I don't own anything…all credit goes to ABC/Shondaland
Chapter Twenty-One
Callie's POV
It's been a week since I got that dreaded phone call from my father. He's coming Seattle this afternoon and we have a dinner scheduled for this evening at the T Hotel downtown. When he called I barely said anything, I only made a few sounds to let him know that I was still on the line. It was a short phone call; he told me when he was coming in town, and what time I should meet him. I didn't even have time to object. I don't know what he wants to talk about. I haven't seen him in years, he just sent his usual Christmas e-mail that goes out to the whole family. Everything happened so fast that I haven't had much time to dwell on the situation. After the call I went up to meet my girls and we went house shopping again. I didn't tell Arizona about the phone call until later that evening, I wanted to try and have a clear mind when looking for our future home. Luckily, the house we saw was perfect. It always works out that the last house you visit is the one. We have a home! It's about a ten-minute drive from the hospital and the same for Arizona to drive to work. The house has four bedrooms, two offices, which could turn into a potential bedroom, a massive kitchen with stainless steel appliances, a dining room that can fit a large table for twelve people; the basement can easily be turned into my entertainment room, and six bathrooms. The master sweet basically sold me the house. It's massive, and the connecting bathroom is about the size of my bedroom right now. It houses a big bathtub with jets, and the shower could fit five people easily…but I doubt five people will ever be in our shower at once. There are two sinks, one for each of us, which is good because Arizona and I have totally different make-up regimes in the morning, so now we have space to lay everything out freely without it seeming cluttered. Finally the backyard is perfect. Not too big and not too small. We could definitely use it for entertaining, but more importantly Sofia has ample space to run around. So we made an offer and the realtor was more then happy to accept cash, so the process is moving along speedy. We should hear back soon, and there isn't too much construction that needs to happen, so late spring early summer we should be moved in. Before any of that can happen though I still have to get through tonight's dinner.
"Babe, are you nervous? Arizona asks me from the couch where she seated.
"I honestly don't even know what to feel." I say looking at Sofia playing around on the floor from behind the kitchen counter.
"You sure you don't want me to come with you?"
"I'm positive! Not that I don't want you there, but I think I need to handle this on my own. I have a feeling that this won't be a pleasant conversation. I haven't seen my father in years."
"Well maybe you should bring Sofia. It might soften him up a little…" She suggests.
"No. He doesn't deserve to meet Sofia…plus I don't want his negative energy to rub off on her. She's too precious. It sucks that Sof won't get to know her grandparents, but that's not her fault. She didn't do anything wrong." I say making my way over to my little girl and picking her up, while sitting down next to Arizona.
"Maybe you should give them a chance, Calliope. When they see her I'm sure they will fall in love with her, just like I did." Arizona says while taking Sofia from me for some snuggles.
"They hardly acknowledge me anymore, and my dad only asks if Sofia is still alive and healthy…which I take slight offense to, so until they come around and support me and love me like normal parents do, I'm not letting them around my baby girl. Once they know I'm dating a women I doubt I'll even get an e-mail anymore."
"I'm sorry, babe." Arizona says trying to comfort me.
"It's not your fault…I just wish things were different. I rather spend tonight with you two then my dad, but I might as well go and get this over with." I say letting out a huge sigh and getting up from the couch getting ready to leave.
"Well me and Miss Sofia will be here waiting for you when you get home." My girlfriend says walking me to the door.
"That's the only thing getting me through tonight, knowing that I get to come home to my two wonderful ladies."
"We love you." Arizona says waving Sofia's little hand in my direction
"I love you guys, too." I say before giving Arizona a searing kiss on the lips goodbye and I head to my car. All too soon I arrive at the T Hotel and begin looking for my father. He told me to meet him in lobby bar, so I make my way over to that area. As I scan the crowd I spot my father sitting down with a drink in front of him. He's busy on his phone, not even paying attention to anything or anyone in the room. He looks exactly the same, although his hair is a little bit grayer then I remember, but he is still wearing one of his trademark suits. He looks like he runs a billion-dollar company, and he does, but to me he's just my dad. The same guy who practically disowned me because I didn't follow in the Torres family tradition and go to business school. I try and collect myself before I approach the man who raised me.
"Daddy." I say sitting down at his table across from him.
"Calliope…I-I didn't even see you come in…how are you?"
"I'm fine, how are you?"
"You know your father, always working." He says chuckling to himself.
"Daddy, why did you want to meet me? We haven't seen each other in years?"
"Aria told me that she met up with you a few weeks ago and you had a lovely time, I figure since I'm out here on some business I finally come see you." He says sincerely.
"Aria and I had a good time. I'm glad we got me get together and talk. We've been communicating with one another since. She said she'll come back out here for her niece's birthday in a few weeks."
"Ahhh…yess…how's the child?" He asks coldly.
"Her name is Sofia, and she's fine. She's perfect. She's the light of my life." I say proudly.
"…and she's healthy, correct?"
"Yes, dad. My daughter is perfectly fine. I mean I'm a doctor for goodness sake, I would know if she wasn't healthy or if something was wrong with her." I respond getting agitated.
"…and the father, is he still in the picture?" I contemplate quickly on how I respond to this because yes Mark is in the picture, but he just move so he's not around nearly as much as before.
"He supports Sofia and I." I answer politically.
"Calliope I think its time that you give up the doctor dream of yours and come work for me and the family. We could train you as you go, so you won't need to go to business school. Before you know it, you and Aria will be dominating the business. Every father wants their child to follow in their footsteps." My dad says.
"No dad, not every father wants that. Parents support their child's dream and will do anything they can to help them succeed. I love being a doctor. I'm saving lives everyday and it's a very rewarding job."
"I know doctors are good people, trust me I've been to enough to know, but it's not what we do. It's not the Torres tradition. You're not even a surgeon, you're just wasting your time."
"I'm working towards becoming a surgeon, daddy. It takes time, just like it did to build your hotel empire. I'm putting in work and dedication, just like you raised Aria and I to do."
"Fine…but at least come home to Miami. I can get you a job at the best hospital down there. You can stay in a penthouse at one of the hotels until you find a place, and your child—"
"Sofia."
"Yes, Sofia can be watched by nannies while you're at work. Come back to your family, Calliope. You know how much family means to your mother and I."
"If family means so much how come mother hasn't spoken to me in years?" I reply sternly.
"Calliope…"
"No, dad! She doesn't even treat me like a daughter and she doesn't even recognize Sofia. It's one thing to completely shut me out, but it's not okay for her or you for that matter to just ignore that fact that you have a grandchild!"
"Our family is traditional, Calliope. You know this. You had a child out of wedlock, what did you expect!?"
"I expected you to put aside your beliefs and ideas for your own family. I'm your daughter, daddy. I didn't do anything wrong. Shit happens in life you and have to deal with it."
"Don't use that language around me, Calliope. I raised you better!" He snaps back.
"I'm sorry, I just…"
"Just come home. Give your mother some time. I'm sure she will eventually come around." He says softening his voice.
"No, I'm not coming home. I have a life here. I'm happy here." I answer quietly.
"What life here? Everything that is here in Seattle is in Miami…with much better weather."
"I have friends…"
"Make new friends, you're a very social person. You always have been. A lot of people from your high school came back to work in Miami I'm sure they would love to see you again." He says pleadingly.
"I have a girlfriend here. I'm not moving away." I respond strongly.
"A girlfriend? What are you talking about? I thought you and the child's father…"
"For the last time, your granddaughters name is Sofia, and no we are not together."
"What is this foolishness, Calliope? A child out of wedlock with some random man, and now you're talking about a girlfriend. This isn't making sense." He says shaking his head in confusion.
"He wasn't random, Mark is a friend. We made a bad decision, but we got a beautiful, happy, baby girl out of it and I wouldn't change a thing. That being said, we aren't and were not ever together. I'm dating a wonderful woman now who I love and has accepted Sofia and me into her life. She's very special to me, daddy." I finish and I can't wipe off the big smile I have on my face when I mention Arizona.
"You can't love a woman. That's not what the Bible said. You are supposed to marry a man, have a family, and work for T Hotels."
"Please don't bring religion into this, daddy. I never wanted any of that stuff. That's what you and mother had in mind for me, but you never asked what I wanted. You didn't listen to what I wanted to do. You made every decision for me in my life."
"That's not true, Calliope. We've supported you your whole life. We sent you to the best schools; you got all the clothes and shoes you wanted. We threw you parties; we gave you everything you could possibly want. You lived a very privileged life, and you still can if you just come back to Miami and get everything worked out."
"If you support me then support me becoming a surgeon, support me in raising my child, support me in accepting my loving relationship with the person I love. The person I'm going to marry and raise a family with."
"You're engaged!?" He asks in complete shock.
"No, not yet, but I'm going to marry her. I love her so much; along with Sofia, she's my everything. I can't imagine a life without her and I won't. I'm not moving to Miami. "
"I'm sure I could find you some gentleman to—"
"Daddy, stop!" I interrupt, "Just because I move to Miami doesn't mean I won't date women."
"…but you had a child with a man, so clearly you find men appealing..." He says unsure of himself.
"You're right, I do. I find both men and women attractive." I state.
"Calliope…what is going on with you? Your mother and I thought your medical school thing was just a phase…you can't seriously be in love with a women."
"I am daddy, and if you ever met her you would see that she's a magnificent person. The kind of person you would want me with. She's a teacher, she loves Sofia so much, she's everything you want for me in a partner."
"I'm sure you can find a man who is just the same." He says ignoring me.
"Maybe there is a man out there for me, but I don't want them. I love the women I'm with." I respond. We both sit there not knowing what else to say. He takes a few sips of his drink and I just sit back in the chair trying to calm myself down.
"What's her name?" He asks after a few minutes.
"Her name is Arizona Robbins." I say with pride.
"Hmmm…interesting name I suppose." He says scrunching his face.
"Yeah…there's a story behind it." I say reflecting on the time Arizona told me the meaning behind her name.
"I still don't know if I can accept this, Calliope…"
"Please try, daddy. I'm still the little girl you raised. I haven't changed."
"But you have, you have changed…your mother and I didn't raise you like this." He says gently.
"You guys raised me to be loving, kind, respectful, honest, caring, and so many more things and I still am that person. Who I love shouldn't and hasn't changed that." I say trying to convince my father.
"This is all just so much…"
"I think it's time I just go." I say getting ready to leave.
"Calliope this wasn't how this was supposed to go. I thought things would be different."
"So did I." I saw sadly before I leave the table. Walking back through the hotel and back to my car I reflect on the emotional conversation I just had. Even with everything that I was said it became abundantly clear that I want to marry Arizona Robbins. All doubts and hesitation I had before are gone, trying to explain to my dad who Arizona is to me and what she means to me just made my view on marrying Arizona that much clearer. I can't live without her and I don't want to. Every time I think about her I smile and get butterflies. She honestly makes me the happiest person ever and I want to make her my wife, and hopefully she'll do me the honor of becoming my wife. I decide to call my best friend. We made a promise to each other years ago that when we went ring shopping we would do it together to get the other person's opinion. Granted she would probably be looking for a man's wedding band, but nonetheless I decide to give her a call. I scroll though my contact list until I reach the name I've been looking for.
"Addison, it's Callie. I need you to come to Seattle…"
After a good talk with Addison and helping her make plans to come visit me sometime soon; I arrive home and find my little girl happily eating food from her tray table in her high seat and Arizona chopping up some lettuce.
"Calliope, you're home! That was quick….wait does that mean it didn't go well? Or maybe it did go well and you got everything resolved so you're back early." She quickly rants off. I ignore her line of question and quickly put my purse and jacket down and make my way over to Sofia and give a kiss on the head.
"Is she okay?"
"Uh yeah…why?" Arizona asks while putting down the knife and giving me a strange glare. Once again I ignore her and pull her into the bedroom. I quickly close the door and push her up against it and give her an affectionate kiss. I push my body up flush against hers and put my hands on her hips. Clearly she wasn't expecting this because she's a little taken back, but she quickly understands everything and puts her hands into my back jean pockets and pulls me closer to her. Our mouths open and our tongues connect and we kiss and moan until we're out of breath. We pull back and lean our foreheads against each other.
"Not that I didn't love that because that was really hot and spontaneous, but what was that for, baby?" She asks trying to get her heart rate down.
"I just love you so much. Can't a girl just kiss her girlfriend?" I ask smugly.
"Of course she can, I love it when you kiss me." She says before giving me a quick peck on the lips. "How was dinner though, babe?"
"It was what I expected truthfully. I'll tell you more about it, but let's get back to our baby girl, okay?"
"Calliope…talk to me." She says looking lovingly into my eyes.
"I promise I will, but it was emotional and stressful and I just want to come home and kiss my gorgeous girlfriend and hang out with my amazing daughter.
"Okay." She says contently and we fix ourselves up before heading back out to Sofia. She just looks around and smiles, not really understanding why she was left alone for five minutes.
"What are you fixing?" I ask while wiping all the excess food off Sof's face.
"I was just going to make a salad. I didn't want anything too heavy tonight. Do you want some?"
"Yes, that would be great. Didn't get a chance to eat tonight. What did you guys do while I was away?"
"The usual, play around, she walked a little more, she's getting more used to it now. Then I feed her some dinner. Then its bath time!" She says with a burst of energy looking at Sofia. "Oh, but something did special happen!" She says walking over to me.
"Hmmm, what?"
"The realtor called, we got the house!" She says bouncing up and down on her toes.
"Really? Are you serious?!" I ask slightly in shock.
"Yes, Calliope! Everything went through. They accepted our offer, babe! We got a house! We're moving!"
I'm at a loss for words so I just give her a huge hug and kiss her again. "We're homeowners!"
"Well technically we still have to sign the papers, but yes for all intents and purposes we're homeowners!" My girlfriend says. "When the lady called I was so surprised. I'm pretty sure Sofia thought I was crazy because I could barely get a word out and I was essentially gasping for air. It was so unexpected."
"Aw, babe. I kinda wish I was here to witness that." I say jokingly.
"Whatever…I told Sofia that she will get her own big girl room and she started smiling and giggling. I wonder if she actually understood me."
"She's not even a year old yet, so I doubt that."
"Oh shut it, Calliope," she says swatting my arm. "Me and Sofia have an unspoken connection. Is that right, baby girl?" She says lifting Sofia out her seat.
"Hmmm. So what is she thinking now?" I ask her.
"She's thinking that mommy needs to give me a bath because I'm tired and want to go to bed." She says handing me my daughter.
"Oh is that so?" I question raising my eyebrow.
"Mhmm…and when you're done with that you come have dinner with me." She says returning to the kitchen and resuming her cutting.
"Sounds like a plan." I say with a smile and taking Sofia into the bathroom.