"Callie" I heard from behind me as I entered the hospital cafeteria. I didn't need to turn around to know it was Meredith calling after me. She caught up to me and dropped from a jog into a match paced walk. "How was last night?" she asked as we cued in the line to order breakfast.
Meredith and I had grown increasingly close over the last few months. We had spent a great deal of time together with and without our children present. Meredith knew most of the drama between Arizona and I, if not from me then probably from her.
"It was nice actually" I started off by saying before arriving at the front of the line. "Just one of those chicken and avocado sandwiches and an orange juice please."
"That's $4.50" the lady behind the counter said, "should I put it on your tab?" I responded with a nod before taking my number and standing aside waiting for Meredith to place her order. Meredith ordered cheesy fries and gave me a speech about how she didn't need to watch her weight now that she was a widow. I awkwardly agreed as we sat down at a table and waited for our food to arrive.
"So what did you guys do? Give me all the gossip" Meredith pleaded.
"Well…. We went to this nice Italian restaurant down town call Portofino. Was quiet and nice. We had wine and ate and talked. It was nice." I admitted.
"Did you guys talk about any of the things you wanted to talk about?"
"No. We are going to see a therapist together so I think we have mutually kind of agreed that our dates will be about dating and building a relationship again and the therapist is where we will deal with our past problems"
The food arrived and we thanked the lady. Meredith picked at her fries, one fry at a time. "That makes sense. Did you guys do anything after that?"
"We went to watch the new Rush Hour movie. It was such a good movie. I'll go again if you want to go see it"
Meredith rolled her eyes playfully. "What about you and Arizona? I don't care about the damn movie" she joked.
"It was kind of awkward to start with. She brought me flowers. It was just like a date really. It was awkward at points, I learnt things because I haven't talked to her properly for so long." I thought of any other juicy points to add that Meredith might find interesting. "Ooooh, we held hands during the movie. I initiated it because I know she didn't want to like step over any lines."
"oooo la la" Meredith smirked as she bit down on another fry. "Did you go home with her?" she asked.
"No. We are dating Meredith. We are taking things slowly. We did kiss though. I pretty much had to ask her" I laughed as I unwrapped my sandwich and bit into it letting out a sigh of satisfaction as I chewed.
"Was it like before? Or did it feel different?"
I swallowed properly before shrugging slightly, "Kind of and kind of not. I was nervous. Super nervous so that was new. I can't remember the last time I was nervous to kiss her" I chuckled lightly. "But it was familiar too. We are used to one another." I didn't quite know how to explain the feeling. It was confusing and exciting at the same time.
Meredith and I continued chatting through the rest of our meal. We exchanged children stories but given she had three and I had one hers were far more exciting. After lunch I ran the pit which kept me awfully busy, it was far more tense than usual because of Kates presence but she was so in and out with tasks Hunt had given her I doubt she even had the chance to comprehend my existence.
I was lucky enough to get off work at the 15-hour mark which was actually a relatively short day for a surgeon. I stopped by the supermarket to pick up a few bits and pieces then I headed home to an empty house. Not even time could make me feel okay about being a part time parent. I unloaded the groceries then headed for the shower.
My shower was interrupted by the rustling and bustling of someone moving inside my apartment. I switched the tap off instantly and I stood there for a moment as I tried to figure out what was going on. There were a couple of people that had keys to my apartment so it could have very well been one of them. I finally got out of the shower, grabbed a towel and wrapped it securely around my body. I stood for another minute before finally hearing Sofia's voice in the distance. I released a deep sigh of relief before opening the bathroom door that lead into my bedroom. "Honey is that you?" I asked as I entered the lounge to find Arizona standing at the door.
"Sorry. I should have told you we were coming" Arizona stated nervously as she fiddled with her car keys her eyes attempting to look anywhere but at me. "We were driving by and Sofia remembered she needed her activity book for school tomorrow so I thought while we were out…"
"It's fine. Let me just get dressed" I informed her calmly as I headed back into the bedroom to change. I returned moments later and Arizona stood in the same spot.
"Coffee? Tea?" I asked her out of habit. Arizona shook her head. "Honey did you find your book?" I asked.
Sofia popped her head around the corner a little scowl on her tiny forehead. "Did you move it?" she accused.
"No baby I didn't. Have you looked in your wardrobe?" "Because that is where you hide everything else" I mumbled afterwards.
"I saw you today" Arizona stated, "you were about to scrub in on a surgery I think. I was going to say hi but you looked busy" Arizona recalled.
I headed towards Arizona and as I approached I could see her beautiful brain working overtime to figure out what was happening. I glanced behind me to see if Sofia was looking and when I noted she wasn't I turned around and I kissed Arizona. The kiss was strong, it took Arizona back slightly but it didn't take her long to place her hands either side of my face and deepen it. Our lips broke apart at the call of our daughter. I stepped back just as the young girl poked her head out of the bedroom again, "It's not in the wardrobe" she mumbled.
"Look under your bed" Arizona called back. Sofia followed instructions and headed back into her room to find the book.
"I was thinking. Tomorrow at 3pm we have that appointment with the therapist. Maybe we should do something that night. A bit of good to outweigh the bad."
"You think tomorrow's appointment is going to be bad?" Arizona asked curiously as she reached the small distance and entwined her fingers with mine.
"I think we should be prepared for the worst. Dr. Porter thinks you and I should put off this dating thing until after we have a few sessions together"
"What do you think?"
"I think she makes a lot of sense but…"
Arizona stepped forward the smallest of gaps separating our bodies from touching. "But what?"
I moved my eyes from her eyes and rested them on her lips. I wanted to kiss her so bad. "But I can't stay away from you." I whispered quietly as both our heads moved forward.
Before our lips could meet Sofia's voice trailed through the house again. I sighed a playful sigh. "I'm going to help her" I told Arizona as I released her hand and headed for the bedroom. It took 2 minutes to find the book, it was sitting under a pile of her clothes that had built up in the corner. I told her when she was next here that she had to clean her room and she walked out of the room in a sulk.
"You got everything?" I asked as I followed her out of the room. Sofia nodded as she clung to Arizona and pouted at me.
Arizona's hand ran over the small girl's head as her eyes fixated on me. "We should go" Arizona stated reluctantly.
I was one hundred percent sure that if Sofia wasn't there things would have escalated quickly. It was becoming increasingly hard to not make that step when both of us knew exactly what it was like.