Little Moments: Season 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, or its characters and storylines. Those all belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC.

Meant To Be (Episode 7)

Dinner in the Torres-Robbins household that evening was all too normal. Sofia made an enormous mess, as usual. Glasses of red and white wine were poured and actually enjoyed. A meal was shared, as well as easy conversation. It was almost too good to be true. But it felt right, like that night was meant to happen.

Things had been looking up ever since Arizona began to spread her wings and decided it was time to return to the hospital. She had been doing double therapy sessions for the past few weeks to regain the strength she would need to stand on her feet all day. She had been doing things around the house in an effort to try and contribute. She had finally seemed to realize what her wife had known all along- that she was still more than capable of living a normal, happy life without her leg.

Callie had a smile that was beaming from ear to ear as she sat and listened to the blonde recount the story of her first day back to work. She had to really try and listen to what Arizona was saying, because of course she cared about every word. It was just so hard to concentrate when she happened to catch the light shining from those baby blues…or see the hint of a dimple peeking out from behind that gorgeous smile.

"And that's when it happened," Arizona announced, the sudden change in her tone causing Callie to snap out of her love-struck daze and pay attention again.

The brunette gave her wife a perplexed look, giving herself up. Yes, she had been caught staring.

Arizona giggled, her cheeks flushed as she stared back into the big, brown eyes she adored. "That's…that's when I fell."

"Oh…right," Callie mumbled, a bit embarrassed she hadn't been listening to what was likely an important part of her wife's day.

"Anyway, you should have seen the look on Karev's face," Arizona continued, smiling over at Sofia as she tried desperately to get the spoonful of yogurt into her mouth. "Yes, you should have seen Uncle Alex, honey. He looked like a deer in headlights."

"Well, can you blame him?" Callie asked as she began to clear the counter. "I would have been a complete wreck if I saw you fall down."

"Yes, well…but, you're my wife," the blonde stated, wiggling her eyebrows a bit flirtatiously. "I would have been a damsel in distress to you."

"My," Callie said, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Hmmm?" her wife questioned, eyebrows now furrowed in confusion.

"My damsel in distress," the brunette whispered, their eyes locked for a moment. "And yes, it would have been very distressing."

"Well, no need to distress," Arizona said, shaking her head as she began to clean up the very adorable, messy toddler beside her. "Whoa, Sof…did you even get any dinner into you?"

"Here, let me take care of that," Callie said as she made her way towards their daughter.

"No. I've got it," Arizona replied, reaching across the counter to squeeze her wife's hand.

Once again, blue eyes met brown…and in that moment, Callie knew that everything was going to be okay. Not just that night, but their whole life. It would all be okay, because her love was coming back to her.

Arizona couldn't help but notice the sigh of relief that escaped her wife's lips as the brunette went back to doing the dishes and left her to care for their little girl. She wanted so much to apologize for all the pain she had caused Callie in the months since the accident. She wanted to tell her how much she loved her…how grateful she was to have Callie in her life, by her side through it all. But the words just wouldn't come out. They were trapped, just as Arizona had been until recently. Maybe the words weren't necessary. Callie had to know how she felt. At least, that's what Arizona convinced herself that evening.

"So, how was it picking Sofia up today?" the brunette asked, drawing Arizona out of her thoughts. "I was really surprised when they told me you had come to get her already."

"It was fine," the blonde replied, forcing a smile despite the lump of guilt that remained in her throat. "Actually, it was funny…"

"Why is that?" Callie inquired as she dried her hands on the dishtowel and came to join her girls in the living room.

"Well, I started getting all of Sofia's things ready when I got to her classroom," Arizona began. "You know, packing up her lunchbox…getting her blanket, and leopard, and chupo. And that new teacher…I think her name's Cindy- she asked me if I needed a hand."

"And just how is that funny, exactly?" the brunette asked as she took out a ball and rolled it to Sofia. "Yay, you got it," she exclaimed when the little girl grabbed the ball and pushed it back in her direction.

"I told her no thanks…that I had it," Arizona said, continuing her story. "But I told her that if she had a leg, I'd take one of those."

Callie's jaw dropped, her eyes wide with shock.

Arizona chuckled, stretching her good leg to pull the wandering ball back into their little circle. "It's okay, honey. You can laugh."

The brunette was silent for another moment, her mind working to comprehend how her wife went from bitter hostility when it came to her missing leg, to cracking jokes and acting like it was the most natural thing in the world to have a disability. Part of her wanted to cry, not because she was sad or felt sorry for her wife. But because she was over the moon that the old Arizona was showing up more often than not nowadays.

She wanted to cry and hug the woman beside her, then take her to bed and show her that she was still the most beautiful creature in the whole world. But that would be too much in one night. Making love wasn't meant to happen just yet. So instead, Callie laughed with her wife. She laughed until the tears came anyway, three happy ladies cracking up as they sat on the living room floor.

"Yes, that's a very funny story…isn't it, Sofia?" the brunette choked out, the laughter finally subsiding. "Mama is so silly."

"Yes, I've…I've b-been acting very silly for quite some time now," Arizona stammered, taking on a more serious tone as she looked deep into the rich, chocolate orbs she adored.

"But we still love her, don't we?" Callie said, looking away from her wife before the real tears began. "We love Mama no matter how silly she is."

Sofia got up from her spot on the floor and ran straight into Arizona's arms, hugging her tight. Callie's heart felt like it was melting as she watched the two loves of her life. Suddenly, everything felt right again. She couldn't explain how they got there, or why it was happening now, but that night was just meant to happen. Just like her and Arizona were meant to be. No matter what, they would always be together- the universe just wouldn't have it any other way.

A/N: Hope you liked this little moments chapter. Started on it right away after last night's amazing episode. So many good things happening, for our girls, Mer/Der, and also myself! Life is pretty great right now, loving the holidays and the magic Santa brings to our household. Kids are super excited this year, makes it really fun. Pretty sure Toys R Us has gotten half of our life savings, LOL…but you know. Anyway, really looking forward to the next few episodes. Should give us all lots more to swoon over and write about…yay! Wishing all of you a very happy, healthy holiday season. Enjoy this special time with the ones you love, and thanks for being a part of my world!