6/?
Callie needed coffee. A lot of coffee. Between Nadia being up every few hours and the pace of work, she was exhausted. Overjoyed, beyond happy, content in a way she hadn't thought possible – but still desperate for sleep. Stopping at her favorite coffee shop that was halfway between work and home, she stood in line studying the board, on the search for the most caffeine she could fit in a single cup.
"You look like hell, Cal," came a voice from behind her. She spun around, a little wobbly on her uncaffeinated feet, to have to glance up a little into the face of one of Seattle's finest.
"Always the charmer, Erica," she grinned. "That's what having a newborn does to you. Blissful exhaustion."
One blond eyebrow reached towards her service cap. "You can get that from sex, too, and it doesn't involve dirty diapers. But my my, I don't run into you for a few weeks, and you reproduced?"
Callie pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, the wallpaper of which was Arizona giving Nadia a bath in the kitchen sink. The movement also happened to display her shiny new thin gold wedding ring. "Yeah. Nadia. We adopted her soon after she was born."
A sly grin spread across Erica's face, "Married, with a kid. Never thought I'd see a badass like you tied down, Torres."
With a shrug, Callie glanced at the picture on her phone, "They're worth it. So worth it. Besides, it's always something I've wanted. You know that." She looked up at her friend – and ex – noticing the fine lines of stress around pale blue eyes. "What's up with you? Keeping us safe by patrolling the gritty streets of the Emerald City, Officer Hahn?"
Erica snorted, "Ah, yes, the life of a beat cop. It's fantastic. I've gone through three pairs of boots this year already." As they moved forward in line, she lowered her voice, "I'd like to talk to you, actually. Good luck we met up. Do you have a few minutes?"
Callie eyed her friend, "Sure." The barista cleared her throat, "Oh, sorry. Can I get a large peppermint mocha with three shots of expresso?" The girl nodded, ringing up her order. "What do you want, Erica? On me."
"Large dark roast with one shot of expresso, please," Erica requested of the barista. To Callie she said, "Thanks. And are you looking for heart problems with that much caffeine? Jesus, Cal."
The brunette groaned, "I know, I know, but it's been a long few weeks. I just need to make it to early afternoon – then I can go home and crash."
"If the baby lets you," Erica snarked.
Callie shook her head, "Afternoon's a good time. She likes her nap. But yeah. I'm almost done installing my new gun safe, and even though Arizona's got to go into work when I get home, I should be able to catch a snooze before I have to start dinner."
"Maternity leave?" Erica inquired, accepting her coffee and tossing some change into the tips cup.
Callie nodded, shoving a few small bills as her tip as they left the coffee shop, "Sort of. We're doing a kind of semi-work from home trade off with a bit of leave thrown in. Meredith came up with it, since she's got a baby as well. She wants to spend time with her little Grace, and Derek needs time to actually work at their house." At Erica's raised eyebrow, "He quit Emerald City Intarwebz a few months ago and is doing web design and stuff from home. Didn't I tell you? He remodeled one of their spare bedrooms into an office and holes up there coding things. But he's got a few big projects coming due, so Meredith is working from home right now. She comes in for an hour in the morning, and Cristina goes over after work to catch her up."
Erica laughed, familiar with Cristina's habits, "Probably looking for a free meal, too. Yang can't live off cereal forever."
"She can try, for sure. She's been bringing by work for me or Arizona around lunch. It's a good trade. She doesn't die of scurvy, or whatever you get from eating Froot Loops every meal, and we get to stay home as much as possible."
"You fed the bitch, and now you can't get rid of her," Erica smirked, sipping her coffee.
Callie rolled her eyes, "I will never understand why you can't get along with her. You're both snarky perfectionists with a mean streak."
"Probably because we both are snarky perfectionists with mean streaks, Cal," was the rejoinder.
"Touché." Callie gave a sloppy salute. "So, what did you need to talk to me about?" They were strolling down the street towards Callie's work, which was smack-dab in the middle of Erica's patrol beat.
"I was one of the responders to the Jacobs' Shipping fire. I don't think I want to know what was up with that, but it fits with the rumors I've heard, and the bulletin the feds sent us," Erica began.
"Yes?" Callie cocked her eyebrow and grinned innocently at her friend.
"That the Averys are trying to move into Seattle. Possibly with some human trafficking and more hardcore drugs than you folks generally allow," Erica replied seriously.
"Erica," Callie sighed. Their friendship – and their past ill-fated romance when both were fairly new to town – depended on a certain amount of feigned ignorance of what Callie did, and what Erica was willing to not notice.
Erica held up her free hand. "Look, I was young and stupid and didn't realize how useful your organization was, how crucial it was to keeping this city from descending into a violence-ridden shithole."
"Yeah, Meredith's fucking Robin Hood and I'm Friar Tuck," Callie snorted. "You don't want to know what I really do, Erica."
"You're not? So it isn't you and Grey that make sure St Dismas has enough money for their soup kitchen? Or their homeless shelter? And that you keep that loser O'Malley in charge so it's a place that's open to everyone, even the drag queens? Grey doesn't make sure the rehab house by the waterfront stays open? C'mon, Cal, I'm not some wet behind the ears kid right out of the academy anymore. Whether it's a legit donation from Grey Enterprises or some cash you drop off in a paper bag, I know." Erica sipped her coffee, a triumphant smirk on her face.
Callie ran a hand over her face, "Fine. I'll wear a habit next Halloween if it makes you happy. Are you just trying to impress me with your careful observations and stellar intellect? I'm a married woman now."
"You are, and I bet you're even better in the sack." Erica gave a wide, toothy grin. "Shush, I'm not gonna impede on your wedded bliss. You should know that the feds are very interested in this Jackson Avery guy. They've followed him out here, and they're taking over my fucking precinct. It's a pain in my ass, having some dick in a cheap suit telling me how to walk my beat. They've assigned me a partner, Cal. Some freshfaced shit out of Tacoma. And not just any freshfaced shit, but your boss's half-sister. She changed her name so she's not a Grey, but Lexie Thatcher is in town. You'd probably better let folks know.
With a deep breath, Callie inquired, "So what does she want? Revenge on the besmirching of her good name? Sisterly cuddles?"
"I don't know. Doubt it's violent whatever it is, she's pretty… happy from what I've seen. She just arrived yesterday, and I've got some asshole fed hanging over my shoulder every moment right now. Preston Burke. Could he have a bigger stick up his ass? I don't think so. Thank god he's too lazy to walk or sit in a car following me or he'd be here right now."
"So this is the last patrol you'll do alone?"
"Pretty much. Wanted to get ahold of you. Look," she stopped their walking, digging in her pocket for a slip of paper. "They're probably monitoring all our phones, looking for the dirty ones now. Don't call my cell – not that you ever bother anymore. I bought a burn phone, all with cash, at a 7-11 I know has a broken surveillance camera. Here's the number. If you need me, call. If I need you, I'll call from that number."
"Not gonna stop by to meet my kid?" Callie joked as she accepted the paper, programming the number into her phone under a nickname for her friend.
Erica laughed, "Heartbreaker? Really, Cal, that's what you're calling me? But yeah, I can't risk it. And not from the feds dogging my department. Your girl keeps trying to set me up. I don't want to face another blind date with some woman your wife met at roller derby."
"That was one time," she sighed. Erica had ranted at her for half an hour after that disaster of a setup. "She just wants you happy. For some strange reason, she likes you."
With a gentle tap of her hip against Callie's, Erica grinned, "She's a woman of taste. Still dunno how I landed you for six months, though. Usually my standards are much higher."
"Than some woman you kept hooking up with in a bar bathroom for a month before you even exchanged names? I didn't know you were still so classy. I've moved up in the world myself," Callie grinned at her friend. "Shall I start cruising Dorothy's on your behalf if I ever want to see you settled down?"
With a shudder, Erica replied, "Ugh, no. I was there two months ago and some punk I locked up for drunk and disorderly tried to get her pound of flesh out of my vagina. No. No more bars for me."
"Ew."
"Exactly. I'd have better luck being set up by your girl, Cal, and that's really not saying much. Anyway, here's where we part. Keep in touch."
"I will. Thank you, Officer Hahn," Callie giggled.
"No, thank you, Friar Tuck," Erica toasted her friend with her coffee cup before cutting across the road to continue her beat.
X-X
Mid afternoon, Callie quietly opened her apartment door. It had been a week since Nadia came home with them, and since their entire world had been thrown upside down. A week and a day before, she'd had a girlfriend. Now she had a wife, and a daughter.
Both of whom were snoring on the couch. Well, Arizona was snoring, and Nadia was sprawled on her chest mid-nap. Arizona's laptop was open on the coffee table and displaying Excel spreadsheets, the computer tower they had hooked up to their large screen TV meanwhile had an internet browser window open displaying a youtube playlist made up solely of episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. She recognized the username, too. Her wife (wife! a happy, innocent part of her brain squealed at the thought) had made a playlist of shows for their daughter to watch. Or more likely, listen to consider her eyes probably couldn't focus that far away very well at the moment.
And lying next to the work laptop was the small pile of baby development and parenting books they'd purchased at the Barnes & Noble next to the Babies R Us where a couple of the staff now recognized them on sight after several frantic trips over the past week. Callie felt like she was back in school, reading thick books and trying to best digest the information presented therein. But now the test wasn't a Scantron sheet, but rather the baby in her arms screaming her adorable little head off.
The first full day they'd had their daughter, they'd made a second trip to the Babies R Us for a changing table, crib, and other basic nursery furniture. Then they'd found none of the furniture came assembled. Hauling what they could fit in the car home, and having some delivered the next day, they'd decided on bribery.
For beer and pizza, they could get Alex, April, or Teddy to do just about anything – which had been proven when they'd had to move down five flights of stairs post-car accident and the elevator decided to die that day.
The next night all three of their friends were free, so the misfit trio put together their baby's furniture while they supplied the booze, pizza, and hand tools. The spare room that had been home to just a few boxes and an inflatable mattress for drunk friends now boasted a crib that would convert into a toddler bed, a night stand, a changing table, a rocking chair, and a large set of dresser drawers that should last through Nadia's entire childhood. The evening had ended with them reinflating the mattress in the middle of the living room and settling their rather tired friends to sleep – Alex and April crashing on the mattress and Teddy falling down onto the couch.
If it hadn't been so embarrassing to her protégé, Callie would have laughed at the adorable picture the unconscious cuddling between April and Alex produced the next morning. She'd stumbled out to warm a bottle for Nadia to find the two of them curled together like puppies, April's hand scarily close to the top of Alex's jeans.
Callie concentrated on the moment. She had a fully put together nursery thanks to some mildly intoxicated friends, a wonderful wife who hadn't insisted on repainting their daughter's room pink (thankfully!), and a beautiful daughter. A beautiful daughter who was just starting to squirm in her other mother's grasp, waking up from her nap. Callie set down her things, and gently lifted Nadia from Arizona's chest – her wife murmuring but not fully coming to, she was so tired. Callie ran a hand through curly blond hair, sending Arizona back to her dreams.
"Well, little lady, is someone hungry?" she cooed at the baby in her arms. Juggling Nadia into one arm, she moved over towards the kitchen, grabbing a pre-made bottle from the fridge and settling it into a pan of water already on the stove.
She took a longer glance into the fridge. Most of what she saw were a handful of formula bottles they made each morning for ease of heating, beer, liquor, condiments, and the leftovers from last night's dinner. They really needed to go grocery shopping. She shrugged. They could survive on takeout for awhile. As long as we get back to eating real food by the time Nadia starts to wean, she reassured herself. And maybe cut back on the amount of booze we keep on hand.
Within a few minutes, her daughter was contentedly suckling on a bottle as she leaned against the kitchen counter.
"How did I not wake up?" Arizona grumbled as she stumbled towards them.
"You almost did when I picked her up," Callie reassured her wife. "But I put you back to sleep. Stop being so Pavlovian if you don't like it."
"You rubbed my head, didn't you?" Arizona glared.
"Mmmhmmm." Callie set down the empty bottle and passed Nadia over to her other mom, who already had a towel thrown over her shoulder in preparation for burping. "I ran into Erica this morning," she remarked.
"How's the neighborhood fuzz?" Arizona asked with a grin as she did a gentle dance while rubbing Nadia's back.
"She's fine. Feds are in town, looking for Avery. She's got a new partner – Meredith's half-sister. And she bought a burn phone for us to use while contacting her. Apparently the feds are all over the local precinct, looking for dirty cops." Callie laughed, "Oh, and she says the fed hanging over her shoulder is a real dick."
Arizona smiled as Nadia let a loud belch out. "Well, they won't find any really dirty cops," she remarked. "Just ones like Erica who balance the letter of the law with justice and what's best for the city."
"Technically, Erica could be considered dirty. She's never tried to bring me in, despite seeing some of my work, not even when we broke up. Badly," Callie noted.
"I know, I know. But really, any super dirty cop we take care of." She shrugged, "Didn't you get rid of her last partner for trying to shake down that homeless kid you're friends with?"
Callie shrugged, "Details. That guy was a creep. He didn't want to protect and serve, he wanted to carry a gun and look powerful." She turned to start a pot of coffee, "Besides, Billy doesn't do anything more illegal than sleep on the streets and go through dumpsters. No reason to threaten to take him back to a home where his old man's been popped for domestic assault a dozen times."
Arizona hummed, still dancing around the kitchen. "So, is Erica seeing anyone?" she inquired innocently.
"No, and she doesn't want you setting her up again. She still hasn't forgiven you for that girl you met at Teddy's roller derby meet."
"How was I supposed to know she had a cop fetish?!" Arizona said indignantly.
"It wasn't just a mild fetish, it was a full blown obsession, honey. And creepy. Her dungeon was a replica of a holding cell. Give Erica time. You know she'll want to blow off some steam soon enough, and she isn't fond of picking up women in bars."
"It worked before," Arizona nodded at her wife.
Callie turned a bright red. "And I'm married to you now so it didn't really work out that well in the end, now did it?" She sidled up to her family, and settled her hands on Arizona's hips, swaying them together. She snuck a kiss, moving them into the open space in the living room. "How about a little dance party?"
Arizona laughed, "I'll dance with you anytime, Calliope." Together the little family danced to the soundtrack of children's television playing on the TV.