Hey all, thanks for the reviews. This is a bit of a longer chapter, was planning of turning it into two chapters but didn't know where to stop it for that to happen. So instead you've got one chapter and another should be up in the next couple of days
She didn't know how long she sat there for after the blonde left her office, she wasn't exactly sitting in shock, more like sitting in unsureness. She had an inkling Arizona still had feelings for her, she could always feel blue eyes on her whenever she wasn't looking, dimples always made a presence when the two were together and if she ever mentioned a surgery that she was nervous about, the blonde was always in the gallery sending silent support. That's why she's not shocked, but the unsure feeling is what's bothering her. She never thought Arizona would actually come out and say it so she didn't have a response ready, what is she supposed to do now? Pretend it never happened or talk to Arizona about it? She didn't know.
What she did know is that she had been sitting so long that her shift had ended and she has to pick Sofia up from the sitter. She went for a quick shower, one of the perks of being part owner of the hospital, she got to renovate her office however she wanted and long had gone the days of sharing a shower with others, got changed and headed out. It wasn't until she was halfway to the sitters did she realise she didn't actually remember doing any of it, all automatically and her brain full of Arizona and what they had talked about. She thought about the last 2 years, sometimes she felt she jumped into the dating scene too soon, with only having been divorced for 4 months before going on a date, a date who of course had dated her ex, then she met Dan the police officer, they had fun but she realised during that time that men didn't really do it for her anymore, he's actually now one of her really good friends. She had taken a break from dating for about a year after that, just focusing on herself and Sofia, working on her disabled vets program and her robotic limbs. She finally felt ready to try dating again, her feelings for Arizona had slightly dimmed, not being around her all the time, at this point in time she only ever saw her when it was swap day, hardly seeing her around the hospital unless it was for board meetings.
She had heard how Arizona was busy saving unborn babies and how she hardly left the paediatric floor. She was so proud of her ex-wife, she knew how much she wanted this and she felt bad that she wanted her ex to choose between them having a baby or the fellowship. At the time she was heartbroken her wife didn't choose expanding her family, but now 2 years later and after over 50 babies being born and having a life because of that choice, she knows the right decision was made, just last week she saved 4 babies lives, one having to be born earlier than even what Sofia was and then she managed to keep the other babies inside so they could grow to a healthy size.
She wondered briefly how she celebrated her win, back before the plane crash they would get Mark to have Sof and they would go out dancing then spend the night making love. Did she still do that? Callie knew that she had started going out with Richard, apparently he was an awesome wingman, she had heard from Maggie who heard from DeLuca that there had been a few nights Arizona hadn't gone home. The brunette felt the stir of jealousy in her stomach but pushed it away, she had no right to feel like that, she was with Penny now and for the first time in about 4 years she was happy. She thought back to last week when they went for ice cream with Sofia, the two getting along so well, her daughter couldn't stop talking about her all night when they got home, wanting to see Penny again but with it being her week with Arizona she didn't get too. She felt a little bad for the blonde, she had mentioned how Sof went on and on about Penny and it didn't help that she had a bit of a brag too. At least there's one good thing that came out of her ex-wife's speech earlier, she now knows to be considerate of her feelings, she didn't realise how deep they went and she was just too excited about how well her girlfriend and daughter got along she didn't she'd be that hurt over it.
She pulled into the sitters driveway and decided to put the afternoon chat and everything that she was thinking about to the back of her mind, it's time to go into Mami mode.
At the same time but on the other side of Seattle, Arizona was sitting in Dr Mason's office, she had just finished telling her about her day
"So you told Callie that you were still in love with her? Why did you think you did that?" Dr Mason, a lady in her 60's with short brunette hair and green eyes, asked
"I don't know. I think after the conversation with Miranda it was at the forefront of my mind and when Calliope asked what was wrong it all just came out. I must admit though, I feel 100 times lighter but now I'm anxious about what's to come, is she going to act like I didn't tell her at all? Is she going to want to talk about it? Is the friendship we have now going to suffer? These thoughts have been running through my mind since I closed the door to her office" she sighs and runs a hand through her hair
"We have no way of knowing what Callie is going to do but now that it's out there, what do you want to happen?" the green eyed doctor asked
"In an unrealistic world she'd tell me she loves me too, that Penny was a placeholder and that I can come home and live a life with my family but in the real world I just want her to treat me the same as she has these last 6 months, we've built a real friendship, something I think we missed out on because we jumped straight into a relationship, I mean the first time I met her I kissed her then she avoided me for 2 days before agreeing to go on a date. I don't want it to be awkward, I want to keep being able to laugh with her, be able to grab a seat at the same table she's at in the cafeteria, if its nice weather on swap days or if there's something Sofia really wants to do with us both we have a little family day then afterwards we'd go into whichever house Sof's staying at and have a glass of wine, relax and talk about our week, it's not often maybe one a month or so but it's nice. I just hope it's over now"
3 hours later she was sitting on her couch, prosthetic sitting next to her, DeLuca was on nights so she had the place to herself, she had just poured herself a wine and about to catch up on some Great British Bake off when her phone rang, Callie and Sofia's smiling faces appearing on screen, she stared at it for a moment, wondering and worrying why she was calling, then she saw the time and quickly answered
"Hey sweetie" she smiles
"Hey Mama" Sofia's sleepy voice filled her ears
"Did you have a good day at school?"
"Yea, me and Kayla played on the monkey bars at break time and I learned my times tables" she started to sound more excited and less sleepy
"That's great sweetness. Oh hey I need to talk to you, are you awake enough to listen?"
"Yes Mama"
"You're going to be spending next week with Mami instead of me. I have to go away for two weeks but I'll be picking you up from Friday so we can do something before you go back to Mami's."
"Oh, but we were going to go to the zoo"
"I know sugar, but it's going to rain all weekend anyway so we wouldn't be able to go anyway, so how bout we wait until I get back and we can go then, or we can go to the aquarium" she felt bad, she promised her daughter they'd go, maybe she should cancel, is she being a bad mother for putting herself first?
"Ok Mama, where are you going? Do you have to save little babies?" her daughter loves to tell people how she saves unborn babies and tiny humans
"Not this time, I'm going to go see grandma and grandpa. I would take you but you've got school, and they are coming to visit at the end of the month so you can spend heaps of time with them then"
"Oh, ok Mama, you tell them I love them?"
"Yes sweetie, and they know but I'll tell them anyway but you get to spend two full weeks with Mami, that's gonna be fun" she tells her daughter who was starting to sound a bit upset
"Oh yea, do you think Mami and Penny will take me to the zoo instead?" her daughter sounded excited, and it felt like a stab to the heart, it felt like her daughter had found a replacement
"I don't know, you'll have to ask Mami. Anyway Sofia, it's time for bed, are you all curled up under your blankets?" she felt like she wanted to cry and didn't want her daughter to hear her
"Si, Mami's tucked me in, she's just waiting for her phone now" her daughter started to sound sleepy again
"Ok, well goodnight sweetheart. I love you and have sweet dreams" she made a kiss sound
"Night Mama I love you too, oh Mami wants to talk to you" she kisses back before handing the phone to her other Mother
"Arizona? You there?" Callie asked, the blonde couldn't help but feel nervous about what she wanted
"Yea, what's up?" she asked calmly, calmer than she felt
"I just want to let you know that Penny and I won't be taking Sofia to the zoo, that's what you guys had planned and I won't take that away from you" Arizona was shocked that Callie would do that, she thought that it would be a perfect opportunity for them to bond
"Oh, thanks, I was really looking forward to it. I know with the rain it wouldn't be the best time but I was going to take her to the aquarium instead, I told her we'd do it when I get back. You guys should take it to Chihuly Garden and Glass, I haven't taken her yet and she would've mentioned if you had, so take her there, she'll love it." She really wanted to take her daughter there, she loves taking Sofia to the zoo, that girl really loves her animals but she wanted to be the first to take her to the Gardens however if Callie is willing to give up a bonding experience at the zoo with Sofia and her girlfriend then she'd give up the experience she was looking forward to.
"Oh ok. If you're sure, I was just thinking of going to the movies or something but now that you mention it I think it'll be a good idea. May I make a suggestion though?"
"Um, sure, whatever you want"
"Instead of going this weekend how about we go when you get back instead of you guys going to the aquarium, just you me and Sof?" the brunette asks quietly, unsure of why she is suggesting this but something about both of them taking her to something she hasn't been to before seems more like a family thing than a bonding thing
"Oh are you sure? I thought it'd be something fun for you guys to do this weekend" the blonde asked, confused but happy that this could really happen
"Yep, you, me, Sof and Chihuly Gardens and Glass. I'll find something else to do with Penny and Sofia" the brunette cheerfully said, already planning the day
"Oh well thanks, I'm sure it'll be an awesome day" Arizona's mood lifted immensely she took a sip of her wine, a comfortable silence falling over the pair
"No problem… so what are you doing tonight?" Callie asked, breaking the spell between them
"Not much, just having some wine and going to catch up on GBBO"
"Ooh what episode are you on? I just finished the 5th" The two women talked for the next hour about the show and general other topics. By the time they hung up both knew that even with Arizona's confessions that day, their friendship is still intact.
Friday came quicker than Arizona wanted, her new leg made her life a whole lot better, this one gave her no problems when standing for long periods of time, running became something she can do again and with practice her heelies might be able to have a comeback. She had a feeling that this model might be one Callie had worked on, when they were married she had seen a few blue prints she had been working on, before she turned her research to robotics, and this model looked a lot like one she had seen on the desk.
She was bouncing slightly standing out the front of Sofia's school, she was excited, she had planned an afternoon at the Children's Museum. She'd taken her daughter there a few times and had loved it, plus its Earth month and her little Latina loves anything to do with space.
"Mama!" she looked up and saw Sofia running at her, she bent down and caught her, picking her up just as quickly "Mama you shouldn't life me so quickly, you told me your leg can't handle new weight so quick"
"Not anymore sweetie, Mama got a new leg, I can now do everything you want me to" she smiles, she feels so good knowing she won't have to sit out anymore
"Like soccer? Can we go play now?" her daughter asked, getting excited and jumping in her arms
"Well I was thinking of going to the Children's Museum but we can go play soccer if you want" smiling because she knows what the answer will be
"Museum Mama, it's about planets this month, we have to go" she smiled and put her daughter in the car.
After an afternoon of fun and information about planets, they stopped at a little restaurant that they both love, she listened to her daughter go on about everything she had learned plus her week at school, how she made new friends, how Kayla did a backflip off the monkey bars, how she was a big girl as Uncle Alex took her stitches out, she just loved listening to her talk. By the time dessert had come out she realised it was almost time to take her to Callies. By the time they did get there, her daughter was fast asleep in the back of the car, she picked her up and carried her to the door, knocking softly and waited for the door to open.
She readjusted the child in her arms and her school bag, before knocking again, her heart fell when she heard giggling and knew who was in there but managed to school her features in time for the door to open. Penny greeted her with a wide smile, beckoning her in, Arizona internally scoffed, inviting her in to a place that should be hers, on the outside though she smiled and walked passed, she said a quick hello to Callie who walked into the entrance and took her daughter up to bed. She heard her ex say something to Penny before following her up, lucky for them, their daughter was a deep sleeper and changing her into her pyjamas, giving her a kiss and tucking her in, she stood to leave she caught her ex looking a bit below her belt, before looking away and moving to the bed. She held back the smirk that almost found her way on her face and tried to fight off the butterflies, the jeans she was wearing were a bit tight, and sculpted her ass nicely, her new leg made her feel sexy and she wanted to show that off. She walked out into the hall, waiting for Callie to finish saying goodnight
"Thanks for letting me take her tonight, we went to the museum and had something to eat, don't worry a proper meal not just donuts" she laughed, the brunette had told her off one to many times for feeding her daughter donuts instead of proper meals
"That's ok, she's your daughter too, and you don't need to ask permission. We made a deal when we came up with the custody agreement that if either one of us wanted Sof on a night that wasn't theirs then all we had to do was make sure the other didn't have plans" she smiled, placing a hand on the blondes arm
"And gave you time to have date night with Penny" she said, jealously flowing through her veins but she hoped to god that it didn't show
"Yea, she had the night off and surprised me" Callie looked at the ground, feeling guilty for some reason. "Um… Did you get a new leg? I couldn't help but notice the literal spring in your step and you carried her up the stairs without missing a beat" she already knew the answer. Paul, Arizona's prosthetist, contacted her about it
"Yea I got it fitted yesterday but I have a feeling you knew that. I can't help but notice that this one looks and acts like a blueprint I happened to see on our kitchen table one night" she smiled dimples popping as she teased her ex
"I may have gotten a phone call regarding a certain leg" she smiles as they started walking down the stairs "this particular model was what started the robotic limb research, well this model and watching the original Robocop, I thought about how it could work" she smiled, laughing at how a movie started something so life changing for vets and people suffering without limbs
"So the leg I have now is one step behind the robotic one?" the blonde asked, she had wondered more than once about asking Callie for more information about this limb
"Yea, why?"
"Just wondering, anyways it's getting late and I've still got to pack, plus Penny is sitting on your sofa waiting for you. So I'll ring tomorrow night when I get to the hotel to say goodnight to Sofia" she turned to leave, yelling out a quick goodbye to Penny and stepped outside
"Arizona, wait" she stopped and looked to her ex and was brought into a hug, feeling her heart speed up and the butterflies start again, she burnt this image and feeling into her head, smelling in Callies scent before they pulled apart "have a good trip and drive safe. Oh and I'll send you all the information I have on the robotic limb surgery and everything that goes into it" she smiled 'of course Callie knew what she was thinking'
"Thanks, anyway have a good night, I really do have to go, I'm leaving about 6 so need to pack and get some sleep before I hit the road, I plan of stopping for the night in Sacramento so got a big 11 hour trip ahead. Goodnight Calliope" she smiled and couldn't help the amazing feeling that filled her body when she heard the gasp from her brunette when the name fell from her lips.