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 : Once again, thank you all for the support and love.
All mistakes are mine.
Frankly, I didn't plan to spend much time with the Robbins'. The least we see the others, the least they'd figure out Arizona and I are not really together.
However, I find myself couldn't resist it when Arizona comes to me before the end of the shift, asking if I'd go home with her. I long for the warmth of the Robbins parents, and I long for the warmth of Arizona's touches.
Before I know it, four nights in this week I was in Arizona's house, dining with her parents, and having a little family time in the living room with Arizona and me cuddling up in the love seat. I'd leave after Barbara and the colonel went upstairs. Once I even managed to sneak back in the house before dawn, in order to have breakfast with them.
Tonight Arizona decided to release her mother from the kitchen duty, bringing the parents to our favorite restaurant. Which is perfect, it's Mark birthday today, I can probably still catch him for a drink at Joe's bar after dinner.
"Hey, they put the gnocchi di ricotta back on the menu." Arizona says happily when she opens the menu and sees her beloved dish is listed on it.
"How could they not to?" I cast a sidelong glance at her, half jokingly. "You should see the pout on your face when you whined about that to the poor waitresses, two times."
"Me? You were the one who went into the kitchen demanding a talk with the chef." She puts down the menu, batting her eyelashes at me with an innocent smile.
"How could I not to? You really should see the pout on your face." I lift a finger tapping her nose playfully. She scrunches her face to a grimace before grasps my hand, and then rests our hands on the table with hers covering mine.
It feels so natural now for us to act like this. I still have that familiar tingle I get whenever Arizona touches me radiates through my body. In the back of my mind, I know very well that this part of our relationship isn't real, and I could feel those cracks in my heart break a little more... Nevertheless, I am going to embrace the time being the woman that Arizona's in love with.
Our waitress comes to serve our drinks. And when she pours the wine into my glass, I give her the instruction to just fill half of the glass.
"I have to drive." I explain to my dining companions.
"Oh honey, don't worry about that." Barbara turns to her husband. "Maybe we should hire a lyft or uber afterward? Callie deserves a few drinks tonight."
"No no, it's okay." I wave my free hand. "I'm going to meet a friend for drinks after I sent you guys home."
"Who?" Arizona asks.
"Mark, it's his birthday." I sip my water, giving her a soft smile.
"Oh, okay." Arizona flips the pages of the menu by the hand that was on top of mine.
Drinks are served, foods are served, our conversations flows easily as usual. The Robbins really has never run out of things to talk.
"I have Nick on the phone today. He's going to Uncle Ted's party alone." Barbara fills in her daughter regarding the party that is going to hold in less than 2 weeks.
"Mom..." Arizona sighs, not even looking up from her salad.
"What? I am just saying." The mother looks around the table, doesn't know that she has just hit a nerve.
"I know you, mother." Drawing in a deep breath, Arizona put down her cutlery, giving her mother a somewhat forced smile. Involuntary, I put my hand on her knee. When she looks at me, I can see that her expression softens and a real smile stretches his lips.
"Hey young lady, you know I don't like it when you call me that." Barbara protests jocosely. "Besides, I wanted you and Nick to get together because I didn't know you have Callie. I just want you to be happy."
"I am happy." Arizona says, keeping her eyes on me, she puts her hand on top of mine that is resting on her knee. Her intense blue eyes seem to bore into my soul. I feel myself blush, breaking our eye contact and reaching for my glass of water with my free hand, trying to cover up my embarrassment.
"I can see that." Barbara seems happy with the act that we just played in front of her. She shares a smile with the colonel and then turns to us again. "So... have you two thought about, you know, getting married someday? Maybe soon?"
"Mother!" Arizona cries out. And I choke on the water and splash half of the glass all over my dress.
"Arizona..." The colonel gives his daughter a warning look, but Arizona doesn't pay much attention on him. She is busy rubbing my back and wiping off the water on my chest with her napkin. I halt her hand between coughs. I'm sure my face is red as a tomato.
"Oh Callie, Honey, are you okay?" I can hear the concern in Barbara's voice, but I couldn't bring my eyes to look at her, or anyone on the table. I just nod my head, concentrating on rearranging the drenched tableware.
"Fine, mom." Arizona placed the napkin back on her laps. From the corner of my eye, I can see that Barbara is smiling at her daughter with sparkle in her eyes, expecting a follow up. "Okay, we haven't talked about that yet, but..."
Arizona turns to me, and our eyes locked on like magnets. There's a strange light in those blue eyes that I don't know what it is. I just know that my heart is beating so hard that I can barely hear anything around us, except for the voice of Arizona's.
"If Calliope wants to spend the rest of her life with me, yeah, I don't see why not?"
"Oh Daniel!" Barbara exclaims to the colonel, I guess. My eyes are still captured by the pair of gorgeous sapphire before me. And I dimly hear another question. "And children?
"Two... or three?" Not taking her eyes away from me, Arizona smiles.
"Two or three?" I breathe out, not realize that I was holding my breath.
"I know how much you like kids. I'd like to see you carrying our child. And I can see that down the road, I'd want to carry our child for you." There's a ghost of mischievous smile on her face. "And you know with the exta hormones that we're gonna take, the chance of multiple pregnancies is pretty high. So, two or three is about right."
"You... you really have thought about it?" My eyes flick between her eyes and her lips, they are moving closer to my face.
"Of course, babe." Quick like a flash, she pecks on my lips. Before I can react, she already pulled away.
Barbara is grinning from ear to ear, and the colonel has the biggest smile on his face that I've ever seen in the last few days. The mother opens her mouth wanting to say something, but Arizona holds up a finger interrupting her.
"Don't ask me when and don't give us any pressure. Calliope and I are dating for just a few months. Let us enjoy this a little longer before going to the next phase of our lives, okay?"
Of course she has thought about it. Arizona knew that her mother is going to ask this kind of questions, of course she has already prepared a model answer. Or else, how could she blurt out something like this in a snap of fingers?
I shouldn't be overjoyed because this is just a part of the act, the act to convince Arizona's parents that they don't have to worry about their daughter. And they don't need to force Nick on her.
And I shouldn't be upset because I already knew what I got myself into when I promised to do it.
With big effort, Arizona is able to divert the topic of conversation to something other than our relationship. Despite the little moment that has taken my breath away, this is another pleasant evening. We talk a lot, we laugh a lot, and we drink a lot. By the end of the dinner, the four of us have finished two bottles of wine. With me only have 2 half glasses, the Robbins family consumes most of them.
Arizona is a light weight, Barbara is even worse. When the car pulls into Arizona's driveway, the mother is so tipsy that can't even stand straight. The colonel gives me a quick goodnight before carrying his drunken wife back to the house.
I look to the other side of the car, Arizona is lingering by the passenger door, giving me a silly smile like a cheshire cat. She is so drunk.
"Are you okay?" I walk around the car, standing in front of her asking with concern.
Still have her lips spread wide, Arizona wrapping her arms around my neck. The suddenness of her whole body pressing up against me makes me tumble backward. My hands fly to her waist in reflex, and I lean my back on the side of the car to regain our balance.
"I'm more than okay." She giggles into my neck and I feel a shudder running though my body. And she lifts her head, gazing at me with her hooded eyes. "Kiss me."
"What?" It takes me a second to really recognize her words.
"Kiss me." She slurs between giggles. "My mom is watching us."
"I doubt that. Your mother can hardly keep her eyes open." I look over to the house, the lights are on and the curtains are down, but I'm pretty sure the parents are already in bed.
"You don't want to kiss me?" The smile on her face replaces by a pout, matching with her unfocused eyes, she is so adorable... It takes me a great deal of self-control to not comply with her request.
"Not when you're drunk. You should go get some sleep. Do you want me to help you inside?" I gently nudge her backward with my hands, but she grounds her hips further into mine, keeping me trap between her and the car.
"Are you going to tuck me in bed?" She tilts her head smiling suggestively.
"If you want me to." I joke.
"I want you to. And I want you to get in bed with me..." Arizona laughs and says in one breath, only breaking by an uncontrollable hiccup. "...with much less clothes."
One of her hands drifts down from my neck, along the lapel of my jacket. She tugs it lightly implying to take it off. She's always a little flirtatious when she is drunk. Good thing that she probably wouldn't remember it tomorrow.
"God, you are really drunk." I chuckle to myself. "Not tonight, okay? I'm going to meet with Mark. I've told you, it's his birthday."
"Of course." She puts her hand back behind my neck, burying her face into my shoulder. We stand there with her body firmly pressing against mine, and my arms wrap around her waist for a while. I thought that she has fallen asleep on me until she mumbles against my neck. "I don't understand."
"You don't understand what?" I lower my head, trying to look into her face.
"Mark. He is an idiot." She sighs. I can hear the frustration in her voice. She really dislikes that man. Even in her drunken status, she remembers that he is an idiot.
"He really is an idiot, what not to understand?" I throw my head back with a belly laugh. But Arizona doesn't find it as amusing as I am, it seems.
"I don't understand how he can go for a 6..." She pulls back slightly, narrowing her eyes looking skyward for a brief second. "Okay, little Grey can be a 7 at best. But you, Calliope, you are a 10! A perfect 10!"
"I'm not a 10, Arizona." I shake my head slightly disagreeing with her, but there's a huge smile on my face that I couldn't hide even if I tried to. I know that she is drunk, and she's saying this because I'm her friend, it still gives a tingle in my heart hearing those from her lips.
"Yes, you are!" She's practically stamping her feet. "You're perfect, inside and out. You are generous, kind, intelligent, compassionate... not to mention you are gorgeous and hot... so, so very hot..."
She trails off with her face nuzzling up to my neck, slowly moving up to my cheek...
"You really think so?" Second times tonight that she makes my heart skipping a beat.
"Yeah... any man would be lucky to have you as their girlfriend, or wife." She breathes out against the corner of my lips. I can feel her warm breath on my skin. "You shouldn't be waiting for that idiot."
"I'm not waiting for Mark. We are just friend." I whisper back.
"You'd have fooled me." She drops her head back on my shoulder, and her fingers playing with the hair on my nape.
"Mark is not the one that I want, Arizona." I close my eyes, burying my nose into her hair, trying very hard to control my rapid heartbeat. I could feel my heart beating, every single pound in my chest. I wonder if Arizona could feel it too.
"Who is he?" Her voice has sunk almost to a whisper.
You. You are the one that I want, Arizona.
I say it in my head.
Another pregnant silence passes, we just stand there wrapping into each other's arms. Sensing that I am not going to give her an answer, Arizona pulls back, looking deep into my eyes.
"Fine, but just remember you're mine now." She kisses me full on my lips. "Don't even think about letting anyone else kiss these lips tonight."
She gives me another quick peck before I can say anything. And then she walks unsteadily toward the house without a glance, shuts the door and leaves a very confused me staring at the closed door.
Finally I get into my car, stepping on the gas hoping to get to Joe's as quick as possible. I really need a drink.