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 : Thank you for coming back with me. Oh yeah, dramas... hope you like it.
Once again, thank you calzonaforever35 for helping with this chapter. You are amazing and I wish to my beloved friend for an amazing year ahead.
And to my fellow calzona shippers - may the sunshine of happiness always shine above you. And may our Callie and Arizona be kissing again, and soon. Happy new year everyone!
Chapter 61
"Arizona? Honey?"
"Yes mom?" Arizona startled when her mother called her from the backseat. She looked into the rearview mirror. "What did you say?"
"I asked, what time does Callie get off from work?" Barbara smiled at her daughter. She was excited to finally meet the woman that was soon-to-be her daughter-in-law.
"Her shift ends at 4, but she's going to the airport to pick up her dad. We'll see each other at the restaurant. I made the reservation at 6." The blonde smiled back, and then put her focus back on the road again.
"Are you okay? You look tired." Daniel glanced at his daughter from the passenger seat. Arizona had picked them up from the airport and they were on the way to the apartment, it wasn't unnoticed to the father that the usually chatty girl was a bit quiet.
"I just... um... didn't sleep much last night." Arizona plastered an overly bright smile on her face. She wasn't going to tell her parents that she was up all night pondering the offer from her attending. She had more important things to tell them, if only she knew how.
"Why? What happen? Is Ruthie okay?" Barbara leaned forward getting closer to the driver asking worriedly. "You just told us that Ruthie and Nick are staying at your place and she has appointments with the doctors. Is she... alright?"
"Mom..." Arizona slowly pulled the car to a stop before a red light. Yes, this. She shifted in her seat slightly so she would look at her mother. "Ruthie is... not good. She has a brain tumor."
"Oh my god!" Barbara sank back in the seat covering her mouth with a hand.
"When did that happen?" The Colonel frowned.
"Apparently, she had the tumor for a while." She was met with the cool stare that she had expected. She wished she could find a cozier place to deliver the news to her parents, but she needed to prepare them before they saw Ruthie in the apartment. "According to Derek, my colleague who diagnosed it, Ruthie's symptoms of Alzheimers was due to the tumor."
"I told you we should've gone to visit her in the nursing home, Daniel." The older Robbins woman looked at her husband, a tremble in her voice. "If we were there..."
"No, mom. You wouldn't have noticed it even if you were there." Arizona gave her mother a tight smile. She quickly turned around to start the car again after a honk coming from the car behind them. "Except for confusion, she shows no sign of physical problems yet."
"When is the operation?" The colonel asked. "You're going to remove it, right?"
"Neuro isn't my specialty, dad." Arizona sighed. She licked her lips and continued. "And there isn't a surgery scheduled yet because it's inoperable."
"Inoperable? What does that mean?" The man squinted at his daughter.
"Derek said, he has no confidence to remove it completely and without harming Ruthie. He's still looking for a possible way." The blonde sighed again. She had run this in her head numerous times trying to figure out how to break the news to her parents. The staring from her father and the sobbing voice coming from the backseat didn't make it any easier.
"So she's just waiting around to die?" Barbara gasped and cried out.
"It's not like that." Arizona shook her head. "She's undergoing some treatments. Radiation. And we're monitoring her regularly. That's why she's staying here in Seattle."
"Have you sought for another opinion?" The colonel turned to the blonde after a moment of silence. "Other than this doctor that is treating her?"
"No, but Derek is..." Here we go, Arizona said to herself.
"You should have told me sooner." The man cut her off sternly. "I am going to call my guys in LRMC to take a look of Ruthie's medical reports."
"Dad, LRMC is a military hospital, specializing in trauma and it's in Germany." Arizona took her eyes off the road briefly to look at her father. "Believe me, Derek is one of the best Neuro surgeons in the US."
"How do you know?" The colonel interjected once again. "You said Neuro isn't your specialty."
"I'm not a Neuro surgeon but I am a doctor, dad." Arizona pulled her lips to a frown. "I work with Derek and I know he's doing..."
"How long have you known that she has this tumor?" Ignoring the blonde's annoyance, the colonel set his jaw grimly and waiting for the answer.
"6 weeks." Arizona's answer came short and stiff. She knew her father wasn't listening to her, as always.
"6 weeks and he still doesn't know what to do, and you're saying he's the best." At this point, the colonel launched his disapproval unreservedly. And Barbara could see the knuckles on the steering-wheel turned white as her daughter gripped it tightly.
"It's not that simple, dad." The blonde whined under her breath. "We are taking care of it."
"Sweetie, your dad is just concerned." Barbara put a hand on her daughter's shoulder trying to soothe her down. "We know you're taking care of her. She's staying with you and Callie. She's living with two doctors, we're not worried."
Arizona took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. She felt a headache forming in the back of her head.
"Here's the thing..."
"Arizona?" Callie said to the speaker phone in the car. She was driving to the airport picking up her father and decided to check on her fiancée, who she hadn't heard from for the whole day. She frowned when the voice from the other side of the phone came in hoarse. "You're sleeping?"
"I just took a nap. I had a headache." Arizona cleared her throat, glancing at the alarm clock on the bedside. "You're on the way to the airport?"
"Yeah." The brunette answered softly. "So, your parents didn't take the news about Ruthie very well, huh?"
"My mom cried. And my dad... well, he is mad that I didn't tell him sooner. And he thinks everything would be better under his control."
"Have you told him that Derek is working on it and he's..." Callie tilted her head to the side. She hadn't met the Colonel yet but Arizona had showed her the family pictures. Colonel Daniel Robbins always had the old timer solider sternness on his face. She could imagine that would only be scarier when he was unpleased.
"Of course I did, Callie." Arizona rubbed her temples with the free hand. "He just doesn't listen. Oh, and he's kinda pissed off that I had Mark pretended to be Tim."
"It wasn't your fault that Ruthie had mistaken Mark as Tim."
"It doesn't matter." The blonde huffed into the phone. "He just thinks this wouldn't have happened if he was here in the first place."
"Oh honey... I take that the afternoon wasn't so pleasant then." Callie shook her head slowly. She really should have asked someone to cover her shift so that she could be with Arizona, but Dr. Chang had scheduled an arthroplasty and asked her to scrub in.
"It wasn't that bad once they met Ruthie and Nick. They haven't seen each other for a while and have a lot to talk about." Arizona stretched in the bed and groaned. "We went for lunch and then Nick took them for a little tour afterward. I came home for the nap. I didn't sleep much last night and I really needed it."
"Why didn't you sleep last night?" Callie asked.
"I'll tell you later." Arizona sighed heavily. She really missed to be able to talk to her fiancée at night before falling asleep, in each other's arms. "I should go get ready. Are you there yet?"
"Just arrived." Callie pulled the car in the airplane hanger, just in time to see her father's flight touched down. "And my dad is here. See you at the restaurant. I love you."
"I love you too." Arizona said softly before ended the call. She remained in bed for another 10 minutes. She didn't need to get up to know that her family had returned. She could hear the chitchat and laughter coming from the living room.
Today was not supposed to be like this. Arizona turned in the bed, laying on her stomach and buried her face in the pillow.
She and Callie had planned this for months. Originally, the Robbins would have arrived a week ago after their cruise trip, and then the Torres' would fly over, staying a night in Seattle to join them. The families would have a whole night to know each other over dinner, and a little sightseeing the day after.
However, the arrival of the Robbins was postponed due to the bad weather somewhere in one of their stops. They had to reschedule this family dinner but Lucia had a charity event that she needed to attend and Carlos was only able to leave for a half day. His flight was going to bring him back to Miami after dinner.
Not to mention that she was living with her fake husband. And her father was mad at her. This may not be a joyful meet-the-parents dinner and Callie would probably kill her afterward.
Reluctantly, she got up from the bed and freshened up in the en suite bathroom. The least she could do for her fiancée was not to be late.
"Okay, mom and dad, we have to go." Arizona announced whilst walking out of the bedroom. She was surprised to find Mark was there as well. She sent him a question with a raise of eyebrows.
"I ran into them when they came back." Mark smirked. "Just came over to spend some time with mommy and daddy."
Out of reflex, Arizona glanced at her father and she was not surprised to receive a glare from the old soldier.
"Okay," the blonde took a deep breath. It was not the time to get into this. "We should get going. I don't want to be late."
"Oh, I'll go get a sweater first." Ruthie stood up from the couch, passing by the wide eyed blonde and went into her bedroom. Arizona looked between the people in the living room and her mother spoke up with an innocent smile.
"She knew that we're going to have dinner with Callie's father. It's rude not to invite her to join us."
"But mom!" Arizona walked deeper into the living room, grunting at the woman. "It's a family dinner. You and dad meeting with Callie's father the first time and we're going to talk about..."
"It's a family dinner, Arizona." The colonel looked at his daughter with the same solemn expression wherever he talked to the blonde in the whole afternoon. "And Ruthie is family. She can come with us if she wants to. We are not leaving her alone. We are going to the dinner together."
Arizona pulled her lips downward swallowing hard. Today was not supposed to be like this.
"You know, arthroplasty is an effective method for treating osteoarthritis." Callie laughed as she pulled into the parking lot. "You're getting old, dad. Maybe you'll need one someday and I can be in there to save you from the pain."
"I thought you weren't allowed to operate on family members." Carlos smiled back. "And I thought you wanted to be in Cardio."
"I do. But Ortho seems more challenging, and fun. The other day, I brought a grown man to tears when I put his dislocated shoulder back in place." The young brunette cocked her head and smirked proudly, making her father laugh out.
"You always liked to pull the limbs out of your dolls when you were a little girl." Carlos chuckled with a little head shake. "What does Arizona think about it?"
"She... um... she's pretty busy lately. We don't really have time to talk." Callie's face fell slightly.
"How is she doing? I've heard that Fetal surgery is really difficult." Carlos opened the door after the car stopped, missing the little sad face showing on his daughter's face.
"It is, especially when her attending is running her ragged." Callie walked around the car to her father, looped her arm with the old man as they walked side by side toward the restaurant.
"That was exactly what Arizona told me when you were an intern." Carlos smiled. "Every time she answered the phone for you when you were sleeping, she would tell me how exhausted you were from doing the scut work all day."
"Well, it's different. She works much harder than an intern. Other than the fellowship, she has a department to manage and..." Callie bit her lip from talking more. She didn't tell her father about the sick old lady in their lives yet. The whole situation was a mess and she didn't know how to explain to her father.
"And a wedding ahead of you two." Carlos patted his daughter's hand lovingly. "You know, it's the difficult time like this to prove how much you love each other, support each other. Take your mother and me for instance."
"I know. You've told me a thousand times." The brunette chuckled lightly. "Behind every successful man there is a woman who supports him fully. Do you know how sexist it is?"
"But it is the truth." Carlos winked as he opened the door. Always a gentleman, he let his daughter enter first and followed behind her.
As soon as the two entered the restaurant, Arizona shot up from the table and strode toward them. She needed to prepare her fiancée before the Latina found out who else were there for the dinner.
"Hey." Arizona gave the brunette a quick peck and then turned to greet her future father-in-law. "Hi Carlos."
"You've been here for long? I'm sorry the traffic wasn't so smooth..." Callie pried over the blonde head looking at the table where the Robbins should be. And she frowned when there were more than 2 persons over there. "Arizona?"
"Don't be mad, okay?" Arizona said sheepishly. She looked over her shoulder before pulled the brunette to the side, away from the curious gazes from afar. "My mother... um... she kinda invited Ruthie to join us. One thing led to another, it turned to a big family gathering..."
"You called this a family gathering? With our parents and our husbands?" Callie exclaimed a little louder than she should. The panicky blonde put a hand on her arm trying to sooth her but Callie just flung it off. "This is my first time meeting your parents. You know how important this was for me!"
"What's going on?" Carlos followed the women. He could see that his daughter was displeased with something. "What husbands?"
"Carlos..." Arizona chance a glance to the Latina, who was giving her the dagger eyes and lips bit to a thin line. She knew that she would have to be the one explaining this to the man. "My aunt is sick, and confused. She thought I was her daughter-in-law and Mark is my brother, and Callie is his wife. My mom hasn't seen her for a while so she invited everyone to the dinner together. I am so sorry but we just don't know if she can handle the truth. You know, my brother is dead and I didn't marry her son. She's undergoing radiation for her brain tumor and we're afraid..."
Arizona blurt out in a single breath. She looked between the father and daughter with pleading eyes. Fortunately, the frown between the fierce brown eyes started to loosen up.
"I know you're worried about Ruthie, but still, this is our night..." Callie murmured between chewing lips.
"I know and I am so, so sorry about that, Callie. I didn't know my mom would ask them to join us and I couldn't take the invite away. But Mark and Nick promised to keep Ruthie busy." The blonde stepped closer and took Callie's hands in hers. "It would be like she isn't even at the table with us. I promise. Please?"
"Calliope, it's too late to turn around now." Carlos chipped in with a teasing tone. He knew his daughter was upset about this setting but knowing Arizona was doing this for family, he couldn't help to give the blonde a pleased smile. "It's not like we're not going to meet again, right? We're going to be in-laws, there would be plenty of time to get together with just us. So, let's go. I can't wait to meet with Arizona's family."
Arizona gave the man a thankful smile whilst taking Callie's hand and led them to the table. But once again, the brunette flung her hand off.
After a round of hand shakes and hugs, everyone settled down and the family dinner started.
However, they were seated at a long table with the 8 of them. Ruthie was sitting between Nick and Barbara. The colonel was next to his wife and opposite to his daughter. Next to Arizona, there was Carlos, Callie and then Mark. There had no way to keep Ruthie from their conversation, especially when the 2 younger men on the table were terrible of making small talk to keep the woman occupy.
"This would be wonderful, isn't it? We all live in the same city. I'm staying with Arizona and Nick at the moment." Ruthie invited herself in the conversation when Barbara told Carlos that she and the colonel were planning to settle down in Seattle. She said with a grin, gesturing between Arizona and Mark. "And Tim and Callie are just across the hall. It's really nice that those two remain so close."
"What is she saying? You're living with Tim?" Carlos asked the brunette under his breath. Callie looked passed his father staring at the blue eyed blonde coldly before answered in a whisper.
"I'm married to him, remember?"
"Nick!" Arizona quickly signaled her friend in the far end of the table. "Have you shown your mom the pictures the kids in Tibet sent to you? You said it was really good, right?"
"Oh yes, mom." Nick nodded while pulled out his phone, trying to distract his mother with some photos.
"Mom, dad, I'm sure you'd love Seattle." Arizona picked up where they left off. "Callie does. She almost stayed in LA with her friend but decided to come to Seattle. And it was a good choice."
Angry glare replaced by a grateful smile, but the sweet moment only lasted for a brief seconds when the colonel raised a question.
"Right, about LA." Daniel put the cutlery down and looked at his daughter sternly. "I looked up the hotel you talked about. Don't you think that place looks a bit... excessive?"
"Dad!" The blonde hissed at her father incredulously. The man barely said a word to anyone though the 2 courses dinner, and he chose to address this matter right now.
"You're a doctor, but you don't make a lot of money." Identical blue eyes stared back. "And Callie is a resident. Why don't you two choose somewhere more... I mean, less luxury?"
"You don't have to worry about that, colonel." Carlos waved his hand with a smile. He looked between the two women besides him with a big smile. "It's my gift to my girls."
"What do you mean? I can't have you pay for that." The colonel turned his glare to the man sitting in front of him.
"No, it's not a problem at all." The proud father said to the old soldier sincerely. "They deserve the best and I am more than happy to spare the place for them."
"Dad, Carlos owns that hotel." Arizona leaned forward, filling her father in with a small voice. Her cheeks flamed from the man's rudeness. "And we have already decided..."
"You have already decided!" The words provoked the anger that had been built up since the morning. The colonel fixes the blonde with a piercing stare. "You made all the decisions without even talking to me first?! Arizona Robbins, I taught you better than that!"
Everyone around the table was aghast at the outburst from the colonel, unable to make a sound.
Arizona dropped her gaze to the plate in front of her to hide her tear drenched eyes. Right this moment, she hated her stupid authority issue. And she hated her father of making a scene. And most of all, involuntarily, she hated her brother.
"Daniel..." Barbara put a hand on her husband's arm, but the man just ignored her.
"Carlos, it's been nice meeting you. And you too, Callie." The colonel sat up straight, gave the Latinas a tight smile. "But I am kinda tired. If you don't mind, I would like to go back to our hotel to get some rest."
"I'll drive you." Arizona gave the man a deadpan look said, so much she strode toward the exit of the restaurant without looking at anyone else on the table.
"What just happened?" Carlos asked her daughter. Everyone else on the table shared the same confused look.
The 10 minutes drive seemed like eternity. No one attempted to say anything to anyone. The colonel kept a stone cold face staring out of the window. Arizona bit her lips tight focusing on the road. The mother in the back just looked between the two most important people in her life with nothing but worry. She knew her husband and she knew her daughter well, but she just didn't know how to fix this situation.
As soon as the car pulled into the hotel, the Colonel got out without a glance to the driver. Barbara didn't know if she should follow her husband or stay to talk to her daughter, but Arizona made the decision for her. Clenching her jaws tight, the blonde walked with her mother into the hotel.
The tension between the father and daughter was strong enough to blow up the elevator, but none of them were going to back down. Finally, the Colonel turned to his daughter before the door of their room.
"You can leave. And you think about..." Daniel squared his shoulders staring down the younger woman, but Arizona cut him off.
"No dad, we need to talk." Arizona looked into her father's eyes with great seriousness.
"I have nothing to say to you tonight."
"I do." The blonde stated firmly. "I don't want to do this in the hallway. So please, open the door and we can go inside."
Saying the Colonel was surprised was an understatement. He had never seen his little girl dare to go against his order. Before he could react, Barbara already opened the door.
"Dad, I know you're upset. I understand that so I let you treated me like crap the whole day." The blonde began to rant as soon as the door closed behind her. "But what you did tonight was unacceptable."
"Unacceptable?" Daniel swiveled round to face his daughter.
"You hardly talked to Carlos and Callie." Arizona took a deep breath trying to calm her nerve. Normally, the coldness in her father's blue eyes would make her flinched and swallowed whatever she wanted to say. But not this time. "He flew in to meet you and you were rude to him. We were starting to talk about the wedding and you just had to leave!"
"There's nothing to talk about!" The Colonel said though clenched teeth. "You've already made the decisions! Why don't you just send me the invitation and I'd show up in that fancy hotel before it started!"
"The wedding is in 4 months of course we've already chosen the location! We all know it's not about the place we chose..." The absurd outburst just made the blonde even madder.
"You are right, it's about everything!" The Colonel shouted. Arizona could see his neck veins bulging. "How can you not tell me that Ruthie's condition is so bad? And if you would have told me, I would have came over in the first place and had everything under control! Ruthie wouldn't have to wait around to die! You wouldn't have to let some guy disguise as your brother!"
"Of course it's about Tim!" A contemptuous little laugh came out of the pink lips made her parents go bug-eyed.
"Sweetie, don't..." Barbara took a few steps to her daughter, tugging her sleeve trying to stop where this fight was going.
"No mom, I have had enough of this." Arizona jerked away from her mother's hold, eyes remained on the old man. "You're not mad at me! You're still mad at Tim! You're mad that Tim decided to enlist before telling you! You voted against War of Terror but he went anyway. And he died in Afghanistan!"
"If he had talked to me, if he had discussed with me before..." The Colonel snorted with exasperation.
"He would've still went!" Arizona interjected indignantly. "You taught us to protect the things we love, dad. For Tim it was the country, and for me it is my family. Ruthie is my family and I'm doing everything I can to protect her. She loves Tim and she doesn't remember Tim was dead. So I let her think Mark is Tim so she wouldn't be devastated over that news, again! Even if that means I had to live apart from Callie because it is the right thing to do!"
"So what? You're going to let this carry on for how long? Huh? You're going to live under the lie that you're married to Nick, and your wife is living with another guy?"
"I don't know! I know this is a mess but I will figure it out! Callie and I will figure it out!" Arizona replied solemnly, but deep down, she wasn't sure.
On the way back from the airport, Callie couldn't help to recall the conversation she had with her father.
"Dad, don't start now." Callie blew out her cheeks with frustration.
"I'm just saying, you should have told me that Arizona kicked you out." A deep crease formed between the man's eyebrows. They were sitting side by side in the waiting room waiting for the pilot to get the flight ready.
"She didn't kick me out, okay? I agreed to move to Mark's place." The brunette fidgeted in her seat. She was willing the pilot to act quicker so that her father could get on the plane and stopped asking her the questions that she couldn't answer. She needed time to think about this unfortunate dinner. And most of all, she needed to check on Arizona now.
"You chose to leave your own home, to sleep on someone's couch?" Carlos shifted in his seat in order to look into his daughter's face.
"Not that I chose..." Huffed out a heavy sigh, Callie finally looked back at her father. "First off, we didn't know her condition was so bad. We thought it would be just for a few days, a week tops."
"And then what? You're going to keep this up until... what?" The excuse didn't ease the fire in the old man's eyes. "Until Ruthie dies from the tumor?"
"God, I hope not." Callie added quickly. "I mean, I don't want her to die."
"And what did Arizona say?" Carlos asked without missing a beat.
"She... Arizona is really busy right now." Callie dropped her gaze to her nervously entwined hands. She didn't need to see her father's face to know how furious he was.
"She left you arranging the wedding alone. She kicked you out of your home and now you're telling me that she's too busy for you? What happened to her good man in a storm baloney?"
"It's not like that, dad! I told her I'd take care of the wedding, I ensured her that everything's fine because I want her to concentrate on her fellowship, okay?" The brunette got up from the seat. Ran a hand through her long raven hair despondently, she sighed again. "She gave up her dream to go to Africa for this. It has to work."
"It was her choice. You shouldn't sacrifice yourself for it."
"I knew she put me in consideration, dad. And it's not a sacrifice. I love her. I'd do anything for her. And I know she'd do the same for me."
"This is still not right. She should try to fix it." Carlos's face softened. He knew his girl. "Maybe you two can go look for another place to live?"
"I don't know. What if... I don't know, we found a place and then Ruthie and Nick decided to leave? Then we'll leave with 2 apartments?" Callie started pacing in the small area. Of course she had thought about this, but she didn't want to bother Arizona with this when the blonde already had so much to care about.
"That's the least you have to worry about. If you don't want to get another apartment, go to a hotel. Get a room in Archfield." Carlos suggested. "You're a grown woman, sleep on a real bed for god sakes. I can make a call for you if you want."
"I'll think about it. But maybe things will get better once Arizona's parents move here. I know they're looking for a house, so maybe..." The brunette looked at her father hopefully, but the man just snorted loudly.
"What's wrong with the colonel anyway?"
A familiar figure sitting on the footstep outside the apartment building pulled Callie out of her thoughts. Parking the car right in front of the building, she walked up to the blonde.
"Cried in front of your father?" It meant to be a tease. After all, she was still angry with the blonde. But Callie regretted it the second she saw the puffy blue eyes and reddened nose.
"I cried, but not in front of him." Arizona replied with a bitter smile. She patted the empty spot next to her. "We had a fight."
"That bad, huh?" Callie wrapped an arm around Arizona's shoulder as soon as she sat down.
"The worst." The blonde put her head on Callie's shoulder and sighed. "I've never fought with him before. I feel terrible."
"I'm sorry." Callie buried her nose on top of the blonde head. They remained still for a moment. "You know, we can find another place if he..."
"No, Callie." Arizona pulled away and sighed. "It's not about that."
"Well, my dad thinks your dad doesn't like me. So maybe, you know... I don't know, we do what he wants then he'll like me?" The brunette dropped her head and trailed off in a whisper.
"Don't be silly, Callie. He likes you." Arizona placed a hand on the tanned cheek to redirect the brown eyes on her. "He likes you, and my mom likes you too."
"Yeah?" Callie asked uncertainly.
"Yeah!" The blonde nodded firmly, and added. "He was acting like that because of... well, Tim."
"Tim? What does he has to do with that?" Callie looked at blue eyes in confused.
"Remember I told you that he died in Afghanistan? My dad thought the government declared the action too quickly. He wasn't against it but he just thought the force shouldn't send the troops without a thorough planning and consideration. However, Tim enlisted without telling dad first, and he got himself killed over there." Arizona rested her head on Callie's shoulder again, sadness lingered in her voice.
"That's why your dad was so angry, when he thought you made decisions without running by him first." The brunette said softly, and she felt the head on her shoulder nodded.
"Tim is always a touchy subject to dad. We don't really talk about him and I just threw it at his face." Arizona closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "I just feel everything I've been doing is wrong."
"You're just tired. It's been a long day." Callie said with sympathy. She knew how much the blonde loved her parents. "Just apologize to him after both of you have calmed down. He'd understand."
"No, not just about dad, Callie." The shorter woman snuggled closer to her fiancée, wrapped her arms around the warm body tightly. She needed the comfort from the woman she loved. "I don't know if I've made the right calls, about everything. I'm stretched out far too thin and I'm exhausted."
"The nap didn't help, huh?" Callie held the blonde as tight as she could. And she remembered something. "Why didn't you sleep last night?"
"Herman told me that she only signed up for 6 months. If I want to get certified, I'll only have the rest of the 5 months to study under her, and take the board exam in January." Arizona sat up straight. The hour sitting on the doorstep waiting for Callie gave her the time to think it through. "I'm going to tell her that I am not going to do it."
"Why not?" Callie looked at the blonde with her eyebrows raised up high, liked the woman just grew another head.
"Because it's crazy." Shrugging a shoulder, Arizona answered with a twist of lips. "Even though Herman and the chief have worked out a plan to reduce my workload, finding some guy to take over the Peds department temporarily, but still, finish this fellowship with only half of the time would be impossible."
"I've heard about this from Meredith. Why can't she stay longer?" Callie shook her head in disbelief. "And why does she start the fellowship when she knew she's not gonna stay for a full year?"
"I don't know. That woman told me nothing except work related. But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm not going to..." Arizona tried to act as nonchalant as she could, but she got cut off by the brunette.
"But you were so excited about this..."
"I will have to work twice as hard as I'm doing now, Callie. I can't do this to you." Blue eyes looked into brown sincerely. "I mean, we barely have time together. You've been sleeping at Mark's for a month because I couldn't spare half an hour to sit down with you to sort out this situation. We're getting married in 4 months, you're taking care of everything but I haven't even had time to get a dress yet."
"Arizona, I don't mind..." Callie said hurriedly, but Arizona stopped her by slipping her hands into Callie's.
"I do, Callie. I do. This is going to be the most important day of our lives. I want this to be perfect and wonderful. Can you imagine me showing up only an hour before the ceremony, and probably have to leave the next morning to get back to the hospital? I am telling you, that's gonna happen if I continue to work with Herman."
The blonde plastered a smile on her face as she spoke, but Callie knew her fiancée. The smile didn't reach the blue eyes and it broke her heart. It only took her a brief second to decide what she had to do.
"Take the wedding out of the equation." The brunette asked. "Is it impossible? To finish this fellowship in 6 months, is it really impossible?"
"It's supposed to be a year long program..." Arizona rolled her eyes to the dark sky, but Callie interjected before she could finish.
"That doesn't mean that it can't be done. I believe you can do this successfully, Arizona. Don't walk away now unless you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can't."
"Callie, what's the point?" The blonde puffed her cheeks. "5 more months of back-breaking work? If I can't pass the board, all would be for nothing."
"Yes, 5 more months of hard work." Callie was silent for a moment, regarding Arizona with her steady gaze. "But just because it's hard doesn't mean you shouldn't try. You are an amazing doctor, passing the board or not. You save babies, and you're gonna save more after this."
"You really think I can do this?" Arizona bit the corner of her lips. She was ready to close this chapter of her career, but 10 minutes with Callie, she wasn't sure anymore. "Most importantly, you think I should do this?"
"Without a doubt." Strong chin set determinedly as she looked calmly at the blonde. "We can get married anytime but this fellowship is an incredible opportunity. This isn't a sacrifice that you should have to make. I don't want you to give this up."
"What are you talking about?" Arizona wasn't sure she got the message right.
"We can postpone the wedding." The brunette smiled sweetly. "We can postpone to February, have our wedding around Valentine's day... or in March, LA is beautiful in Spring."
"No Callie, you've done so much for me. I can't..." The blonde was shocked. She pulled back and holding up a hand in protest, but Callie took it in hers.
"Arizona, I don't care when we are going to get married as long as we have each other. I love you too much to see you give up on this. I won't allow it."
"God... I love you so, so much Calliope." Blue eyes brimmed with tears. Arizona was overwhelmed with the selfness and affection from the woman in front of her. No word could describe her gratitude, so she leaned forward, pressing her lips on the plump ones to a soft and tender kiss.
"I miss this." Callie breathed out after their lips parted, forehead against forehead and smiled dreamingly to each other.
"Me too." Pink lips pursed slightly. She already missed the softness against her lips. "Just you and me sitting together, talking. I miss our time together. I hate to sleep without you. Nick snoring on the floor made it even worst."
The pout on the fair face made Callie chuckle. She stood up from the doorstep rapidly as an idea flashed in her mind.
"Come on." She held out a hand, and the blonde frowned at her.
"You wanna go upstairs already?"
"No, get in the car." Callie pulled the confused woman on her feet, and they walked toward the car that was parked in front of them.
"Callie, where are we going?" Arizona didn't know what Callie had in her mind, but she got in and buckled up as she was told.
"I can't sleep on Mark's couch either. We're going to Archfield." The driver said before starting the car.
A/N 2 : This Ruthie storyline won't drag on forever, don't worry. I have the next chatper done and I think after one more chapter, we will move on to the next drama. Bear with me, okay ;-)