AN: I have no clue when I updated the last chapter…I've been busy. This chapter is going to be time jumps with little moments in between. Hope you like it.

Chapter 19

Tuesday, April 1st

Callie's POV

It was starting to get really hot outside here in Texas. We had all gathered around the empty pool in the patio area of the hotel. The sun beamed down onto my bare shoulders and with little sunscreen, I could feel the burn. I grabbed my short sleeved shirt and pulled it over my bathing suit top.

"Ahhh. Why'd you do that?" I looked up to Arizona sitting back on her pillow placed in the chair. She was sporting a bikini top too but with her injuries, we placed her under one of the few umbrellas we found. Of course I couldn't help but examine what she was showing off. When I made it to her legs, I noticed little Maria in her own homemade baby suit sitting between Arizona's legs. It was a cute site and warmed not my skin, but my heart.

"It's getting hot out here and not all of us have umbrellas."

"That's no excuse. You look hot in that top…take your shirt off Calliope."

Aria walked in the middle of us and picked Maria up. "It's not a safe environment for a baby with you two in bikinis and near one another."

Once she stepped aside, I saw the big bandage that still covered the mass of Arizona's stomach. She's healed a lot in the past month, but she still had internal injuries that were fixing themselves. Bailey said she would do fine as long as she took it easy. She hasn't talked about Tim yet, but I hope she gets it off her chest sometime soon.

"So…are you going to take your shirt off or not?" Arizona waved her hands in front of me.

I broke out of my thoughts and smiled. Once my shirt was on the ground, she got up from her seat and sat herself between my legs and slowly leaned back. "Are you okay to sit like this?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She hissed in pain as she moved further back. I didn't want to push anything so I let her get comfortable with her back press against my chest.

Mark and Lexie entered the patio area. He lifted his glass of water into the air towards April and Jackson who were in a similar position as mine and Arizona's. "Hey April…it's April!"

She stood and took Jackson's hand. "You're such a child." They walked out into the streets that lead into town.

Lexie gave him a soft pat on the shoulder as she shook her head and took Arizona's seat.

Friday, May 16th

Arizona's POV

It has been windy the past few days, but today…it was sunny and I was taking full advantage. Every time I thought of my brother, I would just go to the bathroom and cry. Today, Bailey gave me full permission to start working out. It wasn't just physical therapy; I needed to actually work out. Laying around all day made me feel so sluggish and all I ate was donuts.

I found a small private area behind the hotel where the dumpsters were. It was early in the morning and I didn't think anyone would look for me here.

As I started to think about Tim, I pushed myself harder and harder. It all started with some squats, sprints, and knee-downs. A great amount of anger and guilt took over which escalated the pace in my exercising. The thought of my mother's face when she heard Tim wasn't coming back ran through my mind. I began to do jumping jacks, sit-ups, and push-ups. I found a bar to set between the dumpsters and started some pull-ups. Sweat dripped down my face, forming puddles in the crevasses on my face.

Dark turned to day and I sneaked to my room and grabbed a sandwich. Luckily, Callie was out so I would be able to avoid her. Pain formed in my side and with all the other emotions, I sat on the bed and cried. The mixture of sweat and tears made this weird smell which only upset me more.

Callie walked in and I turned away. It had to be obvious I was crying with all the sniffles and nasty huffing exiting my body.

"Arizona…Where have you been all morning?! Are you okay?" She came to sit beside me. Her hands reached around my back but yanked away when she felt the wetness on my back. "And you're soaking in sweat. I know Bailey said you could exercise, but…"

"I'll take a shower later." I huffed.

"Is this about Tim?" She asked quietly.

I nodded.

"Is there anything…"

"Look. He was bit. He was bit and it was already in his system. He…he said he had a fever and then told me to take of mom before running into the woods. That's it. It happened and now he's gone."

"You guys had a strong relationship though. It's not that simple."

"I know." The ugly sobbing picked up.

Callie wrapped her hands around my back and squeezed me tightly.

"What are you doing, I'm sweaty."

"So I'll be covered in sweat, it's nothing."

After showing, Callie and I laid in bed and talked about all the interesting and funny things my brother did in his time.

Monday, June 9th

Today was Callie's birthday so I decided to let her sleep in and plan a party with the group.

After our hard work, there was a table with a cake made of outdated candy, which Callie still ate for some reason, soda, balloons, and stale chips. I used what I had and tried my best. I left her a big cup of coffee beside the bed along with a piece of pound cake I was able to find and instructions to get dressed for a surprise.

We waited by the patio as I checked my watch. "She should be out any minute."

A few more minutes passed before the doorknob of our room began to turn. Jackson ran away from the door where he was listening and jumped into our crowd. "She's on her way."

Callie opened the door and was met with a loud yell. "SURPRISE!" Her faced went from confused to surprise to finally a bright and beautiful smile.

She walked slowly over to the table. "Wow, guys this is…"

"All Arizona, she made us do it." Mark inserted.

Lexie hit him in the arm. "She made you come, but everyone else was excited by the thought. It was her idea though."

"Of course it was." Callie walked up to me and snaked her arms around my waist as she looked at the contents on the table. "This is so sweet. Thank you, babe." We met in the middle for a quick kiss.

We ate the candy together and gave her the gifts we managed to collect from a trip to a different camp. Callie was sitting in my lap with my arms around her and my head in the dip of her shoulder to watch her open the presents. When it came time for her to open mine, I mentioned that I had a little help.

"This one is from me and Maria. She helped me make it."

Her fingers ripped through the paper as I held her tighter to me. She revealed a macaroni and pasta noodle bracelet. "This is beautiful Maria." The young toddler clapped her hands together.

I moved my lips to hover over her ear. "I'll give you the real present later." She gulped and stood up from my lap. She coughed and shook her head a few times before finding her voice.

"Thank you guys, this all means more than you think."

Later that night, I made a couple cups of wine for Callie and I while everyone else left so we could have the patio to ourselves. I dimmed the lights so they glowed softly to mix with the dark Texas sky. Callie sipped from her cup and rested her head on my shoulder. She began to kiss down my neck as I examined the cups closer.

"You know…I would much rather drink wine form a glass. It just seems more casual and…" Callie straddled my legs and continued to kiss down my neck. "…more appropriate. I could probably find some glasses somewhere," She hit a sensitive spot near my shoulder. "um….and uh…the beach. We should drink wine from a glass…on the beach."

"Are you going to talk about wine glasses or take me to bed?"

"Right." I grabbed the back of her legs as she clasped her hands together behind my neck. I picked her up and carried her towards our room. When we got to the door I noticed a note and ripped it off the door so we both could see.

Don't get too crazy.

Love your neighbor,

Barbra/Mom

"That's cute." Callie said.

"No, it's not. I could care less right now though." I kicked the door in and dropped Callie on the bed with me toppling over her. I gave her a loving kiss before removing her shirt. "Happy Birthday Calliope."

She removed my shirt and stared at the lean stomach I've been working on for a while now. "Happy Birthday to me."

Friday, July 4th

"I got the fireworks." Mark walked into our room. Luckily, Callie and I were just sitting in bed reading.

I gave Callie a strange look then turned to Mark. "How did you get those?"

"There are thousands of abandoned stores around. You can find anything if you look."

"What type of fireworks are we talking about?"

"Just the small store-bought stuff." He held up a small box filled with tiny fireworks and sparklers. "Let's go!"

I looked to Callie. "He always acts like he's five."

"You must have set his brain back a few years when you punched him in the face" Callie bit her lips as she giggled and got out of bed.

"I'm not a violent person."

"I know. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time." She leaned down to kiss me before pulling me out of bed. "Let's go watch the fireworks."

I pulled her back. "I love you."

"I love you too." Callie began to fidget. "Are we going to watch the bright lights or what?"

"Now who's acting five?"

"Not me." She smiled and walked outside.

I grinned to myself and followed her out to the patio area. All the couples had formed together as we watched Mark try his best to set as many fireworks off at one time. Some of the others staying in the hotel joined us for the show. I had my arms around my girlfriend as the sparks shot out and made her jump. Between the loud pops and cracks, I heard someone crying. I scanned the crowd until my eyes landed on my mother sobbing by herself just outside our circle. I left Callie and went to my mother's side.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Nothing honey. The fireworks are just so beautiful."

I put my arm around her shoulder. "Is it Tim?"

"Yeah."

"He always loved fireworks. Remember that one year he tried to set the big ones off by himself but it fell and shot right into dad's truck?"

My mom turned to me as she smiled. "That's the exact moment I was thinking about."

"He never stopped fighting. I bet dad did the same thing. He probably saved a crew full of people before he…" I didn't know what to say. My dad wasn't for sure dead, but he hasn't been found so we assumed it was best to think he was in a better place.

I pulled my mom closer as we watched the fireworks blast into the sky with different reds, whites, and blues.

Wednesday, August 20th

We had found a river that was clear of anything infected related and it was AMAZING. Temperatures had reached a high and with fires burning through the night, it did nothing but trap more heat in our camp. This river was the best thing to happen to us in a while. Things at the hotel were fine, but it's reached a point where we're all asking the same questions. When will this end? Should we start schools up? Where are we going to get more supplies at? Is anyone trying to find a cure?

In my own mind, there was no cure. I was going to spend the rest of my life trying to build this camp up and make it the best it could be. Callie and I would be happy just being with each other for now, but what about the future? I wanted to have a family and live in a giant house with a pool and swing set, maybe even have Jackson and April live next to us.

There's no cure for my lost hope and dying dreams.

I have to keep my head up to get through this. When that thought passed, I looked up to see my girlfriend rise from under the water and flip her wet hair behind her shoulder. I leaned back and took it all in. She had a red bikini top with a matching bottom and the macaroni bracelet I gave her. Water was glistening off her stomach as her golden shoulders shined in the sun.

"You don't have to stare so hard. You're already sleeping with the woman." A voice spoke up beside me. It was Jackson.

"I could say the same thing about you with April. Why you staring so much Jackson?" I motioned to April standing out in the river with Aria who had Maria in her arms. They dipped the baby's feet into the water as she giggled and splashed water. One slash was big enough to hit Mark in the face. He stood motionless with water dripping down his face. Aria moved Maria closer so she could splash Mark again. The toddler's head leaned back in a fit of laughter at the site of Mark's torture. Lexie couldn't help but pat Mark on the shoulder as she hid behind him from the wrath of the mighty splasher.

"She's getting so big." I continued to laugh at Mark's puppy face.

"Time is flying by. I wish we had a chance to go to college, I would have kicked college football ass. I could have made it to the professionals!"

I noticed how upset he sounded and looked to him. For the first time, I realized I wasn't the only one who had their dreams crushed. Callie walked up and sat down at the foot of my towel and dried her hair with her old shirt. It was a shame that we didn't have many usable towels left at the hotel.

"What were your dreams Calliope?"

She smiled at me. "What?"

"I always wanted to have a huge house and Jackson wanted to play professional football. What did you want to do? I know you were talking about being a doctor."

"Yeah, I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to go to med school and study the human body. It would have been perfect with you there too, but I know that wouldn't have happened."

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted you to go to med school with me. I wanted my incredibly hot girlfriend to become an incredibly hot doctor with me. That's not what you wanted though."

"I would have done it though. I'm smart and I could have passed med school."

"It wouldn't have made you happy though, right?" Callie was searching for truth.

"No, it wouldn't have."

"You wanted to join the military with your brother."

"Yes…"

Callie nodded and turned away as if she was upset.

"Listen Callie, that's not the only thing I envisioned for myself. I wanted to have a huge house…"

"Pshh." Callie hissed.

"And in that house, I wanted you. I wanted you and our kids to have a house with a yard to play sports, walk the dog, and…have fun! I wanted a life and family with you. That was my dream."

"I want that too. Who says we still can't have that life?"

"Uh…the world, these infected bastards that keep trying to gnaw our faces off?"

"Arizona…" Callie took my hands in hers. "We can still make the best of this life. We'll take things as they come, let's do it one day at a time for now. We'll have a family and we'll have a huge house."

"After what's happened in this world, you really think we have a future?"

She just looked at me sadly. "Have a little faith." Our eyes met and I couldn't resist from pulling her close to me. She finally fell on top of me after I tugged hard enough. Our bare stomachs met in the middle and I gripped her hips and pulled down.

Someone spoke up after we got a little carried away. "This is a public place Arizona Robbins!"

I sat myself on my elbows and noticed my mom pushing the hat out of her face and giving me a hard glare.

"Yes, ma'am." I gave Callie a quick peck on the lips before we got up. I gathered our stuff and began to walk past the others.

"Buuuusted." Jackson mocked.

"Shut up jock." I bent over and punched him in the shoulder.

Tuesday, September 30th

Aria and I were put on laundry duty for the day. It was actually just Aria because I had no clue how to wash the clothes. I attempted it a few weeks ago and shrunk all of Mark's t-shirts. It was actually pretty funny, but I think it was best for her to take the lead this time.

I was thinking about Callie and mine's anniversary coming up this Friday. It was hard to believe we've been together for a year. Most of our relationship was running from infected creatures but I've never been closer to another human being other than a family member. I knew she was the one and maybe I should go ahead and make it official. If we could survive through the apocalypse, we could get married. Right?

"Hey, Aria?"

"Yes Arizona." I could tell she was upset because I gave her my load of clothes to do.

"Our anniversary is coming up…mine and Callie's."

"Congrats, I didn't realize it's been that long."

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome…"

Aria turned around and placed her hand to her hip. "Why do you sound like you're up to something?"

"What if I…" I set my eyes on my fiddling fingers.

"What if you what?"

"Since Carlos isn't here I thought it would only be right to ask you…"

"Arizona…" She rolled her hand in the air implying for me to finish.

"I want to ask Callie to marry me." I blurted.

"What?!"

"I want…"

"No, no, no. I heard what you said. You want to marry my sister? You're only like…nineteen!"

"But I know I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I love your sister Aria, and I would do anything…anything to make her happy." I had a feeling she wasn't too impressed with the idea.

"You could die or you could run away and leave her or…"

"I wouldn't do that."

"I know." Aria whispered as she took a second to examine me. "You've only been together a year and you're still a teenager."

"Please, don't doubt our love or our relationship. Have a little faith." I closed my eyes and smiled as I remembered Callie saying those same words to me.

After a few minutes of silence, Aria let out a big breath. "How are we going to have a wedding without cake?"

I smiled and went in for a hug. "We'll figure it out later."

"When are you going to…you know?"

"I'll take her out Friday and ask her then."

Aria took one more look at me. "Well go on, you better find her a ring."

I held my hand over my heart as I backed out of the laundry area of the hotel.

"Mark!" I banged on his door then ran down a few rooms and knocked on Avery's door. "Jackson!"

Both men ran out and looked around. Mark was in his boxers and Avery was sporting a hotel towel around his waist.

"What's going on?" Mark asked.

"I need your help."

"Is something wrong, what is it?"

I gathered them in a small huddle. "I'm going to ask Callie to marry me."

Jackson pulled back. "Whoa. Are you sure about this? Isn't it a little too soon to ask?"

Mark straightened up. "Never question Arizona Robbins, especially if you're a guy. I've learned."

"I'm sure Avery. I need help looking for a ring."

"Why us?" Jackson asked.

"Mark seems to know where everything is so…we're going on a run."

Jackson sighed then Mark stuck his finger out, telling him to stop his crap.

When we arrived at Mark's secret store, there was no determining where to start. There were piles of trash followed by more piles of trash. We searched for hours and hours for anything relatively similar to a ring or piece of jewelry. After we circled around the entire store, I fell onto my butt and the guys followed.

"I can't marry Callie without a ring."

Jackson huffed out and took off his sweaty shirt. "We're in the middle of a rabies outbreak, I'm sure she wouldn't mind a ringless wedding."

Mark got up and walked over towards where the crane and toy machines used to be. "I found it! I found your ring!"

"Really Mark?" He held it up to me.

"It's not about looks."

I picked up the golden ring that was on the floor. "You're right."

Friday, October 3rd

I was looking down at the ring in my hand. Jackson and April had went to set up a picnic by the river because Mark and some of the others were working, but he wished me the best.

I had totally forgotten about telling my mom, but I had a feeling she would be just as ecstatic if I told her afterwards.

"Are you nervous?"

I looked up in the bathroom mirror to see Jo standing in the doorway.

"Yeah."

"She'll say yes, you know she will."

"Yeah, but I still have these huge butterflies." I waved my hands over my stomach.

"Take a deep breath and go out there. Callie's been wondering where you've been all night."

She was right; I had been avoiding Callie for the majority of the past few days because I was scared she would know I was up to something. "Wait." I went and grabbed the ring and showed it to her.

Jo started to laugh. "You are something else Arizona. She's going to love this."

I ran outside to meet Callie.

"Where have you been?!"

"I have a surprise for you."

She gave me a weird look. I turned her around and pointed to Alex's truck that was waiting for us.

For the ride down to the river, I managed to keep Callie's attention off the road. Alex stopped the truck next to the set-up.

I offered my hand to help her down from the truck and onto the blanket. "This is our stop."

"Arizona…this is so sweet!" Her hands grabbed my face and pulled me in for a kiss.

"Happy Anniversary."

"Aweee!"

As we ate, I could feel my heart pick up the pace and I knew it was now or never.

"So…we've been together for a year."

"It's amazing since we've been through so much crap all this time." She finished up her piece of homemade chocolate. It was actually just water mixed with old chocolate, baked and froze again. I know it sounds gross, but it's what we had to do.

"I love you and I want you to know that no matter what we go through, I'll be here for you. Whatever you need, I'll try my best to find it. I'll always try my best to protect you and our family. I've never had so many feeling for someone before and when we first met…I don't even have any words it was just…amazing. You are so honorable and incredible and beautiful and…awesome."

Her eyes began to tear up as she laughed at my choice of words.

"There is no one I would rather spend the rest of my life with. So…I was wondering…" I pulled out the ring.

"Calliope, will you marry me?"

"No you didn't. Oh my gosh! Are you…is this for real?"

"I don't think I would be playing about something like this."

"I'm sorry, I just…I don't know what to say." I could see a smile start to form on her face.

"An appropriate response would be yes or no." I smiled and made sure my dimples were at their best.

"Right. Of course I'll marry you Arizona!" Her smile brightened even more.

"Yeah?"

"Yes!" I placed the ring on her finger and we kissed. The kiss grew stronger but slowed when Callie became too curious and broke away. She held out her hand. "Is this a toy ring from one of those coin machines?"

"Maybe…" I didn't know if she was happy about it or not.

"I love it. It's very…Arizona."

"It is?" She nodded before our eyes closed for another kiss.

Before our lips could meet, Alex Jumped from the truck and ran in on our picnic.

"Alex! What the hell?!" I jumped up.

He was breathing heavily into my face as he tried to whisper. "Robbins, we've got something big."

So I'm not the best at wedding proposals, but I didn't want to go into too much detail or spend too much time on it. Callie and Arizona should have a simple engagement for the position they're currently in. I really hope you liked it though. I tried.

And what's the big something?