Title: She's My Wife (Secret Santa Fic for pensco_927)
Author:captstarbuck
Beta/Editor:Stacy d'Lacy (best beta on the planet)
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: T
Secret Santa Prompt: Callie and Arizona have reunited, but are dating slowly (still living apart while they get to know who they are now), and no one knows. What happens to their relationship when their friends at the hospital decide to get involved to make them move on with their lives? Rating: Author's preference
Disclaimers: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Chapter 4
Arizona was grateful that Alex and Jo were still at work when she'd gone to the house to get ready for her date with Callie. She didn't want to have to answer a lot of questions that were sure to come if they'd seen her all dressed up. She didn't know where Callie was taking her. All she'd received was a cryptic text telling her to 'wear something fancy'. That didn't leave her with a lot of options. Most of her nicer clothes were still in boxes. Closet space was limited where she now lived and it wasn't practical to fill the closet with clothes she didn't expect to wear any time soon.
The blonde looked over the clothes that were hanging in the closet. She smiled when she found the red dress that had always been one of Callie's favorites. When she'd moved into Alex's house, she couldn't bring herself to pack it away. At the time, she'd mentally chastised herself for hanging on to it, but having it there had brought her some sort of hope.
Smiling to herself, Arizona took the dress out and carefully laid it across the bed. This would be the perfect dress for their date. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. She still had plenty of time to do her hair and makeup so that it would be perfect. She wanted to impress Callie; she wanted Callie to see what she'd been missing.
An hour later she was parking her car on the street in front of the house. She wasn't sure if Callie would be driving or not, so she didn't want to block Callie's car in the driveway. She pulled her coat tighter against the early February chill and tried not to look too eager as she made her way to the front door.
Her knock on the door was answered by the babysitter.
"Oh, hi, Dr. Robbins," the young woman said.
"Good evening, Tamara," Arizona said. The college sophomore had been babysitting Sofia on and off for two years. Even after splitting up with Callie, Arizona still called on her from time to time. "Is Dr. Torres here?"
"Yes, she said she'd be out in a minute."
"Mama!" Sofia called out when she saw Arizona step into the house. She quickly ran to her mother.
"Are you here for dinner?"
"No, Mommy and I are going out to dinner."
"Can I come?"
"No, you're staying here and having lots of fun with Tamara."
"But I wanna go with you."
"Not tonight."
Heading off the tantrum that was sure to come, Tamara picked Sofia up. "Don't you want to stay here with me, Sof? We're going to watch a movie. Won't that be fun? And I brought a new book for us to read, too."
"You did?" Sofia asked, her despair at being left behind gone.
"I did."
Arizona gave the younger woman a grateful smile and made a mental note to herself to tip Tamara extra when they returned.
"What do you say we go start the popcorn for the movie?" Tamara asked as she carried a smiling Sofia into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, Callie came into the room, her hands busy with putting in an earring. "Sorry I'm a little late. I had a run in my last pair of stockings so I had to go buy a new pair."
"No problem," Arizona managed to say, her eyes and mind almost completely focused on Callie's perfectly fitting black dress. "You look really nice, Callie." The blonde swallowed hard, her eyes drinking in Callie. "Your dress, is it new?" she asked.
"Um, no, I don't think so." Callie pondered for a minute. "I think I bought it last fall, but never got a chance to wear it, so, yeah, I guess it is new."
"it's great, really great," Arizona muttered.
"You ready to go?" Callie asked as she reached into the closet for her coat. She was pleased with Arizona's reaction to the black dress. It was nice to know that she still had that effect on the blonde.
"I'm all set."
"Okay, then." Callie grabbed her purse and led the way to the door, calling out a 'good night' to Sofia and her babysitter. She'd already gone over the instructions with Tamara, even though she really didn't need to. The younger woman had the routine down and knew how to reach the two doctors if there was an emergency.
"So where are we going?" Arizona asked as they got into Callie's T-bird. It had been a long time since they'd gone for a drive in it. It just wasn't practical anymore but Callie refused to give it up.
"You'll know when we get there," Callie said with an enigmatic smile.
Arizona buckled her seat belt and looked over at Callie. The blonde remembered one of the last times they'd been in the car together. Mark had Sofia for the weekend so they'd taken a drive to the Cascades. It had been a fun, relaxing day and they'd both flirted outrageously with one another all day. On the way home, they'd found a deserted rest area where under the cover of darkness had some of the hottest sex Arizona could remember having.
At a stop light Callie glanced over and saw Arizona's cheeks had turned pink. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing in particular," Arizona croaked.
"Right. Like I believe that," Callie teased. "Seriously, what were you thinking about?"
"That drive we took that Saturday when Mark had Sofia."
"Oh, you mean that time we…"
"Yes," Arizona said quickly.
"Oh, yeah, I remember that drive. That was a good time," Callie said, drawing out the word 'good'. "The pit stop we made was the highlight of the day, don't you think?" the Latina teased.
"Absolutely," Arizona agreed immediately, hoping that Callie would stop talking about it.
"Yes," Callie continued. "That is probably the fondest memory I have of driving this car."
Before Callie could further Arizona's embarrassment, Arizona cut her off when she realized where they were. "Are you sure about this?" she asked.
"Positive."
Arizona wished she felt as sure as Callie. They were parked in front of the Brasserie Margaux, the French restaurant they'd dined in years ago with near-disastrous results.
"We can go someplace else if you really want to, Arizona."
"No, no, it's okay. It's just, well, I'm surprised you picked this."
"I know that the first time we came here it didn't turn out so well. I thought, you know, we could give this another chance, just like we're giving us another chance." Callie looked down, almost shyly. "I just wanted our first date to be special, you know?"
Arizona's face was full of adoration for her wife. She leaned over and gave Callie a soft kiss on her cheek. "It's a wonderful idea, Callie."
The two women entered the restaurant where Callie had made reservations. They followed the maître d' to a table for two. After hanging up her coat, Callie turned to take Arizona's. She stopped, unable to move or say anything for a moment.
"You wore the red dress," she whispered to Arizona.
"I wore the red dress," Arizona said, her smile bordering on a smirk.
She handed Callie her coat and they sat down, Callie's eyes never leaving Arizona. The blonde was more than pleased to find out that Callie was still attracted to the extent that she was.
They each ordered a glass of wine and neither looked at the price of the entrees as they selected their dinners. This time there were no money worries for Callie, and no stress of thinking about whether that night would be ending in sex. With sex deferred for the time being, they were able to relax and appreciate the dinner. Both of them had forgotten what it was like to just have an evening out and enjoy one another's company.
Once dinner was over they walked back to the car, their hands brushing against one another's. Feeling brave, and probably fortified by the glass of wine she'd had with dinner, Arizona reached for Callie's hand.
"Is this okay?"
"More than okay," Callie replied, squeezing Arizona's hand.
The Latina loved how Arizona's hand fit in hers, and she'd missed it. During the months before the breakup, they'd stopped the simple things like hand holding. Everything had been too hard, too much of a struggle. Maybe holding hands could be the first step to getting them back to an 'us', maybe appreciating the little things was one of the things that had been missing.
The drive back to the house was quiet. Arizona laid her hand on Callie's thigh the whole way back. It wasn't meant to be sexual; it was an affectionate gesture, and Callie was warmed by the action.
"Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee?" Callie suggested as she parked the car.
"Sure, that'd be nice."
While Callie paid the sitter (giving her an extra tip at Arizona's recommendation), the blonde made a pot of coffee. Arizona felt a little weird whenever she was in the kitchen. Even though she'd helped with dinner or made coffee the past few weeks, it had been as a guest; a guest in a place that had once been her home.
"All set? How was Sofia?" Arizona asked as she poured them each a cup of coffee.
"Tamara said Sofia was sound asleep before they were halfway through the book. Apparently the movie they watched was one Sofia had seen about a dozen times, so you know what happened next."
"Sofia just had to sing and dance to every song after the movie ended," Arizona finished.
They shared a smile, both women knowing all too well how Sofia loved to sing and act out the movies she knew. It was a running joke between them how Sofia mangled the words every time.
"So," Callie began. "There's something I want to talk to you about."
Arizona wished, just once, that it wouldn't feel like her heart stopped every time she heard those words. It seemed that every time someone said that to her, bad news followed. It was especially jarring to hear them after she'd had a great evening with Callie. She also hated that she couldn't help but compare it to how she and Callie had made love one night and the next day Callie was ending their marriage. She hoped that this wasn't going to be the same situation.
"Don't take this the wrong way," Callie said. When she saw the look of dread on Arizona's face, the Latina knew once again she'd used the wrong words. "Damn it," she cursed herself. "Let me try this again," she said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
"Just say it, Callie," Arizona said resignedly.
"No, it's not that. I just… I want to keep this between us. Just for a little while." She gently grasped Arizona's hand. "It's not that I'm ashamed of dating you or anything like that. It's just… our friends mean well and everything, but for once I'd like to not have everyone butting into our lives. I want it to be us, just the two of us, figuring this all out."
"I agree," Arizona replied with a relieved nod. The last thing she wanted to be was the subject of more hospital gossip.
Callie's shoulders sagged in relief. She wasn't sure if Arizona would go along with her suggestion. She'd been thinking about it all day and had been nervous about approaching Arizona. In the past, she wouldn't have… No, she stopped herself. That's the past. It's not where we are now.
Arizona set her empty coffee mug down. "It's getting late. I should probably get going. I've got early rounds and then a consult with Herman."
Callie retrieved Arizona's coat from the closet while the blonde rinsed out her mug in the sink. They met in the foyer where Callie helped Arizona into her coat. Before the Latina could open the door, Arizona stopped her.
"If I remember correctly," the blonde said with smile, "I think someone said something about a kiss on the first date."
Pale fingers traced darker skin, starting at just below Callie's ear and stopping at the collar bone. Callie loved flirty Arizona, even when the blonde was being bad at it.
"Hmm, you sure about that?" Callie asked, stepping closer to Arizona.
"I'm pretty positive," Arizona answered, her lips brushing against Callie's. "Maybe you could refresh my memory?"
The kiss started out chaste and tentative, almost as if they were afraid to kiss. Once they got past the initial awkwardness, they quickly deepened the kiss. For both of them, the kiss felt like coming home. It was if years of pain and turmoil had vanished.
It was Arizona who gradually brought the kiss to an end. "I love you, Callie, but I really have to go, or this moment is going to turn into something that wouldn't be first date appropriate."
"I know, I know," Callie murmured against Arizona's neck. She wasn't quite ready for the night to end, but she knew it had to.
"I'll see you at work or you can text me about our plans with Sofia this weekend."
"Okay."
"Thank you for the lovely evening, Calliope," Arizona said as she gave Callie a brief kiss before hurrying out the door.
"She called me Calliope," Callie said to herself as she watched Arizona drive away.