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: Someone on LJ prompted me to add a second shot of 'A's and F's', one in which some 'old wounds' have been opened up with both Callie and Arizona, and do a little reassurance piece.
AN: As stated in the prompt, this follows the ficlet titled 'A's and F's'. Enjoy!
Old Wounds
The final scene of 300 fades to black and the credits start to roll. Throughout the movie, a fourteen year old Sofia sat in a corner of the couch, legs curled under her and a slice of half eaten Hawaiian pizza in front of her on the coffee table. In the other corner, a strong, tanned arm wraps around the blonde as Arizona leans back against her wife. Both surgeons have their own plates of pizza, along with a small pile of picked off pineapple. After their little talk earlier, Arizona suggested some cold pizza and a movie, and all three women couldn't imagine a more calming family night.
But now the movie is over, and Arizona is the first to move from her cozy spot. "Tell me again… why is 300 a 'family' movie?" The peds surgeon asks, still unclear as to why her two favorite girls in the world seem to always outvote her when it comes to picking films.
"Hello! Abs?" Sofia states, like her mother is dense or something.
"And legs." Callie adds, making blue eyes dart to the Latina only to get a smirk from those plump lips.
Arizona rolls her eyes and explains, "When I said 'good movie', I was thinking something like… "
"Finding Nemo?" Her daughter says.
"Cinderella?" Callie supplies.
"Ooo, Peter Pan!"
"Lady and the Tramp."
"Pocahontas."
The two keep pitching Disney movie titles back and forth, all the while Arizona just sits between them and takes the brunt of the teasing.
"Ok! So I like Disney, so what?" The blonde interrupts, pulling on a pout and sitting back against the back cushion with her arms crossed tightly crossed her chest. "Sorry that I think blood and guts and naked guys running across my TV screen doesn't count as relaxation. I get enough of that at work."
"You have naked guys running through your pediatrics ward? I should visit you at work more often." Sofia questions playfully, only to get a pillow tossed square at her head in retaliation.
"That's it. Bedtime, Ms. SmartAss." Arizona states, using her fake authoritative voice. Sofia pretends to huff and grumble about it, but quickly concedes.
"Night Mom." Sofia murmurs, bending down to place a kiss on Callie's cheek. She turns to find her other mother on her feet, and goes to wrap the blonde up in a tight hug. "Thanks, Ma. You know… for the talk earlier."
"Anytime, baby girl." Arizona whispers, returning her daughters hug in equal strength. But when Sofia goes to pull away, fair hands grab her shoulders to keep her close. "But I want to say one more thing… Upstairs, when I said Mom was the most amazing woman ever? I lied." Both sets of brown eyes furrow in confusion, then the blonde explains, "Because the most amazing woman ever created is in my arms right now."
A blush starts to heat beneath tanned cheeks and Sofia has to drop her gaze from bright blue eyes out of embarrassment. "Maaaa…."
"And maybe I'm biased, I don't know. But you, Sofia, are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. …And I know you're going to grow into an equally beautiful woman. One that's brilliant, and kind, and strong." Arizona whispers, her words being for her daughter's ears only even though her wife is close enough to hear every syllable. "Everything we've raised you to be. We are so proud of you, sweetie. And I know your Dad would be too." A single tear leaks from daughter's eyes, and Arizona smiles softly at the little girl she made breathe that scary day so long ago. The day where Arizona was afraid she wouldn't just lose one of her girls, but both. But she didn't, and now her life is full of love and happiness.
A couple hours later, Arizona finally makes it up the stairs and limps into her shared bedroom to find her wife already under the covers, the newest edition of her Orthopedic Journal in her hands. The blonde plops on her side of the bed and easily detaches her prosthesis from her body, setting it off to the side like any other night.
Already clad in her pajamas, the peds surgeon lays back in bed, not even bothering to pull the covers over her body. "God, this day was brutal." She groans, her hands running down her face roughly. Her right leg splays out towards the Latina, seeking some sort of skin on skin contact, but touches something else.
"Huh…" Arizona hums, "What's this?"
"No!" Callie yelps, reaching for the object but it's too late because the blonde has already fished it out from where the ortho surgeon was attempting to hide it under the covers.
It only takes a second for Arizona to figure out what her wife was trying to hide, and an unamused glare comes barreling out of blue eyes. "Really?"
"What?" Callie asks innocently, taking the book from her wife's grip. "I was curious."
"You fished out my 30 plus year old yearbook because you were 'curious'?" Arizona asks, getting only a nod 'yes' in return. When she sees Callie quickly flip to the page which has a very young, and very metallic Arizona Robbins on it, she adds "And it just so happens to be bookmarked. How convenient for you."
"Stop whining, it's unattractive on you." Callie states offhandedly. "Besides, I wanted to see what my Arizona looked like when she was-"
"Metal mouth?" The blonde cuts in but scoots closer to the other woman to look over her shoulder.
"Aw, look at you." Callie coos, a painted fingernail pointing out a picture of a young blonde with a smile full of metal. "You were so cute, honey."
"Please…" Arizona groans in indifference. "I had so much wiring in my mouth I picked up HBO."
"Oh, stop it." The Latina sighs.
"You know what, since you got to see Metal Mouth, I get to see Unibrow." The peds surgeon states.
"Arizona!" Callie gasps in shock, but her wife is already pushing herself up and grabbing her crutches. She watches as Arizona makes a beeline for the Latina's stash of old memories, flipping through pictures and photo albums before coming to one that is from her middle school years.
"Ha! Found it." The blonde exclaims in triumph. "Now it's time for some payback." It doesn't take long for Arizona to find the right class and track down her young wife, rows and rows of black and white pictures staring back up at her. About halfway down on the page, the peds surgeon finds her, a toothy grin, a wild mane of black hair and soulful eyes identical to those of their daughter's.
"Horrible, isn't it." Callie says, staring at her photo with more than a hint of disgust.
Blue eyes turn from the yearbook and slowly track back to the grown adult version sitting next to her. "Yeah… awful." Arizona muses sarcastically.
"Oh, come on." Callie sighs, pointing to her picture. "See? Unibrow. And, if you didn't notice, I was a bit… you know." But when Arizona just stares blankly back at her, the Latina mumbles, "Chunky."
"What?! No! No." Arizona replies immediately. "You were… athletic." But the blonde can tell that it has already hit her wife, so she closes the yearbook and tosses the two off the bed before reclining back against the pillows next to the other woman.
"I went through hell, Arizona." Callie whispers after a few quiet moments. "And it makes me sick that our daughter is going through it too."
"I know, Calliope." Arizona murmurs, propping up on her side and brushing back a few stray raven locks from her wife's face.
"I mean, there were days where all I would do is stare at myself in the mirror and cry. Because I wasn't… I was heavy, and I had a darker complexion, and darker hair, and I had hips…" Callie rambles, not realizing how much of her own issues are being brought up because of Sofia's issue in the school locker room. "It'd be one thing if all those other girls would just leave me alone, you know? Leave the geek with the unibrow and chews on her hair alone. But… they tormented me. Luckily no one could ever agree on a single horrible nickname for me, so I was spared that. But still, it was awful."
"I think… I think that those years are hard on everyone." Arizona supplies, her hand trailing down the length of her wife's body and interlacing her fingers with the bone breakingly strong hand resting on the Latina's stomach. "Even the 'popular' kids. They're all just trying to figure out who they are. …Imagine coming to terms with your sexuality at that age on top of everything else."
Callie's grip tightens on her wife's, and she asks, "How'd you do it?"
The blonde takes a deep breath, her refreshed memories playing back in front of her eyes. "I had an amazing support system. My parents, after the initial shock wore off, were amazing about it all. And Tim, well, I pretty much ruined every girl on girl sex fantasy he ever had." A loud belt of laughter comes roaring from her wife, making Arizona giggle.
"But he was there for me when I needed him. Same with my parents. …Same with you." Arizona adds, nudging her battered limb against one of the Latina's legs. "That's all anyone needs, Calliope. A family, people that love you unconditionally. And Sofia has that in us. So… I'm not worried. Sure, she'll get called some horrible things. And yeah, she'll get made fun of because she has two moms. But… it'll make her stronger in the end. Look at you. You're the fiercest woman I know and you don't take crap from nobody… besides me, occasionally."
"Only because I have to." Callie says playfully, reaching around the blonde and pulling her wife down to nestle into the taller woman's body. "But still… She's my baby, and I can't help but get all 'Mama Bear' about all of this."
"Well, if all else fails…" Arizona sighs against her wife's chest. "I'll teach her how to punch."
"Arizona." The Latina pokes at the blonde's side.
"What? There are only so many cheeks you can turn before all that's left to turn is a right hook." The peds surgeon states firmly. When dark eyes crack open and find blue, Arizona shrugs and adds, "It worked for me."