"Pardon?" Barbara was shocked, she had waited a while for one of the women to re confess their feelings. However, she thought she would be more prepared than this.
"She tried so hard during therapy, that's all I asked for…but I just walked away." Callie admitted, holding hands up to her mouth as she continued to look out the window. "I thought I was doing what was best for us all, divorce seemed like the only option."
Guiding Callie back towards the table, Barbara sat opposite holding a hand in her own. "You know it wasn't the only option, you could have fought through it."
"How could we? Both of us have said things, things that can't be forgiven."
"Regardless of what has been said, deep down you both hold so much love for one another, you could have fought through it."
"I thought I was happy with Penny, it was different to Arizona. It was simpler for starters!" The women laughed. "Arizona loved to make things more difficult than need be!"
"Remember when she and Daniel planned that camping weekend? How complicated was it to pack and squeeze everyone into one car!" Barbara laughed, the camping weekend was one she'd never forget. Her daughter was reluctant to take two cars, insisting she would drive to and from the campsite. Sofia has just started walking at the time and neither of the mother's anticipated the amount of toys needed to distract a child for a weekend. Barbara and Callie ended up being squeezed in the back of the car, room was lacking due to the car seat but to make matters worse they had belongings all over their laps.
"What a weekend that was! That's what I miss, complicated was sometimes enjoyable." The brunette smiled. "My relationship with Penny doesn't come close to mine and Arizona's".
"She told me about your encounters honey, and I honestly believe that you two are being given another chance."
Callie felt the blush rise up in her cheeks. "What if we're wrong? What if this is just a brief reconnection, and that's it."
Barbara shook her head "I doubt that, you two are meant to be together. Just talk to her, work on forgiving each other."
"How can I begin to ask for her forgiveness? She called me her anchor, she told me that nothing made sense if I wasn't in her life. Everything that has happened since the divorce has caused us to go on a rollercoaster, one that I thought was over the minute we signed the papers."
"I'm not going to lie to you Callie, all this grief between you could have been prevented if you hadn't gotten with Penny. I'm not saying you were forbidden to move on, but you told Arizona you both needed to love yourselves. So while she continued her fellowship and juggled her own demons, you found Penny and paraded her around."
Callie nodded to herself as focused her gaze on the mug in her hands. "I shouldn't have started something with Penny so quickly, I just couldn't bare the thought of seeing Arizona move on first. As her mother, you're going to be on her side so I understand what I'm saying may frustrate you, but you have to see from my point I did what I did for my own sake."
"Make me understand Callie, because quite frankly I don't understand it." Barbara sat back in the chair, she tried to keep a neutral tone. Callie was right in saying it would frustrate her. She spent hours on the phone to Arizona trying to calm her down during the divorce, the sound of her daughter crying down the phone was something she never wished to relive.
"Arizona was it for me, she was the love of my life. She is the love of my life. The minute she stayed when I told her I was pregnant, I knew that was it for us. It would be us against the world, cliché I know but that's what I felt. When she cheated, my whole life was torn apart, the thought of Arizona… MY Arizona with someone else was enough to make me feel sick. So when I initiated the divorce I knew that I couldn't watch her with someone else, especially as I knew of her and Leah's brief fling."
"So you thought if you moved on first, it would hurt you less?"
"Exactly, but in the long run I was only hurting Arizona more. Hurting her is something I never wanted to do."
Feeling sympathetic towards the brunette, Barbara moved closer to Callie and gently rubbed her back. "I know you didn't sweetheart, it's clear to see you still have feelings for her. You two need to discuss what's going on. It's not just you two, Jennifer and Penny are still involved."
"We can't go on hurting each other or other people."
"Most importantly you cannot hurt Sofia, she's had so much gone on in her life already. If there is a chance of you both restarting a relationship, you have to be absolutely certain before telling Sofia."
Barbara engulfed Callie in a side hug, she knew the brunette was having trouble with her feelings. Both Arizona and Callie had many things to take into account, Sofia being the main reason. Not to mention the presence of Jennifer and Penny.
The pair were disturbed by the faint sound of Sofia calling for Barbara, placing a gentle kiss on the side of Callie's head she left the brunette alone to ponder her thoughts. The brunette couldn't comprehend her realisation, she had known her feelings for Arizona had started to resurface but she didn't expect to confess them to her ex mother in law. Talking to Barbara made her aware of the unresolved issues her and Arizona still carried. Seeing Arizona play with Sofia in the garden, so care free made her realise she had to have the blonde in the life. She missed the family unit, she couldn't believe how much time she wasted trying to force herself to move on.
There was no doubt in Callie mind that she was still in love with Arizona, she never stopped. From the minute Arizona walked into the bathroom at Joe's her heart belonged to the blonde. The trouble between them only made her heart yarn for Arizona more. When George cheated she was gutted but she didn't dwell on it, she got on with her life. When Arizona cheated that was a different story, her heart had been completely shredded. Comparing her reactions Callie knew that her feelings for Arizona were stronger than she'd ever imagine. She couldn't explain the physical ache in her heart she felt when she thought of a life without Arizona.
Getting up from the table, Callie made her way outside to join her little girl. Sofia was still running around pretending to be a butterfly, while her mother and grandmother watched on. Callie made her way towards the adults and sat in the chair that was vacant, which happened to be next to Arizona.
"What time are you and Daniel leaving?" Callie asked the older woman.
"Just after lunch… unless Daniel finishes all the packaging before then."
Callie laughed, she hadn't even noticed the absence of her ex father in law. She turned to face the area are daughter was playing in. "Sofia come say goodbye, we have to go."
Barbara quickly got up from the seating area and made her way towards Sofia, she wanted to leave them alone for a moment to see if either of them would initiate a conversation. She picked Sofia up into her arms and muttered to the adults that she was taking Sofia to say goodbye to Daniel. Both adults nodded in response, knowing that they wouldn't have Barbara has a buffer.
Arizona waited till Barbara shut the back door before turning to Callie. "So… what days are you free? I think we need to talk about yesterday." The blonde got straight to the point.
"I have Tuesday off, how is that for you?"
Mentally thinking ahead, Arizona nodded. "I have surgery at 11, but that's about it."
"Why don't you come over for dinner and we can talk once Sof is down?" Callie asked. "She's got a play date in the afternoon so she won't be late to bed anyway."
"Playdate?" Arizona didn't realise their daughter had reached that stage of going to other children's house. Sofia being at Meredith's or Miranda's house was different.
"It's her first one, it's a party for a girl in her class. She's going straight from school, it's only on for three hours." Callie confirmed.
"This is the start of our little girl's social life… say goodbye to Sofia wanting cuddles and kisses!" Arizona whined.
Callie opened her mouth and held her chest. "Stop! Our little girl isn't going to want anything from us anymore!"
The mother's looked at each other and raised their eyes before laughing. Callie held a gaze with Arizona, their moments of laughter faded into smiles, the sight of deep dimples starting to form made Callie's heart skip.
"This is nice you know." Arizona smiled as she looked down at her lap, the smile still on her face. "Just being able to talk without one of us barking."
"We've come a long way." The brunette spoke calmly, she had to admit being able to be civil with Arizona made her life easier. She no longer panicked when they exchanged Sofia and more important she didn't worry about the possibility of being left in a room with her ex-wife. They were okay.
"We've still got a long way to go Calliope so don't start packing my things just yet!" Arizona joked as she got up and walked towards the house.
"Hey! If I remember correctly, it was your choice to move me into your apartment at that specific moment!" Callie fought back, jumping to her feet she went after the blonde.
"Like I was going to let my pregnant girlfriend carry her things!" Arizona shouted back as she walked through the kitchen. "Anyway, you could have said no!"
Callie scoffed as she caught up with the blonde. "You gave me a good a man in the storm speech, how could I of said no?!"
"Maybe when I started bringing your things back in?" Arizona smirked "Or before I ripped your clothes off!"
She was flirting.
Arizona was flirting with Callie.
The brunette stood there with her mouth open, it had been a while since Arizona openly flirted with her. She looked at Arizona deeply who returned her look with a slight bite of her lip.
"I suggest you go and say goodbye to our daughter Dr Robbins before this conversation goes beyond PG 13, and given our current status I don't think that's appropriate." Callie raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"
Smirking to herself, Arizona left the kitchen in pursuit of her daughter. She couldn't believe her and Callie were flirting again, it was morally wrong… but man did it feel good.