Riley wheeled into the kitchen as Callie was making dinner—her famous chicken piccata that Arizona loved so much. Her wife was finishing up a difficult day at the hospital, coming off a loss in surgery, and she wanted to do something special. "Hey Riley," Callie greeted as she placed the breaded chicken into the pan. Riley didn't respond, just sat silently for a moment as Callie continued cooking chopping up vegetables on the counter. After a moment, she heard Riley ask cautiously, "What are you making?"
Pausing her chopping momentarily, she turned to the girl behind her and smiled warmly, "I'm making chicken piccata with sautéed veggies." Riley nodded, "It looks good." Callie grinned wider, "Thank you. This is Arizona's favorite, and not to brag, but is kind of a specialty of mine." She turned to Riley, who was looking up the counter sadly, "What wrong?" After a moment, Riley murmured softly, "I used to cook a lot with my dad."
Callie didn't know how to respond. It seemed to hit her all at once what this girl must be going through. Sure, she seemed pretty sullen most of the time, but her father was in a coma and she was living with people who were practically strangers. After a moment, she turned to Riley, hesitantly asking, "Do you want to help? It sounds like you're pretty good at this."
Riley looked up at her in annoyance, "I would, but I don't think I can reach—"
Before she could finish her snarky comeback, Callie pulled out a table, the perfect height for her to roll her wheelchair up to, placing a chopping board and some knives and onions down on it for her. As Riley wheeled herself up to the table, Callie pulled herself a chair up next to the pull out table, sitting opposite Riley as she began chopping onions. Following her lead, Riley began chopping with her.
"You're knife skills are pretty impressive for your age," Callie commented. Riley gave her a small smile as she continued to chop. Her eyes were watery, but Callie figured it was from probably the onions. "The stove top and counter height is a bit high, but our oven is side opening, so you should be able to use that, if you ever want to bake." Callie continued, "We wanted to make the kitchen as accessible as possible, so that Arizona could use it if she ever had to use a wheelchair, but we kept the stove high because…well, let's be honest, Arizona rarely cooks and I'm 5'9" and usually wear heels." Riley chuckled, her small smile widening slightly, "I've noticed that."
They chopped in silence for a few moments, until Callie asked, "Do you like Chopped?" Riley shook her head, "Never heard of it." Beaming with excited eyes, Callie elaborated, "It's one of those cooking competition shows. Sofia loves it. She loves cooking too. You two should watch it sometime."
After a moment of silence, Riley muttered softly, "I don't really think she wants to watch anything with me." Callie sighed, her heart breaking for Riley, who must be so alone, "Well, she'll come around. Give her time." Riley nodded politely, "Okay," she mumbled, though her tone seemed to indicate that she didn't actually believe Sofia would change.
Just then, the front door opened and Arizona entered, dropping her purse on the coffee table and hanging her raincoat on the hook by the door. "Hey," she greeted Callie as she entered the kitchen, smiling when she saw her cooking with Riley. Callie stood and pulled her wife into a hug, feeling her relax into her briefly before pulling away. "How was the rest of your day?" Callie asked, her eyes concerned. Arizona's smile was tired, but genuine, "I'm happy to be home." Turning to Riley, she placed a kiss on top of her head, "And how was your day? How was school?"
Riley responded with a shrug, "It's whatever." Arizona nodded sympathetically, "It's your first week back. It will get better." Riley nodded, though again, Callie sensed that she didn't really believe it. Arizona stood, continuing, "Well, this smells delicious. I'm gonna go shower, but I'll be out in about twenty minutes?"
"Take your time," Callie replied, "It will be at least thirty, which is about when Sofia's getting home from her Girl Scout troop's meeting."
As her wife left the room, she saw Riley staring after her thoughtfully. "You know," the girl stated, "For a surgeon who spends most of her days working with really messed up kids, she sure does smile a lot." Callie's own smile broadened, "I call it her super magic smile." Riley rolled her eyes and continued chopping, but Callie could see that despite her surly front, Riley wasn't immune Dr. Robbins' super magic smile either.
Sofia lazily walked out of her room on Saturday morning, her green fuzzy slippers dragging on the floor. Usually she woke up on Saturday morning and made herself a bowl of cereal—one or both of her mothers was usually working on Saturdays and when they weren't, they liked to sleep in. Which was why she was so surprised to see Arizona standing in the kitchen, already dressed. Upon closer examination, she appeared to be cooking.
"Good morning!" Arizona chirped cheerfully when she saw her daughter emerging, "I was just about to wake you. I made pancakes!" As Sofia sat down at the kitchen table, Arizona brought her over a plate, with some slightly charred, but definitely edible, pancakes. "I burnt them a little, but they still look pretty good, if I do say so myself." Plopping a couple pancakes down on her own plate, she took her seat next to her daughter.
"Where's Riley?" Sofia asked, not trying to hide the resentment in her voice. Her Momma never cooked, and she couldn't help think that this had more to do with Riley than it did with her. Ignoring her disgruntled tone, Arizona responded calmly, "Your mother took her over to Aunt Meredith's for the day."
As Sofia looked up from her plate in confusion, Arizona continued, "We thought that it might be fun to have a day just the three of us." Sofia's eyes lit up, "Really?" Smiling, Arizona continued, "Really. If you like, we could check out that Reptiles and Amphibian Exhibit at the Burke Museum… but you probably wouldn't be interested in that," Arizona teased. Sofia practically jumped up from her seat, "I've been wanting to see it for months!"
"Hmmm… you haven't mentioned it before," Arizona joked, and Sofia laughed sheepishly, "Okay, I guess I do talk about it a lot…"
"Well, finish up your pancakes and get ready," Arizona instructed, and Sofia nodded, shoving some burnt pancakes into her mouth. "I'm on it," she mumbled through her stuffed mouth, hardly able to contain her excitement.
Riley sat in the living room at Meredith's house, reading the Goosebumps book that Sofia had begrudgingly lent her. They honestly weren't her favorite, but she was bored, and it was something to do. Callie had kindly explained to her on the way over that they wanted to spend the day with just Sofia, that it might give them a chance to talk, and that Riley would have a wonderful time with Zola. Riley knew it was because Sofia didn't want her living in her house with her family, even though Callie didn't say that. It didn't take a genius to figure that one out. But hopefully, after today, Sofia might chill out a bit and be less of a brat to her.
"What are you reading?" Zola asked, standing at the edge of the living room. Riley wordlessly gestured to her book without looking up. Even though Callie had insisted she and Zola would have a wonderful time togehter, she knew Zola was a friend of Sofia's and was probably only asking her because her Meredith made her, but she was surprised when Zola walked over to her and sat down on the couch across from her. "Is that one of the choose your own adventure ones?"
Riley shook her head, "No, this one's just about werewolves. It's okay." Zola nodded, "You should have Sofia lend you one of the choose your own adventure books. Those were my favorite." Riley looked at her incredulously, "I don't think she'll want to lend me those. I know the only reason she lent me this one is because Arizona forced her to."
Looking at her feet, Zola mumbled, "Yeah… Sorry about that. Sofia, she's just…"
"A total brat?" Riley challenged. Zola hesitated, "She's a good person really. She's just—"
"It's fine, I get it," Riley interrupted, letting Zola off the hook. They both sat silently for a moment, before, to Riley's surprise, Zola started up the conversation again, "So, like, what do you like to do?" Riley shrugged, she'd struggled with this question ever since the car accident, "I don't know. I play guitar. I used to play basketball. I used to cook with my dad." Zola nodded, not knowing what to say.
Cautiously, Zola suggested, "Well, do you like Chopped? We could watch that, if you're into cooking." Riley hesitated for a moment, remembering Callie recommending she watch it with Sofia. But after a moment, she agreed, "Sure. Let's watch it."
Arizona trudged up the stairs to her third story apartment, her feet heavy with exhaustion as she lifted them up the final flight of stairs. It had been a long day—with an eight hour clinical shift following six hours of class. And she had another clinical shift tomorrow as well. She had volunteered for the Thanksgiving shift. It wasn't like she had anything better to do over the holiday. She didn't have time to go home, and since breaking up with her girlfriend a month ago over her hectic med school schedule, she didn't have anyone to spend the day with. She planned on spending her weekend working at the hospital or huddled in her studio apartment studying for her finals. But for now, she just needed to sleep.
When she reached the top of the stairs and turned the corner to head toward to her apartment, she looked up and froze at the sight in front of her. Siting outside the door of her apartment was her brother, Timothy, and her best friend, Nick. When he saw her come around the corner, Timothy lept to his feet and rushed to greet her, "Zona!" The sound of her brother's nickname for her shook her out of her haze and she opened her arms, pulling him into a tight hug.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, shock filling her voice as she pulled away from Timothy and reached over to pull Nick into a hug as well. "What? Don't want to see us, Tempe?" Nick teased. Arizona smacked him playfully on the arm as she pulled away, "You know that's not what I meant." Timothy grinned widely, "Well, we thought you might want some company for Thanksgiving, so we decided to drive up from North Carolina. We were sure you would be here by the time we arrived, because the traffic was so terrible, but I suppose we underestimated your schedule. No wonder Caitlin broke up with you." Arizona shot him a glare, and Timothy raised his arms up defensively, "Kidding! She clearly didn't deserve you." Smirking at her brother, Arizona murmured, "Got that right," as she slipped the key into her lock and opened the door, gesturing toward the doorway to invite them in.
"If I'd known you were coming, I would have cleaned up," Arizona mumbled sheepishly, but Nick looked incredulously around her practically spotless apartment and replied sarcastically, "Yeah, this place is an absolute sty, Flagstaff. Shame on you." Ignoring his joke, she pulled a few beers from her fridge and set them on the table in front of them, where she realized that Tim had set a box of donuts. "Oh, bless you. I'm starving," she muttered, practically ripping open the box and grabbing herself chocolate cruller. After taking a bite, she set the donut carefully on a napkin and opened the beers, passing one to Tim and one to Nick. "So, how's school?" she asked. Both of them were in their senior year at the University of North Carolina—Tim in the ROTC program and Nick majoring in philosophy. Tim shrugged, "It's okay. I can feel the senioritis setting in already though." Nick nodded in agreement with that statement, and Arizona shot them both a worried glance. "You are both still going to class, right? Oh, did you two skip class to come here? Because you know you shouldn't have done—"
"Chill, Sedona," Nick responded, waving his hand dismissively, "We had the day off. I know that's a foreign concept to you, but it does happen occasionally." Rolling her eyes, Arizona smiled in relief, "Well, good." Looking over at the table, a box wrapped in newspaper caught her eye. Noticing where she was looking, Tim picked it up, "Oh, yeah. This is for you, Zona. Since I figured I wouldn't see you at Christmas this year."
Taking the box tenderly from his hand, she looked up at her brother remorsefully, "Tim, I didn't get you anything." He laughed, "Of course you didn't, Zona. It's November. And you barely have time to shower—"
"I shower!" Arizona spat back indignantly, though it had, admittedly, been a couple days. Tim smiled sympathetically, "Just open it, will you?" Carefully removing the corner of the taped newspaper, Arizona meticulously removed the box from it's wrapping, revealing it to be a shoebox. Opening it, she was surprised to find a pair of sneakers.
"They aren't just tennis shoes," Timothy added, sensing his sister's confusion, "Look at the bottom." Pulling a black and pink shoe from the box, she turned it over to see a wheel hidden in the thick sole. "They're heelies!" Timothy exclaimed excitedly. Arizona looked up at him, a gleeful grin spreading across her face, "No way!"
"Yeah, way!" He responded. "I figured you probably didn't have much time to skate, so this might help with that problem." Arizona's smile widened, "Thank you!" Her brother beamed in response, "Put them on! Let's try them out!" Arizona looked at him warily, "Tim, it's 11 o'clock at night."
"So?" he responded, raising his eyes in a challenge. After a moment's consideration, she kicked off the shoes she was wearing and began shoving her feet into the heelies. Rushing out the door with Tim following quickly behind, she called back, "You coming, Nick?"
"Nah, I'm good Phoenix. I'll just sit here and drink you beer," he responded teasingly. "Suit it yourself," she replied with a shrug as she rushed out the door, filled with a fresh spurt of energy as her younger brother jogged closely behind.
"Oh! And do you remember that giant spotted salamander? That was so cool!" Sofia rambled excitedly as she licked her chocolate ice cream cone while walking through the park with her mothers. Arizona nodded enthusiastically, exchanging a look with Callie as she licked her own ice cream cone. They hadn't seen their daughter this happy since Riley moved in two weeks ago, and it was a relief to know she was still in there somewhere.
"I'm glad you had so much fun today, bug," Arizona smiled and Callie nodded in agreement. Looking up at the rain clouds forming above their head, Callie suggested, "It might be time to make our way back to the car, unless we want to eat soggy ice cream," Sofia laughed, but agreed with that assessment. When they arrived at their van, Sofia lept in the back seat, eagerly pulling out her Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians that her mothers had bought for her. "Don't make yourself carsick reading that while we're driving," Arizona warned. Rolling her eyes, Sofia put the book aside, "If you say so, Momma." She knew her mother was right, though. She did tend to get carsick while reading.
"So, where to?" Callie asked, climbing into the driver's seat. Arizona looked at her watch, "Well, it's getting kind of late. Should we go and pick up Riley from Meredith's place?"
"Do we have to?" Sofia whined from the back seat. Callie and Arizona exchanged concerned looks—it seemed like maybe their plan of bringing Sofia out for a day on her own hadn't worked. Trying to keep her voice casual, Arizona responded, "Well, bug. We can't exactly leave her there—"
"I know that, Momma. I'm just… I missed this, it being just the three of us," Sofia mumbled sadly. Callie turned around in her seat so she could face her daughter, "Sofia, honey. I know. We miss it too. But it's just gonna be different for a while. And there are some things that could be really great, if you just give it a chance."
Sofia raised her eyes skeptically, "Oh, yeah? Like what?" Arizona jumped in, "Sofia, having someone to hang out with, who's your age, that could be cool." With a noncommittal shrug, Sofia conceded that point.
After a moment's pause, she asked her parents, "Are you going to adopt her?" The question hung heavily in the air, as Callie and Arizona looked toward each other. "Well, Sofia. Her father is still alive, so as of right now, this is a temporary placement," Callie provided carefully. She and Arizona had yet to discuss whether or not adoption was something they would consider if the situation arose, but it wasn't the time to talk about such things anyway. Even as the probability waned, the best option would be for Riley to be reunited with her father.
With a reluctant nod, Sofia finally said, "Okay. I'll try to be better with her."
Arizona smiled appreciatively, reaching across to the back seat and squeezing Sofia's hand, "Thanks, bug. That means a lot to us." Forcing a smile, Sofia suggested, "Okay, then. I guess we should go get her."
"Just one minute left! Get it on the plate!" Amelia called out, holding her phone as a stop watch. The dessert round of their Chopped tournament was coming to a close. Meredith and Zola were facing off against Cristina and Riley, and the competition was neck and neck, with each team winning one of the previous two rounds. Now, they were in the final round, to make a dessert using chocolate chips, Captain Crunch cereal, and mint chocolate chip ice cream (the ingredients selected by Amelia—who was also serving as judge—based on what they had in the fridge). The stakes were high, and Zola and Riley both shouted frantically to their teammates as they finished plating their food.
"You're going down, Grey!" Cristina trash talked from over in the corner, where she and Riley were putting the finishing touches on their dish. "Oh really, Yang? Didn't you say that last round when you lost?" Meredith taunted back, working quickly with Zola to clean up their plate. Cristina scoffed, "Your sister's judging! The competition is rigged!"
"Hey, now! No disrespecting the judge!" Amelia interjected indignantly, looking at her phone again, "And five, four, three, two, one! Hands up!" Eight hands shot into the air, and Amelia beamed, "Alright! Good work chefs! Let's start the tasting. Zola, you first."
Bringing her dish up to Amelia, Zola began her presentation, "We have prepared for you today a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream, with chocolate sauce melted from chocolate chips and cream cheese, with crushed Captain Crunch sprinkles." Zola recited proudly, setting her dish in front of Amelia.
"Well, this looks quite good," Amelia praised, "Presentation is excellent!" Taking a bite, Amelia hummed with delight, "Mmmmm Captain Crunch. Best ice cream topping ever." Cristina rolled her eyes as Meredith gave her a smug look. "Well, I certainly am impressed with the flavors, the cream cheese was a nice touch, but I think you could have done more. I mean, come on you guys. Half an hour for melting chocolate? What were you even doing?" Zola looked to Meredith for help, who responded with, "We believe simplicity is undervalued in the kitchen." Nodding in agreement, Zola turned back to Amelia, who shrugged, "Maybe. But let's see what your competitors came up with. Riley, come on up!"
"We got this," Cristina stated confidently as Riley wheeled up to meet Amelia, a tray with their dish balanced carefully on her lap. Placing a plate carefully in front of Amelia, Riley stated calmly, "We have prepared for you today a mint chocolate chip ice cream bread, infused with chocolate chips, topped with a Captain Crunch crust." Amelia raised her eyebrows, "Ice cream bread? Where did you think of that?" Riley smiled confidently, "I watched a youtube video about it a while ago."
"Alright, let's have a taste," Amelia said, carefully cutting a piece of the bread, and making sure to get some Captain Crunch crust on top. "Mmmmmm, Captain Crunch," she praised, and Cristina mumbled under her breath, "Weirdo."
"I will factor disrespect for the judge into my decision," Amelia warned, and Riley shot Cristina a cautionary glare. As she finished her bite, Amelia went on to offer her critiques, "The cake is quite good, and the Captain Crunch crust was ingenious." Cristina smirked, "See? Ingenious, Mere."
"Oh, shut up," muttered Meredith, her arms crossed over her hand.
"What was less ingenious was the chocolate chip 'infusions'? I mean, mint chocolate chip ice cream already has chocolate chips in it, so I would have liked to see a more creative way to use that ingredient," Amelia stated seriously, while Cristina threw her hands up in the air, "Oh, come on! You picked the ingredients, so how is that our fault?"
"I think that counts as disrespecting the judge," Meredith stated calmly, giving Amelia a sympathetic look, but her sister wasn't fooled by this, "Wow, y'all are competitive."
"We're surgeons. What do you expect?" Cristina stated, as if this should be obvious. With a casual shrug, Amelia continued, "It was a difficult choice, but I am ready to make my decision."
Four sets of eyes fixated on Amelia as they silently awaited her decision. "The champions of the mini-Chopped competition is…drum roll please." Riley and Zola drummed on their laps, building up to Amelia's announcement, "Team Riley!"
"Yes!" Riley and Cristina called out in unison, exchanging a high five as Meredith scowled at her sister, assuring Zola that their dish was truly the best.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door, "Come in!" Meredith called from the kitchen. The front door swung open and footsteps entered the house, "Hello?" Callie called out. "In the kitchen!" Cristina shouted back.
Callie, Arizona, and Sofia entered the kitchen, staring at the mess it had become. "Well, what's been going on here?" Arizona asked, not one for mess, but her cautious glance was replaced a wide smile when Riley beamed up at her, "We won the Chopped tournament!"
"That's great!" Arizona responded, but Callie looked more skeptical, "Who's we?"
"Me and Cristina," Riley stated and Cristina nodded in affirmation, "We were competing against Meredith and Zola." Confusion crossed Callie's face, "Well, I believe that Riley could do it—she's a pro. But Yang can't cook to save her life."
"Neither can Grey," Arizona argued, while Meredith and Cristina exchanged looks—they figured they should be offended, but it was true. Neither of them could cook worth a damn.
"Well, we better be going," Arizona said with a twinge of regret—this was the most fun she's seen Riley have since she'd met her and she hated to end it. But they needed to get home, and she could sense that Sofia was a bit jealous of the fun they'd had without her. "Thanks so much for taking her for the day," Callie added, looking to Meredith, Cristina, and Amelia.
"Well, like Sofia, Riley is welcome here anytime," Meredith said kindly, "Besides, I want a rematch, so she'll have to return." Zola smiled at Riley, "See you Monday, Riley." Nodding enthusiastically, Riley replied, "Yeah. Thanks for hanging out today. It was fun."
Sofia finally caught Zola's eye. Forcing a smile, she turned and followed her mothers and Riley from the house without saying a word to her friend.