Hi guys! I think this story only has a few chapters left now. Sob. But there will be an epilogue. I've never written an epilogue before. Fun! Anyway, I'm sorry it took me so long to update again, but I was away on holiday, and it was so amazing, but so busy. I genuinely love writing this fic, because it's one of the more light-hearted ones and I love fluff.
Happy Existing!
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The next few months were some of the happiest of Callie and Arizona's lives. It seemed that finally, after all of the curveballs that had been thrown at them, the universe was giving them a break. Neither of them dared say it out loud, however, as the most well-known disruption of happiness was in fact saying it out loud.
Although they hadn't yet signed the custody papers for Ellie and Maya, the adoption agency had given them the go ahead to have the girls live with them full time. They planned on going house hunting after the wedding, but for now they were completely content in the apartment.
Ellie had taken to her new life with no hitches. As she was only four years old and was already used to change, she seemed able to adapt easily. She wasn't completely at the point of calling Callie and Arizona 'mom' yet, but the occasional 'mama' or 'mommy' would slip out when she was excited or tired. Callie and Arizona were completely taken by her- she was their little ball of energy and they fell more in love with her every day.
Maya had had a harder time adjusting. Unlike Ellie, she wasn't naïve about her mother's disappearance. Although four years had passed, it still hurt her. She still remembered all the good memories she had with her mother- doing cartwheels on the beach, playing on the swings at the park. She felt jealous of her little sister, who had never known their mother and therefore couldn't miss her.
However, as the months passed and she got used to having a proper family again, Callie and Arizona had both definitely noticed her coming out of her shell a lot more. She had gained more of her self- confidence back now that she could continue playing the violin and piano. It gave her a sense of identity and really helped her to put all of her energy into something good. Her true personality started to show- sarcastic, witty, and extremely logical.
For Callie and Arizona, everything was perfect. Their wedding was just around the corner, and neither of them could possibly be more excited for the day when they finally said 'I do.' Their day was finally approaching, and they found themselves thanking the universe for some happiness.
"These pins are jabbing me." Maya complained as she stood on the pedestal in the middle of Eleganza Bridal Store. They were attending the last fitting for her bridesmaid dress, floor length, deep burgundy dress with three quarter length lace sleeves. Arizona had almost cried the first time she saw Maya wearing it- her girl looked so beautiful.
"They're supposed to jab you. It's part of the experience." Teddy replied in an amused tone. Her maid of honour dress had already been altered- she had been part of the bridal party basically since the question had been popped- Maya's dress, however, was a bit last minute in wedding terms, as she had only been introduced to the bridal party in August.
"Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." Maya replied with a frown, wincing again as the assistant poked another needle into one of the sleeves of the dress, pretending not to have heard Maya's complaint.
"It'll be over soon, sweetie. You look beautiful." Arizona said happily, earning an eyeroll from Maya.
"Sure, mom." She sighed. Like Ellie, she hadn't gotten into the habit of referring to Callie or Arizona 'mom' yet. But it occasionally slipped out, or when it was beneficial for the sarcastic effect.
For the wedding, Callie and Arizona had decided upon a burgundy, white and champagne colour theme. Colours that resembled Christmas, but weren't too flashy about it. Having a colour theme had really helped them with narrowing down their options for multiple different things.
"Okay, Arizona, are you ready for yours?" Their wedding planner and dressmaker, Anna, asked her. Callie had been caught up in a surgery and therefore couldn't be there for the fitting, so Arizona took the chance to book her final dress fitting.
"So ready." She chirped, standing up and following Anna through to the fitting room. She was excited to show everyone the dress. She was the only one who had seen it so far. Her bridal party consisted of Teddy and Maya as co-maids of honour and Alex Karev as her best man. Callie's included Addison as her maid of honour, Cristina Yang as a bridesmaid and Mark as her best man. Ellie, along with Meredith and Derek's daughter, Zola, were going to be their bridesmaids. Arizona smiled, remembering the day when she'd asked Teddy to be her maid of honour.
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Teddy was late. Not very late, but late. Which made Arizona even more impatient. Her knees bobbed up and down and she swore she was going to strain a muscle in her neck from the amount of times she'd craned it to see over the crowd to keep an eye on the café door.
Perhaps it was the army brat part of her that was making her so impatient. During her childhood, she was always taught that five minutes weren't as inconsequential as they sometimes seemed. That even a minute late was late. Which had resulted in her being a very punctual, and often too early to every event, person.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally heard the little bell on the café door ring and saw Teddy's familiar face coming towards her. She wasn't sure why she felt anxious about this- Teddy was her best friend. There was no way she would turn down her request to be her maid of honour.
"Hey, Teds." Arizona greeted her best friend with a smile and a hug, earning an elbow in the ribs.
"Call me that again, and you won't live to see your wedding day."
After ordering their coffees, a staple in the diet of a surgeon, Arizona turned to Teddy with a smile.
"Why are you smiling like that? Are you plotting my murder?" Teddy asked with a smirk.
Arizona laughed sarcastically. "You wish. Then you'd get out of all those boring Maid of Honour tasks." She commented, watching with a smirk as Teddy did a double take.
"Those boring what of what tasks?" She asked, the rising intonation of her voice conveying her surprise.
"Maid of Honour." Arizona repeated. "This is me asking you to be my maid of honour. If you want to."
Teddy stared at Arizona for a few seconds, gobsmacked. She'd never been asked to be anyone's Maid of Honour before. "Of course!" She explained, grabbing Arizona's arm from across the table.
"Oww!" Arizona exclaimed. "First you elbow me in the face and then you dislocate my shoulder." He commented.
"That was your own fault."
"Hey! I just made you my Maid of Honour. You have to be nice to me."
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She smiled at the memory. When considering who she should chose as her maid of honour, there had been only one option: Teddy Altman. Teddy had shown her nothing but pure friendship, honestly and loyalty. After spending all that time in those woods together, they had definitely bonded even more.
"Here's your dress. I'll be here when you're ready." Anna smiled, handing Arizona the long white bag that contained the dress. On the subject of people Arizona was grateful for, Anna currently ranked very high on her list. Her wedding planner was completely understanding of her crazy surgeon schedule and was always ready to rearrange her timetable depending on when both Callie and Arizona were free.
Unzipping the white dress cover, Arizona smiled when she saw her dress. It was pure white, and the top half was lacy with long sleeves until just below her ribcage where the skirt started and flowed effortlessly to her feet. The minute she saw it she had fallen in love with it.
"Damnnn, AZ." Teddy exclaimed when she saw Arizona walking out in her dress.
Arizona turned to Anna. "I don't think this needs any more adjustments. It feels perfect." She smiled.
"Lucky you." Maya commented, although she couldn't deny, Arizona looked stunning in her dress.
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"Let's say Grace." Callie stated as they all sat down to dinner that night. Saying Grace was a routine that they had started just after Ellie and Maya started living with them full time.
"Let's." Arizona agreed. She wasn't an overly religious person, but she respected the fact that Callie was and that saying grace was important to her. Also, she couldn't deny, as she took in the sight of her perfect family, that she owed a serious thank you to whatever higher power had landed her here.
"Let's start with you, Maya." Callie stated. Maya nodded, clasped her hands and closed her eyes.
"Lord, thank you for the food on our table and the love we have for each other. Also, thank you for not letting me die from blood loss at the fitting today." She said, earning a chuckle from around the table.
"You're such a drama queen." Arizona laughed, before turning to Ellie. "You're up next, little miss."
Ellie leaned forward in her chair and copied Maya's actions. It had been hard at first to explain to her what the purpose of saying grace was, since she had never had any religious influences in her life up until then, but soon enough saying grace became the little girl's favourite part of the day.
"Dear God, thank you for making Olaf to always make me laugh because he's funny. And thank you for this yummy food." She said sweetly. Arizona was up next.
"God, thank you for another whole day full of laughter and love. Thank you for this food and this home. Amen."
Callie smiled, extremely grateful that her fiancé was willing to make an effort to include her beliefs. She smiled and closed her eyes and clasped her hands, in an act so familiar now that it was natural. "Father, thank you for the food we eat today, the people beside us, and the love between us all."
They all proceeded to eat their food. Ellie had a slight issue with the fact that her mashed potato wasn't green, but after Callie explained to her that it would taste the same, she happily complied and ate her dinner peacefully.
Later that night, once all the pandemonium of dinner was over, Arizona found herself drawn to Maya's room when she heard the melodious sound of the violin being played. She had been surprised at how truly talented Maya was at music. She'd always expected the violin to sound screechy, but Maya made it sound like proper music. She was proud of her girl.
She leant against the door, watching in amazement the look of pure concentration on Maya's face. Her whole face was blank as she tracked the notes carefully with her eyes, except the one giveaway of concentration- her eyebrows were puckered slightly, making the skin between her eyes crinkle. Her curly blonde hair was pulled up in a bun to prevent it getting caught in the bow.
Had it not been for the familiarity of her fiancé's touch, she might have jumped out of her skin when she felt someone's arms wrap around her waist from behind. She smiled and wordlessly leaned into Callie's arms as they both watched Maya quietly.
"Our girl's crazy talented, huh?" Callie whispered so as not to distract Maya.
"Absolutely." Arizona agreed. "What's Ellie up to?" She asked, noticing that she couldn't hear the normal hilarity of a regular night in the Robbins-Torres household.
"Her stuffed animals are having a wedding. She told me to come get you so we could watch it." Callie replied, making Arizona laugh. Ellie had a personality that was way too big for her tiny body. She always had a made-up story to tell or a new game to play.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss the union of Fluffy and Otto for anything." Arizona chuckled, following Callie through to Ellie's room, where they found the little girl sprawled out on the pale orange rug on the floor, her stuffed animals laid out in perfect rows, whispering sweet nothingness in different voices as each animal walked the aisle.
"Mama, you came!" She exclaimed excitedly, making Arizona's heart full with warmth. She didn't think she could ever get enough of hearing either of her girls referring to her as 'mama'.
"Of course I did!" Arizona explained, sinking to her knees beside Ellie to get a closer look at the 'wedding.'
A few hours later, once Fluffy and Otto had been successfully united in matrimony, and Ellie had fallen asleep as soon as her head had hit the pillow, Arizona, Callie, and Maya all sat on the couch in the living room, discussing wedding plans.
"You should have seen how amazing Maya looked in her dress. I have pictures!" Arizona exclaimed, showing the many photos from different angles to Callie, who nodded in agreement.
"You do look great." Callie agreed, making Maya roll her eyes.
"Ugh, put those away. I'm going to bed." She announced, standing up, giving both Callie and Arizona a hug before heading to her room. However, she stopped when she got to her bedroom door, t=and turned around to face them again. "And thank you guys, for taking us in. Being our parents. This life is amazing." She said softly before turning and closing her door behind her.
"We should probably head to bed, too. I have an early shift tomorrow." Arizona noted, noting that it was nearly ten pm and she had to work at five am.
Standing up from the couch, they walked hand in hand towards their bedroom. "What time do you have to be in tomorrow?"
"Five am." Arizona replied. She knew it could be a lot worse, and she had always been a morning person. It was only in the first few months after her attack that she had hated the notion of getting up in the morning, however as she began to return to her usual self, she had come to be the normal chirpy morning person she had been before.
"Ahh, that's not bad." Callie smirked as they began to get ready for bed.
"Says you who doesn't work until twelve." Arizona retorted, climbing into bed beside Callie and wrapping her arms around her fiancé. Amongst all of the busyness of wedding planning and two new kids, the quiet moments at night with Callie were the ones she cherished the most.
"I love you, you know." Callie said softly, teasing a small lock of Arizona's blonde curls between her fingers.
"Well you're marrying me in three weeks, I would hope so." Arizona chuckled, before turning to Callie. "I love you, too."
"I'm so grateful for this life we're building."
"Me too." Arizona agreed. "We deserve it."
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Hope you guys enjoyed this! Next stop- wedding!