Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : Happy new year, my friends. To me, 2014 was a terrible year. I am glad it was over. Hope I can leave behind sadness, regrets and painful moments and have a new start in 2015.
And for anyone who has had a great year, I wish the new year renews all the happiness and good tidings, hope the joyful spirit keeps glowing in your heart forever!

Thanks to the dearest calzonaforever35 for helping with this chapter. You are awesome as always ;-)

Chapter 53

"What? You're going to Africa... now?" Callie stared at the blonde with eyes as wide as they could go. "They didn't even give you time to finish the work in here? Or settle things here like... like... talking with, I don't know, your fiancee?"

"Wha- no! Callie, no!" Arizona laughed at the panic on the caramel face. "I have a dentist appointment. I told you last night. I'm banned from the OR, might as well leave early for the dentist, remember?"

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh." The blonde rolled her eyes playfully, chuckling as she walked out of the lounge. "Hey, the meeting lasted longer than I expected and now I'm late. We'll talk about that tonight after you come home, ok?"

"But..." Callie followed her fiancee closely, she was not a patient person and she would be damned not to know what their future was gonna hold. "Are you going to Africa?"

"I'm just going to the dentist, Callie." Arizona whirled around after pressing the call button of the elevator. She tilted her head to the side with a mischievous smile on her face. Of course she knew this wasn't the answer that Callie was expecting.

"Arizona!" Callie squealed and stomped. It made Arizona's smile spread even wider.

"I am not going to Africa." The elevator door opened behind her, the shorter woman tiptoed to kiss the full lips before she walked in. "I'll tell you the details tonight. I really have to run if I wanna make the appointment in time. Love you."

"What do you mean..." Callie tried to ask but the door already closed before her. She stared at the close door with her mouth agape for a while, pondering the ambiguous answer from the blonde. Did she mean not going to Africa right this moment or not going to Africa at all? The beeping of the pager pulled her out of her funk. Work was calling her; she just needed to survive the next 6 hours, and then she could go home to get her answer.

However, 6 hours turned into 10 hours thanks to a gas explosion accident. She had to help Mark deal with 4 burnt victims before she was allowed to clock out. By the time she arrived home, the lights in the living room were out and Arizona was already sound asleep in the bedroom. Looking at the peaceful face of her angel, Callie let out an exhausted breath. She didn't even have the energy to put on her pajamas after taking off her jeans and shirt, let alone waking up the sleeping beauty to have that conversation. Slipping under the blanket, she drifted off to sleep as soon as her eyes closed.

The morning came too early in her liking. Callie groaned and flung her arm to shut the alarm off, surprised to found she was alone in bed. After a couple of blinks to clear the fog in her head, she could hear chatter and clinking sounds coming from outside. Arizona must be in the kitchen and apparently they had company.

Putting on a robe and walking out of the bedroom, she found Mark nesting in her living room reading newspapers, and Arizona was in the kitchen with Lexie.

"What are the two of you doing here?" Callie leaned against the breakfast bar while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and she tilted her head to the living room. "And why is there a man sitting on the couch with his stinky feet up on our coffee table so early in the morning?"

"Arizona came over and invited us to breakfast." Mark interjected from the living room, his eyes were still scanning the newspapers.

"I didn't invite you, Mark. I ran out of bacon and went over to ask if you have any. You let yourself in." Arizona shuffled across the breakfast bar and gave the brunette a gentle morning kiss. "Good morning, sleepy head."

"Well, you're gonna make breakfast, I have to make sure you won't set the building on fire, again." Mark took his eyes away from the paper and cast a glance toward the blonde. "We dealt with enough burnt victims last night.

"It happened once and it wasn't even a fire, I just burnt the rolls!" Arizona squealed. It was years ago and she couldn't believe Mark would bring it up again.

"You burnt the rolls? How did that happen?" Callie squinted at the blushing woman with a smile. "Most importantly, what were you doing with the oven?"

"I had a dinner party and she was in charge of reheating the rolls, the easiest task and she blew it." The man finally put the paper down and took a sip of his coffee. "That's why I sent Lexie in to cook breakfast for us."

"I was at your apartment and forgot about the oven, ok? It's not like I'm going to make a gourmet dinner, I can handle a couple of bacon and scrambled eggs. I've done this before." Arizona pouted while pouring a cup of coffee for Callie. "I was gonna have a quiet and romantic breakfast with my fiancee. Now it's ruined."

"Come on," Mark called out from the living room. "Isn't it nice to have breakfast like this together? Who knows how many more breakfasts we'd have before you go to Africa."

All eyes shifted to Arizona, and Callie took a long drag at the coffee nervously. But the blonde just shrugged and moved back to the kitchen.

"Sorry to disappointed you, Mark. I am not going to Africa."

"Are you crazy? The Carter Madison guy came over to give you the grant, and you turned it down?" Mark walked toward the kitchen and sat down next to Callie, his mouth twisted in a contemptuous sneer. "Nobody turns down the Carter Madison Grant."

"He wasn't coming to give me the grant, per se. He knew my name because of the grant proposal. He wanted to offer me a job to run a clinic over there, and I declined it." Arizona said casually like it wasn't a big deal, unaware of the wide eye stares from the rest of people in the kitchen.

"Why would you do that?" Lexie's hand stopped short while passing a plate of food to the blonde. Arizona was about to answer the question, but Mark interrupted her.

"You forbade her to go?" His question was directed to Callie, who just opened her mouth speechless.

"Don't be ridiculous. We haven't even had time to talk about this yet." Arizona placed the plate in front of Callie with a smile. "But I'll say there's not much to talk about. I got a job offer, and I turned it down."

"But why? I thought going to Africa is your dream. Mark said you presented the proposal..." Callie looked between the plate of food and the blonde in confusion. Her groggy head from the short life sleep couldn't really catch up on the conversation yet.

"I applied for this thing years ago. I was a completely different person. It was my last year of residency and I was looking for something to fulfill my goal. And don't forget I was single back then. But now I have a great job, I built a clinic in here, and I have people, important people in my life." Arizona leaned over the breakfast bar on her elbows, reached out to bop on the brunette's nose with a finger playfully. "Yes, this is an opportunity of a lifetime, but I don't think it's the right time for me to leave here."

"So... you're actually staying because of me?" Callie asked uncertainly, eyes following her fiancee while she was walking toward the living room to answer her ringing phone.

"One of the reasons. Your intern exam is in less than a month, I don't want you to have any distraction." Arizona shrugged and put the cellphone to her ear. "Robbins speaking. Oh hi Alex, good morning... No, I'm still banned from surgery, remember? What do you see from the scan? Are you sure? Of course, I can do a consult... I'll be there in 10 minutes. Can you tell the Chief about this?"

Walking back to the kitchen, Arizona planned a kiss on Callie's cheek and apologized.

"I know you have questions but Alex needs help. A four years old boy with abdominal pain and shows irregular growth from the scan, I have to go back to the hospital now. You come find me when you have time so we can talk about it?"

"I'm actually on Peds today." Callie said hurriedly. Everything this morning seemed to be moving at a fast pace and she hadn't caught up yet.

"Good! If I'm not wrong from the description Alex gave me, you picked the right day to be on my service. Bye guys!" Arizona picked up her bag quickly and ran to the door with extra bounce in her step.

"Wow, she's perky." Mark said after the blonde disappeared behind the door. "She's even perkier than usual."

Callie didn't answer and chewed her breakfast in silence.

"Going to Africa saving children, that is big." Lexie was putting the dirty dishes in the washer. She stopped her hands and looked between Mark and Callie. "I don't think I would've hesitated to take that chance if I was offered."

"That really is big. I can't believe she just said no to that." Mark agreed with his girlfriend. And he tried to look into his best friend's eyes again. "You really didn't say anything, like telling her not to take the job?"

"She texted me after the meeting, you know that." Callie paused her fork holding hand and glaring at the man. "I told you she rushed to the dentist appointment that we didn't have time to have the conversation. And I was in the ER until very late last night. She was already sleeping when I got home."

A pregnant silence fell between them while Callie trying to force the food into her stomach, but the food seemed tasteless as her mind was in turmoil. She threw the fork down when Mark opened his mouth again.

"Do you really think she stayed for you? I bet it's about the money. Carter Madison is a charity foundation after all, they probably have to spend the money on the facilities but not the staff. Blondie wasn't happy with the money they offered and played hardball with the guy."

"That is not Arizona and you know that." Callie scowled at the man. "If she's chasing after money, she doesn't have to stay in Seattle."

"If it's not about the money, the fame then." Mark shrugged. "She said the guy wasn't there to give her the grant but just simply offered her the job, so basically she isn't a grant winner but an employee..."

"But was pursued by the president of the foundation, personally. It is as important as getting the grant, isn't it?" Lexie intervened, but her boyfriend shook his head with a sneer.

"There's a difference of winning the prize and being offered. Being the grant winner would bump her up a notch, as a world class surgeon."

"Stop it! She is not that shallow." Callie glared at Mark before standing up to throw the unfinished breakfast in the trash, she didn't have an appetite at all. "She said it's not the right time to go, that is."

"But... if she's really staying for you, that would be the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Mark scoffed loudly, but his attention quickly turned to the woman in the kitchen when an emotionless tone coming out from her.

"Why would that be stupid? So you're saying you'll choose the job over me even if I asked you to pick me?" Lexie raised her eyebrows staring at the man, who answered without missing a beat.

"You just said you wouldn't hesitate to take the chance..."

"Hmm... would you two mind to take this fight elsewhere? I need to take a shower and get ready for work." The Latina spun around toward her bedroom without even looking back at her guests in the kitchen. She had her own problems to sort out.

As soon as Callie changed into her light blue scrubs and reported to the Peds floor, she was paged to the CT scan room to meet with her boss for the day.

"Oh my god, is- is it a little leg?" Webber's exclamation coming from the room made the brunette moved her feet faster. Squeezing in the narrow room, she nodded to Alex who was standing in the back of the room with a strained face. The chief of surgery and the head of Peds surgery were sitting on the chairs side by side right in front of the monitor. Arizona turned her head to the new comer with a dimpled smile, then quickly shifted her gaze back to the front and pointing at the monitor.

"Yes, there is a leg, and there is a spinal column."

"What is that?" Callie nudged the resident standing next to her and then leaned forward trying to look closer, but she just had no idea why there had some strange body parts attached to the inside of the patient.

"It's a fetus in fetu." Arizona answered with a cheer in her voice. She swiveled in the chair facing the intern fully. "The patient absorbed his own twin."

"Ewww..." Callie screwed up her face with disgust made the blonde chuckle lightly.

"This is a really rare condition. Probably very early in a monozygotic twin pregnancy, one fetus wrapped around and enveloped the other. The enveloped twin becomes a parasite and still getting blood supply from the host. There, through the renal artery." The Peds surgeon's finger moved across the monitor to indicate the irregular parts on the scan. "That's why the patient is experiencing the abdominal pain from time to time. We need to operate on him removing it completely before it turns into metastatic carcinoma."

"This is a once in a lifetime surgery, Dr. Torres. You know, in my years I've never seen one." Webber said with a smile, his eyes were still glued to the monitor without blinking. "Hmm... Dr. Karev, schedule an OR and page Dr. Bailey to scrub in with me. You and Dr. Torres can assist on it."

Alex and Arizona exchanged a look of shock, and then the attending spoke up.

"Sir, with all due respect, this is a Peds case, I should be in there."

"Dr. Robbins, as you may remember, you're still banned from all surgery." The chief stood up from the chair, eager to go hit the book to do some research for the operation. And Arizona followed him out of the room closely.

"But the patient is just four years old. You need a Peds surgeon on this case." Arizona took a few steps ahead of the chief to stop his track. "I know, I know I still have 2 days of punishment, and you know I'm all for following the rules. But I studied this condition back in med school, I'm familiar with the procedure."

"Dr. Robbins..." Webber frowned. He was going to object the idea of letting Arizona back to the OR in advance, but she had a point.

"Dr. Bailey is an excellent general surgeon and I respect her, a lot. But operating on a tiny human is more delicate and you know that. As the head of Pediatric surgery, I insist that I have to be in the OR." Arizona took a deep breath and stared right in the chief's black eyes without waver.

Webber was silent for a moment, regarding the shorter woman in front of him with his steady gaze. The years he had known the perky surgeon, he had seen her burst into tears a several times when she had to face an authority figure. Sometimes he even took pleasure in seeing the embarrassment appeared on the usually confident surgeon. But this time the small woman didn't even flinch under his stare. This level of persistence was new.

"Fine, Dr. Robbins. You can go back to the OR." The chief backed down, words came out of his mouth slowly. Arizona's face broke into a toothy smile upon hearing the agreement from her boss, but it fell a little when the man continued. "But I can't just let it slide. You are going to cover the morning shift of the ER in the coming two weekends, and you're on call for the rest of this week."

"I'll accept it, sir." The Peds surgeon nodded her head firmly. Two weekends in the ER and being on call for another three nights are not nice, but better than unable to operate in this once in a lifetime surgery.

"Great. Tell Karev to page me when the OR is ready." Webber gave his staff a tight smile and turned to leave, but he stopped when he remembered there was a question for the blonde doctor. "I forgot to ask you about the meeting with Dr. Carter yesterday. He was gone before I scrubbed out of the surgery, I didn't get a chance to talk to him. How did it go?"

"Oh, it went well, I think. He was very understanding when I declined his offer." Arizona smiled to the chief. She was on her way back to the scan room to tell her subordinates about the arrangement, but the chief's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"What offer?"

"He- he didn't tell you?" Arizona raised her well shaped eyebrows in surprise. "He offered me a job in their clinic in Malawi. The foundation is going to relocate their facilities and looking for a Peds surgeon in there to run the place."

"And you turned it down?" The tall man pursed his lips and studying the face of the blonde with his hands on his hips. "Didn't you present a paper to them years ago about this project?"

"I did, I did. But well, it's complicated and I don't think I should take that job right now." Arizona answered sincerely. She whirled her head when the chief redirected his gaze to her back. It was Alex and Callie walking out of the room behind her.

"Karev, book the OR. Dr. Robbins is going to scrub in with us. Page us when the room is ready." The chief ordered, and then he nodded to the attending. "Dr. Robbins, a word in my office?"

Arizona gave a grimace to the resident and the intern quickly before following the chief to his office.

Hours later, the team was in OR 2 working around the table with a gallery full of audiences. Every time they revealed a foreign body part, there were cheers coming from upstairs.

"And here's the spinal column... this is amazing." The chief exclaimed marvelously.

"It truly is." Arizona echoed.

"You won't be able to see this in Africa." Alex chimed in bitterly, drawing the gazes of the other three surgeons around the table on him. "What? I'm just saying. I know there are a lot of poor orphans in Africa who need surgeons to save them. I feel for them. But do you think you can see this kind of cool surgery in there? I don't think so."

"Karev." Arizona said in a warning tone, but this never stopped her resident from speaking his mind.

"I'm not saying they don't deserve to be saved, but think about the incredible surgeries you're gonna miss when you're not here."

"Karev, what are you talking about?" Arizona stopped her hands to stare at the resident. She knew something wasn't right when the man gave her the cold shoulder the whole day, but she hadn't had the chance to talk to him yet. She didn't even know Alex knew about the Africa offer.

"I'm saying you accepted the job from that Carter Madison guy is a big mistake." Alex glanced at his attending. News traveled fast in this hospital, especially when it came from the nurses. By the time it reached the ears of the resident, Arizona was gonna leave in three days and never come back. Alex was pissed and sad about this was the understatement. Arizona was the first one who believed in him and was willing to teach him. He was beyond devastated to find out his mentor was moving to another continent and wasn't going to tell him.

"I didn't accept the job, Karev." The blonde sighed under her mask. She gave the young man a meaningful gaze before looking down at the open abdomen again. "Suction."

Callie reached her hand to do the job as she was told, stealing a couple glances between the attending and resident along the way.

"You aren't going to Africa? I heard..." A furrow appeared on the exposed forehead. Alex stared at the blonde with wide eyes. "They gave you a hospital to run, an award or grant or whatever, and triple the salary in here plus bonus. Why on earth would you say no to that?"

Arizona couldn't help but chuckle at the information that Alex got. It was nowhere near to the actual offer but people just foolishly believed anything they heard. Before she was able to rebut, Alex had turned to the intern standing next to the chief.

"You told her not to go? It's manipulative but I have to say it's a good call."

"Why does everyone think I am behind this? I know even less than you." Callie said coldly, not even lifting her eyes to meet with the questioning ones from the opposite side of the table.

"That's my decision, whoever or whatever made me make that decision is none of your business, Karev." Arizona cast a sidelong glare to Alex. This was not the place and time to talk about this when there were a room full of nosy nurses and peers observing the surgery upstairs in the gallery. But Alex just didn't let go.

"It's my future too, you know. I think I'm entitled to know if the best mentor I've ever had is going to leave the hospital and going to the freaking Africa. I'm going to be a 5th year, I need to know if I have to find another teacher or look for another specialty."

"I'm your best mentor?" Blue eyes sparkled with pride. It took her tons of time and energy turning him into a great doctor, and she was pleased that it was appreciated. "You don't want me to go, that's why you were so pissed off this morning."

"Oh shut up." Thankful for the mask covering his face so the people around him won't be able to see the blush on his face. Alex lowered his head to continue on the last few procedures, avoiding the staring from his best mentor. Being that the guy always wanted to have the last word, he murmured under the mask. "I'm just saying, it's stupid to go to Africa because you're going to miss out the incredible surgeries in here. But it's also stupid to stay just because your girlfriend's telling you not to go. Don't forget a week ago you two were fighting and we had a pool going on of how soon you two were gonna break up."

Arizona looked over the table. Even though half of the caramel face was hidden by the mask, she was able to tell something wasn't right with Callie from the tightly knitted eyebrows. She stopped her hands and looked right into the eyes of the man standing next to her.

"I said it once and I am going to say it again. Refusing the job offer from the Carter Madison foundation has nothing to do with Callie. It's not the right time for me to take that now because I have bigger plans for my career, ok?" The blonde looked around the table, meeting with two pair of confused brown eyes. "And Karev, Callie is not my girlfriend. We're engaged so you can call off the stupid pool. We're gonna stay together till death do us apart."

"How- what-" Alex tried to stutter out the questions, but a clear of throat from the chief cut him off.

"Dr. Karev, I think Dr. Robbins has told you what you wanted to know. No more talking from anyone in this OR, I need complete silence from now on. I don't want any distraction that would make us remove parts that shouldn't be removed."

The surgery continued and went well. No complication and even half hour to spare. The chief volunteered to talk to the parents after he scrubbed out, leaving the other three surgeons in the scrub room to talk about the follow up.

"Karev, can you stay with the patient in recovery? I'll go check on the post-op later." Arizona ordered, hinting that she needed sometime with the intern.

"Sure." Alex fixed her a dirty smirk. Getting a confirmation from his teacher that she is not gonna leave had made him ease up a lot. And knowing the habit of the couple, he believed the two women were going to have a little celebration after rocking another surgery. That earned himself a light smack on the back on his head.

"Get your mind out of the gutter. We're just going to talk." The blonde rolled her eyes before walking out of the room with Callie behind her quietly. The two women looked back when Alex called after them.

"Hey, congratulations on the engagement. I didn't mean it when I brought up the fight..."

"Don't worry about it, Alex." Arizona flashed the sheepish resident a dimpled smile. That was the time she noticed the tight smile on the face of her fiancee.

The two rode the elevator to the Peds floor in silence. Arizona had to bite her lips from trying to ask the brunette what was on her mind. She knew it had to be about the whole Africa job offer but she just didn't know why it upset Callie even she had stated it clearly that she isn't taking the job.

As soon as she flicked the lock on the door to her office after Callie entered, she couldn't hold her tongue any longer.

"You're upset but I don't know why." Arizona sighed. "Please don't tell me you want me to go to Africa."

"No, of course I don't want you to leave." Callie sat down on the couch heavily. She rested her elbows on her knees and clenched the hands together tightly. "But I don't want to be held accountable for you passing on such a great opportunity to fulfill your dream."

"Calliope..." Arizona sighed again. She walked toward the couch and sat down next to the devastated woman. "No one has to be held accountable for anything. I made up my mind and told Carter right in the meeting that I can't take the job."

"Don't you think you should've talked about this with your fiancee first?" Callie turned her head to the side facing the blonde, who looked back at her with a pair of wide eyes.

"I don't think it was necessary. It's not like I'm taking the job and decided to move to another continent. I decided to stay put here. What is the problem?"

"The problem is I don't want you to give up your dream because of me!" Callie stood up from the couch starting to pace in the small room, glance after glance shot toward the blonde from time to time as she started to ramble on. "Everyone knows you want to go save children in Africa and everyone knows you gave it up for me! You don't trust me enough to think that I'll support this! I've told you that I love you and wherever you go, I'll follow. If you say you're going to Africa, don't you think I'll pack a bag and jump on the plane with you?"

"Calliope, Africa is not my dream." Arizona tried to interject, but it was a lost cause when the brunette was on a roll.

"It wouldn't be the first time for me just to up and leave to go to another place, you know that. And I left the places even I was alone. What makes you think I don't want to move to Africa if that means I'll be with you, the woman I love?" Callie stopped in front of the speechless blonde with a glare.

"So, you want to go to Africa..." Arizona trailed off, but Callie cut off immediately.

"I want you to have your dream! If Africa is your dream..." The brunette blurt out. This time it was Arizona stopped her from talking by popping up from the couch and grasping her arms.

"Calliope, you're not listening. Africa is not my dream." Arizona pulled the woman closer to her. "Not anymore. I've told you this morning, Africa was an idea years ago. I've changed. My dream has changed and going to Africa is no longer in my plan."

"What?" Callie stared at her fiancee with a deep furrow between her brows.

"Yes, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I get to go to a developing country to save thousands of children. But there's more ways to fulfill my mission as a doctor that doesn't involve me leaving for another country." Seeing the Latina had calmed down, Arizona led them back down on the couch. "I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you about this offer before hand but right at that moment, I really didn't think it was necessary because I don't want to go."

"You don't?"

"I am not going to lie to you. The first thing popped in my head when Carter gave me the offer was you. I don't want to move to another country without you, or I don't want you to jeopardize your career because of me. You finally got back to the medicine and I don't want you to give up the residency. I won't allow it." Arizona placed two fingers on the plump lips preventing Callie from interrupting her. "And, as I told you Africa is not my dream anymore. I wasn't joking when I told Alex I have a bigger plan for my career."

"What is that?" Callie took hold of the fair hand and clenched it tightly with hers, looking at the blonde in confusion.

"This is not a done deal yet but I think I can tell you." Arizona smiled softly. "Weeks ago during a meeting, the chief announced that the hospital is negotiating with Nicole Herman, hoping to recruit her to work with us and lead a couple of fellows. Herman is as highly renowned in her field as Addison."

"And?" Callie raised her eyebrows, not knowing where it was going.

"Seeing you dove back in the medicine, the thrill in you gave me an idea. I want to take the fetal surgery fellowship position, studying under Herman to get double-certified. I even talked to Addison on the phone a couple times to ask for her opinion. She thinks it's a great idea." The smile on the cream face spread to a more genuine toothy smile when she noticed the tension on Callie's face had loosened up.

"So you're essentially going back to school, like me?" Callie teased while playing with the slim fingers in her hands, and she got a few chuckles in return.

"Yeah. It will be hard, you know. Study session and longer hours... together." Arizona leaned forward to plant a quick kiss on her fiancee's lips. "The chief called me to his office after I told him about the meeting with Carter. He was going to discuss about extending my contract but then I told him about the fetal surgery fellowship application. He's fully on board. And he told me the negotiation with Herman is going well and if everything's ok, she'll be here after summer."

"That is a great news, Arizona." Callie exclaimed, happy for her fiancee.

"It is, it is." The blonde leaned back when Callie lunged forward trying to give her a celebration kiss. A mischievous smile flashed across her face. "But I have an even better news. The chief granted me an extra 3 days holiday during summer to go to LA and observe some fetal surgeries with Addison. It gives me totally 10 days in a row like yours..."

"We're going to have 10 uninterrupted days holiday?" Callie squealed in delight, and the blonde nodded animatedly.

"We're going to have 10 uninterrupted days holiday after your intern exam. I'm thinking maybe a few days in LA, and a few days in Miami? What do you think?"

"I think I love you." Callie threw her arms around her fiancee's neck for a passionate kiss, and Arizona reciprocated happily.