"Dr. Robbins, Dr. Torres is paging you," a nurse said as Arizona carefully and precisely felt around inside a small child's abdomen as she eagerly searched for each and every blood clot that had to be individually removed.

"Leave it" Arizona mumbled as she held out her hand "Forceps" she said as she continued with her surgery knowing very well where she was meant to be instead.

~
"She must be in surgery" I defended as Dr Porter checked the time for the 5th time since I had arrived there. It was 15 minutes into our session and the only words exchanged seemed to be wasted breaths of defense as to why Arizona wasn't able to keep a standing appointment.

"Would you like to start without her?" Dr Porter asked curiously.

"It's kind of hard to have couple therapy when half the couple isn't here," I joked but Dr Porter didn't seem to find it funny. "Yeah, sure," I said my face falling serious after noting the good doctors lack of humor on the subject.

"How are things going at home?" she asked her eyes staring at me as if to read my inner thoughts.

"Same old same old really."

"Have you and Arizona discussed moving in properly yet?" she asked as she flung a pen around her finger, no doubt a trick of the trade.

"Well no but I pretty much live with Arizona. Most of my stuff is there," I defended

"Well yes, but you've got a safety netting that you're not quite ready to get rid of," she said as she swiftly wrote something down on the notepad in front of her, her eyes not leaving mine for a second while she wrote.

" I don't think of it like that, things are good the way they are so I haven't really even thought about my apartment or the officialness of moving in," I said my hands intertwining together nervously.

"Have you told your colleagues yet?" she asked

"No. And I know what you're thinking and before you say anything we are going too, we just haven't got around to it yet," I attempted to explain. Dr Porter didn't respond, instead she dropped her pen to the paper and started writing.

"What are you writing?"I questioned.

"Dr. Torres. If I may be so bold to make an observation," she started off by saying. "You and Dr. Robbins are in your own bubble of happiness. My concern is that the real world consequences of you two rekindling your romance have not yet hit. We haven't dealt with the real issues. Correct me if I'm wrong but you still don't trust Arizona to be around other women and neither one of you have felt the need to tell your parents, friends or colleagues about your decision to be together," she said her voice very clear as she prounciated every single word with perfect English./span/p

"We told Sofia," I corrected her.

"That is a step but considering how long this has been going on, not a very big one," she reminded me.

"What do you propose we do to get out of our bubble and test the waters as a real, long term couple?" Just as I finished the question there was a knock at the door and a young receptionist appeared in the doorway. "There is an Arizona Robbins here to see you," she said. Dr Porter gave the receptionist a nod and she stood aside letting Arizona walk in wearing her scrubs and her scrub cap scrunched up firmly in her arms.
"Sorry I'm late," she said in a slightly flustered tone, "There were complications, surgery ran longer than I thought it would, "she said as she sat down on the couch and faced the doctor to see what her reaction to her late arrival was. Lucky for Arizona, if she was upset or unapproving she didn't show it.

What are we talking about?" Arizona asked in attempt to catch up on whatever it was that she interrupted.

"I was just telling Callie I think it's time you two step out of your couple bubble. You have proven that you work behind closed doors but if you want to make it work in the real world it's time to pop the bubble," Dr Porter said

"And what does that mean?" Arizona asked her hand reaching out to grab mine to show a united front.

"Well firstly you need to tell your parents and your friends. It needs to stop being this big secret. Secondly you need to have the big talks. The future, Children, marriage, living arrangements," she said before I interrupted.

"For all intents of purposes we have just started dating, don't you think it's a bit soon to be talking about that stuff?" I questioned curiously.

"Well, with anybody else, maybe, but you two have been married before. You have a family together and a very rich past and obviously a very strong bond so as much as you want to take things slow which I'm in support of, marriage, children, living arrangements are all things you two need to talk about moving forward. It would be very clarifying for you both if you didn't have sex while you were having these conversations, sex will put you right back into your bubble," Dr Porter explained.

"Again with the no sex," Arizona mumbled.

"So if we tell our friends and family, have those discussions regarding our future and stop sex for say a week you think we will break out of our bubble?" I asked. Arizona didn't seem convinced but then again she wasn't the biggest fan of Dr Porters or her chosen profession.

"If you do all that you will catch a glimpse of what your future together may look like. Have the conversation then revisit it later on in the week after a period of abstinence. You might find some clarity," Dr Porter said. We talked for the rest of the session, it was mostly Arizona questioning the doctor and the doctor explaining her reasoning's for each of her suggestions. The problem was, they were simply suggestions and outside these four walls we could opt to do the complete opposite. It was convincing Arizona that was going to be the hard part.

I was at home cooking dinner when Arizona pushed the door open holding Sofia in her arms. "Hey, sorry we are late. I had to stop by the hospital to check up on a patient, "Arizona explained as she placed Sofia on the ground and handed her, her school bag. "Put your school bag in your room Sof," she instructed as she closed the front door and tossed her keys into the bowl right beside the door. "What's for dinner? Smells good," Arizona said as she walked over to me and gave me a quick peck on the lips before peering into the pot I was stirring.

"Chili, my mama's recipe," I said with a smile. "How was the rest of your day?"

"Oh you mean after our therapist told us YET AGAIN, not to have sex. I honestly think she is trying to sabotage our sex life," Arizona said as she kissed my ear. I pulled away slightly catching Arizona off guard.

"You're not serious?" Arizona said knowing what my reaction meant.

"I looked at her for a moment and I nodded, "it makes sense" I said nervously. "I just think we are in this bubble which has been so much fun but we have a child to think about. We need to be realistic about our future."
"Arizona hung her head slightly, she was sick of hearing the same speech over and over again. Arizona didn't understand why we couldn't ride the good wave and deal with the next phase when the bubble popped on its own. I felt like our whole relationship including our marriage was carried out in some sort of a bubble so when the real world hit, we weren't prepared to be outside the bubble.

"This is important to you isn't it," Arizona said almost rhetorically because she knew what my response would be.

"Our future is important to me. I don't want to screw this up again," I said my hand resting lightly on top of hers, her warm hand heating my entire body.

"No sex for a week," she parroted before she leant forward and kissed my lips, "anything for you my dear," she responded playfully. How about we start by telling my parents. They are facetiming Sofia tonight so I'll tell them then," Arizona suggested as she grabbed a teaspoon from the sink and dipped it into the chili and spooned it into her mouth making a satisfying sound as the steaming hot chili flowed down her mouth. "Delicious," she muttered.

"Say goodnight to Grandma and Grandpa then go say goodnight to your Mummy," Arizona said as she kissed her daughter on the head.

"Goodnight Grandma and Grandpa. I love you times a million and miss you times a million more," Sofia said cutely before blowing the two kisses and running out of the room.

"Is Callie there?" Deborah asked slightly confused.

"Well Mum, that was actually something I wanted to talk to you about. Callie and I have been seeing a therapist," Arizona explained.

"What for?" Arizona's father questioned.

"Well …" Arizona paused. She didn't quite know how to say it without it sounding like a high school love story.

"Callie and I have been dating."

"Arizona, you and Callie are divorced," Daniel reminded me.

"Thanks Dad, I'm aware of that," Arizona scowled.

"I guess what your father is trying to say is, what has changed?" Barbara asked trying to navigate the conversation.

"Callie is willing to give me another shot and this time I won't screw it up," Arizona said bluntly. "I love her, she is my entire world. I just want to be with her," Arizona explained.

"As long as you are happy my girl, then we are happy. Give our best wishes to Callie," Daniel said.

"And darling…" Barbara added.

"Yes mum?"

"I'm glad you two are giving it another go. Callie is good for you and you are good for her," Barbara said with a soft smile gracing her lips.

Arizona hadn't walked into the conversation with her parents with any expectations of a good reaction. Both Barbara and Daniel knew the in's and outs of why our marriage fell apart and although disappointed with some of Arizona's decisions they supported her through the divorce while remaining an independent relationship with both Sofia and myself. Although they loved me, Arizona was still convinced Barbara and Daniel would be skeptical about the whole situation.

Arizona finished the conversation with her parents, tucked Sofia into bed and bade her way down stairs. "What did they say?" I asked as I stacked the dishes into the dishwasher my eyes darting over to Arizona as she wandered down the stairs and towards the couch.

"They were happy," Arizona said with a sincere smile forming on her lips as she sunk into the couch. "Come here" Arizona said as she tapped the couch space between her legs.

I put the last plate into the dishwasher, pushed it closed and headed for the couch. I sat between Arizona's legs, where she had been patting and she pulled me back into her, her arms falling around my neck lovingly. Arizona rested her chin on my shoulder, her mouth close enough to my ear than she only had to whisper, "I want to be your wife," she whispered," Maybe not right this second but I can't imagine not being able to call you my wife," she added as she pressed her lips up against my ear.

I tilted my head upwards and directed her face towards mine and I kissed her. "I don't need a piece of paper in order to call you my wife" I said with a soft smile forming on my lips before our lips met again. "Thank you," I said quietly.

"I'm not doing this for the good doctor, I'm doing it for you," she reminded me. "So… children…" Arizona said cautiously. We had discussed children in passing but merely as a dream as opposed to a reality.

"Do you want another child?" I asked as I ran my fingers up and down Arizona's arm my eyes following my fingers as they drew patterns on her warm skin.

" Yes," Arizona responded immediately.

"How would you want…" my voice trailed off but Arizona knew what I was trying to say.

"I wouldn't want to carry the baby but other than that I'm not worried at all," Arizona said as she pulled back my hair and started playing with my jet black curls.

"Would you want a baby with your genes?" I asked my head tilting upwards to see Arizona's facial response.

"What do you want?" Arizona asked.

"Well…" I said calmly, "I thought it would be nice to have a child that reflected you."

Arizona nodded causing me to focus my eyes ahead of me again. "What about adoption? Have you considered that?" Arizona asked me out of curiosity.

I nodded, "I've thought about it," I admitted. "Is it selfish to say that I wouldn't want to share our baby with a birth mother or birth father? I want someone that is completely ours; mine and yours." I explained.

"If we were to have a baby with my genes would you want to carry the baby?" Arizona questioned her hands still falling through my hair soothing me as we spoke of all the things Dr Porter suggested we speak about.

"I would carry our baby" I responded very plainly. I hadn't even considered a surrogate because I couldn't have imagined having a baby with Arizona and not being the incubator.

"So I guess we just table that one as a big yes to children and a later discussion on how," Arizona suggested and I nodded in agreement.

"What about living together?" I asked, moving to the next topic on the list.

"Well you basically live here, just get rid of your apartment and officially move in." Arizona spoke as if that was a simple question with an even simpler answer.

"This is the place you came when we were divorced, I don't even want to think about how many women you've been with inside these walls. I thought maybe we could consider buying a house or building one. Our house. Our final house. A house that could accommodate more children," I suggested.

"Children?" Arizona laughed softly before kissing my ear playfully, "how many children are we going to have Calliope?"

"I tilted my head up so my eyes were peering into her beautiful blue eyes that twinkled when looking at them in the right light."Maybe two or three," I suggested, half joking and half looking to see Arizona's reaction.

"We'd need a minibus," Arizona teased, "Who would take our minibus of children to sports practices or their tutors or musical lessons?" Arizona asked carrying on the hypothetical situation.

"We can take turns. Mostly me though, you can be the breadwinner and I'll be the stay at home parent, you earn more than me anyway," I reminded her. I had always imagined myself a mother of four or five children, chauffeuring them back and forward between different events and commitments. That dream slowed to two children when I fell in love with surgery and increased back to about 4 when I had Sofia. I wasn't sure of our future but I was happily confident it would include a brother or sister for Sofia.

"So you want to buy a house together?" Arizona asked, returning to our previous topic. I nodded in response. "It would have to have a walk in wardrobe and an en-suite," Arizona insisted.

"Anything for you my dear," I repeated in reference to her earlier comment.

"And a pool for the minibus of children," Arizona tacked on.

"Do you think we are ready for this?" I asked Arizona curiously my eyes scanning the ceiling just so I had something to look at.

"Look at me," Arizona said as she helped me turn myself around so my eyes were settled on her. "I love you. There are a lot of things I don't know but I do know that I love you, without a doubt. I want to be your wife; I want to have another child with you. I'm ready to build my life with you Calliope," Arizona said very sternly so that I knew just how sure she really was.

That night we went to bed and as Dr Porter suggested we abstained from sex much to Arizona's annoyance. Dr Porter had been right in reference to conversations with clarity. We were up until 1am talking about our future, about our hopes and dreams and how we hoped to move on from some of the mistakes in our past.

Arizona insisted on putting the rumors to rest with a grand entrance so the next day at work Arizona and I arrived together, hand in hand chatting away like nothing in the world had change. We arrived at the nurses' station, releasing one another's hands as we grabbed our mail, daily notes and general updates that would need to be cleared by time morning was up.

"Jeepers, which kid Arthur, died overnight. Went to sleep and never woke up. Nothing anybody could do about it apparently," Arizona stated as she flicked through the rest of her pile. "Any exciting news for you?" Arizona asked as she laid her stack on the desk in front of her.

"Transfer patient from Tacoma, three femur repairs. Nope. Nothing interesting," I said as I too put my pile down. "I'll see you at home," I said with a smile as I let my eyes linger on Arizona's lips. Our first public kiss as a newly announced couple.

"Don't forget you have to pick up Sofia," Arizona reminded me before she pecked my lips, the kind of kiss that you'd expect from an old married couple. "Love you" Arizona mumbled before grabbing her pile of mail and walking off.

I nervously looked around me only to realize there was barely anybody around and those that were around were too busy to even notice mine and Arizona's presence.

Oooolalala" Amelia called as she chased me down the hallway. "So I heard a rumor that you were kissing a blonde in the lobby this morning. Who's the girl Torres? Spill," Amelia said playfully as we walked side by side towards the attendings lounge.

"She is a doctor," I informed Amelia.

"Here?" Amelia asked intrigued.

"Yeah," I responded.

"What specialty?" Amelia asked trying to narrow down blonde doctors in her head.

"Peads," I said assuming Amelia would get it by now. Amelia opened the door of the attendings lounge where April, Jackson and Karev were going about their morning routines.

"What about peads?" April asked.

"Torres has a new girlfriend," Amelia teased as she approached the coffee machine.

"Oh yeah, you and Arizona are back together," Jackson said nonchalantly.

"Wait what? You and Robbins are back together? How did you even know that? Did you know that Karev?" April asked, directing her thoughts at multiple people inside the room.

"Of course I knew. Arizona has been running off to play grab ass for months now," Karev muttered.

"We have been keeping it quiet while we sorted things out," I explained.

"No judgment from me girl, I've been avoiding my husband," Amelia said with a slight chuckle.

"And I live with my ex-husband," April reminded the room.

"Who would have thought I'd be the normal one in this room," Alex observed.

"How do you go about dating your ex wife anyway?" Amelia asked as she poured herself a coffee and sat down beside Karev.

"It happens quite quickly. The stages I mean," I said.

" So you guys did it on the first date?" April asked innocently.

" Knowing Robbins, they did it before the first date even took place," Karev laughed just as the door of the attendings lounge swung open and Arizona and Pierce walked into the room laughing.

" Speak of the lady and the lady shall appear," Jackson said.

"Me?" Pierce asked confused.

" Nope. The blondie. Peads and ortho are banging," Karev blurted out.

"Wait, what?" Pierce said even more confused than she already was.

"Callie and I are back together," Arizona said as she headed for the coffee machine to get herself a coffee too.

"I've got surgery," I said wanting to escape the room immediately.

"Robbins, I think that's code," Amelia teased.

"Leave her alone," Arizona said playfully knowing very well I wouldn't be feeling comfortable with our relationship under the microscope.

News of our relationship spread quickly. The first few days were utter hell but people slowly got used to seeing us arrive together and as often as we could, leave together. Some wished us the sincerest best wishes while others thought it nothing more than a handy bootie call. I hadn't rung my parents to tell them the news instead I shot my sister a text hoping she would break the news to my parents. A week went by and after abstaining from sex for the entire 7 days that make up a week Arizona still thought Dr Porter was attempting to ruin her sex life. I however, believed Arizona and I took our first steps outside of our bubble which made me fear the future a little less.