! I can control myself." Arizona nudged her friend again, but her face spread to an uncontrollable dimpled smile when her brunette walked towards her. Oh well, this was going to be a challenge.