A/N: I know, I know, a cliffhanger is a crappy place to leave you hanging without my regular update. I am so sorry. Between work and getting strep, I just didn't have it in me to put forth the effort and energy that you and our girls deserve. Plus, I needed to do a bit of research before I finished this chapter. I hope it was worth the wait.

"What the hell was he thinking?" Arizona huffed as she looked at her phone for the tenth time in as many minutes waiting for an update from her mother. Callie kept both hands on the steering wheel and switched lanes trying to maneuver through the heavy Saturday afternoon traffic. During their conversation with Barb, they really couldn't get much out of her other than Daniel tried to teach Sofia to roller skate and they were both awake and alert but badly injured and needed to go to the hospital to get checked out. Callie spoke to the ambulance driver who filled her in a little more and she asked them to meet her at NYU, her previous hospital. After speaking to some of her former colleagues and apprising them of the situation, they threw on some clothes, packed a bag just in case, and jumped in the car. Before she could attempt to respond, Arizona continued her rant, "I mean, he is in his seventies. What on earth made him think this could ever be a good idea? And with Sofia? You're an orthopedic surgeon! There's a reason she doesn't skate." Glancing over at the blonde, Callie could see how worked up she was, her right leg was bouncing a mile a minute, she was chewing on the inside of her cheek, and she was gripping her phone so tightly her knuckles were white. When Arizona was frightened or worried, she had two modes, lash out or shut down. In this case, she was lashing out. If she were to be honest, Callie preferred this to shutting down, it meant Arizona was facing her feelings, voicing them, sharing them. It meant she was receptive to giving and receiving comfort. When she shut down, she shut down completely and would only open up when she had dealt with everything on her own, leaving Callie alone to deal with things by herself as well. When she shut down it was inevitable that problems would arise between them. Determined not to let the past repeat itself, praying the past wouldn't repeat itself, Callie chose not to say anything at this point, not to push, not to try to console, so she did the only thing she could do and reached over to cover Arizona's trembling hand and linked their fingers trying to offer what support she could. Silently reminding her girlfriend she wasn't alone.

Feeling the firm warm grip on her hand, the heaviness on her leg, Arizona looked down to see her small ivory fingers interspersed among longer caramel colored fingers. She closed her eyes and allowed the warmth of the touch and the strength being offered to seep into her soul. Taking a deep breath to try to calm herself, Arizona looked over and noticed Callie was chewing on her bottom lip as was her habit when she was worried, her nervous dark chocolate eyes were focused on the road, but her furrowed brow suggested her mind was elsewhere, on their daughter, on her father. Looking back at their hands, Arizona could now feel the slight tremor in the normally sure and steady touch. It was clear Callie was just as worried as she was, needed the strength, the support, just as much as she did. But she wouldn't ask for it, she was afraid to ask for it, for so long Callie had to be the strong one. It wasn't always that way, there was once a time when Callie would search her out, come to her for strength and support and she would gladly give it. She would wrap her in her arms and hold her, protect her, be her rock, her shoulder to cry on. She would be her good man in a storm. Then a plane fell out of the sky and everything changed, she changed and she took that strength and support away, only taking what was offered, not seeing what was needed in return. Now it was just a given, when her mother called and said there was an accident, Callie took over, no questions asked. She went into protector mode. She would be strong and decisive and level-headed and supportive, all while putting her own needs on the back burner. She would allow everyone to lean on her, she would give hugs and hold hands, she would be optimistic and cheerful all while she was slowly dying inside needing someone to be those things for her. She was Calliope, she loved how she wanted to be loved, she did all the things she secretly wanted in return…and never got. Until now. This time would be different because they were different, she was different. Turning her hand so their palms were touching, she intertwined their fingers again and squeezed tightly returning the support being offered. Lifting their joined hands to her lips, she kissed the back of Callie's hand and asked, "How are you feeling? Tell me what's going on in that beautiful brain of yours." She didn't expect the pang of guilt she experienced when she saw the flash of surprise in her girlfriend's eyes before it was taken over by concern once more. It was at that moment Arizona vowed to herself that no matter what happened, she needed to stay open to Callie, she couldn't shut down anymore. Callie deserved better. They deserved better.

A little taken aback by Arizona's words, but thanking God for the quickly answered prayer, Callie took a moment to gather her thoughts before she asked, "Honestly?" Arizona nodded and responded, "Always." Callie nodded then raised their intertwined hands to her lips as she placed a kiss on the back of the blonde's hand resting them on her own leg as she said, "Our family is…our daughter and your dad are both on their way to the hospital and I'm worried sick. But there's this part of me, the selfish part…I'm just, I was thinking how we were never very good at this…uh…injury, accidents…tragedy." Arizona tilted her head as if contemplating how to respond. Finally she answered, "We weren't, I wasn't, you were always so strong. But of all the lessons I learned from losing my leg, from losing you, the biggest, most important lesson was isolating myself, shutting you out, no matter the reason, it did neither of us any good. You aren't alone anymore Calliope, I'm here, I'm back. When something happens to one of us, it happens to both of us. Right now, our family could be in danger and they will need us and we will need each other. So I promise you, I'm here, I'm staying open, for you…for us." Callie could feel the tears stinging the backs of her eyes, tears she'd wanted to shed since they received the call that there had been an accident. Tears she was afraid to shed because she's had to be the strong one for so long. Finally, she let out on a sob, "I'm scared, our baby is hurt and we aren't there. That's been my biggest fear these past two years, she would get hurt and one of us couldn't be with her. She needs us and we aren't…" She stopped as she felt Arizona's soft hand on her cheek wiping the tears away. "I know honey, me too, me too. We are almost there and she will have us, both of us, together." Callie felt her body relax for the first time since they received Barb's call and looked down at their joined hands as she smiled and repeated, "Together."

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Hand in hand, Callie and Arizona rushed into the Emergency Department and headed straight for the nurse's station until they heard, "Torres, over here." Arizona looked up to see a tall African American man who appeared to be in his mid-forties waving them over with the tablet he held in his hand. Callie breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards him saying, "Brian, thank goodness. This is my girlfriend Arizona, Sofia's other mother. Where's our baby?" Extending his hand to Arizona, the man smiled and said, "Brian James, head of ortho." He looked at both women and said, "Beth…" He stopped and looked at Arizona and explained, "…she's our Chief of Peds, she took your daughter up to radiology for x-rays and a CT scan. It doesn't look like anything is broken and she doesn't recall hitting her head, never lost consciousness, but she might have sprained her wrist trying to break her fall and she's scraped up pretty bad, we just wanted to cover all the bases." Both women breathed an audible sigh of relief and hugged each other tightly. Still holding one another, Arizona looked up and asked, "My dad, how is he?" Brian took a deep breath and looked down at his tablet for a moment. Having worked side by side with the other surgeon for nearly a year, Callie knew what he was about to say wasn't good. Keeping her arm around Arizona, she started walking toward the double doors that would take them to the exam rooms and waited while Brian scanned his badge guiding them through when the doors opened as he explained, "Mr. Robbins didn't fare so well." Arizona looked up at Callie, tears already pooling in her bright blue eyes. Callie pulled her closer and kissed her forehead then nodded to her colleague to continue. "It seems he was skating backwards to guide your daughter and when they went down, he landed pretty hard on his right side with his leg underneath him, his arm smacked against the pavement and he hit his head on the cement. He never lost consciousness, but he has a pretty big gash on his head. I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but when someone his age takes a fall like that, we are monitoring his heart and blood pressure closely for signs of heart attack or stroke. They were hooking him up to the monitors then taking him up to radiology as well." Arizona stopped walking and turned into Callie burying her face in the crook of her neck.

Callie wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and asked, "What exactly are you thinking?" Brian started, "We won't know…" Callie held up her hand and said, "Cut the professional crap Brian, this is me and that is my father-in-law you are talking about, so please, just tell me your thoughts here." Brian really didn't want to get this wrong, Callie may have just been an attending when they worked together, but that was her settling, she was the best orthopedic surgeon in the country, she could diagnose the man without looking at an x-ray. He considered himself good, but he wasn't Torres good. Letting out a deep breath he said, "Mr. Robbins has a concussion, his tibia and fibula are definitely broken, I need to look at the scans to know if it's a clean break or if he will need pins or a plate, I am certain his right arm is broken in multiple places if not shattered. I sent him for the works, x-ray, MRI, and CT. We pushed both he and Sofia to the front of the line. He wouldn't let us give him anything for pain, didn't want us to touch him until you got here." By this time, Arizona had turned around and was listening intently and asked, "He has to be in excruciating pain, where is he? Callie, he can't have all those tests without morphine at least." Brian held out his hand, he shook his head and chuckled as he said, "He wouldn't listen to your mom, any one of us, but that little girl of yours…she heard him decline the pain medication and all she had to do was stick out her little lip and bat those big doe eyes of hers and he was toast." Callie chuckled and said, "She gets that from her mommy." Arizona smiled then and said, "Damn right!" Brian smiled and pointed to a door on the right side of the hall and said, "Mrs. Robbins is in there waiting for you. Sofia should be back any minute, your dad will take about an hour or so." Both women nodded and walked toward the designated exam room.

Callie started to reach out to open the door but Arizona caught her hand and pulled her further down the hall. When they stopped, Arizona let go of her hand and started pacing. Callie leaned against the wall and studied her girlfriend carefully. She could see the myriad of emotions swirling in the watery blue eyes, the tight reign she had on her feelings was evident from the clenched jaw and fists. She knew Arizona was waging an inner battle at the moment so she stood quietly, patiently waiting for her to work out what she wanted to say. Finally Arizona stopped in front of her, put her hands on her hips and said, "I am so mad at him! What the hell was he thinking Callie? He's not in his 30's anymore, he taught me to skate when he was young and active and…and…and we're surgeons! There's a reason Sofia doesn't know how to skate or skateboard. We've seen entirely too much of this exact same thing! I told him when he asked me if he could buy her roller skates for Christmas that she didn't skate, that we don't want her ending up in the ER!" Arizona started pacing again then continued, "But I can't be mad at him because he is hurt, he is hurt badly. But I want to yell at him because its his fault he is hurt! And…and it has to be his bones! It has to be your specialty. You'll want to fix him, and I'll want you to, and they will want you to, because you're the best. But I DON'T want you to because if something goes wrong, it wouldn't be your fault, but anything can go wrong…his heart, a stroke on the table, he could throw a clot…anything…and, and you would blame yourself, and I…I don't want to, I can say I wouldn't, but…I can't…we can't…" Arizona stopped pacing and walked to stand in front of Callie. She reached out and took both of her strong talented hands in hers and said, "I trust these hands, I trust you, and your decisions as a surgeon, I do, but I don't trust fate, I don't trust the universe, so please Calliope, please promise me you won't try to be his doctor. You can give advice, you can consult, but…" There it was. Arizona was afraid for them. Callie knew if they had this conversation three years ago or even one year ago, or hell, any time before last week, she would think Arizona didn't trust her abilities, didn't respect her track record as a surgeon, she would immediately assume she still held the amputation against her. But now, looking into the beautiful blue eyes she loved so much, she saw the fear, fear they would lose what they just got back, what they were just starting to rebuild. If she were to be completely honest with herself, with Arizona, she was relieved. She had the same concerns, she knew if they asked she would do it without a second thought, but she wouldn't have volunteered, she wouldn't have taken over the case on her own.

Looking down at their joined hands, she pulled them toward her until Arizona's body was flush against hers, she wrapped Arizona's hands around her neck then rested her own on the smaller woman's lower back. Bending her head down to brush their lips together, she pulled back and whispered, "I promise I won't try to take your dad's case." Arizona looked into dark chocolate eyes searching for any sign of hurt or anger, but all she saw was love. Tilting her head she asked, "You aren't upset?" Callie shook her head and answered honestly, "I might have been if we hadn't talked…if we weren't together. But I know you trust me; I know you know how awesome I am." She smirked then and stole another kiss before she continued, "But this right here, what we have, what we are building, it's far more important to me than anything else in the world. Yes, he's your dad, he's my family and I want him to have the best care possible, but I won't put us at stake, I won't lose you again. You're right, anything could go wrong, I mean this is us we are talking about." Arizona smiled and said, "You are awesome and I do trust you. Thank you for understanding." She leaned up and captured Callie's lips with her own then pulled back and rested their foreheads together. The two women stood together gathering strength from one another for a few more minutes before Callie said, "We should go be with your mom, I'm sure she's out of her mind with worry." Arizona nodded and stepped back, linking their fingers she pulled the taller woman back toward the exam room where her mother was.

As they walked in, they could see the older woman was on the verge of a breakdown herself. She was pacing around the room, wringing her hands, tears running down her face. As soon as she heard the door open she let out a sob and rushed over to the two women and threw her arms around both of them as she cried, "Thank goodness you're here. Did you see a doctor? Have you heard anything?" Callie stepped back and gave Arizona a moment with her mom. She noticed someone had slid the partition that separated the two smaller exam rooms aside, making this one large room so Daniel and Sofia could be together. It felt odd being here, she had only been back a handful of times to do consults for Brian and to cover a few of his surgeries. She still had privileges, but now that her center was up and running, she was able to do everything there and was starting to get referrals from all over the country since word had gotten out that she started her own facility. Somehow she knew from her first day that this place was just a steppingstone. Other than Maria and Lorraine, she never really got close to anyone else, not personally. Of course she was professional and worked well with everyone, but she flew under the radar here just like she told Arizona earlier. Most of the people she did establish relationships with followed her to the clinic. Turning to see the other women were both seated and talking, she walked over behind Arizona and rested her hand on her shoulder smiling when a small hand instantly came up and linked their fingers.

After explaining to her mother what the doctor had told them, Arizona convinced her to sit down. If she didn't calm down soon, she was going to ask for a mild sedative. The last thing she needed right now was her mother having a heart attack. Feeling Callie come up behind her, she immediately felt her body relax and reached up to link their hands knowing both of them needed the connection right now. Finally she asked, "Mom, do you think you could tell us what happened now?" When she called earlier, she was nearly beside herself with panic and fear, she could barely get out that Daniel and Sofia had been hurt badly and they needed to meet her at the hospital. Taking a deep breath, Barb explained, "Your father decided to take Sofia to the skatepark to teach her how to roller skate. He said you used to enjoy it so much and it was a shame she didn't know how." Arizona scoffed and replied, "Well, yeah. There's a reason for that. Her mothers are orthopedic and pediatric surgeons. We didn't want her to end up on our table in the ER!" Squeezing the blonde's shoulder to get her to calm down, Callie asked, "So what happened?" Barb smiled slightly at Callie, relieved she was being level-headed and responded, "Daniel was skating backward holding Sofia's hands until she got the hang of it. Seeing she was doing well, he let go of her hands and continued to skate in front of her to catch her if he needed to. They were going at a decent clip for a while until Sofia stumbled or tripped on something and started flailing. Daniel reached out to grab her and two boys skated by pushing each other and threw him off balance, he fell backward and hit his head and landed on his leg wrong, he said he heard it snap. Sofia fell forward and tried to break her fall by sticking out her arm. Her hands and legs are pretty scraped up and the doctor said her wrist might be sprained or broken. She was wearing a helmet and we don't think she hit her head, but the doctor said she was going to run the tests just to make sure. She said, 'Torres will kill me if I don't get a CT scan.'" Both women laughed at that primarily because it was true.

The older woman reached out and took her daughter's hand and said, "I'm so sorry girls." Arizona squeezed her mom's hand and said, "It's not your fault mom, we all know how stubborn dad can be." Callie snorted and mumbled, "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Arizona whipped her head up and around and glared at Callie. Squeezing her hand just a little too tightly she asked, "You want to join them up in x-ray Torres?" Callie bit back her smile at the empty threat and bent down to steal a kiss then responded, "No ma'am. I'm good." Arizona winked and said, "That's what I thought." Barb smiled at the two women happy to see them happy. Remembering why they had Sofia in the first place she gasped and said, "Oh no! We ruined your date." The two younger women looked at one another just now realizing they did indeed have a date. Pulling out her phone, Arizona looked at the time and saw she still had time to reschedule everything. Standing up, she looked to Callie and said, "I'll be right back." then slipped out the door. Barb watched her daughter go then asked, "How is she? Really." Callie smiled at the older woman and responded, "She's good. Well, she's not, she's scared and she's really mad at Daniel, but she's good, she's talking about her feelings and not shutting down and…" Barb interjected, "Is she there for you? Is she letting you talk and feel your feelings? We both know my daughter Callie, she can be selfi-…" Callie cut in then and said, "She's changed a lot. This Arizona, she isn't the same woman I fell in love with ten years ago and she's not the same woman I walked away from four years ago. She's the best parts of both of those people and so much more. She wasn't like that before the crash, not with me, and she's not like that now. We've both changed, we are both better. But to answer your question, yes, she's letting me feel my feelings." Barb smiled then, a beautiful smile complete with dimples, the older version of the smile Callie loved so much and it only endeared the other woman to her more. Reaching out, the elder Robbins took both of Callie's hands into her own and said, "I'm glad you found your way back to each other. I've missed calling you my daughter." Callie swallowed the lump in her throat, this woman is the only mother she's had for eight years and to hear her say that meant everything to her. Standing up, she held out her arms and asked timidly, "Can I…um, can I have a hug?" Smiling, Barb stood up and wrapped her arms around her daughter-in-law, squeezing tightly when she heard the sniffles indicating the taller woman was crying.

Arizona stepped into the room and her heart swelled with joy seeing her girlfriend and her mother embracing like they were. She knew Callie missed her own mom and needed that maternal support right now. Seeing the blonde had returned, Callie stood back, wiped the tears from her eyes and asked "Hey, what was that about?" Arizona smiled and said, "I had to reschedule our date." Callie started to respond when the door on the other side of the room opened up catching the attention of all three women. They watched as the gurney carrying the small girl was pushed into the room. Seeing her moms, Sofia's eyes lit up and she groggily called out, "Hey mommies." Both women let out a sob and rushed to either side of their daughter's bed. Arizona put down the railing so she could sit on the bed and took her daughter's uninjured hand in her own then leaned down to kiss her on the head. Callie ran her fingers through her baby soft hair and bent down to kiss her forehead then asked, "How are you feeling little miss?" Sofia snickered and said, "I feel funny." All three women chuckled and Arizona asked, "Did they give you some medicine?" Sofia giggled and nodded then she looked at Callie and said, "Can you lift my blanket?" Callie nodded and pulled the blanket back revealing her daughter's little legs. Both women gasped as they saw the large patch of road rash that had yet to be cleaned just under her left knee. The little girl looked proudly at her mommy and said, "Now we match Mommy. We both got scars from skating with grandpa." Arizona shook her head at her daughter's silliness and answered, "That's right baby, we match now." Sofia then looked at Callie and crooked her finger asking her to come closer. Callie leaned forward and tilted her head when the little girl brought her hand up by her ear as if she were going to tell her a secret. Without lowering her voice she said, "Scars are badass right mama?" Callie choked on her laughter and feigned a cough as she looked up and saw her girlfriend glaring at her. Sofia noticed her mommy's mad face then looked at Callie and said, "Ooooooh, mommy's mad, what did you do?" Arizona had to turn her head to hide her own laughter at that. Callie carefully covered the little girl back up and said, "Why don't you close your beautiful brown eyes and try to get some rest now okay? The doctor will be back soon and she will get you all cleaned up." Sofia nodded and yawned as she sleepily answered, "Okay, but don't go anywhere." Both women leaned in and kissed their daughter's head and whispered, "We'll be right here." Pulling back, they locked eyes with one another and let out a sigh of relief after seeing for themselves their baby was okay.

They both stayed at their daughter's bedside, just looking at her, thankful she was going to be okay. It didn't take long before her soft little snores filled the air. Arizona watched as Callie walked to the other side of the room, sat down in the chair, rested her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands. She immediately went to her side and ran her fingers through her hair letting her know she wasn't alone. Callie looked up with tears in her eyes, wrapped her arms around Arizona's waist, pulled her into her lap, buried her head in her chest and started sobbing uncontrollably. Arizona leaned down and kissed the top of her head and scratched at the soft stubble as she soothed, "Oh baby, I know. She's okay, she's okay." She tilted her head and rested her cheek on the top of Callie's head and just held her while she cried, lightly drawing patterns on her back to try to get her to relax. This was the norm for Callie, in any high-stress situation, after the threat was gone, she needed to decompress, to let everything out. In certain situations, most personal matters, she would break down like this. In the beginning, it would be in her arms just like this, after the crash, it was never confirmed, but Arizona heard her wife used to go into supply closets and cry alone and on several occasions she heard her do the same in Mark's apartment. Losing the battle with the guilt she felt over that whole situation, Arizona closed her eyes and allowed her own hot tears to fall.

Barb stood at the foot of her granddaughter's bed and watched the touching scene with tears in her eyes. She didn't understand what Daniel meant the other night after dinner when he said Arizona was back, now she sees it. Callie was right too, she wasn't the same Arizona she was ten years ago, she was stronger, wiser, and more open. Deciding she should give the two women a few minutes alone, she slipped out the door and went in search of coffee.

After several long minutes of allowing themselves to break down in each other's arms, both women lifted their heads and cleaned up their faces. Oddly, Callie felt stronger, refreshed, she knew it was because of the woman in her arms. This time she wasn't alone, she didn't have to hide in a bathroom or a closet, she was free to feel what she felt and when she was done, she didn't have to face the situation alone any longer. Looking into watery blue eyes, she could see the guilt and sadness. As Arizona opened her mouth, she knew an apology for past behaviors was going to fall out of that beautiful mouth and she didn't want that, she wanted to move forward. Lifting her finger to cover full pink lips she said softly, gently, "Shhh, no more. What's done is done and it won't do either of us any good to keep bringing it up. We are here now and we are aware of each other's feelings and needs, this right here is all I need. It's important to remember the past so we don't repeat some of it, but we can't dwell on it okay?" Arizona reached up and wrapped her hand around the finger covering her lips and kissed it softly before pulling it down to her lap. She wasn't surprised Callie knew she was about to apologize; she could always read her so easily. Instead she simply said, "I love you." Callie kissed her forehead, then her nose, then finally her lips and said, "I love you too." Arizona rested her head on Callie's shoulder and reveled in the strength and support she felt by being held by this woman.

Their silence was broken when Barb re-entered the room carrying a tray with three cups of coffee, causing both women to look around as if they just now realized she was even gone. Barb sat in the chair next to them and passed them each a cup of coffee before saying, "I just saw the doctors in the hall, they said they will be right in." Callie took a much needed drink of the steaming hot liquid and smiled as she realized her mother-in-law remembered she favored caramel lattes. "Oh, this is good, thank you so much." Barb smiled and asked, "Are you two okay?" Blue eyes met brown and both women smiled softly and nodded their heads as Arizona answered, "We are good, everything just caught up to us is all." The older woman smiled and nodded as she said, "I understand, I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here." Arizona reached out and squeezed her mom's hand and looked up as she heard the door open. Seeing both doctors in the doorway, all three women quickly got to their feet and greeted the newcomers. Callie took Arizona's hand and introduced her to the petite brunette who accompanied Brian. "Arizona, this is Beth Howard, Chief of Peds, Beth this is…" She was cut off by the smaller woman who reached out and grabbed Arizona's hand shaking it just a little too enthusiastically as she said, "Dr. Robbins, its such a pleasure to finally meet you. I've read all your articles and have DVD's of your public appearances, and…" Callie finally cut in and saved her girlfriend's hand saying, "Okay fangirl, bring it down a notch and tell us about our daughter." Beth nodded and took a deep breath as she glanced over at the tiny girl sleeping soundly in the hospital bed on the other side of the room. "Right, sorry. Sofia is a very lucky little girl. Her CT was clear, no sign of head or spinal injury, her x-rays were also clear indicating she probably has a moderate sprain, we will wrap it, give her some anti-inflammatories, and clean up her other cuts, then you can take her home. I trust between the two of you, you can take it from there." She smiled then and Callie could swear the woman swooned when Arizona laughed and said, "I'm sure we can figure it out. Thank you Dr. Howard." The younger woman quickly interjected, "Beth, please." Arizona nodded, "Thank you Beth. We appreciate the care and attention you have given to our daughter." Both women then turned to Brian who was waiting patiently for his turn and waved as Beth slipped out the door.

Clearing his throat, he said, "I have to say, Mr. Robbins was pretty lucky as well." Knowing Callie would want to see the x-rays, he walked to the other side of the room and turned on the monitor and brought up the scans on his tablet projecting them on the screen as well. Both women let out a sigh of relief as they looked at the first image of his arm. Brian pointed to a spot near the wrist and said, "As you can see, he has a non-displaced wrist fracture of the radius, normally I would put a padded splint on it, but because of his age, I'd like to use a cast and check it in another couple of weeks. If it looks like everything is healing well, I'll replace the cast with a simple brace." Barb spoke up then and asked, "Callie, is that what you would do?" Callie looked over at Arizona silently asking for permission to respond, at the slight nod she smiled at the older woman and assured, "That is exactly what I would do as well." She didn't miss the relieved exhale of her former colleague. She knew this was difficult for him. He often turned to her for advice and affirmation that he made the right call. He was a good doctor, he just didn't' know it yet. Nodding for him to continue, he brought up the images from the head CT and Arizona let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding as she said, "Oh thank God." Barb looked from one surgeon to the other and asked, "What, what is it?" Brian spoke up and said, "This is the scan we took of your husbands head, there appears to be no injury to the skull or his brain." They all laughed when the older woman mumbled, "I always knew his hard head would come in handy one day."

Finally bringing up the last image of the older man's leg, Callie flinched and Arizona audibly gasped. "As you can see, both the tibia and fibula are fractured, fortunately it's an oblique fracture and we can try to reduce the bones non-surgically, though I would like to do it under local anesthesia to keep the pain as minimal as possible. He will need to be in a full leg cast for at least 6 to 8 weeks and given his wrist injury, that means a wheelchair as well." Barb once again looked to Callie for confirmation. Callie stepped closer to the monitor and ran her fingers along the image of each bone and asked, "Can you zoom it for me, 175% please." Arizona stood to the side with her arm around her mother who was clearly upset by this news. She looked on as Callie studied the image watching her every move carefully. She smiled as the other woman took her bottom lip between her perfect white teeth and cocked her head to look at it from a different angle. She watched as steady tan fingers traced the line of both breaks. It always fascinated her to watch Callie at work, it was almost like the bones talked to her telling her secrets no one else knew, no one could know but the ortho goddess herself. No, she didn't want Callie to perform surgery on her father if it came to that, but she would be a fool not to get her input. Finally stepping back, Callie turned and said, "It looks like a clean break, no sign of splintering or fragments visible. I would do the same thing, though I don't think I want to be in the room when Daniel is told he will need to be in a wheelchair for any amount of time."

Barb nodded then and asked the other surgeon, "Where is he? Is he awake? Have you talked to him?" Brian looked down at his tablet and smiled as he shook his head and said, "We've taken him up to ortho to the casting room. I spoke to him about everything, but he said I wasn't allowed to touch him until, and I quote, 'You march right down there and talk to my daughter, she's the best damn orthopedic surgeon in these United States and no one touches me until she signs off on it.'" Arizona reached out and took Callie's hand and smiled up at her proudly. Callie felt a warmth rush through her body at hearing how much faith the older man had in her after all this time and everything she and Arizona have been through. She smiled proudly and wrapped her arm around Barb's shoulder as she looked to Arizona and said, "We will go up and talk to him, let him know I would treat him in the same way. You good here?" Arizona kissed her on the cheek and nodded, "I'm good. Hopefully Beth will be back soon and we can get the munchkin home. Oh! What about dad?" Brian smiled and said, "I'd like to keep him overnight because of the concussion and to monitor his heart, but he should be good to go tomorrow if we can get his leg set with no complications." All three women breathed an audible sigh of relief and Callie led her mother-in-law out the door.

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At Daniel's request, Callie stayed in the room with him until his bones were set and they took another set of x-rays to assure everything was back in place. When they started casting him, she left to join her family in the room Daniel would be staying in for the night. As she walked in, she noticed Barb was sitting on the small couch holding Sofia, both of them fast asleep, and Arizona was standing by the window staring off into space with her arms wrapped tightly around her middle. Walking up behind her girlfriend, Callie slipped her arms around her waist and pulled her back to her front. She kissed the side of her head and asked, "Are you okay?" Arizona rested her head against Callie's shoulder, thankful she showed up when she did as her thoughts were about to get away from her thinking of all the what if's. Closing her eyes, she lifted her arm and wrapped it around Callie's neck and said, "I am now. How's dad?" Callie smiled into her hair and said, "Stubborn, I had to threaten to come get you because he was fighting us on the local." Arizona scoffed and said, "He's just afraid of me in general because he knows I'm pissed that he got our baby hurt." Callie nodded and said, "I'm sure that's part of it, either way, it worked."

Swaying them back and forth, Callie asked again, "Really, how are you?" Sighing heavily, Arizona brought both of her hands down to cover Callie's and said, "I'm worried about them, about how they'll get along once they get home. I'm worried mom will run herself ragged. Dad is like me when he's laid up." Callie exaggerated a shiver and smiled as she said, "Hmmm a monster." Arizona chuckled and said, "Yeah, you could say that." The two were silent for a moment until Callie asked, "What do you want to do? Do you want them to stay with us? We could…" "Oh God no! I'd kill them both with my bare hands." Callie laughed then and asked, "Soooo, what are you thinking?" Arizona shrugged and said, "I don't know, a home nurse, someone to go in a few days a week, help mom out with caring for him, give her a break so she can get out." Callie nodded, "That might work, did you talk to her about it?" Arizona shook her head, "No, not yet. I was just thinking about it when you walked in." Callie nodded then asked, "What about the next few days, he is in no shape to travel back to Boston and I don't feel right having them go back to the hotel. Do you think they would come stay with us?" Arizona turned in her arms and asked, "You'd be okay with that?" Callie smirked and said, "Why not? I'm going back to work." Arizona pushed at her shoulder and chuckled, "Seriously, you would be good with them coming to stay at your house?" Callie furrowed her brow and corrected, "OUR house, and yes honey, they are family, they are welcome any time. They can stay in the guest suite. It's not like the house isn't accessible." Arizona smiled then and teased, "Oh, I see, kick me out of my own room." Callie laughed and said, "A room you've slept in how many times since you've been here?" Arizona looked up to the ceiling and realized that she had indeed only slept in the room twice in the seven days they've been here. "Hmmm, good point. So, can I bunk with you for a few days?" Callie leaned down and brushed their lips together and asked, "Just a few days?" Arizona squinted her eyes and raised her brow as she asked, "So soon?" Callie shrugged her shoulders and said, "We could pretend you are going to sleep in there, or we could save us both the trouble of worrying about the right time and just do it. I don't want to be without you and you said yourself, the quicker we get into a routine, the quicker we can get on with our new life together. But if you're not…" Arizona shook her head and corrected, "No, it's not that, it's just…are we going too fast? I don't want to screw this up." Arizona knew what she wanted to do. She wanted Callie plain and simple. But she wanted to make sure this was right for both of them and not just a spur of the moment thing.

Callie tilted her head and thought about it for a moment. She understood where her girlfriend was coming from, she did, and she knew where she was coming from as well. Finally Callie said, "I've always been impatient, I've always pushed for what I want, to some, this may seem impulsive, too fast, but to me, this is something I have wanted for nearly a year and a half. I have spent the past 18 months working on changing and growing and making myself a better person all with one goal in mind and that was to bring my family together, to get my wife back. Every decision I have made, I have made with you and Sofia front and center in my mind. But, you haven't been able to do that. You may have wanted it, secretly hoped for it, but you haven't allowed yourself to think this could even be a possibility. So we can do whatever it is you need to do. We can move at whatever pace you want to set. I can wait, as long as I know at the end of the day, I get to come home to you, I get to call you mine." Arizona brought her hand up and combed it through short black curls and thought about Callie's words. They both knew what they wanted and if she were being honest, she has waited four long years for this. There was no point in waiting any longer. She smiled then and said, "Good thing I didn't unpack everything then isn't it?" The smile that overcame Callie's face was one she wouldn't soon forget, she could swear it lit up the room as she asked, "Really? You're ready?" Arizona nodded and said, "I've been ready for four years Calliope." She leaned in then and captured smiling red lips with hers, pouring all the love and emotion she was feeling into the kiss.

Both women jumped apart when they heard the door open and a grumpy voice call out, "Get a room, this one's taken." Arizona laughed and felt the tension drain from her body when she finally heard her father's voice, as grumpy as he may be. Rushing to his side she asked, "Daddy, how are you?" The older man smiled softly then and said, "I'm okay sweet pea, a little sore, but nothing this old soldier can't handle." Arizona nodded and said, "Good, does your shoulder hurt?" Furrowing his brow, Daniel looked down at his shoulder and said, "No, just my arm and leg." Arizona smiled then punched him on his shoulder and said, "What the hell were you thinking? You put yourself and our daughter in danger. I told you not to get her skates. I told you something would happen. I swear if you ever…" Arizona stopped herself mid-rant when she felt strong arms wrap around her middle and pull her backward. Callie leaned down and whispered, "Not now, honey, he feels bad enough." For the first time she looked in her father's eyes and saw the remorse and sadness as he stared at his wife and granddaughter sitting across the room. In a voice smaller than she had ever heard, her father asked, "Is…is she going to be okay? Did she break anything? I never meant to hurt her, I just, you and I, we always had skating, it was something only you and I shared, I wanted to share that with your daughter. I wanted something only Sofia and I could do together. Something she had to keep with her long after I'm gone." Arizona swallowed the lump in her throat and fought the tears that were threatening to fall. Finally she sat on her father's bed and fell into his arms and sobbed as she said, "I was so scared daddy. Please don't do that again. You can find something different to do with her. Something only you and Sofia will do together. But please don't put yourself in danger again." The older man nodded and fought back his own tears. He knew his daughter would be angry, but he never realized she'd be afraid for him. It had been so long since Arizona allowed herself to be this vulnerable, to just climb in his lap and be his little girl. He had to admit, he missed it. Wrapping his good arm around his daughter, he offered her what comfort he could. He then looked up into the watery brown eyes of the woman he knew was partially responsible for bringing his baby girl back to him and mouthed "Thank you." She nodded and winked then turned to check on her own daughter.

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After visiting with Daniel and Barb and getting them to agree to stay with them at least for a couple days under the pretense that Callie wanted to keep a close eye on his leg, Callie called the manager at the Aria and requested that he have the Robbins' belongings packed up and brought to the hospital so Barb wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning. Seeing that everything was settled, the two women finally left the hospital and were now walking into their own home, Sofia fast asleep on Callie's shoulder. Carrying her into her room, Callie laid her on the bed and turned to Arizona who stood near the dresser and asked, "Should we wake her up? She hasn't had anything to eat except that pudding nearly two hours ago." Arizona nodded and said, "I was just thinking the same thing and I'd like to give her a proper bath and check her cuts." Callie stood and crossed the room taking the smaller woman into her arms. Bending down, she kissed her on the forehead and said, "Why don't I go whip us up something to eat and you can take care of the bath and dress her wounds properly? You've been itching to fix those bandages." Arizona smiled sheepishly and said, "Oh my God Callie, watching that resident was just painful. I wanted to shoo him out of the room and suggest he go back to med school." Callie laughed and shook her head as she said, "Not everyone has the magic touch Dr. Robbins." Arizona leaned up on her tip toes and whispered against Callie's lips, "You've never complained about my bedside manner." Callie brushed their lips together and said, "I never will either." Stealing one last kiss, she turned and left her girlfriend alone to wake their very grumpy daughter from her drug induced sleep. She knew she got the better end of the deal by far.

Once they finished their late dinner and shared a bowl of ice cream among the three of them, both women decided it had been an exceptionally emotional day and decided to call it a night. Coming out of the bathroom, Callie noticed Arizona sitting on the side of the bed wrapping her leg with the familiar blue material. Sitting on the bed next to her, she placed her hand on the residual limb and asked, "Is it giving you trouble?" Arizona shook her head and said, "No, it's just after the run and the stress of the day, I figure I'd rather be safe than sorry. The last thing we need is to have me out of commission too." Callie asked, "Can I…do you want me to massage it for a while?" Arizona tilted her head and smiled as she said, "I'd like that, but honestly, I'd rather have you up here cuddling with me. If that's okay." Callie nodded and rather than get up to walk around the bed, she climbed over her girlfriend making her giggle as she fought with the covers and finally settled herself on her side of the bed. While she was prepared to take Arizona into her arms, she was slightly surprised to see her girlfriend had slid down on her back and was holding her arm out waiting for her to settle into her side. Scooting over, she situated herself and rested her head on Arizona's chest and closed her eyes as nimble fingers began to massage her scalp. She couldn't help but to moan in pleasure at the sensation. Arizona smiled and felt her whole body relax as Callie's body heat seemed to seep into her soul. Breathing deeply, she finally said, "Thank you for today. You were so strong and amazing; I couldn't have made it through without you." Callie slid her hand under the hem of Arizona's tank top and started tracing small patterns as she responded, "You could have, we both could have. But we don't have to, not anymore. Thank you for being so supportive and knowing exactly what I needed." Arizona kissed the top of her head and said, "I don't feel like I did much, I was just there." Callie lifted her head at that and said, "That's just it, you didn't have to do anything, I just needed you to be there. You're all I need Arizona." The blonde smiled and said, "Well, that's good cuz you're kinda stuck with me now." Callie lurched up and pressed their lips together in a quick hard kiss and said, "Good." Then she settled herself on the blonde's chest once again and continued to caress the taut skin of her abdomen until they both fell into a deep sleep wrapped in each other's arms.