Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy. I just manipulate them to my will. Also, any line or phrase or setting that seems remotely familiar from any other show, movie or book, also not mine. I borrow…
Prompt: The last 'Hearts' fic you posted was too depressing. Write something nice and fluffy, years down the road. They never broke up or got divorced and they are a happy family. Whatever you want, I don't care. I just want to smile again!
AN: As stated in the prompt, Arizona and Callie never got divorced. This ficlet takes place some 14-15 years down the road. Enjoy!
Fire and Ice
"Alright now start slowing down. …Slow Down. …Stop. STOP. STOP!"
The safety belt tightens across Arizona's chest as the car she's riding in comes to a screeching halt. For a second there, the surgeon is sure she's dead but then a blue eyes cracks open to find no smoke coming from the front of the car.
"Oh, thank god." She groans, running a shaky hand through her blonde hair.
She looks over to the driver's side and finds a not amused Sofia staring at her. "Ma, don't yell at me."
"You weren't stopping." Arizona replies.
"There was no one else around." The sixteen year old girl states, whipping her head slightly to push raven hair back out of her face.
"It's a stop sign which means you stop. Traffic or no traffic, you stop." The mother states, then pulls at the seat belt across her body. "I swear you drive like your mom."
"I'm going to tell her you said that." Sofia says as she lifts her foot from the break and presses the gas. She's just learning and has yet to learn the art of finesse, so right now she only has two speeds. Stop, and go.
The two women continue Sofia's impromptu driving lesson, Arizona gritting her teeth and refraining from cursing out loud every time her daughter nearly kills them. Thankfully early Saturday mornings mean less traffic around the roads of Seattle, but still Sofia manages to get more than one angry look, harsh honk, or flipped bird from her fellow travelers. Arizona tries to give each one an apologetic face as they pass but none of it seems to bother the teenaged Latina seated next to her.
"Ok, turn signal." Arizona prompts, and Sofia clicks on the left indicator. "Now gently ease into the parking lot." The car surges forward, sending the blonde back into her seat, and quickly slows when a nervous Sofia lifts off the accelerator, nearly stalling them in the center of oncoming traffic.
"It's alright honey, just ease off the clutch and ease on the gas." The blonde coaches. It's been years and years since she, herself, has driven a stick, but both Callie and Arizona were adamant that Sofia learn how to drive a stick before anything else. The little beater car they are in is actually one of Robbins' interns car that the couple bought off the young man for a decent price, and until Sofia grows up and matures a bit more, it's going to be hers. That is… if she passes her driver's test in a couple of months.
The car sputters to life again and Sofia guides the beat-up two door into the grocery store's parking lot. Up and down the already jammed packed rows of vehicles, the two women keep a look out for a spot. Finally they find one at the far end of the lot and Sofia manages to get the car in it in only two attempts.
"Good, now shift into neutral and pull the parking break." Arizona says, and Sofia follows. "Good! You're doing awesome, baby girl."
"Maaaa…" Sofia whines, rolling her chocolate brown eyes at how her mother dotes on her. Of course it's only an act just in case any of her friends are around because the girl actually loves it when her Momma praises her like that.
They make the long walk in from the edge of the parking lot, and as they pass the parking spaces up front Sofia exclaims, "That guys not even handicapped!"
"Sofia…" Arizona warns her daughter.
"No, Ma, look. No sticker. No hang tag. He's parked illegally." The feisty sixteen year old announces. "You had to walk all the way from the back and he-"
"Sofia Robbin, I said that's enough." Her mother cuts her off. Sure, Arizona is legally considered 'disabled' and will use her handicapped placard if need be, mostly in the rain or snow, but often decides to hoof it instead.
"Now, let's get in and get out so we can get home for your Mom to make us some breakfast." Arizona can see the fire burning in her daughter's eyes; the same fire the brews within Callie's soul whenever she gets revved up about something. For as much as Sofia has taken on Arizona's personality and characteristics, she still has the Latina's blood coursing through her veins.
They make good time getting through the store, finding everything on Callie's list as well as adding a couple items of their own. Somehow both frosted and powdered mini donut's find themselves in the cart, as well as a bag of Sofia's favorite candy.
Once checked out, Sofia pushes their full cart out of the store, walking side by side with her mother. But as the double doors slide open, the sixteen year old see's the tailgate of that illegally parked car open. Her blood starts to heat up again and crosses the road to approach the man loading his groceries.
Arizona sees what her daughter is about to do and calls "Sofia!" But it's too late because Sofia is already on the hunt.
"Hey!" She barks, approaching the man who is quickly tossing groceries from his cart into his trunk. "Hey!"
He looks up, a bag of ice in either hand, and asks "Yeah? Do I know you?"
"You're about to." Sofia sneers, pulling her cart to a halt right in front of the late twenty year old man. "You know you're parked illegally, right?"
The unknown guy gives this young woman a confused look, then says "It's not a big deal."
"Oh, it is a big deal." Sofia rebuttals just as her mother steps up behind her.
"Sofia…" Arizona tries but her daughter is on a roll and there is no stopping her.
"I don't care if you were in that store for five minutes or five hours, you're parked illegally. And if it wasn't for the fact that my mother was in the car with me, I would have rammed your ugly ass Honda civic out of that spot." The sixteen year old spits. "That spot is reserved for those with disabilities, and unless you are mentally stupid or something… which, now that I've talked to you, I wouldn't be surprised… you don't belong here."
"And you do?" The man sneers, giving both women a quick look up and down. "What is she, your nurse?" He asks, gesturing to the blonde behind her.
"No, she's a surgeon. The best pediatric surgeon this side of Chicago. And she's my mother who just so happens to have survived a plane crash which cost her a leg. She's a hero. She's my hero. And I protect the things I love." The glare coming from dark eyes is enough to melt someone's flesh from their face, but Arizona can't help but smile at her daughter's words. "So, this is your one freebie. I see you parked illegally again and I'll be sure to introduce my foot to your garden of good and evil."
With a firm nod, the young woman hits the man's cart with hers, then turns and marches on down the aisle towards her waiting car. The twenty something year old guy watches her go and then turns to see the blonde staring after her daughter.
"You just going to let her talk to people like that?" He asks, water dripping from the two bags of ice in his hands, almost as if the heat of Sofia's words melted them on the spot.
A smile pulls at pink lips as she watches the young Latina continue on her way, and then turns to meet the gaze of the asshole next to her. "Yeah… I am." She says, then readjusts her purse on her shoulder. "Have a pleasant day."
Neither Arizona nor Sofia say a word as they load up the car and start on their way back home. The blonde keeps finding herself staring at her daughter, smiling as Sofia's words replay in her mind. She and Callie haven't really told their daughter all the nasty facts about that crash that happened nearly fifteen years ago, but she knows it cost them dearly. It cost Sofia her father, a father she only knows from the pictures she still keeps in a little box under her bed. And it nearly cost Sofia her Momma. But because Callie fought, and because Arizona fought, sometimes against each other, but mostly for each other, they made it.
They make it home, a little house that's a twenty minute drive from the hospital, Sofia pulls in behind her mother's signature T-Bird and cuts the engine. By the time Arizona is out of the car, Callie is on the porch waiting for them with a smile on her face and a kitchen towel draped over her shoulder.
Their daughter grabs a few bags and carries them into the house, kissing her Mom's cheek as she passes.
"So? How'd it go?" Callie asks her wife as she grabs a few bags herself and slams the tailgate shut.
"It was…" Arizona sighs, turning tearful blue eyes to the woman who stole her heart so many years ago. "Amazing."
The Latina's brow arches in surprise, having already attempted to coach their daughter in driving, and replies, "Really? That's great!"
"Yeah." The blonde murmurs, then reaches out and grabs the ortho surgeon's arm to stop her in her tracks. "But… next time, you're taking her out driving."