AN: Thank you lovely people for your interest in our little story. We can't thank you enough that you continue to read and review, it means a lot.
Thank you as always Zoe and Gene for their input in this chapter and the rest. And Shinata-Riyoko and her red pen to the rescue
Sportsfan needs her own call out here because without her support, attention to detail, and her brilliant ideas, the level of intimacy reached in this story would have fallen seriously flat. She not only helped with some confidence issues in writing such scenes, but further progressed the storyline along with her quick catches, insightful thoughts, and gentle prodding for more answers. Thank you, your help in this has made all the difference. - Nic and Sadie
Chapter 8 Ba-Ba Po-TAE-TOH-Oh-Oh Togari Noh Pocato Li Kani Malo Mani Kano Chi Ka-Ba-Ba, Ba-Ba-naNAAAAHHHHHHH!
It Was Dr. Torres In The Lounge With The Poisoned Lips
"Hey?" Callie stepped back in surprise and confusion at the sight of her ex-wife at her door.
The actions, letting Arizona believe it to be a welcome, had her walking through the small space between Callie and the door, into her foyer. "Thanks."
Even with her confusion as to Arizona's presence and teetering on the edge from her disrupting dream, Callie's manners faltered none, her courteous hosting immediately taking over as Arizona shrugged off her coat. Without a second thought, Callie was hanging it in the item of clothing in her coat closet. "So … not to sound completely rude, but why are you here, Arizona? I thought you, Mom, and Sofia were going to the movies tonight." She wasn't trying to be rude but according to Barbara, tonight was movie night and she hadn't assumed that included her in the equation after she specifically told Barbara, 'no'.
"Yeah ... Um, Mom said to meet her here. She said … she said we were to act like adults and put our differences aside for our daughter for a family-style game-night. She insisted that the movies could wait. I just assumed you agreed by the way she acted as if it were nothing. Not that we really had a choice, but I didn't think, I thought you'd … damn it." Arizona sighed running her fingers through her hair in show of nerves. "She didn't tell you I was coming, did she? Or anything about this?"
"No. She told me she was bringing Sofia back after the movies, late tonight." Callie shook her head, rolling her eyes, clearly annoyed by the look on her face.
"Look, I can go if this is too much. Just have Mom call when she's gotten here. I'm sorry." Arizona bit her lip, trying hard not to cry at the thought of losing out on precious time with Sofia. And any time with Callie. But she'd be the bigger person here, and she wasn't going to stay in a place she obviously wasn't wanted.
"No stay," she quickly argued. "It's … it's fine. We'll have a game night." Callie cleared her throat as emotions lodged themselves, stealing her voice and replacing it with that scratchy, husky voice she had when she was overwhelmed. She didn't want Arizona to think she was anything but calm and collect. "I guess that they shouldn't be too much longer. Do you want something to drink?" She led Arizona into the kitchen, stepping behind the breakfast bar in order to put space between them.
"I have water, ice tea …" Callie shut the fridge, realizing how bare it was and not wanting Arizona to think she was an unfit mother because of that. However, she wasn't supposed to have her daughter this evening and was planning on grocery shopping while Sofia was out with them. "Wine?" Callie opened the cabinet above the fridge where her alcohol was stored along side her small wine cooler, locking mechanism included. Callie was trying to keep her emotions at bay, her girlfriend had just broke things off with her, she was sad, but yet, Arizona was here and it seemed to numb the pain just being in her presence. It was confusing, her head and her heart were having a constant battle and she wasn't sure just which one was winning.
"Wine!" Arizona cringed as she answered a little too quickly, but the idea of something to dull her senses and give her a sense of confidence she was truly lacking, was a superb idea.
"White still?" Callie automatically began to unwrap the foil from around the cork and started to fiddle with the corkscrew. A mundane task, not much to think about: unwrap and uncork, but she remembered how Arizona would always lick the side of her glass because Callie always managed to drip the contents down the side when trying to pour. Her thoughts remained on Arizona delicately running her tongue up the side of the glass ...arrrrgh no sexy thoughts. Callie stopped for a moment trying to regain her composure. Arizona could sense how nervous she was and, without a thought, closed the gap between them and placed her hands over Callie's in a silent request that she would do it. Callie felt herself relax slightly as both women made proper eye contact for the first time since Arizona had unexpectedly shown up ... days ago.
"You never were any good at opening these, honestly, how do you survive?" Arizona jested and offered a small chuckle as she tried to ease some of the tension.
"Screw Caps." Callie laughed too. "I normally only buy screw caps, but it was a gift from Ton..." Callie quickly realized that she was about to mention her girlfriend...ex-girlfriend to her ex-wife. Not that it should matter, but somehow it did. Callie knew that Arizona knew about Tony, obviously since she interrupted them at the most awkward of moments, but it was still so … awkward, it shouldn't be...but it was. "It was a birthday gift and since I don't often drink white, it's really all I have to offer." She shrugged; avoiding eye contact once again in hopes Arizona didn't see through her lame answer. Callie was quite self-sufficient when it came to corks, she was even all those years ago, but something about Arizona made her look like a fifteen year old boy trying to figure out how to put a condom on for the first time. She always made Callie jumpy, antsy, and ridiculously aroused when it came to uncorking a bottle. Moving herself away from the closeness, she returned to the cabinet, fetching two glasses, and turning back to Arizona who had now removed the cork from the bottle. She pointed back toward the tall chairs at the high dining room table, offering Arizona a direction to turn.
"Do you want to take a seat?" Callie waited for Arizona to make her move with the wine over to the table before she made sure she was at the opposite side, creating an acceptable distance between them once again.
Arizona waited for Callie to place the glasses before she started to pour some wine. Offering Callie a soft smile, she picked up her glass and smelled the contents as she lightly swished the white liquid around its sides. "Mmmm smells delicious." Before she took a sip, licking her lips. Callie hadn't realized that she had been staring, and when Arizona's eyes caught the brown ones, she quickly shook herself back into step.
Jumping up Callie spoke quickly. "So, wanna play a round or two while we wait?" She managed to get her brain to kick into gear as she saw Arizona smile, realizing that she'd been caught. She was halfway to the game closet before Arizona spoke, or really before she caught what Arizona was saying.
"Are you trying to avoid awkward silence and even more awkward conversation, Calliope?" Arizona could not stop the edge in her voice sounding a little flirty as Callie gave a short uncomfortable snort.
"Just shuddup and play." Callie hid her blushing cheeks by quickly pulling off the lid to the Scrabble game that had been sitting first on a pile she'd brought back to the table. She quickly held it up, acting as if she was reading the instructions on the inside of the box.
"And you're reading the directions, why? Have the rules changed any in the past 100 years?" Arizona teased; she had caught sight of Callie's reddened cheeks before she could cover up her face with the cardboard box. It was so easy, too easy to fall back into their old ways, and it beat the awkwardness that being around each other after five years brought with it. If a little inappropriate flirting was the answer, Arizona would be inappropriate.
"Pick your tiles." Callie shoved the bag of tiles in Arizona's direction, smirking while pulling out the board and setting it up.
Conversation was little as they both studied their pieces, carefully placing tiles on the board, forming words that wouldn't lead to arguments or discussions of definitions and proper usage. Medical terminology was avoided because it would easily turn into a debate about proper names, abbreviations, and end up in accusations of cheating. To say it was boring was an understatement. Callie was going to throw the board if either one of them played another stupid three-letter word. How many times could you use the words and or dog?
Pulling tiles again, Callie stifled a yawn and with Arizona quickly catching on to the 'fake cough, cover the mouth to hide the yawn' routine. It hadn't occurred to either of them that they were still alone in the apartment, but Arizona wanted to prolong her stay even if originally unwelcome, so she beefed up her game. Entertain Callie and keep her attention. She was enjoying herself just too much to give it up.
"Did you read the news today?" Arizona asked as they began the next game. Before she could continue, Callie's eyes lit up with interest and she jumped at the conversation.
"The Disney Princess debacle? Yes! The drama is unreal. If our seven year old daughter can figure out the difference between fiction and reality, understanding that while we are a color blind family that comes in all shapes and sizes, the media and entertainment world are not, and to take the stereotypes with a grain of salt, why can't these parents? Just let them enjoy their princess dreams. So because their child doesn't look like a Disney princess they can't play 'let's fricken pretend'? Since when are those stupid princesses role models we want for our children anyway? I say the further they are from something realistic, the better!" Callie's tirade was exactly what Arizona was hoping to achieve. They both understood that Disney wasn't ever going to get it right. There were thousands of different types of people in the world and there was no way in hell Disney would ever dare to put out a lesbian princess, but to them, that wasn't grounds for this new fad of suing Disney over damaging children's self-esteems. That was all on the parents for not instilling a sense of pride and identity in their children, not an entertainment source.
"Tell me about it." Arizona smiled as Disney princesses bled into the next conversation and then another one from there. Finally, they'd reached relaxed, thank you alcohol and common ground.
"I always get the X-tile. Trade with me!" Arizona whined and batted her eyelashes. It used to work too, back when they were married. She could convince Callie of almost anything, but she was also a pushover because if Callie gave into her wife, she knew it would be made up for with extra sexual favors later that night, but that wasn't an option here. But they'd already each had over half a bottle of wine, and this was their second game where Arizona was losing yet again and her inhibitions had gone out the window with the completion glass number three. Wine and the relaxed atmosphere made it feel like old times. They were laughing and teasing each other, and things felt normal, and Arizona almost forgot that they weren't married, that they were usually separated by an entire country; no, Arizona did forget and for the first time in too long she felt great.
Looking down at the board, Callie realized that they had slipped into old habits as she took in the plethora of dirty words that had overtaken the playing surface.
Wet.
Toy.
Mount.
Hammer.
Fingers.
Lick.
Thrust.
Pound.
Poke.
Rub.
Tight.
Somewhere deep down she knew this was inappropriate, but a little further up that ladder, told her not to care. When was the last time this had happened? More than half a decade ago, and how long again until Callie would feel like she'd come home for the first time in too long? Feel safe and comforted just being in the same room with somebody. Feel … feel whole, finally really whole? Callie didn't care. She also didn't question why Tony had never made her feel this way. Tony and the lack of Tony being her girlfriend was the furthest thing from her mind at the very moment. Scanning the tiles left her eyes brightened as she saw spacing for the word she wanted. She started placing them out with an extra bounce to her game.
"Banana, that isn't a dirty word. You're a cheater!" Arizona instantly realized what she had said and looked startled as she made eye contact with Callie who had smiled warmly at the antics, before she realised that was her and Tony's safe word. Banana was their sex word and common sense took over as she pushed the board game slightly out of reach. She wasn't so far gone that she forgot the circumstances of their life, but she was far enough that Arizona's unconscious constant flirting could and would lead to more if she didn't stop it now. She might be unattached now, but she still remembered how much Arizona broke her. There would always be something about Arizona that made her heart beat faster and her sensibility go out the window so she wasn't go to test that theory.
"I think we've played enough, I'm getting bored." She changed the subject. They'd been at this for over two hours, so involved in the game and small talk that neither had realized Sofia and Barbara were MIA in all that time, and still even now.
Separate couches. Callie told herself as they made their way over to her family room. It was because she wanted Arizona to be able to stretch out and relax her leg, but it was also to put as much distance between them as possible without looking obvious. Her heart was still pounding and she was pretty sure she was sweating like a cheap whore in church.
"Hoodwinked!" Arizona managed to get out as she shook her head and muffled some laughter, she hadn't realised how loud she'd said it, but her brain had kicked into gear when she had been thinking about what could be taking her mother so long.
"What?" Callie choked, her eyes averting from where she had accidentally been staring at Arizona's chest to the ceiling. Fuck.
"Hoodwinked. You know, like we've been Ashton Kutchered?" Arizona lowered her voice as she looked onto the startled woman.
"Huh? Wait … who? What?" If it wasn't Arizona catching her roaming eyes then… what? Callie was confused; she'd been lost in a daydream. A very naughty daydream.
"Hoodwinked Callie. Deceived. By Mom and Dad. They aren't bringing Sofia over tonight; this was just one of their attempts at getting us to sit down in the same room together without our daughter as a buffer. So we've been punked. You know, that ridiculous show Mark used to make us watch all the time, the one with Ashton Kutcher as the host?" Arizona sighed. "I guess it's time. We can only put this off for so much longer."
Callie relaxed when she realized this had nothing to do with where her ... where their minds had been this evening and currently, but froze at the idea of what 'it's time' meant. "Sofia needs us to be civil, Cal. To have these moments where we don't want to run and hide from the other and actually be on the same coast at times, it was bound to happen eventually."
"I agree. I've missed …" Callie took a deep breath, inhaling deeply and exhaling long. "I have missed you. I'm sorry I've been less than welcoming since you got here."
"I'm sorry I came unannounced, and then hid from you before barging in on your life." Arizona watched Callie curl into a sort of fetal position of sorts, a sign of needing comfort from the new chill in the air.
"I guess if we talked, if I put more effort into being reachable and approachable, this all could have been avoided." Callie admitted her faults, no longer ashamed of her actions. Or at least no longer ashamed to admit her actions and her part in all of this. She still had shame and lots of it.
"This isn't only on you, but I appreciate that, thank you." Arizona's voice was quiet; she felt an odd mix of emotions coursing through her, not all she was ready to identify. She waited a beat and looked up at her ex-wife. "Callie?" The quietness of her voice was now a whisper.
"Hmmm?"
"I missed you too." She held her breath waiting for a reaction, any reaction from Callie. Feeling ten times lighter as a smiled graced her ex's face; Arizona returned the gesture.
Lost In Translation
"Wanna watch a movie? It's still early enough, and we both have wine left in our glasses, and there's another bottle in the chiller, and nobody's driving; it doesn't have to be a long one." Callie babbled on and on, giving excuse after excuse as to why Arizona should stay.
"Why Calliope Torres, are you actually enjoying my company and asking me to stay a bit longer?" She teased, the tension between them no longer there at all.
Callie started stuttering, biting her lip, a blush rising over her cheeks. Why did she feel like a teenage boy at a make out party with the girl he liked? "Yes." She spat out the single word with conviction instead of the nerves she was really feeling.
"Go grab the wines, Callie, and I'll pick something On-Demand. Do you have another blanket or throw? You always get cold watching evening TV."
It was just like old times all over again, without the sexual innuendos and tension that came with that. It was just right, and neither questioned it.
"No, I didn't think I was having company. I threw all the blankets in the laundry." Callie shrugged putting Arizona's wine glass and bottle within easy reach before placing her own on the coffee table.
Without another word, Arizona rolled her eyes in a display of nothing more than a teasing gesture, knowing very well that her ex probably over stuffed the washer, again, with all that she was washing. She pulled back the lone throw left in the house and waited for Callie to take the unspoken invitation. In their post-crash time together, this would never have happened, Arizona would never have opened herself up to Callie in this way. All Callie had ever known was that the throw in the lap was how Arizona had hid her deformity, her lack of leg, from herself and the world, but now, for Arizona it was just a comfort thing. Some people crossed their legs, some people twiddled their thumbs, and Arizona liked to have a blanket in her lap, give her hands something to fiddle with, her body a little extra warmth that she missed living by herself with nobody to cuddle.
Why did she choose a damn romantic comedy? Why? What on earth was she thinking when she decided to pick this damn movie? She wasn't, that's the problem. When she questioned why Callie had the silly movie saved and recorded on her DVR, the woman got so excited over a cameo that her car made, Arizona fed off of the enthusiasm and decided to humor her so she could beam with pride over a damn automobile. And now, here she was, staring at the television trying hard not to react to the sizzling heat that was soaring to record heights between her legs. Every time a love scene came on the screen, she could feel her cheeks beaming in redness and Callie sat looking almost unfazed, which only annoyed her to be the lone person feeling such arousal. What was she thinking? She felt as though she was watching with her mother trying not to let on that it was causing a reaction.
It brought back terrible memories of her childhood, her teen years to be exact. There was a sleepover with her girlfriend, except her parents had no idea they were anything but friends. Being stern parents, Arizona wasn't allowed to watch Rated-R movies without parental supervision even though her girlfriend's mom had given her the green light to do just that. So the Colonel sat with them while they watched Fear. Oh God, she could still remember how wet she was during the scene where Mark Wahlberg fingered Reese Witherspoon on the ferris wheel. And that wetness brought on total mortification with her father sitting just ten feet away. What made matters worse was that hours before they settled in to the movie, her and her girlfriend had gotten that far up in her bedroom, and now watching that same exact type of scene on the TV with her dad in the room was almost too much. She spent more time biting her lip and keeping herself from moaning as Angie's hand rubbed her upper thigh under the throw blanket. By the end of the movie, Arizona had to change both her panties and pajama pants, which in the end didn't matter much because the movie had turned them both on so much, they screwed each others brains out later after her parents went to bed. And watching this movie with Callie, she felt sixteen years old all over again and she wanted to screw Callie's brains out just the same.
As Callie laughed hard at the antics of one lover to get the other lover's attention, Arizona concentrated hard on paying attention and stopping the natural pull to scoot closer to Callie. It wasn't working. Callie would laugh and point or say nothing at all when intimate times came on, and both actions caused Arizona serious discomfort.
"Look, look!" She leaned over, pointing to the corner of the screen. "They filmed outside of the hospital. Used their own stand-ins, but our cars stayed in the lot. You can see the beginnings of my license plate ... do you see it?" Her bicep was brushing against Arizona's chest causing the woman to hold her breath.
"Arizona, you're not looking!" Callie grabbed the remote for the TV and paused as the camera panned back to the parking lot showing Callie's car again. "Look." She jumped up from the couch and started pointing out the car. "AAC4... see, it's my car." She threw herself back on the cushion with excitement and Arizona couldn't help but laugh.
"The woman that's been on TV for national news conferences is excited over her car being in a movie for two seconds?" Arizona teased.
"Hey!" Callie pouted. "Most of those were for local news, and it's not the same thing. My car was not shaking in fear threatening to throw up all over reporters, and this is a movie!"
"Okay, okay. I get it, your car is famous. I should ask it to sign some tire tracks or burnt rubber for me." She shook her head laughing at Callie.
"Fine." Callie huffed grabbing for the remote again and unpausing it.
"Oh, don't start that." Arizona grabbed back for the remote, Callie held it above her head and over to the side just out of Arizona's reach. "Let me have the damn thing."
"No. You're being mean." She remained pouting.
"Calliope Torres, give me the damn remote." Raising onto her knees, years of practice with her prosthetic that anyone witnessing the bickering would not have known, she leaned over Callie, struggling to reach the remote. She lunged at the flailing arm, landing herself directly across Callie's lap. Neither woman was able to move once they both realized the awkward position they were now in, unable to remove themselves from it without bringing attention to it and therefore making things even more awkward. It was freakin' awkward.
"Arizona..." Callie barely whispered, her voice caught in her throat. She heard the distinct tone of Callie's voice and needed to get up now. Struggling to get away, she tried balancing around Callie's shoulders, her knees shaking and giving out from the strain. They were now chest to chest, hearts beating in unison. It was as tacky as the romantic comedy they were just viewing, but neither could stop themselves, even knowing what was to come. Leaning forward, plump lips met her own and all she could do was moan into the kiss.
The remote dropped behind the couch, the sound of it smashing on the hard wood not registering on either's radar as they sunk further into each other. Callie's hands wrapping around Arizona's lower back only encouraged her to deepen their embrace, her own hands cupping heated cheeks as they continued to reacquaint themselves with their long lost perfect fit. Yeah, this was definitely from a cheesy romance, but neither cared, because next on the list of ridiculously impossible events from said cheesy romance would be partial nudity, and then full nudity, and then finally following that, the best, most wonderful, romantic, caring, loving sexual releases of their lives. So no matter how much they would laugh at such turn of events between people in a cheesy romance that had nothing in common, fell in love (lust) after only one date, and declared such love (because the heart doesn't lie, ya know), they didn't mind fulfilling such careless and artificial practices of love (patheticness) because the end result was something they both needed here; they needed each other.
"Callie." The name tumbled from her lips like honey from a hive. It was perfect and natural and shit.
"Callie. Callie, stop." Arizona pulled back, throwing herself onto the couch next to Callie, not caring about subtlety this time.
They were both heaving, trying hard to catch their breaths. Confused and hurt, Callie scrubbed her hands over her face. What the fuck did she just do? Damn it.
"What just happened?" Callie finally spoke. Was she asking about them kissing? Because she was pretty sure she knew what that was and why it happened. Or was she talking about Arizona's moment of clarity where she stopped it?
"You... Me..." She shook her head, trying to free her rational thoughts caught somewhere between her heart and brain, wishing they had stayed lost. "We can't. You and Tony. I can't do that. I can't be the reason. No. I can't, you're ... fuck." Arizona didn't stop to take a breath, rambling incoherently. "I fucked it up again. I keep doing this. Why? Why, where you are concerned, do I not have a lick of common sense? I didn't think. I should have left. I shouldn't have put you in this position. Tony. Fuck." Arizona wiped at the alarmingly growing tears painting her cheeks.
"Arizona, stop and listen to me." Callie tried to interrupt, but Arizona held her hand up shutting her down immediately.
"God ... I have to go. I can't ... I ... fuck." Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. That was the sum of her thoughts. Fuck.
Before Callie could grab her arm to keep her on the couch, to explain, Arizona jumped up and took off for the door. "You're ... if I just screwed up your marriage, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do it twice. Tell ... tell Tony it was all my fault." She vanished behind the door, it slamming in her wake.
Two hours went by. Callie's cable box turned off who knows how long ago and she still hadn't moved. Arizona's rant went in one ear and out the other because all that mattered was the rejection. The stinging burn of rejection once again. And twice in one night. Did she have tool tattooed on her forehead? Was she doomed to forever be unwanted, undesirable, unloveable?
Tears long gone, silence eating a hole in Callie's already fractured heart, she grabbed for the bottles of wine. Bottles, plural. And finished them both in quick, easy chugs. She didn't care any longer; she just didn't want to feel anymore.
I Lost A Friend Somewhere Along In The Bitterness
Even Cristina knew better than to put herself or her goddaughter in the middle of things any longer. Once Barbara put her foot down on the childish pranking and threatened to rat them out to both Callie and Arizona, Cristina tabled anymore pranking ideas, but only because Barbara had a plan. And it was a good plan, or it was supposed to be, but something went terribly wrong. Barbara's ingenious idea backfired because Arizona now had it in her head that she was here only for Sofia's sake. Not to win back the woman who she should have never let go in the first place. This wasn't some relapse in her PTSD that she had long ago already dealt with, or some angry jealous feelings toward Tony because Callie had finally moved on. Arizona was headstrong on letting Callie marry this woman. She outright refused to listen to anyone. Barbara tried on numerous occasions to tell Arizona that there was no Tony anymore, but the moment she who shall not be named was mentioned, or Callie, Arizona shut down.
"Since you are leaving in a few days, why don't we have a big family dinner tonight?" Barbara whispered to her daughter while Sofia was taking a well-needed nap.
Lighting up at the thought of her family getting together, something she longed for often in Seattle, Arizona immediately nodded with a huge smile.
"Good good." Barbara grinned in response. "Why don't you call your dad and Cristina?" She picked up her own phone.
"Who are you calling?" Arizona was already looking for her dad's cell phone number in her contact list.
"Callie." She said, so quietly, she was hoping that her daughter's thoughts were already on her dad and missing her words.
"What? No! You ... no." Arizona dropped her phone, arguing as softly spoken as possible before her mother could even get out her reasoning. "No. You said family."
"Callie is family. Need I remind you she's the mother of your daughter and I think of her..."
Growling and continuing her frantic whispering, Arizona shook her head angrily at her mother. "I don't care what your relationship with Callie is, you have made it very clear to me every time we talk how you feel about her, but it doesn't mean she's still my family. You're my family." Arizona was grasping at straws, she knew her own reasoning was never going to fly with her mother, but she had to try.
"Just because you two got divorced doesn't change my feelings for her and I don't appreciate the tone of voice you are using with me, Arizona Robbins." Barbara's voice cracked slightly as she felt her temper rise, as she tried to keep her voice under control. "I don't know what happened again between you two, but for crying out loud, think about Sofia for once. Both of you think about Sofia for once. Let her have a night with her mothers without bickering or ignoring each other. I know Callie's called here numerous times, so answer the phone and deal with it, both of you. I've had it up to here with your childish games. You wonder where Sofia learned it all from? You can't blame Cristina for this, this is all on you two."
"Blame Cristina for what?" The only recent thing Arizona could think to blame Cristina for was that they were here, in Pennsylvania, disrupting everybody's life, but even that wasn't all on Cristina, because Arizona got on the plane. If only she hadn't gotten on the plane, things would be so different and she wouldn't be in so much pain.
"That's not important, Arizona. What's important is these immature games you both are playing. Callie's called you a number of times since..."
"Since you tried to play matchmaker and put us in a room together without our daughter to occupy our time?" Arizona interrupted her mother, finally having a reason to confront her, even if in hushed tones and angry whispers.
"Yes, I did set that up, but can you blame me? You two are ridiculous. Ridiculous!" She threw her arms up and clamped her jaw shut as she raised her voice higher than she had wanted too; she needed to calm herself before calling her daughter out. "How many years has it been and you two still haven't talked? So I was trying to give you the opportunity to clear the air, can you blame me? I'm so tired of being the middleman here, Arizona. I love my time with Sofia, but did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe your dad and I want to make our own plans whenever we want, but I'm tied to your damn custody schedule instead." Shock covered her face. "Oh dear, look at me, you've upset me so much I cursed. Arizona Robbins, I don't curse and now I'm even angrier with you." She managed to speak confidently even in the low voice she was using.
She wanted to laugh, crack a smile even, but she knew better. Her mother was so flustered that she'd said damn and she wasn't going to rock that boat. Instead she was going to be honest.
"I kissed Callie." She admitted.
"And?" Now Barbara wanted to smile, but the distraught look on Arizona's face told her now wasn't the time. Score one for Barbara Robbins.
"And I kissed Callie." Arizona stressed her voice just above a whisper, but still silent enough as to not disturb her daughter.
"Did she kiss you back?" Barbara asked.
"Why does it matter if she kissed me back?"
"Just humor your old mother, won't you please?" Sometimes her daughter was so oblivious to the obvious that Barbara wanted to hit her over the head with a two by four. That's what she needed, somebody to hit her over the head.
"Yes." Arizona huffed.
"Did she stop it?"
"No." Arizona's guilt was waxing at just the thoughts of what she'd done.
"Then what's the problem?" Barbara asked with an innocence that annoyed her daughter.
What was the problem? Was she serious? "Tony!" Arizona barked quickly looking over her shoulder to make certain Sofia was still asleep. The steady rise and fall of her chest added to the tight cuddle she had on her toy confirmed she hadn't woken her up.. "Tony's the problem. She basically cheated on Tony because of me!" She lowered her voice again.
While it was obvious Arizona knew nothing, Barbara did and her daughter's valiance was commendable, or it would be if there was reason for it. But since Arizona was avoiding Callie by any and every means possible, she was unaware that it was needed. Laughing Barbara couldn't help it. "Did you hold a gun to her head?" She asked in a snicker.
"No!" Arizona shook her head.
"Did you tie her up?" She raised her eyebrows, puckered her lips, and waited for Arizona to get her mind out of the gutter where it had momentarily gone before she answered.
"No." She folded her arms across her chest and glared at her mother.
"Then what Callie did was by her own free will? Is that what you're saying?" Her mom challenged her.
"But I kissed her." And as guilty as she felt, she'd do it again. She'd risk everything to do it again.
"And she kissed you back. Seems to me it was mutual. You should have learned by now Arizona, you can't control Callie. She does what she wants. You've tried and you've failed. You sent her here to save her, maybe give you two back some semblance of a working relationship, but because you never gave her your reasons, because you went behind her back and never told her why, you lost her. You can control Arizona Robbins and sometimes I even doubt that."
"What's that mean?" Arizona growled at her mother for her insinuations.
"It means, Arizona, that Callie kissed you back because she wanted to, not because you forced her to, so why don't you think about that instead of psycho-analyzing every other minute moment. I knew you going to therapy wasn't a good idea. Yes it helped you get past everything, but it gave you another reason to avoid the big picture because you constantly pick apart the little pictures that make it up. It means that if you answered your phone for your ex-wife, maybe you'd two finally sort things out. I can't do everything for you, I put you two in a room together, what do you want me to do next? Lock you two in a room without an easy exit? DO something, Arizona. I'm ... I'm washing my hands of you two. If you want me in your lives, figure it out. I won't enable either of you any longer. Just ... just do something." Barbara's voice cracked as she reached the end of her rope and her ability to remain quiet any longer. Her body was shaking from the overload of emotions and she was just done. "Call me when you decide to get your heads out of your behinds, both of you." She reached the door looking considerably proud of herself. Turning around she glared at her daughter, jutted her chin out, and uncharacteristically told her daughter off. "You are both ... you're both, you're assholes." She smirked at the courage it took to say such a thing and walked out of the door. When the door closed she paused for a minute, she knew fine well that she couldn't abandon them and certainly not Sofia, but Arizona didn't know that and maybe that loss of security might help kick start her daughter into action.
Arizona stood watching as the door slammed shut, had she just stepped into an alternative universe where her mother actually grew a pair? Looking over at the bed, Sofia was still sound asleep, thank the Gods. Shaking her head, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell. Scrolling the numbers her thumb hovered over the number she wanted, she had made a decision. This wasn't fair on anyone. She had dragged everyone through her dirt. Pressing the call button, she waited for the line to connect.
"Hey. I'm going to go back to Seattle early." She couldn't bring herself to say home because it wasn't. "Do you want me to sign out of the hotel room or leave it up to you? I know you've been mostly staying with Callie, but I didn't want to put you out."
Hanging up the phone, she collected her things, waking her daughter up, and preparing herself to once again enter the lion's den.