An extra long chapter, just for you!

To my American peeps, Happy 4th Of July!

Italics are flashbacks

Chapter 115

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Arizona watched out her kitchen window above the sink as Callie laughed and carried on with their daughter in the pool while her mother talked and chuckled right along with her. The blonde just stood there, her body trembling at the thought of ripping the smile from that gorgeous face.

How? How was she going to do this to her lover. How was she going to tell the woman she loves with all of her heart that the most influential woman in her life was gone? She was sad, not only for her wife but for the loss of a great woman. And Charlee. Poor Charlee would never get to know Maria, the woman she was named after. She would never get to spend time with her, never get to know the woman her mother adored just as much as she did her. She won't know how funny and carefree the older woman was. Sure she would still have her Abuela and in a lot of ways Lucia was like her mother-in-law, but there could never be another Maria Pilar Torres. She was one of a kind. That woman didn't care what she said, who she said it to, or who she said it about. That woman literally loved to live her life to the fullest every chance she could get. Nothing phased her and she saw so much of the older woman in her wife.

Callie tended to care more about people's feelings where as Maria acted as though she didn't, but she thought it was a put on from the older woman. Callie hated the thought of hurting someone's feelings, but Maria may have also. That was a side of Callie not a lot knew about. If someone knew about the Latina's softer side they were sure to walk all over her, maybe that's why she kept that, for the most part, behind closed doors and only she knew about the soft Teddy Bear that is her wife. But boy, did she not care to show her fangs if you pissed her off. The thought made her chuckle through the welled up tears in her eyes. Maybe Maria was just like her wife and only let her husband in on her softer side.

Sighing to herself, Arizona chewed on her finger nail as she watched her happy family outside. She knew she needed to tell Callie now, but she didn't know how. How do you tell someone you love that someone they love is dead? There wasn't ever a right way to tell someone this kind of news, but she was conflicted. She needed to be there for her wife, but what did she do about Charlee? Callie didn't need to be holding the baby when she told her nor did she because she needed to be there for her wife and hold her if she needed to be held. If only she had Callie during the time she lost her brother, it wouldn't have made the situation better but it would have been more bearable. Arizona couldn't wait until the baby went down for a nap to tell her, granted she'd probably be out within the next thirty minutes to an hour tops, but she couldn't wait that long. It wasn't fair to her wife, she needed to know what was going on with her family.

The blonde was scared. Scared of her wife's reaction, scared that she'd clam up on her like she did a few years ago when Maria was very sick and she pushed her to visit her grandmother. She was scared that Callie would be upset and take it out on her because in the past she had a tendency to take her anger out on other people at times. It was the Latin blood running through her veins that caused it and to be honest, Arizona loved that about her. It only meant she was passionate about things. Right now it her wife's tantrums didn't matter and she needed to realize that. She had to be there for her wife and if it meant taking some of her abuse, she could definitely do that for her. She knew what it was like to be in her shoes and she wished she could take this pain away from her. Hell, she wished it was her pain to bare instead of Callie's. It pained her to see her wife upset about anything, much less a death. Something the brunette had never experienced. Her heart was about to beat through her chest at the thought of Callie breaking down.

"It's.. It's Maria."

"What.." She tightened her grip on the phone before it fell to the ground. "What do you mean, Lucia?" Arizona asked, not knowing if something bad was wrong or Maria was up to her old tricks again. "What has she gotten into now?" She asked, deciding on the latter. "Did she get into a wreck? I know it's Monday, that's her so called cloud society day." Arizona asked her mother-in-law. "Oh wait, I have one better. She's got herself arrested. I told her the last time she was out that they couldn't be drinking in the park like that." She chuckled.

"Arizona." She breathed. She couldn't help but let out a light sob at her daughter-in-laws rambling. The blonde didn't know Maria as well as most, but she sure could peg her. "I.." The woman sighed. "..wish, I really wish I was calling to tell you what bright idea she had come up with next, but I'm not." Arizona felt her blood run cold at those words.

Taking a deep breath, she cleared her head and went on instinct. Wiping the tears away from her eyes, she poked her head out the door when she saw her mother take the baby in her arms and dry her off. "Mama." Her voice was a little shaky even though she tried her best to talk in her normal voice.

"Yes dear?" Barbara turned when she heard her name.

"Can you come here for a second, please." She asked, seeing her wife swimming a few laps in the pool.

"What is it sweetie?" The grandmother asked when she walked closer to the door.

"Come inside for a second. I need to talk to you." She opened the door wider for her mother to enter. Seeing Callie look her way she called out to her. "I'll be back in just a minute, Cal." Receiving a nod from the brunette she closed the door and turned to her mother as more tears formed in her eyes.

"Arizona?" She asked, stepping closer to her daughter. "What's wrong, dear?"

"I uh..." She said, twisting her hands around her wife's cell phone that she completely forgot she was holding. "I just got a phone call, Mama." She said, her body shaking.

"Arizona, you look white as a ghost. Tell me what's wrong sweetie." She placed her hand on her daughters arm as she cradled the baby with her other.

"It's bad Mama." Her voice broke. "Lucia called." She said, looking out to the patio where Callie was now perched on the side of the pool dangling her legs into the water.

"Arizona, what did she say?"

"Maria, mom. She's gone." She said as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. "I need.." She said, taking a deep breath.

"Oh no." Barbara gasped at the news. Her heart immediately broke for the Torres family.

"Will you stay a few minutes and watch Charlee. I need to tell Callie and I'm not sure how she'll react and I need to give her my full attention for the next few minutes. Can you stay inside with the baby while I talk to her?" Her teeth chattering at the nervousness in her body.

"Of course, of course." Barbara nodded. "How about I take her upstairs and give her a bath and get her ready for bed."

"Thank you Mama." Arizona hugged her mom as she tried to stifle a sob. She had loved Maria from the get go. The woman felt like her own grandmother, but now was not the time for her to be sad. Now was the time that she needed to be Callie's good man in the storm as the brunette had done for her so many times recently.

"Dry your eyes before you go out there dear." Her mom said, pulling back and wiping her face dry.

"I.." She took a deep breath. "Why? Why did Lucia put this on me?" She finally asked what had been going through her mind since hanging up with the woman. "Why am I the one to have to break her heart, Mama?" She shook her head, willing her tears away.

"Arizona, honey, she wanted you to tell her because you're the only one that can mend it." She sadly smiled at her daughter.

"I don't know Mama. The last time she thought something was wrong, we ended up in a big fight that consisted of her taking the first flight to Miami and telling me not to follow her."

"But you did anyway." She said, rocking the baby in her arms. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I couldn't handle her being upset at me and the situation... and I also felt like she left me." She admitted.

"And because you love her. When she pushes, you push back. You both compliment each other in that way. She tells you when you're being a bitch and you tell her when she's being an ass."

"Mama." She chuckled, shaking her head at her. "But seriously, what if she does that again? What if she runs? I couldn't handle it if she did. Not again. I can't just drop everything and run after her this time. I have a baby to worry about now."

"She'd never leave you and Charlee like that. She's not the same person she was then, Arizona, give her more credit than that. She's grown and you have too. Callie's a mother now, you said it yourself that changes you. She has a more level head on her shoulders. She'll be upset, she'll be angry, sad, confused, broken. But the constant she'll have through it all is you and Charlee Maria, and that will get her though. You have to let her be upset and angry."

"I know." She breathed, looking outside again. "I'm gonna." She pointed.

"Okay. I'm going to go upstairs and give this precious angel her bath." She said kissing the baby's brow. "Be there for her Zona." She said, kissing her daughters head before disappearing up the steps.

Walking outside, Arizona put on a smile for her wife as she walked up to the pool. "Hey beautiful. Where's Char?" Callie asked, seeing her wife empty handed.

"Mama wanted to give her a quick bath and get her ready for bedtime so I let her." She said, picking the brunettes robe off of the chair next to her. "Why don't you hop up and come over here." She gestured to the lounger. "I need to talk to you."

Callie caught the uneasiness in her wife's normal cheery voice. "Something up?" She asked, squinting her eyes at the blonde, noticing something a little off.

"Uhh.. why don't you just come over here." She said, holding her hand out for Callie to take.

"What's going on?" She furrowed her brow after taking the rob and covering her body. "Is Charlee okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine babe." Arizona lead her to the chair. "I need to talk to you." She said, patting the seat for her wife to sit down.

"Oookay?" She said taking a seat as the blonde stood in front of her. "Wait.. are you breaking up with me?" She teased, laughing.

"Don't be ridiculous." She knelt in front of her. It was taking all she had to keep her tough demeanor up in front of her. "I love you." She caressed her face before leaning in for a kiss.

"I love you too." Callie whispered against pink lips when the blonde broke the contact. She thought the kiss was different than usual. Arizona just pressed their lips together and didn't deepen the touch like usual. It was tender and caring like she was trying to convey strength to her. "You wanted to talk, so talk." She said, seeing Arizona avoid her eyes.

"Calliope." She breathed, taking her wife's hands in hers. "Your mom called a few minutes ago, sweetie." She said as the brunette nodded her head and waited.

"What did she want?"

The blonde watched her wife's jaw clinch as if she was really studying what her next words were going to be. "Well, you know that it's Monday and it's usually the day Maria goes and hangs out with some of her friends." She said in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, I know. I told her I'd FaceTime tonight. Crap!" She slapped her forehead. "I totally forgot about that. I'll just have to leave a message to let her know that we'll do it tomorrow. I know if I try now, she'll have my head for disturbing her girls night." She chuckled.

It took all she had not to break down crying and tell her wife flat out, but Callie didn't need that right now. "Your mom said.." She swallowed. "She said she noticed Nana's car was still parked in the same place it was this morning. The last she heard from her was lunch time when she had told her she was going to take a nap before going to meet some of the girls, so when she saw her car still there this evening she sent your dad over to check." She said, seeing the confusion in her wife's eyes.

"Sophia. She must have picked her up, they do that sometimes." Callie remembered.

"No sweetie." She said, rubbing her wife's legs. "She didn't go."

"Oh no." Callie shook her head. Arizona thought she was getting what she was trying to say. "Don't tell me she was waiting on my call. She'll skin me alive if I made her miss the night all together." She stood up from her seat. "She really wanted to see Charlee today and I told her I'd call when I got home."

"No, Callie." The blonde said, pulling on her wife's hand to get her to sit back down.

"Wha.."

"She's not there."

"What do you mean? Where is she?" She began to panic.

"When your dad went to check on her..." Arizona cleared the lump from her throat. "Honey.. when he went to check on her, he found her in bed. She... she wouldn't respond to him, Cal."

"What?" Callie's grip on the blondes hand diminished. "This is..." She shook her head and stood back up. "This is sadistic for you two." She said, backing away from her wife. "You and her have pulled some tricks on me, like when you had me panicking, thinking she had gotten drunk and attacked that cop. But this..this is a new low." She scoffed, pointing at her. "I can't believe you'd go along with her on this one." She shook her head and turned to leave. "How did she get you to do it?"

"This isn't one of those times." Arizona jumped up and followed her wife into the house. "Callie no. Don't." She saw her wife reach for the phone. She didn't want her to call and not get the answer nor did she want her to upset her parents by calling and demanding to speak to her grandmother. "SoBo." She yelled out, causing the brunette to freeze. It was the one word to make the woman stop in her tracks as it would her. It was their go to to make the other listen. "Calliope.." She rushed to her. "This is no joke, sweetie." She softly said to her stricken wife. "I would never ever kid about something like this, sweetheart."

When she heard her wife's plea of 'SoBo' her heart seemed to stop. She couldn't believe this was happening. It had to be a joke. They pulled them on her quiet often in the past, so why would this be any different, albeit this was a mean one. "No." She shook her head, not wanting to listen to her wife. "I'll call her and show you." She said, picking up her cell phone from the kitchen counter.

"Callie, please don't." She shook her head and slowly placed her hand on her wife's. "Honey..." She looked up to brown teary eyes.

"No." She pushed the blondes hand and her tears away. "She's not, Arizona." She denied. "I talked to her today. She was fine, she said she misses us, but she's fine." She said, pushing her grandma's name on her phone. "She's fine." She mumbled, placing it up to her ear.

"Callie.." She sighed, letting her have her way. She didn't know what else she could do to make her wife believe her. She knew the first step of grief was denial, but she never believed Callie would be like this. How could she think she was joking?

"You'll see." Callie nodded at her wife as the phone rang for the fourth time. Her heart felt like it was dropping to the floor when the answering machine picked up. "She didn't answer." She whispered to herself, looking at the phone. "But she's okay, I know it."

"Calliope." Arizona grabbed her wrists. "Look at me sweetheart." She said, her eyes brimming with tears. She could see her wife's eyes fill with fear.

"Arizona, no, okay?" She whined. "I just talked to her this morning. She can't wait until we come to visit on the fourth. She's okay." She nodded. "Please, tell me she is."

"Come here." The blonde took her wife's hand and walked into the living room to sit on the couch. Patting her legs, she pulled the brunette to sit down on her lap. "Your dad found her in bed. He called 911 and they walked him through CPR, but it was just too late, honey." She said, circling her arm around Callie's waist.

"Say it." She mumbled, not believing it could be true. "I'm a doctor.. and sometimes our patients families don't believe it until it's said out loud. So I need you.. to say it." Her lip quivered, when she sucked in a big breath of air.

"Calliope." Arizona whispered, caressing her tanned leg. "Baby, she's gone." She said. "Maria is dead." She told her flat out. Within seconds she could feel her wife's body immediately tremble as she tried to hold her emotions in.

Callie felt her body go numb when her wife said those words. She felt cold chills run through her body and she felt like she was going to be sick. "No." She chocked back a sob. She looked sorrowful at the blonde before looking down at her hands, she saw them literally shaking when she nervously balled up the tie of her rob. She felt her stomach turn and then her body instantly felt like it was on fire.

Before the blonde could even register, Callie was up and running around the corner of the room. Hearing the door to the bathroom slam, Arizona sighed and dropped her head in her hands, praying Callie wasn't going to isolate herself off like before.

"Callie?" She tried in a hushed tone when she came up to the closed door. She heard her sob before she emptied her stomach in the toilet. "Calliope?" She said, trying the door handle. "Honey." She whispered, opening the door seeing her wife knelt in front of the commode with her arms wrapped around the lid while her forehead rested on her forearm.

Callie let a sob out when she heard her wife enter the small room and kneel down beside her. "I'm so sorry, Calliope." She said, placing her hand on the small of her back.

"Tell me, Arizona." She said, her voice beyond shattered. "Please tell me this isn't real." She finally looked up at her wife. "That I'm dreaming."

"Oh baby." Her hand was softly rubbing the brunettes back when Callie finally looked over at her with red rimmed eyes from both crying and puking. "I'm so sorry, honey. I'd give anything to be able to tell you this was just a dream, but it's not, sweetie." She said, brushing her hair out of her face while her wife clinched her eyes shut as tears escaped.

"You think you can get up?" Arizona asked, after a few minutes of Callie silent cries with her head still laying on the seat. Receiving a nod, she stood up and shook the numbness that entered her legs while she was knelt down beside her the distraught woman. Helping her wife up, she grabbed a tissue off the sink and wiped the brunettes eyes. "Come here." She said, wrapping an arm around her neck and one under her arm.

Callie fell apart again when she felt her wife's tender arms hold her in the embrace. Sobbing into her neck when she heard Arizona's hushed whispers of love in her ear. "I love you, baby." She said as she kissed the Latinas temple as she cried. "Know that, okay? This will get better, I promise." She said as silence invaded them again. "Your mom is suppose to call back after she talks to your dad about flights. He insists that he sends his jet so we don't have to worry about taking the baby through security and stuff at the airport. Just let me handle everything okay? I don't want you to have to worry about anything but yourself." She said, rubbing her wife's back.

"Where's Charlee?" Callie sadly asked, wiping her face with her hands after pulling back from the hold.

"She's upstairs, Mama was giving her a bath." She told her wife again.

"I want her." She whispered.

"Okay." She nodded. "Come on. Maybe you can finish her bath if my mom isn't done. That might help take your mind off things for a few minutes." She said taking her wife's hand making their way upstairs. Seeing the light on in the nursery room down the hall, they walked up to the door and saw Barbara putting lotion on the infants body. "Hey Mama." Arizona said, making their presence known.

"Hey." She looked up sadly at the two girls. Callie was standing back behind her wife shyly looking towards the window. "She's all bathed, powdered and lotioned up ready for her sleeper." She informed them.

"Thanks mom." Arizona stepped over to the closet to grab some pajamas for her daughter.

Barbara looked towards Callie and saw her staring a hole through the wall, or maybe the window pane, she wasn't sure. All she knew were her eyes were fixed on something and she was in deep thought or maybe her mind was void of everything, she couldn't really tell. Her face was red, bloodshot and puffy eyed. You can tell she had been crying hard mere minutes before. The woman standing before her looked to be in pure and utter shock.

Her heart broke for her daughter-in-law and even her daughter. She knew how much her daughter loved the woman also. It must be hard on her just like Callie. Deciding to step back, she watched the blonde take control of her family. Arizona ushered her wife further into the room and then dressed the baby in her night clothes before giving her a goodnight kiss and passing her off to the brunette to rock. She watched as her daughter kneeled down in front of her wife and talk in a soft tone informing her that she was going to go get her a change of clothes so she could get out of her rob and bathing suit. Receiving a nod, she watched her daughter then stand and walk out of the room. Callie hadn't spoken a word since coming into the nursery and Barbara could tell the woman was just going with the motions right now.

Deciding to give Callie a few minutes alone with her little daughter, she followed Arizona into her bedroom where she found the blonde quickly pulling out what must have been one of her wife's old college t-shirts to cover her body before taking her bikini bottoms off and replacing them with panties not caring she was in the room.

"Is she okay?" Barbara asked as she started to search through more drawers. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She answered, flatly about herself. "Have you seen her Mama?" Arizona turned around with tears in her eyes again. "She's devastated. She's quiet, Callie's never quiet. If anything, she never shuts up." She shook her head. "I've never seen her look so.. broken." She whispered before dropping her head into the shirt she had pulled out for her wife to wear. "I don't know how to help her Mama." She cried. "There's nothing I can do to make her or any of this better."

"It looks from here that you're already doing an outstanding job of that honey." Her mom said, sitting down slowly on the edge of the bed.

"Well it sure as the hell doesn't feel like it." She sniffed, turning back around to find her wife some underwear.

"I know it doesn't, Zona, but you've been in her shoes before." She sadly stated. "You know there is nothing you can say or do to make this better or easier. All you can do is show up, tell her you love her and let her know you're there for her to lean on. Be her voice and reasoning and her place of peace to come to lay her burden on.. that's all that matters honey. Just be present." Barbara said, as the blonde tried to wipe her eyes dry. "I'm going to go." She said once her daughter got herself back under control. Standing, she cleared the lump from her throat. "You have everything here under control. I'm just going to go say goodbye to the girls real quick."

Nodding, she walked up to her mom. "Thank you, Mama." She said hugging the woman as they both sniffed back the tears.

"You're welcome. Keep us updated okay?"

"I will." She said, stepping out of the embrace.

"Take care of them."

"I will." She said following her mom down the hall to the nursery.

"Callie, I got you some clothes babe. Why don't you get out of that wet suit." Arizona said taking the baby from her.

"I'm going to go." Barbara said when Callie stood up to change. For the first time since entering the room she finally looked up and noticed the older woman standing there. "Callie, I'm sorry to hear about Maria." She said, hugging the woman. She could feel the brunette choking back sobs. "It's okay sweetheart. You'll get thought this. Remember you're not in this alone." Her mother in law said as she embraced her.

"Thank you." She sniffles releasing Barbara from the hold. With that, she nodded to her daughter before leaving the two alone.

"Honey, please change." She said while swaying her daughter in her arms. "It's cold in this house and I don't want you to catch a cold right now, that's the last thing you need."

"Okay." She quietly agreed, taking her clothes off the back of the chair where Arizona placed them.

"I'm going to run downstairs and get her a bottle ready, she'll be wanting it anytime. How about we meet you in the bed and have a little family snuggle?"

"I.." She rubbed her forehead trying to think. "No. I need to go to my study. I should go call my parents." She nodded mainly to herself. She couldn't think clearly but she knew she needed to touch base. "I'm sure they're expecting my call." She said, heading towards the door.

"Calliope." Arizona walked up behind her. "You're not alone, you know that right?" She asked looking into the brunettes blank eyes. "I'm here." She reached for her wife's hand. "Okay? Let me be here."

Callie closed her eyes at her wife's words. Of course she knew her wife was there for her but she was afraid it would bring up sad memories from her brothers death and she couldn't handle that right now. "I'm fine." She said, turning to leave as chills ran down her body because she was anything but.

"No, no you're not." She grabbed her wrist. "Do not do that. You're not going to shut me out this time. There's no running." She said as Callie looked down at her hold on her.

"I know." She sighed. "I'm just going to go call them. I.. I believe you, but it's like it won't be real until I hear from them."

"Okay." She let go of her wife. "I'm here." She cupped her wife's face and ran the pad of her thumb over the apple of her cheek. "I'm here."

"I know." She nodded and offered her a sad smile before leaving.

Soon after Callie's departure from the room, the blonde made her way downstairs and quickly gave Teddy a call while she prepared the baby's bottle. She was becoming a pro at multitasking lately, but right now it was hard to concentrate when she heard her wife's mumbles and faint cries coming from the study. Giving Teddy a quick rundown of their circumstances, she informed her that they would be traveling to Miami for the rest of the week. After talking a few more minutes with Teddy, they realized that they needed to think about hiring another surgeon at least part time, especially for times like these. It just felt like they were having to cancel patients left and right these days.

Sitting down in the family room she still heard her wife talking on the phone with her parents, so she decided to go ahead and feed the baby instead of waiting for the brunette to do it. Just as she started to burp her daughter, Callie quietly walked into the room. Evidence was all over her face, confirming the blondes assumption that her wife was in there crying still. "Hey." Arizona whispered. "Why don't you sit down." She patted the cushion beside her.

"I uhh.. I need something to drink." The brunette pointed towards the kitchen. "I'll be back." She said, walking into the other room.

"Oh, Calliope." She sighed as she watched her wife leave. Arizona was just laying the infant down in the swing when she heard her wife gasp and glass breaking.

"Callie?" She called out only to hear another one break. Quickly leaving the baby, she hurried into the kitchen to see her wife throwing yet another glass against the wall.

"What the..." She said, seeing her reach for another one of their wine glasses. "Stop." She yelled out. "What are you doing?" She quickly slipped on a pair of sandals by the French doors to avoid getting glass in her feet.

"Try it." Callie said, sitting a glass down on the island for her wife to throw. "It feels so good." She said, gritting her teeth and throwing another glass against the door to the garage.

"Why are you doing this?" She flinched when the glass met with the wood.

"I just told you, it feels good. This should be my new stress reliever. I don't know why I haven't thought about this before." She said, offering a glass to her wife again.

"I just put the baby down, you're going to wake her up."

"Come on." She said, wiping the snot from her nose. "Try it."

"No. Those are our expensive wine glasses we got for a wedding gift and you're just destroying them like they're nothing." She flinched at the sound.

She couldn't help but laugh through her tears at that. "They are nothing, Arizona." Callie said, throwing the one she offered her wife. "Don't you see, every damn thing in this house means nothing." She yelled, throwing another. "I have you and our baby. We have all the money we could possibly need." She said, grabbing more glasses down from the rack as Arizona watched on in shock. "We can have the best of everything, but the one thing." She said, grabbing a glass angrily off the counter. "The one goddamn thing that I want.. I can't have." She said, throwing the glass and picking two more up and tossing them too. "I'd give all the money I have away if I could just talk to her one more time." She turned and looked at her wife. "Those glasses can be replaced all damn day, but she can't. I can't ever tell her what she meant to me.. what she did for me." She shook her head as tears started to pour down her face again. "I wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for her." She hurdled another glass against the door.

"She did, Callie. She knew." Arizona slowly walked closer to her when she turned towards her again. Placing a hand on her wife's waist, she brought her other one up to the brunettes chin and lifted her face. "She knew. She knew you loved her." She slowly guided her away from the mess she had made in the kitchen so she didn't get cut.

"It doesn't feel like it." She cried as her wife walked her into the living room. Waiting for the blonde to sit down, she slowly sat down across her lap, needing to feel the comfort.

"I know.. I know it doesn't. You're thinking to yourself that if only you knew this morning would be the last time, you'd told her over and over." She said as Callie rested her head on her shoulder. "She knew, Calliope, don't ever doubt that." She assured her as she caressed the brunettes head.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry." Callie whispered to her wife. "I was just going to get a drink of wine to calm my nerves but my hands wouldn't stop shaking and the glass slipped and it felt good, you know?"

"I know." She soothed.

"I shouldn't have thrown those glasses with you and Charlee here. I'm so sorry." She cried.

"It's okay. I know you'd never harm us. You're angry baby and that's okay, you have every right to be." She whispered into her ear.

"How?" She pulled back and looked at her wife with tear stained cheeks. "How am I suppose to live in a world where my Nana doesn't exist?"

"There is no answer for that honey." Arizona cupped her cheeks. "You'll get through it though, I promise, sweetie." She kissed her forehead. "It will be hard, it will be painful, but eventually the pain and heartache will ease up. It will never go away, but through time, it becomes more bearable."

"I miss her so much already." She mumbled laying her head against her wife's chest as the blonde coddled her.

"I do too." Arizona said as tears slowly ran down her face also. She tried to hold it in for her wife, but seeing her so heartbroken busted her dams too. "She was a good woman and a hell of a Nana."

"She was." She sniffed, wiping her nose in her wife shirt. "Charlee. She won't ever get to know her."

"But she'll know about her. We'll tell her all the wild and crazy things she did."

"Yeah." She sadly smiled into her wife's chest. "I don't think I can get through this without you, Ari."

"Well you don't have too worry, I'm here, babe." Arizona said, softly caressing her back just like she loves. "How about we put Charlee in her mobile crib in our room tonight and we go to bed and I'll scratch your back? You don't have to go to sleep, but you need to get some rest."

"Can I lay on you?"

"Of course." Arizona smiled, tucking in the fallen hair behind her wife's ear.

"You go ahead and take her up." Callie sat up and looked over to their daughter. "I'm going to go clean up my mess and then I'll be up."

"No, I'll do that in the morning." Arizona protested.

"No. It's my mess, I need to clean it up." She stood up and helped her wife up too.

"Okay." She nodded without further protest. "Don't be long?"

"I won't." She said as she watched the blonde gently pick their baby up and head upstairs. "Arizona?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. You know that, right?" Callie said, feeling the need to tell her wife. "I love you with everything I have."

"I do, baby." She smiled down at her from the top of the banisters. "And love you too, just as much." She said. "Now hurry and clean up, I want to hold you." She said as her wife nodded and walked into the kitchen.

"I promise, Calliope, I'll get you through this." She whispered to herself as she walked into her bedroom.

Many might not like this storyline, but it's a harsh reality. People die. Only a few days after writing this chapter, I lost a very dear friend of mine due to a sudden brain aneurism. So please hug your loved ones tight and tell them how much they mean to you every chance you get! :(