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 : Thank you.
All mistakes are mine.
Deep breathe. Deep breathe. You can do this.
Well, it's easier said than done. My hands are shaking. Maybe I should just head back to the car and go home. I can call Arizona and tell her that I'm not feeling well. We can reschedule. Her parents are gonna be here for weeks anyway.
But... you've promised her.
Yeah, I said that I'd be here, but I didn't say when...
Before I'd make up my mind, the door opens in front of me.
"You do know that we can hear your car pulling up in my driveway, right?" Arizona smiles at me on the other side of the door. "My mom is watching you through the window in the kitchen. She thinks you're adorable."
"I'm not adorable. I'm nervous." I roll my eyes, fidgeting with the belt of my shoulder bag.
"That's why she thinks you're adorable." Her smile goes wider. "Stop being nervous, just come in and... give me a kiss."
"What?" I whisper in return.
"We are in love, remember?" She leans in, arching an eyebrow at me still wearing the smile on her face. "I told you, my mom is watching."
"Oh, right." Blushing furiously, I lean in and softly brush her lips with mine.
We pull apart quickly because someone is calling out behind us.
"Arizona, can I come out from the kitchen now?" I guess that's her mother's voice.
"Mom, I didn't lock you in there, you can come out any time you want." Arizona takes my hand in hers, pulling me toward the kitchen. And a nice old lady walks out from there before we reach the door.
"You told me to stay put when I said that I'm gonna open the door. How do I know when am I allow to come see your girlfriend?" Arizona's mother darted Arizona a mischievous glance. I can see where Arizona gets her wits from. And the pair of dimples, too.
"Mrs. Robbins, nice to meet you." I greet her politely, shyly half hiding behind Arizona.
"If you're going to insist on calling me Mrs. Robbins, I'm going to address you as Miss Torres then." Mrs. Robbins tilts her head, raising her brows, looking at me with hands on her hips.
"I..." I wish the ground to open up and swallow me now. I have never met anyone's mother and I really don't know what to do.
"You can call her Barbara, babe." Arizona put both hands on my shoulders pushing me forward, coming face to face to her mother. "Mom, I swear if you scare her away, I'll never talk to you again."
"Yeah, I know you love Calliope more than you love your own mother, you don't have to remind me that." Barbara pouts between Arizona and me, but her effort to feign sadness is not convincing because her eyes are smile. And she finally pulls me into her arms. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Calliope."
"Thank you, Barbara." I relax in the strong arms. "And you can call me Callie."
"Yeah, mom. I'm the only one who's allowed to call her Calliope." Arizona sticks her tongue out mocking her mother after Barbara let go of me.
"No, it's fine." I drop my gaze to the floor, trying to surmount my embarrassment. I've just realized that Arizona calls me only by my full name since the first time we officially met, and I've never thought about correcting her or telling her to stop it. "Just... everyone calls me Callie."
"Oh I understand, honey." Barbara keeps a hand on my arm, saying with a smile. "It's like I don't want anyone else call my husband 'hot stuff'."
"Eww... mom! I don't need to know the pet name you have for dad!" Arizona's face scrunches to a grimace. And she takes my hand once again leading me to the living room. "Let's go see dad before my mother reveals more bedroom secrets to us."
"What makes you think that your dad isn't going to..." Barbara follows us, and she seems having fun teasing her own daughter.
"Dad!" Arizona shouts before we enter the living room, cutting her mother off. "Tell mom to stop talking and Calliope's here."
"You know very well that I don't want to get into the fight between you and your mother." The man sitting on the couch puts down the newspaper, revealing his stern, yet gracious face. He stands up to give me his hand. "Nice to meet you, Calliope. I hope you don't mind the two of them. Sometime it's like I have 2 baby girls in my family."
"Nice to meet you too, Colonel." I take his hand in mine to a firm, confident handshake. Kinda glad that I remember Arizona has told me that his father likes to be called the Colonel. But my confident front quickly dissolves to giggling fool when the mother and daughter open their mouths.
"It's Callie to you, dad."
"Yeah, and Arizona just said that she doesn't want to know our pet names behind doors, and you called me your baby girl in front of her."
"Oh my god! Mom!"
"Callie, I hope that you realize what you get yourself into." The Colonel gives me a sympathy smile.
Despite of Arizona's protest, Barbara drags me to the kitchen helping her with the dinner. And my girlfriend is staying in the living room keeping his father company.
"I need a garlic presser..." Barbara looks around the kitchen, opening a drawer but the tools that she needs is not in there.
"It's in here." I open the drawer on the other side, where the kitchen tools are.
"Glad you're here to help, Callie. Arizona doesn't know her way around her own kitchen." She laughs while taking the offered garlic presser. "She is a terrible cook."
"Actually she's getting better at it." I laugh with her. "We oftentimes cook together."
"You wouldn't know how surprise I was when she told me that she has cookware at home." Barbara grins wickedly. "I asked her to stop by the department store on the way from the airport to here, so I can get some pots and pans, making her home cooked meals in these few weeks. And she said it's not necessary. Now I know why."
I feel myself blush. I don't know she means the pots and pans, or the home cooked meals.
One time during our eat out, the conversation led to how much I like cooking but sometime it's a lot of work making dinner for one. And Arizona volunteered to join me whenever I feel like cooking. It's always better to cook for two than for one.
I wouldn't oppose the idea of spending time with her, of course.
We had dinner at my apartment a couple times. Mostly just the two of us, and Mark has joined in a time or two. That guy seems has a nose that can smell foods from a mile away. How could he know I was cooking through the doors separate our apartments? I have no idea.
After a while, Arizona said that she wants to help in the kitchen, wants to learn how to cook. The kitchen in my apartment isn't big enough for the two of us, so we make dinner in her house from then on. And that's why she has a complete range of cookware in here.
"It smells really good." I turn to the stove, avoiding Barbara's gaze and trying to change the subject. "What are you making?"
"It's chicken parmesan with a twist. I don't use breadcrumb coating and instead brush the chicken cutlets with fresh herb oil made from rosemary, thyme and parsley." She says proudly, and winks her eye at me. "My own recipe, and I'll write it down for you later."
"Oh, I can't take it. It's your family recipe." I decline quickly. I'm not really the girlfriend of her daughter's. I can't take her family recipe.
"Honey, I have no doubt that we're gonna be family." Barbara waves her hand, with a natural touch of fondness expressing in her tone of voice.
I open my mouth going to decline once again, but get distracted when a body pressing up against me on the back and a pair of hands wrap around my midsection from behind. I stiffen in the embrace.
"How are my two favorite girls doing?" Arizona asks, putting her chin on my shoulder.
Having Arizona hugging me so intimately, I feel as though a thousand tiny electric pulses are flying through my body from the spot where her hands rest. I'm too flustered to give a response. And Barbara is watching us with a broad smile.
"Chicken parmesan, pasta and garlic breads."
"Oh my favorite." Arizona exclaims ecstatically. Her body clings tighter to mine and sways from side to side slightly, bringing my body along with hers.
My heart is pounding like crazy. I wonder if she could feel it since she's so close to me.
"Yeah, and I'm going to teach Callie how to make it." Barbara turns around to put the tray of garlic breads into the oven, a mischievous smile on her lips that she doesn't even try to conceal. "Since this girl can get your lazy ass into the kitchen, maybe you can actually cook your own favorite dish for once."
"Nah, I'll have Calliope make it for me. Would you, babe?" Still wrapping her arms around me, Arizona tilts her head, looking at me with her smiling eyes. Her bright, beautiful, hypnotic blue eyes.
"Sure... babe..." I choke in my breath, and the pet name tumbles out of my mouth.
The dinner went on surprising pleasant. Surprise only to me because apparently this is how the Robbins' interact when they get together. Arizona and her mother would make some harmless jeers at one another, and Colonel would just look between them with an affectionate smile.
My nervousness of meeting Arizona's parents went away between the delicious dishes made by Barbara, the fine wine that was picked up by the Colonel, and the laughter that was induced by the mother and daughter. Barbara Robbins really is a doll. She even shared a few of young Arizona's silly stories on my benefit.
And Arizona seems not really mind. She adapted to the role as my girlfriend pretty naturally. She would touch my arm or hand when she knew that her parents were watching us, or she would have that magic smile on her face whenever we looked at each other. It's like having a perfect scene partner in a movie. She helped me ease into the character of Arizona Robbins' girlfriend easier.
And how I wish it's not just a character.
After dinner, I offered to clean the dishes. Arizona wanted to help but I sent her to the living room to be with her parents. Barbara and Colonel are staying for 3 weeks, but Arizona isn't going to take any day off before they take off together to San Diego. Any time they spend together is precious.
I walk into the living room to join them after I finished the cleaning. The parents are sitting on the big couch with the colonel in the middle, and Arizona is on the love seat with her legs up on the ottoman. I have two choices, either sitting next to the colonel on the 3-seater couch, or the empty one next to them.
Arizona gives me a third choice. She shifts in her seat, and then pats the empty space that she just produced. The universal signal of come over to sit in here.
I don't need to look at Barbara's face to know that she's watching me. I can not not to go sit with my girlfriend at this point.
Stalking toward Arizona slowly, I have to take a series of deep breaths to calm my erratically beating heart. I can't believe this is happening.
I know she is testing my commitment to the promise that I have made to her. She gives me her sly, birdlike smile when I narrow my eyes at her. To make matter worse, she wraps her arms around me after I led back on the seat, pressing up against my side having her head on my shoulder. I don't know where to put my hands. The only option is to put one of my hands on her hip, and the other placing on her arm that is resting on my torso.
A soft sigh leaves her lips. She's pleased that I'm not going to blow our cover.
My eyes are gluing to the television screen, but my focus is on trying to control my breathing, willing my heart to calm down. And then my ears pick up the conversation on the other side of the living room.
"We need to get one of those chairs." Barbara says. I turn my head slightly to look at her, and she is talking to the colonel with a hand gesturing in my direction.
"Why?" Colonel asks.
"It looks really cozy." The mother purses her lips, still gazing at Arizona and me.
"What's wrong with our couch at home?" The colonel takes his eyes from the evening news program, looking at his wife.
"Don't you like to cuddle together?" We can hear the pout in Barbara's voice. Arizona lifts her head slightly, looking pass me to see what her mother's doing.
"We can cuddle on the couch." The father wraps an arm around Barbara's shoulder and pulls her closer to him.
Arizona has a grin on her face while she nuzzles her head on my shoulder again.
However, it seems the gentle gesture from the colonel isn't good enough.
"But it looks really cozy in a small chair like that, Daniel."
"Yeah, but don't forget that we're not flexible like those two anymore. Our old bones wouldn't survive 10 minutes cramming in that small chair." The colonel Daniel Robbins is a reticent man, but when he opens his mouth, his sense of humor is remarkable.
Both Arizona and I could no longer hold our giggles, and Barbara just groans aloud.
"Ah, how wonderful it is to be young and in love."
"What's wrong with old and still in love?" With a tender smile on his face, the colonel kisses his wife on her temple.
Listening to the conversation between the couple, Arizona snuggles up closer to me, and subconscious, I hold her tighter.
How wonderful it is to be old and still in love.
We remain in the same position for about an hour, talking and laughing about nothing and everything until the parents decided to call it the night.
"We're going to sleep now. You can change the channel if you want. Arizona doesn't like to watch the news." Barbara hands me the remote control after she got up from the couch. "I'll make breakfast tomorrow morning. Is blueberries pancakes okay for you, Callie?"
"Oh..." I look down at the face against my shoulder, and Arizona is looking back at me with her eyebrows raise, waiting for my answer. I thought that she has lined up a series of excuses for me. Luckily, I dimly remember one of them. "I have a very early shift tomorrow. I probably will be gone before you wake up."
"Okay then. Goodnight, girls." After exchanged our goodnights, the loving couple walk out of the living room hand in hand.
"Your parents really are in love." My eyes follow the parents until they're out of my sight.
"I told you, they're each other's soulmate." Arizona smiles softly. She takes the remote control from my hand.
"They truly are." I agree with her. My eyes watching the television screen as Arizona's flipping thought the channels.
Now the parents are not present, but it seems that Arizona have no intention of moving out from the love seat yet. So am I. It's too comfortable.
"Oh, Whitney Houston." Arizona exclaimed with a light laugh when she reached to the movie channel. And we say simultaneously.
"The bodyguard."
"Is it okay to watch this? I couldn't remember when the last time was that I watched this movie." She asks, and I nod my head. She puts down the control and wraps her arm around me again. "This is one of my favorites."
"This is my favorite too. I like everything about this movie." I say with a smile. Whitney's character starts to sing I have nothing, I don't even know my fingers are stroking her arm until she tilts her head to look at me.
"Except for the ending."
"What's wrong with the ending?" I frown at her. Yes, it was not a happy ending, but it was pretty realistic under that circumstance.
"Come on, they clearly love each other." Arizona rolls her eyes, saying matter-of-factly. "I don't understand why Frank would give it up."
"You can't call that love." I shrug a shoulder disagreeing with her. "Yes, they like each other, they have feelings for each other, but I wouldn't call that love."
"Why not? Didn't you see the kiss at the end?" She sits up slightly to look me in the face, raising an eyebrow challenging me. "No one would kiss someone like that if they don't love that person."
"You're such a romantic." I chuckle at her analysis. And she settles back down in my arms with a big smile on her face.
But we haven't got to the ending. Half way through the movie, Arizona is snoring softly against my chest. It's understandable consider that she went to pick up her parents very early in the morning. And being with an energetic mother like that, she must be very tired.
I start to get a strange feeling in my stomach. I feel content, absolute, blissful contentment like all my dreams have come true. Having Arizona in my arms, watch her sleeping peacefully with a smile on her angelic face. But five minutes later the reality of the situation hits. This is all an act, the closeness, the kissing, the cuddles.
Slowly and carefully, I retract my arm from under her, slipping off of the love seat as light as I can try not to startle her. Placing the blanket on top of her, I stood there watching her for another minute. Finally, I press my fingers tips against my lips, and then gently put them on her forehead, silently saying a goodnight before walking out from the front door.
A/N 2: The bodyguard is a great movie, seriously, watch it if you haven't yet.