A/N Thank yous always go to Shinata-Riyoko, Sportsfan, & Trace. Your input always is appreciated and we thank you for always taking the time to help us out. To Zoe, dude, you're just awesome! :P
I apologise to anyone who saw the stupid childish nonsense that some immature person decided to waste time by spamming my review page hopefully that will now be sorted.
This will be the last update for over a week as we're taking a family vacation. See you next month! Enjoy.
Chapter 12: It's Not A Love, It's Not A Love, It's Not A Love Song
Learn from the past ...
Sofia looked between her parents and didn't believe a word that had been said. The angry look on her mama's face and the guilty one on her mommy's said it all. "You do. You hate Mommy cuz she cut off your leg." She cried. She'd heard enough, she didn't understand it all, but what she did grasp from things told past and present, was that her mommy cut off her mama's leg to save her life and that her mama kissed another woman because of it. That's all Sofia needed.
"Sofia, that all happened a long time ago..." She didn't get to finish, Sofia taking full control of the conversation.
"You hate being broken. I heard you, you hate it! All you ever do was lie to me! You lied to me all these times." She screamed, tearing herself from her mama's arms and throwing herself into her other mom's embrace. Callie moved quickly and quietly onto the bed where they were huddled together. She saw the look in her daughter's eyes and knew things were only going to escalate at an alarming rate.
"Sofia, Mama is talking to you and you need to show her respect and listen to what she has to say." Callie tried to remain diplomatic. She felt for her daughter, having been in the same place years before, but she also felt for Arizona, hearing the pain in their daughter's voice and being the cause of it, Callie knew, was breaking Arizona up. She wanted to embrace Sofia, to make the pain go away, but they had to stand a united front here and there'd be no playing one parent against the other.
"Sofia!" Arizona was at wits end and near tears. Moving closer to her daughter, she looked intently into her eyes, hoping Sofia could see how genuine she was being. "Mommy saved my life and for that I am eternally grateful because I get to watch you grow up. I get to be your mama every day of the year because I'm still alive." She tried explaining, running her hand up and down Sofia's back in a soothing manner as the young child sat square between both moms. She wasn't pulling away from her touch and Arizona took heart in that.
Scooting her daughter aside, Callie climbed into bed with them situating Sofia directly in the center, giving her little room to jump off and flee before hearing them out. Letting Arizona have the floor, Callie gave her a sympathetic look that wasn't met with the annoyance she'd expected. Instead, she returned the look with a slight nod before taking her daughter's hands in her own. "Baby..."
"You wanted to die so you weren't different." She sobbed, her parents not understanding where all of this was coming from.
"Sofia, when bad things happen, sometimes we get so sad that we don't see things very clearly." Callie tried to help, stepping up to show Arizona support. Every time Arizona opened her mouth to speak, Sofia went off on another emotionally charged tangent and maybe, in order to get her to listen, she needed to explain things. At least to the best of her ability and own understanding without alienating either of them.
"No. NO." She turned to face her mama, her face beet red, big fat tears streaming down her cheeks. "You tell me being different is special and you love me so much cuz I'm so special. But you hate being different. Do you hate me cuz I am? Do you wish you never saved me cuz if I died I wouldn't be different. I ... I wish I had died!" She shot forward, trying to make a run for the door after saying her piece except Arizona was even faster, jumping up after her, grabbing her daughter by the waist and spinning them both back around and onto the bed.
"Hold it right there, Young Lady." Arizona plopped her further up on the bed, against the headboard. "You don't get to say those things and run off without hearing me out." She blinked several times to clear the lingering tears.
"I heard you. I know. I know." She started yelling, slamming her tiny fists onto her thighs in a loss of temper.
Callie sighed, leaning back further onto the headboard herself. She finally understood what this entire outbreak was about and it broke her heart. Their daughter was eavesdropping on their elevator meltdown. For fucks sake, any other time she refused to wear her hearing aid at home, but today of all days she chose to do so.
... Set vivid detailed goals for the future ...
Reaching out, she wrapped her hand around Arizona's forearm, tugging her gently onto the center of the bed. One of them next to Sofia, one of them in front of her. It was at that moment, a head popped into bedroom. "I'd like to join my family." Barbara wiped at the falling tears. She'd heard enough and all three of them needed an ally in this screwed up situation. Sitting on the couch, waiting for Cristina and Sofia, Callie missed her when she snuck through the door and into the bedroom. Arizona too, didn't know of her presence in the apartment.
Both women nodded in agreement, realizing they needed all the help they could get and, as they were all emotionally charged and invested in this, maybe a clear fourth party could help keep them calm.
Settling in next to her granddaughter, the women waited while Sofia caught her breath.
"Arizona, do you remember circle of truth?" Arizona cringed at her mother at the recollection of her childhood; she hated that circle of truth, but only because she never wanted to hurt anybody by saying what was hurting her. She liked keeping it inside if it saved her parents or brother getting hurt because she was hurt. But she knew it was the best idea, then and now. It cleared the air and they moved on together, as a family. Barbara waited a moment until all eyes were on her; looking at her granddaughter, she continued. "Okay, we all sit in a circle so we can see each other properly, and we all have a chance to say what we want to the other without judgement, and then you get to tell your side of the story. What's said in the circle stays in the circle and is not brought up again, that's what we used to do when your Mama and her brother used to be upset with each other."
Sofia studied the expression on her mama's face and laughed. If her mama looked that uncomfortable, this was going to be fun.
"Now I'm going to begin. I'm very disappointed in you Sofia. You know better than to eavesdrop. You only heard very little of the story and stuff that you shouldn't know because what happened between your moms doesn't mean they love you any less. I want your eavesdropping and pranking to end here and now. Do we have an understanding?" Barbara looked intently at her granddaughter waiting for confirmation.
"Yes ma'am."
"No more hiding your mama's legs when you don't want her going out on a date?" She raised her eyebrows waiting for Sofia to respond after throwing her under the bus, but it had to be said and it had to be finished.
Both older women smiled as they watched Sofia's secrets come out. "Oh, you two aren't off the hook. What the heck do you think you were doing screaming at each other in an elevator? You've had years to figure this stuff out and you decide the perfect time to hear each other was raising your voices at the top of your lungs like toddlers fighting for a toy? You should be embarrassed. I'm embarrassed for you." She wagged her fingers at them, both feeling fully chastised and like small children.
Feeling confident, Sofia looked up at Arizona. Her big brown eyes wide with fear. "Do you hate me because I'm broken too? Cuz I don't understand, Mama."
"Oh baby. I do not now nor have I ever hated you. You are my entire world."
"You hate you."
"I did, but I don't now, Sofia. I made a very bad mistake because I was so sad. I hurt you and mommy and I never meant to do that. I didn't know how to live being different, but do you know what? ... You taught me how to live again." Arizona leaned forward and wiped tears from her daughter's cheeks. "Baby, you're my hero."
Sofia's eyes lit up and she started smiling. That simple confession was enough to grab her attention, turning her sullen mood slightly around. "How am I your hero?"
"Do you remember the first time you were told you couldn't run the mile in school because your lungs were too weak and your gym teacher told you to sit it out? But you wouldn't accept that so you walked it? You weren't going to let your disabilities define you and because of that, I decided that too. I'm so proud of you and everything you've worked to overcome, and not a day goes by that I'm not thankful that you are here, in my life; that you're my daughter. I don't wish you had died and you are nowhere near broken. You're perfect. You. Are. Perfect. And you're my hero. And I don't hate me because my daughter taught me how to love myself again."
"Do you hate Mommy?" She asked honestly.
"Oh god no, Sofia."
"Do you love her?" She grinned sheepishly.
"And that's probably our cue to head to bed." Barbara tutted, slipping off of the bed.
Crossing her arms into a pout, Sofia crawled into Callie's lap, situating herself into their favorite position, knowing very well she was playing her mom. "I don't wanna."
"Now!" Barbara clapped. "Skip to it."
Looking up and then back to her mama, Sofia hung her head. She didn't want to leave them because she knew when she woke up they'd all be living apart again, and even if this wasn't the greatest of moments, it was still a 'them' moment. "Fine." She answered timidly.
"Are we okay, you and me?" Arizona asked, a tremor in her voice.
"Did you really kiss someone else?" She asked honestly.
"Yes Baby, I did."
"Did you love her?"
"No." She answered her daughter quickly and confidently. It wasn't a conversation she ever wanted to have with her daughter, but all three of them needed to hear the truths.
"But you love me?" She asked timidly.
"Always and forever." She wanted to reach out and hug her daughter, but Sofia was still hurt enough that she had to make the step. Arizona didn't want to scare off her daughter. "And Sofia, to answer your question. I will always love your mommy 'til the day I die. We both made mistakes, but you don't stop loving your princess, ever, okay?" Arizona waited until Sofia nodded in understanding. It wasn't the answer the child wanted; she knew Sofia wanted a fairy tale, the maiden expresses her undying love for the princess and they all lived happily ever after declaration, but it would do. Especially when the maiden and the princess still had a chance at finding the happiness they lost. "You're not mad at Mommy for protecting me and lying to you, are you?" She wanted to make sure she hadn't gotten Callie in too much trouble, even if they both were to blame, Callie was only trying to keep things in harmony between everybody.
Sofia tipped her head back and looked up at Callie. Love and sadness radiated from her eyes, a silent connection only the two of them shared. "Nope." She decided with conviction. After hugging and kissing both moms she stopped at the door. "We protect the people we love." She winked and ran out. "Papa told me that." You could hear her yell from the hallway with laughter in her voice.
Barbara remained in the threshold of the door, laughing and shaking her head. "So, before you leave the circle, care to explain why you've been helping Sofia prank us both, Mom?" Arizona smiled as she watched her mother turn sheet white.
"Oh, I'm already out of your circle, Honey. I have to put my grandbaby to bed. You two stay in here, talk. Nobody leaves until the air is clear, do I make myself clear?" She gave them the look daring either woman to argue.
"Yes ma'am." They replied in unison as she disappeared. Silence followed her departure, neither knowing where to begin.
... And live in the only moment of time over which you have any control, now!
"Oh Arizona?" Barbara popped her head back in the room. "In the spirit of the circle of truth and no holds bar honesty, maybe you should talk about your Pennsylvania condo."
Shocked, Arizona didn't know what to say, but… "How?"
"Oh, your property tax bill accidentally came to the house and your father opened it before he realized it wasn't addressed to him. We've known for a while now." She answered honestly.
"Why didn't you say anything until now?" Arizona felt guilt and relief at her parents already knowing, and a bit of fear now that it was out in the open for Callie too.
"Oh Arizona, we knew you'd tell us in time. We were just waiting for you to come home." She smiled warmly and non-accusatory. "Behave, no yelling."
Callie sat up straighter against the headboard waiting to see what Arizona said or did next. They both obviously had a lot of explaining to do, but she didn't know where to begin.
"Before we start, I ... can I grab a shower?" Callie played with the pillow fringe under her fingers looking past Arizona's angry stare, at the wall behind her head. "I'll be really fast." She promised.
"NO!" Arizona yelled, laughing at the shocked look on Callie's face. "I mean, no. Cristina's still hiding in there."
Callie laughed awkwardly.
"Cristina, come on out." She yelled only to be greeted with silence.
"Cristina?"
"No, I'm not entering the circle of truth and you can't make me." The lock on the door clicked into place.
"Afraid we'll find out you blew up my apartment circuits?" Callie yelled watching Arizona's head fall back as she cracked up with laughter.
"Are you kidding me?"
"On my way out I might have taken a nose dive tripping over a power strip that had more than a few appliances plugged into it." Callie explained while gauging Arizona's mood just a bit more.
"What appliances?" Arizona was still laughing, hard and deep.
"A coffee pot. An iron. My clothes dryer."
Arizona was laughing so hard she was holding her stomach, a painful expression on her face. Without notice, the door swung open, Cristina marching out. "It was genius. GENIUS!" She roared. "And it worked, you two fools are talking to each other, aren't you? Even with your inappropriate moment in front of Sofia because still, all these years later, you don't know when you should hold your tongue and when you shouldn't? But you're still talking and I'm a genius!" She stood with her hands on her hips waiting for an answer after chastising them.
Both women took a few seconds for the David Copperfield moment to set in. It wasn't the first time they'd done such and thing and it probably wasn't going to be the last time, but they were more aware of the things they said in front of their daughter now because of it, because Cristina pointed it out. Their daughter had enough problems and she didn't need her parents demeaning each other in front of her. Quickly changing the subject to a lighter note, "If we're talking about things, Yang, let's talk about split pea soup while you're in the circle." Callie joined in Arizona's laughter as Cristina hightailed it out of the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind herself.
Their laughter continued for a few more minutes, until it dying down brought back the deafening silence.
"So, the shower?" Callie tried joking again.
"Why, you gonna sneak out the window?" Arizona snapped feeling no remorse for her anger now that they were alone.
"Twenty-four floors is a long drop and my parachute is in Sofia's bedroom." She joked again, but was greeted with very angry, sad eyes instead.
"I know, I'm sorry." She whispered sadly.
"Callie, do you know how much that hurt?" Arizona questioned moving from sitting awkwardly in front of Callie to also lean against the headboard. It wasn't as easy to have a face to face in that position, but the other way was killing her back and this way, at least they could start the scary stuff without the evil glare down they were known for giving each other.
"I know. I do and I really am sorry." She paused gathering the courage needed to finish her thoughts. "I got scared." She admitted.
"Okay. I can accept that."
"What?" Callie whipped her head around confused by Arizona's easy acceptance.
"I can accept that, Callie." She repeated.
"Why are you being so complacent with me? I'm not made of glass, I'm not going to shatter. Yell at me for it. Tell me I'm an idiot or a bitch or whatever, but the Arizona Robbins I know doesn't take my shit lying down, or at least the last Arizona Robbins I knew didn't. Not in the end, at least not when it mattered most, I guess." She took a moment to collect her thoughts. "I spent hours in that elevator telling you everything you ever did wrong, never telling you what you did right, never letting you believe you were anything but a horrible wife and you took it. Lying down. I wasn't a fucking saint, Arizona." Her voice rose and rose and rose, panic replacing any anger. Arizona's lack of emotion where she was concerned scared her. To Callie all it screamed in its silence was: I don't care enough to get angry at you. And when you don't care enough, you surely don't love enough.
Arizona snickered trying to dispel Callie's panic, but only further sending her spiralling down. "I don't think you were even close to the perfect wife, Callie. But you were my wife and I was very proud of that. I know you made mistakes, a lot of them, but none of them caused our divorce and in the big picture, because of that reason alone, they have no place in the here and now." Arizona explained calmly and rationally.
"I need you to get angry." Callie barely whispered the plea.
"Why?" Arizona turned to look at her ex-wife. That made very little sense.
"I need you to get angry with me. I left you in my own apartment. While you were in the shower. After we had sex. I need you to be angry with me before we can go any further. Please." She begged staring at the ceiling feeling completely foolish. "Yell at me, do something."
"Callie." Arizona remained calm. "I don't need to yell at you; you explained what happened and that's that."
"Please." She continued begging.
"I don't need to yell at you." She raised her voice in frustration. "I don't need to tell you what you did wrong because I'm sure by now you know what you did wrong and where we went wrong. Me bringing it up will only hurt any progress and I'm ... I'm over it all. I don't harbor any hurt feelings because, where you weren't given the chance to grieve, I got that and more. Clearly you learned from our less than stellar past about at least being open and honest because yeah, you took off and made me think the worst, but you came back and you were honest. That above all matters most to me." Arizona watched in confusion as Callie silently cried, still not accepting her answers as fact.
"Callie, my loss of temper escalated our already growing problems. We might have been able to overcome my straying had I not followed it up with everything I said that night.
And I learned, if I have something to say, to be clear and think it through. I'm learning to be rational and lead with my head. Can you understand that? I am done pointing out what we did, I want to talk about what we are going to do. I want to talk about your fears and move forward, not back. " Arizona gave Callie the floor, hopefully setting an air of calm to their tumultuous affair.
Understanding Arizona's lack of emotional outburst meant nothing other than a matured woman before her, Callie wiped at the free-falling tears, trying to get a handle on her own emotions. "I'm afraid of you." She answered quietly, but honestly. Daring to look up, she saw a painful sadness flash in Arizona's eyes before she nodded in response to continue.
"I don't, I can't handle you hurting me again. And if we put aside my feelings on the matter, I know Sofia wouldn't be able to handle us giving it a go and then, if pattern holds true and the past continues its nasty circle we seem to get stuck in, then if we don't make it, that alone would destroy her."
"Can we tackle one of those things at a time?" Arizona asked. She felt destroyed at the truth behind Callie's words, but she respected it.
"Sofia ..." Callie began.
"No, you. I want to talk about you, because if I can't get you on board, I can't expect to convince you that we will not hurt our daughter if that's the last thing we do, okay?" Arizona stood her ground.
"How are you so sure Sofia's not going to get hurt in this? She already has." Callie questioned.
Calmly, Arizona took Callie's hands in her own. "Because we've come a long way. Because Sofia's still our number one priority. Because where I was five years ago was a very selfish place and I've grown, you've grown. I think we're ready to tackle things together, a united front, a family." Arizona said her honest peace; her hopes and dreams were out on the table.
"Is that what you want?" She asked clearly and confidently.
"And need."
Callie nodded, affirming Arizona's feelings.
"Are you at the point where the past can be just that, the past? I'm not asking you to forget Callie, but to trust me that I won't make the same mistakes. I'm sorry I destroyed our family..."
"No. No you don't get to say that ... I wasn't innocent. I did things too!" Callie interjected.
"I know you weren't, Callie. But that doesn't matter to me, not anymore. It shouldn't after all this time. I already said, I got a chance to grieve and to assign blame and finally accept blame. You weren't given that luxury so I get the place you are at, but I'm asking if you can get past it so we can move on." Arizona was just slightly starting to lose her cool.
"I don't know how we can move on." She answered honestly, but her words were unclear of their true meaning. This was her fear.
"You don't know if you can get past what I did?" Arizona choked back the tears.
"You live in Seattle, Arizona. My life is here. I run a department. I never wanted to run a department, not after failing as Chief Resident. But I'm good at it and I enjoy it." She explained, panic crawling in, as Arizona simply remained quiet with a small smile on her face. "And my parents are here ... your parents." She quickly corrected herself not wanting to upset Arizona for taking ownership of her parents from her. "And aside from their support system, I don't ... I can't leave them. They're getting up there in age and somebody needs to keep an eye on them." Getting painfully quiet, Callie chanced another glance at her ex before she swallowed her pride. "I can't move back to Seattle. And ... and I can't ask you to give up your life and move here." She let out the breath she was holding, be one hundred per cent honest.
"Ask me."
"What?" Callie snorted, chuckling uncomfortably.
"Ask me. Ask me to move here."
"Your mom mentioned a condo here..." She wasn't ready to take such a leap when she was still working on baby steps. "In Pennsylvania."
"She did." Arizona nodded more than ready to explain. More than ready to take that leap blindly and freely. "Pennsylvania was a new start, and in my head, it was what we needed, time apart to see what we needed from each other. That was, after we healed and dealt with the lingering issues. It was always my intention to follow you out here eventually, but I needed to give you space and time to find the bad ass Callie that I had help in destroying, letting you find the pieces I had severed from you until you were unable to do anything but crawl."
"Again, Arizona this is why we get into these situations. Why did you not tell me what you were thinking? That wasn't a decision you should have made yourself. We were getting on in Seattle, I knew what I had to do for my daughter." Callie tried not to raise her voice, but she was so frustrated. It annoyed her that, yet again, secrets had been kept from the other, but she could actually see that Arizona had meant well in the thick of things. But it just highlighted to her that they really needed this confrontation, no matter what wounds rose to the surface. They could finally close them once and for all.
"I know and I'm sorry. Coming here has made me realise that I have missed so much. I've missed hearing about your day in the OR. Even how excited you were when your damn car starred in a movie." Taking a deep breath, Arizona looked at Callie, making sure she was listening, also trying to gauge what Callie's reaction was going to be. "I want to go back to Seattle to start the ball moving, so to speak, to return here. I'm not expecting us to be anything Callie, but I realise that we can do this now. Our mistakes are long in the past and not so inflamed and angry. Yes we still need to work on things, but we can now do it without wanting to kill each other. Right?" Arizona watched a small grin grace Callie's face.
"Time heals and all that." Arizona gave a little laugh, trying to make the next sentence fall from her mouth. "Yes, I have a condo here. I bought it less than a year after you came out here, it was always my intention to move here to be closer to Sofia, but things with us got so screwed up because of my lack of communication..." Arizona caught the raised eyebrow from Callie and she laughed louder this time. "Yeah okay, our lack of communication." She corrected herself. Callie was serious about taking equal blame and wasn't going to let her get away with bearing the weight on her shoulders alone any longer. And Arizona was okay with that. She saw it as a big improvement on both their parts.
"Anyway, the couple that is renting from me, their lease is up in a couple of months and they are moving to a bigger place, they need more than two bedrooms for their growing family. It's perfect for my family though. But I need you to ask me to move here. I need you to want it too. I can't step on your toes."
"Sofia would be out of this world ecstatic if you moved here."
"That wasn't what I asked, Callie." Arizona's heart was racing. She'd come clean and Callie, while she didn't seem upset, she wasn't acting very agreeable either. What if she didn't want this too? What if she saw them finding their even ground enough to continue to do this, move forward, on separate coasts.
"What if it doesn't work?" Callie answered honestly.
"How are we going to know until we try?" Which was the truth of the matter, they had to try.
"I'd enjoy your return, if we could ... I miss you and I'd, it'd be nice to have you around." But she couldn't ask.
"Callie!" Arizona let out a frustrated sigh.
"I'm afraid to ask you to ... I'm afraid, Arizona." She answered quietly. "And what would that even mean? I'm scared that we won't have what we had..."
"NO! We will be nothing like what we were...We will be better because we will talk about everything, every decision from now on has to be talked about, no matter how we think the other one will react. Can we try? This, it means we get a clean slate out here to figure things out, one step at a time. It means both of us giving things up to get there. You, the pain of the past, and me, Seattle. But to me, both of them seem worth it."
"We'll need ground rules." Callie still didn't give her a straight answer.
"Okay."
"And I get to set them. I ... you can add what you wish, but I need ... I need to stop feeling like a pushover. I know I've put you in that position before, but if I don't take charge of something I'm going to feel useless. Pathetic. And I know that hurts you, me admitting that, but you wanted the honesty."
"I want the honesty." Arizona agreed.
"Firstly, I don't want to get Sofia's hopes up, there is a lot to work out between us. She can't get hurt in the mix until we are one hundred per cent certain of where we are going, what we are doing. Okay?" Callie knew Arizona would agree, they both would do everything in their power to protect their daughter, that much was clear.
"I can agree to that, but if things don't work out, I'm staying and we're going to remain civil and raise our daughter together, as adults. No more of this silent treatment!" Arizona made her own point clear. This ignoring each other, both of them, was done.
"So what's next then?" Callie asked.
"I'm going to go back to Seattle so that I can smooth things over with the board that I'll be doing my board responsibilities from Pennsylvania. It's time to give the reins over to Karev. I've been training him for years and he's ready. I'm secure in that knowledge that he will do a stellar job."
"Why don't you just give up your seat?" Callie asked, as if it were a simple answer.
"Not that I don't trust Bailey to run the hospital the way it should be, because she makes a great Chief, but Grey-Sloan will always hold a special place in my heart. I lost a lot there, but I found you and it's important to me. Mark needs to make sure his hospital doesn't fall to the wayside." She shrugged feeling slightly embarrassed by her revelations. "It's important to me." She repeated. Jumping off the bed, Arizona searched for her pants, gathering them off of a lampshade in the corner. She had pulled on a pair of Callie's shorts and a tank top after Cristina walked in on her naked and exposed, so eventually had to find the remaining clothes to at least take back some of the dignity she'd lost in Cristina, her mother, and her daughter knowing what she'd been doing. Well, at least two of the three knew what she was doing, but eventually, once they had the sex talk with Sofia, she'd figure out what her mama's state of undress meant that day.
Searching her pockets, she came up with a rather wrinkled envelope grasped in her hand. She took a deep breath before turning back to Callie, each step forward gaining confidence. "Here." She handed it over, Callie's brows furrowing as she studied the crumbled paper in her hand.
"What's this?"
"I think it'll explain better. It took me four years to write it so I've had a lot of time to think and ... just read it, okay?" Arizona sounded weak, unsure of herself.
Callie smoothed out the wrinkles, the envelope on her thigh. It was heavy, but she didn't know if that was because it carried years of guilt along with it, or that is was truly heavy. "Is this the letter your therapist ...?" Arizona nodded before Callie could finish her thought. "I'm in, Arizona. You don't have to do this."
"I want to. I kinda need to. It explains more than I ever could, at least right now."
"It's not going to change my mind ... the past is the past, you said so yourself." Callie tried to confirm her position. Watching Arizona squirm made Callie unsettled. Putting the envelope aside on her nightstand, "I'm sorry, but I'll read it later, okay?" She nodded, waiting for Arizona to agree too. "I have a feeling it will be emotional and my brain can't handle anymore tonight."
"Okay." She smiled starting to find her clothes around the room. "It's been a long day, care to turn this into a film night and possibly a game night with the three nosy-bodies outside?"
"I think that's a good idea. Your flight?" Callie dared ask.
"Can wait until later. Tonight is family night."
Throwing open the door, Barbara sauntered her way into the room.
"MOM!" Arizona screeched, grabbing for her shirt as she was, once again, nude.
"Oh, that's nothing I haven't seen before, Arizona Robbins. I used to powder that rear end. And spank it, too." Barbara dug deep into the purse on her shoulder, completely unfazed by her daughter's state of undress. "Here." She threw a business card onto the bed. "His name is Jay James. He's a relationship therapist. Call him." She ordered.
"We're not a couple, Mom!" Arizona argued.
"It's relationship therapy, Arizona Robbins. You two have a relationship, a very weak one at that. You need his guidance before you can figure out what kind of relationship you are going to have. Stop arguing with me, Mother knows best!" She turned on her heel. "Go to him. Tell him Barbie sent you." And with that she sauntered back out of the room leaving both women speechless in her wake.
"Barbie?" Arizona broke the silence.
"Why on earth does your mother have a couples therapist card on her?"
"You have met my father, right? ... More worrisome is why on earth does he call her Barbie?"
"Barbie?" They both said in unison before laughter filled the room depleting any leftover tension from the air.
Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control, NOW!