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 : I am sorry that I was gone for so long. After finishing my longest story, I took a little break from writing. Oh and 2 business trips in the last 2 months. And then, I picked up a story that I've written a pilot chapter a couple years ago. I don't know if I'd ever share that because I'm kinda stuck after 4 chapters, I blame the lack of calzona (bummer!) So, I'm back to this one ;-) A lot of things I have planned to tell in this chapter but it may take me forever to finish it all, so I cut it in half. I hope, I really hope that I'd be able to have part 2 ready for you guys soon. Thanks again for liking my stupid story.
All mistakes are mine, sorry.
Chapter 8
"Callie, Honey!" Barbara exclaimed as soon as the elevator door opened and she found the surgeon that had fixed her husband's hip, and as known as the woman that her daughter was dating standing next to the nurse station. Picking up her pace, she almost ran toward the brunette. "Good morning, honey."
"Good morning, Barbara." Callie nearly choked in her breath when the woman pulled her in for a tight hug.
"We missed you this morning. I told Arizona to call you to have breakfast with us, but you were already gone." Letting go of the tall brunette, the mother smiled to her beamingly.
"Yeah, there was an emergency and I got call in very early this morning." The brunette smiled back. She had promised to have breakfast together before they parted ways to their respective apartments the night before, but an accident pulled her back to the hospital before dawn.
"Mom, tone it down please." Arizona said behind her mother. She was slightly embarrassed by the older Robbins' overly ecstatic antic. Yes, everyone in the hospital knew about the relationship between the two department heads, it didn't mean she liked to give a show of meeting the parent around their colleagues.
"Hey, I'm just happy to see your... you know, Callie." Barbara waved off her daughter. Still wearing the big smile on her face, she snatched the coffee that was holding in the blonde's hand. "Honey, have you had any coffee this morning? Arizona bought you a cup."
"Thanks, I need it." Callie smiled to the mother and daughter as she took a sip. The surgery that called her in was finished just an hour ago, she was supposed to take a power nap but knowing the Robbins would be here bright and shinny, the surgeon went to check on the colonel instead. "I've just finished round. The colonel is doing well. You can go see him now."
"That's great. Let's go." Barbara cheered with delighted. Looping an arm around the brunette's, the mother was about to drag the surgeon toward her husband's room. She couldn't wait to see her man, and telling him...
"Mom mom mom... wait." Arizona quickly put a hand on her mother's shoulder pulling the older woman to a halt. "Remember what we've talked about? Please don't say anything to dad yet, okay?"
"Oh honey..." The smile on the wrinkled face fell slightly. She didn't understand why the blonde would want to keep this from her father. "I'm sure that he'd be thrilled to know you're..."
"Mom!" The blonde cut her mother off. Of course she wasn't ashamed of her relationship with Callie, she just didn't want to blurt it out like last night. "I'll talk him when the timing is right. Just... not while he's all grumpy and moody."
"Fine. I wouldn't say a word." The mother pursed her lips to a little pout, much alike her daughter's expression when the younger blonde was facing something unpleasant. That brought a smile on the brunette's face that was standing by them. Callie really would love to spend more time with the nice mama Robbins, but her beeping pager remained her that she had works to do.
"Uh... you go ahead. I've got a page from the chief." Looking up from her pager, the Ortho surgeon gave the mother an apologetic smile. "I'll come see the colonel later, okay?"
After saying goodbye to the Robbins', Callie headed to the chief office. She wasn't surprised to see her father was there sitting by the chief's desk. She knew Carlos had a meeting with Derek this morning, but she just didn't know why she was paged.
"Chief, you paged me?" The brunette asked still standing by the door.
"Yes, Dr. Torres. Come have a sit." The chief smiled to the head of Ortho department gesturing her to enter and sat on the empty chair next to her father. "Mr. Torres and I are going to have a meeting concerning his donation to our hospital, and he requires your present."
Callie gave her father a kiss on the cheek before sat down on the chair. She was a little uneasy about attending this meeting. She knew that her father was going to purpose using the donation for her research. The least she wanted was for the chief to think that she was using her connection with the Torres foundation for her advantage.
"Yes, I'm going to donate 25 million dollars to Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital." Carlos nodded to Derek. The smile on the chief's face went wider as he continued. "And you have full discretionary power on how you're going to use the money."
"This is very generous of you, Mr. Torres." Derek grinned at the new donator of his hospital. In the meantime, he couldn't hide the surprise on his face. Throughout the few emails and phone conversations between them, it was pretty clear that Torres was planning to put his donation on the Ortho department. Judging by the uplifted eyebrows of his department head, Callie was known about it and now was as surprise as him.
"Don't mention it. It's our pleasure of being able to support the finest hospitals around the country." The man held his gaze at the chief, ignoring the questioning eyes from his daughter sitting next to him. "However, I have a personal favor to ask you."
"Uh... sure, what can I do for you?" Derek asked.
"Calliope is planning to move back home." Casting a sidelong glance at his daughter, Carlos threw a polite smile to the man on the other side of the desk. "I would like to ask you transferring her to St. Mary's in Miami as soon as possible."
"What?" Big brown eyes almost bulged out of its eye sockets.
"Dr. Torres is planning to transfer to St. Mary's?" The chief looked at his staff incredulously. He had never heard anything about this from the Ortho surgeon. As a matter-of-fact, he knew that Callie was pretty content on coming back to work in this hospital. And the immediate outburst from the brunette had proven it.
"No! I am not!" Callie shook her head fiercely.
"Yes, she is." Oblivious to his daughter's protest, Carlos sat up straight. Being a business man his whole life, he knew how to make a deal that the opposition wouldn't be able to refuse. "I recognize that my daughter is the chief of your department, it would be inconvenient for your hospital of losing an experienced surgeon in such short notice. In exchange, I would like to make an extra 5 million dollars donation for your inconvenience."
"Dad, no!" The brunette shot up from the chair staring down at her father. She knew the man deliberately ignoring her and had no idea what was going on. "I've never said that I want to move back to Miami!"
"You are flying home with me tonight, Calliope." The father tilted his head staring back at his daughter. The love for his daughter didn't lose in those eyes, but there was an extra layer of determination behind them.
"I can't, dad. I have a job in here and..." The brunette looked between her father and her boss, hoping the chief would back her up on this. But her father cut her off quickly.
"If that's what you're worried about." Carlos stood up with a confident smile. He believed that he had had everything under control. Putting his hands on his daughter's upper arms, he looked into the confused brown eyes. "The chief at St. Mary's is a dear friend of mine. I'll explain the circumstance to him. I'm sure that there would have an opening for you. You can continue your work in there."
"I don't need a job at St. Mary's, dad." Callie shook her head again. "What is going on?"
"Mija, come home. Your mother and I will take care of you." Running his hands up and down his daughter's arms, Carlos assured the woman. "Everything will be okay."
"Everything is okay. I don't..." The brunette protested aloud. She paused for a brief second after her father's words really sank in. "What do you mean you and mom are going to take care of me? I am not sick."
"No one is saying that you're sick, mija. You're just..." Wrinkled face screwed up slightly searching for the word. "Confused."
"What?" Yup, confused was right. Callie had never felt more confused than this moment.
"I know that you like Arizona. She is a nice girl, I like her too." Carlos wasn't lying. He did like the bubbly Peds surgeon, but something just was not right. "But you are clearly confused the love for your friend to... the other kind of love."
"WHAT?!" Taking a step back, Callie stared at her father with even wider eyes.
Derek looked between the father and daughter dumbfounded. Of course he knew about the romance between the two of her employees. Everyone in the hospital knew about it and it had never occurred to anyone of them that it was an issue. But apparently, it had become an issue between the Torres'.
Never the one interfered with someone else personal matter, the chief made an excuse to leave the office, giving the father and daughter the privacy that they needed to sort this out.
Carlos turned to his daughter as soon as the door closed behind the chief of surgery.
"Mija, we will work it out, okay? I'll set up a meeting for you and father Kevin, he can help you."
"Help me, how? To pray away the gay?" The brunette puckered up her face. Her father was religious, but did he really think praying would straighten her sexuality?
"Yes, because you are not gay." The man nodded firmly. "You like boys. You date boys your whole life."
"Daddy, I know this is new to you. I date the person that I like, and this time it just happens to be a girl." Callie ran her hands through her long black hair dejectedly. She was shock and angry, and most of all, she was hurt. Instead of trying to understand her, trying to acknowledge her new relationship with the amazing woman, the man just made a decision to pull her away. "I am not a child. I know what I'm doing and you can't just..."
"Yes, I can. I am your father." Carlos interjected his daughter quickly. "No matter how old you get, you are still my daughter and you do what I say. You are coming home with me. You are going to see father Kevin, or I'd-"
"You'd what? Pay my boss to fire me?" No longer able to contain her anger, the brunette extended the distance between her and her father, letting out a contemptuous snort. "Oh wait, you've already done that!"
"I'm not paying him to fire you. I just asked him to transfer you St. Mary's." The father defended his action instantly and his posture softened. "I want you to come home. You were happy when you were living with me and your mother. That's why I need you to come home."
"I am happy in here!" Callie exclaimed with a stamp of her foot. "Don't you see that? I'm happy in here! I have a job! I am the head of the department! I have a girlfriend! And everyone in here is like a family..."
"And you're willing to trade this with your own family?" Carlos stood up straight and tilted his head, squinting at his daughter. This was his big gun. Knowing his daughter, Callie would choose her own family before anything.
"What?" The brunette said through a choked throat.
"It's an abomination. It's an eternity in hell. I can not let that happen." Blue eyes stared at brown intensely. He had never been this stern to his little girl but desperate time called for desperate measures. "Not in my family."
"You're my father. You're supposed to love me no matter what." Brown eyes quickly filled with tears.
"I love you with all my heart, Calliope." Seeing the watery eyes before him, Carlos felt a throb in his heart. He didn't want his flesh and blood ending up in hell, but he too didn't want to be the one hurting his beloved daughter.
"And this is your way of telling me how much you love me? Buying me out? Threatening to disown me just because I'm in love with someone that you don't approve of?" Frowning deeply, Callie was trying her best to keep the tears at bay.
"Calliope..." The lips under the shaggy beard twitched subtly. It did sound bad and it was not his intention at all. "We'll work this out, okay?"
"There's nothing to work out." Shaking her head, the brunette gave her father a bitter smile before heading toward the door.
"Calliope Iphegenia Tor..." Carlos called after his daughter, but the woman already stormed out of the room without a second look.
"Why are you so cheerful this morning?" The colonel watched his wife curiously. His wife was always cheerful but the bright smile on her face and the little bounce on her feet while entering the room was kinda extreme, especially considering how glum she was when she was asked to leave the night before.
"Me? Oh, I'm just happy. You had a successful surgery and Callie said that you're doing great." Mentioning the brunette surgeon, Barbara couldn't help to look over to her daughter. "And we had a good time with Callie and her father last night."
"Yes, she came over to check on the incision earlier." The colonel's eyes shifted between his wife and daughter, and he didn't miss the little blush on the blonde's face and how she avoided her mother's gaze. "She said that she'd send someone over in the afternoon helping me to get on my feet."
"I have a surgery in a few hours but have already cleared my schedule in the afternoon. I'll come over to help." Arizona said as she put the foods on the little table. She had told her mother that there was breakfast served in the room, but the older woman just couldn't help to pick up the colonel's favorite pastries when they stopped by the coffee cart.
"It's not necessary." The father said carelessly as Barbara helping him to sit up with a pillow behind his back. He glanced at his wife after hearing a quiet sigh, and looking over to his daughter, who was chewing the corner of her lips. "I mean, you're busy. You don't need to be in here. Callie said that she'd send the best resident."
"Okay." The blonde nodded her head slowly. She should be used to her father's cold shoulder by now but it still hurt. Taking a deep breath, she plastered on a force smile. "I'll go to work then. Just tell the nurses to page me if you need anything. And mom, I'm going to sign you up volunteering in the daycare. You can go there any time you want."
"Thank you, honey." Barbara went to give her daughter a hug before the blonde doctor left the room. They had talked about this last night. Of course the mother wanted to stay with her husband, but all day doing nothing in the room would just drive her crazy. Arizona had suggested her mother to help in the daycare and she really liked that idea.
"You're going to the daycare?" Daniel asked sheepishly, not because of knowing his wife would leave his bedside. He was just throwing out a small talk testing the water. They had a brief talk before their daughter came back to pick up the mother for the night after changing into her street clothes. Barbara had made a rare comment to her husband about the harshness that he had toward their daughter, their only living child. And now, he had no doubt that he just ruined his wife's good mood.
"Yeah." Barbara took out one of the pastries from the bag, putting it in the colonel's hand before sitting down on the chair by the bed. "Arizona said that a lot of staffs in the hospital bring their children in. It's always good to have an extra pair of hands helping in there."
The colonel nodded his head in response. There was silence between them for a little while until the wife sighed heavily.
"When are you going to forgive our daughter?"
"Barbara..." The colonel sighed along with his wife while putting the pastry on the cabinet next to the bed. He lost his appetite knowing where this conversation would go.
"I know, she was wrong for calling you out. But can you blame her? She just lost her brother, her best friend since she was born. And you kept saying that was a great honor to die for his country..." Barbara sighed again with her eyes shut tight. She was there. She was as heartbreaking as her daughter, but she just wasn't brave enough to tell the truth as her daughter did. "It was a stupid war and you said it yourself. And Arizona has apologized to you so many times. Why can't you just let it go?"
The colonel pulled his lips downward to a frown. Of course he understood where his daughter was come from. Arizona wasn't the first one that lashed out at the military for losing their love ones. But it was his ego, and the guilt that kept him from forgiving his daughter... actually, himself.
"Arizona is dating Callie." Barbara went on when the colonel seemed to have no intention of answering her. She stared at her husband, not surprise to see the shock in his eyes. "She asked me, over and over again not to say anything to you. Since when does our daughter want to keep a secret from us?"
It was a rhetorical question, and the colonel knew it.
"She didn't tell me. She told Callie's father at the dining table last night." The mother shook her head slightly. She didn't tell her daughter, but it did hurt her feeling a little bit. "I don't blame her though. Carlos seems like a nice man, and he and Callie are really close. I wouldn't be surprised that in the future, they'd want to spend thanksgiving and Christmas with the Torres. Or... maybe they wouldn't even tell us that they're having babies."
"They... they're talking about getting married and having children?" Daniel asked with his jaw dropped. His darling girl respected his opinion. She always talked to him whenever there was any big decision that she needed to make... before Tim's funeral.
"It's just the question of time. You should see the smile on our daughter's face when she's around Callie, or the way they look at each other." Barbara smiled remembering the girls together. "Arizona really likes this girl. I know that she was trying to hide it in front of me, but... a mother always knows. I just hope that she'd tell me."
The colonel listened quietly.
"Come in." Arizona answered the knock on the door without lifting her eyes from the paperwork. Her girlfriend had texted her a minute ago asking for her location. She wouldn't be surprised of who was outside the door of her office. After signing the paper, she finally tilted her head to greet her girlfriend. Her smile fell quickly seeing the red and puffy brown eyes on the brunette's face. "Calliope, what's going on?"
Without saying a word, Callie just lunged forward throwing herself into her girlfriend's open arms. As soon as she felt the slender arms wrapped around her waist pulled her tight, she could no longer stop the tears from falling down.
"My dad..." Burying her face into Arizona's neck, the brunette said between sobs.
"What happen to Carlos? Is he okay?" Still holding her girlfriend tight, Arizona guided them to sit down on the couch in the corner and looked into the teary brown eyes.
"No, he's not okay. He... ugh." Throwing her head back against the back of the couch, the brunette growled between clenched teeth.
"What's wrong?" Arizona still didn't know what was happening, but clearly her girlfriend was angry more than worry about her father.
"He wants to pay the hospital to transfer me to Miami. He wants me to go home with him." Pulling out a sheet of tissue from the box on the table, Callie said while wiping off the tear stains on her face.
"Why would he want to do that?" Swallowing hard, the blonde stared at her girlfriend with uncertainty. "You told him that you want to go back to Miami?"
"No! I don't want to leave." Callie rolled her eyes. If she wanted to leave, she wouldn't be crying in this office right now.
"That doesn't make sense, Callie. If you don't want to..." Arizona blinked up at the brunette in some surprise, still trying to put the pieces together but Callie's exclamation cut her off.
"He wants to take me away from you, Arizona!"
"That's crazy..." Unconsciously, the blonde took the tan hand in hers. "He can't do that, can he?"
"30 millions dollars!" Callie exclaimed again. "He offers 30 millions dollars to Derek with the condition of transfer me to St. Mary's Miami!"
"30 millions dollars?" Arizona shrank back with an involuntary gasp. "Is that even legal? I mean, paying the hospital just so he can make a transfer... like that?"
"It's not a bribe. He is going to make a donation to the hospital, and he just takes the chance making the request to Derek." The brunette twisted her lips, looking down at there joined hands with a sigh.
"Why... why would he want to do that?" Arizona asked after a moment of silence. Everything went well the night before. Carlos even offered his driver to send them home. "I thought he likes me?"
"He likes you, he even said it out. But... ugh!" Giving the hand in hers a firm squeeze, Callie shook her head with another growl. "He has a problem of us being together, as girlfriends."
"You're joking, right? I know you said that he's religious, but... this is just..." The blonde was speechless.
"He said it's an abomination. He said that I'd go to hell." Remembering her father's words, brown eyes quickly coated with a thin sheen of tear.
"I am so sorry, Calliope. I shouldn't just run my mouth like that." Even though it was Carlos who put her girlfriend in this state of sadness, Arizona felt guilty for being a part of it. Leaning forward, she pulled the brunette into her arms.
"It's not your fault. I'm going to tell him about us anyway." Callie relaxed slightly being wrapped up in her girlfriend's embrace. "I just... I thought that since he likes you, it'd be easier for him to accept us."
"Then... are you... are you going to go to Miami with him?" Afraid of hearing the answer, Arizona kept her face burying in the raven hair.
"No, I told him no!" Quickly pulled back, Callie declared firmly while looking into the blue eyes. "I don't want to go, not after he pulled a stunt like this. And especially not after he threatened me..."
"He threatened you? What did he do?" Arizona's eyes went wide twice of its size. A million of scenarios were running through her head. Did he raise a hand to his daughter? Carlos Torres looked like a loving father but he also looked like a mob boss who had a team of hit men working for him...
"He forced me to choose between staying here with you, or having my family." The brunette pulled her lips to a bitter smile. She had watched something like this in movies, not in a million year that she would think this was actually happening on her.
"God..." Soft hand caressed the flushed cheek tenderly, Arizona didn't know what to say to her girlfriend.
"I can not believe that he's going to make me choose. Why can't he just try to see how happy I am with you?" Callie shifted to lean her head on Arizona's shoulder and wrapped her arms around the blonde. Inhaling deeply, she needed to be closed to the person that could make her feel better. "I just... I hope that he can be as acceptant as your parents. Your mom is great. And I remembered that you told me the time you told your father that you're gay. He didn't judge you."
"Callie, it's not my place to say anything... maybe..." Resting her chin on top of the dark hair, the blonde said softly with her hand rubbing the other woman's arm up and down. "Maybe just try to talk to him again? Have a conversation and..."
"No, I have nothing to say to him." Callie interjected rapidly, burying her face deeper into her girlfriend's neck and tightened her hold, saying every word with determination. "He wants to cut me off, and I'm going to cut him off."
"Calliope, listen to me. You love your father. And I know that he loves you, a lot." Arizona once again said softly, trying to reason with the upsetting brunette. She didn't want to be the one breaking up the relationship between the father and daughter. "Don't just throw this away."
"You're taking his side?" Callie pulled back staring at the blonde with her mouth agape. For all people, she would have thought that Arizona would be the last one to disagree with her decision. "I can't believe you!"
"I'm not taking his side!" Seeing her hotheaded girlfriend jumped up from the couch about to storm out of her, Arizona quickly grasped the tan hand stopping the brunette from taking another step. "Of course I don't want you to leave, but I also don't want you to regret of losing your father. Once the damage has done, there's no way to take it back. Like me and my dad."
"Yeah, what's wrong with you and your father anyway?" Callie sat back down. Yeah, there was the question she had in mind, getting too districted to ask earlier.
"He is a proud marine. He is a proud American solider his whole life and his biggest dream were to have his children following his footstep, his father's footstep. Tim and I listened to it all the time when we were growing up." The blonde wetted her lips starting to share the story. "My dad wasn't so happy when I chose Peds instead of trauma, but he accepted it because he knew that Peds is my calling. And he knew that I'd have a hard time in the military considering I am... you know, gay. He let me get away with it, especially since Tim had already enlisted. Tim was the eldest of the two of us, and he would never do anything against our father's will."
"He didn't want to join the army?" The brunette frowned slightly. The two didn't talk about the deceased brother a lot, but from the handful of times that this subject came up, it didn't seem Tim followed their father's path reluctantly.
"He wanted to, but being a solider wasn't his only choice. Tim was a star in his college. He was the captain of the football team and he could get a contract with any team in the NFL if he wanted to, but he gave that up for our father's dream." Arizona took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. "Our father looked so proud seeing Tim in his uniform leaving the house that morning. And he wore that same pride at Tim's funeral."
"And you're mad at him for what happened to Tim?" Callie wrapped an arm around the blonde's shoulder when her voice cleaves to her throat.
"I was. I knew that it was not his fault that Tim was killed in that war but still, Tim would be still with us if he didn't join the army." The blonde nodded slowly nuzzling her head against Callie's shoulder. "After the funeral, everyone went to my parents' house and my dad was smoking cigar with his friends. They were all wearing their uniform with all those metals pinned to their chests, talking about their glorious days in the fields."
Callie listened quietly as the blonde stared sullenly into space, reliving one of the saddest day in her life.
"They went on and on and on... When my father standing up before his friends with his glass held high, toasting for Tim's death, saying that it was an honor to die for the country... I lost it. It is never an honor of losing an innocent life."
"No, it's not." Callie shook her head with sympathy. She had never lost anyone over any war, but she could understand why her girlfriend was upset. "What did you do?"
"I scolded at him, right in front of his friends." Arizona said in a small voice. She had never raised her voice at her father and she wasn't proud of it. "I yelled at him that it wasn't a celebration, or a gathering for them to glorify wars. It was disrespectful to Tim and the thousands of families that lost their love ones. I might have called him and his friends old fogeys, still believing that solving problems with violence is the only answer..."
"I wouldn't say that you were wrong but..." The brunette was a little taken aback. The Arizona that she knew always possessing a wonderfully calm temperament, she couldn't imagine the rage in the blonde that made her going head to head with her father.
"I shouldn't talk to him like that, I know." Arizona sat up. The blushes on her face showed her embarrassment but she kept her eyes on the brunette. "Callie, what I want to say is, I should have handled that in a better way. Even though I was right, it came out wrong. I have apologized to him over and over again but the damage has done, he and I would never go back to where we were. He wouldn't tell me that he was having a surgery, and I didn't know how to tell him that I'm dating a wonderful woman."
"I am sorry... about you and your father." Tenderly tucking a strand of blonde hair behind Arizona's ear, Callie said sincerely into the blue eyes.
"Me too. And I don't want this to happen to you and your father too. Just... try. Don't get all worked up. Try to talk to him again." Smiling softly to her girlfriend, the blonde resumed the place nuzzling into Callie's shoulder. "He may understand or maybe he won't, and then we'll know what to do."
"Okay." Callie nodded with a sigh.
The two wrapped in each other's arms sitting in the office in silence, until one of their pagers went off.
"The chief is paging me to the ER." The brunette said after checking her pager. She promised her girlfriend before she left. "I'll talk to my dad later."