"Come in and announce yourself." Nicole Herman called out as she heard a knock on the door. She then heard the door quickly open and close as if the person were sneaking inside. Finally she heard, "It's ah, Callie…Torres." Nicole smirked and replied, "Sorry Torres, you've got the wrong partner, though I am interested in how the door thing works with two women." Callie groaned in embarrassment and muttered something unintelligible. Nicole laughed out loud and offered, "I'm just yanking your chain, you two are so easy sometimes, I can't help myself. I'm guessing from the way you snuck in my door and since you are here alone, this meeting never happened?" Callie laughed lightly and said, "You ARE good. I'm actually, I'd like a favor, I guess you would call it. Well not so much a favor because I'll cover all the costs but…" As she listened to the ramble, the older fetal surgeon was starting to understand some of the similarities between the two younger woman.
Cutting her off before it went on all day, she asked, "All right, cut to the chase Torres, what is it and what do you need from me?" Callie realized she was starting to ramble, chuckled at herself and explained, "I need the keys to the center and your approval." She went on to explain the idea that came to her as she was helping Arizona go through her boxes the other evening. Nicole sat back and listened as the woman explained her idea and had to admit, though it was kind of on the sappy side, she liked it and it would only enhance the place. Finally she asked, "How long will this take and how am I supposed to keep your busy girlfriend from finding it before it's finished?" Callie laughed, "Three days tops, I already have someone lined up for the weekend, it will be finished by Monday morning. She won't even know it is happening." The older woman pondered the idea for another few minutes as she tried to picture it in her mind. She had to admit, the ortho surgeon was really good at drawing mental images. Finally she opened her desk drawer, pulled out a set of keys and asked, "What does the tag say?" Callie read the tag and responded, "Back Door Center." The woman nodded, handed them over and instructed, "The alarm code is your kid's birthday." Callie shook her head; she should have known. Taking the keys she said, "Thanks, you won't regret it." The auburn haired woman nodded and retorted, "I better not."
Just as Callie was about to leave, the door burst open and in walked Arizona, "Nicole did you send me that contract yet? I've been staring at my…Callie? What are you doing here?" It was times like this Nicole Herman wished she could see. She could only imagine the look on the brunette's face, though she scarcely remembered what she looked like. Deciding to cut the rambling and bad lie off at the pass, Herman cut in, "It's about damn time Robbins, I sent Jeremy to find you at least 10 minutes ago. He's a good lay but I swear he's as useless as the g in lasagna." Both surgeons simply stared at the other woman not believing what just came out of her mouth. Finally they burst into laughter at the ridiculous statement. It still didn't explain why her girlfriend was here though and Arizona furrowed her brow in confusion. Callie on the other hand just stared at the other woman wondering what the hell she was going to say to explain her presence.
Herman nodded in the direction of the chairs in front of her desk and ordered, "Now that you're both here, have a seat." Callie and Arizona looked at one another both trying to figure out what was going on. Nicole smirked to herself, she could almost smell the fear in the room and loved that she could still intimidate people. "Robbins, I invited Torres here because I was hoping we could strike up some sort of deal between the two centers." Both women looked at one another in confusion. Nicole actually had sent for her business partner to discuss this topic, but she was just going to have her pass along the information to Torres. But since they were both here, this was a perfect cover. She didn't go for the sappy surprise stuff herself, but she wouldn't ruin it for other people.
Callie sat trying to figure out what in the world they had to talk about and why the older woman didn't mention it just a few minutes ago. Clearing her throat she asked, "What type of deal?" Nicole felt around her desk for a folder and answered, "We just got approval from the Division of Childcare Services to open a daycare for our staff. We want to be able to offer them a significant discount, but as we aren't even fully staffed yet, we won't know how many people will need to use the facility. Torres, it's my understanding you don't have a daycare, but you do have a gym for your staff to utilize. I thought maybe we could work out some kind of deal where our staff members could use each other's facilities. We could offer a larger discount and the extra income would help make both the gym and the day-care more self-sustainable on top of being far more convenient for parents who have children in daycare elsewhere." Callie and Arizona looked to one another both wondering why they hadn't thought about that. Finally Callie responded, "I love the idea. I know I have several employees who have to use daycare and it takes a big chunk of their pay. I'm in." Arizona agreed, "I am sure our students especially would love to take advantage of the gym. This was a great idea Nicole." The older woman nodded, pleased with the response and replied, "It's settled then. Once we get it all furnished and staffed, we will need an inspection by DCS and in the meantime, you two can survey the staff and discuss cost for each facility." Both women smiled at one another then agreed to work on the plan together. As they sat there for another minute waiting to see if Nicole had anything else to say, she finally groused, "Go on, we've all got stuff to do and I'm sure you're going to suck face before saying your good-byes." Both women laughed, slightly blushing but knowing the older woman was correct, and left the office.
As soon as they closed the door, Arizona pulled Callie across the hall into an empty office, looped her fingers through her belt loops and pulled her in for a long sensual kiss. Running her tongue along Callie's bottom lip, she immediately gained access and whimpered when their tongues made contact. Callie wrapped one arm around Arizona's waist resting it on the small of her back and tangled the other in her hair pulling her closer still. It was Friday afternoon and they hadn't seen much of each other since the day before when Callie had her little breakdown in Arizona's office about the story Addison had told her. Shortly after that, she was paged for an emergency which kept her in the O.R. until well after midnight and this morning she awoke to a note from Arizona saying she had to be in early for a delivery. Finally coming up for air, Callie rested their foreheads together and whispered, "Hey." Arizona smiled softly, brought her hand up to brush along the stubble on the side of Callie's head and murmured, "Hi. I've missed you." Callie smoothed the straightened blonde locks and responded, "I've missed you too. I love your hair like this." Arizona brushed their lips together and replied, "I know, I had a few extra minutes today so I straightened it just for you. I woke up before my alarm and you were so warm and snuggly and I figured if I didn't get up then, I wouldn't make it in on time. The delivery drivers were waiting for me in the parking lot as it was because I got caught in traffic."
Callie just continued stroking Arizona's hair relishing the fact that they were in one another's arms. She had been doing that a lot recently, watching Arizona, touching Arizona, thinking about Arizona. Since her session with Dr. G the other day, she realized she could have missed out on all this because she was too afraid to say something and after their talk the other night, she decided she needed to show Arizona just how special she was to her which was the real reason she was in Nicole Herman's office. Almost as if she were reading her mind, Arizona pulled back slightly, squinted one eye and asked, "Did Nicole really call you over here to talk about the daycare?" Callie swallowed thickly; she could never lie to Arizona so she merely nodded her head. Seeing the blonde wasn't quite believing her, she changed the subject and offered, "I spoke to the event coordinator at The Aria and they will be delivering the tables and chairs on Monday afternoon so we can set them up for Tuesday and they will be delivering ice on Tuesday as well. Oh, and I ordered all the meat, buns, and threw in some turkey and veggie burgers just in case." Arizona could see her girlfriend was hiding something but decided not to press the issue. She just went along with the conversation and added, "I ordered all the decorations and supplies and Jordyn sent me a text to tell me Stevie and Jo have been going crazy with fireworks. All of the sign-up sheets are full, Maria has taken care of the cake and cupcakes, and Dee has ordered a surprise cake for Kim and Lorraine." Callie kissed Arizona's nose and said, "I love that you came up with the idea to surprise Lorraine too. She deserves this." Arizona nodded and added, "She does. That just leaves picking everything up tomorrow and still trying to figure out gifts for them." Callie loved that Arizona had been so quickly accepted into her village and that the two of them were expanding it together.
Seeing the contented look on her girlfriend's face, Arizona asked, "What are you thinking?" Callie shook her head and responded, "Just how quickly you acclimated. You're happy right? You don't re…" Arizona stopped the rest of the sentence with a kiss and proclaimed, "I am insanely happy Calliope Torres and I don't want you to ever question that for one second. Callie smiled, pulled her in for a long searing kiss and pouted, "I should go. I need to check on Mr. Hiller, my patient from last night, do my afternoon rounds, then I should be able to pick up Sof." Arizona tilted her head and asked, "Do you have time to draw some blood? I can walk over with you right now. Addie will be flying in Monday morning and I'd like to have the results for her by then." Callie felt as if her heart were going to explode, it started racing so fast at just the idea of why Arizona needed blood drawn. She nodded her head emphatically and replied, "Uh huh…yeah…of course." Seeing Callie's excitement thrilled Arizona and she too became excited all over again. Grinning like a fool she said, "Well then let's do this Dr. Torres." Taking one another's hand, they left the Robbins-Herman Center and made their way across the street.
After finishing up the blood work, Callie and Arizona discussed using an alias and Callie decided she would tell Josh in the lab that it was for one of Arizona's patients and they didn't have their lab up and running yet. That way there would be no gossip or questions. As she stood to leave, Callie remembered she needed to know when Arizona would be out of the building and asked, "Do you know when you will get out of there for the night?" Arizona shook her head and answered, "Not for certain, the beds and cribs were delivered today and they have one floor left to assemble I believe, then I should be good. Callie nodded and asked, "Do you want to text me when you are set to leave and I'll order Chinese if you don't mind picking it up on the way home?" Arizona took Callie's hand and led her out the door toward the lobby and answered, "That sounds amazing. I'm hoping it's no later than 6 o'clock." The two women shared one more chaste kiss then Arizona made her way back across the parking lot. As soon as Arizona was out of sight, Callie picked up her phone and dialed the number of a person she hadn't spoken to in over two years, but she was hoping since this was for Arizona, they would be okay with it. Hearing the gruff voice, she cleared her throat and said, "Hey, it's Torres, I need a favor for Arizona."
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Callie and Sofia were setting the table for dinner when Callie heard her phone chime with Arizona's ring tone. Pulling it out of her pocket, she smiled at the message and the heart emoji that followed. Sending back a quick reply, she pulled up Maria's number and dialed, her foot shaking nervously as she waited for her friend to pick up. Finally hearing the familiar voice, she blurted, "She just left. Did you get the scans I sent over and the rest of the stuff?" Maria almost wanted to laugh; she had never seen her friend in such a fit of nerves. Trying to calm her down, she assured, "We have everything we need; Miguel and Marco have been working on a draft all afternoon and I swear she will love it. Just relax Cal, I wouldn't steer you wrong." Callie took a deep breath and worried, "Do you think she will like it? She'll love it right?" Maria soothed, "She will absolutely love it Cal, stop worrying. This was one of the first things you ever told me about her and now that I have met her, I can guarantee she will be thrilled, it might even get you laid, which it sounds like you need right about now." Callie laughed at that and instantly relaxed. Looking at the time on the microwave, she decided, "I need to go and order dinner or she will be pissed at me for making her wait. Thanks, I owe you." Maria laughed and responded, "Oh, I'm collecting my payment in two weeks, it's our anniversary and I'm making him take me to Martha's vineyard and you my friend are babysitting." Callie chuckled and responded, "You got it! Thanks again."
Callie hung up and promptly called the restaurant and ordered their usual. Deciding she really did need a minute to relax, she poured a glass of wine and sat on the patio while Sofia ran off some of her energy in the back yard. By the time Arizona walked in the door, she had finished her glass of wine and her daughter had settled down enough to sit for longer than five minutes without bouncing around or talking her ear off. Hearing Arizona come in through the side door, Sofia bounced out of her seat and ran to greet her mother, excited to repeat all the stories she had just told her mama. While walking from the mud room to the kitchen, Sofia opened the door to one of the spare rooms and declared, "Look mommy, my Seattle room is all set up so I can have sleepovers now." Arizona chuckled and looked to Callie who had also come in to greet her girlfriend. Callie shrugged and replied, "Lorraine already had a bedroom suit for Kim and I had some nurses and interns who wanted to make some extra cash, so while they were here to collect the stuff for your center and donations, I asked them to go ahead and set up the room." Arizona smiled, pleased to see that her old furniture was no longer just collecting dust and it honestly made her feel a little more at home. She leaned down and kissed Sofia's forehead then suggested, "It looks like you've been running around little miss, why don't you go wash up for dinner?" Sofia nodded and slipped into the bathroom across the hall.
Once they were alone, Callie took the bags and leaned in for a kiss tasting the strawberry lip gloss her girlfriend obviously just applied. As they walked into the kitchen, Callie put the bags on the countertop then reached over for an envelope and announced, "You got some mail today, it looks rather important so I didn't want to forget to give it to you." Arizona looked at it and realized it was the documentation she was expecting. Just looking at it made her nerves jump because she knew she wanted to discuss it with Callie and she didn't know how she would react. Tucking it behind the coffee pot, she suggested, "I'll take a look at it in a bit. I'm starving and I want to hear about your day and this emergency you had last night." Callie could see in Arizona's eyes that she was avoiding whatever was in that letter and decided to let it go for now. She carried the bags to the table and started unpacking them when Sofia made her way back into the dining room. As soon as the three of them were seated, all thoughts of surprises and envelopes had disappeared as they each shared stories from their day. Sofia was convinced she, Jess, and Bella discovered a new species of bird and asked if she could use her iPad time to look it up and both parents readily agreed, even though to them the bird sounded very much like a Canadian Goose, something she wouldn't have seen in Seattle. Callie talked about how she basically had to rebuild Mr. Hiller's arm as it had been crushed in a motorcycle accident. Then Arizona excitedly announced that all the patient rooms, nursery and NICU were now furnished with beds, side tables, and some of the guest chairs had even arrived and been placed in rooms.
After dinner, they decided to play Disney Trivial Pursuit and gave each other a run for their money which completely surprised Arizona and Sofia since Callie always appeared to be uninterested in the movies and songs. Ultimately, Arizona won by getting her completed pie to the center of the board first. After insisting that she could bathe and wash her own hair, Sofia retreated to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Arizona poured them each a glass of wine, retrieved her letter, then looked at Callie and suggested, "Join me on the patio, I'd like to talk to you about something." Noticing Arizona had the letter and alcohol in her hand, Callie took a deep breath and prepared herself for news she was probably not going to take well. As the two sat in their usual spots on the outdoor sofa, Arizona snuggled into Callie's side and took a long drink of her wine. Gathering the courage she started, "You know I love this house and all the hard work you put into it, especially for me." Callie nodded and hummed her agreement worried about where this was going. Arizona continued, "But even with everything in here, all of our pictures and memories, I still struggled to think about it as 'our' house." Callie realized this and had often caught Arizona's slips and corrections. Still she listened and allowed her girlfriend to talk even though deep in her heart she feared she was going to ask to move into a home they both chose. Arizona took another sip of wine and responded, "It wasn't until the other day that we started setting up my furniture in the pool house, talking about our future, and today when I came in and saw Sofia's bedroom set up in the guest room that I realized what had been bugging me." Callie took a drink of her own wine and studied her girlfriend's face for a moment.
Callie closed her eyes, gathered the courage and asked, "Did you…do you want to move? Redecorate? What do you need to make it feel like yours honey?" The brunette was trying her hardest not to have her feelings hurt, she thought she did a damn good job at incorporating both of their tastes. Though she did try to hide it, Arizona could hear the hurt and insecurity in Callie's voice as she asked those questions. Finally, she handed the envelope to Callie and responded, "I need to feel like I contributed." Callie looked down at the return address and for the first time saw that it was from a realtor. At Arizona's nod, she opened the seal and pulled out a check made out to Arizona, a very large check. Furrowing her brows she claimed, "I don't understand, what is this?" Arizona nodded to it and answered, "That is what I got for the sale of my house and it is what I was going to use to purchase a place here. Now, I know the house is paid for and you are going to argue with me and it's not even nearly half of what this house is worth, but I need you to take that. For me, you know me Calliope. If this is truly going to be our home, I need to feel like I paid for at least some of it. If you want more, I can do that…I just, please know I love this house and I couldn't have picked a better one and wouldn't if I had the choice and you have truly made it our home, but I…" Callie let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding and felt her entire body relax. She did know Arizona and she knew that she never wanted her to feel as if her money or her family's money played any part in their relationship or why she was with her. Arizona had always contributed 50 percent and was adamant when they joined their accounts the first time that she was not added to any of Callie's trust accounts.
Callie kissed Arizona's forehead and responded, "I know honey, I know you would never take advantage of me and if it will make you feel better, I will take this, but I will put it in an account for our children's future. Will that work for you?" Arizona smiled brightly, grateful there wasn't an argument and also loving the idea of their 'children'. She nodded and leaned up to brush their lips together and whispered, "Thank you for understanding me." Callie nodded as well and answered, "Well now that you've done that, can I have Miguel send over the new deed to the house with your name on it?" Arizona laughed and asked, "You knew this was coming didn't you?" Callie shook her head and responded, "Not exactly, but I knew it would come up and I knew I wanted you to feel like this was your home too. But you do understand, once we get married, it will be legal this time and I am putting your name on all of my accounts." Arizona took a deep breath and started to argue but couldn't keep the smile off her face long enough to even consider it. The idea of being married to Callie again was just so much of a dream come true that she couldn't bring herself to fight about anything involving them being married legally. Rather than fight about it, she just pulled Callie in for a long deep kiss knowing that she was home in every sense of the word.
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Early Saturday morning, both women found themselves in the pool house cleaning, dusting, rearranging furniture and making lists of supplies they still needed in both the pool house and the main house. It was Sofia's job to carry the pool towels and other smaller items from one place to another. When she walked in with a stack of towels in her hands, she stopped dead in her tracks and looked around the room. She noticed her mommy's sofa, coffee table and other furniture were set up in the large living space, the dining room table and chairs were set up near the kitchen area and her parents were putting all of mommy's pots and pans in the cabinets. Looking around, she realized it looked just like their house in Seattle. She let out a loud sob, yelled, "You lied!" dropped the towels in the doorway and ran out into the backyard. Both women looked at one another perplexed as to what just caused the little outburst. They rushed out the door and found the little girl sitting on a swing slowly pushing herself back and forth, dragging her feet on the ground, and big tears running down her little face. As they approached, they became more concerned about their daughter and each one took a seat on the swings on either side of her. They sat quietly and waited for their daughter to speak, it broke their hearts when she declared, "I don't want to talk to you."
Callie looked over the little girl's head imploring with her eyes for Arizona to take the lead. Arizona nodded and asked, "Sof, honey what happened?" The little girl sniffled, wiped her tears with the back of her hand and repeated, "I don't want to talk to you." Callie was getting frustrated, she was a fixer and needed to fix this, but she didn't understand the problem. Before she could try, the little girl ordered, "Just go back and set up mommy's house." Both women furrowed their brows in confusion then at the same time realized what had upset their baby girl so badly. Arizona said softly, "Sofia honey, that's not mommy's house. I'm still living in the house with you and mama." Sofia sniffled, looked at both of her parents and asked, "You aren't moving into that house?" Callie responded, "No honey, we just decided that since mommy had all of this nice furniture that was just sitting there and the pool house couldn't be used because everything was being stored in there, we would set it all up and make it look nice for the party. That way we could use both the furniture and the house." Sofia looked to Arizona who smiled softly and nodded in agreement with what Callie was saying.
Callie realized now just how much their daughter was impacted by their actions, by her impulsivity. Getting up from her swing, she moved in front of Sofia, stopped her swing and got on her knees so she could look her daughter in the eye. Wrapping her hands around her daughter's which were tightly gripping the chains of the swing, Callie inhaled deeply and said, "I know I've made a lot of decisions in the past and I never talked to you about it." She then looked to Arizona and corrected, "Sometimes I didn't talk to mommy about it either and I just made choices and expected you both to go along with them. I didn't think about how they would affect you." Sofia looked her mama in the eyes and asked, "Like abuela?" Callie felt a deep pain in her chest and though she hated to admit it, there were similarities. Nodding her head, she agreed, "Like abuela. I just, in my head, I thought I was doing what was right for all of us and…I didn't…I didn't ask you or mommy how you felt and I see now in doing that, it really affected you and it's hard for you to trust us."
Arizona couldn't bear to see Callie taking this all on her own shoulders, after all it was her poor decisions that led to everything else. Getting off her swing, she stood behind Callie, put her hands on her shoulders and interjected, "We both made decisions without thinking of each other's feelings and unfortunately, you got caught up in that. But you need to know mama and I never wanted to hurt you or make you feel like you didn't have a choice in things. We promise, now that you are older, when we can, we will include you on making decisions and we will always talk to you about how you feel." Callie looked up to Arizona gratefully and mouthed 'I love you'. Arizona leaned down and kissed Callie on her forehead then did the same to Sofia. She then asked, "How about you come help us set up the pool house so we can head out and run all of our errands?" Sofia smiled brightly, jumped into Callie's arms squeezing her tightly, did the same to Arizona, then ran off to the pool house. Watching their daughter run away happily, Callie asked, "So now that you said that, when should we tell her about our newest decision?" Arizona sighed and asked, "I walked right into that one didn't I?" Callie chuckled and responded, "Little bit." Arizona shrugged and said, "I don't know, should we ask her how she feels about it first? What if she doesn't like the idea? Then what?" Callie exhaled deeply, rubbed the back of her head and responded, "I don't know. Maybe we wait and see how the first treatment goes?" Arizona nodded then said, "Maybe in the meantime we can casually ask questions about brothers and sisters?" Callie thought about it for a minute then replied, "That could work."
While Arizona waited at the counter of the party supply store for her order, Callie and Sofia decided to wander around. Once she received her order, Arizona left it at the counter and decided to find her family. Walking down the aisle that contained 4th of July decorations, she carefully pulled out her camera and snapped a few photos before she was noticed. Her favorite happened to be the last shot before she got caught when both Callie and Sofia turned in her direction and froze with huge matching smiles on their faces, light up red bow ties, oversized sunglasses that were red on one side, blue on the other, and had little white stars adorning both sides. But her favorite part was the glittery red, white, and blue top hats both her girls were wearing. Realizing they had been caught, rather than be embarrassed, they quickly found Arizona a matching set and the three spent a few more minutes taking selfies and being silly. This gave Callie an idea and she spent the next few minutes gathering props so they could set up a do-it-yourself photo booth for their guests. By the time they made it back to the check-out counter, the trio had accumulated a case of glow sticks, photo booth props and background, red, white and blue beaded necklaces, and an array of other themed decorations and toys. Passing over her credit card, Callie looked at the total and said, "Now I see why you ordered on-line. This place is dangerous." Arizona looked at the cart full of novelties and responded, "No, YOU in this place is dangerous." Callie laughed, looked at their purchases and replied, "Yeah, next time we have a party, I'll wait in the car." Arizona chuckled, kissed her on the cheek and stated, "I love it and so will everyone else." Callie just shook her head; she still couldn't believe this was the same Arizona who didn't do celebrations.
Finally returning home after making several trips to the car to carry in all their supplies and groceries, the family sat down for a light meal and started decorating the pool house and setting up anything else they felt would make it until Tuesday, leaving the outdoor decorations until that morning when they set everything else up. Arizona couldn't remember if she changed the bedding after her parents left and decided to wash the linens and give the guest suite a good once over before Addison arrived on Monday. Sofia was sitting on the vanity watching her mommy and asked, "Are grandma and grandpa coming again?" Arizona shook her head and responded, "No, grandpa is healing nicely, but it's a long trip for him in that cast, so they won't make it this time." Sofia tilted her head and asked, "Then who is going to stay in here?" Arizona suddenly realized they hadn't told Sofia about their house guest and called Callie into the room. Once she appeared in the doorway, Arizona explained, "Sofia wants to know why I am getting the guest room ready." Callie smiled brightly and responded, "Oh that's right, she doesn't know about our special guest."
Sofia had only met Addison a handful of times, but she talked to her on face time frequently with both of her parents so they knew she was going to be excited. Callie winked at Arizona and responded, "Well mommy has a colleague coming in from out of town and she will be staying with us for a week." Sofia's shoulders deflated. She was hoping it would be someone she knew. Eventually she asked, "What's her name?" Arizona looked up to the ceiling and tapped her lip as she pretended to remember the name of their guest, "Hmmm, I can't quite remember, I think it's Allie or Allison, something like that." Callie played along and corrected, "I thought it was Maddie or Maddison." Sofia looked to both parents then realized they were teasing her, putting the names together she squealed, "Addie! Aunt Addie is coming to stay with us?" Both women snapped their fingers and pointed to Sofia and called out, "Yeah, that's it! Addison." Sofia jumped off the vanity and started doing a happy dance making both mothers laugh at her in delight.
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Having worked so hard Saturday, Callie and Arizona both decided to take Sunday to rest and just lounge around the house. Arizona was in the kitchen preparing lunch and Callie was in the office going over paperwork. Realizing she needed her phone to schedule some appointments and procedures, Callie looked all over the office then finally stepped into the living room and asked, "Honey have you seen my phone?" Arizona made a sad face then pointed into the living room where Sofia was sitting on the couch staring at Callie's phone. Looking up to her mama she asked, "Did you pay your bill?" Callie scoffed at the question, then realizing her father usually calls by now, she understood why her daughter looked so melancholy. Looking to Arizona who just shrugged at her she sat next to her daughter and explained, "Abuelo just flew in from far away last night. Maybe he's sleeping in and will call once he has woken and is ready for the day." Sofia looked up and pouted, "But abuela didn't go anywhere and she hasn't called yet either." Callie hoped and prayed her mother would keep her promise and suggested, "No, but abuela goes to Mass on Sundays and sometimes she goes out to lunch with some of her friends. I am sure they will call as soon as they can." Sofia just nodded then continued watching television with the phone gripped firmly in her hand.
Callie joined Arizona in the kitchen and whispered, "I swear if she forgot or changed her mind…" Arizona could see Callie's hurt behind her anger and suggested, "Should we text her to remind her?" Callie shook her head no and answered, "She needs to do this. She promised and I swear if she breaks this promise and breaks that little girl's heart, she will never get another chance." The two women finished preparing lunch together and to try to perk their daughter up, decided to eat outside since it wasn't too hot out. Once they had cleaned up their dishes, Callie and Sofia decided to take a walk out to the fountain and Arizona remained in the house to work on some of her own paperwork. Just as she settled herself into the office, the doorbell rang. Realizing everyone else was outside, Arizona rushed to the door and a big smile appeared on her face when she saw who her visitors were. While she was extremely nervous to see one of them for the first time in a few years, she was thrilled to see the other. Opening the door widely she greeted, "Carlos, Lucia, it's so good to see you." The older man watched on as the two women hugged affectionately and though he still had his feelings about Arizona's indiscretions, he couldn't deny she made his daughter happy and he was overjoyed to learn of their reconciliation. Waiting his turn, he too took the blonde in his arms and whispered in her ear, "Welcome back." Arizona swallowed thickly and merely nodded her head in thanks.
The older man clapped his hands and rubbed them together saying, "Not that I am not happy to see you, but where are my other girls?" Deciding to be honest, Arizona responded, "They are taking a walk in the back yard, Sofia needed some cheering up." Both older Torres' looked distressed and Lucia asked, "Why is that?" Arizona smiled softly and responded, "Let's just say she's been carrying Callie's phone around all day waiting for a special phone call." Carlos pulled out his phone and replied, "Well, let's take care of that shall we?" Dialing his daughter's number, he put the phone on speaker and all three adults nearly laughed when the phone was instantly answered before the first ring was finished. "Hello abuelo? Is abuela with you?" The old man chuckled and Lucia's heart melted even more for this dear sweet girl. Speaking up she replied, "I'm here mi linda nieta." Carlos then cut in with, "We are both here, but where are you?" Sofia responded, "Mama and I are in the rock garden. We come out here to think sometimes." The man smirked and asked, "Oh? And what are you thinking about?" There was a pause then they heard Callie prompt, "It's okay you can tell them." Sofia sniffled then responded, "I was afraid you and abuela forgot about our call." Lucia put her hand over her heart as tears sprung to her eyes and she eyed Carlos telling him to stop teasing the little girl. Finally he said, "We could never forget about you, in fact I think you will find there is a surprise from us waiting in your house." Without even saying goodbye, the call was disconnected and they could hear footsteps hitting the pavement through the open patio door.
As they reached the door at the same time, both of the younger Latinas called out "Abuela, Abuelo!" "Mami, Daddy!" They then threw their arms around the person nearest them and switched places once they had gotten their hug in. Arizona stood in the background trying to fight back her tears. She knew once Callie realized her parents hadn't yet called, she too was worried they had forgotten, or worse, her mother had changed her mind. Finally pulling back, Callie looked at her parents and asked, "What are you doing here?" Lucia smiled and responded, "After I arrived home and told your father of our visit and Arizona's invitation to your party, he came home early, spent a couple of days recuperating and we decided to come out and surprise you." Carlos then added, "We were hoping, since I haven't seen my granddaughter in quite a while, we might borrow her for the day and we could all get reacquainted. Then maybe the two of you could join us for dinner and collect her." Arizona and Callie looked at one another. Neither of them had a problem with Carlos taking Sofia as he had done so on many occasions and though she had made no disparaging remarks thus far, they were worried if she may say something once she had the child alone. Seeing their indecision, Lucia pulled them to the side and assured, "I meant what I said, I have no problems with your relationship and while you have no reason to trust me, you can trust that Carlos would never allow me to say anything against either of you even if I were inclined to do so." Arizona knew this was a big step, they both did, but they also knew it was a necessary one to start to build trust.
After agreeing Carlos would notify them of a time and place for dinner, the two women said their good-byes and watched as Sofia was safely secured in the back seat of the rental car. Closing the door, Arizona could see the worry in Callie's eyes and tried to soothe her, "She kept all of her promises so far and she just wants a chance to spend time with her granddaughter and she is right, Carlos wouldn't allow her to say anything against us because he knows we would never trust him again." Callie nodded, pulled Arizona into her arms and whispered, "I love you, thank you for being so supportive." Arizona brushed their lips together and the two stared at each other for a moment then Callie grinned and asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking." Arizona smiled back, nodded and said, "I hope so." Quickly making their way to the bedroom, they turned down the covers, removed their shorts and bras, cuddled into one another and were asleep in minutes; the last few days having taken their toll on them both physically and emotionally.
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At exactly 7:00 pm, Callie and Arizona stepped into the Japanese Steakhouse and knew immediately that their daughter was allowed to pick the restaurant. She loved sitting at the tables and watching as the food was prepared. As they made their way to the table, Sofia exclaimed, "There they are!" Carlos looked up expecting to see both women dressed as they normally do whenever they went out for dinner together. While Arizona was wearing a black dress that complimented her well, he was surprised to see Callie was dressed…well…similarly to himself. She was wearing black trousers with suspenders, and a button down black dress shirt with blue designs all over it. He had noticed his daughter's haircut earlier in the day and meant to mention how nice it looked on her while wondering what had made her decide to get it cut. But now, he wondered if maybe something else might be going on in his daughter's mind. Feeling the nudge in his side, he realized he was taking too long to greet the couple and immediately stood up and hugged them both. As soon as they came into view, Callie realized her father was taking in her appearance and squeezed Arizona's hand for support. She understood her father had yet to see her like this and wondered what he was thinking. She was slightly relieved when he hugged Arizona telling her she looked beautiful as always, then hugged her and told her she looked stunning. In that moment, she wasn't certain if that was a good stunning or a bad stunning.
Dinner conversation flowed as Sofia and Lucia regaled the girls with all the sights they saw and Lucia admitted she may have overcompensated just a little when it came to shopping. Carlos joined in on the conversation as well, admitting he did very little to stop the purchases. Neither woman was surprised to hear this as Arizona's parents also fell under their daughter's spell when it came to giving her what she wanted. They just knew they would have to temper the spoiling when it came to their own purchases for a while. As dinner continued, Carlos went to lift his napkin to his mouth and it fell to the floor. Reaching down to pick it up, he had a perplexed look on his face when he sat back up. Callie and Arizona looked to one another realizing exactly what had caused this. They didn't know if they should wait until he asked or put the poor man out of his misery. Finally Arizona offered, "Calliope built me a robotic leg. She's been working on it for years. It looks and feels almost real, it's waterproof, allows me to do more than the average prosthetic, and she's added sensors that allow me to feel certain sensations including temperature." She knew she could go into further detail, but neither of them would be interested in the medical jargon. Callie watched as both of her parents stared at her in awe. Finally her mother stammered out, "You…you created that?" Callie smiled proudly and proclaimed, "I did." Arizona added, "She also has a patent pending and soon will be presenting it to prosthetic companies to have it manufactured." Callie blushed slightly and was shocked to hear her mother say, "I am so proud of you mija. I always knew you were talented…I just…this is amazing. Maybe while we are in town we can tour each of your centers, I can't promise we will understand everything, but we'd like to see all that you've accomplished." Carlos nodded along, still staring at Arizona's leg. Finally Callie cut in, "Daddy, I'm going to need you to stop checking out my girlfriend's legs. It's kind of creepy." Her father instantly snapped his head forward, blushed and said, "My apologies Arizona, it's just…" "Awesome!" Arizona finished for him.
As dinner progressed and Sofia was sitting nearest to Callie, she tugged on her shirt and whispered in her ear. Looking up, Callie explained, "Excuse us please, we need to take a walk." Ever the gentleman, Carlos stood and watched as his daughter and granddaughter walked toward what he assumed was the restroom. Taking his seat again, Arizona could feel two sets of eyes on her and just knew 'the talk' was coming. Looking up, she was surprised when Carlos commented, "Calliope…she looks different." Arizona nodded and responded, "She does, she has changed and while I don't mind talking about it, I feel like that's a conversation you need to have with your daughter." Carlos always appreciated Arizona's candor and knew she would tell him the truth now, because something he learned a long time ago, from this same woman actually, was only one thing was really important. Clearing his throat he said, "I am sure she will share when she is ready, but all I need to know is this, is she the same person we raised her to be?" Arizona smiled her super-magic smile, looked to both Carlos and Lucia and responded, "She's strong, and caring, and lovable, and she is still who you raised her to be." Carlos nodded once then asked, "And you…are you still a good man in a storm?" Arizona swallowed thickly, looked the man in the eye and responded, "I got lost in the storm, it took your daughter walking away for me to see just how lost I was. But yes, I can honestly tell you just as I did ten years ago, I love your daughter and I protect the things I love and I am still a good man in a storm. This time I can promise you, I will allow her to weather any storm that might come our way with me rather than try to stand on my own and get lost again."
A/N: Hello all. Thank you again for your amazing reviews. I am so happy to see the majority of you have seen the growth in Mark and Arizona's relationship as well as Arizona's personal growth and I thank you for your support.
This was just a fun little filler chapter full of family time with a teeny bit of stress thrown in there. I hope you enjoyed it. Next up, Addy's visit. Also, what do you think Callie has up her sleeve?