Hey there, thought you got rid of me didn't you (right calzonafan007)? Well nope, I don't go down that easily. I've been quite busy with moving to a different country for college, orientation and the demands of MyMarine. I just have a couple things to say before you guys start reading this chapter, 1. I'm gonna really try to be better at updating. 2. This story and events and some emotions/feelings within might not follow what some people might expect, want or think is plausible but this is fiction…my fiction at that…and so while I will try to get this as realistic as possible sometimes it won't be and then there are other times when it just suits the story to write it the way I did. So with that said, if you have a problem with that then you should stop reading now and go do something else. For those of you who have no problem with what and how I'm writing, thanks for the support and you can go ahead and get your reading on. Thank you.
September 11, 2012
Callie ended the call; this was the first time in hours that her mind was calm. Arizona should be outside her door in ten minutes but if this Arizona was anything like her Arizona she would be outside in five minutes. The Latina looked around the apartment, it was as clean as it was going to be with a messy four year old living there, and smiled because she thought the colors and decor were more Arizona than her. Callie walked into the kitchen to turn off the oven that held food that she hoped her wife still loved.
Sofía came running out of her room in a bright blue dress, "Mamá can I wear this?"
The older Latina put down the dish that was in her hand and turned to her daughter, "That's not what I picked out for you, Sofía."
"I know, Mamá but I like this," the girl said knowing that in a few heartbeats her moJther would be sending her back to change.
"Sofía Robbin Torres, go change this instant," the little girl pouted but turned and went back to her room. Callie shook her head and wondered what it would be like if Sofía had her other mother around. She chuckled and rolled her eyes because Arizona would have allowed her to wear the dress and would probably have tried to put Callie in one as well.
She missed the fun and easy days with her wife, she wanted them back and her phone call with Mark earlier made her realize that tonight was the night for her to reclaim her relationship…her marriage.
"Mamá, I don't like this shirt!" Sofía shouted from her room.
There was a knock on the door. Arizona was early, as usual, "Then choose another one."
"Can I wear the one that Grandma gave me? The one with Jasmine on it?" the little girl shouted again.
"Yes, Sofía." Callie opened the door to see her wife standing looking at the bottle of red wine in her hand and she smiled, "Hi."
Blue eyes met hers and dimples popped, "Hello, Calliope." She extended the bottle of wine to her, "I hope you don't mind but I brought a bottle of wine…your favorite French Bordeaux."
Callie took the bottle, "Thank you, Arizona." She stepped away from the door, "Come in." The blonde did as she was told and walked into the apartment and looked around. Callie closed the door, "So what'd you think?'
The other woman nodded, "Well it's not frowny and batcaveish like your last apartment."
Callie laughed, "Yeah I tired to get it somewhat neutral and not easter-basket like yours."
The Latina led the woman to the island that served as the breakfast bar, "My apartment was not an easter-basket."
Lighthearted banter like this was surprisingly easy for Callie after what had happened earlier and it made her realize how much she had actually missed her wife over the past four and a half years and how much she really wanted to reconnect with her. "It wasn't cute either, babe." The endearment had slipped out, it was totally accidental and she prayed that Arizona had not picked it up but the look of shock on the blonde's face told her otherwise. Callie was stuck. Should she apologize or should she continue like nothing happened? But why should she apologize? She and Arizona were still married…but they had been apart for over four years and she had no idea what Arizona would think of her calling her 'babe' on the first day that they had seen each other in what felt like forever. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the interruption of her clone.
"Mamá, I'm hungry!" the little Latina said running out of her room. She stopped running when she saw another woman sitting at the island with her mother.
Callie spun to face her daughter, "What did I tell you about running in the house?" Sofía pouted. "Come here, there's someone I want you to meet." Sofía walked up to the two women who both stood up. The blonde woman smiled down at her but her mother spoke, "Sofía, you remember all those stories that Grandma and Grandpa told you about your other Mamá?" the little girl nodded still looking at the woman standing beside her mother. Callie stalled. How do you tell a child that their other parent who they had never met is back? she looked at Arizona and then at Sofía before kneeling to the girl's level. Once again she opened her mouth but her daughter beat her to it.
Sofía looked around her mother and up at the blonde woman, "Are you my other Mamá?" Callie looked up to see Arizona smiling and nodding with tears in her eyes, she reached up for the woman's hand and squeezed it gently. Arizona knelt beside Callie as well. "But Grandpa said that no one knew where you were."
Callie decided to respond to the statement, "That's right, Princesa but she's back now."
Sofía looked from Callie's dark eyes to watery blue ones, "Forever and ever?" Arizona's smile grew and she nodded. Sofía's Robbins dimples popped and she threw her arms around the blonde's neck before she pulled back quickly, "Grandma said you like chickens as much as I like princesses…is that true?"
Arizona chuckled, "That depends, how much do you like princesses?"
Callie rolled her eyes, "You should see her bedroom. Everything she has is related to Disney's princesses."
"Well then yes I think I do love chickens as much as you love princesses," Arizona said looking at her wife's mini-me…her daughter.
Sofía nodded, "Okay." She looked at Callie, "I'm hungry, Mamá."
"Okay, mi'ja let's go eat," the two adults stood up, "But first you have to go wash your hands."
The little Latina sighed before trudging to the bathroom, "Yes, Mamá."
"She's beautiful," Arizona said when Sofía had left the room. "She looks a lot like you."
"I think she looks like you when she smiles," Callie responded taking up plates and carrying them to the table she had set.
Arizona shook her head, "She looks like Tim." She carried another dish over to the table, "So what did you make?"
"Your favorite…well i still hope it's your favorite," Callie responded.
"Oh, you made chicken enchiladas suizas!" Her eyes shined and Callie laughed that Arizona's response was the same as had always been. "Please tell me that you used extra cheese."
"Well that's the way you and Sof like it so of course I did," Callie said placing the final plate in its place.
Just then the little girl ran in and saw what was being placed on the table, "Mamá, you made suizas!" She pulled out her chair and proceeded to sit, her head already bowed for grace.
Callie and Arizona went back to the kitchen for glasses, a cup for Sofía, two bottles of wine and grape juice for the little Latina. They returned and took their seats, "Sof, can you say grace please?"
It was one of the few things that had changed while Arizona was away, they said grace before every meal and prayed before going to bed. Even though the blonde had never considered herself religious, Callie was and felt that there was a need for Sofía to be even slightly religious so they sometimes attended Mass but that and the daily prayers were as far as it would go.
Sofía nodded and began, "Dear God, thank you for bringing my other Mamá home so that we can be a family and so that Mamá can be happy again."
Callie looked up when she had been silent for a few seconds, "And what about the food, Sof?"
"Oh and thank you for the food too," she added hastily.
Callie shared out Sofía's food before Arizona's and hers. When she had finished that and everyone was eating she looked up and smiled. Fve years ago when she found out that she was pregnant the scene that was before her now was one that she would play out in her head. She and Arizona would come home from work, their baby from school and they would all sit around the dining room table eating, laughing, talking about their day and being a family. Four and a half years later her dream was being realized after her wife had disappeared and then returned and that baby had grown into a fun-loving, happy but troublemaking girl.
A girl that was probably too smart for her own good, "Momma 'Zona?" Callie saw the slight shock on Arizona's face but of course Sofía did not. "I'm gonna call you Momma 'Zona 'cause Grandpa calls you 'Zona. So Momma 'Zona, where were you?"
Callie looked at the blonde with interest. She knew that Piero Vasquez had taken her wife but that was as much as she knew. Blue eyes looked at her briefly before focusing on another pair of chocolate brown eyes, "Some really bad men took me to Spain."
Sofía scrunched her brows and put a forkful of food in her mouth, "Why?"
"Sofía don't talk with you mouth full of food," Callie chastised.
The other woman smiled slightly, "Because one of their little girls was sick and they wanted me to take care of her."
The little girl nodded as though that made all the sense in the world, "Grandpa told me that you're a baby doctor."
"That's right. I do big surgeries on little people," Arizona said before placing her own forkful of food in her mouth.
"Mamá and Uncle Mark and Aunty 'Tina and everybody at Mamá's hospital do surgeries too!" she exclaimed.
"Oh is that so? What kind of surgery does your Mamá do?" Arizona asked trying to keep up the conversation with the little girl.
"She breaks bones," she answered matter-of-factly.
"That's interesting; I thought she fixed them when they were broken," shining blue eyes met Callie's. It was a running joke between them since they met so many years ago.
"No, she breaks 'em. Uncle Mark always says that he's scared that Mamá will break his bones too," Arizona laughed at the serious look that Sofía was giving her.
Callie could not help thinking that this was what she had always wanted, that maybe everything would be okay and her life would go back to how she had it four and a half years ago. Despite thinking this and all those giddy feelings she was currently experiencing she knew that she had to work out some kinks regarding her relationship with Arizona. Seeing Sofía and the other woman interact made her even more certain that it was possible and that they could be a happy family. Mark's talk about starting over, reestablishing connections and being open with Arizona had set her off on the path to fixing and regaining her marriage but it was seeing her daughter and wife interact that sped her along.
For the remainder of the meal Callie watched and listened as Arizona and Sofía found out more about each other. She could see their daughter growing to love her other mother and wished that Vasquez had never come between the two. Tonight was the first time in a very long time that Sofía had sat at the table after she had finished eating and Callie could not help but smile at Sofía's fourth attempt to get the blonde into her room to show her the stuffed princesses that sat on the shelf above her bed. Arizona promised her that next time she would visit them which prompted another line of questioning from the little girl.
She scrunched her brows again, "So if you're my other Mamá, Mommy 'Zona, why don't you stay here with me and Mamá?"
Arizona looked at Callie who could only offer a shrug. She knew Sofía was smart for her age but she never expected her to deduce and ask Arizona that question, so she shrugged.
The blonde looked back at the child and pulled out one of her trademark super magic smiles, "Well Sof that's because all my things are back at the motel that I'm staying at."
That was supposed to end it but Sofía continued, "Uncle Mark can move them in his truck. It can hold lots of stuff."
"Well then I'll talk to Uncle Mark and see what can happen, okay?" Arizona stretched her hand and ruffled Sofía's dark hair.
She giggled, "Are you going to talk to Uncle mark tonight so you can move your stuff tomorrow?"
Callie decided to step in, "Sofía, did you finish your homework?"
She turned hopeful eyes to her mother, "Not all of it, Mamá."
"Bueno, puedes ir y completarlo? Arizona estará aquí cuando haya terminado," Callie responded.
"But, Mamá quiero hablar con Mamá 'Zona un poco más," she whined.
"Sofía, homework. Now," she used the infamous Torres glare on her. It was not something she was proud of but Sofía could be very stubborn if she wanted to be. She pouted and left the table. Callie sighed and looked up at Arizona, "Sorry about that."
"It's nothing. I wish I was here when she was growing up," Arizona responded leaning forward on the table.
"You're here now," the blonde nodded. Callie sighed again. It was time to make things right. "I'm sorry about earlier…what happened in Mark's office."
"You don't have to apologize Calliope. You were shocked to see me after more than four years. I was actually surprised that you were as receptive as you were."
Callie shook her head, "I couldn't sign the papers. I don't even know where they are now…"
Arizona stood up, walked over to Callie's side of the table and stooped, "I'm here now and like I told Sof I'm here forever and ever."
Callie broke down again and wrapped her arms around Arizona's neck. The shorter of the two women pulled them up to full height, "I didn't know that I could go on for almost five years without you, Arizona."
"I'm sorry that you had to go through even one year," Arizona stroked the dark hair on her wife's head. "I tried so hard to get back to you. I cried every night for four and half years because I left you and our baby. I'm sorry Calliope."
The brunette shook her head, "You don't have anything to apologize for. You didn't leave…those bastards took you." She lifted her head from Arizona's shoulder and dried her eyes, "But you're back and I want to fix everything…go back to the way we were before everything happened."
Arizona smiled, "I'd like that a lot, Calliope." her smile faltered slightly, "But it isn't going to be easy."
"I know but I want this. I want us to be a family again. I want my wife back."
"Well I'm back," he blonde said with a smile.
"Momma 'Zona! C'mere, please!" Sofía shouted from her room.
"She just wants to show you those toys that your parents continue to buy for her," Callie said untangling her arms from Arizona's neck.
Arizona laughed, "I think I'll go see what she wants. Which door is it?"
"Second door on the left. You can't miss it, there's a huge picture of Ariel and Sebastian on it," she rolled her eyes and turned to take up the dishes as Arizona walked out.
This was it. This was what she wanted. The ease of having Arizona again, the happiness that was constantly inside her when the blonde was around. It had returned and it was what she wanted Sofía to feel. The joy and light that was Arizona Torres-Robbins. She saw that the little girl was already enamored with the woman and wondered what it would have been like if Arizona had always been in her life. She shook her head, it was time to stop the what if's because Arizona was back and she said that she would always be there. Callie released a breath, it was one that she was holding since Carter and Rosen showed up at her front door, and it felt as though the weight of the world was taken off her shoulders. Her wife was back and that was all that mattered in that moment.
Twenty five minutes later Callie had everything washed and in its rightful place and her kitchen was completely spotless again…until Sofía decides that she wants a cookie and leaves the crumbs on the floor. So with nothing to do she decided to check in on Arizona and Sofía since the woman had not resurfaced since she left to go see what Sofía wanted. She walked up to the room and found the door ajar. A raven-haired head peeked in and saw Sofía sitting at her little desk (the only thing in the room that had no connections to Disney, although Sofía had covered it in stickers the day after she got it) and Arizona kneeling beside her helping with homework.
Sofía tapped her pencil against her head as Arizona spoke to her, "So if Sofía has three dolls, I have one doll and Mamá has two dolls, how many dolls are there?"
She counted on her fingers and Arizona helped her, "That's six dolls."
Arizona high-fived her, "That's right, big girl. Okay, if Uncle Mark takes four of the dolls, how many are we left with?"
Sofía giggled, "Uncle Mark can't have dolls 'cause they're for girls and he's a boy."
Arizona laughed along with her, "Okay so who's your best friend then?"
The girl answered in a heartbeat, "Zola. She's Uncle Derek and Aunty Merry's daughter. Mamá says we're like sisters."
"Okay that's great. So we had six dolls, right?" dark curled bounced as Sofía nodded, "So how many do we have left if Zola takes four of them?"
She counted on her fingers again and held up two fingers, "Two!"
"That's right!" another high-five and Sofía wrote down the number in her book. Arizona turned around to see Callie standing at the door, "Hey Sof, look who it is."
"Mamá, Momma 'Zona was helping me with my homework but we're done now," she said beaming at the women.
Callie walked into the room, "That's great, princesa."
She nodded, "And I showed Momma 'Zona all my princesses. She doesn't have a favorite princess so I'm gonna help her choose one next time. I told her that your favorite princess is Sleeping Beauty but I don't know why." Sofía followed Arizona to where Callie was standing, "Mamá, can I have a popsicle?"
"Sure, mi'ja but only one and then you have to get ready for bed, okay?" Callie said picking her up.
Fifteen minutes later Sofía was brushing her teeth (Callie was actually surprised that she did not need to take another bath), Arizona was in the kitchen sipping on a glass of white wine and Callie herself was busy moving between the two.
The younger Latina ran out of the bathroom and into the kitchen in her Ariel pajamas, she threw her arms around Arizona's legs, "Goodnight, Momma 'Zona."
The blonde placed her glass on the counter, stooped and hugged her, "Goodnight, Sofía."
She pulled back and looked Arizona in the eyes, "Momma 'Zona, do you know the Sleep Tight Song?"
Callie had walked in and saw the confused look on the woman's face, "She named it that. It's the song you used to sing when she would kick me in the middle of the night."
Sofía's eyes went wide when she heard that Arizona knew the song, "Can you sing it for me, please?"
Arizona chuckled at the pout that resembled Callie's so much, "Sure but first you have to tell Mamá goodnight and get into bed real quick."
Sofía squealed and ran to hug Callie before running to her room. Arizona stood up and moved to beside the other woman, "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen her so excited to go to bed."
The blonde woman laughed, "I'll be back soon."
Ten minutes later Arizona was sitting beside Callie who was watching the late news, "She's out like a light."
"Thanks again for putting up with her and her demands."
"Why are you thanking me? She's two halves of two people I love wrapped up to make one little person that I love as well," Callie looked over at Arizona who was already looking at her.
Of course she still loved her wife, she had whispered it every day. She still wore her ring, true it was not on her finger like Arizona's put she wore it around her neck, on the chain that continued to hold the heart gaped pendant that they exchanged for Valentine's Day so long ago.
A few seconds of silence passed between them. "She's your daughter too you know," Callie whispered. "She just met you and she loves you already."
"Like I said, I love her as well. I always did, even when I hadn't met her," she reached across and grabbed Callie's hand. "You did an amazing job raising her. I told you that you'd make a great mom."
Callie smiled and Arizona squeezed her hand. This was it…the beginning of their future…again. They had begun discussions, of course it was not about the heavy stuff but there was a start and for Callie and Arizona that was something. Even though it was something that Callie had known since she walked into Mark's office earlier that day and saw Arizona, it was a wonderful feeling having it confirmed by the blond herself. The desire to get back the family that they had lost was strong for both of them it was what they both wanted more than anything. Arizona's four and a half year absence was behind them, tonight and every night form now on it was just them and their daughter, trying to build the life they never had and had both thought (even just for a second) that they had lost.
I could so totally end it there but I'm not gonna be mean 'cause I've got a little plan for this story. Oh and just incase you didn't notice, I didn't kill Tim in this story so he might just make an appearance soon…might. Additionally, I totally shaped Sofía how I wanted her. Admittedly she's kinda me, without the Latina. The whole Disney Princesses thing, being noisy and troublesome, running in the house when told not to…yeah that's me. I gave her my birthday as well…even though she would be like fourteen years younger than me. But yeah that's really all I had to say other than leave me a quick review/comment about the chapter or anything you want. Have a wonderful rest of the day guys :