It had been a tense couple of days for Callie and Arizona since the adoption meeting. Their relationship felt too polite, too formal. It didn't help that they had been working opposite shifts for the past 48 hours and had barely gotten to see each other in three days.
It after midnight when Arizona slipped into their bedroom. She cringed as her prosthetic squeaked while she walked—her current leg was getting some adjustments so she was stuck wearing her old one for a couple days. Trying to move as quietly as possible and undressing with the lights off, she finally had her pajamas on and was sitting on the edge of the bed, removing her prosthetic, when she heard Callie stir next to her.
"Hey babe," she mumbled sleepily, rolling over to be closer to her wife as Arizona undid the Velcro on her prosthesis with a loud shwick. Arizona smiled apologetically, "I didn't mean to wake you. There's just really no way to do this quietly, you know?" Callie nodded, teasing, "I do know." Smacking her wife playfully, Arizona climbed into bed, snuggling up next to her partner, grateful that Callie was teasing her once again. But despite Arizona's smile, Callie could sense that something was off, "You okay?"
Arizona nodded sadly, "Just a hard day, you know? I have this girl in peds who was in a horrific car accident, has yet to wake up from surgery after nearly three days, and probably will never walk again, while her dad, the only family we could track down for her, is in a coma." Callie exhaled slowly, her arms drooping slightly under the weight of that heavy news, "That's awful. I'm sorry."
"Me too," Arizona whispered, burrowing deeper into Callie's chest. They lay like that for a couple of minutes, before Callie broke the silence, "I want a baby. I just do. I don't know why, I really don't. You probably think I'm terrible."
At that, Arizona pulled away slightly so that she could hold her wife's face in her hand, "Calliope, I could never think that. You are the opposite of terrible." She leaned forward, kissing her wife gently on the temple, "It's okay that you want a baby. You don't have to justify it to me."
Callie nodded gratefully, but continued, "I think, if you want to though, that we should register as foster parents." Arizona raised her eyebrows, "I don't want to if you don't want to." But Callie shook her head, "You were right. I don't think there's any harm in registering. It doesn't mean we'd be obligated to adopt. We might as well open our options. We don't know what's meant to happen."
Arizona ran a hand through her partner's raven black hair, "Are you sure?"
Callie smiled reassuringly, "I'm sure."
Pulling her wife into a deep kiss, Arizona mumbled against her lips, "I love you so much Calliope Torres." Callie smirked seductively, playfully raising her eyebrows, "How much?"
"Sofia, are you excited for your Aunt Aria to come visit tomorrow?" Callie asked her five year old daughter as they sat at the dinner table, waiting for Arizona to bring out the macaroni and cheese she'd just finished making. "Yeah!" Sofia cheered enthusiastically, "Aunt Aria brings me presents and she loves playing CandyLand." Callie nodded with a soft chuckle, "She sure does." While her own relationship with Aria was often tense and distant, her sister certainly loved Sofia, and Callie was grateful for that.
"Alright, here comes dinner!" Arizona called as she entered from the kitchen, carrying a large pan of macaroni and cheese with two lopsided bright green frog pot holders that Sofia had made for her last Christmas. "Yum!" Sofia interjected as her mother set the pan on the table and began serving her a generous helping. After everyone had been served, Arizona took her own seat opposite Callie and began to eat.
"Momma, when is Uncle Timothy gonna come visit me?"
Callie froze at her daughter's innocent question. Looking across the table, she saw that Arizona was staring at her plate, unable to move. Sofia, oblivious to their response, kept chattering, "I mean, you talk about him. You tell me stories about him when you were little. And you say that he would be proud of me. But he never comes to visit, like Aunt Aria does. So, when is he coming to visit?"
Arizona finally looked up from her plate, willing the tears hovering in her eyes not to fall as she gazed sadly at her daughter, comforted as Callie reached across the table and grabbed her hand. "Sofia… Uncle Timothy isn't coming to visit."
Confusion crossed Sofia's face, "Why not?"
"Well, bug, your Uncle Timothy isn't alive. He died about eight years ago," Arizona finished, struggling to keep her voice from wavering. Sofia looked down at her plate solemnly."How did he die?" she asked sadly. Inhaling sharply, Arizona continued to explain as calmly as she could, "He was in the army, and a bomb exploded near his car." Horror filled her daughter's eyes, "He got blown up?" She asked, her voice filled with fear and disgust.
"Sofia," Callie warned softly, seeing Arizona visibly wince at this question. "What?" Sofia asked, "Is that what happened?" Swallowing a sob, Arizona affirmed, "Yes, that's what happened."
"Why didn't you tell me he was dead?" Sofia accused, the sadness in her voice replaced by anger. Arizona shook her head in horror, stuttering as she continued, "I- I didn't realize you didn't know," she choked out, barely above a whisper. "But you didn't tell me!" Sofia cried back, her voice growing louder.
"Sofia," Callie scolded again, this time more forcefully. "What?" demanded Sofia, feigning innocence. "You know what. Don't speak to your mother in that tone," Callie answered, raising her own voice to match her daughters, who slammed her fists onto the table, now beginning to shout, "But she lied! She didn't tell me he was dead!"
A ragged sob escaped Arizona's lips as she hid her head in her hands. Callie instantly rose from her chair, walking over and laying a comforting hand on her back.
"Momma?" asked Sofia, her voice dripping with guilt and fear. She rarely saw her mother cry, and her eyes instinctively began to tear up upon seeing her momma's pain. Quickly, Arizona looked up at her daughter, hastily wiping her tears on her sleeve, "I'm sorry, Sofia. I'm so sorry."
Sofia hopped out of her chair and climbed into her mother's lap, her own tears following freely. She rested her head against her mother's chest, feeling it shake with sobs, "Don't cry, Momma. Please don't cry."
"I'm just saying, it's weird," Callie provided as the anticlimactic end to her story about the new nurses' bizarre bedside manner when Arizona walked up to where she was sitting in the cafeteria at a table with Meredith, Cristina, and Amelia. "Hey, babe. What's up?"
"Riley woke up," Arizona provided, setting her tray down on the table and taking her seat next to Callie. "Who's Riley?" Cristina asked. "Kid with the spinal chord injury who Robbins as developed a strange attachment too, considering she's barely spoken to her while conscious." Cristina nodded in recognition as Arizona stuttered defensively, "I'm her doctor! I don't think it's that strange that I happen to care whether she's conscious."
"I thought Alex was her doctor," Meredith interjected, trying to keep up with the details, but Arizona merely shrugged, "As the head of peds, I have ultimate say over her case. So that still makes me her doctor."
"Control freak," Cristina muttered, causing Amelia to snort.
"Hey now!" Callie said forcefully, coming to Arizona's defense. "What? It's true." Callie scoffed, "As if you're one to judge." Meredith snorted, shrugging toward Cristina, "She has a point."
"Anyway," continued Callie, grasping Arizona's hand under the table, "Only I'm allowed to call her that." Arizona was about to protest when Callie cut her off with a kiss, "And I love you for it."
Arizona rolled her eyes at the gooey display of affection, but grinned anyway, as Amelia asked, "So, how is the kid doing?" Arizona shrugged, "Vitals are strong, cognitive functions seem to be in tact, but she can't move her legs at all." Amelia shook her head in terse disappointment, "Damn it." She massaged her temples briefly, "I mean, it was predictable, but still. It sucks."
"Yeah," Arizona added sadly, "Plus her dad's still in a coma." She paused, sighing in frustration, "She's just all alone. She has no one."
Callie rubbed her wife's back gently, understanding a bit more of Arizona's seemingly unusual preoccupation with this child, "Well, she has you."