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, sorry about that.
Chapter 16
"Hey Torres, where is Oscar? Blondie's bringing him?" Mark asked when Callie approached the lunch table with two trays of food all by herself. She gave the Plastic surgeon a smile before sitting down opposite to him and his girlfriend.
"Nah, he's sleeping. And Arizona is on the phone with Janet." The brunette pointed toward the entrance of the cafeteria, they all could see the blonde doctor was holding the cellphone next to her ear.
Oscar's second surgery was almost four weeks ago and as his surgeon, Cristina Yang, proudly said, it was flawless. Children really are resilient. Oscar's recovery went smoothly and he was mobilized a few days ago. Ever since, Arizona and Callie took every chance that they could to take him out of the NICU, including having lunch with their colleagues who also grew very fond with this boy.
"Wake him up. I've got him a chocolate pudding." Mark held up the pudding cup with a grin, Callie cast him a glare.
"Parenting 101, never wake up a sleeping baby, Mark." The Ortho attending shook her head of disapproval as she took a sip of her soda. "Besides, there's too much sugar in those things, it's not good for Oscar's heart."
"Look at her, sounds more and more like a mom." The man spoke with mockery to his girlfriend, who was busy putting French fries into her mouth.
"Stop it, Mark." Lexie smiled kindly to Callie. "I think it's sweet that you care about Oscar so much."
"Of course it's sweet, and motherly." Mark's lips twisted to a sarcastic smile. His eyes drifted to the blonde who was still talking on the phone. "So, Blondie is talking to the social worker, huh? Getting the adoption procedure running?"
"What?" Callie stared at her friend with an incredulous look. "Did Arizona say something to you?"
"Com'on, anyone has eyes can see that you two are so ready to take the boy home." Mark winked at the brunette before opening the pudding cup. Oscar was not coming to join them for lunch, he might as well eat the pudding by himself. "There's a pool going on betting how soon you're going to adopt Oscar. My bet is within a month after his surgery. Time is ticking, Torres."
"I can not believe you guys are betting on us, again." Callie's eyes rolled upward before glaring at the man. "Sorry to disappoint you, but Arizona and I haven't talked about it. You know very well that we have decided on no kid."
"She has decided it and you just ride along. No one wants kid suddenly decides that they don't want it anymore." The Plastic surgeon sneered with the spoon in his mouth, and then he pointed it to his friend. "You're just afraid that you're going to lose her."
"I've changed my mind, okay?" Callie dropped her eyes to the salad before her, as if it needed her full attention to open that plastic container. "I'm allowed to change."
"Then change it back." Mark had known Callie for a long time. He wanted Callie to be happy and he was glad that Arizona was making his friend so happy, but deep down, he knew that something was missing. "You'd be such a great mom."
"Drop it, Mark." Callie kept her head down, focusing on the salad instead of making any eye contact with Mark. It just made the man pushing harder.
"You love that kid. Arizona loves that kid." Mark ducked his head, trying to look into the brown eyes. When he couldn't coax a response from the brunette after a few seconds, he added. "Everyone can see it."
Lexie was trying to stop her boyfriend from talking, but it was too late...
"See what?" Arizona arrived at the table, catching on a part of the conversation.
"We were talking about..." Callie looked between the other two people at the table, quickly came up with a cover up when her eyes landed on Lexie. "Lexie's baby bump. Everyone can see it."
"Yeah, it's really showing." Actually it wasn't, but Arizona's mind was else where as she sat down next to her girlfriend. "Congratulations."
"I got you your favorite." Callie put the box of lasagna before the blonde. "So, what did Janet say?"
"Yeah, what did you two talk about?" Mark chimed in with a grin on his face, confident that he's gonna win the pool, but all he got was a deadpan look from the blonde.
"She has found a home for Oscar." Arizona cast a cursory glance at the man, then reaching for her lunch. "A couple agrees on fostering Oscar and Janet's coming to pick him up later this afternoon."
The announcement stunned everyone around the table to silence. Of course they knew Oscar would have to leave at some point, they just didn't realize that the day had come so quickly.
"This afternoon?" Callie looked at her girlfriend with mouth slightly agape, trying to digest the information.
"Yeah, I've told Karev to prepare the discharge papers." The blonde took a deep breath, digging in on the lasagna with a subtle sigh. "I'll sign it off for Janet when she's here."
"So, Oscar is..." Mark was chewing his lips, his face was frozen with uncertainty. "You're just going to hand him over to some strangers?"
"Janet said that the couple is regular in the system. They have hosted a few foster kids in their home. And 2 other foster kids are living there right now." Arizona lifted her eyes the first time since she dropped the bombshell. Seeing all the questioning looks around her, she added. "You know very well that Oscar couldn't be stayed in the hospital forever. He needs a stable home, someone to take care of him, someone to love him."
"But still, they're strangers to Oscar." The man gave a contemptuous shrug of the shoulders, obviously displeased with the arrangement.
"Everyone is a stranger to Oscar." Arizona just poked at the lasagna with her fork but couldn't bring it to her mouth. The call with Janet had taken away her appetite and Mark opening his mouth was not helping. "Of course we all want his parents to come to take him back, but that's not going to happen, isn't it?"
"I'm not talking about his parents, Robbins. Maybe..." Blue eyes subtly drifted to the woman sitting next to the blonde. "I don't know, maybe someone in here, who has grown very, very close to him?"
"Are you saying that you want to take him? You do know that you have a baby coming, right?" The blonde gazed at him curiously. She didn't realize that Mark was interested in keeping Oscar. But the man waved his hand and then leaned closer to her with a cheeky grin.
"I'm not talking about me..."
"Mark... we should... we should trust the system." Callie interjected quickly. The least she wanted was for Mark to say something that would rekindle the issue of having children between Arizona and her. "Janet wouldn't give Oscar to anyone if she doesn't think those people are good enough to take care of him."
"I'm just saying, there is someone who is more qualified to... ouch!" Suddenly Mark jerked upward and hissed in surprise. He squinted at Callie. "Did you just kick me?"
"I did." Lexie who was quiet the whole time cut in, earning a small smile from the brunette across the table.
"You don't have to kick me." The man pouted and reached down to rub his sore calf. "Admit it, you too think Oscar is better off staying with these two."
"What are you talking about?" The blonde put the fork down, watching the interaction between the couple before her.
"Well, Torres and I talked about it." Mark gave the clueless woman a long meaningful look. "I think you two should consider adopting Oscar."
"You two..." Arizona looked between Mark and Callie before blinking up at her girlfriend in some surprise. "You have thought about it?"
"No no, the idiot talked, but I didn't." Callie said hurriedly while giving the blabber mouth a mutinous glare.
"But... does it ever cross your mind that maybe you want to..." Arizona asked, the hopefulness in her voice surprised herself, but Callie was too busy shaking her head to notice it.
"No, of course not!" The brunette said decisively. "We've agreed that we don't need children in our lives. Like you said, we're happy with where we are. Why would I think about bringing a kid, a sick kid from NICU to our home?"
The blonde listened quietly. She wouldn't lie that she had that idea in her mind for a second, but Callie was right. She didn't want kids. She had never thought of being a mother even though there was a chance that she might lose the love of her life over this. She didn't want kids. No matter how good it felt to be with Oscar... his little eyes lighted up whenever he saw Arizona approaching his crib, the big smile on his face while they walked down the hall, the little blonde head rest on her shoulder sleeping soundly as the older blonde held him tight... She didn't want kids.
"Com'on!" Mark exclaimed aloud disturbing the blonde's train of thought. "Why don't you two just admit that you love the kid? Give him a home!"
"He is going to have a home, Mark. It's arranged. Janet is going to pick him up, bring him to the lovely home that has 2 other foster kids in there. He's going to be loved by the nice, loving foster parents, and have children to play with him. This is good for him and it's settled." Arizona said in one breath, topping with a determined glare. She didn't give any chance for Mark to interrupt her, and didn't give herself any second over thinking it.
Mark blew out his cheeks and stared between Arizona and Callie, but both of them refused to acknowledge him. Finally, he put down the pudding cup and got up from the chair.
"I'm going to see Oscar." The man announced, and that got the attention from the women that were ignoring him.
"Why?" Callie asked with a frown.
"Because he is leaving and I don't know if I'd ever see him again." Mark stared down at the women with the corners of his mouth pulled down, frustration showing all over his face. "Not like the two of you, I am not ashamed to admit that I don't want to see him go. And I'm going to tell him that I love him and I am gonna miss him."
They watched the man stormed off but before he reached the exit, half of the pagers in the cafeteria went off like crazy.
"911 from the pit, we need to go." Callie jumped up from the chair as she read the page.
"Listen up," Owen shouted out over the crowd surrounding the nurse station as soon as he put down the phone. "A school bus full of second graders got hit by a truck and flipped over. We are facing an unknown number of casualties right now. A few of them are going to Seattle Presbyterian and at least 5 of them are on the way to our hospital."
A couple of EMT rushed through the door with the first arrival even before Owen finished his briefing. The head of Peds jumped into action as the Trauma surgeon continued.
"Remember, people. Those are children, frighten children. They may not be able to tell you where they hurt. Keep them calm, and be as thorough with the tests as possible. Okay, move it." Owen strode toward the entrance to the emergent bay, gesturing Callie and Bailey to go with him waiting for the other ambulances.
The first child that was tended by Arizona wasn't in any critical condition, thankfully. The little girl had a bruised knee and a cut on her forehead that could be treated by an intern. But the others were not that lucky.
Almost 3 hours after the first patient arrived, Arizona had done a surgery on a little boy with a puncture wound in the liver, and now working on the second one, elbow deep in an abdominal cavity of a six years old, fixing the tear on the stomach causing by the impact of the crash. And Callie was on the other side trying to mend the multiple punctures on the arm.
"Dammit, the tear is too big..." The Peds surgery murmured under her mask. "I'm afraid that I'd have to cut out a portion of his stomach. Suction, please."
"Do you need another set of hands?" Callie glanced at the other surgeon across the table. "I'm done in here."
"No, I think I've got it." Arizona answered without lifting her head. "If you're finished, you should go back to the pit checking on..."
The blonde was disturbed when the door of the OR burst open, and her resident called after her.
"Dr. Robbins." Alex addressed her boss.
"Yes, Dr. Karev. You need me in your OR? I'm still kinda busy in here." Arizona said with her back to the door.
"No, Dr. Shepherd has stopped the bleeding in the brain and he's closing up." The resident came closer to the table, holding up a mask to cover the lower half of his face with one hand, and a stack of papers in the other. "He let me go because Janet has arrived. You haven't signed the discharge papers yet."
"Do you want me to get Bailey?" Callie suggested, but Alex shook his head.
"Bailey is still working on the boy that got impale on a pole."
"I will need another hour." The blonde looked down at the open body with a frown. "Can you tell Janet to wait?"
"I already asked, but..." The resident shrugged a shoulder, suggesting that he had already discussed with the social worker and failed.
"Tell her to wait, Karev!" Callie ordered forcefully. The least Arizona needed right now was a distraction, the social worker could wait.
The Torres glare was efficacious as always. The resident dragged his feet to leave grudgingly but his attending stopped him before he reached the door.
"No, wait, Karev." Arizona tilted her head upward, taking a few deep breaths with her eyes closed. A decision was made in her head as she opened her eyes and looked at the other attending across the table. "Dr. Torres, if you're done in here, can you go sign the papers?"
"But... don't you want to..." Callie leaned forward, whispering aloud. "Don't you want to go say goodbye to Oscar?"
"Now I have a patient on this table that really needs me. I need to think about this little boy eating French fries and ice-cream. I can't have him having a strict diet for the rest of his life because I couldn't save his stomach." The blonde resumed to work on the open body before her. "I need to focus on him."
"I... I'll tell her to wait, or stall until you finished up this surgery." The brunette suggested, but Arizona shook her head determinedly.
"No, Calliope. Sign the papers and discharge him. He's ready to go and his new family is waiting for him. Just... make sure Janet has everything that he needs." The blonde heaved a deep, heartfelt sigh before turning to the assisting nurse. "Forceps, please."
Callie's gaze clung on the blue eyes that refused to meet hers. This was so wrong but yet she knew that Arizona was right. Reluctantly, the Ortho surgeon left the OR with the resident behind her.
As soon as they arrived on the Peds floor, Callie would see the social worker was leading against the nurse station waiting for them.
"I'm so sorry, Dr. Torres. I've heard about the crash and I know that you all must be very busy." Janet apologized to the doctor with a sheepish smile. "But I'll need to bring the baby to his foster home before it goes dark. You know, giving him some time to settle before bed time."
"Sure, don't worry about it, Janet." Callie answered halfhearted. She knew that she shouldn't blame the social worker for it, but the timing just sucked. With some paperwork that needed to exchange, she gesturing Janet toward the meeting room. "Dr. Robbins' still in surgery, I'll sign the papers on behalf of her."
"The foster home is about an hour away from here." Janet explained to the doctor as the two walked side by side down the hall. "They'd continue Oscar's checkup in the hospital nearby them but I don't know which one yet. I'll keep in touch with Dr. Robbins, having her transfer the records to that hospital."
"So, Oscar wouldn't come back here." The brunette didn't even try to hide the disappointment in her voice.
"Unlikely." The social worker answered absentmindedly.
The condition on Arizona's patient was not as bad as the surgeon thought. She was able to save the whole stomach within 45 minutes. Leaving the assisting nurse to close up, she rushed out of the OR hoping maybe she could still catch a last glimpse of Oscar before he was gone. However, luck wasn't on her side today.
"Dr. Robbins!" Meredith shouted out from the top of her lungs seeing the flash of blonde just rounded the corner. "Dr. Robbins, wait!"
"Yes?" The blonde turned around, coming face to face with the resident who was still in the operation gear, and her hands were wrapped in a towel.
"Dr. Bailey needs you in OR 3. The patient has multiple organ damaging and she needs an extra set of hands." Meredith ran back to the OR before the attending could give her any response.
So, here she was, another 2 hours in OR 3 working with Bailey and McQueen the interim chief of Cardio on the poor boy who had a pole penetrated through his tiny body.
Finally got the hemorrhage in the pancreas under control, Arizona stretched her neck before moving onto assisting Bailey on the intestine. When she raised her head, her gaze landed on the brunette in the gallery watching her. Their eyes locked, and with a little nod and pursed of lips from Callie, the blonde knew that she had discharged Oscar and the baby had left with Janet...
"Dr. Robbins, can you help to lift the..." Bailey's voice snapped the Peds surgeon out of her thought. Their little patient suffered with a severe trauma and his heart had stopped twice during this surgery. He needed the full attention from the doctors in order to leave the table alive. Taking a deep breath to clear her mind, Arizona jumped back into the surgeon mode.
"I just took my kid to the room." Mark stated as he sat down next to Callie in the gallery. "She was the last one."
"Besides this one." The brunette jerked her head toward the OR below them.
"Yeah, besides this one." Mark handed the bag of chips to his friend before taking one into his mouth. "We saw 11 patients, and we had no casualties."
"Let's hope." Callie declined the snack, keeping her eyes on the operation. "This one was on the table for almost 6 hours, went into cardiac arrest two times."
"I saw his patients in the waiting room." The man sighed with his shoulders slumped. "Can you imagine how they're feeling right now? They sent their kids to school in the morning, the kids went on a field trip and then... BOOM! The kids are in the hospital."
"That's why Arizona doesn't want kid." The brunette gave a half shrug. "Well, one of the reasons."
"This is stupid. Bad things would happen but that shouldn't stop you from living your life." Mark glanced at his friend with a brief smile. "Remember my teenage daughter? You've met her, right? That doesn't stop me from wanting to have another kid."
"Apple and orange, Mark." Brown eyes rolled upward in a contemptuous gesture, but the man just laughed it off.
"Same difference. Am I scared? Of course I am. We've seen horrible things in here, dealt with terrible situation day in and day out." Mark waved his hand to the scene in the OR. His face turned into a dreamy smile in a brief second. "And then I go home to Lexie, kissing her belly, feeling my kid growing inside her. That's how you know something good is happening in this world."
Callie sat gazing thoughtfully at her friend. Over the last couple months, she had seen the change of this man. Yes, he had become a better man ever since Lexie got back in his life. And he had become an even better man the moment he knew that his girlfriend was carrying his child. He was a textbook nerdy dad who cared about everything of his baby mama, and his baby. Whenever he started to talk about his unborn child, there's a smile on his face.
How Callie wished this would be Arizona and her one day. So much so she let a secret that she had kept for months slipping out of her mouth.
"I thought she'd change." She sighed softly.
"Huh?" Mark arched an eye brow at a lost.
"When Arizona and I had that conversation about kids, we were visiting my parents. My mom and I had a little chat and she said maybe, maybe Arizona would change over time, you know." Callie twisted her lips to a timid smile. "She is capable of changing. She didn't want to date a straight woman and see where we are now."
"So you lie to her, saying that you're okay to live a childless life, just to wait for her to change her mind?" The man stared at his friend with an incredulous amusement. He knew Callie would be foolish sometime, but this was just downright stupid.
"Not completely lying." Callie on the other hand, didn't think this amusing at all. She gave the man a hard glare before continuing her reason. "I'm not saying that I want to be a mom right away. I just... I would like to have that option open."
"Same difference, Torres." Mark put a clip in his mouth with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. He was right. No one wants kid suddenly decides that they don't want it anymore. "I thought that you two agreed on having an honest relationship?"
"I am not lying to her, okay?" The brunette pointed out emphatically. "Everyday I tell myself that I don't need a child to be happy, and I don't. Arizona and I are in love and we're happy. Remember how miserable I was before meeting her?"
"Torres..." Of course he did. And that was why he set up that crazy blind date in the first place, hoping to coax a laugh out of Callie. And to this day, he still patted himself on the back for putting those two crazy kids together. But... "I know you love her, and I know that you don't want to ruin it, but you shouldn't ignore what you truly want."
"I thought, I really thought Oscar would be an incentive for her to change her mind." The rims of Callie's brown eyes redden. She had convinced herself not to get her hopes up, but she just couldn't help feeling disappointed when it didn't go as she secretly hoped. "She always cares for her patients but never has she cared for anyone like she does with Oscar."
"She really loves that kid." Mark sighed lightly, his eyes drifted to the woman wearing flowery scrub cap in the OR.
"She loves that kid and I didn't say anything." The brunette ran a hand through her hair, sniffing loudly trying to choke back the tear. "I wanted her to see how great it is to have a child in her life. But she just... she didn't get it. She didn't even mind that she wasn't there when Oscar left."
Mark didn't know what to say. He wrapped an arm around Callie's shoulders, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"She wouldn't change, would she?" Callie asked, resting her head on Mark's shoulder.
"You two need to have a talk, a real talk." The man said softly, and Callie nodded her head.
"Yeah, we do."
The friends continued watching the operation in silence. Half hour later, the team of doctors finally stabilized the patient and ready to wrap up the surgery. Callie saw her girlfriend retreated from the OR, and she got up from the chair as well.
"Good luck." Mark threw her a sympathetic smile, and the brunette returned with a sad looking one.
"Thanks. I guess I'd really need that." Callie waved her hand goodbye and headed downstairs.
Arrival on the surgical floor, the brunette found the Peds surgeon in the scrub room of OR 3, propping her arms on the sink and her head bowed down.
"Hey, are you okay?" Callie asked with concern.
Hearing the familiar voice, Arizona opened her eyes, and stood upright fiercely.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." The blonde threw the towel in her hands into a basket, and then strode toward Callie wrapping her arms around the taller woman's waist, burying her face into the crook of Callie's neck.
"Of course you are. You were in surgeries for 7 hours." The brunette enveloped her girlfriend with her arms. She was a little surprised but understandable, it had been a long day. "You must be exhausted."
The two wrapped in each other's arms in the middle of the scrub room. Callie could feel every deep breath from the blonde tickling her skin. Holding the weary body tight, she knew now wouldn't be a good time to have that talk. But it was Arizona who brought up the related subject.
"Janet got everything she needed?" The blonde's voice had sunk almost to a whisper.
"Yeah." Callie pressed her cheek against the blonde hair. "And she said that she'd contact you later, telling you where to send Oscar's medical records."
Arizona nodded her head slightly but said nothing. A few seconds later, she asked another question.
"And um... Oscar, how was he?"
"He started crying when I passed him to Janet." The taller woman swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing. "So I carried him down to Janet's car. By the time we arrived in the parking lot, he had calm down and just looked around. He looked curious while I buckled him up in the car seat."
"That's good." Arizona buried her face further into Callie's neck, murmuring out almost inaudible.
"You wanna go home now? We can order pizza for dinner." Callie pulled back to look into the blonde, and Arizona rubbed her tired eyes with her hands, a weak smile hanging on her face.
"I have some paperwork needed to finish real quick. You go change and then find me in my office?" Arizona suggested. The brunette gave her a quick peck on the cheek as an answer and then the two went their separated ways.
On the Peds floor, there were two routes to get to the department head's office. Before she realized, Arizona found herself walking in the direction that she had taken in the last few weeks. The one that passed by the NICU. And her feet stopped moving when she saw all the cribs in there. There were a few empty ones, but her eyes fixated on a particular one. She felt a wrench in her heart.
"Dr. Robbins." The nurse in the NICU saw the doctor through the window, and she gestured the blonde to enter.
Arizona heaved a deep sigh. She didn't have the energy to deal with sick babies right now. But, this was her job. She knew that she couldn't walk away when the patients needed her. Very constrainedly, she stepped into the NICU.
Fortunately for her, Andrea wasn't asking her for a consult. The nurse went to the cabinet taking out a plush toys.
"Janet said this is too big and she couldn't take it with her." Andrea held up the Oscar the grouch plush toys. "I know it was from Dr. Yang. Should I page her to pick it up, or just bring it to the daycare?"
The blonde stared at the plush toys and she felt her eyes started to burn. The namesake toy was a gag gift from Cristina. Well, Cristina said it was a gag gift but everyone knew that she meant to get something for the little boy. And Oscar loved it. Oscar the grouch was his buddy while he was alone in the crib. And he left without his buddy.
"I... I'll take care of it." Arizona took the plush toys from the nurse and rushed toward her office.
As soon as she shut the door behind her, tears started pouring down the blue eyes.
From the time she received the call from Janet, everything happened so quickly and hectic, she didn't have time to process anything. She had to, and did put all her focus on the patients from the school bus crash. And thanked goddess, they were able to save every one of them. And now, being alone in her own office, Arizona finally could let herself go, mourning the lost of her special boy.
And there she was, sitting on her couch, clutching the plush toys in her arms, bawling her eyes out.
She didn't know how long she was there crying into the plush toys. She just knew the tears just couldn't stop. And she didn't hear the knock on the door.
Callie was shocked to find her girlfriend shaking with sobs when she opened the door. Quickly, she rushed in and kneeled before the crying blonde.
"What's happening?" The brunette cupped the ghastly pale face between her palms, asking in panicked.
"Oscar... left behind... he should... his favorite..." Arizona stammered out between sobs, so incoherently that Callie couldn't figure out what she was talking about. But a look on the plush toy holding tightly in the blonde's grasp, she knew.
"Janet said the doll is too big. She couldn't carry it and Oscar and the bag. She had to..." Callie tried to explain, but she was cut off by a wail.
"How could you?" The crying blonde stared at her girlfriend through a mist of tears. "You know... Oscar loves this... how could you... how could you leave it behind? Oscar loves this!"
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The brunette promptly moved to the couch, wrapping her arms around Arizona pulling her in, with the plush toys between them. The blonde rest her face on Callie's chest and the non-stopping tears quickly soaked the shirt that Callie was wearing.
"He is gone... I don't get to... say goodbye... say goodbye to him... and... and... he doesn't have... he doesn't have Ossie... he... he... couldn't sleep without Ossie... I... I don't get to... to see him again... I miss him..." Arizona went on and on throughout her sob. The more she thought about it, the harder she cried.
Callie just held Arizona tightly in her arms, letting the woman vented her frustration, sadness, and lost with every sob. And she scolded herself for saying the blonde didn't care. Of course she cared. For all people, Callie should be the one to know the pattern. Arizona needed time to process. And she tended to keep her feeling inside until it reached the breaking point. But that didn't meant that she didn't care.
Arizona was the one who found the boy in a box. They had formed a bond since day one and everyone could see it. By extension, Callie found herself drawing to this sweet little boy as well. She felt so terrible of seeing Oscar go. She just couldn't imagine how badly Arizona was feeling right now. Hearing the blonde crying her heart out, Callie found silent tears streaming down her own cheeks.
Eventually, Arizona had her emotion under control and the tears finally stopped, but they just reminded in each other's arms, cocooning in their embrace - Arizona, Callie and Oscar the grouch.
"I always thought that I wasn't cut out to be a mom." Arizona said suddenly, her hand brushing the now a little damp fluffy green hair of the plush toy tenderly. "But Calliope, you'll be a great mom."
"I don't want to have kids if it means I can't be with you." Callie said hurriedly. The conversation she had with Mark earlier threw out the window. She said all those things to Mark because she was disappointed of Arizona's indifference. She was wrong, there was still hope and she would rather wait, than ruin everything right now.
"You're not listening, Calliope. I didn't want to have kids because..." The blonde drew a long deep breath with her eyes closed, sinking deeper into Callie's embrace. "I gave myself tons of reasons not to have kids because I never thought that I could do it. And I forced you to choose."
"You didn't force me, Arizona." Callie buried her nose into the top of the blonde head. It didn't smell like Arizona but the OR but she didn't care. She just needed the contact to strengthen her resolve. "I choose you. I want you."
"And I want what we had in the last few weeks." Arizona said in a whisper.
"What do you mean?" The brunette pulled back, her face washed blank with confusion.
"I always thought that I wasn't cut out to be a mom." Arizona repeated her statement from earlier, looking deep into the brown eyes. There was a touch of smile in the corner of her lips. "I have never been with anyone who made me wanting to be a mother. But with you and Oscar... His face lighted up when I come to him. No matter who was holding him, he always reached out to me when I was around... I felt like his mother and that didn't scare me."
Callie's mouth curved upward to an uncertain smile.
"I'm not saying that I want to get Oscar back. I've missed the chance, I know that. Just... I saw the picture, Calliope. When we took Oscar downstairs to the garden, I could see us sitting on the bench, watching our kids running around in the park. I want that." The blonde took hold of Callie's hands, nothing but determination showing on her face. "I didn't want kids because I wasn't sure. But Calliope, I want this. I want this with you."
The brunette blinked a couple times, as if her brain cogs couldn't turn fast enough to take in the declaration from her ears. Every muscle of her body just froze before a grin crept onto her face, it soon stretched from one side to the other to a beaming smile.
"When you say kids, you mean... multiple?"