"Alright Riley. I just put in the pizza order, it should be here in about half an hour, which works out perfectly, because that's when Arizona and Sofia should be home from the Girl Scout meeting," Callie called out as she walked into the living room where Riley was sitting, looking at some pictures sitting on a shelf sitting agains the wall by the television. Callie paused as she watched Riley examine the pictures, mostly of herself, Arizona, and Sofia, studying them carefully, with a yearning to learn more about the family she was staying with. Callie pulled up a chair to sit with her.
"That one's from when we went skating for the first time as a family," Callie commented as Riley reached out a picked up a picture of Callie, Arizona, and Sofia all dressed in neon and wearing roller blades at the local skate rink. "That was also the first time Arizona went skating after her amputation. She's always loved skating, used to wear freakin' heelies around the hospital, so it was a big deal for her to be able to do that again." Callie finished her story and was pleased to see Riley smiling hopefully at the picture, running her finger gently over Arizona's prosthetic that was strapped into a roller blade. Arizona was leaning heavily on the side of the wall, but smiling from ear to ear. Callie couldn't help but smile at the memory, and hoped it would help Riley to see what she might be able to accomplish.
Setting the photo back down on the shelf, Riley reached for another picture. This one was of a much younger Arizona, clad in light green scrubs and standing next to a tall, blonde man with matching blue eyes and dimples. "Is this Arizona's brother?" Riley asked—the family resemblance was hard to miss. Callie nodded, "Timothy." Riley sensed there was more to the story than that, and looked up at Callie expectantly. "He was in the army, like Arizona's father and grandfather. He died in Iraq when Arizona was in the last year of her residency." Riley gazed sadly at the picture in her hands before returning it carefully to its place on the shelf. One by one, she picked up more frames, eager to hear the stories that Callie had to tell about them—Sofia's first day of school, Callie and Arizona dressed in matching red dresses at Bailey's wedding, the family of three dressed up as different colorful lizards for Halloween. Finally, they came across one of Callie, Arizona, and another tall, blonde man, all wearing pink gowns and gathered around a very tiny baby Sofia, who was laying in a cradle at the hospital.
"Who's he?" Riley asked curiously, studying the blonde man in the picture. Callie inhaled deeply as she looked at Mark's goofy smile frozen in the photograph, "That's Mark, Sofia's father." Riley raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Oh…" She seemed confused, then asked cautiously, "I mean, I thought you and Arizona were her moms."
"We are," Callie stated firmly, her voice holding no room for doubt. "Sofia's conception," Callie chuckled tensely, "Well, that's another story for another day. But Arizona has always been Sofia's mom. Even when Mark was alive, Arizona was just as much Sofia's parent as either of us." Riley nodded, the hesitantly asked, "So… how did he die?" Callie bit her lip and closed her eyes momentarily, causing Riley to worry she'd pushed too far, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked—"
"No, Riley. It's okay," Callie said gently, placing a reassuring hand on Riley's wrist. "Mark was in a plane crash. He and a group of other surgeons were flying to Boise for a surgery, and the plane crashed. They were stranded in the forrest for four days. Arizona was on the plane too; that's how she lost her leg. It was a bad break that got infected." Callie held back a shudder at the painful memory as she continued, "Anyway, Mark sustained a lot of internal injuries, and he was just never able to recover. Shortly after he was brought to the hospital, he slipped into a coma. And a month later, we withdrew life sustaining treatment, as he had requested." Callie stopped her story abruptly, afraid she had shared too much with the young girl. She didn't want to frighten her.
Riley looked away, her breath caught in her throat. She thought about her own father, who had been in a coma for far longer than a month. Finally, she mumbled, "Do you think my dad is going to die?" Callie felt a chill of dread run through her body. She wished Arizona was here to answer this question—she knew how to talk to kids about these things. Callie was not a pediatric surgeon, and had mostly only had these talks with adults.
She shoved away her protective instinct, which told her to lie and tell Riley that her father would be just fine—as tempting as that was, she knew it wasn't true. Instead, she approached this how she would a family member of a patient, "I don't know. But the longer he stays in a coma, the lower the likelihood that he will wake up." Seeing the despair break across Riley's face broke Callie's heart, and she reach out, grasping tightly to her hand, "I'm so sorry."
Riley shook her head fiercely, "I'm not ready. I'm not going to just give up on him." She looked at Callie with determined eyes, as if daring her to disagree. Callie nodded in understanding, "That's okay."
They sat in silence for a moment, before Callie heard Riley speak up once more, her voice so soft that she almost didn't hear her, "Thank you." Callie was taken aback, confused by this seemingly out of place expression of gratitude, "For what?" Riley looked up at her, with tears hovering on the edge of her big blue eyes, "I know you didn't have to take me in. Arizona didn't ask you, and you had every right to send me back, but you didn't, and… I never said thank you, but I should have."
Callie reacted instinctively, pulling Riley into a tight hug. "You don't have to thank me, Riley," she whispered into the young girl's ear, "You are not a burden. You are always welcome here. You don't have to thank me." She planted a kiss on her forehead, and was just about to pull away when she felt Riley throw her hands around her neck, clinging to her tightly as her body trembled.
Ten-year-old Arizona snuck out of her room early Christmas morning, her arms filled with three gifts to place under the tree. She had been up late the night before, putting the finishing touches on her clay creations and had woken up early to wrap them, meticulously selecting the news paper and shoeboxes to make them look the prettiest. While purchasing wrapping paper was technically allowed, Arizona had wanted to spend her entire allotted $10 on clay and paint this year. As she looked for a place for the third present, she heard the unmistakable sound of wheels on the hard wood floor barreling towards her from behind.
She turned around just in time for her brother to smash into her, sending them both toppling the ground, the roller skates he had received last night on Christmas Eve spinning in the air. Beneath her, Arizona heard an unmistakable crunch, and as she pulled herself to her feet, she was heartbroken to see her package smashed on the ground, the Christmas present she had worked so hard to make obviously crushed.
Biting back her tears of anger, she rounded on Timothy, who was looking at her apologetically. "Sorry, Zona," he mumbled guiltily, staring at his still spinning skates, but Arizona didn't want to hear it. "You broke it!" she shouted, forgetting in her rage that her parents were still asleep, "You're so stupid, you know you aren't supposed to wear those in the house!"
"Arizona Danielle Robbins!" her father's voice boomed from across the living room, and Arizona instinctively stood up straight, trying not to cringe when he looked at her with harsh, stern blue eyes. She stood still as a board, waiting for her father to come and ream her for waking him up, but her mother laid a hand on his arm gently, calmly indicating that she would handle it. Hesitating slightly, her father stepped back, letting her mother approach.
"Arizona, you know better than to yell at your brother and call him names," she said sternly, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked down at her oldest child, whose her hair was done in tight braids and was wearing candy cane pajamas two sizes two small for her. Looking up at her mother with pleading blue eyes, she began to protest, "But Momma—"
"No buts," her mother stated firmly, nodding her head toward Timothy. After a moment's reluctance, Arizona mumbled, "Sorry, Timothy," in her brother's direction, refusing to look him in the eyes.
With a gentle nod, Barbara Robbins knelt down to her daughter's level, "Now, what on Earth were you so upset about this fine Christmas morning that you felt the need to scream and wake your father and I from our fitful slumber?"
Reaching down to her feet, Arizona gently picked up the crushed parcel that she had been about to put under the tree. Placing it gently in her mother's hands, young Arizona looked up at her mother with tear filled blue eyes, "I made it for you, but he ran into me and broke it."
Carefully, Arizona's mother unwrapped the gift, pulling away the newspaper to reveal a ceramic rooster, painted in different shades of pastels, crushed into three pieces. A wide smile filled Barbara's face, "Oh, bug. It's beautiful—"
"No, it's not," Arizona sniffed, tears spilling over the brims of her eyes and onto her cheeks, "It's broken. And you love roosters in the kitchen. And I just wanted to make you something nice this year, but I'm terrible at arts and crafts and then—"
"Arizona, stop," her mother commanded, gently cupping her daughter's face in her hand, "I love everything you've ever made me." Arizona laughed, shaking her head bitterly, "You don't have to lie, mom. I'm ten now."
"And clearly all grown up," Arizona's mother teased, but continued softly, "I'm not lying, bug. I love them because you made them for me, and you made them with love. That's more than enough for me."
Arizona swallowed guiltily, thinking of the harsh word she had just screamed at Timothy even though she knew he hadn't run into her on purpose, and her mother continued, "So, why don't you help your brother get those skates off his feet while your father and I make some coffee, and then we can open presents and we'll glue this masterpiece back together."
Arizona smiled, wiping her tears on her pajama sleeve, "Okay," she whispered, walking over to Timothy and gently unlacing his roller skates.
"I really am sorry, Zona," he mumbled, looking at her clear blue eyes. She gave him a watery smile, "I know, Timothy. Me too."
"So, you guys get your Christmas presents at a craft supply store?" Riley asked in confusion as Callie pulled into the Joann's Fabric and Crafts parking lot. Sofia tilted her head to the side, sucking her lower lip as she considered an answer briefly, "Not really the presents, just the supplies to make them." Callie nodded, "Yeah, Arizona is a big fan of homemade gifts. But y'all remember to hint to her that I would love some Bath and Body Works soap this year. Because no offense, but her DIY substitute just isn't quite the same."
Sofia giggled, leaping out of the car and running around to open the sliding door ramp for Riley to roll out of, "Yeah, Mami. You've mentioned that like five times," she answered in exasperation, rolling her eyes. Callie nodded, "Just making sure you remember. Either vanilla—"
"Or lavender. We got it, Callie," Riley responded with a chuckle, wheeling herself away from the car as Sofia pressed the button, closing the door behind them.
"So, what exactly does Arizona like anyway? I'm not exactly crafty," Riley said, concern tingeing the edges of her voice. Sofia snorted, holding back a laugh, "You definitely don't need to be crafty. You could throw some pink glitter onto a piece of paper, and write 'I love you' in sharpie, and Momma would probably cry," Sofia muttered. "In a good way," Callie clarified, seeing Riley's eyes widen slightly. Relaxing, she said, "Oh, okay. So, got any ideas?"
"I was thinking clay this year," Sofia said thoughtfully. "Versatile, easy to work with, plus we can paint it, so it's doubly home made." Callie nodded approvingly, "Solid choice. Definite potential."
Arriving at the clay aisle, Sofia excitedly started pulling packages of clay off the shelves and tossing them into the cart. "Woah, slow down," Callie warned, "Remember, $20 limit." Sofia rolled her eyes, "I still don't get it, Mami. I mean, it's Christmas presents for Momma." Callie nodded emphatically, her eyes widening to drive home her point, "Exactly. This is part of the tradition, Momma wants it this way." With a sigh, Sofia placed two of the clay packets back on the shelf, "But she won't even know." Callie scoffed, "M'ija, let me remind you of a couple things. One: joint-checking account. Two: Momma always finds out."
"Okay, let's go get some paint. We got enough clay?" Callie asked. Sofia nodded affirmatively, but Riley hesitated, "Actually, can we get one more package? It's just… I want to make something for my dad too." Callie's breath caught, but she shook it off, "Of course, Riley. Pick one out." Pulling a package from the bottom shelf, she tossed it smoothly into the cart and rolled from the aisle, "Alright, so next we have paint?"
Sofia nodded, "Yep! Over this way." She made her way down the hall, Riley rolling along closely behind her.
"What are you making?" Riley asked Sofia. It was a couple days before Christmas and they were sitting at the kitchen table molding their clay, newspaper spread over the surface in an attempt to contain the mess. Sofia tilted her head, examining the side of her piece, "Momma loves coffee, so I'm making her a mug with a salamander on the side." Sofia sighed in frustration, "But it keeps looking like a lizard." Riley raised an eyebrow, "I mean, they're pretty similar, aren't they?" The look on Sofia's face told Riley that they were not at all similar and she raised her hands defensively, "Okay, fine! They aren't the same!"
Sofia laughed good naturedly, "It's fine. I know you're not a reptile and amphibian enthusiast like I am, so I'll let it slide." Looking at Riley's cylinder, Sofia squinted, trying to decipher what it was, "So, what are you making?" She finally asked, giving up on guessing. Riley smiled, obviously proud of herself. "I'm making candlesticks, to put the candles Arizona got for Callie from Bath and Body Works in." Sofia's eyes widened, "That's brilliant!" Riley beamed, "I thought so, too."
"Is that your last gift?" Sofia asked, looking at the candlesticks that sat drying, waiting to be painted. Riley nodded, "Yeah, I wrapped up the rest yesterday. You?" Sofia nodded, "Yeah. I finished my others while you were at PT on Tuesday. They're under the tree."
Hearing Callie walking toward the kitchen table from the bedroom hallway, Sofia yelled, "Don't come in Mami! We're still making presents!" Callie sighed, whining back, "M'ija, it's been over an hour and I'm hungry!" Sofia wouldn't relent, "We're still working. You'll ruin the surprise."
Callie sighed dramatically, "I'll just cover my eyes." Sofia hesitated, but reluctantly agreed, "Fine, but no peeking!" Callie didn't respond, just headed into the kitchen one hand covering her eyes as she comically bumped into the counter. When she finally reached the fridge, she turned her back to the kitchen table, opening the door and reaching inside, grabbing a Tupperware container from the fridge and opening it, sniffing the insides. "What day did we have lasagna?"
Riley responded instantly, "Tuesday, it was after my physical therapy appointment." Callie counted off on her left hand, "Four days, this should still be good." She put the lasagna into the microwave for two minutes. Turning toward the table, Sofia lunged forward to block their artwork from view, "Mami, I said no looking!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Callie said, bringing a hand up over her eyes, "I didn't see anything. I promise." Sofia sighed in relief, "Okay, good."
Just then, the sound of a key turning in the lock traveled through the house and the front door opened. Arizona entered, causing Sofia to cry out, "Momma, don't come in the kitchen! We're making presents!" Arizona acted as if she didn't hear her, walking straight into the kitchen. "Momma!" Sofia protested, once again hiding the presents from view with her body, but Arizona uncharacteristically ignored her daughter, walking directly over to Callie, "I need to talk to you."
Callie was about to protest as her stomach growled, but when she removed the hand from her eyes, she took one look at her wife's pale face and distressed expression and instantly nodded, taking her hand and following her into their bedroom, closing the door behind them.
"What's going on?" Riley asked Sofia, clearly worried. She had never seen Arizona that upset before and it scared her. Sofia shrugged, "Probably a rough day at the hospital. It happens sometimes. Sick kids and all." She went back to her mug, trying to act casual, but she was admittedly worried as well. Her mother did seem pretty distressed.
The microwave beeped and they waited for Callie to come fetch her long awaited lasagna, but it remained abandoned in the microwave. The two girls silently worked on their clay projects, trying to pretend this didn't bother them.