A/N- It has taken me longer than I had hoped to get this chapter updated. I've had it written since last week, but as life happens, I was super busy. I was hoping it would have been posted during the weekend, but it is now Tuesday. Anyways, I ended up making this chapter about Sofia. In honor of the school year being almost over (only 18 more days!), I decided to write about that. Please don't hate me, and I hope you enjoy the chapter. :) -Ari
Almost two and a half weeks ago, already, the Torres-Robbins triplets were born. Ethan was released from the hospital on the same day that Arizona was, but his sisters needed to stay a little longer. Nothing serious was wrong with them, but Adalynn needed to work on her suck, swallow, breathe, and Charlotte had a few apnea episodes.
It was their first official day home, being together. Callie and Arizona were able to bond and have special alone time with their son, before the girls came home, and then when Adalynn came home, they individually spent special bonding time with her, but now that Charlotte was home with her brother and sister, they had to figure out how to make things work. They needed a way to take care of all four children and spend enough time with each of them.
Luckily for them, Arizona's parents were flying in to town that weekend, and Sofia was at Mark's house for the time being. They needed all the help that they could get in order to fall into a set schedule. Sofia was going to be coming back to her moms' house today, and it was a lot to process.
Sofia hated all the attention that her siblings were receiving; everything was about them. All her family would talk about was Ethan, Addie, and Char. Add in the fact that she had spent the last two weeks with her dad and Lexie, the longest amount she has stayed with them consecutively; she wanted things to go back to normal, before the babies were here. She wanted to be the center of attention in her family.
With Ethan and Addie home before they took Charlotte home, they got to fall into step with their sleep patterns and when they got hungry. It wasn't going to be easy because when one woke up crying the other would soon follow suit, and the same with when they got hungry. It was definitely overwhelming now that they were all home, and it had only been a little under a full 24 hours.
"Hey, Arizona, I have to go pick up Sofia from school. Are you going to be okay with all three of them?"
"Ethan just fell asleep and Adalynn just ate. I'm not sure."
"Well, okay. I'll take Charlotte with me to go pick up Sofia. She seems like a happy little baby right now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, just put her in her carrier. I have to go put my shoes on."
Their method was working right now, whatever it happened to be, but they hadn't really thought about what would be happening when they would return to work. Callie planned on going back in the next couple of weeks, and Arizona was going back as soon as her maternity leave was over.
"Hello there, baby girl," Callie cooed as she grabbed the infant carrier seat from her wife. "You want to go pick up your older sister from school?" Charlotte looked up with piercing blue eyes and let a tiny smile show. Well, Callie took it as a smile anyways.
"Momma!"
"Hi sweetie, I've missed you."
"You brought a baby?"
"Char wanted to see her older sister's school."
"Oh, okay."
"Come on; let's get you buckled into your booster seat."
"How come I need a booster seat? I'm a big girl now. Babies need these."
"Babies need a car seat, you need a booster seat. You're still a little small for your age."
"But when can I not need one?"
"When you're a little taller."
"Fine, uh, momma?"
"Yes, Sofia?"
"Are you and mommy still going to come to the…the?"
"To your kindergarten completion ceremony? We wouldn't miss it for the world."
"What about the babies?" Sofia asked in a tone that really sounded jealous of the babies.
"I would like to think that they would love to see their big sister complete her last day of kindergarten, don't you? Even if they are just babies, I would imagine it would be nice."
"But they're always given more attention! That's going to be my special day."
"Sofia, I get that you're upset about the attention that the babies get, but they need more attention than a six year old does. They are much smaller and need special care. Here, look at Charlotte. She is as big as you were when you were three months old, and she is only two weeks old." Callie needed to calm Sofia down about the babies ruining her special day, and she made sure to let Sofia know that what they would do afterwards was her, and only her, decision.
Sofia started playing with Charlotte and the toy that she had in her tiny little hand soon after the car was started. Sofia sure loved her siblings underneath the jealousy.
When they got home, Sofia ran straight for her mommy. She missed Callie, sure, but she truly was Arizona's daughter. It made Callie sad at times, but knowing that Arizona and Sofia had a connection that didn't need biology was all that could make her smile again. She couldn't help but smile as she watched mother and daughter embrace. She took Charlotte out of her infant carrier and placed her in the play pen with her brother and sister when she peeled her eyes away from her wife and oldest daughter.
The next few days passed as slowly as the months following Sofia's birth. Though it wasn't a matter of life or death, the babies were a great handful. The babies made sure that their moms didn't have a break, and they were surprised that Sofia got any sleep. They sure as hell didn't get much.
They were now spending the triplets' short nap time to tidy up their less than clean home before Arizona left to head to the airport. It was Friday, which meant that Arizona's parents, the Colonel and Barbra, were flying in.
"Callie, my parents' flight should be landing soon, I should probably get out of here. Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, go on. And don't forget to pick Sofia up from school."
"I know, Callie. She's so excited to see her nana and papa. I love you. Please don't go insane if they wake up."
"Okay, go before I change my mind. Or before they really do wake up because then we'll have a major meltdown in our house."
"Okay, bye, I love you." Arizona grabbed her keys and walked to her new SUV. She quickly waved to Callie, who ran off, presumably to calm a crying baby.
"Flight 983 landing from San Diego at gate B," Arizona heard an attendant mumble over the loud speaker. She figured her way over to the passenger waiting area and found the baggage claim where the flight passengers would be finding their luggage. She waited for her parents to come out, standing by the baggage claim sign.
"Arizona!" She heard a familiar and warm voice call her name.
"Mom! It's been awhile!"
"Come give me a hug! I haven't seen you since we were here for Sofia's birthday. That was months ago." Arizona walked up to Barbra and embraced the elder woman. She then turned to the Colonel and grabbed his hand in a firm handshake. He was not the man for hugging.
"Let's go get your luggage, Sofia gets out of school in twenty minutes." They grabbed the couple of suit cases that the pair had, and made their way out of the airport.
Once in the car, all they managed to talk about was Ethan, Charlotte, and Adalynn.
"So, how's life as a mother of four?"
"A lot harder than with one, that's for sure. But Callie and I are doing the best that we possibly can. Ethan really does remind me of Tim though." They finished the short drive to Sofia's school in almost complete silence after that comment. Bringing up the lost part of their family was hard on all of them. He was no longer able to be a part of any of their lives, and they all knew that he would have made the best uncle anyone could have asked for.
"Okay, we're here. Why don't you two stay in the car? She's so excited to see you; I'll keep her on her toes with the thrill. I'll be back shortly." Arizona walked into the school, for the first time since she found out she was pregnant.
"Hello, Mrs. Robbins. Congrats on your new family members. Let Callie know as well," Ms. James, Sofia's teacher said softly, with a smile.
"Thank you Ms. James." Before they could engage in any other conversation, Sofia emerged from the cubby room.
"Mommy! Where is nana and papa?"
"And hello to you too, Ms. Sofia. Bye Ms. James, I'll see you next week."
"Come on mommy, you told me that nana and papa were going to be here today!"
"Calm down Sofia, look in the car."
"They're in there! They're here!"
"Okay, stop. You're not crossing the street alone, no matter how excited you are to see your grandparents. Hold my hand."
"Mom, I'm not a baby."
"Fine, just stay next to me then, if you're not going to hold my hand. School just got out, and it's busy around here."
She obliged to her mom's command, and tried not to run to the car. She was too excited to see her grandparents, even though she saw them more than her abuelo. And now that she was in her booster seat, she tried snuggling as close as she could to her nana.
"They're even more adorable than in the pictures. They're gorgeous. They definitely have your powerful blue eyes."
"You're holding Addie right now. She's definitely the more laid back of the three. She loves to eat though, let me tell you."
"She has you're smile as well." Arizona and her mom were sitting on the couch, spending time with their babies. Arizona had Char, Barb had Addie, and Ethan was sitting in a reclined baby seat. Callie was in the kitchen making dinner for her family. Sofia was in her room, playing with the Colonel who had a soft spot for his grandchildren.
"Papa, did you know that my last day of kindergarten is next week?"
"I did, your mommy told me; she let me know it was on Tuesday. She also told me that you're having an after school celebration."
"Yeah, on Tuesday. Momma told me that it was a special day, and we could do something special. Are you going to come?"
"Of course Sofia, but only if you want me too. I wouldn't go if I wasn't invited."
"Papa, of course I want you to go."
It had been a long weekend of taking care of the kids, short trips to the playground, and hanging with the grandparents. The week ahead was going to be even longer with completion, a little party celebration, and three babies all in one.
"Okay Sofia, its bed time."
"But I don't wanna!"
"You have school tomorrow, and if I remember correctly you were promised a shopping trip to find a dress, with nana."
"But mommy, I don't wanna go to sleep; I'm not tired."
"It's almost 8:45. It's past your bed time, and we all need sleep. We had a very busy weekend." It took some hard work, but Sofia finally laid down and fell asleep.
"It's our last day of school," Sofia's best friend commented at lunch the next day.
"No, we still have tomorrow. But it's a party day."
"Yeah, and my mommy got me a special dress with flowers on it for tomorrow too."
"I get to get one tonight with my nana."
The talk about their last day of school was only half understood between the five and few six year olds. They just figured that it was all about the party, but they were going to be celebrating their transition from the younger leveled classes to the "big kid" classes. It was a big deal celebration for a milestone in a child's life.
"I want the purple one, nana."
"Okay Sofia, the purple one it is. It's really pretty. I like the sparkles."
"Me too, and purple is my favorite color."
"Sofia Torres," Ms. James called as she was naming off the kindergarteners', now becoming first graders, names.
Callie was sitting in her chair trying not to cry as she watched her little girl cross the "stage". She was holding one of her babies and she was hugging her tight. Arizona was on her left, doing the same thing as her wife. Mark was there, sitting on Callie's right, and he wore a smile and was hiding all the feelings that he could while watching his daughter receive her little paper "diploma". None of them believed that, when she was born, they would be experiencing this milestone, let alone any milestone they have already reached or will reach in the future. She was their miracle.
Sofia stood on stage holding her kindergarten completion diploma, and flashed a Torres smile towards her family. She didn't understand how much this meant to her parents, but she was glad that her siblings were a part of this step. She knew deep down that she wouldn't want to miss out on their lives.
She walked off the stage, in her purple frilly dress, and posed for a picture. Unfortunately her sister decided to start crying, so Callie had to take her out of the room. It looked like Sofia was about to cry, herself, because her moment was ruined.
After Sofia went and sat down, her brother started fussing. Thankfully he didn't start crying or have to be taken from the room as well. When Callie finally returned, the ceremony had been finished, and Sofia was officially a first grader now. It was time for Sofia's special celebration, which she hadn't told anyone what she had decided just yet.
"Okay, baby, what did you have in mind for tonight? It's your special day."
"I thought about it, and I want to just have special alone time with you and momma. No babies, just us." Arizona didn't know how to respond, they thought she would have wanted to see the latest princess movie.
"Don't worry; we can watch the triplets for you guys. It's Sofia's special day, and she wants to spend it with her moms."
"Are you sure, mom?"
"Of course, it's no problem. We raised you and Timmy, didn't we? Go have a good time with your daughter."
"Thank you, mom. And you too, dad."
"Okay, mija, what did you have in mind? Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know. Maybe we can eat…or watch a movie?"
"Okay, sweetheart, the choice is all yours."
A/N 2- I hope this was good enough for all you lovely readers. This has been the longest chapter. Please, please R&R, it makes me smile and it gives me ideas and muse for my stories. And thank you to the 40 people who have already commented and have added this story/me to alerts, it makes me super happy.
