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 : All mistakes are mine, so so sorry about that.
Chapter 7
Picking up a cup of coffee for her father from the counter, Callie could feel that there was a pair of eyes following her back to her table and she knew very well that where it was coming from. It took all her power not to look back to that direction. Her father knew her too well, any facial expression on her face would give away the hint that her special someone was in the same room with them.
"So you say you have a meeting at The Archfield this afternoon, why do you come here now?" The brunette asked while sitting down next to the man.
"I have a little time before that and want to see my daughter." Carlos smiled teasingly before sipping the hot beverage. "Am I not welcomed?"
"Of course you're welcomed, daddy." The daughter chuckled lightly. She put her hand over the old man's on the table. "I just wish you'd call first. I have a surgery in about an hour."
"No problem, I know you're busy." The father looked around the cafeteria. "I just couldn't wait to meet with the man that you're seeing. Where is he actually? I thought you two would have lunch together."
"Uh... in... in surgery." The brunette stammered out, a little taken aback by her father's straight forward demand. "You know, we are busy. Busy surgeons. We're always in surgeries."
"It's good that you both are surgeons, huh?" Carlos took her daughter's hand in his and gave a firm squeeze. "I don't know how you kids maintain a relationship with the crazy working hours."
"Yeah, yeah. It's good that we both work in here." Callie mumbled nervously.
"Let's have dinner at The Archfield tonight." Carlos Torres was not a man who would take no for an answer, especially when it came to the man who was dating her beloved daughter. He tugged the linked hands with a smile. "Bring this boy along."
"I don't know, daddy." Callie swallowed thickly. She didn't have a boy to bring to the dinner. Unconsciously, she turned around and found Arizona was staring at her with a huge question mark written all over her face, appearing oblivious of her mother who was talking to her. "There's an important case came in today. Really important. You know, surgeon has to work."
"I will talk about this with your chief tomorrow." The man let out a dramatic sigh and shook his head slightly. "Working hard is good, I know how much you surgeons take pride of being able to save lives, but it's also important to live a life, you know."
"Oh right, you are going to meet with Derek Shepherd tomorrow." The brunette happily took this as an invitation to change the subject. "What is that about?"
"Just want to discuss a few details of the donation that's I'm going to give to this hospital." Taking a sip of his coffee, Carlos threw a playful wink to his daughter. "I've decided to put it solely in your department."
"What donation?" Callie asked.
"You know the family foundation donates a lot of money to different charities and hospitals over the years. I might as well support the hospital that a Torres is working at, right?" The father said with a smile. "I'd been talking with the board ever since you got promoted to attending in here. And they told me that you're looking for funding for your project."
"Daddy, you shouldn't have to..." The brunette looked at her father dumbfounded, shaking our heads in disbelief. She didn't know the man had talked to her boss, and she had absolutely no idea that the board had taken her rambling proposal of developing robotic limb in consideration, let alone talk about it with a potential donator.
"Of course I should, mija. It's not like I'm buying you the job that you've already had." Taking the hand with his again, Carols smiled to his daughter sincerely. "I'm just doing some extra to support you."
"Oh my god! Daddy, you have no idea how many lives would be changed if I get this robotic limb to work." Callie squeaked aloud and jumped up from the chair to give her father a tight hug. "It is going to help a lot of people and-"
"Arizona? Honey?" Barbara patted her daughter's hand gently trying to get her attention. She was kinda talking to herself for quite a while when the young woman was staring at the other side of the cafeteria.
"Yeah mom, what did you say?" Arizona snapped out of the staring and smiled sheepishly to her mother. She didn't realize that she was openly observing the other side of the cafeteria for a little too long. But... the Torres was seemingly having a serious discuss, she was just curious and wanting to know what was going on over there.
"I said, we should get back to your father." The mother stood up from the chair, and she looked toward to the Torres' table. "After we go saying hi to Callie and her father."
"What... why?" The vacant blue eyes blinked a couple times. Why would her mother want to talk to Callie and her father?
"Why?" Barbara chuckled at her daughter. "This is a common courtesy to greet the parent of my daughter's friend, Arizona."
"Mom, we're not in kindergarten..." The blonde tried to stop her mother, but Barbara was already stridden away.
"Hi, Callie?" The older Robbins stood by the table looking at the father and daughter with a smile. She liked Callie for being a brilliant surgeon that could fix her husband's hip, and she liked this young lady even more seeing the brunette seemed to have a good relationship with her parent. "Am I interrupting?"
"Oh no, Mrs. Robbins. It's fine." Callie stood up from the chair in confused. She wasn't expected her girlfriend's mother coming to her right now. Looking over the old lady, she could see Arizona walking toward them looking uncertain. "Is everything okay?"
"Honey, I told you to call me Barbara." The mother pulled the taller woman in for a brief hug, then turning to the man who was looking at them. "I've heard that your father is in here too. I just want to say hello and telling him that he has an amazing daughter."
"Thank you, Barbara, right? I'm Carols." The Torres man rose up from the chair and reached out a hand offering a handshake. "Are you a patient of Callie's?"
"No, I mean, my husband is her patient. And my daughter is working in this hospital too. Arizona, honey?" Barbara took the man's offered hand, and pulled the quiet blonde closer to the table by her free hand. "Where is your manner, young lady?"
"Mom." Arizona couldn't help to scold her mother under her breath. She couldn't believe the first time of her meeting her girlfriend's father would be arranged by her own mother. Taking a deep breath, she shook Carols's hand with a tight smile. "Mr. Torres, it's very nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Dr. Robbins." Carols read the name on the lab coat. A polite smile showed on his face. "Are you a surgeon too?"
"Arizona is the head of the Peds department." Callie cut in quickly. She could see the blonde was nervous. Truth to be told, she was too.
"For a young lady like you already being a head of a department." The smile on the man's face went wider. He turned to the proud mother. "I'd say you have an amazing daughter too, Barbara."
"She is." Barbara wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulder with a bright smile. "Only a few doctors were recruited from the old hospital after the merger and my Arizona was one of them, and got the department head position right away."
"Mom, please stop it." Arizona could feel her cheeks were getting warm. She knew it was any mother's nature to brag about their own children, but she just wished her mom couldn't do it in front of a stranger. Especially this stranger was her girlfriend's father.
"It's remarkable." Carols gave the mother and daughter a genuine smile. "You're here after the merger, so you are not here for too long, right?"
"About 3, 4 months, sir." The blonde answered with a charming dimpled smile. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that her girlfriend was failed to suppress her matching grin. Yeah, 4 months wasn't long but time enough for good things to happen. Really good things.
"Calliope has told me that everyone in here is really welcoming, like a close family. I hope you find here like home too." The older man looked between the young doctors. "Mija, you're here since residency and you know the way around, you should show Dr. Robbins around, take good care of her."
"I..." It was Callie's turn to blush. She couldn't tell her father that she had been taking special care for Dr. Robbins in the last couple months.
"Oh I'm sure she has. And now she's taking care of my husband." Barbara placed her hand on the Ortho surgeon's arm saying cordially. "She's going to operate on him this afternoon."
"Is your husband all right?" Carols asked with concern in his voice. It was never good for anyone to undergo surgery. "I hope it's not something serious?"
"His old man hip is giving out." The older lady said with a wave of hand carelessly. "The doctors in our home town said that he needs a hip replacement surgery and someone recommended Callie. And we were like, oh wait, our Arizona is working in SGMW too. So, we came here for the surgery and took this chance to come see her."
"Please give my regards to him and wish him a successful surgery." The man said sincerely. He glanced at his watch with a slight frown. "I have to leave now but maybe I'll come visit him tomorrow when I come back here again."
"It will be lovely." The mother perked up before either daughter was able to react. "I'm sure he'd be bored out of his mind sleeping on the bed. He'd like to have someone to talk to instead of me."
Callie and Arizona exchanged a look before the blonde quickly pulled her mother to leave.
"Mom, we've been keeping Mr. Torres long enough. Didn't you say we should go back to dad?"
"Yes, yes. We have to go." Barbara patted the hand grasping her arm. She said to the father and daughter respectively. "It's really nice to have met you, Carols. And Callie, I'll see you later?"
"Yes, I'll see you before the surgery." Callie waved her goodbye with a warm smile. Despite the circumstances, she couldn't help to find it cute to see Barbara and Arizona together. Apparently, her father found it too.
"Nice to meet you too, Barbara." Carols and Barbara shared a smile before the mother was pulled away.
"Mom, you go back to dad's room first." Arizona said to her mother on their way out of the cafeteria, and made it loud enough for Callie to hear. "I have something to take care of in my office. I'll come find you later."
"They seem nice people, mija." Carols was still smiling while sitting back down on the chair. "And I can see that you and Dr. Robbins are good friends."
"What?" Callie chuckled nervously. She thought she was hiding it pretty well. The two didn't even exchange a word in front of the parents. "What make you say that?"
"She made you smile. I know you don't make friend easily, mija." The father nodded his head slowly. "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree. If she has the same cheerful personality like her mother, I can't see why you don't want to be friend with her."
"Yeah, she is... cheerful." The brunette laughed out. She really could see a lot of Arizona in her mother during the brief encounter.
"I rather you have a chirpy friend like her than the old roommate of yours." Carols picked up his lukewarm coffee, smirking teasingly before taking a sip.
"Cristina? What was wrong about her?" Well manicured eyebrows shot up to her forehead.
"I've met her a couple times, Calliope. I've never seen her smile, not once." The old man made a grimace recalling the sullen face of Callie's old roommate. He had never met anyone who looked that angry at all time.
"She smiles... occasionally." Callie couldn't help to laugh out again. Cristina really had a problem with smiling. The genuine smile only showed when she come face to face with a big surgery.
"Anyway, I'm just saying that I approved your new friend." Carols put down the coffee cup and crossed his leg theatrically. "Now, I need to see this boy that you're dating so I can give my approval."
"Daddy..." The brunette gave her father a frisky eye rolling. All she could think about was that her father had approved of her girlfriend. Well, not about being her girlfriend, but still. "I've told you, busy surgeon. And ain't you busy too? Don't you have to go for your meeting?"
"I am the boss, I'm allowed to be late." The man said playfully, but he still got up from the chair. "But I shouldn't. So, I'll see you tonight at the Archfield? 7?"
"Yes, I'll be there." Callie walked her father out arm in arm. After waving goodbye by the hospital front door, the brunette took the elevator to the PEDS floor instead of her own Ortho wing.
After a knock at the door, the brunette didn't even wait for an answer before slipping in the Head of Peds surgery's office. She knew she was expected.
"Hello, Dr. Torres." The blonde got up from her office chair and walked around the desk. Leaning back against the front of it, she looked at her girlfriend with a seductive smile. "That was... interesting."
"Indeed, Dr. Robbins." Callie closed the door behind and made sure it was locked. She didn't need any other surprise for the moment. Taking the few steps between her and the blonde, she wrapped her arms around the slender waist and pressed their lips together for a tender kiss. She had missed her dose of sweetness since the blonde took off too early in the morning. "My dad likes you."
"He does?" The dimpled smile displayed in full force.
"Yeah, well technically he likes both you and your mother. He said your mother is cheerful and if you're as cheerful..." The brunette tilted her head to the side with a mischievous look. "I think the word he used was chirpy."
"My mom likes you too." Playing with the few loosen strands of raven hair behind her girlfriend's neck with her fingers, Arizona looked into the brown eyes lovingly.
"Oh, I can tell." Callie wriggled her eyebrows to a self-satisfied smile that made the blonde rolling her eyes to the ceiling.
"Ain't you cocky?" The blonde lightly smacked the taller woman's hip in time before the brunette slipped off the embrace and walked toward the couch. Arizona asked the question that was hanging in her mind in the last half an hour. "Hey, why is your father in here?"
"There's a meeting at the Archfield this afternoon. He took the chance to come visit me, asking to meet with the person that I'm dating." Flopping down on the couch, Callie shrugged a shoulder saying casually.
"Yeah? What did you say?" Still leaning against the desk, Arizona tried to act as nonchalant as possible.
"At first he thought that I am dating Mark. Then I just gave him a lame excuse of busy surgeon having busy surgeries." The brunette chuckled remembering how she cleverly equivocated with her father's questions. Her smiled faded slightly seeing a hint of disappointed in the blue eyes and the purse of lips. "Hey, you can't expect me to tell my dad that I'm dating a woman in the middle of the cafeteria."
"What?" Knowing her face had given out her mind, the blonde quickly pulled up an over the top broad smile. "I know. Of course."
"And don't think you can get away with this. To be honest, I'm kinda offended by you hiding me from your parents, you know?" It wasn't hard for Callie to see the smile didn't reach the blue eyes. If anyone in the room wanted to feel disappointed, or even mad, she had every right to. "Do you remember the reason that you didn't want to go out with me in the first place? I was drunk but I remember it very well. You didn't want to date a newborn lesbian because you were sure that I was going to hide you from my family. Don't you think this is a little hypocritical?"
"I am sorry, okay?" If it was any other time, the blonde might have laughed out of the irony. But now, she could just sigh. "This is not the same situation."
"And I really don't understand why you can't tell them. I mean, your mom seems very, very nice." The brunette was right on her way to unleash her anger, but seeing the frustration on the ivory face, it had molten away. "And as you said, she likes me."
"My mom isn't the problem. It was my father, Callie." Dragging her feet toward the couch, Arizona sat down with another sigh.
"Well, apparently I'm sane enough to operate on his hip. I don't think he has to worry that I'll stab you with a scalpel." Callie picked up one of Arizona's hand. She didn't remember which palm had a scar from the incident with Scalpel, she just rubbed the one in her hand with her thumb.
"It's not really about that. My dad and I... it's a long story." Arizona rested her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. The brunette wrapped a hand around her instinctively. "I just don't want to give him another reason to hate me even more."
"He is your father. How can he hate you?" Callie asked.
"It's about my brother." The blonde sighed deeply. Looking at her watch she knew there wasn't enough time for her to tell the story. "I'll explain to you later. You should go preparing his surgery."
"We'll talk tonight, okay? I'll come find you after the dinner with my dad." The brunette stood up after kissing the top of the blonde head. She stayed still until the blonde lifted her head looking back with a smile face.
"I think my mom is staying with me... Shoot!" Blue eyes bulged out suddenly. Arizona covered her mouth with a hand. "My mom is here until my dad is discharged. Our Valentine's day..."
"Don't worry about it." Brown eyes looked tenderly into blue. Callie had already taken care of it. "I gave our reservation at that B&B to Mark. He's going to take Lexie to there."
"Have I said I'm sorry?" The blonde rose up from the couch, standing a few inches away from her incredibly amazing girlfriend with a pout. She couldn't believe that other than asking Callie to keep their relationship a secret, she was going to screw up their first Valentine's day too.
"It's not your fault. You didn't know your parents are coming." The brunette leaned forward, placing little kisses around the pout hoping to kiss it away. Arizona put a hand on the nape of her neck directing their lips to meet.
"I'll make it up to you. I promise." Arizona breathed out against the smiling full lips.
"I'll hold you to that." One more peck, Callie walked out of the office heading to the OR.
Daniel Robbins felt himself slowly stirred but didn't quite rouse yet. He was still groggy from the anesthesia. Letting out a dry cough, he felt a hand on his arm immediately.
"Daniel? Daniel?" Barbara called out nervously, squeezing the arm a little harder. She knew the surgery was a success but still, she had heard enough stories about people couldn't come out of the anesthesia. Her husband wasn't a young man after all. "Do you hear me? Are you all right?"
"Ouch..." The colonel flinched slightly from the high pitch voice directly shouted into his ear. He loved his wife's voice but now it was just a little too loud.
"Well, it seems your hearing is fine. Let me..." Callie stepped closer to the head of the bed, examining the patient's eyes with a penlight. "Reflex is good. How are you feeling, Colonel?"
"Like I just got hit by a bus." The patient cleared his dry throat with another cough. His daughter came behind the doctor and put a tumbler against his lips. Taking a sip of water, he answered the doctor. "Groggy, but I don't feel any pain yet."
"We give good drugs in here." The Ortho surgeon shared a knowing smile with her fellow Peds surgeon. It was an inside joke between the doctors. She turned to the man again. "You will feel it after the anesthetic went off. There's a pump by your pillow that control your pain meds. Press it when you feel pain. Or you can press the call button for a nurse. They'll come adjusting your medication."
After checking the incision, Callie nodded her head and wrote down on the chart while Arizona covered her father up gently. On the doctor side, the blonde knew that everything seemed fine. But as a daughter, of course she was concerned.
"So, how did it go?"
"The incision is a little swollen but I don't see any sign of inflammation." Glancing over the monitor and continued dropping down the data, the brunette said positively. "The blood pressure is good. Heart rate is stable. Everything looks good."
"Can he eat?" Holding her husband's hand, Barbara raised a question that earned an eye rolling from her daughter. "I know, Arizona told me no but I think he should be hungry."
"Not tonight, I'm afraid. Since the stomach does not function normally initially after surgery, oral intake is limited. The IV feeding could maintain his nutritional levels, he wouldn't feel hungry at all." Callie pointed to the bag that was hanging on the rack. "And the pain meds is going to keep him sleepy, so his body can rest properly."
"How soon can I walk?" The colonel asked feebly. Immobilizing in a bed made him feel old and useless and he hated it.
"I'll come checking on you tomorrow." The doctor gave the man a sympathetic smile. The colonel wasn't her first patient that was eager to get back on their feet after a surgery. "I think you can start to try tomorrow afternoon, but no hurry."
"Yeah Daniel, there's no hurry. You need to rest." Barbara patted the hand in hers. "I'll stay here tonight taking care of you."
"Mom, you have had a long day, you also need to rest. I'll stay." Arizona offered. There was no way she'd leave her mother sleeping on the uncomfortable hospital couch.
"No sweetie, you have to work tomorrow. You should go home and sleep in your own bed." The mother objected it, but the daughter insisted.
"Mom, I don't mind..."
"Both of you go home." The colonel sighed with his eyes close. The last he needed was to have his wife and daughter tending him as he was invalid. "I don't need a babysitter."
"Daniel, we're not going to babysit you." Barbara looked at her husband lovingly. "You just had a surgery..."
"I had a surgery for my hip." The man glanced at his wife. "It's not like I can't take care of myself."
Callie gave the family a smile before quietly walked backward out of the room. Handing the chart to the nurse, she leaned against the nurse station stealing glance at the room subtly. Whatever the Robbins was discussing was privacy and she shouldn't pry into it, but she just couldn't bring herself away when it was related to her girlfriend.
Minutes later, the mother followed the daughter out of the room. They stopped next to the nurse station where not too far away from the Ortho Surgeon.
"He is as stubborn as a mule." Barbara sighed heavily. Apparently, she was not able to convince her husband that someone should stay by the bedside tonight.
"You know dad." Arizona pulled up a bitter smile. They all knew how rigid the colonel can be. "He has been a strong man his whole life. He walked around without a cane even the doctors told him to. He probably doesn't want you, or me seeing him lying there..."
"I've been married to him for over thirty years, Arizona. It's not like he was never sick or something. I just..." Barbara sighed audibly whilst looking back at the room. "I don't want him to be alone."
"He'd be sleeping the whole night. And I'll tell the nurses to keep an eye on him, okay?" The daughter put a comforting hand on the older woman's arm.
"Don't worry about it." Callie couldn't help to interject. She stepped closer to the mother and daughter. "I've already told them to take good care of the colonel."
"But..." The mother looked at their doctor, uncertainty written all over her face. "What if something happens in the middle of the night?"
"Nothing is going to happen, mom. And I live just across the street, remember? We can be here in 5 minutes." The blonde looked into her mother's eyes, saying sincerely. "Dad didn't say it but I know that he wants you to relax. Have a night off."
"How can I be relaxed when your father is in the hospital alone..." Barbara gave her daughter a long, doleful look that broke her girl's heart.
"I'm going to get change now. Then we go home and order in Chinese, watching some movies..." Arizona tried to sound enthusiastic, but that didn't ease the frown on her mother's face. "Or if you want, we can go for a walk. I can show you around the city."
"Or you can come join the dinner with my father." Sensing the mother of her girlfriend was not impressed by the plan, the brunette's mouth worked faster than her brain. "I mean, if you don't mind."
"No, Callie. It's very nice of you but I don't want to be intruded." Barbara declined the offer instantly, and the other Robbins couldn't agree more.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Callie. He comes to visit you and I'm sure that he wants to spend some time with you."
"He comes to Seattle every once in a while and we see each other all the time. He wouldn't mind having companies at the table with us." The brunette smiled brightly. "Don't get me wrong, I like Mr. Wong's Chinese foods but I'm sure the fine dinning at the Archfield would be much better."
"Thank you, Callie. But..." The mother wasn't sure. It would be nice to spend some time with the doctor that she grew to like. But on the other hand, it didn't feel right to go out when her husband was hospitalized. She turned to her daughter. "Maybe we should just..."
"Seriously, if you go home now, it's just going to be a long night of sitting at home worried about the colonel." Callie tried to reason with the Robbins before they reached for their decision. "Come join me and my dad, at least you'll have a couple of hours taking your mind off. I'll make sure my dad ordering the best wine."
Arizona stared at her girlfriend and the wheels in her head were turning. It probably was not a good idea to have dinner with both her mother and Callie's father together while they tried to keep their relationship under wraps. But Callie was right, have her mother at the apartment all night might just get her more time to think about how she left the colonel in the hospital alone.
"Mom, it wouldn't hurt to go out having a nice meal." The blonde wrapped her arm around her mother. "But Callie, are you sure your father wouldn't mind?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll give him a call to change the reservation to table for 4." Smiling broadly, Callie pulled out her cellphone. "It would be fun, trust me."
Yeah, it was fun, indeed.
"Of course I said no." Carlos cast a glance to his daughter sitting next to him. "I told her that no daughter of mine is going to go to the third world countries. I was glad that she took an interest of helping the poor but it was not necessary to actually go there. We have a family foundation making donations every year. She should be focusing on going to college after that summer. She was accepted in both Stanford and Columbia. She should get a MBA and then help with the family business."
Arizona and Barbara were listening with amused interest. Apparently thing didn't go what the man wanted because Callie wasn't in the family business. And the brunette just rolled her eyes because she knew how this story went.
"I knew she was angry with me for that but I didn't pay much of attention. I haven't seen her for 2 days. When I asked my wife where Callie was, she said she didn't see our daughter too." The father shrugged his shoulders dramatically. "We thought she probably went out clubbing and then crashed at someone's place, liked always."
"Dad, I didn't go clubbing that much." Mumbling behind the wine glass, Callie started to regret of inviting the Robbins to join them.
"Yeah, right." Carlos laughed out whilst continuing the story. "4 days after I told her no, I received a call from Botswana, learning that my daughter went to join the Peace Corps without telling me."
"No, you didn't!" Arizona looked at her girlfriend dumbfounded, and the brunette just returned with a sheepish smile.
"Oh she did." The father gave his audiences a mischievous look. "The best part? Do you know why she called me? A collect call if I may add. She left in a hurry that without a details study about where she was going. She didn't know credit card wasn't so common in the area that she was located. She wanted me to wire her some money, and had her mother sent her some moisturizer because apparently it was very dry in Botswana."
Everyone around the table burst out into a wild fit of laughter except the subject of the story.
"Laugh what you want, but that was the best 2 years of my life. And it convinced me to go to med school." Callie arched an eyebrow with her chin high before sharing a smile with her girlfriend sitting opposite to her.
The dinner started off surprising pleasant. Not that Arizona expected it would be awkward but after all, she and her mother were the intruders of the dinner. And her mother was still mumbling about worried that the hospital would be chilly during the night. However, once the parents started sharing stories of their children, conversation flew out smoothly.
"Arizona was the same. She just did what she wanted." Barbara said with a smirk. She thanked the waiter for bringing her main course before went on with the story. "My husband was overjoyed when Arizona got into med school. They've talked about it and she was going to become a trauma surgeon and enlisted afterward."
"You wanted to join the army?" Callie's hand stopped to a halt when she was half way reaching across the table to Arizona's dish.
"It's family business." The blonde shrugged a shoulder before gathering the garnish next to her steak and passed it onto Callie's plate. She hated zucchini and her girlfriend always took care of it for her. "Three generations of Robbins were in the military, so..."
"Liked it wasn't bad enough that Tim had joined it." The mother observed the interaction of the two women with her side eye but didn't comment about it.
"Tim?" Carlos asked his daughter.
"Arizona's brother. He died in Iraq." Callie answered whilst throwing a sympathetic glance to her girlfriend.
"Arizona told you about Tim?" Barbara was surprised. "She hardly wants to talk about him with me."
"We... we have a lot of time in the OR and it just slipped out of my mouth." Arizona swallowed thickly. Of course it wasn't true. The subject of Tim came up in one of the evenings when the lovebirds were wrapped around each other in front of the fireplace.
"Okay..." The mother squinted at her daughter. She wasn't convinced but just went with it. "Anyway, where was I? Oh right. Little miss said that she wanted to be a trauma surgeon. After one week into the Peds rotation, she changed her mind."
"Yeah, and when I told dad about it, his first question was - there has no children in the army." The blonde could not conceal a snort of laughter recalling the time she told her father the decision that she made.
"I'm glad you've changed your mind. I can't imagine your girly hands holding a machine gun." The brunette couldn't hold back the mocking, and the blonde returned with a playful grimace.
"The surgeons in the military don't have to hold the weapons, Callie."
"It seems both of our families have raised a little rebel, Barbara." Carlos raised his glass and clinked with the other parent at the table.
"Anyone want any dessert?" Carlos asked his guests when the waiter came with a cart full of desserts. "I'm gonna have a cup of coffee."
"Coffee for me is fine." Arizona answered politely, ignoring the beseeching glance coming from her side. The mother and daughter always shared the fond of sweet, and the choices in front of them were enough to make their mouths watered. But she didn't want to be rude when the host was not going to order one.
"Hmm..." Callie took a glance at the blonde and she knew why the woman was hesitated. Clearing her throat, she scanned the cart up and down. "So many choices, I really don't know which one to pick."
"You're gonna order dessert, Calliope?" The father raised his eyebrows. "I've never seen you eat a piece of cake."
"Well, I feel like we should end this lovely evening with a little sweet." The brunette smiled to her father then turned to the older woman. "Which one are you going to take, Barbara?"
Arizona knew the brunette was doing this for her mother. Callie really wasn't that interested in dessert and usually she just watched the blonde devoured a whole plate by herself. Gazing lovingly at her girlfriend, the blonde reached out a hand under the table, and the one that she had held for months was there waiting for hers in the middle.
"I think I'll go for the Tiramisu cheesecake." Barbara turned her head from the dessert cart to the Ortho surgeon with a childish smile.
"Good choice." Callie pulled back and let the hand in hers slipping away. "I think... I don't know. I want the rose panna cotta but I also want the tartufo di pizzo... Would you mind to share them with me, Arizona?"
Both were Arizona's favorites. If she wasn't in love with this woman yet, she sure did now.
"So Barbara, during this time that you're in town, you're staying with Arizona?" As the waiter serving the desserts, Carols continued with the small talks.
"Yes, her apartment is just across the street of the hospital." Barbara nodded before taking a spoonful of cake. "It's very convenient for me to visit my husband."
"Oh? Callie's apartment is also just across the street. The one with the brown bricks exterior wall and a tall entrance?"
"Arizona is living in that building, too." The mother exclaimed and turned to her daughter. "Right?"
"Yeah. My apartment is right above Callie's." The blonde was chewing her spoon. Yup, she didn't tell her mother about that.
"It's nice. Mark also lives in there, just across the hall of Callie." Carols looked between the two doctors. "So Arizona, you must have known the man that my Calliope is dating. She said that he's also working in the hospital."
"Does she?" Arizona almost choked on the chocolate dessert. She threw a questionable glance to the woman before her.
"I didn't say he... um... he..." The woman in question wetted her lips nervously. The dinner was going so well that she didn't expect her father would have the chance to bring this up again, and turned the table to her secret girlfriend.
"Callie, you're dating someone?" Barbara said with a little disappointment in her tone. She had picked up some vibes between this young lady that she liked and her daughter. Apparently it was just her wishful thinking.
"I... I..." Callie stole a glance with her girlfriend, but the blonde just ducked her head concentrating on the dessert. Great, she had to dig a hole out of it by herself. "I'm getting close with someone, yes. It's still new and I don't know where we're standing right now."
Arizona could hear the frustration in Callie's voice and her heart sank to her stomach. Not because of what the brunette said. She had confidence that they were on the same page. She knew that her girlfriend was affectionate, wearing her heart on her sleeve. It was not easy for the brunette to keep this relationship from her father, the father that she loved. Callie was right, it wasn't necessary because her mother liked Callie, and she was pretty sure that Carols was pleased with her.
Now or never. Putting down the spoon in her hand, Arizona took a deep breath...
"I hope this new guy is not like the last one." Carols wrapped his arm around his daughter. "Make sure he's for real, okay? I don't want anyone to break your heart again."
"Dad..." The daughter gave a nervous chuckle.
"Carols, I don't think you need to worry about that. Callie and I..." Arizona looked at the father of her girlfriend with a soft smile.
"Oh, of course he is." Barbara interjected her daughter with a laugh. "All parents worry about their children, Arizona. Don't you think I'd sleep easy if I know you have settled down with a nice girl?"
"You... you like girls? That's... that's terrific." The information took the man by surprise. Plastered on an awkward smile, Carols asked his daughter. "Do you know that?"
"I..." Callie stammered. But with a look across the table, meeting with a dimpled smile and seeing the blonde put her hand on the table with palm up, she couldn't hold back a beaming smile. "Yeah, I do."
"Carols, you really don't have to worry." Happily taking Callie's hand in hers, Arizona said sincerely. "I don't plan to break her heart."