August 3, 2015

Arizona sat in exam room one and waited for whoever was paged from ortho to come down and look at her shoulder. She managed not to break her prosthetic leg when an intern took her out with a gurney this time but she was sure her shoulder was dislocated.

"Seriously?" Arizona looked up to see Callie walk in. "They're going to let you be my ortho consult?"

"I didn't give them a choice." Callie looked at the scans. "Nothing is broken. Once I get the shoulder back in place, you're going to need to ice it, keep it in a sling and have your girlfriend check it every morning in the shower."

"You know, I think I can manage to convince her to follow that treatment plan." Arizona braced herself when she felt Callie's hand on her shoulder.

Callie brought up something cute that Sofia did before she dropped her off at daycare before popping Arizona's shoulder back into place. "Sorry, it's better if you don't see it coming."

"I'm sure," Arizona grunted out at the pain in her shoulder. "Damn, that hurt."

Callie bent down to give her a quick kiss. "I know, but I didn't trust anyone else to patch you up even if this is pretty easy." She grabbed a sling to help Arizona into it.

"I'm glad it was you," Arizona said. "How long are you pulling me from the OR?"

"A week to start, we'll see where you are after that. Might take two before you can manage anything longer," Callie grimaced.

"Freaking interns," Arizona grumbled.

"Do you want something for the pain, so you can go take a nap in your office?" Callie asked once Arizona's arm was safely against her chest in the sling.

"No prescriptions," Arizona shook her head. "I'm going to go to my office, do some paperwork, and try to catch up. Maybe text my girlfriend and see if I can convince her to stop for ice cream on the way home."

"I'm pretty sure she'll agree." Callie rolled her eyes as she smiled.

"I'm glad we drove together today," Arizona said as she leaned forward to get another kiss.

"Another perk of you and I living together," Callie agreed. "That and the shower stuff. And the couch stuff. And the bed stuff."

"We can break in the house again," Arizona said with a fake innocent smile.

"Do you want me to walk you to your office?" Callie asked even if they both knew that Arizona wasn't going to be walking alone.

"Please," Arizona nodded. She offered Callie her good hand so she could help her up. "Maybe you could double check my leg too? I had Hunt look at it, but he's not you."

"I will always look at your legs if you ask," Callie smiled. She was happy that the leg issue that had brought them to their breaking point before really didn't seem to hold the weight it had before.

"Might need to check my butt too, make sure it didn't get bruised," Arizona said once they were in the elevator alone.

"A head to toe exam would be a good idea," Callie reached over to rub her back.

Arizona was quiet for a moment before turning her head to look at Callie. "Is it weird I wish for us from a year ago to see how we are now?" She asked. "Because I kind of wish they could see us now. To have hope that everything would end up alright. But then I am not sure if they would use that hope to heal or just cling on tighter."

"I think we both needed to think it was hopeless, so we could heal," Callie said as she settled her hand low on Arizona's back. "If I had hope then, I don't know if I would have gone through with the divorce, and I think without the divorce we don't have the push to be where we are."

"You're right," Arizona agreed as they walked to her office once the elevator doors opened.

"Can I get that in writing?" Callie teased.

"Nope," Arizona handed her key to Callie, so she could unlock the door for them. "But I have a few other ways we can let you celebrate your rightness," she said before dropping her voice. "Like on my office couch."

Callie raised an eyebrow before shutting and locking the door.

/

Three hours later Arizona was sitting on the couch in her office with her prosthetic leg off and her arm in a sling to keep her shoulder stable. Her residual limb was a bit sore since the tumble she took so she took it off in anticipation of not having to move for a little while. She had a tablet in her hand as she tried to focus on the paperwork that threatened to put her to sleep.

She looked up when someone knocked on her office door.

"Come in."

The moment the door opened, Arizona wished she hadn't called them in.

Standing in street clothes in front of her was Lauren Boswell. The woman she cheated with. The woman who aided her in making the biggest mistake of her life was standing in her office like she did it all the time.

Arizona kind of wanted to vomit.

"Why are you here?" Arizona asked. She felt her body go numb as she tried to figure out how to get out of the room with her arm pinned to her chest and her leg sitting next to her.

"My brother is having surgery," Lauren said with an easy smile. "I heard about the divorce and wanted to know if you'd like to have lunch."

"I don't want to eat lunch with you," Arizona said in a panic filled voice. "What happened between us was a mistake."

"Was it?" Lauren asked almost innocently.

"It was." Arizona picked up her phone and sent a text to Alex for a personal 911 to her office. She didn't dare text Callie to come save her, scared of what her girlfriend would do. More scared of what the ex-wife in Callie would do.

"You and I worked so well together. And the sex was fantastic," Lauren said with a tilt of her head. She stepped a little closer to Arizona with a look in her eyes that said she was not planning to leave anytime soon. "Why not have a little more fun before I leave?"

"Lauren, leave," Arizona pleaded. "I have finally put my life back together from the devastation my mistake cost. I do not want to be friends. I do not want to go out with you. I do not want to see you again."

"Come on Arizona. It's alright to lose a little control," Lauren said with a smirk.

"You were asked to leave," Callie stepped through the door. She had frozen outside the door just as Lauren offered lunch. "Get the hell out of my wife's office," she snapped, moving to put herself between Arizona and Lauren.

"She's divorced," Lauren said as she looked Callie up and down. "You divorced her."

Callie's right hand flexed at her side. She knew enough about anatomy and bones to break Lauren's jaw in one clear, precise blow. But Lauren Boswell was the kind to press charges. "She will always be my wife," she growled. "And she asked you to leave."

Lauren looked from Callie to Arizona and back again. She chuckled bitterly to herself as she took a step back. "You know in that on call room, she was incredible. I've never seen someone so bubbly who knew how to fuck and then get fucked as well as she did." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she slipped through the door and was gone.

Neither Callie or Arizona moved as Boswell walked away. Arizona felt like her heart might give out, and Callie felt ready to commit murder.

"Calliope," Arizona finally choked out.

Callie lifted her hand to stop whatever Arizona was about to say. Her blood was boiling in her veins. She could feel it boiling away. She slammed her eyes shut at the feeling of tears welling up, because right now she didn't want to cry.

"Hey, Robbins, what's …" Alex trailed off after walking through the door.

"Boswell is here for some God damn reason. She came into Arizona's office and cornered her." Callie's voice was low, threatening.

"Fuck," Alex moaned. "I'll take care of it. She won't get within fifty feet of her again."

Callie finally turned to Arizona when the door was shut. Arizona was shaking slightly as her breathing came hard and fast. She was paler than normal too. Her eyes shut tightly as she fought what looked like the urge to vomit. It had been a long time since Callie had seen Arizona look this broken down.

"Hey," Callie forced the pain out of her voice. "Arizona, look at me. Look at me," She said in the voice she turned on when running a trauma.

"I asked her to leave," Arizona managed to say when her eyes opened. Even if they didn't focus on Callie. "Calliope, I asked her to leave, and she wouldn't."

"I know," Callie said. She finally moved from the spot she had taken up when she put herself between Lauren and Arizona to cut the distance between them by half. She felt like a coiled snake right now. Ready to strike at the slightest movement. "I heard her invite you to lunch," she admitted.

"I don't want to have lunch with her or share the same air in the same hospital or ever see her again." Arizona wrapped her good arm around herself as she fought the urge to curl into a ball.

"I know," Callie repeated. "I could hear the panic in your voice," she said as she sat on the coffee table in front of Arizona. "I need you to look at me for a minute."

Arizona finally moved her eyes from Callie's hands in her lap to her face. She didn't say anything, because there was nothing she could say right now. Callie was in pain again, because she made a mistake.

"You were sitting in your office, doing paperwork. Someone you didn't want to see came in and wouldn't leave when you asked them to." Callie didn't reach out for Arizona but she spoke in a calm tone. One that took all her effort. "That is not your fault. Seeing her pissed me off. So much so that I want to throw things and rage, and I might before the day is done. But her not leaving isn't your fault."

"I never thought I'd have to see her again or that you would." Arizona used her palm to try and dry her eyes. "She was so nonchalant about it all. She acted like all she had to do was show up and it would happen again. But it will never happen again. Never. I won't let it."

"I know." Callie leaned forward and carefully patted Arizona's knee. "I am so angry right now that I can barely see straight, but I am not angry at you. Not this time."

Arizona nodded slowly. She wasn't sure if she totally believed Callie, but she wasn't going to put words in her mouth. They had both worked too hard to stop doing that. She reached over with her good arm and grabbed her leg, offering it to Callie to have her help her put it on. Callie did so wordlessly, knowing mobility in moments of stress was important to Arizona.

When Arizona shut the door to the bathroom in her office, Callie grabbed one of the pillows on the couch and threw it so hard against the wall it ended up clear on the other side of the office. She put her head in her hands and let herself have a minute to cry over Lauren fucking Boswell again. But what she said to Arizona was true. As angry as she was about how Boswell acted, she wasn't angry at Arizona right now. Arizona and she were repairing what had been damaged. Boswell showed up and acted like she was glad things broke. Callie could not stand women like that.

When Arizona walked back out, eyes dried now and face cool from the water she splashed on it, she felt like she had run a marathon. Seeing Callie crying on the coffee table made her feel like she was about as tall as Sofia was. But she couldn't make this about herself. She did that when she broke her wedding vows to Callie the first time Lauren was here.

"Calliope," Arizona started.

"We'll talk about this when we get home," Callie said as she grabbed some tissues from the coffee table to dry her eyes. "We're going to go home together, Arizona."

"Alright," Arizona relented.

"Hey," Alex poked his head in without knocking. "Boswell is here because her brother is getting double hip replacements from Torres," he explained as he tried to look at the floor.

"Of course I am," Callie groaned as she hung her head. "When?"

"Tomorrow at nine AM," Alex said.

"You don't have to do this Torres," Alex said. "I can get another ortho attending to take it. Hell, I'll take it."

"No," Callie shook her head. "I'm not going to give Boswell the satisfaction. I am going to do my job, rock the surgery, and then deliver the outcome. She doesn't get to dictate who I do and don't operate on."

"Alright," Alex nodded. "I have to go. If you need me Robbins, next time be less vague than 'personal emergency, my office' I thought you needed like a donut or something," he said before he left.

"You texted Alex?" Callie turned her head to look at Arizona.

"I didn't want you to have to save me and be forced to see her," Arizona admitted. "I thought Alex would scare her away."

"Next time, even if you're trying to spare me, text me and not Alex," Callie said. She ran her hand through her dark hair after taking it out of the ponytail it had been in.

"I hope there isn't a next time," Arizona said before she started to chew on her bottom lip.

"Next time anything big and scary comes up," Callie amended.

"I will. I couldn't think straight the moment I saw her. I was so angry and just wanted her gone," Arizona said as she moved to stand next to the couch.

"I have surgery. You have paperwork. I'll come get you when my day is done, alright?" Callie stood at the other end of the couch.

"Alright," Arizona nodded. She stepped forward and then took another step forward. "Thank you for stepping in," she whispered when she stopped about a foot from Callie.

"I had to protect you," Callie said. She leaned forward to press a kiss to Arizona's cheek before walking out.

/

Arizona could cook, but she rarely enjoyed the process the way that Callie did. But tonight she took over making dinner while Callie got a little one on one time with Sofia. Thankfully they kept a supply of frozen meals that Callie already made so all she had to do was heat it up.

"You hiding in here?" Callie walked into the kitchen when Arizona didn't return to the living room after offering to start dinner.

"I was trying to give you space," Arizona admitted as she leaned against the counter.

"Arizona," Callie said as she stood in the entryway to the kitchen. "What do you think happened today?"

"The woman I cheated with came to see me, and I put you in a position where you had to deal with my mistake. Again," Arizona said as she reached for the glass of wine she poured. She had a glass for Callie sitting beside it.

"That is one reading on it," Callie agreed. "I don't think it's my reading on it though."

"No?" Arizona asked with her eyebrows nearly hitting her hairline as the wine was set back down.

"I think my girlfriend's ex-fuck buddy decided to show up in her office, and wouldn't leave even after being told to. I think I stepped in and protected her, because her shoulder is still recovering, and she wasn't wearing her prosthetic leg," Callie said as she started to move closer and closer to Arizona.

"Calliope," Arizona looked up at Callie. "That is a much kinder reading," she said as Callie stepped directly in front of her.

"It is," Callie agreed. "I'm angry, Arizona. I want to break every bone in both her hands angry. But all day I tried to really focus on what I'm angry about and it's not you. Not now. A year ago it would have been. Hell, six or even three months ago it might have been. But today? Today I was angry because she thought she had the right to walk into your office at all and then not leave when asked. That is what I am angry about."

Arizona closed the short space between them to press soft kisses over Callie's jaw. "I don't know what I did to deserve you," she said as she leaned against Callie. She relaxed as she felt both of Callie's arms around her waist.

"You got better," Callie said simply. "You and I were both so broken after the crash for very good and very different reasons. We got better and now we can put up with bullshit like this without letting it end us."

"I love you," Arizona sighed happily as she leaned to press her face against Callie's neck.

"I love you," Callie replied.

"There is something you said I want to talk about," Arizona said against Callie's neck "You called me your…" She trailed off when the sounds of little feet headed right toward them.

"Later," Callie promised before turning away from Arizona to be able to pick up Sofia.

"I'm hungry," Sofia said as soon as Callie picked her up.

"Well big girl, guess what?" Callie tickled her middle. "Mama put dinner in already. So, how about we go play outside until it's done?"

"Push me on the swings?" Sofia asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Of course little miss," Arizona tickled her from the side before they headed outside.

/

After dinner Sofia had no desire to be anywhere but between Callie and Arizona. She refused any other option than the pair sitting with her on the couch to watch Beauty and the Beast for what might be the 100th time. Bedtime was no exception. She begged both her moms to give her a bath before requesting a story from each.

Finally, after a total of five stories, Sofia was asleep. Her moms headed from their daughter's bedroom down the hall to theirs.

"She knows something's off," Arizona said as she closed their bedroom door, but left it open a crack in case Sofia needed them.

"We have been all over each other lately. I think she saw a little space and took it," Callie rubbed her back. "I'm going to go grab a shower before we get in bed. You want to join me?"

"No," Arizona shook her head. "My shoulder hurts. I need to take some pain meds and lay down I think."

"Want me to look at it?"

"After your shower."

Callie kissed Arizona before heading to take a shower to get the grim of the day off of her. She was trying to figure out if it was guilt or anger that she was feeling and then forced herself to stop. Playing a guessing game on Arizona's emotions was how the pair of them got into the mess that ended up ending their marriage.

When she came back to the bedroom, wearing an old college t-shirt and some shorts, Arizona was already in bed. Resting on her good arm with her leg beside the bed. Callie could see one of her old college sweatshirts peeking out from under the covers.

"You wear that when you're nervous about something," Callie noted as she slipped into bed.

"You called me your wife today." Arizona looked up at Callie when she got into bed. "You said, 'get the hell out of my wife's office' to her."

"I did," Callie nodded as she moved closer to Arizona. Her hand reached out under the blankets and settled on Arizona's waist. "You'll always be my wife, Arizona. Even if you and I never got back together there would have been a part of me that always thought of you as my wife."

"Do you …," Arizona paused for a moment. "… think of George as your husband still?"

"I didn't spend years married to George or have a child with him," Callie answered as she shook her head no. "His and my marriage was a mistake. Even if you and I never got back together, I wouldn't call our marriage a mistake."

"We're not ready to just be married again," Arizona said a bit sadly. She knew even if things were so much better that marriage was a bridge they couldn't cross for a while still.

"No," Callie agreed. "But one day I am going to ask you to be my wife. And I really hope you say yes."

"You're going to ask me?" Arizona questioned.

"You got to ask the first time," Callie pointed out as she rubbed Arizona's hip. "It's my turn."

"If you ask, whenever you ask, I am going to say yes," Arizona promised her.

"That is really good to know." Callie shifted closer before shifting back when she heard little feet on the hardwood floors.

Sofia jumped up on the bed and moved between her two mothers with her stuffed animal - a bunny named Rabbit in her arms.

"I had a bad dream," Sofia said. "Need to sleep in the big bed."

"Do you?" Arizona helped her get the blankets wrapped around her.

"Please?" Sofia asked. She looked back and forth between her two moms with a pleading look. "It was a really bad dream. There were mean scary dogs."

"Not mean scary dogs," Callie said in shock. "Alright, Sof, but this is not an every night thing, alright?"

"I promise," Sofia said as she made an X over her heart.

Callie shut her light off as Arizona shut hers off. The only light in the room was from the nightlight in the hallway. It was too early for either of them to want to go to sleep themselves, but the lights being off would help Sofia to fall back to sleep. Which took a shockingly little amount of time for a child who said she woke up with a bad dream.

"Do you think she played us?" Arizona asked a half hour later. She kept her voice a bare whisper.

"Totally," Callie laughed softly. "She gets that from Mark."

Arizona rubbed over Sofia's back as she laid between them on her stomach. "Do you want another wedding?" She asked in a low voice.

"Something different from the first time," Callie said with a nod. "It's federally legal now. That deserves a party?"

"Our first wedding was beautiful," Arizona whispered. "But I like the idea of having those that matter around us again. And Sofia will be the cutest flower girl this time."

"She will," Callie said. A smile grew as she thought of Sofia tossing handfuls of flowers before her moms married each other. "It will be odd not having Mark there. He was a rock to both of us last time. But he's watching over us, I am sure of it."

"I know he is," Arizona said with a sure tone. "I hope he's proud that both of us figured our stuff out. I know he would have a mile long speech on how we feel apart because he wasn't here to keep us in line."

"That sounds like Mark," Callie laughed.

Arizona looked across at Callie for a moment as they laid with their daughter between them in the bed. The light from the hallway was just enough to make out Callie's features in the dark room. She looked more beautiful with a makeup free face with an old shirt laying in bed with Sofia than Arizona thought she ever had before.

"Come with me?" Arizona asked in a soft voice.

Callie looked at Sofia before back to Arizona, who was already carefully twisting to grab her leg and put it on so she could get out of bed. Callie waited by the door for Arizona before following her to the living room.

"I haven't slow danced for real since I lost my leg. The little bit at Bailey's wedding doesn't count," Arizona explained. She walked over to the sound system they had to plug her phone in. "Sofia's out and I want to dance with you."

Callie smiled when the opening line of "You Just Get Better All the Time" by Tim McGraw started playing. "Not your usual style but solid choice," she said before offering her hand to Arizona.

"I thought it was fitting," Arizona said. She wrapped her arms around Callie's neck while Callie's arms wrapped around her waist.

"You do get better all the time," Callie whispered in the low light of the living room.

Arizona rested her forehead against Callie's neck as they swayed together in their living room. "We get better all the time," she corrected.

"We do," Callie agreed.