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 : To be honest, I don't know what I'm doing. Whenever I opened my laptop staring at the blank screen, organize my thoughts trying to write a calzona story, I saw Callie's face in the very last shot where she realized she could go to NY for Penny... It killed me so I shifted to Candy Crush instead.
Even though we won't be able to see calzona or Callie in the show when it returns, I choose to believe that Sara will come back eventually. And I'm gonna stay here writing this probably getting sloppy little story waiting for her.
Sorry in advance that all mistakes are mine.
Chapter 68
Standing outside the NICU, staring at the transparent box through the window, Lucia Torres let out a sigh.
It had been 3 days. 3 days since Ana died and her little girl was kept in that plastic box with wires attached to that tiny body. And Lucia spent every waking moment sitting by her side. As Callie said, the baby needed to know she was not alone.
Lucia had suggested her daughter to go see the baby with her, but Callie had never step foot in the NICU in these 3 days. As far as she knew, the younger brunette was busy running around getting things done. She went to the funeral home shortly after Ana's body was released from the hospital, had it cremated since it would be easier for them to transfer it back to Florida. She flown to LA with Addison, collecting the stuff that her mother and Ana left in there during their stay. Other than that, the brunette had several meetings with a social worker trying to decide what the option was for the little baby. But how did that go, Callie didn't say, and Lucia didn't ask.
A plane had scheduled to take them back to Miami later this afternoon. With help of Carlos, a small funeral will be held in the graveyard in Palm Beach after tomorrow. Ana will be forever resting next to her beloved sister.
Lucia was in awe of her daughter's efficiency. This was the new side of her own daughter that she didn't notice before. On the other hand, she knew very well that the young woman was keeping herself busy so she didn't have to deal with the emotions.
She wanted to help. She wanted to talk to her daughter but she didn't know how. They didn't have that close connection like Callie had with Carlos. And Lucia knew she had herself to blame.
Going back to the NICU after a lunch break with Mark - who took up the request by Callie to take care of the older woman, Lucia found the doctors were doing rounds in there. So she waited outside and watched through the window, while her mind was wandering around, thinking how things went so out of control.
"You have a baby in there?" An old woman came to Lucia's side startled her. Looked around, she and this silver-haired woman with blue eyes were the only one there. Without a doubt, this question was directed to her.
"Excuse me?"
"You look upset." The amiable woman asked again. "Your grandbaby is in there?"
"Well, kinda." Lucia breathed out the answer, fixating on the one baby that she knew. "A family friend passed away and her baby is in there."
"Oh, I am so sorry." The other woman brought her sight from the babies to the taller woman, sympathy written all over her face.
"Me too." The brunette forced a small smile. She found this woman looked familiar but wouldn't put het finger on where they had met before.
"Poor baby. Growing up without a mother is going to be hard." The stranger twisted her lips and sighed. A dimple showed on one side of her cheeks. "And her father. It's not easy for a man to take care of a sick baby alone."
"She... uh... the baby has no father. She has no one." Feeling the water gate was about to open, Lucia took a deep breath to calm herself. Maybe because of the genuine concern coming from this stranger, or maybe because it was great to have a chance to talk to another mother. Before she knew it, the usually close off Torres started to share more than she should. "She was a single mother, and she asked my daughter to take care of the baby after she died. But I don't think she is going to do that. It seems my daughter is going to put the baby up for adoption."
"She was your daughter's lover?" The silver-haired woman asked.
"No. I mean, yes, my daughter had a girlfriend." Out of reflex, Lucia looked at the doctor who was examining the baby on the other side of the window. "But not the baby's mother. They were like sisters."
"Oh sorry I assumed that." The woman smiled abashedly. "I'm Barbara, by the way."
"Lucia." The brunette smiled back. "So, you have a grandbaby in there too?"
"No, my daughter's a doctor. I'm looking for her and the nurses said she's here. Oh, there she is." Barbara waved her hand when Arizona just happened to look out of the window. The young blonde doctor's eyes went wide seeing her mother was there standing next to Callie's mother.
"You're Arizona's mother?" No wonder Barbara looked familiar, Lucia said to herself.
Quickly shed off the gown and gloves, Arizona walked out of the NICU to where the mothers were. Not that she was worried. She was just surprised and curious of what they were talking about.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" The blonde addressed her own mother after gave Lucia a small smile.
"Oh, Ruthie has woken up from the coma and I just wanted to come tell you that." Barbara smiled to her daughter and pulled her closer by the arm. "But why didn't you tell me Callie's mother is here?"
"I..." Arizona opened her mouth but nothing came up. She hadn't told her mother of anything that happened in the past week and she still didn't know how to.
"I'm going back to there." Not wanting to intrude the Robbins mother and daughter's privacy, Lucia gestured the NICU as she moved her feet. "It's very nice to meet you, Barbara."
"Oh Lucia, do you want to get a cup of coffee later?" The older Robbins asked quickly before the other woman disappeared behind the NICU door. Lucia gave her a tight smile in return.
"I can't. Callie and I are going back to Miami later today. I'm just going to say goodbye to the baby then I'll head back to the hotel."
Arizona face fell slightly. She hadn't seen Callie ever since they parted before the OR that night. The few times that she met Lucia in the NICU, there was this awkwardness among them. To her surprise, the mother of her ex-fiancée was being polite, nice even. But she just couldn't bring herself to ask about the one that occupying her mind the whole time. And now, knowing Callie was about to leave Seattle, Arizona felt her heart was sinking...
"We're going back because Ana's funeral is 2 days." Lucia saw the look on Arizona's face. Even thought she disapproved her daughter having a relationship with a woman, she came around and was glad that Callie had found someone who made her happy and loved. And she knew how much Arizona loved her daughter. "Callie went to the funeral home to sign some papers this morning. You should give her a call."
"I... I will." Avoiding her mother's gaze, Arizona gave Lucia a grateful smile. After watching the brunette entered the NICU, the Robbins walked side by side down the hallway.
"What is happening, Arizona?" Barbara couldn't hold her tongue any longer. She hated to be kept in the dark, especially when there was something going on with her daughter. "Lucia said... her daughter had a girlfriend. What does that mean?"
"She told you that?" The blonde's eyes widen in an instant. Lucia just couldn't wait to tell her mother that, could she?
"Well, she was talking about the woman who died and..." Barbara asked again impatiently. "So, is that true? You broke up with Callie?"
"Mom... Callie broke off the engagement. We had a fight and she..." Pale fingers rubbing the empty ring finger as she talked. "She threw away the ring."
"When did that happened? Why didn't you tell me?" The mother gasped. She should have known. Callie didn't come by in a while, not even went to check on Ruthie. Postponed the wedding was never a good sign.
"Last week, mom. There're a lot of things happened in between and I didn't have time..." Arizona stopped talking as the elevator door opened. This was a private conversation and she didn't need to share that with the people who passed by them.
"Have you talked to her?" As soon as they were alone in the elevator, Barbara asked again. "I mean, it was just a fight. Your father and I fought all the time and we're still together."
"It's complicated." The blonde just shook her head and sign. She didn't want to tell her mother that all started the day Ruthie came to their door, especially when that mouth was going a mile a minute.
"Does it have anything to do with that baby? You fought because someone wanted to give Callie a baby?"
"No, that happened after our fight..." Finally got a chance to cut in, but Barbara didn't wait for her to finish.
"But then how come Callie's going to put that baby up for adoption?"
"She... what?" Arizona turned to her mother with a stunned look. She didn't know.
"I know you, Arizona. I asked you once and you said you don't want to have children." Barbara gave her child a disappointed glare before stepped out of the elevator. "But you don't have to break up with Callie because of that."
"I didn't want children because I didn't have a girlfriend at the time, mom." Quickly followed out, Arizona defended herself loudly. "Callie and I talked about this. I want to have children with Callie... That's not the point. We haven't really talked about this baby because we have broken up. She broke up with me, not the other way around."
"But then why she..." Barbara started again, but the blonde pulled her to stop before they reached the room that they were heading to.
"I have told you that I don't know! I haven't had a chance to talk to her, so stop asking me question that I don't have answer!" Arizona dropped her hand with frustration. She didn't mean to yell at her mother, but all those questions just started to give her a headache.
"Arizona Robbins!"
An unmistakable voice rang through the hallway. The blonde looked over her mother's shoulder, there was the Colonel staring at her sternly. Apparently, she was loud enough to stir her father in the room. Just great.
"I'm sorry, mom." Arizona apologized to her mother before walked toward the room. Gave the Colonel a tight smile, she stepped in the room and found Ruthie was looking at her with a bright smile from the bed, and a smirking Nick sitting next her.
"I am so glad that you're okay, Ruthie." Seeing the smile on her aunt's face, the blonde couldn't help to give her a matching grin. Walked around to the other side of the bed, she picked up the old lady's hand. "You gave us a scare. How are you feeling?"
"It's like someone just switched the light on." Ruthie laughed lightly, made everyone in the room chuckled along.
"She knows what year it is now. She's not confused anymore." Nick chipped in proudly. "She knows you're not my wife."
"Has Dr. Shepherd came check on you yet?" Too busy doing simple exam, Arizona missed what the man was saying.
"Yeah, she did. I just came back from the CT scan, she said I look good." The patient smiled tenderly while her niece looked at her in surprise. "I've been awaken for a while, but I told them not to bother you yet. I know how busy you doctors are."
"Right, busy fighting with her mother." Nick said with a mischievous smile. Now his mother was out of the woods, he could finally ease up and went back to his old self, able to make fun of his old friend.
With the parents in the room, all Arizona could do was squinting at the man. She turned her gaze back to Ruthie when the woman asked an unexpected question.
"Where are Callie and Mark?"
"Callie... and Mark?" Arizona frowned. How did she know about Mark?
"Nick has told me everything. How he asked you to pretend to be his wife." Ruthie looked between Nick and Arizona. "And Mark and Callie... Arizona, you really shouldn't have to. Especially you and Callie are about to get marry. I'd like to thank them. And you. For everything you have done for me."
The blonde looked at Nick in surprise. She didn't expect her fake husband could tell his mother that right now.
"I have disrupted your life for months, Arizona." The man stretched the back of his head sheepishly as he looked into the blue eyes. "The least I can do is to come clean. Tell my mom the truth so you and Callie can go back to where it was."
"Well, it's probably too late..." Arizona murmured under her breath.
Mark arrived on the PEDS floor with a bounce on his feet. It had become his routine since Ana's baby girl settled in the NICU. Callie asked him to look out for her mother when Lucia was there. And now, he felt obligated to visit the little baby after the Torres mother left.
To his surprise, he saw through the window and found an unexpected visitor was standing next to the incubator. Quickly sent out a page, he entered the NICU with a smile.
"I thought you didn't want to come to see her." The man smirked as he put on the pink grown.
"I... Not that I don't want to see her, Mark." Callie glanced at her friend. She sighed and looked back to the motionless baby. "It's just too sad to see a baby like this."
"I understand." Mark nodded, peeking inside the plastic box. "She looks bigger than she just arrived."
"Yeah?" The brunette twisted her lips. The baby might be bigger than a few days ago, but it was still so tiny. She tilted her head toward the little name tag above the baby's head. "Baby girl Torres?"
"She hasn't had a name yet, and they needed a name to call her, you know that." Mark shrugged. Right, Callie had worked a few shifts in the NICU. Some parents didn't want to name their babies before they got a chance to hold them. The staffs called those babies by their parent's last name. "But I called her Annie."
"Annie?" Callie looked at Mark confused.
"The little orphan Annie." Mark raised his eyebrows while the brunette still looked at him dumbfounded. He started to sing. "The sun will come out tomorrow, so you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow, come what may..."
"That's... terrible." Callie scolded the man lightly, and Mark just smirked again.
"What? My singing? Well, blame Lexie. She made me watched that movie and the stupid song has stuck in my head."
"No, not that. You calling this baby... orphan Annie." The brunette screwed up her face. She loved Mark's humor, but sometimes it was just a little too dark.
"She is an orphan. And she may end up in an orphanage, you know." The tall man folded his arms against his chest, looking at his friend intensely. Of course Lucia told him about Callie's plan for the baby.
Callie just sighed, and looking back at the baby.
"Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, I know it's hard to take care of a baby, especially now you and Robbins are..." Mark wetted his lips trying to find the right word. He didn't want to say the two had broken up because he wanted to believe that the two lovebirds would make up at some point. But for the moment, he came up blank. "But I can help."
"Yeah, how?" Callie chuckled. "You and Lexie want to adopt this baby?"
"No, you know Lexie wants a baby right now as much as she wants a root canal." Mark rolled his eyes. "I am saying you don't have to give this baby away. Annie needs 2 parents, I can be the dad."
"What?" Callie's smile froze when she saw the determination in Mark's blue eyes. "You're not serious."
"I am." The tall man nodded his head.
"Are you telling me that you want to marry me, raising a daughter together?" The brunette took a step back with a hand on her chest, gasping loudly with horror. Mark grasped her arm stopping her from pulling further away.
"No no, I'm in love with Lexie." He laughed out lightly. "I'm just telling you that there are options in here. You don't have to give Annie away just because you think you're gonna be a single parent. If that's the reason, I'm here to help. We can be like... partners."
"Partners?" The brunette sneered.
"I've told you about Sloane, how she gave away my grandson to some strangers." Mark looked at the baby in the incubator tenderly. "I'm in my forties, Callie. I want a family but I don't know how long I'll have to wait for Lexie to be ready to be a mom. Here's a baby who needs a family. You and me, we're family, sort of. We're best friends. We can take care of her together. We'll love her..."
A flash of blonde hair rushes into the NICU interrupting the conversation between the 2 friends. Arizona ran toward them in a surgical grown and the butterflies scrub cap on her head. She stopped momentarily when she saw Callie, but she quickly collected herself and jumping into action.
"Something's wrong with the baby?" The blonde picked up the stethoscope on the tray next to the incubator about to examine the baby, but Mark stopped her by placing a hand on top of the pale one.
"No, Annie is fine."
"Then why are you paging me 911? 911 means somebody's dying! I was in a surgery." Arizona huffed under her breath, trying not to look at the brunette as she put the stethoscope on.
"Don't you think this is 911 worth?" Mark tilted his head to the side, smiling to the blonde mischievously. He stepped backward away from his friends. "I have to go... to somewhere. Callie, think about my proposal. I really meant it."
Callie glared at the smirking man. She couldn't believe Mark just pulled a stunt like this. She wasn't ready to face Arizona yet. After the man disappeared behind the door, Callie looked back at the blonde doctor who had her eyes closed focusing on hearing the heartbeat of the tiny baby.
"How is she?"
"Her heartbeat is still a little weak, and she couldn't breath on her own yet." Arizona swallowed thickly. She needed to take a few deep breaths to stable her own racing heartbeats. She didn't expect to see Callie in here now. "Other than that, she's okay."
"That's... good." The brunette nodded her head slowly, couldn't think of anything else to say yet.
A pregnant silence between the two as Arizona continued with the examination. Finally, the blonde closed the lid of the incubator.
"I thought you're going back to Miami today." After getting enough courage, the blonde stood straight and looking deeply into the brown eyes. Her heart ached seeing the exhaustion written all over the face before her.
"Yeah, the flight leaves in about an hour." Callie twisted her lips, avoiding the blue eyes stare.
"When are you coming back? Or... are you coming back?" Arizona asked quietly. It hurt to hear the answer but she needed to know.
"Arizona, I..." The brunette wetted her lips nervously. "I haven't really thought about that yet."
Pale face fell.
"I couldn't bring myself to think about anything in these few days. If I did, I'd fall apart." Callie admitted it honestly, but she still couldn't look back at the concern blue eyes. "Everything's so mess up. I just..."
"Come on." Seeing the sadness on the caramel face, Arizona knew what she had to do. She led the brunette out of the NICU with their hands clasped together. Callie followed without resistance.
Arizona opened the door to her office. Callie sat down on the couch while the blonde leaned back on the close door, looking at the beaten woman from a distance.
"Have you cried yet?" Arizona asked. She could tell that the brunette was sealing all the emotions within. Callie gave her a shake of head in return. "Do you want to cry?"
The brunette shook her head again.
"I just... I am angry, Arizona. I know I shouldn't be mad at a dead person, but I just... I am. I don't understand why Ana would do this to herself, to her baby."
"Callie..." The blonde said in a whisper.
"And she made me promise her that I'd take care of her baby." The frustrated brunette rested her head on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling. "Now I have a decision to make."
"Your mom said that... you're going to put the baby up for adoption?" The blonde chewed her lips waiting for an answer.
"I have had a several meetings with Jenna, the social worker. But uh... she told me that there're a lot of couples wanting to adopt, but they wouldn't adopt a baby that is still in NICU fighting for her life." Cast a quick glance to the woman by the door, Callie looked back at the ceiling. "If I put her in the system right now, she may end up in an orphanage."
"Are you... really gonna do that?" Arizona asked with uncertainty in her voice.
"I can wait a couple months to put this in action as long as she's still in the NICU. Till then, I still hold the custody of the baby." Callie continued as if she didn't hear the question. She stirred when the blonde sat down next to her.
"Callie, are you really gonna give the baby away?" Arizona asked again with a firmer tone, made the brunette sat up and looking back at her.
"What choice do I have?" Callie gave a bitter smile. "You are right. I can't take care of this baby. I don't have a job right now. I don't even have a home anymore."
"I am sorry I said that..." Recalling their fight in the chapel, Arizona felt her cheeks flushed with shame. "I don't want you to break your promise to Ana because of me."
"No, Arizona. This is on me. Ana made me promised her. And that's why I'm angry with her. She just dropped this on my laps and now her baby is my responsibility." Callie turned her head toward the blonde, giving her a force smile. "Just like what you had to do for Ruthie."
"Yes, it does sound similar." Mentioning the old lady, Arizona remembered that she needed to tell Callie the good news. "Ruthie woke up this morning."
"Yeah? That's good. She's alright?" Callie perked up slightly hearing that Ruthie was out of the woods. She genuinely cared about this nice old lady.
"Amelia checked on her and everything's fine. Nick told her everything." The blonde nodded after meeting with surprise brown eyes. "She wanted to thank you for taking care of her, and went with Nick's crazy idea, agreeing on pretending to be Tim's wife."
"I didn't do much." The brunette wiggled her eyebrows nonchalantly, but Arizona cut in instantly.
"You did a lot, more than you should have. And everyone agreed that I was an idiot for dragging you into this."
"You were just taking care of your family." Callie smiled tenderly.
"Yeah." Arizona smiled back, but her gaze dropped to the floor before her. "But if I have known that I'm gonna lose you in the process, I wouldn't..."
'It wasn't your fault, Arizona." Slipping her hand into Arizona's, the brunette gave it a gentle squeeze.
"It was, Callie. I should be more attentive. I shouldn't take your understanding for granted." Arizona breathed out plaintively. Resting her head on Callie's shoulder, she closed her eyes and clasping the hand in hers tightly. "And I failed you once again. You shouldn't have to deal with all this by yourself."
"I've told you, Ana was my problem." The brunette leaned her head against the blonde head on her shoulder, breathing in the familiar scents deeply. "She left me a letter. I found it in one of the bags she left at Addison's."
"Have you read it yet?" Arizona asked without lifting her head. She missed snuggling up to the brunette and she didn't want any movement that would break their little bubble.
"Nope." Callie tugged the corner of her lips to a bitter smile. "But I don't think I need to open it to know what that is about."
Undoubtedly, the dying wishes from Ana that she was going to break.
The two sat there in the quiet room, soaking in the comfortable silence and each of them deep in their own thoughts. Eventually, Callie pulled away when her phone started to ring.
"I need to go. My mom is waiting in the hotel and we..." The brunette looked up from the phone in her free hand. It was time to pick up Lucia, heading to the private hanger taking the flight back to Miami with Ana's ashes. Arizona tugged their still linked hands before Callie got up from the couch.
"Do you want me to go with you? To Ana's funeral?"
"You have your duty in here, Arizona. I can't ask you to drop everything." Truth to be told, it did cross her mind. She knew she's gonna need Arizona by her side, but with the board exam coming up, she shouldn't disturb the future Fetal surgeon's working schedule. Besides... "I have to do this on my own.
"You don't have to do all this by yourself, Callie. Do you hear me? You're not alone." Piercing blue eyes looked deep into liquid brown with nothing but sincerity. Arizona really needed Callie to hear it before it was too late. "I disappeared. When you needed me the most I disappeared on you. I know I'm going to work hard for you to trust me again but I'm telling you, I'm here for you. I am in love with you, Calliope. And you're in love with me. Give me a second chance to prove to you that I will never leave you."
"I..." Plump lips opened and closed a couple times. Of course she wanted to have this second chance with Arizona. But right now, with an unforeseeable future ahead of her, she just couldn't bring herself to think about that yet. "I have to go. I need to go back to Miami..."
"And I'll be here, waiting for you to come back." It wasn't the answer that the blonde expected, but she plastered a force smile on her face nevertheless. The smile went wider when soft hand cupped her cheek caressing tenderly.
"Thank you." Callie said before she stood up to leave the room.