Chapter 16

The camping trip had seemed to go way better than Callie expected. Truth be told, she certainly wasn't much of an outdoorsman and that trait was another one of the many that her daughter had inherited from her. She hoped the weekend would go smoothly and aside from the horny lovers getting caught in the wee hours of the morning by an angry teenager, it seemed to go off without a hitch. Luckily for them, Arizona had plenty of camping experience from all of the yearly camping trips with her family she went on as a kid. Some of her favorite memories involved being surrounded by a campfire with her brother Timothy. And over the last couple days Arizona was appreciative to have her wingman, Zola. With Derek Shepherd for a father, there was no way Zola wouldn't know how to pitch a tent or catch a fish. Over the weekend the running joke had been to call the two Torres' women 'Princesa' every time one of them had to do anything that involved a little manual labor. Being called Princess, in any language, was something that both of them enjoyed being called.

The foursome had just arrived back to camp after waking up early to hike Beartooth Pass and then toured Pictograph Cave, where they had spent half the day exploring the caves and viewing the pre-historic paintings located inside.

"Ugh…I'm soo tired!" Sophia dramatically sighed as she plopped down on one of the chairs that were circling the fire pit.

"What's the matter, Princesa? Is all this outdoor living too much for your highness?" Zola sarcastically teased as she walked over and took a seat beside her best friend, giving the blonde doctor a high five on her way there.

"Yes! And it's Your Majesty to you…" Both of the teenagers busted out in laughter.

Arizona started to work on getting the fire going while Callie started unpacking the cooler to start preparing for dinner.

"You know what guys? I'm going to run up to the concession store before they close to get some ice. We are almost all out." Callie announced not really speaking to anyone in particular. She walked over and gave Arizona a quick peck on the lips before heading off toward the campground store. "I'll be right back…"

"Wait up Mom!" Sophia yelled after her mother as she sprang up from her seat. "I'll come with you."

Callie turned to wait for her daughter to catch up. Once Sophia was at her size, the older woman wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder as they headed off down the gravel path toward the store.

"Mom, why did you and Arizona break up?" Sophia hesitated to ask but it was a question that had been burning at her for ages. "You know…before?"

"What did you say, Mija?" Callie asked her daughter in return, trying to buy her a couple extra seconds to think about how she would answer the question she was just asked.

"Why did you and Arizona break up?" the teenager repeated, her words just as clear as before.

Truth was, there wasn't a simple answer and it definitely was not one that she wanted to explain to her teenage daughter. How do you explain to your child that if you hadn't have gotten pregnant with her that you might not have missed out on the last 16 years with the love of your love? Even with the circumstances of her conception, Callie never regretted getting pregnant…not even for a second. From the moment that she felt that precious baby growing inside of her she had an intense love unlike anything she had ever felt before. And now, after all these years, she had the best of both worlds…Sophia, her beautiful, extremely intelligent and funny daughter and Arizona, her talented, undeniably sexy, and kindhearted girlfriend. Even when Sophia was young, Callie always vowed to be honest with her daughter. She knew that the biggest reason why they had such a great relationship was that they were able to openly communicate with one another.

"Well…when she won the Carter Madison Grant she had to leave for Malawi for three years." Callie answered, truthfully but purposely omitting some of the major details. Her stomach was in knots hoping that this wouldn't be one of those times when her inquisitive daughter decided to ask a lot of questions.

"But she wasn't in Malawi for three years…"

"What do you mean?" Callie was shocked at her daughter's obvious knowledge of the situation.

"Well…I know she won the Carter Madison in November of 2010. And she started working at Boston's Children Hospital towards the end of 2011. So…if she wasn't in Africa, then why wasn't she in Seattle? With you?" Sophia asked. She wasn't trying to be nosey or snoop. She just had so many pieces of a puzzle that simply were not fitting together. She knew that her Mom and Arizona had a deep history together and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why they weren't together for so many years if they loved each other so much.

"She did leave for Africa and right when she came back was when I found out I was pregnant with you and she…" The older woman was still stumbling to find the words to delicately explain the situation when they were interrupted.

"Hey you two!" Arizona said completely oblivious of the conversation she had just walked into. "You guys need some help?

Arizona immediately noticed the tears that were welling up in the young girl's eyes. She didn't have a chance to ask what the matter was before Sophia had taken off running towards the woods. "What happened?" the blonde frantically asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

"She asked why we broke up before." Callie let out a deep sigh "I better go after her."

The blonde held out a staying hand. "No Callie, let me handle this…"

Arizona followed the trail into the woods and after a few moments she found the raven haired teenager sitting on a fallen log that sat close to the lake. Even from behind the young girl could immediately feel someone walking up behind her.

"Just go away…" Sophia angrily said, trying hard to fight the tears that were determined to run down her cheeks.

Arizona ignored the girls request and hurried over to where she was sitting and knelt down in front of her. "Sophia, please just give me a chance to explain…" Arizona started.

"No. There's nothing to explain…if my mom hadn't have gotten pregnant with me you probably wouldn't have left her…" Sophia sniffled, her words coming out between sobs.

"Sophia…" Arizona whispered, while reaching up to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "I didn't leave because of you."

"Yes, you did. You came back from Africa and when you found out my mom was pregnant you didn't stay. You left because of me."

Arizona's eyes filled with tears, her heart was breaking. Yes, she did leave when she found out that Callie was pregnant. But it wasn't because of the baby that was inside of her. It was because she felt so hurt, so betrayed that Callie had moved on so quickly. That she wasn't a part of her plan.

"I left for Africa thinking that it would be at least three years until I would get to see your Mom again. But when I got there, I found out quickly that I simply could not live without her. So after a month, I came back. And that's when I found out your mom was pregnant. I didn't leave because I didn't want a baby. I left because I was so hurt that she had moved on without me… I wasn't a part of her plan anymore. I had to let her be happy. And her dream was to have you…Sophia you were always her dream. Her dream that she pursued without me…" Arizona's tears overflowed as her words were coming out, she could clearly see the sadness etched on Sophia's face.

Sophia sat there crying. She wanted to believe what Arizona was saying but there was still a part of her heart that felt like it could never be repaired.

Arizona wasn't sure what to do or what she could say to make things better. She wanted to take away Sophia's pain. She pulled the teenager into her arms, embracing her tight.

"Sophia, for the last 16 years I've regretted walking away. I love your mom more than anything in this world. And there's only one thing that I would go back and change if I could…" She lifted the teenagers chin so her eyes met her own. "I would have been there to help raise you. I wish I was there to watch you grow into the young woman you are today. I love you, Sophia. I really do. And it's all because of you that I got my Callie back…and the family I always wanted with her. I could never thank you enough for that..."

Arizona's heart melted when she saw the smile that was slowly starting to creep on the teenager's face. That familiar smile...that matched her mother's perfectly.

"You promise you're not going to leave again?"

"I promise." Arizona let out a light chuckle. The butterflies in her stomach were finally started to settle. "I promise…I've got two Torres' women now. I'm all in!"

"I'll hold you to it…" Sophia quietly replied, offering a slight smile. She felt better after talking to Arizona. Over the last few months she had gotten to really know and love the woman that was now such a big part of her and her mother's life. She knew that the blonde woman made her mom very happy. And frankly, she really liked the thought of having her around more too.

Arizona squeezed the teenager tight into her chest. "You ready to head back now? I'm sure your mom is worried about you."

"Alright…" Sophia said as she rose to her feet. Arizona followed suit and stood to match the girls stance before both of them headed back to their campsite. As they walked side by side Sophia took her arm and looped it through Arizona's. The blonde looked over at the teenager a noticed the wide grin on her face.

Arizona could instantly feel her heart melting. From the moment she met Sophia she felt an instantaneous connection with her. When she first looked at Sophia she saw so much of Callie in her, but when she really took a moment to watch her, she could see so much of herself. She possessed so many traits that just screamed Arizona. From their super awesome choice of words…to their comical sense of humor…to their love of pediatrics, she couldn't believe how alike they were even though they had only known each other for a few months. Arizona simply couldn't imagine her life without Callie…or Sophia. She may have been 16 years too late but it was certainly better late than never.

"You ready to head home tomorrow?" She smiled at the teenager.