Riley laid on her bed in the spare bedroom in Callie and Arizona's house. The walls were painted a pale blue. It housed a bed and a dresser, and a couple days ago, Arizona had had a bar installed next to the bed to help her transfer, but that was all. Arizona had offered to take Riley shopping to decorate it, but she had declined. She wasn't going to be staying here for that long, after all, so she didn't want them to have to buy her things. Even if they were surgeons and totally loaded, from the looks of it. She had also refused to let Arizona take her shopping for school supplies, though that was mostly because she was hoping that they would change her mind about making her go to school and she wasn't about to do anything that might indicate that she was on board with this plan.

Hearing a knock on the door, Riley stopped tossing the ball she was playing with against the wall but didn't respond. Slowly, the door creaked open and Arizona cautiously entered, giving Riley a tentative smile, "Hey, I brought you something." In her right hand, she was carrying a purple backpack with a bright green frog painted on it. "This is Sofia's old backpack. You need something to carry your school supplies in." Riley shrugged reluctantly, "I guess."

Arizona sat down on the edge of Riley's bed, laying the backpack gently in the girl's lap. Riley grasped it gently and felt some supplies in inside—probably just a notebook and some pencils from the feel of it. She didn't want to open it though, because that might give Arizona the impression that she appreciated this gesture. "I know it's a bit young for you, but it's what we had. The offer still stands to get you a backpack of your own—"

"I'm going to be in a wheelchair. You really think the kids are gonna be staring at the stupid frog on backpack?" Riley snapped, finally making eye contact with Arizona, tears burning the back of her eyes. Arizona sighed sympathetically, gently placing a hand on Riley's wrist, "I was so nervous about going back to work after my amputation. I avoided it for months."

Riley looked at her, expressing a combination of confusion and annoyance, "You can't even really tell you have a fake leg though, if you wear long pants." She stated bitterly. Arizona explained, "You can't now, but then, I was still walking with a cane. Plus everyone at the hospital knew what had happened. And I couldn't run to meet traumas like I used to, I couldn't stand for as long, which is a big deal if you're a surgeon."

Seeing that Riley still seemed unimpressed, she conceded, "I'm sure it's different than a chair though." When Riley made no acknowledgement of her comment, Arizona kept telling her story, "So, my first day back. It was so embarrassing at first. The doctors were all looking at me weird, a trauma came in that I couldn't get to in time, and there was this one strange resident who kept stalking me with chairs in case I needed to sit down," Arizona chuckled, rolling her eyes, "I'm pretty sure Callie put her up to it." She saw Riley suppress a smile, proving she was, in fact, listening, as much as she tried to hide it.

"So, after my first surgery back, an exploratory laparotomy—"

"Why do you say that like I know what it is?" Riley interrupted, though her voice was almost amused.

Arizona laughed, "Sorry. All you need to know is that it's a long surgery. And since it's exploratory, you don't really know how long it's gonna take when you start."

Riley nodded in understanding, and Arizona continued, "So, when the surgery was done, I was so proud of myself for finishing it successfully, that I got distracted, putting all my weight on my left foot."

Arizona looked at Riley, leaning in as if she was about to tell a secret before whispering, "I don't have a left foot."

Riley couldn't help but giggle a bit, as Arizona continued, "So, I fell. Flat on my face. And everyone froze. The OR was completely silent. Dr. Karev kicked everyone out, while I just laid there on the floor. He thought I was crying, he was so freaked out. But I couldn't stop laughing." A wide smile crossed her face as she continued, "You see, falling in front of everyone had been one of the things I was most afraid of, and it happened. And then I realized, I survived a plane crash. I fell thirty thousand feet out of the air and survived. And now I was scared of tripping in front of my colleagues? It just suddenly felt so ridiculous to me."

Arizona squeezed Riley's hand and looked her in the eyes. "I know it's scary going to school. I know. But Riley, you are so strong. You're a survivor. And that's not to say that it won't be hard, because it will be. It might be hard for a long time. But it will get easier."

Riley nodded, "Okay." Arizona beamed, "Okay!" Standing up from the bed, she kissed the top of Riley's head before walking out of her room, "Don't stay up too late."

"And what's your name?" asked the older lady in the front office of the new school, her smile too wide to be real. She looked down at young Timothy and Arizona through thick bifocals. Her sweater was green, fuzzy, and covered with cat fur, and Arizona thought she smelled like the old leather recliner at her grandmother's house. "Arizona," the young girl mumbled, her wide blue eyes fixated on the grey tile beneath her. She wished her mother had been able to walk them inside, but she had a job interview early that morning. The lady laughed, "No, sweetheart. Not where you're from—what's your name?"

Arizona felt tears building in the back of her eyes, but refused to let them fall. As she pushed them back, she remembered the words her father said to her when he had informed her they would be moving in a week, right in the middle of her third grade year, and to a civilian school for the first time—"I need you to be brave and strong. For your brother. I need you to be a good man in a storm. Can you do that for me, Robbins?"

Standing up as tall as her eight year old frame would allow, she looked the secretary in the eye and stated clearly, "My name is Arizona Robbins, and this is my brother, Timothy Robbins." She felt her little brother squeeze her left hand as she handed the folder in her right hand up to the secretary, "These are the records from our last school—in Atlanta, Georgia. Our mother's phone number is listed at the top if you have any questions."

Looking over the forms she'd been handed, the secretary nodded approvingly, "Well, we're very pleased to have you both here." Placing the folder on her desk, she turned back to the blonde children in front of her, "Well, Timothy. Why don't I walk you over to your class? Arizona, the third grade teacher's aide will be here in a minute to show you the way, so why don't you have a seat over there?" She gestured to a wooden chair next to her desk, and Arizona nodded.

Just as she moved to sit down, she felt Timothy grasp her hand tighter, looking at her with tears in his big blue eyes, silently pleading with her not to leave him alone. Arizona forced a smile, "Go on, Timothy. She's gonna take you to your class." His lower lip quivered, and he whispered a wobbly plea, "Can you come, Zona?"

She ruffled his hair with her right hand as she squeezed his right hand back, before releasing it, "No, I have to go to my own class. But you'll be fine. And I'll see you after school."

"Can I see you at recess and lunch too?" Timothy asked hopefully. Arizona bit her lip hesitantly—the last thing she needed while trying to make friends in her new school was her kid brother following her around, but she looked into his frightened blue eyes and nodded reluctantly, "Just today, okay?"

Timothy nodded, and took the hand that the secretary offered him to lead him out of the office and to his classroom. Once he was safely out of the room, Arizona sunk into the chair, hastily wiping away a stray tear and closing her eyes, inhaling deeply before opening her eyes and sitting up straight, waiting stoically for her guide to come and take her to her new class.

Zola looked guiltily over at Riley, sitting by herself at the opposite end of the cafeteria from her and Sofia. Turning hesitantly to her friend, she asked one more time, "Are you sure you don't want to invite her to sit with us?"

"No, Zola. I've already told you. We're not friends with her," Sofia muttered with annoyance, finishing off her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She pulled a ziplock filled with Oreos from her Harry Potter lunch box. Stuck to them was a pink post-it note with Arizona's loopy handwriting, which read, "Share with Zola and Riley. Love you bug." Scowling at her Momma's not so subtle attempt to get her to befriend Riley at school, she crumpled the note up and tossed it aside. Zola looked at her with concern as Sofia bit into one of her Oreos, "Your Momma said that you should share those with Riley."

With a disgruntled sigh, Sofia continued eating her Oreo, "Well, what my Momma doesn't know won't hurt her. And if you don't drop it, you're not getting any either."

"Fine," Zola said, reaching into the ziplock and grabbing herself an Oreo. However, it was barely a minute before Sofia caught her watching Riley forlornly once more. "Stop looking!" Sofia snapped, her mouth filled with Oreos.

"Sorry!" Zola stammered, swallowing the cookie in her mouth before continuing, "It's just, I mean, she's reading Goosebumps. And you love Goosebumps, so maybe you'd like her if you just gave her a chance?"

Sofia rolled her eyes, "Okay, first of all, I liked Goosebumps a year ago. And second, she's only reading it because I lent it to her." Zola raised her eyebrows, "You did? I mean, that's something—"

"No, no, no. I didn't offer, Momma came into my room last night and practically begged me to lend her a couple books to read at school. So, I told her she could take a couple Goosebumps books but not to touch Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia." Sofia took another Oreo out of the bag, removing the top layer of cookie with her teeth and eating it, "It's kinda pathetic how much she worries about her. Seriously, like she's not even her kid."

Zola shrugged, licking out the center of her Oreo as she continued thoughtfully, "I mean, it's kind of your parents' job to take care of her. It doesn't seem that pathetic for her to worry a bit."

Sofia zipped her lunch box closed, "Whatever. I don't want to talk about this anymore." She stood up and headed toward the basketball court, dragging Zola along with her.

It was Tuesday evening, which meant it was time for Arizona and Sofia's weekly Cupcake Wars viewing. The two of them were snuggled together on the couch while Callie finished the dishes in the kitchen, laughing at their extreme reactions to the judges' decisions.

"Florian didn't like the red velvet cupcake? I love red velvet!" Sofia cried in indignation as the contestant got eliminated. Arizona shook her head in agreement, "I mean, I know the guy hates red velvet, but it had to be better than the chili cupcake? That one wasn't even baked all the way through." Throwing up her hands, Sofia added, "I know!"

Just then, a noise came from the hallway as Riley wheeled herself cautiously into the living room. Arizona looked up from the TV and greeted her with a smile. "Hey Riley, would you like to join us?" she asked eagerly. The girl had been spending most evenings alone in her room, and Arizona was excited to see her emerging. Callie too seemed intrigued by this development, briefly pausing her work in the kitchen as she observed the interaction unfolding. Riley shrugged noncommittally, "Sure, I guess."

Wheeling her way over the couch, she smoothly transferred from her chair to the spot next to Arizona on the sofa. "Have you watched Cupcake Wars before?" Arizona inquired. Riley shook her head, and Arizona beamed, "Well, you're in from a treat! Isn't that right, Sof?" Her daughter shrugged morosely, "I guess. But it's kind of hard to watch from the middle of the episode."

"Oh, we can catch her up," Arizona commented. "See, the basic premise is that there are four pairs of cupcake bakers from cupcake shops across the country that come together to compete in three different cupcake challenges."

"That's a lot of cupcakes," Riley muttered in amusement. Arizona nodded eagerly, "I know! It's fantastic. So last round—"

"Momma, I can't hear. Can we just watch?" Sofia whined.

"Well, let's pause it then—"

"No!" Sofia stood up from the couch, "I don't want to watch anymore," she grumbled, stomping off to her room. "What's up with her?" Riley asked, annoyance clearly trying to mask some level of hurt. Arizona sighed defeatedly, "I don't know. Give her some time."

Seeing Callie follow Sofia into her room, Arizona turned her attention back to Riley, "So, we were talking about the cupcakes from last round…"

Knocking softly on Sofia's door, Callie didn't wait for an answer before entering. She saw her daughter laying on her bed on her stomach, pouting bitterly. "Sofia, what's gotten into you lately? This isn't like you."

Hearing an incoherent mumble coming from her daughter's bed, Callie pressed on, "Turn around and speak up, I don't understand you." She sat down on the edge of Sofia's bed as the girl sat up and faced her, "I don't like her, Mami. How long is she going to stay here?"

Callie sighed, "I don't know, m'ija. But you barely know her, and as long as she lives here, you are to treat her with respect." Sofia rolled her eyes, but Callie continued firmly, "Sofia, it's important." Softening her voice a bit, she went on, "Riley's going through a hard time right now. She doesn't have family or friends here, so she needs us."

Sofia pulled her knees up to her chest, stewing in her anger and shame. Looking up at Callie, she whined, "But Cupcake Wars is me and Momma's thing. And she just came in here and… it's our thing." Placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder, Callie comforted, "I know it is. But I would really appreciate if you would be willing to share it, just for a little while."

Callie waited for Sofia to respond, but her daughter just continued to pout on her bed. Standing up and turning to leave Sofia's room, she turned back to her daughter, "I know this is hard for you, but your attitude needs to change, m'ija. I mean it."

"I just don't know what to do. Sofia has never acted like this before," Arizona wondered aloud as she and Callie prepared for bed. Callie shrugged, "I don't know either. Can you blame her? You kinda sprung this on her." Seeing her wife give her a guilty look, she continued, "We've been over this. What's done is done, and there's no sense in placing blame. But… I don't think Sofia understands yet."

Arizona sighed, "I know, you're right. It wasn't fair to Sofia. But what are we going to do about it now?" She sat on the edge of their bed and began to remove her prosthesis as Callie climbed under the covers on the opposite side. "Maybe we should have a day with just Sofia," Callie suggested. Setting her leg against the nightstand, Arizona crawled in next to her wife, "Do you think that's a good idea? I don't want it to seem like we're rewarding bad behavior."

"No, I know," Callie clarified, reaching over and switching off the light, "I just think it might give us a chance to explain the situation to her, and give her some time with just us. We might be able to figure out more of what's going on." Arizona pondered that for a moment, "Yeah, that might be good. What would we do with Riley?"

"Maybe Meredith can take her for the day? She can hang out with Zola," Callie provided, reaching over and turning off her bedside lamp. Arizona nodded in the darkness, "Okay, that could work." She rolled toward her wife, snuggling against Callie, who pulled her in close to her as Arizona clung to her waist.

"Do you think I'm crazy? I mean, the more I think about it, I just can't believe I did this," Arizona mumbled into her wife's chest. Callie laughed softly, "Yes, I think you're crazy. You're probably gonna be the crazy one for a month for this one." Placing a kiss on Arizona's head, she continued, "But that's okay. I'm sure it will be my turn again soon." Arizona nodded gratefully, exhaling against Callie's chest, a drop of relief filling her chest.