"So, what do you think? Mushroom and pepperoni?" Callie asked her girlfriend as they snuggled on the couch. Arizona was just about to respond when her phone buzzed on the table. As she leaned forward to grab it, Callie stopped her, "Are you on call?" Arizona shook her head, and Callie responded with a teasing smile, "Then don't answer it."
But Arizona shrugged Callie's arm off and reached forward, grabbing her phone and pressing the green call button to answer it, "Hello?" She looked apologetically at Callie as she continued talking, "Hey mom. What's up?" Callie looked over at Arizona in annoyance before pushing herself off the couch and walking into the kitchen, leaving Arizona glancing guiltily over at her as she finished up her phone conversation.
Once she had hung up, she headed over to where Callie was standing at the kitchen counter, casually asking, "So, one large mushroom and pepperoni pizza then? Do you want to order or should I?" But when Callie just stared at the counter, she knew that they wouldn't be dropping this so easily.
"It was my mom," Arizona began in an attempt to appease, to which Callie sighed in frustration, "It always is, Arizona. If it's not the hospital, it's your mom, or the Colonel, and it's every single night." She looked up from the counter, the resentment evident on her face. Arizona was taken aback, and responded defensively, "What am I supposed to do? Not talk to my parents when they call?" Callie nodded, "When we're on a date—"
"Callie, this is hardly a date—"
"Oh, really? What is it then? I mean, we're not going out, but we're going to eat dinner together and probably have sex later, so that sounds like a date to me," Callie snapped, offended by Arizona's characterization of the evening. Sensing her girlfriend's hurt, Arizona took a deep breath and continued gently, "You're right, it's a date. But they're my parents, and I didn't think you minded."
"Well, I do mind," Callie snapped, feeling slightly silly for picking a fight over a three minute phone conversation, but it had been a long week and she just wanted her girlfriend to herself for once, "So, can you not pick up next time?" When Arizona didn't respond, hesitantly mulling over a tactful response, Callie huffed in frustration, crossing her arms tightly over her chest, "Really? You seriously can't just call them back later? You know, what kind of grown ass woman talks to her mother every day—"
"Hey!" Arizona exclaimed incredulously, "I'm close with my parents! What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing!" Callie shouted back; now, she felt really silly. She didn't know why this was so important to her, but when she looked up, Arizona starred back, her eyes pleading with her to understand, "Calliope, they worry when I don't pick up."
Callie raised her eyebrows in disbelief, "Seriously? You're a surgeon—"
"They know my schedule, and when a surgery runs over, I have an intern answer my cell in the OR if they call me so they know I'm okay," Arizona responded, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment. A small grin cracked across Callie's face, "Wow, not the worst scut I've ever seen, but pretty impressive." Arizona smiled sheepishly and Callie continued, "But still, why do they have to know where you are at every second? You didn't strike me as having a freakishly sheltered childhood—"
"Timothy," Arizona stated flatly, her voice just above a whisper. Callie froze and Arizona continued, "Ever since… well, they just worry about me." Understanding washed over Callie's face. She knew that while Arizona's brother had died several years ago, his death was in many ways still fresh for her family. "I can talk to them…" Arizona began, but Callie shook her head, starring at her feet, a feeling of guilt at her pettiness rising to the surface. "Sorry," she mumbled, but Arizona took her hand, "You didn't know."
Callie smirked, "Just not during sex. You can't answer during sex." Shock crossed Arizona's face, "Calliope! I've never answered during sex—"
"No, but it did ring that one time, and I could tell that you thought about it. And that's weird," Callie teased. Rolling her eyes, Arizona handed the phone in her hand to her girlfriend, "Why don't you just order the pizza?"
"Mami, can we stop for lunch soon? I'm starving," Sofia whined. Callie sighed; this was the third time their daughter had asked this question. Their weekend in the woods had been a blast, but now, both of them were tired and ready to get home to a nice hot shower and a soft, warm bed. "Alright, m'ija. There's a Taco Bell up at this next stop. How does that sound?"
"Momma doesn't like it when we get fast food," Sofia stated seriously. Callie inhaled slowly, counting to ten to keep her irritation in check, "Well, Momma isn't here, and I thought you were hungry." With a disgruntled, "Yeah, okay," the young girl acquiesced to lunch at Taco Bell.
When they had gotten their food after a long line of travelers, they sat down at the plastic table with their tacos spread out before them. Callie pulled her phone and charger out of her bag, plugging it into the socket beside her. "I thought you said no phones while camping," Sofia grumbled as she unwrapped her crunchy taco and took a bite.
"Well, I'm pretty sure we're done camping for the weekend, so phones are no longer prohibited," Callie provided, a strained smile plastered on her face in an attempt to keep herself calm and avoid strangling her offspring. Sofia sighed smugly and responded with a mouthful of taco, "Whatever."
Callie was just about to yank her daughter outside and scold her for the tone she'd acquired, when her phone powered on. Her heart froze when she saw the screen, which read: "Arizona: 26 missed calls."
Trying to keep her panic in check, she immediately dialed her wife, who answered after only one ring, "Calliope."
"What happened? Are you okay?" Callie stammered, trying to stop her voice from shaking.
"I'm fine. Everyone's fine. I just needed to get a hold of you," Arizona responded a bit too calmly. A mixture of relief and anger flooded Callie as she responded to her wife, "Arizona, 26 calls?! You scared the hell out of me. And now you're saying that nothing's wrong? You've gotta tell me what's going on!"
There was a moment of silence on the other end before Arizona responded, "I didn't mean to scare you. It was just urgent. But I think we should discuss it when you get home." Callie huffed through her barely contained anger, her adrenaline still surging, "You really just can't tell me now? We're still over an hour away."
Arizona paused, as if carefully considering her next words, "It's not bad, Calliope. But it's big, and we should discuss it in person."
Callie shook her head, but realized she had lost, "Fine. We're on our way home. See you soon." Hanging up the phone, Callie turned to Sofia who was staring at her intently, clearly interested in this conversation. "Pack up those tacos for the road, we're heading home now."
"Arizona!" Callie called through the house as she entered from the front door, dropping her backpack at her feet as she rushed inside to find her wife. Though Arizona told her not to worry, she couldn't help but tense in anticipation as she searched the house for her wife. What on Earth could have been so urgent to call her cell 26 times?
"There you are!" Callie exclaimed, seeing her wife enter the living room as Sofia entered from the opposite direction, sleeping back slung under her arm, "Okay, now could you please tell what's going on? I swear, it scared me half to death when I saw—"
"Callie, please just stay calm okay," Arizona warned, but that statement achieved the opposite effect, "Geez, Arizona will you just spit it out? What's going on?" Callie cried, Sofia watching curiously from the corner.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Callie sensed movement. She jumped as she swiveled around on her heel, finding herself facing a young girl, probably only a year or two older than Sofia, sitting in front of her in a wheelchair, her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. Slowly, Callie turned back to Arizona, awaiting an explanation.
Arizona was clearly nervous, but had plastered a smile on her face as she spoke to her wife, "Callie, this is Riley. We're going to be fostering her for a while."
"Arizona, how you possibly think it was okay to take in a child without telling me?" Callie screamed from the front seat of her car, barely able to look at her wife who was sitting beside her. After muttering a hesitant greeting to Riley, she had practically dragged Arizona out to their car under the guise that she wanted her to "take a look at the suspension." The two wondered if Sofia had figured out yet that they would fight in the car where she couldn't hear them, but hopefully if she had, she wouldn't mention it to Riley.
"Calliope, I'm sorry—" Arizona began, but Callie cut her off, unable to stop fuming, "I mean, really Arizona. You knew I was hesitant to do the foster parent thing, but you wanted to and so I gave in, but had I known that you would pull a stunt like this—"
"She needed a place to go! What was I supposed to do?" Arizona challenged, to which Callie responded sarcastically, "Uh, gee. I don't know. Maybe not take in a random kid while I'm away for the weekend?"
"She's not a random kid, Callie. She was on my peds ward—"
"I know! That almost makes it worse! God, do you have no boundaries?"
Arizona's jaw dropped at Callie's statement, "You have every right to be angry, but don't go questioning my ethics as a doctor!" Callie shook her head in disbelief, "Arizona, are you just gonna start just taking in strays now that we have a fostering license?"
"Strays? Really? And, Callie, no! God, do you really think that little of me?"
"Well, I didn't, but then you decided to invite a kid in your peds ward to come live with us without even asking me—"
"I tried to ask you. I called you 26 times this weekend! I couldn't get a hold of you and I had to make a decision—"
"Well, you made the wrong one," Callie snapped coldly, crossing her arms tightly over her chest and turning away from her wife, looking out the window. Arizona gripped the dashboard of the car tightly and closed her eyes, counting to ten as she breathed slowly in and out. When she finally opened her eyes, she began again, attempting to remain calm.
"I really am sorry, Callie. It's just… she was discharged and they were having trouble finding a placement. We did the training—you know the challenges of placing a disabled kid. They were going to put her in a group home, and she just looked so scared. And we have a home that's almost completely wheelchair accessible—we made sure of that in case anything prevents me from using my prosthetic or crutches to get around one day. And Calliope, she just lost the ability to walk, her father's in a coma; she puts on this tough front, but she's so terrified. And I just couldn't send her off to a group home."
Callie's anger softened as she slowly glanced over at her wife, "You still can't make a decision like this without asking me." Arizona sighed, "You're right. And I'm so sorry." She paused, taking in another deep breath.
"Do you want me to call CPS and tell them we can't foster her any more?" Arizona asked tentatively. Callie looked into her wife's big blue eyes that pleaded with her not to make her do that.
"I hate that you put me in this position. It's not fair," Callie stated, her voice calm but firm. Arizona looked away, blinking back tears, "I know it's not."
Callie pursed her lips tightly for a moment, before continuing, "How long is she going to stay?"
Arizona shrugged, answering carefully, "Hopefully her father wakes up without deficits and will be able to take care of her. That's the ideal situation for everyone." Callie nodded, but pressed further, "And if he doesn't?"
The tension in the car was palpable—both doctors knew that the man's chances of waking up with the physical and mental capacity to care for his daughter faded every day he was in a coma. Arizona shook her head, "I don't know."
She looked to Callie desperately, "Can she just stay for a while?"
Callie thought of the girl in her living room. As angry as she was, she also didn't have the heart to send her away, something Arizona probably knew when she agreed to foster her, "She can stay. But this isn't a permanent placement. You make sure that CPS is actively searching for alternative homes."
Arizona sighed with relief, "Thank you, Calliope." Callie nodded curtly; she was still upset but she knew she needed to put that aside for now—none of this was Riley's fault, and she didn't want the kid to feel unwelcome.
"I'm going to go take a shower, and maybe a nap. Will you explain this to Sofia?" Callie asked wearily, the exhaustion from this weekend setting in once again as the adrenaline faded. Arizona nodded, "I'll take care of Sofia."
Reaching over the consul, Arizona grasped her wife's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before releasing it and opening her side door, "I love you."
Callie nodded as she opened her door. "Me too," she rasped as she shut her door, clicking the doors locked behind her as she trudged inside.
"They're fighting," Sofia stated, placing her hands firmly on her hips. Riley had been gazing off into space, but looked up when she heard Sofia's voice, "Huh?"
"They're fighting. They don't like me to hear them yelling at each other, so they'll make some dumb excuse to go out to the car and scream. They think I don't know," Sofia mumbled, rolling her eyes as she paced in front of Riley.
"So, you're gonna be living here for a while then?" she asked Riley pointedly, stopping in front of her wheelchair and looking down at her. Riley shrugged anxiously, "I guess." Sofia nodded, "How old are you?" she asked. "Ten," Riley answered. "I just turned nine," Sofia stated dejectedly; she had hoped she would be older.
After watching Sofia stand awkwardly in front of her for a moment, Riley began wheeling around her, "I'm gonna go play guitar." She wheeled out of the living room. When she'd almost reached the end of the hall to the spare bedroom she'd been staying in, Sofia yelled back at her, "They're fighting because of you. You know that, right?" Her voice was harsh as she glared down the hall at Riley.
"Yeah, I know," Riley responded curtly, feigning indifference as she slammed the door behind her without even looking back at Sofia, who was still standing frozen to her spot in the living room.