Chapter 6

"Who's Callie?" Julie asked.

"Callie?" Arizona froze unsure of what to say or how much Julie knew about Callie. There's no way she could know that she went to Seattle to see her former flame. Arizona had simply said that she was going on a business trip. That wasn't too uncommon in her profession. There's no way she knew. "She's an old friend."

"An old friend…" Julie said more of a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah…an old friend." Arizona knew her answers simply weren't cutting it. "Yeah, I… uhh… I ran into her when I was in Seattle."

"I see." Julie said.

There was a brief silence between the two women. Arizona proceeded to eat her breakfast.

"Look, Arizona." Julie started. "I trust you….I do. But when I walk into our bedroom to ask you a question about the breakfast I'm preparing for you and I hear a voice message from someone. Someone who is vowing to fight for you…I find that hard to believe that she's just an old friend…." Arizona could see the hurt in Julie's eyes grow deeper.

"Are you cheating on me, Arizona?" Julie asked with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Arizona stood up to sit closer to her crying partner. "Julie, No. I can explain…" she was cut off.

"Explain? What's there to explain? You've been distant for weeks now. You won't even let me touch you. And now voice messages from some chick named Callie?" Julie's hurt had now turned to anger.

"Callie isn't just some chick…" Arizona mumbled. She knew that there were a lot more appropriate things she could have said at that moment but she couldn't let Callie…Her Calliope…. Be called just some chick.

"Excuse me?" Julie questioned.

"Callie… Her name is Calliope Torres. And she's not just some chick." Just then Arizona realized that she didn't need Callie to fight for her. At that moment Calliope was her damsel in distress and Arizona had to defend her at all cost. Unfortunately, in this case, the cost of defending Callie could potentially end up in someone's heart being broken. Julie's. Arizona had to be honest with Julie…honest with herself. She didn't know what was going to happen between her and Callie but she would regret it forever if she didn't try to fight for her one more time. "Callie is the love of my life. I thought I had lost her…forever…and then she came back to me. I care about you, Julie…I do. And I don't want to hurt you…But I can't be with you when all I'm thinking about is her…"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that! I don't play second fiddle to anyone!" Julie yelled. "I'm not the one that you want. You've made that abundantly clear." Julie stood and stormed her way to the bedroom. She started gathering her belongings together.

Arizona followed her. "Julie….I'm sorry...I really am. I never meant to hurt you…"

Seething with disgust Julie said "No need to be sorry, Arizona. Now it's all perfectly clear why you never wanted to actually live together. I'll get the rest of my stuff tomorrow when you're at work. I'll be sure to leave my key." And with that Julie was out the door, slamming it behind her.

…..

Callie woke up that morning to a screaming headache and a screaming teenager. "Mom….Mom!"

"What?" Callie yelled grabbing a pillow and covering her head. Desperately trying to hide from the world.

Sophia stormed into her mother's bedroom. "Mom! Wake up." She insisted.

Callie came out of her cocoon, searching to locate her alarm clock to get the time. 11:16am. "Sophia, why aren't you in school?"

"Mom, its Saturday. And it's time for you to get out of bed you have a surprise."

A surprise? What kind of surprise? Callie struggled to find every bit of energy to get out of bed. Once she was able to stand up, it took every bit of energy she had to not have to rush to the bathroom and hurl. After she regained her composure and took a moment to clean herself up she shuffled her way down the hall and into the kitchen.

"Mom…someone sent you flowers…" Sophia had a huge grin on her face. "Open the card! Open the card! I bet I know who it is!"

Callie's eyes grew wide as she stood before a gigantic mixed bouquet of red roses, white lilies and snapdragons. She pulled out the envelope to read the message inside. 'No Need to fight for me. It's you. It's always been you. Xoxo –A'

Callie smiled and tucked the card into her robe pocket. Knowing she had an eager pair of eyes on her she turned around and said "Abuela…That was very nice of her!" Callie said. She knew that Sophia didn't believe she was telling the truth. She just smiled…wanting to keep the true identity of the sender to herself…at least for a little while, even though it is obvious that Sophia knew who they were really from.

"Mom…C'mon. Who are they really from?" Sophia pleaded.

"I told you, Mija." Callie smiled at her daughter. She could tell the suspense was killing her. "When are you leaving for your Dad's for the weekend?"

"He's on his way now." Sophia answered. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay and keep you company this weekend?"

"No, Mija. I will be fine. You better go get your bags packed."

Callie helped her daughter get ready for her weekend with her father. After seeing Sophia off, Callie decided that the first course of business was a bath. She turned on the taps and filled the bath with hot water, adding in her favorite lavender bath bubbles. She carefully climbed inside and laid back and relaxed. She closed her eyes as she let the water cascade over her body. Just as she had gotten nice and comfortable, her cell phone started to ring. 'Ignore it' was her first thought. She let her thoughts get the better of her 'What if it's Sophia?' and she sprang up out of the tub to catch her phone.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hi."

Callie instantly smiled, recognizing that familiar voice. "Hi."

"So, how are you feeling today?" Arizona asked as she smiled into the phone. "You sounded like you had a good time last night."

"My head…" Callie laughed. "I'm getting too old for that sort of crap."

Both women laughed in unison.

"Did you get a delivery today?"

"I did, indeed. So I don't have to fight, huh?" Callie asked.

"No…Like I said…It's always been you." Arizona smiled wider at that admission.

"Arizona, I want to do this right. I want to take things slow. I mean, it's been so long. We have to get to know each other all over again. And we still have a lot of issues we need to talk about." Callie was determined to get things right this time. If that meant taking things slow, then albeit, she was willing to take baby steps if that meant she would get the love of her life back.

"We can take things as slow as you need." The blonde replied. She loved just hearing Callie voice. For the first time in years it wasn't filled with hurt and anger.

Callie giggled like a teenager. "Arizona, I'm 52 years old and just thinking about you has me acting like a little school girl. I can't believe it."

"Callie?" Arizona started. "What is your schedule like next week?"

"Pretty light actually. Just a couple scheduled surgeries. And a knee replacement." Callie rattled off her upcoming weeks schedule by memory. "Why?"

"I know we are taking things slow….I do. Can I come visit you? Even if only for a couple days?" Arizona pleaded.

"Arizona. I don't…"

"I really want to take you to dinner. I want to talk to you for hours in person. I want to fight for you…" Arizona hoped her love would oblige to her request.

"What about Sophia?" Callie hesitated. "I'm not ready to involve her in our relationship yet."

"Callie, I will stay at a hotel. We will work it out. Please….can I take you out to dinner on Wednesday night?" Arizona crossed her fingers hoping Callie would give in.