Author's note: SO I decided to to make this story a collection of one-shots. They are in no specific order, time line varies. But they all happen at dinner one night :)
Hope you guys enjoy this as much as the last one.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Shonda. I'm just playing with them.
All I really want to do is go home, away from all this chaos and snuggle with my girls. It's the only medicine that works after a long and gruelling day like today. So after I shower and change I head straight home. But all my dreams of a quiet evening with my girls are shattered the minute I open the door to the apartment.
"Usted va a hacer exactamente lo que yo digo y usted lo hará ahora!"[You will do exactly as I say and you will do it Now!"] shouts Callie, in the voice she usually only uses on the residents and interns. A very pregnant Callie is standing near the kitchen counter huffing, her hands on her waist, her hair pulled up in a bun, and her whole countenance reveals it's been one of the not-so-good-days at home with their almost-three year old. Her Mini-Callie looks up from her high chair with the same stubbornness writ large on her face.
"Hey Girls" I say treading softly into the volatile environment. The minute Sofia sees me she lets out a loud wailing "Momma" and reaches out for me. Callie's tension visibly drains out when her eyes meet mine.
"Aww baby girl" I say as I lift up Sofia from her chair and hold her close to me but my eyes are fixed on Callie's. She's holding back tears and there's utter dejection in her voice when she says to me "I can't even handle my own kid. I tried to make her eat but she just wouldn't …and God I made her cry…what will I do when there will be two?" By now she's sobbing openly.
I quickly make my way over to her and envelope her in a hug with my free hand. "Sofia, what have you done today? Weren't you a good girl for Mami? You love Mami don't you? You don't want to see her cry." I talk to my little one, her wailing subsided to occasional sobs and she looks at me with her large chocolate brown eyes so innocently that I have a hard time believing she could work up her mother to such a state. Her cheeks are stained with tears and the lower part of her face covered with the remnants of the food Callie has been forcefully trying to feed her. I run my hands reassuringly down Callie's back and whisper softly to her "Calliope, all of us have tough days. It doesn't mean anything you know." When she looks up at me, I lean in and kiss her chastely on her lips and continue "Why don't you go get a shower and freshen up? I'll feed Sofia by then and put her to bed. Then you and I can have a nice and quiet dinner, ok? How does that sound?" I pull her in close to me and kiss her on her temples while she rests her head on my shoulder. Sofia whimpers and lays down her head on my other shoulder.
After Callie's gone to take her shower I clean up Sofia and settle her in her chair. I take the seat beside her and pull her plate of unfinished food towards me. "You've played with your food enough today. Let momma feed you ok? And then we can snuggle before you go to bed. You like snuggling, don't you baby?" I keep the conversation flowing as I start feeding her. Sofia doesn't complain much and opens her tiny mouth. I'm guessing after all the fighting she really must be feeling hungry. She babbles about her day and tells me how "Baby kick Fia when Fia snuggle with Mami".
"That's baby's way of saying Hi to big sister" I tell her.
"But Momma you say no kick when I at school. Kicking and pushing and hitting bad habit" she parrots what we have taught her, adding that vigorous shake of the head.
"Sofia, baby isn't kicking. Baby just wants to say Hi. Baby can't talk yet like Sofia. Sofia can talk, can't she? Because she's a big girl. And how did Sofia become a big girl?" I ask her as I put yet another spoon of peas into her mouth.
"Fia eat veggies" she declares triumphantly. "Fia Oshum!" she finishes with a clap.
Awesome. She just said Awesome. I laugh out loud. Here goes Calliope. Now she gets one more reason to complain how I have cloned out Sofia exactly like me. Which is true. No, not the cloning part, I don't do it consciously. But it is true that Sofia has picked up quite a few habits from me and that only makes me so much more proud to be her momma.
"You are awesome" I reiterate with a smile. "But you were not-so-awesome sometime back when you were giving Mami a hard time. Why do you do that baby? Didn't you promise me you would help me by taking care of mami?" I ask her softly, brushing aside the shock of hair that's fallen on her face.
Her face droops. "Sowie Momma" says the little one with as much remorse a 2 ½ year old is capable of conjuring. "I no be a bad girl from now momma."
"Good girl" I declare and kiss her. "My Sofia is so smart. You will be an awesome sister to the baby when it comes out won't you?" I imagine Sofia being a big sister to our little one. She will be the one guiding him at nursery. And then one day she will stop going to the nursery in the hospital and will have to go to an actual school. And finally she will be off to college. That thought scares me. Sofia away from me, away from home, alone in the big bad world. I don't want to see her grow up. I tense up at that thought and plaster Sofia with few more kisses.
"Momma" she complains. "Stop kissing. Me eating"
"I'm eating" I correct her. "But I thought you didn't want to eat, Miss Sofia." She pulls a face. I relent. "Ok now, here, that's the last bite and we are done with dinner, Yay!"
"Yay!" she repeats as soon as she has swallowed the last bite of her food.
After cleaning her up, I carry her over to the couch and she drowsily snuggles up to me. I hear Calliope moving about in our bedroom. I hope she has regained composure by now. She's a great mother. She's a natural at it. It's just that now a days her temper is at the shorter end of the fuse and she snaps pretty quickly. She was a terror in the hospital before she took her maternity leave. Even Mark walks around her like he's afraid of stepping on a minefield. And a sometimes-stubborn Sofia doesn't help matters. On most days she is a pleasure, helping her Mami around the house with the little things. But then there are days that she has to have things her way!
"Did you help sick kids today momma?" she asks shifting her position so that she's sitting on my lap and leaning forward to lie down with her stomach flat on mine. "I did. I did." And I tell her about my surgeries and my patients as simply as I can. I edit out all the sad stuff, so that to her it must sound something like an adventure that her parents undertake everyday. We three have an unspoken agreement to keep Sofia away from the harsher realities of the hospital. And Christina and Karev get constantly told-off for encouraging Sofia into surgery. We've decided not to push, but when she asks of her own accord, the surgeon in each of us can't help but tell her all about the magic of surgery!
She has completely drifted off to sleep by the time Callie comes out and joins us on the couch. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and lets her free hand slide down Sofia's hair. She kisses her head and breathes in her sweet scent. Even without her asking I tell her all that we did since she went to take a bath. "I'm sorry" she says softly. "No, she said she's sorry for making you mad" I tell her.
"I'm also sorry you had to take charge of her just after coming back tired from the hospital." "Calliope, you are carrying our child, the least I can do is take charge around the house and make it all easier for you. I love you" and I softly kiss her neck which is exposed to me as I sit wrapped by her warm arms. She smiles. "I love you too" and she drops down her head to kiss me properly. When we break apart she keeps her forehead touching mine. I rub her belly lightly. "It'll get easier once the baby comes" I try to re-assure her. She scoffs at that "No. Then the real work starts" That's true too. "Yeah. But we can do it. We did it with Sofia. We will be better prepared this time."
We sit in silence. Sofia sleeping. Me snuggled up beside Callie. "I'll just go put her in bed and then we can have dinner." "No just let's sit here for some more time" she stops me from getting up and wraps her arm tighter around my frame. And I sit there wondering how dreams indeed do come true.
So how was it? Too Sweet? Should I tone it down for the next chapter? Liked it? Please do review and let me know. Your reviews are a wonderful form of encouragement :)