A/N: Hey guys! So this update didn't take nearly as long and I'm working on the next one. I really liked this chapter and I hope you guys do too :)
What aren't you telling me? Something is going on, I can hear it in your voice every time we talk, but you sidestep. It's a catch in your voice that wasn't there before, something that you don't want me to worry about. So tell me, what is it? You're driving me crazy.
I know that I haven't written a lot lately. I've been a woman of few words lately. I got out of the habit. I'm sorry. But you haven't really been talking to me lately either, and when I only talk to you once every two weeks…this is one of the reasons why I hate the military. It can very easily destroy relationships. But I think you're hiding from me, and I want to know why. So expect an interrogation next time I talk to you. Just giving you a heads up, got it? Sofia really lit up after you called last time (even though I didn't get to talk to you) but as it's nearing Thanksgiving she's gotten much more sullen. She's sad, Callie. You've been gone for months. She misses you. She's tired of me. She's tired of Mark. She's not tired of Lexie yet, but she misses you. I really want to yell at someone about this but I can't. You want to know what she does, Callie? She sits in her room and talks to herself. But it's not just talking to herself, she's speaking Spanish and she uses two different voices. She's pretending that she's talking to you, Callie. It's just like your accident, when she was born and she couldn't open her eyes. She was looking for you then and she's looking for you now.
You mentioned, to me, being able to come home on leave for a few days soon. I hope, in a moment of selfishness, for her sake and mine, that you make that happen. I'm wishing on every star and clover that you can make that happen. I need to see you. I need to see you safe, even if it's just for three days. That's three days that you're here and not over there. Make it happen, Calliope.
Teddy has been weighing on my mind. I used to be exhausted just worrying about you, now not much else occupies my mind between you and Teddy. I'm scared to death that she's dead, that you could go missing, that you could die. Where is she? I watch the news all the time; I have updates sent to my phone. I hound people for any scrap of information, for news. What happened to her? What's going to happen to you?
These "letters" are short and I hate that.
Mark has been watching me, like a hawk. I feel like a lab rat under observation all the time. He and Lexie practically live here. They eat dinner here every night. Lexie says it's to inspire a sense of family in the face of all of this. But I know that Mark is concerned about me. I guess I did it to myself, with the whole not eating thing. But he's going to make me fat with all of these extra portions he keeps heaping on my plate and forcing me to eat. He says that I have to look good for you when you get back. Sometimes there is an unspoken "if you get back," but usually he stays positive. Especially around Sofia. When he's positive, he says it with that leering grin and wink he is famous for, or rather infamous for. His heart is in the right place, I'm learning that about Mark. He just doesn't always go about it in the right way. But between Lexie and Sofia, we are straightening him out.
For Halloween, Mark and Lexie took Sof costume shopping. She came home a military brat, but Lexie told me later that if Mark had gone alone, Sofia would have come home dressed like a stripper. God Bless Lexie. But she had an amazing night. I saw her before they left, but I was pulling the night shift so it was Daddy, daughter, and Lexie time this Halloween. We got plenty of pictures for you though.
Her teacher says that she talks about you all the time. We just had parent-teacher conferences. I think I loathe them more now as a parent than I did when I was a kid. She said that her Mama and everything about her Mama are all she talks about. And there are quite a few kids in the same predicament. It's good for her. But they had a spirit day, a hat day, and she has tried to wear that fatigue hat every day since. I've had to start checking her backpack and lunchbox every morning because she tries to sneak out with it. She's getting increasingly more creative but I don't have the heart to take it away from her completely. She misses you, and even though she understands she thinks you should be home by now. So make it happen, Calliope. Please. For her, if not for me, for her.
This turned out longer than I thought. I love you sweetheart. Be safe. Come home.
"Moooooommyyyy!" the keening wail greeted her ears. It sounded like the world was ending and sent Arizona sprinting for the bathroom. She threw open the door to find her daughter sitting perfectly healthy and safe in the tub. She'd been gone for five minutes to change out a load of towels in the wash. "Mommy!"
"What Sof?" she asked, slightly annoyed.
"My ducky," Sofia threw her arm out of the water to point across the room, showering Arizona with lukewarm droplets of soapy water. Arizona followed the line of sight to the door jamb where a bright yellow rubber ducky was lying pathetically on its side. Sighing, she reached down and picked it up. Crouching by the tub, she handed the ducky back.
"Why was your ducky across the room?" she asked sternly.
"A grenadade hit the water and blewed him up," Sofia grinned furiously and Arizona realized she was kneeling in a puddle of bath water.
"Sof! You know better than making this huge mess," she stood up quickly. But she was more concerned with the thoughts behind Sofia's actions than the fact that the knees of her jeans were soaked and she was going to have to change.
"I'm sorry, Mommy," Sofia looked instantly guilty, shooting Arizona that look that she got from her Mama. That "Callie" look that made her want to melt instantly. "I'll clean it up?"
"Yes you will. Now, Daddy and Aunt Lexie are coming over for Thanksgiving dinner to help Mommy get ready. Miss Bailey and Mr. Eli and Tucker are coming later."
"Tuck?" Sofia asked excitedly.
"Mmhmm," Arizona grinned. She picked up the towel from the sink and held it out. "Come here, Little Mermaid. Let's get dried off and all pretty." Sofia threw herself into the fluffy towel and stood still long enough for Arizona to wrap it around her little torso before taking off to her room. Arizona stood and watched her go, a frown slowly forming on her lips. She needed to talk to Mark about this.
The seven of them were sitting around the table, Sofia and Tucker giggling conspiratorially to each other from the end of the table. Arizona and Bailey were discussing one of their cases and the men were teasing Lexie about her football bets. They were all startled by the doorbell ringing. Lexie used the little shock to excuse herself from the criticism and answered the door.
"Oh my God," the breathed exclamation reached the ears of Arizona, who spun to look. One by one the other members of the room fell silent as they also turned to look at the door. As Lexie moved away from the door, Arizona stood suddenly and her chair slamming into the floor was deafening.
Standing in the doorway, in limp fatigues that hung loosely from her shoulders, may as well have been a ghost. "Teddy?"
A smile broke out on the cardio surgeon's face. "Arizona."
As Arizona tried to recover from the shock of the reappearance of her best friend, Sofia and Tucker realized something was going on. Dark eyes looked up and with a shriek of joy; Sofia ran across the room and lunged. "Aunt Teddy!"
"Sof!" Teddy laughed, hoisting the little girl into her arms. "How are you?"
"Good, is Mama with you?"
"No sweetie, Mama is still fighting the bad guys," Teddy said softly.
Sofia let a depressed beat pass. "You were dead!"
"I was?" Teddy looked at her in shock. Then she looked up at Arizona.
"I thought–" Arizona let her sentence trail off. She made her way over to her best friend. "You're alive." The hug that resulted caused Sofia to laugh and squirm in Teddy's arms. The rest of the room quickly surrounded the friends to greet Teddy and welcome her home.
"What happened to you?" Arizona questioned. "Where were you?"
"I'm sure Callie told you what happened. She's good, by the way, really good. I saw her, and Owen too, he's fine. When we were attacked, I was on guard. They came out of nowhere. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in a cell. I was interrogated," as Teddy continued her story, they made their way to the couch and Arizona took Sofia from her. She sent the little girl and Tucker off to play while the adults talked. "You don't really want to know all the details. But I was bargained for along with some other POWs and ended up back with Black Rain for medical treatment."
Arizona was pulled away from her mental assessment of Teddy's bruises and scars. "Black Rain?"
"That's the name of our unit," Teddy explained. "Well, that's what we call ourselves. The units have codes and that's one of ours, Callie didn't tell you? She came up with it."
Arizona turned to look towards Sofia's room. "Sounds like her."
"She says hi," Teddy said, looking at Mark.
"She's good, healthy, strong?" Mark asked. "Sounds like Callie."
"What happened to her?" Arizona turned back around, eyes boring into Teddy.
"Nothing, she's fine," Teddy said, but her eyes didn't quite meet Arizona's blue orbs.
"You're lying. She told you not to tell me. I can hear it in her voice when she calls. What did she tell you not to tell me? What happened to her?"
Her voice had risen without her awareness. The silence was awkward, but after a few moments of it and Teddy looking around the room ashamed, Mark spoke up, "Arizona, maybe you and Teddy should talk about that stuff later."
Her gaze unwavering, Arizona relented. With a nod, she stood.
"Are you hungry, Teddy?" Lexie asked.
After a silent look of thanks to Mark, Teddy walked over to the kitchen and helped herself to the large spread that had been a day in the making. Arizona walked to her room as the conversation returned to normal. Her heart was sinking, she had been right. Something was wrong with Callie.
"She's okay, Arizona," Mark's voice greeted her from the doorway. "It's something minor that she doesn't want you to worry about. Teddy would have told you otherwise. Cal just doesn't want you to worry."
"I can't believe she's back. When Lex answered the door, I thought for sure that it was Callie. But then it was Teddy and she looks like a ghost. Which raises a hundred questions. And then it's confirmed that Callie is lying to me. She just showed up," Arizona looked up, tears shining in her eyes.
"Robbins," Mark said. Arizona looked up. "She wasn't Callie."
"And that's horrible! All that she went through and all I can think about is 'Why wasn't it Callie at the door? Why can't Callie come home?' And then, 'What happened to Callie?' I can't be happy or relieved that Teddy is back because I'm too busy being worried about Callie."
"You aren't happy or relieved?" Mark questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Arizona stared at him. "Well of course I am–but–and–and Sofia is talking about grenades and blowing things up and throwing her rubber ducky out of the tub because a bomb hit him!"
"What?"
"She was in the tub and she started screaming for me and then she said a grenade hit her ducky and he flew across the room, except she threw him, got water all over the floor, and she said 'grenadade' instead of grenade." Arizona started shaking, "Why can't Callie come home?"
"She'll be home soon, Arizona. Just believe in that. Sofia is just processing everything that's going on around her. And she hears things at school and she's processing. Now if she starts building bombs or throwing punches, we have something to worry about," Mark said, he wrapped his arms around Arizona and let her cry into his chest. "You're a good mom, you're a good wife. You're worried about Callie, that's normal. You're human. You're a good person. So go be happy for Teddy and worry about Callie at the same time."
Arizona glared at him, but it was more of a pout than a glare. She wiped her eyes dry and allowed him to take her by the hand.
"She'll be home soon, Arizona."