Callie and Arizona waited anxiously on the couch in the lobby of the adoption agency—Callie tapping her foot persistently and nervously watching her wife, who seemed to be looking at her watch every two seconds. "It's five minutes past when our appointment was supposed to start," Arizona stated restlessly, "I mean, do you think we should say something? You don't think—"

"Arizona, chill. Five minutes is not that long," Callie sighed irritably. She was generally amused by her military brat wife's obsessive punctuality, but today, it was just stressing her out. However, Callie's annoyed tone only added to Arizona's frustration, "Callie, we're trusting these people to give us a baby, the least they could do is show up—"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door opened and a slender woman, wearing a polka dot sweater and gold hoop earrings entered the room. Callie and Arizona both instantly scrambled off the couch to their feet, stretching out their arms to shake the outstretched hand of the woman approaching them, "Hello, my name is Mara McKnight. And you must be Callie and Arizona."

"Yes," stated Callie flatly, feeling awkward and boring but unable to come up with anything else to at that moment. "Pleased to meet you, Mara," replied Arizona politely. Mara smiled warmly and led the pair back to her office, taking her seat behind the desk and indicating that the two women should sit in the chairs set out in front.

"So," Mara began, shuffling papers on the her desk around as she looked for their file, "You're interested in adoption." Callie and Arizona nodded in unison, "We want another baby," Callie provided excitedly, squeezing Arizona's hand. Mara returned her wide smile, "Well, that's fantastic. Adoption really is a wonderful option for creating a family."

Finally locating their file and opening it up, Mara continued, reading some details noted in their paperwork, "Okay, so I see that you already have a daughter, Sofia?" They both nodded as Mara continued, "Callie, she's your daughter?"

Feeling Arizona stiffen next to her, Callie rubbed her hand reassuringly, "Sofia is both of ours. But I am her biological mother." Arizona nodded vehemently, "I've been one of Sofia's parents since she was born. And we filled out the second parent adoption papers after her father, Mark, passed away." Mara smiled apologetically, sensing she had struck a nerve, "Of course. You're both her mothers."

"And how old is Sofia?" Mara asked, directing her question to Arizona. "She just turned nine," Arizona answered. Mara smiled kindly, "So, what's your ideal timeline for adopting? How soon would you like a baby?" Callie looked to Arizona, unsure of the answer. "We hadn't really talked about that," provided Arizona, feeling suddenly quite unprepared, but Mara just hummed in acknowledgement. "Okay. Well, just so you know, the wait time to adopt an infant can be quite long. Sometimes the process can take years."

Callie inhaled sharply, "Wow. I didn't know it would take that long." Mara nodded sympathetically, "Have you considered adopting an older child?"

"No," replied Callie instantly, "We want a baby." She looked over at Arizona for reassurance, but was surprised when her wife looked back at her with a perplexed expression. "We haven't talked about adopting an older child," she answered neutrally.

"You don't have to decide now," assured Mara, "But it's an option to consider. The wait time for adopting an older child is significantly shorter. Something I would recommend is registering as foster parents—that way, when a situation arises where a child could be placed in your home, you could take them in immediately. And there are so many children in our foster system in need of loving homes."

Arizona looked at Callie, trying to catch her eye, but Callie seemed fixated on her purse sitting in her lap at the moment, "We'll consider it," Arizona finally provided, releasing Callie's hand and leaning back in her chair.

"I thought you wanted a baby," Callie mumbled from the passenger's seat in the car ride home, finally ending what had been a silent five minutes. Arizona glanced toward her wife before turning her attention back to the road in front of her, "You said you wanted a baby. I said I wanted another child." Arizona pulled into the driveway of their house, put the car in park, and with a sigh, turned to face her wife, "Callie, I don't see why you're so opposed to the idea."

"I'm not opposed," Callie stated defensively, "I just… I want a baby. I thought you wanted a baby. You love babies!"

"No, you love babies—"

"Oh, come on Arizona. You spend all day with babies—"

"Not just babies, children too," Arizona continued, "And that really has nothing to do with wanting a baby instead of an older child. You know, if we adopted an older kid, she would be closer in age to Sofia. They could play together, be friends."

Callie scoffed sarcastically, "They'd still be siblings, so they wouldn't be friends." Arizona bit her lip, raising her eyebrows to challenge that statement, "Just because you and your sister don't get along doesn't mean that's how it would be for Sofia."

"Well, just because you and Timothy were best friends doesn't mean that's how it would be for Sofia either," Callie snapped back. Arizona was quiet for several moments and Callie worried she'd upset her. She knew she had to be careful when discussing Timothy.

"Look, I'm just saying we should think about it. Okay?" Arizona stated calmly, twirling her car keys between her fingers. Callie took a deep breath, "Fine. I'll think about it." Arizona nodded, climbing out of the car and into the house without another word, leaving Callie in the car to ponder what was coming next.

Arizona woke to the sound of her bedroom door creaking open, and a set of small feet pattering towards her bed. "Zona?" she heard a whisper next to her in the dark. With a groan she opened her eyes, allowing them to focus on numbers glowing in red on the digital clock sitting on her nightstand. 03:17.

"Timothy, it's three in the morning. What do want?" the 11 year old girl grumbled at her 8 year old brother, who stood anxiously beside her bed. "I had a bad dream," he mumbled, "Can I sleep in your bed?" Arizona rolled her eyes, "You're getting too old for this." But she lifted up the corner of her covers anyway, allowing her brother to climb into bed next to her. "Ah, your feet are cold! Keep them on your side!" Arizona hissed when her little brother's icicle toes brushed up against her legs. "Sorry," he whispered as he pulled his feet away from her.

Arizona rolled over, closing her eyes once more in an attempt to get back to sleep. But after only a minute's silence, Timothy's voice called out again, "Zona?" With an irked sigh, Arizona rolled over, "What is it now, Timothy? I'm trying to sleep."

He looked at his sister with wide eyes, "I dreamed that dad died." Arizona's expression softened, reaching over and brushing her brother's hair from his eyes, "Timothy, dad's fine. He called yesterday, remember? He's not even in combat right now."

But her words did not console her brother, "But Zona, it's a war. People drop bombs or come in and shoot or—"

"I know that, okay?" Arizona snapped, regretting her harsh tone the moment her words left her mouth when she saw the tears forming in her brother's eyes. She didn't like thinking about these things any more than he did. Taking in a deep breath, she replied again, softer this time, "I know, but he's okay right now."

"But what if something happens?"

"It won't."

"But what if it does?" Timothy pleaded, and Arizona bit her lip to stop the tears that were building in her eyes from falling. She remembered her father's instructions to her before he left, the same instructions he had given her so many times before — "I need you to be a good man in a storm. Look out for Timothy. You need to protect the things you love." She knew that she needed to be strong for her little brother. Placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, she responded, "Then we'll get through it. Momma, and you, and me."

Rubbing his arm comfortingly, she stated again firmly, "But he's okay now, so stop worrying and get some sleep." Timothy nodded as Arizona pulled away, rolling over and closing her eyes once more. "Good night, Zona," he mumbled sleepily. Arizona exhaled slowly, "Good night, Timothy."

"Has she woken up yet?" Arizona asked Alex softly as she entered Riley's room. It had taken several hours in surgery, but they had finally managed to stabilize the young girl. He shook his head, "Not yet. How's her dad?" Arizona sighed sadly, "He's in a coma." Looking over at the sleeping girl laying on the bed, she asked hopefully, "Have you been able to contact any other family members?" Alex responded with a dejected, "Nah, from what the social worker was able to find out, looks like he was a single dad—her mother died in childbirth. They couldn't find any living relatives."

Arizona shook her head sadly as she took in the pale, bruised girl laying on the bed in front of them. They had saved her life the day before, which was no small feat considering the accident she was in, but Amelia suspected that the spinal cord damage was irreversible. While they wouldn't know until she woke up, it was likely she would never be able to walk again. And on top of that, her only living relative was in a coma down the hall.

"Make sure someone's sitting with her round the clock," Arizona told Alex, who in turn, looked at her like she was crazy, "Robbins, are you insane? We can't have someone watching her all the time. She's not the only one in this hospital, you know." Giving him a peeved look, Arizona responded, "Why do you think we have interns? Just make it happen, Karev." Her face softened, "She shouldn't be alone when she wakes up."